BIOS settings for MSI Thunderbolt-M4 8K on MSI PROZ790-PDDR4 Motherboard

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vakessle15de02e5

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Hello there,

I run a MSI PROZ790-PDDR4 mother board on my windows 11 PC.

Quite a long time ago I bought a MSI Thunderbolt card : https://www.msi.com/PC-Component/ThunderboltM4-8K

I wanted to take advantage of Thunderbolt drives (I also run a Mac !!) and wanted to put a thunderbolt sound card (Universal Audio Arrow) I just bought.

I must admit I never succeeded making this work and did not get real support from MSI as my purchase was too old.

My PCI card only gives me USB support, thunderbolt drives do not appear, and needless to say no success with my soundcard. The Thunderbolt card is not seen by my computer, no way to see it in the computer device manager.

I have tried all sorts of settings in the BIOS and the last one I tried this morning just made the PC to not start !!!

Does anyone have the same problem or better solved it ? Can anyone give me detailed Thunderbolt BIOS settings to make this work?

Thanks for your help

Vincent.
 
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Hi, Vincent. I have the M4-8K card installed on my Z690 Edge WiFi DDR4. Disclaimer, I haven't used it in a while -- no current devices or need. That said, I believe it's working, given the feedback of the utilities but can't fully confirm for you.

BIOS -> Settings > Advanced -> Intel (R) Thunderbolt
- PCIE Tunneling over USB4 [Enabled]
- Discrete Thunderbolt(TM) Support [Disabled]

Install the drivers from MSI's website - v1.41.1325.0
Windows should update to v1.41.1340.0 via an update.

Make sure that the TBT cable is properly connected to the TBT header on your motherboard.

The Thunderbolt Control Center, if I'm not mistaken, is included in the driver package above.

Attached are screen shots from TB Control Center and a snippet from Device Manager.

tb4-01.jpg
tb4.jpg
tb4-02.jpg
 
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Hello Ezmafl,

did what you said but without success. As you will see in the captures all looks good despite the fact that my Thunderbolt drive is not approved and not listed in the approval device list.
It is marked as “not connected” and does not show up in my computer. When I put a USB drive this works … but no Thunderbolt device.
I will try to go further and let you know.
Thanks,
Vincent.
device manager.jpg


info.jpg
Not Connected.jpg
 
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I think you have to open a ticket to MSI.
I heard a similar case in MSI Taiwan forum. He owns PRO B760-P DDR4 II.
That case was finally solved with customized BIOS. Very ridiculous.
 
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Thank you tnational.
The only problem is that MSi was no help in my case. If I remember well they did not give me any solution, and as I purchased this card long before I really needed it they said their support was not longer valid for my purchase ... nice help. And they cannot even say my card is not compatible to their very own Motherboard !!!
I found lots of informations on the internet, some saying the card must be in a specific slot (I did), some others using other motherboards with no MSi BIOS etc ... I cant even find a proper manual on the MSI site !!!!

This is why I turned to this forum trying to find:
Someone using this card with no problem that could give me detailed BIOS settings for a MSI motherboard. And thanks again to Ezmafl trying to help me.

I am really not an IT nore a complete dum but I just can have this card give me a poor USB and no thunderbolt ...

Not sure I will buy an MSI product in the future ...

Vincent.
 
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Last update : if I believe what I found, looks like the card must NOT be installed on the PCIe 4 slot (only 3-1) but on an other one... PCIe 1 is used for my graphic card that due to it's size hides PCIe 2 (anyway also 3-1), and I use PCIe-3 for an optical network card that gives me 7GB internet. Even if I might sacrifice that as I use it before on PCIe-4 with only 3GB internet, I already tried the thunderbolt Card on this slot without any better result ...

If only MSI could give a proper manual with installation guidance and Bios settings that could have helped me not to buy that card and loose some much time.

Vincent.
 
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vakessle15de02e5 said:
Last update : if I believe what I found, looks like the card must NOT be installed on the PCIe 4 slot (only 3-1) but on an other one... PCIe 1 is used for my graphic card that due to it's size hides PCIe 2 (anyway also 3-1), and I use PCIe-3 for an optical network card that gives me 7GB internet. Even if I might sacrifice that as I use it before on PCIe-4 with only 3GB internet, I already tried the thunderbolt Card on this slot without any better result ...

If only MSI could give a proper manual with installation guidance and Bios settings that could have helped me not to buy that card and loose some much time.

Vincent.
Click to expand...
It has been around two years since I used MSI Thunderbolt card but I think it was known that it requires X4 from the chipset. I can't recall how I learned that but it was most likely in the instructions, you just have to understand concepts like X4 vs X1 and chipset vs CPU. Looking at public spec for Pro Z790 board that would be slot E3 (only). My recollection is that BIOS setting was obvious, something like Thunderbolt [Enabled} and that setting changed various other settings (MSI typically shows all changed settings when you Save/Exit).
 
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Thanks a lot for your update Doug. I finaly found this infos as I told in my previous mail. I can assure you none of them where in the instructions with the card. Maybe my package I dont know.
But as I told I already tried on the slot E3, compromising my internet bandwith with my optical card, without any success for my Universal Audio audio interface to be recognised ...

I must admit I quit my quest now. I will try to find a motherboard with at least 3 PCIe with enough bandwith for Graphic, Optical network and Thunderbolt (At least one 16x and two 4X) for my next PC built. I will in the meantime rely on my trusty MAC for the THUNDERBOLT !!!!

Cheers,

Vincent.
 
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