Need Thunderbolt 3 NVM of at least 14 for Aspire VN7-792G

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Answers

  • blackhat
    blackhat Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
    Can you identify the Thunderbolt device in your device managers? I don't see a device (even hidden ones) under my device manager. I guess that's why the thunderbolt update by Firmware or Acer Care Center (other thread) is failing because there's no controller identified. Maybe because the controller was never initialized. I tried to activate/initialize the controller by connecting an external ssd via usb-c. A new device (USB 3.1) has been showing up since then but still the update won't work.
  • RadeonHD
    RadeonHD Member Posts: 43 Troubleshooter
    No, I can t identify it in device manager.
  • blackhat
    blackhat Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
    Miracles happen sometimes... Tried to update the Thunderbolt controller once again just for fun. I noticed the tray icon of the Thunderbolt software from Intel wasn't showing up at that time. I ran it as admin (setup.bat from the firmware section of the acer support page, not the Acer Care Center itsself), it started up the Intel software automatically, found the controller and updated it to NVM 15. Device manager now shows the device under "system devices" as "Thunderbolt(TM) Controller - 1575".
  • jasono
    jasono Member Posts: 4 New User

    Miracle. I now have Thunderbolt 3 working on my Acer VN7-592G laptop and am successfully running a Startech Thunderbolt 3 to Dual HDMI outputting to two monitors.

     

    Here are the complete steps that worked for me:

     

    1) Go to Acer drivers website and search for model number VN7-592.

    http://www.acer.com/ac/en/AU/content/drivers

     

    2) Go to the BIOS/Firmware tab and download "Thunderbolt 3 (NVM: 15) Update Tool" (size 554.1KB, dated 2016/08/25).

     

    3) Unzip and launch Setup.bat with "Run as administrator". This didn't appear to do very much the first time.

     

    4) Start typing Thunderbolt on Windows search and right-click "Thunderbolt(TM) Software" and choose "Run as administrator"

     

    5) Plug in my Thunderbolt device. A Windows notification says "Try improving the USB connection".

     

    6) Launch Setup.bat with "Run as administrator" again. This time it did something more. It took a few minutes. Eventually it says to wait 60 after the computer shuts down, then put a paperclip into the battery reset hole on the back of the laptop for 4 seconds. 

     

    7) Let it shutdown and used the paperclip. Restarted the laptop. The Startech device was immediately detected, I chose to allow the Startech device, plugged in two monitors and they both work.

     

    Working.png

     

  • psimantas
    psimantas Member Posts: 4 New User
    Blackhat and Jasono how the hell did you guys do it:)?I have the exact same issue and I tried what you described but it doesn't seem to work for me. Any idea why all of a sudden it started working for you? 
  • playnogames
    playnogames Member Posts: 1 New User
    For anyone still struggling with this, I was also successful in getting my 792G to initialize and recognize my Akitio T3T adapter.  Not sure what did it exactly but some steps I followed might help someone else.

    1.  I first verified that there was not a Thunderbolt driver running under Device Manager, System Devices.  It would be listed as Thunderbolt(TM) Controller - 1575, if anything but like most of us, there won't be. Then just to cover ground since Windows is weird at times,  I updated the Intel Management Engine driver (AMT_Intel_VersionNumberHere_OSVersionHere) along with the Intel Chipset driver via the Repair method.  I'm pretty sure uninstalling and reinstalling will do the same but repair was faster for me.  If you have to, just re-download via the support driver/firmware page.

    2. I uninstalled the Thunderbolt (TM) Software and drivers completely then went to the Acer support page for the 792G and re-downloaded the driver.  Also download the Firmware update tool (Firmware_Intel_15...).

    3. I created a folder simply named "ACER" and moved all the downloaded driver zip files from step 2 to this folder along with all the others from step 1 just for organization and possibly in case any of the batch files for installation needed a directory path to point to or search for.

    4.  Right click on both zip files from step 2 and select Extract without confirmation OR Extract here (if you're using Winrar). You should be left with a folder with the same name as the Thunderbolt zip file and a folder named Source, a readme pdf file and a Setup file.

    5. Go to the Thunderbolt named folder and run the setup file.  When setup is done, close it and then individually right click on each of the .inf files and select Install (these files will be about 4-5KB in size and its a total of 6; there are a set for 70i, 70x, 81x, beginning with the prefix tbt & tp2p respectively).

    6.  Connect your TB3 adapter if you have one available.  Click the Start button in Windows and find Thunderbolt (TM) Software and right click on it, select More, Run as administrator.   More than likely there will be no information shown under Attached Device Chains.  Go to the Task Tray Menu and right click on the Thunderbolt software icon, Settings, then click on Details...if there is nothing shown as previously mentioned, it will only show the software version (should be version 16.1.47.275 as of this post).  Restart your computer with the TB3 adapter still connected.

    7.  Upon restart, go to your C drive or OS drive and look for a folder named ForcePower. There will be a file named wmibios.dll in there. Go back out and delete the ForcePower folder.

    8. Go to the "ACER" folder you created with your unzipped files from step 3.  Right click on the batch file named Setup and run as administrator.  A command prompt window will open.  For me, there was also a prompt saying something about Preparing files for installation, restart needed.  Click Ok if that pops up and your system will reboot.

    9.  Again go to the Start Menu, right-click Thunderbolt (TM) Software, More, Run as administrator.  You may or may not hear a Windows device connected tone.  If not, repeat step 8. There should only be the command prompt asking you to pressing any key to continue followed by either your device initializing, you hearing the Windows device connected tone and telling you that your firmware is already up to date (I got lucky here) OR hopefully it will run the firmware update for you to version 15.  For good measure, I verified under Device Manager and the driver was present :smile:

    10.  If all goes well, which I hope it does, go get yourself a cold one and welcome to the TB3 club!
  • rapiddog
    rapiddog Member Posts: 10

    Tinkerer

    Jasono, you've made me so very happy!...I've been struggling with this for two days!
    Akitio Node and GTX1660ti EGPU for my Acer VN7-592G laptop.
    Thunderbolt just booted up the GPU for the first time. I was ready to return the whole kit.
  • rapiddog
    rapiddog Member Posts: 10

    Tinkerer

    now to get the card to show in the deivice manager...
  • CaseyJx
    CaseyJx Member Posts: 1 New User
    edited October 2022

    Hi

    We are now in 2022 and I confirm : Acer VN7-592G Black Edition WORKS with eGPU (So DO NOT pay attention message saying "This computer is not compatible eGPU").

    I just get myself with Akitio Node Titan + Galax GTX 1660 Ti :)

    Voila!

    Ps : I didn't use technics suggest @jasono or @playnogames above at all.