PREDATOR HELIOS NEO 16, when I connect the devices, they're not detected in the Thunderbolt Control

sfeirproaudiovisual

I want to use the Thunderbolt ports on my PREDATOR HELIOS NEO 16, but when I connect the devices, they're not detected in the Thunderbolt Control Center.

I've already tried the following steps:

- Installing different versions of the Thunderbolt Control Center
- Reinstalling the drivers
- Resetting Windows 11 to factory settings
- Updating the motherboard firmware
- Checking the BIOS options, but there's nothing about Thunderbolt

I have an Asus Zephyrus M16 with which the same thing happened. When I bought it, I looked for the most updated driver and installed it, and it worked. However, on my PREDATOR HELIOS NEO 16, I haven't been able to fix it.

Everything indicates that it's a software issue because the ports work fine if I connect an HDMI adapter, hard drives, etc. What it doesn't detect are the Thunderbolt devices.

I hope someone knows the trick.

Puraw

Hi @sfeirproaudiovisual ,

From your testing, the USB‑C ports are fine at a hardware level (video out, external storage OK), which rules out a physical port fault. What’s failing is Thunderbolt device enumeration in Windows — exactly the same symptom you saw on your Asus until the correct Intel/Thunderbolt stack was installed.

On Acer systems, the Thunderbolt Control Center is just the UI — the critical piece is the Intel Thunderbolt driver/service package. If that’s missing, outdated, or mismatched to your CPU/TBT controller generation, devices won’t appear even though other USB‑C functions work.

Recommended steps:

1. Remove any existing Intel Thunderbolt software via Settings → Apps.
2. Install the latest OEM‑supplied Intel Thunderbolt driver for your CPU generation from Acer’s PHN16‑71 support page.
   • Avoid relying on Windows Update alone; it sometimes pulls generic versions that don’t enumerate devices properly.
3. After reboot, reconnect your Thunderbolt device — the driver should re‑trigger enumeration and prompt for authorization in the Control Center.

Tip: If Acer’s package is older than Intel’s generic release but matches your controller ID, start with Acer’s build first. Only test the Intel.com package if the OEM one fails, to avoid firmware/driver mismatches.