X99 Extreme4 PCIE Slot 2 Losing Power?

jazzmac251 · Nov 18, 2017

Here's the short version:

I have an Asus Thunderbolt 3 EX plugged into the PCIe slot #2 on my Asrock x99 Extreme 4 motherboard. Near as I can tell, slot #2 is the only PCIe slot attached to the thunderbolt header.

Every time Windows changes the power state of the PC (sleep/restart/shutdown), there's a very high percentage chance that the PCIe slot will lose power completely - although it's not 100%. If the card is turned on and powering whatever is plugged into it like it's supposed to, it works exactly as it should with no errors at all. If the power state of the PC changes and whatever is plugged into the card is NOT powered, the card is dead and it's not coming back regardless of power cycles or BIOS changes.

The only thing that actually brings functionality back to the Asus thunderbolt card is shutting down the PC, turning off the PSU, physically removing the card from the PCIe slot, then re-inserting it. If I do this, it works perfectly fine again. I don't really understand how the board "knows" the card has been reseated when its completely unpowered like that...but I digress...

I have a sneaking suspicion that the problem is coming from Windows issuing some or another power-saving command to the board that the card is somehow uncomfortable with, but I don't know.

I updated all drivers and my UEFI BIOS. No change. Anyone have any ideas?

rocktalkrock · Nov 18, 2017

Have you installed the updated driver for your ThunderboltEX-3 card, version TB3 V16.3.59.250 released on Oct. 30th 2017?

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboard-Accessory/ThunderboltEX-3/HelpDesk_Download/

jazzmac251 · Nov 18, 2017

I think so. I installed it last week. I'll have to check when I get home. Thanks for your reply!

jazzmac251 · Nov 27, 2017

Okay, so I've updated all drivers and BIOS. No change. The card still permanently loses power when the power state of the computer changes (e.g. sleep, shutdown, restart). The only way to get the slot back is to power off the PC, shut off power to the PSU, and pull the card from the slot, then re-insert it. I have no idea how the board "knows" the card has been removed and then replaced from the slot even though it's been fully powered down, but it does.

rocktalkrock · Nov 28, 2017

jazzmac251 :

When your computer is fully powered down, the motherboard still gets a tiny amount of power from it's small coin sized battery, so it's never fully off.

rocktalkrock · Nov 28, 2017

I looked over your motherboards manual and found almost nothing about the Thunderbolt Add-in-Card. Have you tried installing the card in PCIe slot 3 instead of slot 2?

Here are 3 previous posts with solutions about the Thunderbolt Add-in-Card. See if any one of them helps you.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3072848/asrock-x99-extreme4-asrock-thunderbolt-aic-problems-start.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2607786/asrock-x99-professional-install-thunderbolt-aic-card.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3071611/thunderbolt-enabling-uefi-unique-selection.html

jazzmac251 · Nov 28, 2017

rocktalkrock :

That makes sense. I just didn't know the CMOS battery was used to help the computer remember that there was something plugged into a slot.

I wonder if that could be an indication as to what's wrong or perhaps toward a solution that doesn't involve me pulling the card out of the board every power cycle.

jazzmac251 · Nov 28, 2017

rocktalkrock :

Thanks for the suggestion. I have tried that, but like I said in the OP, slot #2 is the only one that seems to be tied to the thunderbolt header. It doesn't work, but the shut-down issue also persists on in slot #3 regardless, though.

The AIC with this board is kind of a stick situation. The board technically only supports the Asus thunderbolt 2 expansion card plugged into slot #2 (which is PCIe gen 2), but that card is a little hard to find given that its outdated tech at this point. I got the Asus TB 3 card (which is PCIe gen3) hoping backwards compatibility would float me because like previously mentioned I have to plug it into a PCIe gen2 slot because of how the TB header is wired up.

In terms of functionality, it seems to work fine. I'm using it to connect a firewire audio interface, so that doesn't exactly need TB 3 throughput to work correctly.

One thing I forgot to mention was that it worked fine until I added an m.2 PCIe SSD into the mix. That when the trouble started. I thought I may be running out of PCIe lanes (my 5820k only has 28), but I shouldn't be. My 980ti uses 16 gen3 lanes, my m.2 uses 4 gen3 lanes, and that leaves 8 for the TB card. It's plugged into a gen2 PCIe slot anyway, so that really shouldn't be a problem.

I'll check out those links. Thanks.

rocktalkrock · Nov 28, 2017

According to your manual if an M.2 PCIe drive is installed, PCIe slot 2 will run in x4 mode. [4 gen3 lanes]

jazzmac251 · Nov 28, 2017

rocktalkrock :

Ah interesting, thanks for checking on that for me! I don't think that's correct though because PCIe slot 2 is connected to the chipset's PCIe controller, not directly to the CPU. That means it gets only the gen2 lanes provided by the board chipset. In BIOS, I can't even select gen3 mode for slot #2.

Regardless, though, the Asus TB 3 EX only requires 4 gen3 lanes. So it should be okay anyway? Maybe?

I'm currently looking into security mode settings. My new hypothesis is that power cycling sometimes creates a security conflict and the board shuts off the card for that reason. It was set to Unique ID (default). I'm trying out "legacy" now.

rocktalkrock · Nov 28, 2017

jazzmac251 :

rocktalkrock :

Ah interesting, thanks for checking on that for me! I don't think that's correct though because PCIe slot 2 is connected to the chipset's PCIe controller, not directly to the CPU. That means it gets only the gen2 lanes provided by the board chipset. In BIOS, I can't even select gen3 mode for slot #2.

Regardless, though, the Asus TB 3 EX only requires 4 gen3 lanes. So it should be okay anyway? Maybe?

I'm currently looking into security mode settings. My new hypothesis is that power cycling sometimes creates a security conflict and the board shuts off the card for that reason. It was set to Unique ID (default). I'm trying out "legacy" now.

You are right about PCIe slot 2, i read it incorrectly. I should have said "4 gen2.0 lanes" not gen3.

jazzmac251 · Nov 28, 2017

rocktalkrock :

jazzmac251 :

You are right about PCIe slot 2, i read it incorrectly. I should have said "4 gen2.0 lanes" not gen3.

Gotcha. No prob. So far not so good on the thunderbolt security hypothesis. Issue persists

rocktalkrock · Nov 28, 2017

jazzmac251 :

rocktalkrock :

Gotcha. No prob. So far not so good on the thunderbolt security hypothesis. Issue persists

I think you should contact ASRock support directly on their website. The combination of an X99 Extreme4 motherboard and a ThunderboltEX 3 expansion card is not very common. Their technical support staff would be the best people to talk to.

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