Is the thunderbolt 3 GPIO cable available?

[chmedlyOHNO]

I'm working with a Z8 G4 and an HP Thunderbolt 3 card but it's missing the GPIO cable. I understand that the part number is

L27677-001

But I'm unable to find a place to purchase this cable.

Is this available from HP or another reseller?

[DGroves]

hp does not sell the TBolt cables as separate items only with the card

however most TBolt cards are based on the intel reference design and have the exact same header pinouts all of the HP TBolt 2/3 cards i have seen are based on the intel reference board but i've obviously not seen them all

this previous posts has picts of the cable ends

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Workstations-and-Point-of-Sale-Systems/hp-Thunderbolt3-Ca...

the issue arises on the motherboards' most TBolt 3 motherboard headers are 5 pin but can be wired differently

it should not be that hard to use a multimeter on the MB and determine the gnd/power pins leaving only the two data lines which if wrong will not cause damage just swap if wrong this allows you to use a dell or lenovo TBolt cable for example

last check your systems "service manual" for some systems the MB TBolt header pinout is documented

note one pin is missing on the MB 5 pin header used to key the proper insertion

[SDH]

DGroves has much more experience with the HP Thunderbolt cards than I do. I got a HP TB3 kit off eBay that looked brand new with both the short DP cables, the GPIO cable, and an untouched sealed card, but was not in a HP shipping box. So far have not been able to get it to work in my Z4 G4 and I ask beg for help in another post... still trying to solve it myself. I can't see it in Device Manager (present or as missing drivers), but I did install latest software released last year correctly (with card attached to the HP-specified PCIe slot 4 and with the GPIO cable attached). The software can't see the card either. I fear the card might not have firmware on it.

The Z4, 6, 8 G4 workstations all use the same TB3 kit based on their respective HP QuickSpecs so the TB3 GPIO cable will be the same for all 3.

He and I worked on some TB3 GPIO pinout stuff on the post HERE and my scribbles and pics are on that page. So far TB3 has been a time sink with little reward.

[chmedlyOHNO]

So would you suspect that this cable might work (or the pins can be swapped so it will work)?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134988934621

[SDH]

Consider the source...

Looks like a Dell USB2 cable to me.

Possible: HERE 

EDIT: The HP GPIO cable does feed power into the HP TB3 card but the HP GPIO cable for the HP TB3 card is much more complex as shown in the link I provided above. I'm quite sure that cable even if it is for a Lenovo TB3 card would not work for the HP card. Looks like you may need to make your own.

[chmedlyOHNO]

Yes, that first link showed no part number or close up photos. Definitely suspect except that it claimed thunderbolt in the title.

Here's another listing with numbers. I haven't checked to see if it's the correct one for the TB2 card but based on the post I was replying to, it seems that these might use the same connectors as the TB3 card, which is really the hardest part.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/375942641587

[SDH]

I edited my response and gave a link to an eBay Lenovo kit that may show the same cable.

What you just posted is one of the cables that IIRC HP had for their original TB1 PCIe card built for the ZX20 generation of HP workstations. As DGroves has posted here that first generation of HP TB PCIe card/GPIO cables was a Frankensteinean creature using traces on the motherboards that were never originally intended by HP to be used for Thunderbolt. As such there were 3 separate GPIO cables for use with different HP workstations. There then was a different GPIO cable for the ZX40's TB2 PCIe card, and yet another for the ZX G4 generation's TB3 card, and now comes the ZX G5's TB4 card (which uses a 2x6 plug at each end with one blank each end of its GPIO cable and now a total of 11 wires). Hence much confusion.

EDIT: HP engineers their workstations to a higher level than many other workstation builders. For example, the original introduction of USB3 into the ZX20 workstations was very complex in terms of running USB3 cables out from the motherboard to the front I/O area. A HP engineer clarified that particular engineering years ago for us, done to ensure zero data loss.

[chmedlyOHNO]

Oh your link is for the same chinese seller. Hmm. Not sure what to think about them. But I did message to ask for close up photos.

I certainly don't mind making one if I know the pinout and which are the correct connectors. I wish I had some part numbers for the connectors.

It seems so strange that HP doesn't have a solution for this. The Z8 G4 was still in production rather recently. I have to think there are lots of machines out there with these cards that are still under warranty.

I might just go through some boxes of misc computer cables and see what fits. Something with the right pin spacing, even if it's not the "correct" connector might suffice.

BTW, here's the card that I have.

[SDH]

I gave you that already,  HERE .

Down near the bottom, fluorescent green post it notes.... can't miss them.

Try mouser.com. 2x5 plugs. You can slurp in a bit of epoxy to the one blank hole for each plug end if you wish. You won't need to have the clip for retention at the card end.... friction from 9 pins will be enough.

[chmedlyOHNO]

Thank you.

I thought I tried your previous link and it simply went to the same thread that DGroves posted with the person who wanted to put the HP card in a Gigabyte motherboard. Too many links!