Z4 G4 Workstation Thunderbolt PCIe card firmware update error

[ChasPizzaz]

I have a HP Z4 Gen4 workstation and have purchased a HP workstation thunderbolt 3 PCIe card AS#L83263-001 Rev 0B

Following the installation instructions in per the HP document in slot 4. connecting the GPIO cable to the motherboard.

My BIOS is 2.94 (latest as of 26-10-2024) 

upon booting, the computer screen remains blank for about 20 seconds, then reboots and I get a screen saying the firmware for Thunderbolt card USB-c can't be updated & I have the choice of restarting or continuing without support of the card.

I have tried going back to earlier BIOS versions without success

Also, I did try other PCIe slots just to see if there was some other way to trigger the firmware upgrade. 

Any suggestions on how to get this card working? 

Chuck

[ChasPizzaz]

any suggestions ? struggling with this - still can't get it to work

[slewsys]

Thunderbolt 3 PCI-e card is fully working in an HP Z8 G4. The GPIO connector is a 10-pin connector, with pin 8 removed (marked in red in image below). The blank screen on boot is due to the failed firmware update (also pictured below).   Press "Continue to boot" when prompted and enter BIOS Setup (press F10) and, under Advanced -> Port Settings, scroll to the bottom.  Disable Thunderbolt firmware update and Thunderbolt security (to begin with, at least).  Connect an external Thunderbolt drive and reboot.  I have verified that it works under both Windows (after driver installation) and Linux. When Thunderbolt security is enabled, you'll be prompted under Windows to allow device connection.

There was some interaction between Nvidia 1080 graphics and Thunderbolt 3 PCI-e cards under Linux - with the monitor randomly going blank - until BIOS was updated (see P60 v02.94 05/17/2024, expand Workstations menu ->  sp153076.exe).   It is also possible to upgrade BIOS from Linux.  Run: 

sudo fwupdmgr get-upgrades

sudo fwupdmgr install

Disabling Thunderbolt security in BIOS may help if you want to transmit Display Port over thunderbolt.  The problem is that, with Thunderbolt security enabled, a monitor won't connect until authorized.  But without a monitor to authorize, you're stuck.

Good luck!