First Published: 2/5/2014       Last Modified: 10/12/2015      Last Modified by: LL    Article ID:139

Symptoms: Windows drivers can not be installed.

Products Affected:   Thunderbolt Station

Thunderbolt Station is Windows Thunderbolt certified product. However, you may encounter difficulty when installing Ethernet and USB3 drivers in Windows platform, please follow the steps below: A. If you are running Windows 7, 8 and 8.1: A-1. You will need to power on Thunderbolt Station and connect it to your Mac machine or Windows machine before host machine power-up. Windows 7 and 8 scans and activates devices connected to the Thunderbolt port only during the startup process. If a device isn't connected when the computer starts up, Windows will not recognize the device. Restart the computer with the device connected to the port. A-2. You will need to install both USB3 (XHC) and Etherenet (NIC) drivers. Simply download the driver package from https://archive.caldigit.com/support/TS/ThunderboltStation_Windows_Driver.zip A-2-1. Unzip it, and click on installer.exe. Follow the instructions and install both drivers. A-2-2. If you have difficulty installing these drivers, you can manually install them one by one. Go to "files" -> "NIC" -> "Win7" and choose the 32-bit or 64-bit for your windows, then click on the EXE file to run Ethernet driver installer. Go to "files" -> "xHC" and click on xHCDriver.exe to run USB3 driver installer. A-3. If you are unable to see any controllers on Thunderbolt Station, please ensure that you did plug in your Thunderbolt Station before booting up OS. Please try different Thunderbolt cable. And please install Intel Thunderbolt controller software. See section C below for more information. B. If you are running Windows 10: Windows 10 comes with inbox drivers to support USB and Network controllers on CalDigit Thunderbolt Station. You do not need to install any drivers to support these interfaces. C. If you are running Windows machine that is from PC makers such as Gigabyte, ASUS, HP, Intel, Acer, Dell...etc, you may need to install Intel Thunderbolt software before your computer can recognize USB and Network controllers on Thunderbolt Station. Below is the driver download from Intel. https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/23742/Thunderbolt-Intel-Thunderbolt-driver Once you install Intel's Thunderbolt controller driver and software, you will need to choose "Always Connect" to approve the connection to Thunderbolt Station. Notes: 1. Different PC motherboards may require different Intel Thunderbolt driver and software before your motherboard can recognize USB and Ethernet controllers, please check with your PC manufacturer's website for more information. 2. For Windows 10 platform, please obtain Intel Thunderbolt Software from your PC manufacturer. The correct version for Windows 10 is 15.2.32.250 or above.

Additional Information: Apple Knowledgebase: Using Thunderbolt with Boot Camp and Windows.

Keywords : Thunderbolt station, boot camp, windows, USB3, Ethernet