How to Install or Update the Thunderbolt Controller Driver and Firmware Using Dell Command | Update on Dell Computers

Affected Products:

Dell Command | Update
Dell Thunderbolt Docks

• The Thunderbolt driver is only seen once a Thunderbolt capable device is connected to the computer.
• The Thunderbolt firmware is not visible to the computer through Dell Command | Update. Even when the computer has a Thunderbolt controller.
  • The Thunderbolt firmware update tool has to be run at least once in order to create the Registry entries that are needed for Dell Command | Utility to access the information.

• Once you have confirmed that your computer has been purchased with the Thunderbolt controller.
• You have confirmed that Dell’s Command | Update utility is not installing or updating the Thunderbolt controller driver and firmware. You can go through the following steps:

To install the driver manually:

1. Ensure that a Thunderbolt device is plugged into computer.
2. Go to Dell Support page.
3. Under Which product do you need help with, enter the Service Tag of your supported Dell device and click Submit, or click Detect PC.
4. On the Product Support page for your Dell device, click Drivers & Downloads.
5. Click Manually find a specific driver for you [model].
6. Check Chipset checkbox under Category dropdown.
7. Locate Intel Thunderbolt Controller Driver in list and select Download on the right side of the page.
8. Locate the downloaded file on your computer (in Google Chrome, the file appears at the bottom of the Chrome window), and run the executable file.
9. Follow the on-screen instructions to install and update to the latest version.

Dell Command | Update utility can only update the firmware once you have manually installed the first revision of the firmware from the Dell Support Site:

1. Ensure that a Thunderbolt device is plugged into computer.
2. Go to Dell Support page.
3. Under Which product do you need help with, enter the Service Tag of your supported Dell device and click Submit, or click Detect PC.
4. On the Product Support page for your Dell device, click Drivers & Downloads.
5. Click Manually find a specific driver for you [model].
6. Check Chipset checkbox under Category dropdown.
7. Locate Intel Thunderbolt 3 Firmware in list and select Download on the right side of the page.
8. Locate the downloaded file on your computer (in Google Chrome, the file appears at the bottom of the Chrome window), and run the executable file.
9. Follow the on-screen instructions to install and update to the latest version.

Dell Command | Utility can now look for newer revisions as they come out.

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• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the Thunderbolt port on a Dell Computer