Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About the Thunderbolt Port on a Dell Computer

• A Port or Connector: On a Dell personal computer, it has either holes or a slot that matches the plug or device that you are connecting to the Port.
• Thunderbolt (Previously Light Peak): Intel and Apple jointly developed the thunderbolt. It is available since February 2011. It is an industry standard that defines the cables, connectors, and the communications protocols used in a bus. These are used for connection, communication, and power supply between computers and electronic devices.

How does it work?

Thunderbolt is a revolutionary I/O technology that supports high-resolution displays and high-performance data devices through a single, compact port. Thunderbolt is a hardware interface that allows for the connection of devices to a computer. It uses the same connector as Mini DisplayPort (MDP). Thunderbolt combines Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Express (PCIe) and DisplayPort (DP) into one serial signal alongside a DC connection for electric power, transmitted over one cable. One connector supports up to six (6) devices through various topologies.

Thunderbolt supports Data, Video, Audio, and Power from a single port.

Thunderbolt cables are mainly copper. (There are still some fiber optic cables available, but power cannot be transmitted through them.) The cables are bi-directional, and each Thunderbolt port supports two channels, which means that the port can send and receive data simultaneously. It can also supply power through to any devices plugged to that port. There is a limit of six (6) devices that are plugged in a daisy chain to any Thunderbolt port. These are Active cables. They cost more than similar cables for DisplayPort and USB.

Thunderbolt 3 came out in 2015. It moved from a Mini DisplayPort connector to a USB Type-C connector and incorporated several advances over Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2. There was limited adoption of the standard while it used the Mini DisplayPort connector. This has changed with the inclusion of the Type-C connector to the Thunderbolt Interface.

2020 brought us a new standard from Intel that is named Thunderbolt 4. Thunderbolt is a high-speed protocol. It can dynamically adjust data and video bandwidth. It is now the basis of the USB4 protocol specification. Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 products use the same protocol specification which improves compatibility for any USB Type-C based products.

There are four (4) types of Thunderbolt ports in use. Select your version from the tabs below to see the available ports and plugs and what they can do:

• Thunderbolt
• Thunderbolt 2
• Thunderbolt 3
• Thunderbolt 4

Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt 1 was the first revision of the Thunderbolt port that was brought out in 2011.

It has data rates of 10 Gbit/s and is dual-channel.

Port		Plug

Thunderbolt 2

Thunderbolt 2.0 is an update on the original Thunderbolt specification that came out in 2013.

It increased the signaling rate from 2 bi-directional 10 Gbit/s channels to a single bi-directional 20 Gbit/s channel. The amount of data able to go through the connection has not increased, but the throughput of a single channel has doubled.

Thunderbolt 2 can both stream 4K video and write it to Hard Disk simultaneously.

The connector is still a Mini Display Port and Thunderbolt 2 supports the latest DisplayPort 2.1 specification and is backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 1 devices. These legacy devices still only work at Thunderbolt 1 speeds.

Port		Plug

Thunderbolt 3

2015 brought us Thunderbolt 3 which improved upon Thunderbolt 2 and uses a USB Type-C Connector.

Transfer speeds were doubled from 20 Gbit/s to 40 Gbit/s, which gives four times the data and twice the video bandwidth of any previous cable.

It supports at minimum 1 x 4K display at 60 Hz and increases charging to 100 Watts for a 15 W device.

As with previous standards, it incorporates support for USB 3.1, so that regular USB type-C cables can also be used in this port.

As it incorporates a new connector, it is not compatible with legacy devices, without the use of intermediary adapters.

Port		Plug

Thunderbolt 4

Thunderbolt 4 is new out in 2020 and continues to use a USB Type-C Connector.

Transfer speeds remain 40 Gbit/s, which still gives four times the data and twice the video bandwidth of any previous cable.

It supports at minimum 2 x 4K, or 1 x 8K display at 60 Hz and increases charging to 100 Watts for a 15 W device.

Where Thunderbolt 3 supports only 16 Gbit/s data rate over PCI express, Thunderbolt 4 supports double that at 32 Gbit/s.

As with previous standards, it incorporates support for USB4 and older, so that regular USB type-C cables can also be used in this port.

It is still not compatible with legacy devices, without the use of intermediary adapters.

Port		Plug

Dell has several adapter cables available for sale on their online Store:

• Dell Online Accessories Store

• Dell Adapters
• Visiontek Adapters
• C2G Adapters

Dell Adapters

Type	Appearance
Dell Adapter - USB-C to HDMI
Dell Adapter - USB-C to VGA
Dell Adapter - USB-C to Ethernet (Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) Boot)
Dell Adapter - USB-C to USB-A 3.1
Dell Adapter - USB-C to HDMI/VGA/Ethernet/USB 3.0

VisionTek Adapters

Type	Appearance
VisionTek - USB Type-C to Display Port
VisionTek - USB Type-C to HDMI
VisionTek - USB Type-C to VGA

C2G Adapters

Type	Appearance
C2G - USB (2.0) Type-C to USB-Micro B USB
C2G - USB (3.1) Type-C to USB Micro B USB

So far there has not been an operating system that has not supported Thunderbolt. Everything from Apple, Linux, and Windows use this standard if the technology and drivers are available.

Some devices do not supply their own power and must take power from the personal computer they are connected to. They can transfer data across the same connection:

Mini Display Port

Mini Display Port supplies 10 Watts charging.

Type-C

USB Type-C can supply 100 Watts of power charging for a 15 W device.

Powered from the personal computer

These devices are hot pluggable. That means they work when they are plugged in. However, some proprietary drivers may be needed for any addon functions the devices may have.

Independent Power Source

Your Thunderbolt ports on your Dell computer are plug and play. If you have issues with your Thunderbolt port, it is port-related, driver related, or device related. The following solutions help you identify the problem to resolve your Thunderbolt port issues.

Begin troubleshooting your Thunderbolt ports by checking Device Manager to see if your Thunderbolt ports or hubs are working properly.

1. Click the Start button.

2. Click the Control Panel.

3. Click Hardware and Sound.

4. Click Device Manager.

5. Double-click Chipset and check under the PCI Express root to see if all your Thunderbolt connections are functioning correctly. Any devices not functioning have a yellow exclamation mark in front of them.

6. If Device Manager shows any Thunderbolt connections that are not functioning, check for updated drivers.

7. If the Thunderbolt connection is missing altogether, restart your personal computer with the Device plugged and install the driver that came with the device.

You can check your warranty status on the link below.

• Warranty status

The first step is to check the ports, the connector, and the cable for any wear and tear or damage that might be causing you problems:

1. Checking for damage is looking at the Thunderbolt ports and visually checking if there are any:

   • Cracks in the plastics surrounding the port?
   • Any part of the port that is crimped or bent?
   • Any pins from inside the port bent or missing?
   • Any parts of the port missing or broken off?
   • Any damage to the devices male connector?
   • Any damage to the cable from the connector to the device?

2. If you identify any of the above, you must have in place an accidental damage warranty or be prepared for a chargeable repair call. (Your local Technical Support team provides a quote for this repair.)

3. If there is no damage to the port or device, then carry on with the next step.

4. Does the external Thunderbolt device work ok in another computer?

   1. Yes, then proceed with the next step.

   2. No, then you must replace the device.

5. Plug the device to the port. If you move the connector while it is plugged into the Thunderbolt port, does it affect whether the device is picked up or not?

   1. Yes, then contact your local Technical Support team to take the connection issue further.

   2. No, then go to the next step.

6. Have you ruled out a software issue in any way? There are four basic ways to accomplish this.

   1. You can restart the personal computer with the Thunderbolt device plugged directly to the Port on its own. Once the personal computer has restarted, install the driver that came with the device. If it still does not work, then you must proceed with one of the remaining options. (a through d.).

   2. You can two way swap your Hard drive with one from a similar working computer. Does the fault follow the hard drive to a new machine, or does it stay with your computer? Follow your User Guide for instructions on removing any hardware parts. The steps change from computer type to the computer type. You can search on our support site using terms such as "your computers model type," "CRU" and "removal" to find a guide specific to your machine.

   3. You can boot from an Ubuntu Live CD (Regardless of the operating system in use on the computer.) and check to see if you experience the same issue in another operating system. Ubuntu live CDs allow you to boot the operating system off the CD without installing it on your Hard Drive. You can download an ISO of the CD on the Download link below. Tap rapidly at the F12 key when the computer boots to the Dell Splash screen. Choose the CD/DVD drive option from the boot once menu that appears.

      • Ubuntu ISO Download Link

   4. You can run a factory restore or reinstall your Operating system.

7. Was the issue seen once the operating system and Software were ruled out?

   1. No, then the issue is resolved.

   2. Yes, then contact your support to take this further, they take you through some hardware diagnostics. These are built into your personal computer, and you can also access more on the Dell Support Site by entering your service tag.

See the additional information section at the bottom of this article for contact us instructions.

Yes, you can, however, you must configure your BIOS to support this. See below:

PXE Booting

In order to enable PXE booting, you are required to enable several other options in the BIOS.

1. Check both the Legacy Option ROMs and the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Network Stack:

   

2. Enable Thunderbolt Boot support in the BIOS: (check all boxes.)

   

3. The server must support UEFI PXE Boot (Windows Server 2012 at minimum is required).

4. Exit the BIOS and select UEFI PXE Boot IPv4.

5. The Windows Deployment Services (WDS) configuration for UEFI must contain x86 and x64 boot images.

   

Dell has an online diagnostic tool to help identify and fix issues with your computer.

1. Go to the Dell personal computer Diagnostic page.

2. Click the Custom Component Test tab.

3. Locate the listing for Thunderbolt, Display Port, and or USB.

4. Select the test which matches your port.

5. Click Run Diagnostics.

6. Agree to the Terms and Conditions in the Legal Statement.

7. Follow the instructions to test each port.

There does not appear to be any doubt that the Thunderbolt standard is here to stay. Especially with the Type-C which is now promising ever more use. However, there has not been a great uptake in converting to this standard. Thunderbolt users are more likely to be professionals. Users who are in need of the benefits and quality of the standard to do their jobs. As they used to do with the Firewire standard. I can see this following the same track as Firewire using high Quality and high-end devices. However, the Type-C connectors ability to cross over and share markets with USB cannot be discounted.

What benefits does the Type-C USB standard bring:

Improved Transfer Speeds

Type-C is a connector type, so we have to say that the newest revision is Type-C using the Thunderbolt 4 standards. This Standard has transfer rates of 40Gbit/sec. We recommend that you check any devices you purchase with a Type-C connector to ensure it supports Thunderbolt if that is your intended use.

Improved Power Delivery

The Type-C supplies 100 Watts, and it is bi-directional. The same connection can either supply or receive power simultaneously that it is transmitting data across the same connection. Many devices have swapped over to USB charging cables over the last few years and this development can only speed up this process further.

Improved Connector and Plug Design

The Type-C connector is both smaller and better designed than the old Mini DisplayPort connector. It is also able to take the place of the multitude of USB types in use. (Such as the Micro, Mini and Type-D connectors.) It is impossible to plug this cable in the wrong way round as it is reversible. It also leaves room for further improvements down the line.

Improved Protocols

The Type-C can support several different protocols using Alternate Modes. These allow you to have adapters that can output VGA, DVI, DisplayPort, HDMI, or other types of connection from a single Thunderbolt port.

Simplifying the usage of Thunderbolt

The Type-C should lead to a more unified standard with one connector type and interchangeable cables and devices.