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    Asus G501 Thunderbolt Mod

    Discussion in 'ASUS Gaming Notebook Forum' started by kamueone, Apr 22, 2015.

  1. kamueone

    kamueone Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hello,

    Maybe more people have realized that the Asus G501 has way too much Versions. Most of them are not with Thundebolt. They just have a DisplayPort on them.
    The Versions i know:


    ASUS ROG G501JW-DS71 / with Thunderbolt

    Asus G501JW-CN030H / without Thunderbolt

    Asus G501JW-CN168H / without Thunderbolt

    ASUS ROG G501JW-F1053H / without Thunderbolt


    So all the models without thunderbolt are for the european Market. We thought about it and it could be possible that Asus has no rights to sell Thunderbolt Ultrabooks in the EU due to License Agreements.

    Maybe the Chipset for the Thunderbolt is on the motherboard, but its disabled or somthing like that. It could be that a Transistor is missing or Traces are cut or the Bios does not have the Optional Roms.

    The idea is to find out what chip is on the G501 without Thunderbolt. And then maybe find a way to enable it.


    there must be some kind of Controller near the Displayport:

    there must be Intel-DSL3510L chip on the board or an asus cactus ridge controller. somthing like in the picture, with TB letters.
    [​IMG]


    or this:


    [​IMG]




    Also the Traces to the Chip must be arc shaped. This is an explanation:

    [​IMG]



    THE Chip must be near the Port else it would give to much Signal loss.


    Hopefully we can mod this thing to be capabale of Thunderbolt. We need people that work together and look into there mashines to solve this mystery. Hope anybody is interested and is willing to help.


    Thank you,
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2015
    kamueone, Apr 22, 2015
    #1
  2. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    That chip is not cheap and if they are not selling it with it in the entire market either it has its own motherboard without the pads but at the very least it will not be on the board.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 22, 2015
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  3. kamueone

    kamueone Notebook Enthusiast

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    It would be nice to see a comperison of the 2 motherboards with and without thunderbolt.

    It must be more expensive to design a new motherboard witout thunderbolt, then making the same motherboard and restricting it somehow.
     
    kamueone, Apr 23, 2015
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  4. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    It would be the same board but without the chip in it. They may just have a small chip that redirects the DP signal straight to the connector in none TB models. Having a look wont hurt I am just warning you is all.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 24, 2015
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  5. kamueone

    kamueone Notebook Enthusiast

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    so maybe there is a way to change the chip...
     
    kamueone, Apr 24, 2015
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  6. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Yes you maybe able to change the configuration back if the pad for the chip is already there, there do seem to be a lot of associated passive components there so you will need some VERY fine soldering skills to do the job.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 25, 2015
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  7. kamueone

    kamueone Notebook Enthusiast

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    its worth a try, i am waiting for a g501 to arrive. so i can look at the motherboard
     
    kamueone, Apr 26, 2015
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  8. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    How do you intend to solder and figure the values for all the small passive parts?
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 26, 2015
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  9. kamueone

    kamueone Notebook Enthusiast

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    i didnt thought about it. i want to look at the board first.
     
    kamueone, Apr 28, 2015
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  10. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Like I said intel charge a pretty penny for that chip and if it's not there, the passive components will not be either.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 30, 2015
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  11. kamueone

    kamueone Notebook Enthusiast

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    ok i checked the board. the thunderbolt chip is on it. the problem is there are missing some components like thunderbolt muxer chip, power supply chip and some transistors. to much of an affored. i would do it if i can get a asus g 501 for free :)
     
    kamueone, May 3, 2015
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  12. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Do you have pictures?
     
    Meaker@Sager, May 3, 2015
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  13. geniusweb

    geniusweb Newbie

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    It's really strange why some laptops here in EU are without thunderbolt. For example
    Asus G501JW-FI267H
    This one you can buy in EU and it is without thunderbolt.
    However, it is not due to License Agreement, because one Asus laptop with thunderbolt you can really buy in EU - Asus UX501.

    Do somebody know if ASUS ROG G501JW-DS71 will work in EU with some adapter?
     
    geniusweb, Jul 28, 2015
    #13
  14. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    A license will not be a blanket one, they will have to pay per device shipped.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Jul 28, 2015
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