Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

SVTmaniac

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 30, 2013
417
737
I recently purchased a new Haswell rMBP for my wife for her work. I installed Windows 7 on it and everything works great as far as that goes. Unfortunately her work required her to use Ethernet at the office so I picked up a Thunderbolt - Ethernet adapter. I downloaded the drivers and installed it and it does work, but you have to have the adapter plugged in to the Macbook whenever Windows boots. If you plug it in after Windows has loaded then it will not recognize the adapter at all.

I've done a lot of searching and this seems to be a common issue and I can't seem to find a remedy for this. I refuse to believe that there is no fix for this? I could just buy a usb - ethernet adapter but then she will lose one of the only two usb ports on the computer.

Please tell me someone has found a fix for this?
 

saturnotaku

macrumors 68000
Mar 4, 2013
1,978
97
I recently purchased a new Haswell rMBP for my wife for her work. I installed Windows 7 on it and everything works great as far as that goes. Unfortunately her work required her to use Ethernet at the office so I picked up a Thunderbolt - Ethernet adapter. I downloaded the drivers and installed it and it does work, but you have to have the adapter plugged in to the Macbook whenever Windows boots. If you plug it in after Windows has loaded then it will not recognize the adapter at all.

It's a Thunderbolt issue. Nothing you can do about it except plug in the adapter before turning the computer on or using a USB connection.
 

SVTmaniac

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 30, 2013
417
737
It's a Thunderbolt issue. Nothing you can do about it except plug in the adapter before turning the computer on or using a USB connection.

That's what I was afraid of. Thanks for the answer.
 
Last edited:

dyn

macrumors 68030
Aug 8, 2009
2,708
388
.nl
It's a Thunderbolt issue.
It's not a Thunderbolt issue, it's a Windows "issue". Unlike OS X Windows does not support the hot plug capabilities (so no issue, just not supporting every TB feature). Windows sees it as any ordinary PCIe card. That means you have to connect it before powering on the machine and you can only disconnect it after powering off the machine.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.