Hello Lenovo friends!

 

I've been a huge fan of ThinkPads-- my first was a T400s back in 2009.  And I've definitely found them to be solid, reliable machines.  I purchased a ThinkPad X1E last November and just encountered a new problem today though-- when I use my TB dock and play video, I've been getting BSOD messages.  I've connected the dock to two monitors, one via DP and the other via HDMI.  The Stop code is "DRIVER_VERIFIER_DMA_VIOLATION."

 

I've read online that to fix this BSOD, you simply download and install the latest TB firmware update.  So I tried doing that today.

 

But when I go to install the firmware update, I'm getting conflicting instructions!  The first dialog box says, "Please do not plug the Type C or Thunderbolt device to your system while updating the Thunderbolt Firmware."

 

The second dialog box instructs, "Please connect at least one Thunderbolt device to your PC..."

 

What is the correct step to do?  I only have one Thunderbolt device and that's my dock.  Should I connect it to my X1E while I'm updating the TB firmware?  Or not?  I've read on other forum posts that other X1E owners have actually bricked their docks when performing TB updates so I'm very concerned about that too.  Can someone please advise?  Thank you!

 

PS.  Here are some of my system details too, btw, in case that helps:

My Product #:  20MFCTO1WW

My BIOS version:  N2EET37W 1.19

 

Some screenshots:

 

1.  Here's the BSOD I've been randomly receiving when I use my TB dock.  I've noticed that the BSOD seems to appear whenever I try to play video on my connected monitors.

 

2.  Here's the TB firmware update I'm trying to install via the Lenovo Vantage app:

 

3.  Here's the first dialog box instructing to not plug in a Type C or TB device while the firmware update is performed:

 

4.  Here's the second dialog box instructing to plug in a Type C or TB device while updating the TB firmware.

Hi rl2!

 

Welcome to the Community,

 

Instructions in the Readme File mentions to just follow the prompt,

 

https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n2eti04w.txt

 

We would recommend to follow the steps on the existing windows, which is the Installation Wizard, for it to proceed.

 

Regards,

And what do I do if I don't have any Thunderbolt device??? Lenovo Vantage has been bugging me to install that Thunderbolt update for quite a while, but since it asks for a TB device, I've always canceled it. Now, a week ago, Lenovo Support even sent an email to tell me to install it. This time I manually downloaded the update from the website, and it behaves exactly as the OP describes above, asking for a TB device — so I'm stuck again!