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2016 Macbook Pros and eGPUs


leocanela

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4 hours ago, MVC said:

Hi, Could you clarify?

 

I don:t understand what you:re saying about 4K video.

 

Also * Turn off Automatic Graphics Switching (use the Radeon Pro GPU) to fix this.*

 

How do you do that?

 

Basically playing back 4k video on Photos, Final Cut Pro and Quicktime lags a lot for me with the eGPU plugged in. I'm also getting the odd frame drops with 1080p60 video as well. I have no problems playing 4k video on YouTube or VLC with the eGPU plugged in.

 

Meanwhile without the eGPU everything is fine and I'm getting no lag or frame drops when playing back 4k video.

 

And you can only turn off automatic graphics switching on MBPs with dGPUs i.e. he has a 15" MBP and he disabled the iGPU.

 

Maybe it's the iGPU that's causing the problems?

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So 4K video that you are playing on the internal screen or the external?

 

And how do you turn off the internal GPU?

 

I ask because I've noticed that my nMP 6,1 now lists "Automatic Graphics Switching" as "enabled"

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55 minutes ago, MVC said:

So 4K video that you are playing on the internal screen or the external?

 

And how do you turn off the internal GPU?

 

I ask because I've noticed that my nMP 6,1 now lists "Automatic Graphics Switching" as "enabled"

 

Both. It doesn't matter which screen as long as the eGPU is running (i.e. using the external screen as primary). I've even disabled the internal screen using DisableMonitor. No luck. Meanwhile even just switching the primary screen back to the internal screen of the laptop removes the lag/fps drops with 4k video.

 

I just noticed something as well, seeing as it's Apple software could it be something to do with Metal not playing ball with NVIDIA's driver? I don't think VLC/YouTube uses Metal as well as a couple of games that I tested this with... hmmm

 

I wonder if this can be solved by using an AMD card? Anyone with an AMD eGPU try to play 4k video?

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Top of the evening. 

 

Just had a go at this with a 13'' 2016, akitio thunder2/TB3 adapter (from apple), an external PSU/barrel plug mod and a 1060 EVGA 3Gb. 

 

Managed to install the drivers in Win 10, but can't get it initialised correctly. I get some activity on the external screen, but in the form of some artefacts and windows freezing. 

 

Tried all the variations of plugging it in at certain times etc, as I had the box working on a 13'' 2015 with a Zotac 1060, therefore have the experience. 

 

Anyone in this situation? 

 

Thanks 

 

 

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49 minutes ago, MVC said:

 

What does Device Manager say about the 1060?

 

Which 13" is it?

 

Emoji bar or escape key?

 

Have you done any turning off of devices?

 

Morning 

 

Device manager started off with the usual 'Microsoft Basic Display Adapter' message. Waited a bit for windows to find its drivers, and restarted when prompted. No luck initiating it with the default drivers. After boot up, I've downloaded the latest Nvidia driver for the card and did a 'clean install'. All drivers installed with no issues. 

 

It's the non touch bar 13''. 

 

The only thing I didn't turn off was the power supply for the Akitio (550w PSU with the barrel plug mod). - will give that a go now. 

 

As I've said, with the same procedure, I had my previous 13'' 2015 retina working. 

 

Also, under OSX, the card gets recognisez but with no luck of finding drivers (no pascal web drivers at the moment).

 

I'm thinking that the TB3 to TB2 may have something to do with this? 

 

Side note - Win 10 was installed via the new bootcamp method, where a usb is not needed anymore. 

 

Thanks for your time :)  

Capture1.PNG

Edited by Miller
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Non Touchbar with Windows is easy.

 

Go to device manager

 

switch to "view by connection"

 

disable the PCIE bridge above the FaceTime camera

 

then disable and re-enable the bridge above the 1060

 

it may crash and reboot but the 1060 should work

Edited by MVC
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10 hours ago, MVC said:

Non Touchbar with Windows is easy.

 

Go to device manager

 

switch to "view by connection"

 

disable the PCIE bridge above the FaceTime camera

 

then disable and re-enable the bridge above the 1060

 

it may crash and reboot but the 1060 should work

 

Good sir, you're a star, thanks for getting back to me :)

 

Hopefully someone might end up here and this advice will be of good use to them, as unfortunately i gave up and sold the card/box. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

DSDT override didn't work for me, for the creation of dsdt.aml, i get 5 Errors

 

Intel ACPI Component Architecture
ASL Optimizing Compiler version 20131115-32 [Nov 15 2013]
Copyright (c) 2000 - 2013 Intel Corporation

Compiler aborting due to parser-detected syntax error(s)
dsdt_MacBookP.dsl   9971:                 Zero), \_SB.SGDI (0x01020015)), \_SB.SPMV (0x01020015, Zero), If (LOr (LEqual (Arg0, 0x03),
Error    6126 -                               syntax error, unexpected PARSEOP_IF, expecting ',' or ')' ^

dsdt_MacBookP.dsl   9972:                 LEqual (Arg0, 0x04)))
Error    6126 -                 syntax error, unexpected ')' ^

dsdt_MacBookP.dsl   9976:                     }, If (LEqual (Arg0, 0x05))
Error    6126 -  syntax error, unexpected ',' ^

dsdt_MacBookP.dsl   9981:                     }, If (LNot (OSDW ()))
Error    6126 -  syntax error, unexpected ',' ^

dsdt_MacBookP.dsl   9984:                     }))
Error    6126 -  syntax error, unexpected ')' ^

ASL Input:     dsdt_MacBookP.dsl - 9988 lines, 294991 bytes, 3554 keywords

Compilation complete. 5 Errors, 0 Warnings, 0 Remarks, 0 Optimizations

 

and ultimately resulting in no aml file.

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On 1/11/2017 at 3:58 AM, Creativie said:

DSDT override didn't work for me, for the creation of dsdt.aml, i get 5 Errors

 

Intel ACPI Component Architecture
ASL Optimizing Compiler version 20131115-32 [Nov 15 2013]
Copyright (c) 2000 - 2013 Intel Corporation

Compiler aborting due to parser-detected syntax error(s)
dsdt_MacBookP.dsl   9971:                 Zero), \_SB.SGDI (0x01020015)), \_SB.SPMV (0x01020015, Zero), If (LOr (LEqual (Arg0, 0x03),
Error    6126 -                               syntax error, unexpected PARSEOP_IF, expecting ',' or ')' ^

dsdt_MacBookP.dsl   9972:                 LEqual (Arg0, 0x04)))
Error    6126 -                 syntax error, unexpected ')' ^

dsdt_MacBookP.dsl   9976:                     }, If (LEqual (Arg0, 0x05))
Error    6126 -  syntax error, unexpected ',' ^

dsdt_MacBookP.dsl   9981:                     }, If (LNot (OSDW ()))
Error    6126 -  syntax error, unexpected ',' ^

dsdt_MacBookP.dsl   9984:                     }))
Error    6126 -  syntax error, unexpected ')' ^

ASL Input:     dsdt_MacBookP.dsl - 9988 lines, 294991 bytes, 3554 keywords

Compilation complete. 5 Errors, 0 Warnings, 0 Remarks, 0 Optimizations

 

and ultimately resulting in no aml file.

 

Use MaciASL in MacOS to extract, edit, and compile. Should work without issue. I was seeing the same syntax errors using iASL for Windows.

 

 

On another note, has anyone with the 13" TB noticed massive FPS drops across all games when using an EGPU? Seems that it will randomly do it after I've been playing for a while. But only sometimes. I'm also having issues with automatic allocation to large memory space. Seems if I boot with ANY USB devices connected, the iGPU will fail to even load, which results in no functional internal screen. If you open device manager, the only GPU will be the external one, like the internal isn't even detected. I'm considering using the eGPU 1.31 tool to force allocation into large memory. 

 

Comparing to my mid-2014 MBP 15" w/ dGPU, the 2016 is superior in the fact that it never fails to POST. However, I didn't really have any resource allocation issues with the 2014, so it's a tie. The best part of the 2016 is being able to use Optimus without jacking with the EFI and NVRAM for 20 minutes to disable the dGPU and enable the iGPU on the 2014.

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On 1/13/2017 at 8:52 PM, ibanez_bass said:

 

Use MaciASL in MacOS to extract, edit, and compile. Should work without issue. I was seeing the same syntax errors using iASL for Windows.

 

 

On another note, has anyone with the 13" TB noticed massive FPS drops across all games when using an EGPU? Seems that it will randomly do it after I've been playing for a while. But only sometimes. I'm also having issues with automatic allocation to large memory space. Seems if I boot with ANY USB devices connected, the iGPU will fail to even load, which results in no functional internal screen. If you open device manager, the only GPU will be the external one, like the internal isn't even detected. I'm considering using the eGPU 1.31 tool to force allocation into large memory. 

 

Comparing to my mid-2014 MBP 15" w/ dGPU, the 2016 is superior in the fact that it never fails to POST. However, I didn't really have any resource allocation issues with the 2014, so it's a tie. The best part of the 2016 is being able to use Optimus without jacking with the EFI and NVRAM for 20 minutes to disable the dGPU and enable the iGPU on the 2014.

Thanks a lot! I managed to get it work! Odd thing though, is it normal to have a non-functioning internal speakers after the eGPU setup is complete?

Edited by Creativie
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On 1/17/2017 at 9:02 PM, Creativie said:

Thanks a lot! I managed to get it work! Odd thing though, is it normal to have a non-functioning internal speakers after the eGPU setup is complete?

 

Yes.

 

Easy Fix: Disable the audio device before shutdown. Plug in eGPU. Re-enable after boot.

 

Here's how I fixed it. Download devcon.exe in the Windows Driver Kit. Create 2 scripts using the command below: 


 

@echo off
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Tools\x64\devcon.exe" (put enable or disable here) HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_1013&DEV_8409&SUBSYS_106B3600&REV_1001

 

(This part for Pro version of Windows only) Place these batch files in C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\Machine\Scripts\Startup and C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\Machine\Scripts\Shutdown. Run gpedit.msc and go to Computer Configuration->Windows Settings->Scripts and activate the corresponding startup and shutdown script.

 

If you do not have Pro, you'll have to use task scheduler to coordinate an event on startup and shutdown. Enjoy!

 

Edited by ibanez_bass
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  • 5 weeks later...

Hi someone perhaps can answer my question. I've been happily running my egpu setup for some months - MBP-TB-15in with Razer Core + GTX 1080. However I want to disable windows test mode, which was required to do the DSDT fix. I want to do this because some games have anti-cheat detection that considers test mode as anti-cheat.

I'm wondering if disabling test mode will mess up my setup. I would simply go to CMD and type "Bcdedit.exe -set TESTSIGNING OFF"

Anyone know if this will un-override the DSDT? 

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Disable Test Signing will turn off the DSDT override. You can try this command in combination with disabling test signing:


"bcdedit /set PCIEXPRESS forcedisable"

 

Using that command resolved some boot issues I was having with my eGPU, but I have not tried it without the DSDT override.

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Thanks for the help. But what happens if it gets turned off? Can I turn it on by using the command again if it doesnt work? It took me forever to get this working as I don't have any tech background so I'm wary to risk it. But I do really want to play this game.

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