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DIY eGPU Macbook experiences


oripash

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Jojow,

Sadly it has basically been discovered that many TB2 Macs have become more trouble to eGPU with then the TB1 Macs were.

I have a thread where I have tried to group the info.

I only tested once on a 2014 rMBP 15" with Iris only but in my experience it would not output video in OS X without a specialized EFI rom.

Amazingly, all of the TB2 Macs I tried had this issue while another guy tried different TB2 Macs and they all worked to some degree or another.

Windows seems to be easier to get external screen output for most.

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MBPr 15" 2014 doens't provide external screen support in OS X with an Nvidia eGPU, you can only use it for CUDA/OpenCL. AMD cards work though.

At least for now it's this way, read this as reference -> http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/8507-no-kext-loaded-gtx-970-akitio2.html

Thanks for the reference, Morv.

Altough this guy seems to be getting the expected results link.

- - - Updated - - -

Jojow,

Sadly it has basically been discovered that many TB2 Macs have become more trouble to eGPU with then the TB1 Macs were.

I have a thread where I have tried to group the info.

I only tested once on a rMBP 15" with Iris only but in my experience it would not output video in OS X without a specialized EFI rom.

Amazingly, all of the TB2 Macs I tried had this issue while another guy tried different TB2 Macs and they all worked to some degree or another.

Windows seems to be easier to get external screen output for most.

Thanks a lot!

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Thanks for the reference, Morv.

Altough this guy seems to be getting the expected results link.

That's because it's a Mac Mini 2012 and not a MBPr 15" 2014...;) The hardware used is important, it's not about the OS version or anything software related. MVC already gave you a hint to this, though.

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That's because it's a Mac Mini 2012 and not a MBPr 15" 2014...;) The hardware used is important, it's not about the OS version or anything software related. MVC already gave you a hint to this, though.

It's a pain that Apple seems to restrict the use of such experiments.

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experiments

That's the problem! Experiments are not stable and are not supported.

Just a quick input, I was not able to get my GTX 970 working on my 15" (mid 2014) in OSX, but it worked on my 13" (late 2013).

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Most of the time they are using a (powered) riser cable. That has two main reasons:

- they want to place the GPU outside the enclisure (like the AKiTiO) because the GPU doesn't fit

- they want to provide extra power to the slot with a powered riser (that was mostly done before the idea of using a molex->barrel plug or soldering cables directly to the slot.

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You can still put it into a regular PC case. ITX cases are neat and do not use too much space.

You can see in my guide how I did it: http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/8571-%5Bguide%5D-2014-15-macbook-pro-iris-gtx970%4016gbps-tb2-akitio-thunder2-win8-1-a.html

Sonnet III-D: 9.7 x 40.5 x 25.9 cm

RVZ01: 10.5 x 38.2 x 35.0 cm

And here is a list of other nice cases: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/8675-egpu-cases.html

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So you take the Akitio box apart for the TB connector?

Yes! I am using a long graphics card that wouldn't into the AKiTiO at all. Additionally I have a powered riser (the flexible PCIe slot extention with power connector) to feed that hungry beast. To get the inportant part from the AKiTiO I opened it, released the screws holding the PCB (printed circuit board) and connected the riser + graphics card to it. For better cooling and nicer appearance I put everything into a computer case.

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Hello, I'm attempting to run DIY eGPU setup 1.3 on a 2012 Macbook Pro (running Win7 under MBR.) I've got a Radeon HD 6850 hooked up through a PE4L-EC060A and Sonnet Echo ExpressCard to TB adapter.

I've already run the Disk Image setup which succeeded in giving me the eGPU Setup boot option. I also have an external LCD connected to the eGPU incase any pertinent info shows up there during setup, as the internal LCD won't work with ATI cards AFAIK.

However, I cannot boot to Windows in the first place if my eGPU is turned on before I turn on the PC/select the Windows partition from Startup Disk menu. I just get a black screen. If I wait until I see the boot options for windows 7/eGPU setup, and turn on the eGPU at that point (according to the troubleshooting guides), wait for the red light to turn off, and then boot into Windows 7, the eGPU is detected by windows, and shows up with Error 12 in device manager as expected.

If I do the above and select eGPU setup instead of Windows 7, I will get:

"Booting 'DIY eGPU Setup 1.30 disk image [/eGPU/eGPU-Setup-130.img]'

(hd0,3)"

And it will hang on that screen, presumably forever. I've let it go 15+ minutes and nothing.

I saw nothing in the troubleshooting about eGPU Setup hanging, so I've come here. Any suggestions? Further info that may be needed?

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Hello, I'm attempting to run DIY eGPU setup 1.3 on a 2012 Macbook Pro (running Win7 under MBR.) I've got a Radeon HD 6850 hooked up through a PE4L-EC060A and Sonnet Echo ExpressCard to TB adapter.

I've already run the Disk Image setup which succeeded in giving me the eGPU Setup boot option. I also have an external LCD connected to the eGPU incase any pertinent info shows up there during setup, as the internal LCD won't work with ATI cards AFAIK.

However, I cannot boot to Windows in the first place if my eGPU is turned on before I turn on the PC/select the Windows partition from Startup Disk menu. I just get a black screen. If I wait until I see the boot options for windows 7/eGPU setup, and turn on the eGPU at that point (according to the troubleshooting guides), wait for the red light to turn off, and then boot into Windows 7, the eGPU is detected by windows, and shows up with Error 12 in device manager as expected.

If I do the above and select eGPU setup instead of Windows 7, I will get:

"Booting 'DIY eGPU Setup 1.30 disk image [/eGPU/eGPU-Setup-130.img]'

(hd0,3)"

And it will hang on that screen, presumably forever. I've let it go 15+ minutes and nothing.

I saw nothing in the troubleshooting about eGPU Setup hanging, so I've come here. Any suggestions? Further info that may be needed?

Please contact me via email to discuss. Thank you.

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hi everyone,

i'm a new user i bought an EVGA gtx970, akitio thunderbolt 2, antec 550 and pci 16 riser molex.

i have a little big problem, i have connected everything to my macbook but when i turn on the mac via bootcamp the monitor that is connected to the evga (HDMI monitor) works just for 2 second and than no more signal.

i don't know very well how can i do to work with my egpu...

i've installed windows 8.1 pro via bootcamp and my mac is: macbook pro 15 intel i7 Early 2013 with dGPU 650 m

(sorry for my english... i'm italian)

thanks!

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Yes yes, the egpu and the akitio are switched on but when i connect it to my mac and my external monitor doesn't appear nothing

Your Mac is not the easiest model to use eGPU on Win8.1 out of the box, please follow this guide: http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/8006-%5Bguide%5D-2012-15-macbook-pro-gtx750ti%4010gbps-tb1-akitio-thunder2-win8-1-bios.html

On OS X you need the latest Nvidia web drivers, modify the kexts and preferably use DVI or DP interface, not HDMI. Take a look at implementation guides section for more details.

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i've installed DIY setup 1.2 but now i found this error and i don't know how can i do.

when i click: pci compaction/ run compact/ "no solution found. set other PCI compaction options then try again".

do you know how can i do?

because also in windows / device manager i can't see it...

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