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14" Dell Latitude E6430 - Performance Upgrades and System Mods


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That's great news!!! Waiting for your implementation.

Regarding the descryptor flash, I have done it both ways. The first time I removed the palmrest but let the keyboard connected on the side (used a plastic bag under the keyboard to avoid any kind of shortcircuit). The second time I completely removed the palmrest and keyboard, and used a USB keyboard to boot/flash. If you have a second computer you can edit there your bios to unlock your descryptor. After you successfully apply the paperclip mod your descryptor will be unlocked as long as you don't shutdown your laptop (rebooting won't matter). Flashing the descryptor region with an modified dump will make the unlock permanent

Keep us posted.

Surely will. I was planning to document my implementation anyway to help other beginners like me. Guide seems easy enough to understand though.

Reverted back to Windows 7 Pro x64 so I can't really answer the DX12 question yet.

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Surely will. I was planning to document my implementation anyway to help other beginners like me. Guide seems easy enough to understand though.

Reverted back to Windows 7 Pro x64 so I can't really answer the DX12 question yet.

Feel free to correct me or add more staff whenever you think something is not clear with a post or PM. English is not my native language and you may not understand what I really want to say.

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Got my EXP GDC in hand, forgot to ask for ExpressCard 54 version, so now i'll need to be careful not to damage the slot accidentally when moving the cable.

I have no external monitor to test with though, so I'm trying to get internal display functionality. Booting with it connected blackscreens, though the system is obviously functional and loading.

Hot-plugging it after boot won't show the eGPU in device manager.

EDIT1: I can boot the system with the EXP GDC Timers set to 7seconds. If I try to boot with the timers set to 0, i boot blackscreen. If I try to hot-plug with the timers set to 0, the system restarts.

EDIT2: With dynamic TOLUD, I could boot to windows 10, see both the iGPU and the eGPU and get error 12 on the eGPU. With the max tolud set to 2.5GB (or any other value that doesn't error 12), the system will no longer be able to boot to windows with the eGPU attached. I get BSOD system_service_exception in atikmpag.sys. Trying to hot-plug it gives me another BSOD, this time related to the Kernel (Kernel_security_check_failure).

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Got my EXP GDC in hand, forgot to ask for ExpressCard 54 version, so now i'll need to be careful not to damage the slot accidentally when moving the cable.

I have no external monitor to test with though, so I'm trying to get internal display functionality. Booting with it connected blackscreens, though the system is obviously functional and loading.

Hot-plugging it after boot won't show the eGPU in device manager.

Try searching on ebay for "34 to 54 stabilizer".

Did you set the TOLUD value using UEFI variables?

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Set var 0x1f8 (PEG3, the only PEG device that doesn't offer a Gen3 speed setting, I'm assuming this one is the ExpressCard) to 0x1, no change.

This makes me wonder. If the other 3 PEG devices (devices 0,1 and 2, which I'm assuming are the mPCIe slots) support Gen3, then wouldn't using one of these in conjunction with the PE4C v3.0 with Gen3 support offer another doubling of bandwidth? Since they can be set manually to gen3 through EFI vars, PCIE x1 3.0 should be equal to x2 2.0 and x4 1.0 right? (with the added benefit that being x1 would engage nvidia compression).

Also Ubuntu won't boot. Didn't try hotplugging ubuntu yet.

EDIT: Booting an old HD4850 works, though the driver support is pretty much not there, all it can do is browse.

EDIT2: Managed to boot it up properly using Leshcat drivers, after uninstalling VIRTU MVP. Virtu MVP software makes the gpu unusable.

The question now is, how do I use the eGPU on internal display?

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Set var 0x1f8 (PEG3, the only PEG device that doesn't offer a Gen3 speed setting, I'm assuming this one is the ExpressCard) to 0x1, no change.

This makes me wonder. If the other 3 PEG devices (devices 0,1 and 2, which I'm assuming are the mPCIe slots) support Gen3, then wouldn't using one of these in conjunction with the PE4C v3.0 with Gen3 support offer another doubling of bandwidth? Since they can be set manually to gen3 through EFI vars, PCIE x1 3.0 should be equal to x2 2.0 and x4 1.0 right? (with the added benefit that being x1 would engage nvidia compression).

Intel Series 6-8 chipsets support max Gen2 on the Southbridge PCIe ports used to host mPCIe and expresscard slots. It's only the northbridge PCIe port used to host dGPUs that are Gen3 capable in Series7+ chipsets.

If Gen3 was possible on mPCIe/EC slots I can assure you it would have been set many times over already.

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Set var 0x1f8 (PEG3, the only PEG device that doesn't offer a Gen3 speed setting, I'm assuming this one is the ExpressCard) to 0x1, no change.

This makes me wonder. If the other 3 PEG devices (devices 0,1 and 2, which I'm assuming are the mPCIe slots) support Gen3, then wouldn't using one of these in conjunction with the PE4C v3.0 with Gen3 support offer another doubling of bandwidth? Since they can be set manually to gen3 through EFI vars, PCIE x1 3.0 should be equal to x2 2.0 and x4 1.0 right? (with the added benefit that being x1 would engage nvidia compression).

Also Ubuntu won't boot. Didn't try hotplugging ubuntu yet. EDIT: Booting an old HD4850 works, though the driver support is pretty much not there, all it can do is browse. EDIT2: Managed to boot it up properly using Leshcat drivers, after uninstalling VIRTU MVP. Virtu MVP software makes the gpu unusable. The question now is, how do I use the eGPU on internal display?



Quote

Intel Series 6-8 chipsets support max Gen2 on the Southbridge PCIe ports used to host mPCIe and expresscard slots. It's only the northbridge PCIe port used to host dGPUs that are Gen3 capable in Series7+ chipsets.

If Gen3 was possible on mPCIe/EC slots I can assure you it would have been set many times over already.



You are trying to change the gen on the wrong variable. This one is for PEG device 3 which is connected directly to the CPU thus gen3 (in case the laptop came with 3 dGPUs).

The correct value for southbridge PCI Express Root Port 3 (ExpressCard) as noted here would be

Setting: PCIe Speed, Variable: 0xB4

Option: Auto, Value: 0x0

Option: Gen1, Value: 0x1

Option: Gen2, Value: 0x2

End of Options


UPDATE: This will work only for devices that are connected on the machine prior to boot. If you disconnect or hotplug the machine it will revert to Gen2 speeds as pointed here. thanks @Tech Inferno Fan for pointing that out.

Haven't made myself any tests on W10, only 8.1 and 7 and that's why I probably can't help you more.

Also Khenglish has noted many times that Fastboot in UEFI BIOS should be put to Thorough mode in order for the eGPU to work without issues. Could you try setting that?
Spoiler

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Yea, made that happen. Actually setting max tolud is all that mattered. The crashing appears to have been due to virtu mvp (though i still can't hotplug).

The last hangup is trying to find a workable way to render on the internal screen without virtu mvp.

Sent from my Neken N6 using Tapatalk

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Yea, made that happen. Actually setting max tolud is all that mattered. The crashing appears to have been due to virtu mvp (though i still can't hotplug).

The last hangup is trying to find a workable way to render on the internal screen without virtu mvp.

Sent from my Neken N6 using Tapatalk

You are using the HD4850? If yes you won't be able to use it with internal screen even with Virtu Mvp.

If you are using an Nvidia GPU follow Tech Inferno Fan guide for the http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-pc/2747-12-dell-e6230-hd7870-gtx660%40x4gbps-c-ec2-pe4l-2-1b-win7-%5BTech Inferno Fan%5D.html.

This way you will have optimus enabled and will be able to use the internal screen without issues.

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I'm using an r9-270x. No nvidia gpu unfortunately, and as far as i can tell, optimus internal lcd mode doesn't work for people in windows 10 anyway.

Virtu also refuses to work in windows 10.

Sent from my Neken N6 using Tapatalk

If that's the case I think that the only solution (until you buy an external screen) would be to connect a dummy plug on your card, ran the application/game in windowed mode and then drag it on your internal screen.

You can also try using Ultramon. I remember using it back in the day to help me drag the window from the dummy screen (used with an old HD4870 some years back)

EDIT: Found the original post by Tech Inferno Fan here. Hope Ultramon works for 10 (it works on 8.1 without issues)

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I got my hands on an external screen to experiment with, and the following conclusions have been drawn:

My EXP GDC Beast works ONLY if:

- I boot from the eGPU directly (booting from iGPU will either stall my boot, bsod, or make it to windows only for the driver to start crashing constantly once I connect the external monitor).

- I use Gen1 Expresscard (Gen2 will do all of the above, regardless from which device I boot).

So my EXP GDC only works at gen 1 speed. This sucks. I can't even use both internal and external LCD, external only.

P6568 3DMark11 Score

4466 3DMark Firestrike

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Btw timohour, i'd like to mention that your assistance has been amazingly helpful, descriptive and usually spot-on. Thank you. Would have been ripping my hair out in frustration a long time ago without your help.

Sent from my Neken N6 using Tapatalk

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I got my hands on an external screen to experiment with, and the following conclusions have been drawn: My EXP GDC Beast works ONLY if: - I boot from the eGPU directly (booting from iGPU will either stall my boot, bsod, or make it to windows only for the driver to start crashing constantly once I connect the external monitor). - I use Gen1 Expresscard (Gen2 will do all of the above, regardless from which device I boot).

So my EXP GDC only works at gen 1 speed. This sucks. I can't even use both internal and external LCD, external only.

P6568 3DMark11 Score 4466 3DMark Firestrike



If you recently purchased your EXP GDC you should consider talking to your seller for compensation cause it is supposed to be gen2 compatible.

Many users and myself have connected Gen2 compatible hardware on the EC slot without issues both Nvidia and AMD and we had no problem thus it is probably the adapter's issue.

If you are going to boot with the eGPU plugged in, latitudes disable the iGPU and you won't be able to enable it no matter what. That's why you don't have internal screen along with external.

You may try this EFI variable and set Primary Display to iGPU (if it is not already selected).
Setting: Primary Display, Variable: 0x1D4 
Option: Auto, Value: 0x3
Option: IGFX, Value: 0x0 
Option: PEG, Value: 0x1
Option: PCI Bus, Value: 0x2

or maybe this one

Setting: Internal Graphics, Variable: 0x1D8

Option: Auto, Value: 0x2

Option: Disabled, Value: 0x0

Option: Enabled, Value: 0x1
This way you may be able to cold boot your laptop with the eGPU connected and it won't disable the iGPU. (haven't tried it, it may not work)

Have you tried hotplugging to the EC slot after POST before windows? That's how it worked for me. You can also try sleep, connect and then wake. It worked for W7 and W8.1 it most probably works with W10.
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My main problem, is that the behavior exhibited when enabling Gen2 (driver crash and reset, system freeze) is also exhibited when the iGPU is active at the same time as the eGPU, whether or not the adapter is set to Gen1 or Gen2. It is possible to boot with both iGPU and the eGPU, but putting any activity on the eGPU in that situation (such as plugging in an external display) will crash my drivers (so long as I have any drivers installed) and make the system almost unusable.

I can only reliably use the eGPU by booting it as primary. An acceptable compromise might be booting the eGPU as main, but still somehow enabling the iGPU as secondary, so that I can get internal display. I wonder if setting the Internal Graphics variable to Enabled instead of Auto, and the Primary Display variable to PEG (this is a pretty poor selection, does the ExpressCard count as PEG?) might allow me to retain internal LCD capabilities.

Sleep / connect / wake = guaranteed BSOD. Hotplugging to the EC slot after post before Windows, I've tried a few times, but tends to stall my windows loading more often than not - either way so long as I get to windows (or Ubuntu) with both the iGPU and the eGPU, the system isn't stable and will BSOD or freeze sooner or later.

I purchased from Banggood, their return/refund policy seems sketchy, I sent their customer support team an e-mail but they've not responded yet. I'm regretting not picking the PE4C now, though I've a peeve about soldered cables and how easy they are to break...

By the way, if I consider using a x2.2 setup, do you have any suggestions on making it less intrusive? Or do I have to give up either WLAN or WWAN, and make a very unsightly hole in my laptop or wear it with no bottom plate?

Thanks for those variables, will try out combinations soon. Hope I don't render the system unbootable and have to clear CMOS again :D

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My main problem, is that the behavior exhibited when enabling Gen2 (driver crash and reset, system freeze) is also exhibited when the iGPU is active at the same time as the eGPU, whether or not the adapter is set to Gen1 or Gen2. It is possible to boot with both iGPU and the eGPU, but putting any activity on the eGPU in that situation (such as plugging in an external display) will crash my drivers (so long as I have any drivers installed) and make the system almost unusable.

I can only reliably use the eGPU by booting it as primary. An acceptable compromise might be booting the eGPU as main, but still somehow enabling the iGPU as secondary, so that I can get internal display. I wonder if setting the Internal Graphics variable to Enabled instead of Auto, and the Primary Display variable to PEG (this is a pretty poor selection, does the ExpressCard count as PEG?) might allow me to retain internal LCD capabilities.

Sleep / connect / wake = guaranteed BSOD. Hotplugging to the EC slot after post before Windows, I've tried a few times, but tends to stall my windows loading more often than not - either way so long as I get to windows (or Ubuntu) with both the iGPU and the eGPU, the system isn't stable and will BSOD or freeze sooner or later.

I purchased from Banggood, their return/refund policy seems sketchy, I sent their customer support team an e-mail but they've not responded yet. I'm regretting not picking the PE4C now, though I've a peeve about soldered cables and how easy they are to break...

By the way, if I consider using a x2.2 setup, do you have any suggestions on making it less intrusive? Or do I have to give up either WLAN or WWAN, and make a very unsightly hole in my laptop or wear it with no bottom plate?

Thanks for those variables, will try out combinations soon. Hope I don't render the system unbootable and have to clear CMOS again :D

With a same-gen 12.5" Dell E6230 I had similar issues to you:

1. If the bios detected the eGPU on bootup then it would set it as the primary adapter. A workaround is to hotplug the eGPU after BIOS post or set eGPU adapter delay switches so the eGPU is detect after bios boot.

2. When the eGPU was the primary display, the iGPU was disabled AND the port set to Gen2. This may explain your instability given that you've said Gen1 works. Though I was using a PE4L 2.1b with soldered cable, finding Gen2 was stable.

Your EXP GDC issues can then be resolved by hotplug after boot to the iGPU as the primary display AND switch your EC port to Gen1 speed. Acquire a PE4L 2.1b or PE4C V3.0 with soldered cable if wanting to avoid the latter.

These details and more can be found at http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-pc/2747-12-dell-e6230-hd7870-gtx660%40x4gbps-c-ec2-pe4l-2-1b-win7-%5BTech Inferno Fan%5D.html#post37197

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My main problem, is that the behavior exhibited when enabling Gen2 (driver crash and reset, system freeze) is also exhibited when the iGPU is active at the same time as the eGPU, whether or not the adapter is set to Gen1 or Gen2. It is possible to boot with both iGPU and the eGPU, but putting any activity on the eGPU in that situation (such as plugging in an external display) will crash my drivers (so long as I have any drivers installed) and make the system almost unusable.

I can only reliably use the eGPU by booting it as primary. An acceptable compromise might be booting the eGPU as main, but still somehow enabling the iGPU as secondary, so that I can get internal display. I wonder if setting the Internal Graphics variable to Enabled instead of Auto, and the Primary Display variable to PEG (this is a pretty poor selection, does the ExpressCard count as PEG?) might allow me to retain internal LCD capabilities.

Sleep / connect / wake = guaranteed BSOD. Hotplugging to the EC slot after post before Windows, I've tried a few times, but tends to stall my windows loading more often than not - either way so long as I get to windows (or Ubuntu) with both the iGPU and the eGPU, the system isn't stable and will BSOD or freeze sooner or later.

Your hangs don't make sense (to me). If it works without the iGPU it should work with the iGPU/eGPU too. The sleep-resume method should also work. I had this random freezes with iGPU/eGPU when I tested Virtu the first time. The problem then, was the HD3000 driver that came with Windows (WDDM).

Installing the latest driver from Intel should solve this problem. In order to install the Intel Driver you may need to manually uninstall any previous version from the Device Manager.

Also if possible consider rolling back to windows 7 or 8.1.

PEG among other things :)stands for PCI Express Graphics. So any graphics connected to a pci express slot is considered as PEG. Setting the Primary Display to PEG may cause problems though when you start your laptop without the eGPU connected.

By the way, if I consider using a x2.2 setup, do you have any suggestions on making it less intrusive? Or do I have to give up either WLAN or WWAN, and make a very unsightly hole in my laptop or wear it with no bottom plate?

Thanks for those variables, will try out combinations soon. Hope I don't render the system unbootable and have to clear CMOS again :D

If you are going to purchase new gear, badbadbad has already ordered PE4C for x2.2, so we better wait and see how it works for him.

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With a same-gen 12.5" Dell E6230 I had similar issues to you:

1. If the bios detected the eGPU on bootup then it would set it as the primary adapter. A workaround is to hotplug the eGPU after BIOS post or set eGPU adapter delay switches so the eGPU is detect after bios boot.

2. When the eGPU was the primary display, the iGPU was disabled AND the port set to Gen2. This may explain your instability given that you've said Gen1 works. Though I was using a PE4L 2.1b with soldered cable, finding Gen2 was stable.

Your EXP GDC issues can then be resolved by hotplug after boot to the iGPU as the primary display AND switch your EC port to Gen1 speed. Acquire a PE4L 2.1b or PE4C V3.0 with soldered cable if wanting to avoid the latter.

These details and more can be found at http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-pc/2747-12-dell-e6230-hd7870-gtx660%40x4gbps-c-ec2-pe4l-2-1b-win7-%5BTech Inferno Fan%5D.html#post37197

Thanks for the advice. I don't understand either, why i would have this behavior with igpu + egpu when set to gen1. Maybe because of windows 10?

EDIT: Tried disabling ULPS to maybe resolve the issue, but that didn't fix anything, ULPS was already disabled.

The seller responded regarding the issues, asked for a video. Well, let's hope the video is convincing.

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EDIT: Tried disabling ULPS to maybe resolve the issue, but that didn't fix anything, ULPS was already disabled.

although ULPS caused many problems Intel driver was the main culprit for the BSODs. Have you tried updating your Intel drivers to the latest https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/64890/Intel-Core-i7-3700-Mobile-Processor-Series?

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Thanks for the advice. I don't understand either, why i would have this behavior with igpu + egpu when set to gen1. Maybe because of windows 10?

EDIT: Tried disabling ULPS to maybe resolve the issue, but that didn't fix anything, ULPS was already disabled.

The seller responded regarding the issues, asked for a video. Well, let's hope the video is convincing.

How are you setting Gen1 speed? I tried using UEFI variables to set Gen2 speed a Dell E5540 and my EC port remained at the bios-set Gen1 speed.

I'd advise checking the port speed with GPU-Z (with the GPU under load) or Setup 1.30.

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How are you setting Gen1 speed? I tried using UEFI variables to set Gen2 speed a Dell E5540 and my EC port remained at the bios-set Gen1 speed.

I'd advise checking the port speed with GPU-Z (with the GPU under load) or Setup 1.30.

OK I think I found the problem. The value you set with UEFI vars you need to have the device connected @boot in order to work. If you disconnect it or connect it after boot it will revert to Gen2 speeds.

Tested using Setup 1.30 (thanks)

x5swoUU.jpgKP95I4P.jpg

I set both ports 2 and 3 to Gen1. You can see that port 2 is always set to Gen1 cause it is there when the laptop boots.

Port3 on the other hand is set to Gen2 on the first screenshot because there is no device connected before boot. The same happens if I disconnect/hotplug the device after boot.

On the 2nd screenshot it is set to Gen1 cause the device (EC Asmedia USB 3.0 module) was connected before boot.

@sangemaru That's why you have problems when you connect your eGPU after boot. It is because your card is connected with Gen2 speeds and your gear cannot handle it without issues. You can use Setup 1.30 in order to change the port to Gen1 speeds after boot, Or try if one of the above settings to keep your iGPU enabled after boot with eGPU connected works.

Thanks @Tech Inferno Fan for pointing that out.

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