Jump to content

2015 13" Retina Macbook Pro eGPU on Win 10 - will not boot past spinning wheel!


99benns

Recommended Posts

I'm in the crowd that ordered a Zotac to fit in Akitio and can't get Windows 10 to boot.  Any progress or work arounds on this?

 

Spinning wheel for all pre boot turnin on of egpu, no matter when timed.  And Hot plugging doesn't work either.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Codeweaver It appears to work fine at first, but after a few seconds the desktop starts flashing on and off every second and it's impossible to do anything other than open task manager. I'm not looking to solve this though as booting from a non-SSD USB3 drive is too slow anyway. It was just an experiment to see if the egpu worked which is it did.

 

@HiroCool I'm no further to finding a solution I'm afraid, but it's interesting to hear other people are experiencing the same problem, I hope we can figure this out at some point.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I had no luck with Windows 10, but I was able to get  Windows 8.1 from a EFI drive working fully and stable on internal screen as well with almost the same setup (2015 MacBook Pro retina 13 inch, 650 watt power supply, Zotac gtx 970, akitio box, etc).  Although I removed fan shield and cut box to fit closed.

 

I'll try and post a build in a few if anyone needs.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm experiencing the same problem on my MBP15 late 2013. I described it here. Again I'ts ZOTAC GTX 970. I think it's an issue! If only i could get another card. I killed so much time again, trying resolve thing nasty issue.

 

Edit: In my case, windows 10  installed in EFI mode wont start even if i cleaned up all display drivers with Display Driver Uninstaller. Both intel and nvidia drivers are completely wiped out, and still having inifinit dot spinning on boot up. Windows 7 runs still ok.

Edited by ShiftZ
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

@99benns - Yes, I created an EFI drive with a Win 8.1 boot sector on it and it loaded with both the internal GPU and NVIDIA GTX 970 EGPU first time.  Let me know if you have questions on specifics.  You definitely have to make sure that both the GPU is seated and getting power as well as the case and both running from the same power supply.  I spliced a modular power supply cpu cable and heat shrink tubed the extra wires not needed to supply power or ground to the barrel plug.  I also hot glued the wires into the barrel once i had it running stable to prevent slipping.  I cut the Akitio case sleeve to allow fan vents and power to the GTX 970 as well.

 

I've completed most of my project now so I'm thinking about selling the setup.  Does anyone know where a good place might be if I don't want to Ebay it?

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@99benns - Check this out (And where it says to use Virtualization - I used VirtualBox BC It's free):

 

http://bleeptobleep.blogspot.com/2013/02/mac-install-windows-7-or-8-on-external.html

 

@DJMatrix-HU3 - I'm happy to sell you mine ;-) ... building an EGPU is something you need to have resolve and patience for to be able to come out on top as it is not "Plug and Pray" even in it's finest form.  That being said, it does give you a certain sense of pride, not to mention the ability to run insane desktop games.  I too have the 2015 13'' MBPro Retina 8GB ram model, so if I can run it then you can!

 

 

 

I'm working on bringing home VR to everyone with a cell phone and a laptop btw, check out http://www.workspacesvr.com if you wonder what project I used it for!

 

Best Wishes to both!

 

IMG_1696.JPG

IMG_1707.JPG

Edited by HiroCool
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

It just worked for me (see status updates at the bottom!), but I have not tried more times yet. I have done many things that people speak of in forums so I don't remember all but these are probably the last steps that I took:

 

Note that during these steps I have had goalque's script installed with the -a flag each time I want to boot into Windows 10 (if you are lucky you don't need it when installing driver).

  1. Without eGPU plugged: Used DDU from Guru3D.com to uninstall my driver: http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html
  2. Without eGPU plugged: Restarted computer and boot into Windows 10
  3. Plugged in the eGPU and installed an older driver (375.63-desktop-win10-64bit-international-whql). As of today the latest is (385.69-desktop-win10-64bit-international-whql). I got the older driver from here: http://www.guru3d.com/files-categories/videocards-nvidia-geforce-vista-|-7.html
  4. In the installation custom setup I unchecked all the 3D options and also GeForce Experience and chose only driver, and physX (and maybe HDMI?) but now it is safe to check "Clean installation" (thanks to step 1, else it freezes in the installation process) 
  5. When finsihed restart it the eGPU plugged in
  6. The GTX 1050 Ti was recognized in Device Manager but I think it was now I got "NVIDIA Code 43: Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems". I think it said something about Windows Update or reinstall the driver for this to work
  7. I went into Settings and then Windows Update and since I installed an older driver Windows recognized that and suggested to update to it's Nvidia driver so I did that
  8. Restart with the eGPU plugged and I think it didn't even come to the Mac boot options
  9. Without eGPU plugged: Boot in to macOS (SIerra) and plug in the eGPU and run the automate script with -a flag again and then Settings -> Startup disk -> Bootcamp
  10. With eGPU plugged in it managed to boot into Windows 10 and it now works it the driver loaded properly :D

 

This is my setup:

  • MacBook Pro Retina early 2015 with 13"
  • Akitio Thunder2 PCIE-box + the 120 W power supply adapter
  • GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
  • macOS Sierra

 

See the screenshot for more details. Note the icon, that most often tell you that the eGPU is working right from the start :D

screenshot.jpg

 

 

UPDATE 1:

  1. I shutdown and tried to start again without plugging off anything, just as is and I got black screen :P
  2. I boot into macOS without and forgot to plug it in before I ran the automate script with -a flag, but I plugged it in anyway an reran script with -a flag and Startup disk into Bootcam, the same black screen
  3. I repeated step 2 but this time actually plugging in the eGPU before running the script
  4. It booted into Windows without problems and eGPU works! HOWEVER, the icon did not show up so I tricked me to think that it didn't work :P

 

UPDATE 2:

Hahaha! Now it even works to shutdown my MacBook Pro and then without plugging anything off, just press the start button on the Mac and boot right back into Windows (since we made it the startup disk in macOS before along with the automate script). I think this must only work thanks to the automate script with the -a flag that hides the eGPU (more often than not) under boot process. Thank you goalque if you see this!!

 

 

Edited by zelgit
Added link + new updates regarding status
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.