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eGPU experiences [version 2.0]


Tech Inferno Fan

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Stuck are all MBP owners with iGPUs + dGPUs. See Enabling Hybrid/Optimus Graphics on Unibody MPB - MacRumors Forums for a progress status. First thing is to get Optimus running with your GT650M dGPU.

IMHO I dont think Optimus will happen. We got 3D Vision which conflicts with Optimus + even Nvidia developers have no clue if its possible at all.

Tried Win8 in EFI mode but my eGPU still shows errorcode 12 (rMBP 15"). Besides the sound problem is runs flawless though.

I actually managed to boot into windows with a working iGPU once with no dGPU in my device manager at all but were unable to reproduce it (saddly my eGPU wasn't plugged in).

iGPU actually tries to launch but conflicts with the dGPU (screenflickering) and windows shuts down with an error.

Also took a look at rEFIts EFI Shell which has indeed commands for pci mapping. I'd love to disable/remap my dGPU in EFI which might give us some resources for the eGPU.

But even if I find the right syntax I could imagine Apple blocks it. Maybe I should try to contact rEFIt developers and ask for their opinion.

You cann't pass the EFI-Bootmanager with the eGPU initialised (maybe allready not enough resources at that point?).

EDIT:

some efi shell screens of pci and mm commands

PCI -i -b: ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

PCI -?: ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

MM -?: ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

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Theres someone on NBR who got a thunderbolt egpu x4.2 working on a mba, with igpu working.

He used efi +windows 8.

Check his guide here:

Sonnet Thunderbolt/Expresscard adapter paired with Vidock and 2011 Macbook Pro - Page 6

Question for nando/everyone: do you expect that the zenbook ux32vd will have problems with running egpu? Tolud/dgpu/bios/whitelisting/whatever?

Hmm i really cant decide now what to choose, since thunderbolt is already working under x4.2 link, but its very expensive.

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There is no gain from installing a modded driver for an ATI 4870 on a Latitude E6410 with only the Intel HD (i5 520M) right?

Compression would only be available with Optimus? Or is there a way of improving bandwidth somehow (apart from having a second hdmi cable connected)?

Thanks! :)

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IMHO I dont think Optimus will happen.

Optimus is dependent on the HD4000 being the active bootup video device. So if you can't get the HD4000+GT650M going then it's going to be a tough ask to try to get say a HD4000+GTX660Ti (eGPU) working. What would you lose if can't get Optimus working? You'd have no x1 pci-e compression and the ability to render using the eGPU but display to the internal LCD. The former isn't going to work if using a x2/x4 Thunderbolt link (TH05/Sonnet Echo Express) so not a loss to those ppl. The latter can be provided by LucidLogix Virtu software.

Question for nando/everyone: do you expect that the zenbook ux32vd will have problems with running egpu? Tolud/dgpu/bios/whitelisting/whatever?

Hmm i really cant decide now what to choose, since thunderbolt is already working under x4.2 link, but its very expensive.

UX32VX = HD4000 + GT620M. Now under Win7, the DIY eGPU Setup 1.1x software can disable the GT620M if your bios can't thereby liberating 32-bit PCI space for the eGPU. So no TOLUD/dGPU issue then. Whitelisting? Can't say if Asus does that but Setup 1.1x again has undo-whitelisting components to help. If using Win8 then it complicates things if it's configured for UEFI+Secure boot. The Linux folks are devising a way around that atm. If BIOS/MBR boot is used in Win8 then Setup 1.1x can chainload without any issue.

Agreed. Thunderbolt eGPUs are certainly more costly than mPCIe/expresscard ones. Cheapest I found being a $380/$400 OWC_Helios/Sonnet_Echo_Express from which the board could be extracted and treated like a x4 capable TH05.

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Well, looks like I'm stuck unitil either DNA open their website or they upload their drivers to online-source.net.

When I first installed the driver for my eGPU, there was no error. But there was no signal on external monitor. Is there something I can try to make it work while DNA upload the drivers? or should I wait?

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Hello There Forum :) , Thank You For This Amazing Thread And So Helpful And Amazing Skills Were Used Here :) Espically Nando4 :) So Here is My Problem And Story with it :

First My Laptop Iam Using Is Dell XPS 1645 (i7 , 2GB RAM , 500 GB HDD , ATI 5730 Raedon , INTEL CHIPSET PM55 ) And My eGPU Is ( Nvidia GTX 680 Classified 4 GB GDDR5 , PSU 550 Watt)

Setup I GOT : ( 1.x Setup ) , (Nvidia - Verde Driver V.306.97 WHQL , With Modded nvam.inf) , (PE4H v 2.4 With EC2C , Delay Switch Putted On SW1 , Default (0) Seconds)

Screenshot Of My Setup 1.x :

post-7038-14494993842383_thumb.jpg

I Am Getting Error 43 Which I Really Searched The Old Thread From The Notebook Reviews Forum and Searched The Troubleshoot section for the Fix , I Tried The Latest Fix There By Nando4 , And What I Did is :

1.Boot eGPU Setup 1.x with 2GB installed ( I Am Already Only Using 2 GB OF Ram), run Setup 1.x, select to Video Cards->Save(Win) and follow instructions generated from within Windows.

2. Doing Insturctions on Save (WIN) Option And Booted Win7 Set PC To Sleep , Connect eGPU EC2C Card , Power On , Created The Dump PCI Using RW-Everything Version (1.5.3.7) , Restarted!

3. Boot eGPU Setup 1.x ( eGPU Was Connected Already!)

- select Video cards->Load to load the PCI space dump created when it was working with no error 43. <-------- ( When Dump Created Using Windows Error 43 Was Still There , and As Instructions It Says It's Okay)

- Check Nv-Flash I Get This Message " Nvidia Display Adapters Present in System : No Nvidia Display Drivers Found " ( But I Had The Verde Nvidia Driver Already Installed And My GPU Is Detected At Device Manager As Nvidia GTX 680 But With Error 43)

- perform 32-bit PCI compaction on the iGPU+eGPU.

- select startup.bat->edit, remove the 'call vidinit' since it might interfere with your load dump.

- select Apply config.Run startup.bat

- select Chainload mbr

After Last Step When i Boot My Windows I get (Error 10) In Device Manager , Also I Tried to Sleep (Stand By) -Power On eGPU - Plug It In , Power Win7 on Back From Sleep Mode- And I Also Get 43 Error After Blinking Screen Black and back to normal

So Iam Totally Confused About The Hotplug Is it When i boot setup 1.x I Plug My Egpu and Press F5 To Refresh And Then Do The Error 43 Fix Steps Above and After Chainload mbr I Boot Normally Or Shall i Remove Card And Re-insert it Ater Windows Boot I Don't Know About That ! I tried All BTW but same result error 43

Iam totally Confused If someone whom been through this can provide me with full Details , And Sort the Steps for me from first to last i would be so thankfull i really wanna test my New GPU :)

Thanks So Much

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I'm trying to do the DSDT override, but I have no idea how I'm supposed to load my .aml into the system registry.

What I've done:

1. Since Tech Inferno Fan's link in the DSDT override was locked (no blame meant, since you've been banned there), and kizwan's expanded steps and video tutorial have been deleted, I finally lucked out on xxlukexx's link to http://olarila.com/dsdt/DSDTEditor_Linux_Windows.zip.

2. The DSDT Editor included is rather intuitive; I extracted my DSDT, modified it (using Tech Inferno Fan's suggested 11.75 GB space), and compiled it with no problem.

3. When errors showed up, I pressed the button "fix errors", which causes it to search the directory of the Editor for patches, use them, then re-compile, now with no errors.

4. I then saved my edited DSDT file as HPHDX16T.aml.

I'm using Windows 7 Home Premium, 6 GB RAM, other specs don't seem relevant for this question.

The only problem is that if I try to use Tech Inferno Fan's directions in the DSDT override, I have nothing to input the code into. I've tried iasl.exe, but it only flashes onscreen for a second and disappears. Trying to run both the DSDT Editor and iasl.exe as an administrator doesn't help. What am I missing?

Run those commands in a DOS prompt screen (WIN+R, type 'cmd').

I knew I forgot to mention something in my post! (slaps self for foolishness)

I already tried that (and tried it just now, both as you directed and as an administrator).

DOS spits out "'foobar' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."

Any ideas? (I should mention I'm not that familiar with command prompt, so maybe I'm doing something wrong there. You just type in the command, right?)

@Tech Inferno Fan, I assume you missed my recent post. From the posts I've seen, I get the impression that not many other people have used the DSDT override, so I'm relying on your help!

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First My Laptop Iam Using Is Dell XPS 1645 (i7 , 2GB RAM , 500 GB HDD , ATI 5730 Raedon , INTEL CHIPSET PM55 ) And My eGPU Is ( Nvidia GTX 680 Classified 4 GB GDDR5 , PSU 550 Watt)

Setup I GOT : ( 1.x Setup ) , (Nvidia - Verde Driver V.306.97 WHQL , With Modded nvam.inf) , (PE4H v 2.4 With EC2C , Delay Switch Putted On SW1 , Default (0) Seconds)

Screenshot Of My Setup 1.x :

3. Boot eGPU Setup 1.x ( eGPU Was Connected Already!)

- select Video cards->Load to load the PCI space dump created when it was working with no error 43. <-------- ( When Dump Created Using Windows Error 43 Was Still There , and As Instructions It Says It's Okay)

Per Video cards->PCI space.!Save dump use the Video cards->Initialize function instead of the save/load dump method. In addition, use the standard desktop driver (not notebook) and load it without modifying any files.

@Tech Inferno Fan, I assume you missed my recent post. From the posts I've seen, I get the impression that not many other people have used the DSDT override, so I'm relying on your help!

Once you have successfully compiled your .dsl file you load it into the registry with a command like 'iasl /loadtable dsdt.aml'. The DSDT override requires skills in navigating the commandline and dealing with any errors during compile time. If lacking in those areas then suggest ask a friend for help. REF too: DSDT override

Well, looks like I'm stuck unitil either DNA open their website or they upload their drivers to online-source.net.

When I first installed the driver for my eGPU, there was no error. But there was no signal on external monitor. Is there something I can try to make it work while DNA upload the drivers? or should I wait?

You could try modifying the INF file of your standard mobile drivers to include your desktop driver. There you'd need to find where the PCI IDs are stored and add your HD5770 (1002:68b8) to it.

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Actually, it's HD6790, not HD5770. It appears that the H5770 is no longer being sold in retailers in my country, so I got HD6790, and from what I saw on youtube, it's an impressive graphics card.

And can you show me how to do this, please? I'm not computer savvy. Is it similar to Nvidia driver modding method?

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Once you have successfully compiled your .dsl file you load it into the registry with a command like 'iasl /loadtable dsdt.aml'. The DSDT override requires skills in navigating the commandline and dealing with any errors during compile time. If lacking in those areas then suggest ask a friend for help. REF too: DSDT override

Well, I eventually found out how to run the command line stuff, but I kept not getting any resulting 36 bit memory. After working for hours trying to fix all the errors/warnings with my DSDT, and repeatedly overriding my DSDT, I finally went back to see if I missed anything on the front page. There, I discovered that since I have either a dGPU or iGPU (with no HD GPU) with TOLUD of 3.0GB, I don't need the DSDT override. (facepalm x2)

All right, now to find an external monitor to start this bad boy up.

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Hi,

does anyone know how to do a DSDT override on Windows 8? It's not working for me. It did work on Windows 7.

I extracted the .dsl file with iasl-20120913, edited it and then compiled and loaded it with ASL 4.0.0NT. The output was "Table overloading succeeded."

The registry entry does appear in System\CurrentControlSet\Services\ACPI\Parameters\DSDT\FUJ___\FJNBB13_\01060000.

But it is being ignored. No Large Memory entry appears in the device manager. I know that it's being ignored because normally when you install a DSDT override and then change the memory layout, for example by removing a memory stick, Windows will bluescreen on reboot. It does not.

Maybe the registry location for DSDT overrides changed?

DSDT override testing with Win8

I did a brief test using Win8 without secure boot confirming your results with the DSDT override failing to register at all. I used a standard bios/MBR boot. DIY eGPU Setup 1.1x works, chainloading works. Got rid of the painfully slow graphical bootloader UI using 'bcdedit /set {current} bootmenupolicy Legacy'

The DSDT override is completely ignored in Windows 8. 'asl /loadtable dsdt.aml' changes the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ACPI\Parameters\DSDT\DELL__\CBX3___\00000021 key on my machine. I manually also modified HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\ACPI\DSDT\DELL__\CBX3___\00000021 key to match the one loaded by 'asl /loadtable dsdt.aml' finding that a Win8 had reset it back to it's original form on a reboot. It appears Win8 enumerates the ACPI on every reboot based on the in-memory/BIOS copy.

Potential workarounds??

- seek some override switch/registry setting somewhere. Google hasn't shown anything as yet

- get acpiexec compiled for FreeDOS. Then load the DSDT override prior to chainloading Win8 in Setup 1.1x

- revert back to Win7 where the DSDT override works well

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Hey Nando4 Thanks For Replying Bro :) , I Will Try What You Said But I need to know something when i do the video card --> initialize i get a message down on 1.x Setup saying that wait for 10dev:1180 (which is my egpu card id ) to be hot plugged and load initialize to it , so i need to know what hot plug exactly means and after that shall i do the PCI compression and what version shall i use (32-bit , 32-bitA - 36 bit ) . because i have Win7 x64 , and on the chainload shall it be on mbr or shall i change it to win7 , please give me clear steps to do , and please clarify the hotplug thing for me and when exactly do i do the hotplug mentioned in the setup 1.x after loading initalize option .

Thanks :D

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Hey Nando4 Thanks For Replying Bro :) , I Will Try What You Said But I need to know something when i do the video card --> initialize i get a message down on 1.x Setup saying that wait for 10dev:1180 (which is my egpu card id ) to be hot plugged and load initialize to it , so i need to know what hot plug exactly means and after that shall i do the PCI compression and what version shall i use (32-bit , 32-bitA - 36 bit ) . because i have Win7 x64 , and on the chainload shall it be on mbr or shall i change it to win7 , please give me clear steps to do , and please clarify the hotplug thing for me and when exactly do i do the hotplug mentioned in the setup 1.x after loading initalize option .

Thanks :D

A 'call vidwait 60 10dev:1180' will wait for up to 60 seconds for you to hotplug that video card. Hotplugging means attaching your eGPU once your system is already running until it's detected. That may be as simple as powering on the eGPU with the EC2C already plugged in (usually doesn't work). More successful is having the eGPU powered on and then plugging in the mHDMI cable into the EC2C end that is already inserted into the system, or plugging the EC2C into your system. Check that your eGPU is detected by hitting F5 to update the status.

You should try all combinations of 32bitA+32bit compaction. 36bit compaction shouldn't be used as you don't have a DSDT override to extend the root bridge into 36-bit space. Ie:

- 32bitA compaction on the eGPU

- 32bitA compaction on the dGPU+eGPU

- 32bit compaction on the eGPU

- 32bit compaction on the dGPU+eGPU

- 32bitA compaction on ALL devices

- 32bit compaction on ALL devices

Chainload should be set to MBR. Only time I suggest changing it to Win7 is when you have another bootloader such as Linux' grub2 and want to skip it's selection step.

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Well, looks like I'm stuck unitil either DNA open their website or they upload their drivers to online-source.net.

You can try and use xtreme G drivers 12.7 , backup before you try, or create restore point, sou you don't have to hassle if it don't work or screen is corrupted after boot.

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Sure why not, you have nothing to loose, but create a restore point or as i do backup c-disk with acronis, so it's easier to restore if drivers don't work.

Worst thing it can happen is corrupted screen in win after installing the drivers.You can than boot in safe mode and use driver sweeper + uninstall in device manager then boot again and install drivers you had before.

Of course, if you can disable dgpu in bios,and run diy setup 1.x if you have it and do comapction/chain load to win.

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Sure why not, you have nothing to loose, but create a restore point or as i do backup c-disk with acronis, so it's easier to restore if drivers don't work.

Worst thing it can happen is corrupted screen in win after installing the drivers.You can than boot in safe mode and use driver sweeper + uninstall in device manager then boot again and install drivers you had before.

Of course, if you can disable dgpu in bios,and run diy setup 1.x if you have it and do comapction/chain load to win.

My dell laptop doesn't have dedicated gpu, instead it has an integrated one, Which is ati xpress 1100. So I don't have to disable it, right?

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You don't have to disable it as it is the only card you have in system.The problem is that xpress 1100 is very old card. You need driver that will coexist with 1100 and hd6790. Xtreme g drivers doesn't have 1100 in support list,also as i can remember dna driver also don't. You can always try with xtreme g.

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