Mark

I think that we are both on the same 2013 rMBP, and I'm getting external output. I'm also using DisplayPort and it's the 1.2 version as my eGPU is running a 4k monitor too. Also I'm eagerly waiting for the flashed 980 EFI, since I reckon that's the problem! I just want it to work with the Sonnet III-D so that I have a compact, self contained eGPU solution

Having the late 2013 model with the 750M dGPU isn't all plain sailing either. I currently have an EVGA 980 ACX 2.0 for my eGPU setup. Using a Sonnet III-D: No luck at all. It won't boot and I can't even use the alt key for a boot selection screen. Leaving it running for 5 minutes or so would set the fan on the laptop spinning. I assume that there must be an operation that the laptop is trying to complete. but can't. @Tech Inferno Fan has suggested that it might be stuck on an infinite loop during the POST. EDIT: hotplugging it as the Apple logo appears allows it to be used without the monitor (I managed to use it on LuxMark) Using a Sonnet SEL: Boots 70-80% of the time. When booting into Windows, no problem at all with the external screen. When trying to boot into OS X, I'd say around 50% success with that. And then there is a small chance (20-30%) that the monitor would just randomly turn off within 5 minutes and I have to go through the entire process to get the external screen working again. So I was wondering whether flashing it would solve this issue, as for me it is specific to Maxwell cards.

Well in that case, bingo. Since the SE II also has 2 PCIe slots as well, this is, I assume, is also why gianni's setup isn't working. Thanks for giving me an answer about my problem too, and I've also sorted out this issue by using my SEL as well. gianni, the only three options right now are to either wait until Apple brings a firmware update which miraculously fixes this issue (very unlikely EDIT: but 10.10.2 might have one) or either use another single slot expansion chassis such as a Sonnet SEL or Akitio Thunder2 or use a non-Maxwell GPU (such as 760).

As far as I understand by reading this thread, I have a question. What do you mean by the monitor turning black with no sounds at all? Switch on your eGPU first (i.e. the Sonnet box plugged in and the PSU switched on), then switch on your MacBook. Does the laptop screen light up at all? Or is it still turned off? Try it a few times. Is it still not working? If you hold alt just for a few seconds just after switching off your MacBook does it give you an option to go to either OS X or the Recovery Partition? I have a problem with a GTX 980, a Sonnet III-D and a 2013 Retina MBP with the GT 750M where it cannot boot up at all (i.e. it doesn't even make it to the boot selection screen where you can choose between OS X, the Recovery Partition and Windows, maybe a POST failure?), and when I swap the III-D into a Sonnet SEL this problem still happens around 10-20% of the time, only that when it does boot up, it works like a dream. Now, I've narrowed this down to the combination of the setup: Something in the Sonnet III-D, NVIDIA Maxwell GPUs (i.e. 970, 980, 750 Ti) and the GT 750M dGPU in the MacBook Pro. Now, I've read in another thread that both a Sonnet III-D and possibly a Sonnet SE II doesn't work if you want Optimus running on a MacBook (separate issue). Apparently it's because of some chip that these two have that the SEL (or maybe the Akitio as well?) doesn't. Could this be the chip that's also preventing this setup (as well as mine) for booting up? Meanwhile, other users had a GTX 970 or 980 and a Sonnet III-D eGPU working but they have the IRIS PRO MacBooks. My III-D worked well with a 780 Ti (as well as many others), and my current working eGPU setup is a 980 with the SEL.

Thank you for your input. The TITAN and TITAN Black are both from an older architecture (Kepler, I believe), which the 780 and 780Ti falls into. Both these cards should have no problem running on their own, especially with a Sonnet III-D. Since you have three graphics cards, I don't think you can run them on SLI at all. The problems we're experiencing at the moment is related to the new Maxwell architecture, which for some odd reason, wouldn't work with the exact same laptop and exact same PCIe chassis.

Double post, sorry.

I hotplugged my 980+III-D setup again. The computer recognises it, but there is no output on the screen. However, strangely enough, I was able to use the eGPU as an OpenCL device for LuxMark!

Thank you for your input. I've also been looking forward to getting a reply from someone with an Akitio chassis as well, to see whether it's limited to Sonnet enclosures. This further confirms that the problem lies with the 750M dGPU in the 15" MacBook Pros. I'm eagerly waiting for an EFI update from Apple, otherwise, let's see what NVIDIA GM200 GPUs offer, otherwise, it looks like the III-D is just an expensive paperweight.

Yeah, my 980+SEL combo boots up around 60-70% of the time. There is still something that gives us all the trouble. It's either EVGA cards, which however, entzoe had working on his Iris Pro MBP, or more likely the dGPU somehow interfering with the boot process and not working well with Maxwell cards. Also, I was talking about Apple's EFI firmware update the comes out via the App Store, which updates the firmware of the logic board of the laptop. EDIT: I'm not sure whether you can flash the card on one PC and use it on your eGPU setup, and I thought about going that route too. Yes, the fans turn on, and then they either spin for a while or suddenly stop. Neither makes a difference when plugged in to the SEL. This is probably because of the way the fans work, which is not to spin until the card reaches a certain temperature. When plugged in to the III-D, the external screen that's connected to it also wakes up and turns on as if a signal is about to be sent but the screen turns off again after a while.

I have done that a couple of times at the start. [EDIT: fresh installation on my internal drive, sorry] I've even wiped out my SSD and deleted and reinstated my EFI partition. I've had no luck at all. I have also been thinking of buying an external SSD, so it might be a good time to do so [EDIT: if I have the funds] (I have no spare external hard drives at the moment as they are full of backups) Which MacBook Pro and EVGA 970 do you have? When plugged into the SEL I've had to try a few times with my 980 to get it to work. Another update: I've just been around to a friend's earlier. I used his XFX HD 5770 on my III-D, and my laptop booted up with no problems, and even detected it as a "Display" under Graphics/Displays on System Report. So my III-D is working, and my laptop shouldn't be limited to Kepler cards (because the 750M is a Kepler card) as it boots up even with an AMD GPU. My current two solutions are 1) Get another 980 (or if it comes out this month, 980 Ti), but a reference model or 2) Find a high end stock-clocked Kepler GPU (780 Ti or 780) reference card. Both of which involve selling my 980. However, I have another suspicion that there is somewhere in the Apple firmware that stops a Maxwell card working when plugged in to a MacBook with a dedicated GPU. Hopefully an EFI update is around the corner.

Alright guys, another update: - Still couldn't get it to work with the III-D. I'm using my old SEL + unpowered riser method, which is stable (and boots up 90% of the time). It ran Unigine Valley for 6 hours and 12 hours under Skyrim (with mods, in 4k) with no problems. - I managed to get my eGPU working in Yosemite (10.10.1). It turns out to be just a mistype in one of the kext files. I'll be making a guide soon. - I tried using my III-D+980 with my friend's 2011 MacBook Air. It booted with no problems at all. Of course, I didn't go the whole way and actually get it to work, but the fact that it went past the boot screen was an interesting observation. Therefore, I have another observation: I've noticed that all the 970/980+III-D setups that were successful involved MacBooks without dedicated graphics. Maybe the reason why everyone else's worked while mine didn't was that I have a model with the 750M dGPU. I would love to be corrected about this, it makes my decision even more regrettable!

I don't think so, unless it has a 6-pin connector. The reason why my 780 Ti crashed was partly because it was also a superclocked model, which drew far more than the 250W rated TDP. The 980 that I have at the moment is a stock-clocked one, so it is stable. My power supply has a rated TDP of 210W (60 from the PCIe slot of the SEL + 75 from each of the PCIe connectors).

Well that's strange because that's exactly the card that I have... There must be a reason why your 980 worked and mine didn't. I even swapped the controller cards between the SEL and the III-D... still no luck, I must be getting that desperate to do that!

Do you know specifically which 980s worked with your III-D? Whether they were reference designs? Stock clocked or overclocked? New update: with the SEL I'm now getting a kernel panic when trying to boot into OS X 10.10.1 while it's plugged in. My laptop boots without problems without the eGPU plugged in as usual. My suspicions are now starting to shift to the GPU itself.

Just an update for you guys: I've had problems running a 980 (stock clocked, custom cooler) on my III-D, so I tried it on my SEL with a normal riser, and it ran Unigine Valley for 5-6 hours without any problems. Otherwise, I suggest buying plugs for the SEL and see if you can run it from the Molex adaptor?

I have done that a couple of times last night, it still cannot get into the boot screen. I've tried the 980 on my SEL. It works! Therefore, I can rule out the GPU being defective. I've also tried another PCIe card (a sound card that's been lying around) and the III-D made it to the boot screen. I should try another GPU on the III-D, to make sure that it's not the one that's bricked, but I don't know anyone who has a spare one I can try and use. I guess that for some reason, the particular GPU that I have is not compatible with the III-D. I want to find that reason. It's such a shame that the very reason why I swapped/downgraded my OC'ed 780 Ti to my 980 (which is around 10% less powerful because it's stock clocked) is so that I can use it with the PSU the III-D has and have an eGPU solution in a small form factor. Now I'm left with a £650 box, I'm back to my stability issues which I hope to fix with my SEL and possibly a £100-200 bill of either selling this 980 and buying a new 980 (or maybe whatever Maxwell card that's better that will come out) and/or designing and making a custom enclosure for an SEL-based GPU (and having regrets about getting rid of my more powerful 780 Ti). EDIT: I'm getting the same problem with the SEL sometimes too. I'm going to try this card with my friend's desktop computer, to see what happens.

My GPU's brand is EVGA. It's the GTX 980 with the ACX 2.0 cooler, that is stock-clocked (I swapped so that I can enclose everything into my Sonnet III-D)

Nope, it's not working on Windows either. My problem is that I cannot even get into the boot screen (i.e. the laptop's screen doesn't even turn on)! Here is what I've tried so far: - Started the eGPU (cold boot): GPU and Sonnet chassis turn on, laptop doesn't make it into boot screen. - Turned laptop on and pressed alt on the boot screen (where you choose which disk to boot into), and then hotplugged the eGPU: GPU and chassis turn on, but I cannot select either partition to boot, but the boot screen doesn't freeze. - Turned laptop on, pressed alt to bring up the boot screen, then hotplugged the eGPU as soon as I choose a partition: GPU and chassis turn on, but they are not detected in either OS. On Windows, the fans kept jerking every 4-5 seconds too, as if they are about to spin. Might have something to do with the zero RPM feature of my cooler. I've also tried using both the Seasonic PSU and the Sonnet's PSU (both of which booted up my 780 Ti successfully). No luck whatsoever. So, I guess I can narrow the issue down to three things so far: - My GPU is incompatible with the Sonnet III-D. I'll test this theory tomorrow with the SEL that I have. This means that I've wasted £650 on the Sonnet III-D. - My GPU is just plainly incompatible to be used as an eGPU. This is the worst case scenario for me, as this means that I have to sell this 980 and buy another model of a 980 (which is probably £200+). - I've been blessed with a GPU that's DOA. I'm going to try and test this GPU on a friend's desktop computer, to see if it works. I'm just hoping that there is something hidden that I've missed out and I won't have to spend a ridiculous amount of money because I have the wrong model :/

Yeah, when I had the 780 Ti, I already had the latest NVIDIA drivers, but that didn't boot up so I did a clean install thinking that it would solve the problem. I couldn't get it to run on OS X at all, so now I'm doing another clean install (from scratch) using Windows 8.1.

Yeah, it boots without the eGPU. What I've also done is hot-plug the eGPU, but Yosemite doesn't detect it at all!

Hey guys, I swapped my 780 Ti to a 980 thanks to EVGA's Step Up program. It has arrived today, and after installing it, the laptop won't turn on. I pressed the power button, the Sonnet III-D and the GPU light up, but there is no boot-up chime from the MacBook at all. This is what I have at the moment: Late 2013 rMBP with 750M EVGA GTX 980 with ACX cooler Seasonic M12II EVO I'm trying to get this sorted, I've already done a clean install and if I get this sorted I'll let you guys know. If anyone has any ideas I would gladly appreciate your help!! Update (3rd December): The following has been done so far: - Removed the EFI partition on the SSD. It made no difference. - Transferred the 980 into my old eGPU enclosure: Sonnet SEL with an unpowered riser. It boots up 60-70% of the time and works a treat on both Windows and OS X when it does. This is currently my setup. - Used a friend's old GPU (XFX HD 5770) on the III-D. Laptop makes it to the boot screen and boots up. GPU is recognised as "Display" in OS X. Therefore, there wasn't a problem with my III-D, and the problem is not due to the dGPU and the eGPU having a different GPU architecture/brand (in general). - I used another friend's 2011 MBA with the 980+III-D setup. The laptop booted up with no issues. NEW: I have tried hot-plugging my 980+III-D combo as soon as the Apple logo appears. Still not working as usual, but now System Profiler actually acknowledges the existence of the card (i.e. it shows up as GTX 980) More observations: - Another user, Torsten, reported a similar problem with his 970, another Maxwell card. His 970+SEL setup boots up 20% of the time. He has a 2014 rMBP with the 750M dGPU. - The only 970/980 + III-D setups that have successfully worked with no issues so far involved MacBooks with integrated graphics only. This includes the EVGA ACX 2.0 model that both I and Torsten have. entzoe had his EVGA 980 ACX 2.0 working on his III-D with is Iris Pro only rMBP. Conclusion: There is an issue with rMBPs with dGPUs booting with the new Maxwell cards (980/970), especially with the Sonnet III-D, where it doesn't work at all.

Well that's interesting, I had an EVGA 780 Ti SC card which was over clocked. The manufacturer stated a maximum power draw of 250W so I thought that the 300W PSU in the Sonnet III-D should be enough to power it. Then when I started Unigine Valley, the computer crashed within 5 seconds. I'm just hoping that the III-D's PSU is enough for a stock clocked 980 :/

Thanks for the heads up! Although I was already aware that any card up to 780 with the GK110-A revision chip are compatible without having to install the additional NVIDIA drivers, I didn't know that you can use it to install the NVIDIA driver without hacking into the kexts! In other news, I no longer have the 780 Ti. I've swapped it for a GTX 980, which should arrive at the end of the week!

Thank you for that too, it makes the process a lot simpler!

Sorry for not keeping you guys updated on this! I have indeed solved this problem, I was getting the black screen error because I installed Windows in a certain hacky way (i.e. there was an EFI problem with installing so I had to repartition it using Disk Utility, etc) I found out that I can now install Windows 8.1 the normal way through Bootcamp, so I did, and it fixed the problem! I don't know whether that's what you did or not, but for me that solved the issue.