13" Lenovo Edge E330 + GTX670@4Gbps+c-mPCIe2 (EXP GDC 8.0) + Win8.1 [whoa]

[whoa]

Hello everyone!

 

I finally got my eGPU setup working after many endless hours, and decided to write and implementation guide for users struggling with similar setups.

 

 

Notebook Details

13" Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E330

i3-3120M 2.5Ghz

HD4000 iGPU 

8 GB RAM

Windows 8.1

eGPU Gear

EXP GDC Beast v8.0 eGPU adapter with mPCIe cable lead

450W Corsair CX450M PSU

Gainward GTX 670 Phantom edition 2GB GDDR5 225W TDP

Performance Results

will include later

 

Now for the build itself...

 

Implementation Guide

As Lenovo Thinkpad Edge's TOLUD is 3,5GB leading to Windows error 12, and Lenovo is well known for using whitelisting, the build might seem like a lost cause. However when there is a will, there will eventually be a way. 

 

1.Error 12

 

!!! DO A BACKUP FIRST !!!

 

To overcome the error 12 I followed the guide on this thread: 

Quote

Get the 'DSDTEditor-Linux-Mac-Win.7z' here:

DSDTEditor-Linux-Mac-Win.7z

(source: olarila.com • View topic - DSDT editor and patcher) I included the asl.exe file required as well to the zip in with the program's folder.

1. Run DSDT Editor.bat

2. File -> Extract DSDT

3. Wait a bit, then click 'Device PCI0' - it should be just after your Processor.

4. Scroll down until you see your DWordMemory stuff, go to the bottom of this list.

5. At the bottom add:

 

0x0000000000000000, // Granularity
0x0000000C20000000, // Range Minimum
0x0000000E0FFFFFFF, // Range Maximum
0x0000000000000000, // Translation Offset
0x00000001F0000000, // Length
,, , AddressRangeMemory, TypeStatic)

                QWordMemory (ResourceProducer, PosDecode, MinFixed, MaxFixed, Cacheable, ReadWrite,

 

6. I made it look nice and pretty after pasting that in (made it match).

(These next steps are optional I think, I have no idea if they are necessary, but I did them.)

o1. IASL -> Compile (or hit F5)

o2. Fix errors if you have any.

(Back to important stuff.)

7. File -> Save DSL as..

(I named mine dsdtoverride.dsl - I will use this name for future steps - I would put this file in the DSDT program directory with asl.exe and iasl.exe)

8. Close the DSDT editor.

9. Open up command prompt (maybe as admin? probably a good idea).

10. Go to where you saved your dsdtoverride.dsl (in command prompt).

11. In command prompt run:

 

 

iasl dsdtoverride.dsl

 

(Make sure the previous command made a .aml file. It may have made the name as dsdtoverride.aml, but mine was dsdt.aml)

12. Then run

 

 

asl /loadtable dsdt.aml

 

Reboot and check for a 'Large Memory' section in Device Manager -> Resources by Connection -> Memory

See the official DSDT override post for more info: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7476-%5Bguide%5D-dsdt-override-fix-error-12-a.html#post102517

 

Windows 8.1 and 10 users please note that you have to run the following command as and Admin user in command prompt

bcdedit -set TESTSIGNING ON

 

2.Whitelisting

Now we only have to overcome the whitelisting. The only way to overcome it elegantly is with a bios mod. However you are only able to install bios mod if you have bios version 1.09 or older as Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E330's bioses 1.12-> have EEPROM write protection thus installing a bios mod requires certain flashing device and an skilled user.

As bios modding is a dangerous thing to do, and can lead into a seriously overpriced paperweight (your laptop!!), I myself didn't feel the urge to do it.

 

I settled for hotswapping: Boot the laptop with whitelisted WIFI card attached > Boot into setup 1.30 menu > hit F5 > carefully remove the WIFI card and attach the eGPU and voila! Setup 1.30 should now detect your eGpu

 

3.Booting to windows

After succesfully completing a DSDT override, and overcoming the whitelisting, now what is left to do is to boot into Setup 1.30 (using above hotswapping method or not if you have a bios mod) and run a pci compaction 36-bit on eGPU and then chainload to windows and start gaming (YEAHH!!!! THAT'S RIGHT BITHCES)

 

#OPTIONAL#

(4.Almost forgot) 

As Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E330 has an half-miniPCIe slot I removed a tiny piece of plastic to make the EXP GDC mPCIe adapter fit better

#OPTIONAL#

 

I myself got a huge gaming boost out of this and enjoyed doing it, however your mileage may vary...

 

Thanks to:

@Tech Inferno Fan for setup 1.30 and eGPU threads

@angerthosenear for DSDT override guide

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by whoa

[bringmeyoursours]

Great guide! got me as far as getting the Long Memory set, but now on my E540 (no whitelisting) I'm having issues rebooting from setup 1.30 into windows. It reboots to a black screen, and I can't seem to get the adapter to show up in device manager after the fact. Steps taken are as follows :
1.) set long memory (device was detected on hard reboot but never a restart)

2.) ran Guru3D's device driver uninstaller, uninstalled the PCI Express Root Complex (as thats all i saw related to PCIE in device manager)

3.) rebooted into Setup 1.30 from a hard shutdown

4.) ran pci compaction with the scope set as the egpu and the second menu (cant remember off the top of my head what it is), i selected none

5.) rebooted from the setup 1.30 menu and it booted to a black screen.
 

I have tried to unplug the egpu immediately after selecting reboot in the setup 1.30 menu, it comes back with video but having plugged the mpcie adapter in at various times (in the grub loader menu, during the aux menu (F8 key), and the adapter refuses to show up. 

Any ideas? Thanks!

[whoa]

 

@bringmeyoursours sorry for taking so long to answer...

 

Have you gotten your setup to work already or are you still stuck at the black screen?

 

If you are still getting only black screen at boot you might want to try solution presented in this thread: 

On 15.8.2015 at 10:31 AM, sNullp said:

However, right now you might also come up with the solution yourself. If we simply put a small piece of electric tape, on line 22 on the bottom side (PCI Express Mini Card (Mini PCIe) pinout diagram @ pinoutsguide.com) of the mPCIe connector, which blocks motherboard's PERST# signal. We can successfully enable PE4C's PERST# delay circuit. Then, pick a combination that CLKREQ# will goes down before PERST# raise up, you are done! Now the GPU would be detected automatically upon boot without any hot plugging!

 

So basically it would look something like this:

(ps. look at how perfect red loop I made in paint WITH MY TRACKPOINT, oh and I totally didn't sped 15 mins on that...)

 

edit: seems like you had already gotten it to work  my bad

Edited August 14, 2016 by whoa