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rMBP mid 2012 + Win 8.1 (EFI) + Sonnet SEL + Geforce 760 ... help needed!


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Hey there,

after a hard and annoying procedure I managed to install Windows 8.1 (EFI) on a 2012 retina MacBook because I will avoid any additional wiring and complex startup rituals (which might be necessary for bios based windows right?).

So I plugged my thunderbolt cable and expected a simple and straight forward installation process... well I was wrong.

The eGPU showed up in device manager as an unknown graphic adapter so I tried to install the graphics driver from the evga website.

Midway through the installation process windows crashed and was unable to boot anymore and I had to restore to the first recovery.

That happened twice already so something must be wrong.

What might be the error here? I'm pretty sure that the hardware part is correct (Sonnet SEL, x8 -> x18 riser, EVGA Geforce GTX760, Corsair RM450 PSU).

The weakest link (on the hardware side) might be the sonnet thunderbolt cable. Could that be the cause?

Well I guess I'm missing something here... help is appreciated.

Thanks

Torsten

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Be sure disable to autoupdate for WDDM Nvidia and Intel drivers (Remove the WDDM Updates if already installed)

Both will result in blackscreen.

Thanks for the tip. The new thunderbolt cable gave the same results so I'll try it your way. How exactly do I remove the WDDM Updates? A link would help.

Thanks Shelltoe.

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Thanks for the tip. The new thunderbolt cable gave the same results so I'll try it your way. How exactly do I remove the WDDM Updates? A link would help.

Thanks Shelltoe.

If you are able to boot windows (safemode maybe?) just start windows' software uninstaller (system -> uninstall a programm) and remove both WDDM drivers.

If you can't boot at all (mostl likely a blackscreen with active mousecursor) you'll might have to reinstall or remove the WDDM drivers using command prompt.

To prevent further (auto)updated check eg. here

IMHO Windows WDDM drivers notices both Intel and Nvidia chips and want to launch/install Optimus but can't make it.

Interestingly both drivers show the same issues even if only one of both and no other gfx driver is installed.

After speaking to some Hackintosh guys this "might" be fixable with DSDT. The intel hd 4000 starts with to little memory to handle the retina display on its own.

Similar fixes have been done for HackOSX systems in the past which where unable to run @ 2560x1440.

I haven't digged deeper cause you'll most like need a guy whos really into DSDT stuff.

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Thanks for you help, but it is still not working.

I did a fresh install of Windows 8.1 (EFI), disabled automatic driver updates. Without the eGPU connected, I see two graphic adapters (one with an error 31). When I try to install bootcamp 5 everything crashes again so I didn't do that and installed all drivers (except the intel graphics of course) manually. After connecting the egpu, I see 3 graphic adapters (two with 31).

How should I proceed now? When I start the nvidia installer it will crash again after a few seconds and I can't manually install the driver in the device manager because windows won't let me select it.

Did anyone manage to install an egpu on a pre-2013 Macbook?

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Thanks Tech Inferno Fan, I've red your guide http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/3062-%5Bguide%5D-2012-13-mbp-gtx660ti-hd7870%40x2-2-th05.html and it seems that my setup should work. How did you install bootcamp and the nvidia driver? Should the egpu work out of the box with the default non-nvidia driver? Does sound work in your efi windows?

I think I'm missing a step here or there is something wrong on the hardware side.

Edit:

I've enabled the egpu for osx as described in this forum and it works as expected. So I can rule out any hardware problems.

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Thanks for you help, but it is still not working.

I did a fresh install of Windows 8.1 (EFI), disabled automatic driver updates. Without the eGPU connected, I see two graphic adapters (one with an error 31). When I try to install bootcamp 5 everything crashes again so I didn't do that and installed all drivers (except the intel graphics of course) manually. After connecting the egpu, I see 3 graphic adapters (two with 31).

How should I proceed now? When I start the nvidia installer it will crash again after a few seconds and I can't manually install the driver in the device manager because windows won't let me select it.

Did anyone manage to install an egpu on a pre-2013 Macbook?

Remove Intel HD drivers from the your Bootcamp Bundle and it should install fine. (The Nvidia driver should work though newer drivers show better performance)

Error 31 is actually ok. you just have to install proper Nvidia drivers. You shouldn't try to install any driver for your Intel HD and it should show as Basic Display Adapter in Device Manager.

I'm usually boot only using my Intel HD to save some power but can boot using my gt 650m aswell.

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Hey, thank you and I'm one step closer. I managed to install bootcamp without intel HD and also got the egpu somehow working with the correct driver.

But it is totally unstabil! OSX and Windows crashes randomly after 30m - 1h, even without graphic intensive applications . That sounds like a power failure... can I be sure that RM450 is enough for the EVGA Geforce GTX 760?

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I doubt it's a power problem. While you GPU manual will tell you otherwise 200-250W should be fine (you don't want to run a PC just a GPU)

I'm using a TH05 so i won't be a big help regarding your sonnet. never had such freezes

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Did you try an official Apple Thunderbolt cable as suggested earlier?

Yes did that immediately. Bought a "real" apple thunderbolt cable but it didn't make any difference.

To make the 16x PCIe GPU fit in the 8x PCIe slot of the Sonnet SEL, I had to use 2(!) risers. A right angled 8x -> 8x and a non-flexible 8x -> 16x one. Might that be a problem? I've ordered a flexible 8x -> 16x riser but the delivery might take 1-2 weeks from China.

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Yes did that immediately. Bought a "real" apple thunderbolt cable but it didn't make any difference.

To make the 16x PCIe GPU fit in the 8x PCIe slot of the Sonnet SEL, I had to use 2(!) risers. A right angled 8x -> 8x and a non-flexible 8x -> 16x one. Might that be a problem? I've ordered a flexible 8x -> 16x riser but the delivery might take 1-2 weeks from China.

We did see instability issues with Expresscard/mPCIe eGPU hardware that was only Gen1 capable but was running at Gen2 speed. The Thunderbolt link runs at x4 2.0 (Gen2). Gen2 signals require precise impedance matching to avoid electrical reflections. Your multiple risers could very well be the culprit causing unreliability/instability.

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We did see instability issues with Expresscard/mPCIe eGPU hardware that was only Gen1 capable but was running at Gen2 speed. The Thunderbolt link runs at x4 2.0 (Gen2). Gen2 signals require precise impedance matching to avoid electrical reflections. Your multiple risers could very well be the culprit causing unreliability/instability.

Thanks for the info! I'll wait for the flexible riser and if this won't help, I'll "give up" and buy a TB2 capable MacBook ;-)

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This is error message causing the freeze in OSX... maybe anyone can read this ;-)


Anonymous UUID: 1F174B48-34BC-3604-AB93-FF09CFC882C7


Fri Jul 11 23:45:51 2014
panic(cpu 1 caller 0xffffff80080dc24e): Kernel trap at 0xffffff7f88ed7634, type 0=divide error, registers:
CR0: 0x000000008001003b, CR2: 0xffffff81f59e8e04, CR3: 0x000000000ac26000, CR4: 0x00000000001606e0
RAX: 0x0000000000007e90, RBX: 0x0000000000000000, RCX: 0x0000000000000000, RDX: 0x0000000000000000
RSP: 0xffffff81f98cb518, RBP: 0xffffff81f98cb520, RSI: 0x0000000000000000, RDI: 0x0000000000000000
R8: 0xffffff81f98cb5a0, R9: 0x0000000000007e90, R10: 0x0000000000000000, R11: 0xffffff81f98cb807
R12: 0x0000000000003f48, R13: 0xffffff81f98cb5f8, R14: 0x0000000000000000, R15: 0xffffff81a9bfe001
RFL: 0x0000000000010246, RIP: 0xffffff7f88ed7634, CS: 0x0000000000000008, SS: 0x0000000000000010
Fault CR2: 0xffffff81f59e8e04, Error code: 0x0000000000000000, Fault CPU: 0x1


Backtrace (CPU 1), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff81f98cb1a0 : 0xffffff8008022f79
0xffffff81f98cb220 : 0xffffff80080dc24e
0xffffff81f98cb3f0 : 0xffffff80080f3746
0xffffff81f98cb410 : 0xffffff7f88ed7634
0xffffff81f98cb520 : 0xffffff7f88ed5a33
0xffffff81f98cb5d0 : 0xffffff7f88ed974e
0xffffff81f98cb660 : 0xffffff7f88ed9371
0xffffff81f98cb710 : 0xffffff7f88c9d8fa
0xffffff81f98cb830 : 0xffffff7f88eda6f2
0xffffff81f98cb990 : 0xffffff7f88edaa2a
0xffffff81f98cba10 : 0xffffff7f88d878be
0xffffff81f98cbbe0 : 0xffffff7f88d965c8
0xffffff81f98cbc40 : 0xffffff7f88f8b74c
0xffffff81f98cbca0 : 0xffffff7f88dba7ea
0xffffff81f98cbd00 : 0xffffff7f88dbae35
0xffffff81f98cbd70 : 0xffffff7f88f99bc7
0xffffff81f98cbdb0 : 0xffffff7f88f84aaf
0xffffff81f98cbe20 : 0xffffff7f88d72a81
0xffffff81f98cbe40 : 0xffffff7f88c8c75d
0xffffff81f98cbef0 : 0xffffff80084b07f0
0xffffff81f98cbf30 : 0xffffff80084af292
0xffffff81f98cbf80 : 0xffffff80084af367
0xffffff81f98cbfb0 : 0xffffff80080d7417
Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
com.apple.nvidia.driver.NVDAResman(8.2.6)[6DAE3128-DB93-3F93-858C-F46ADE1368A2]@0xffffff7f88c35000->0xffffff7f88ea8fff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[4662B11D-2ECA-315D-875C-618C97CDAB2A]@0xffffff7f886be000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(2.4.1)[D41125CE-69BD-32E7-9B1D-4E83431662DD]@0xffffff7f88c1f000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.4.1)[75D81741-64C1-3941-ADFA-9D6B6C434EE4]@0xffffff7f88bdc000
dependency: com.apple.AppleGraphicsDeviceControl(3.6.22)[91D61DEC-2946-3790-8134-B808C016C4C9]@0xffffff7f88c2f000
com.apple.nvidia.driver.NVDAGK100Hal(8.2.6)[EF73AF59-A574-3A5A-B410-7E4F2DA819B0]@0xffffff7f88eb4000->0xffffff7f89060fff
dependency: com.apple.nvidia.driver.NVDAResman(8.2.6)[6DAE3128-DB93-3F93-858C-F46ADE1368A2]@0xffffff7f88c35000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[4662B11D-2ECA-315D-875C-618C97CDAB2A]@0xffffff7f886be000


BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task

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