US$189 AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe Box (16Gbps-TB2)

[entzoe]

The board power is for the ThunderBolt chip as well as the support circuitry (clocks, etc) for the PCIe bus. As mentioned previously, any diodes in this power circuitry will prevent current back-flow and some components may not receive proper power. Or put another way: yes, the PCIe riser power is sufficient for the slot, just not a guarantee that the other circuits get proper power.

-JimJ

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WARNING: the color coding convention for the Molex connector is that 12 volts is yellow and 5 volts is red. Are you sure that is wired correctly???

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12622[/ATTACH]

If in fact it is wired correctly, the bare wire is ground and connects to the black wire. The white center wire is 12 volts. To check the wiring of your molex, plug it into your power supply (with the power supply turned off) The connector is keyed and will only go in one way. Your connector should plug into a yellow wire from the power supply - they are color coded to the standard.

-JimJ

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This is the exact one I used:

PCI E Express x16 Riser Extension Single Slot High Speed Cable with Power | eBay

-JimJ

Thanks Jim, Yeah the store told me that it is a 12v only colored red. Does it matter if the wire of the molex is not that thick?

Regarding your PCI Express riser, I ordered that too last weekend, still waiting to arrive.

[JimJ740]

Thanks Jim, Yeah the store told me that it is a 12v only colored red. Does it matter if the wire of the molex is not that thick?

Regarding your PCI Express riser, I ordered that too last weekend, still waiting to arrive.

Yes, depending on just how thin it is. The thinner the wire, the more resistance, which translates into heat and voltage drop. There are specifications for how much amperage is safe to run over what thickness of wire and for what distance.

Unless the wire is extremely thin it will probably be okay since it is fairly short and there is not that much current draw.. but ideally it should be the same gauge as the white wire from the original power cord. The original power supply supplied 60 watts, which means the power circuits of the Akitio were designed around 5 amps of input current. A 22 gauge wire would be optimal, a 24 gauge wire would be fine for this short of a run in all but the most extreme cases, even more so if there were no downstream ThunderBolt devices that needed power from the Akitio. I would not run 26 gauge wire personally. Is the wire labeled with its gauge?

-JimJ

P.S. As mentioned earlier, I bought the unassembled molex connector and crimped the pins directly on the Akitio power supply cable. No soldering, and no worries about wire thickness. After the pins are crimped on, you just push them into the molex shell - they have little barbs that lock them in place. You can crimp the pins with regular pliers if you are careful.

[JimJ740]

Thanks Jim, Yeah the store told me that it is a 12v only colored red. Does it matter if the wire of the molex is not that thick?

Regarding your PCI Express riser, I ordered that too last weekend, still waiting to arrive.

Looking closely at your picture, that appears to be 24 gauge and should be fine. It would be great if the insulation was labeled, or if you had a wire gauge to verify though.

[euqlaog]

The board power is for the ThunderBolt chip as well as the support circuitry (clocks, etc) for the PCIe bus. As mentioned previously, any diodes in this power circuitry will prevent current back-flow and some components may not receive proper power. Or put another way: yes, the PCIe riser power is sufficient for the slot, just not a guarantee that the other circuits get proper power.

There are direct power tracks from the x16 slot to the x4 slot powering the Thunderbolt daughter board. x4 slot limits the power to 25W when feeding power normally via AKiTiO's 60W power adapter.

What I am a little concerned is that when using both the DC jack power and a powered riser, my system immediately shut down when began to run 3DMark11 test. I don't remember if I used molex-to-barrel-plug-adapter or AKiTiO's adapter, but won't try that again and there are some other posts here that warned the same. You said that "using multiple power supplies carries the risk of ground loops that I wanted to avoid." Is it safe to use one power source (ATX PSU) even though power is feeded from two source points on the board as you have done?

And as you have some EE background, can you comment something about this I found by googling?

"If you are testing two points in a circuit and there is a (big) capacitor between those points you may hear a quick beep and then quiet. That's because the voltage the meter is applying to the circuit is charging up the capacitor and during that time the meter 'thinks' its continuous (essentially)"

This is what happened when I did a continuity test between near DC jack and x16 slot 12V points without 4pin black/yellow cable. The short beep sound can be heard again, when switching black and red probes.

[Dschijn]

This is the exact one I used:

PCI E Express x16 Riser Extension Single Slot High Speed Cable with Power | eBay

Thanks! Did you do any research on this and picked this one by any special reason? Did you cut any lines of the riser to prevend powering the AKiTiO?

[entzoe]

Thanks! Did you do any research on this and picked this one by any special reason? Did you cut any lines of the riser to prevend powering the AKiTiO?

I was just trying to find a different riser because I thought my riser is defective, that may have cause kernel panics and freeze the OS. So you made some modification on the riser? Which line did you cut? Can you please post the photo of your modified riser?

thanks!!

EDIT: Sorry @Dschijn I just realized that I replied to this question intended to Jim! LOL.. I woke up and replied to your post early in the morning....

[Dschijn]

I just read in some other forums (like bitcoin mining or case mods), that people have problems with cheap and espially "thin cable" PCIe risers. Also it seems to improve the riser to shield the flexible cable with aluminum foil and to use riser with thicker flex cables in the first place.

About the power backflow, cutting… no idea. Still in the process of getting the knowledge before buying and setting everything up.

[JimJ740]

Quote

sure you can just post what are the files you modified and which section you made on them... just similar to the previous post I made on the other thread;

/System/Library/Extensions/NVDAStartup.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/IONDRVSupport.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleHDAController.kext

     and issue the following sudo kextcache -system-caches

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12618[/ATTACH]

I am about to leave on a trip for a couple weeks - did not get a chance to run my tests to see if I could modify less files. The modification is the same as you did for the nvidia files, only for AMD the following are the files I modded.

Note that AppleHDA is necessary only for audio output over HDMI, which I do not use and did not do. All of these files are in /System/Library/Extensions

AMD8000Controller - there are several versions of the controller file, one for each chipset. R9 290X uses the 8000 family driver - pick the one that matches your board or just mod them all (tedious) AMDFramebuffer AMDRadeonX4000 AMDSupport IONDRVSupport

As I said earlier, it may not be necessary to mod them all - I just looked at what kexts were loaded by a supported AMD card and modded them.

As with any kext mod, you will need to use sudo, touch /system/Library/Extensions to rebuild the cache, and if you are running 10.10 past DP 4 you will need to disable signature checks - and this MUST be done prior to rebuilding the cache since the cache rebuild will ignore drivers with bad signatures! So after modding the kexts, disable the signature check, reboot, rebuild the cache, and then reboot again (2nd reboot may not be necessary). To disable signature checks:

[FONT=verdana]sudo nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1”

[/FONT]-JimJ

I'll try to answer the other questions while on travel - but I cannot run tests remotely.

-JimJ

[rwzdoorn]

After a few days I got my PCI Riser but still no effect.

Situation 1): Powered the GFX card with 500 watt PSU and Thunder 2 powered = Black screen

Situation 2): Powered PCI Riser only (Molex) + Thunder 2 powered = Windows working, but can't find the card

Situation 3): Powered the GFX card with Riser + 500 watt PSU = Black screen

Starting to get desperate at this stage..

[euqlaog]

After a few days I got my PCI Riser but still no effect.

Situation 1): Powered the GFX card with 500 watt PSU and Thunder 2 powered = Black screen

Situation 2): Powered PCI Riser only (Molex) + Thunder 2 powered = Windows working, but can't find the card

Situation 3): Powered the GFX card with Riser + 500 watt PSU = Black screen

Starting to get desperate at this stage..

I wish I could help, but my instructions are only compatible with Mac mini 2011, not MacBook Pro 2011. MBPs from late 2013 should work with AKiTiO on Win8.1, and preferably Iris only models. Another note that you are using MSI card which doesn't enable Optimus out of the box according to this:

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6918-updated-2013-13-15-macbook-pro-thunderbolt-2-egpu-plug-play-optimus.html#post94929

Only a few vendor's cards are supported with AKiTiO. EVGA seems to be the most reliable choice.

[entzoe]

After a few days I got my PCI Riser but still no effect.

Situation 1): Powered the GFX card with 500 watt PSU and Thunder 2 powered = Black screen

Situation 2): Powered PCI Riser only (Molex) + Thunder 2 powered = Windows working, but can't find the card

Situation 3): Powered the GFX card with Riser + 500 watt PSU = Black screen

Starting to get desperate at this stage..

Can you please tell us how you connect your stuff? Something like this?

mbp/mini - (tb cable to) - AkiTio riser/no-riser GPU 770 - (hdmi/displayport cable to) - Monitor

[rwzdoorn]

Can you please tell us how you connect your stuff? Something like this?

mbp/mini - (tb cable to) - AkiTio riser/no-riser GPU 770 - (hdmi/displayport cable to) - Monitor

I conneted the MBP (15 2011) with TB > Akitio (with riser + powered) > DVI / HDMI with TV and normal monitor.

[entzoe]

I wish I could help, but my instructions are only compatible with Mac mini 2011, not MacBook Pro 2011. MBPs from late 2013 should work with AKiTiO on Win8.1, and preferably Iris only models. Another note that you are using MSI card which doesn't enable Optimus out of the box according to this:

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6918-updated-2013-13-15-macbook-pro-thunderbolt-2-egpu-plug-play-optimus.html#post94929

Only a few vendor's cards are supported with AKiTiO. EVGA seems to be the most reliable choice.

There you go. So you don't have an external monitor? I believe @goalque is correct regarding the Optimus.

I have implemented 2011 MBP on OS X but not on Windows.

[euqlaog]

@entzoe: You have MBP 2011 right? I haven't seen any successful older MBP thunderbolt implementation on Windows yet. My Mac mini is the only Windows implementation on the 2011-2012 list:

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-thunderbolt-expresscard-mpcie-egpus.html

Have you tried to run Win7/Win8 with your MBP and AKiTiO?

EDIT: You already answered, I didn't see your previous post because we were writing at the same time

[entzoe]

I conneted the MBP (15 2011) with TB > Akitio (with riser + powered) > DVI / HDMI with TV and normal monitor.

Can you try this.

Boot up your MPB with hdmi cable to your monitor. After booting up, connect your TB from MBP to AkiTio, and try to see if the card is detected. If it is then, install the driver. Then boot up with the following connections;

MBP - tb cable - akitio - egpu - hdmi - monitor

[entzoe]

@entzoe: You have MBP 2011 right? I haven't seen any successful older MBP thunderbolt implementation on Windows yet. My Mac mini is the only Windows implementation on the 2011-2012 list:

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-thunderbolt-expresscard-mpcie-egpus.html

Have you tried to run Win7/Win8 with your MBP and AKiTiO?

EDIT: You already answered, I didn't see your previous post because we were writing at the same time

I might try in the future. As of now I don't want to mess up the mbp as it is currently on diy fusion. So creating a windows partition will need me to reinstall everything.

[euqlaog]

I might try in the future. As of now I don't want to mess up the mbp as it is currently on diy fusion. So creating a windows partition will need me to reinstall everything.

Ok. Trying different booting orders (plugging in the TB cable later) might help in detecting the card, but seems that no plug and play solution exists for pre 2013 MBP on Windows as mentioned here:

"Pre 2013 MacBook Pro

- No plug and play

- Figuring out a way to do a Bootcamp w/GPT install could then provide PnP over TB1"

[Slovedon]

Heads up future buyers! The Thunder2 can no longer be found for $225 (unless I'm missing something), since B&H just raised their price to match everyone at $269. I just talked to them and convinced them to sell to me at $239 since they only raised the price within the last week or so.

Before I pull the trigger, I'm checking in with you all at T|I to see what else I would need to use with a GTX 970 on my G46VW on TB1. I'm reading through this whole thread and other relevant threads, but if anyone could give me rundown on what I will need to make this work, it would be very helpful while I read up.

I (would soon) have...

Akitio Thunder2 PCIe Expansion Box

G46VW with Thunderbolt port

GTX 970 (unsure which model yet, but likely 6+6 pin power, although possibly 6+8 or 8+8 if it would work with the Dell 220W DA2)

Dell DA-2 220W PSU (what do I need to mod this? Is it significantly simpler to just go ATX?)

(Powered riser?)

Any thoughts on how best to make this setup work, and advice on these parts or other parts I might need, would be greatly appreciated

[Dschijn]

@Slovedon: I just ordered all my parts for a GTX 970 setup.

MSI GTX 970 because of the disabled fans at idle and the 6+8 pin power.

Additionally a cheap PSU, a powered riser (just in case) and a Cooler Master Elite 130 black.

[jacobsson]

@Slovedon

From which Country are you ordering from? Thanks!

[Slovedon]

@Slovedon

From which Country are you ordering from? Thanks!

The U.S

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@Slovedon: I just ordered all my parts for a GTX 970 setup.

MSI GTX 970 because of the disabled fans at idle and the 6+8 pin power.

Additionally a cheap PSU, a powered riser (just in case) and a Cooler Master Elite 130 black.

Do you anticipate having to do any wire modding on that setup?

[Arise]

Guys with Macs here, can you please save me a ioreg and a dsdt dump along with system profiler log?

I can't make my GTX 680 work under Mavericks.

I see the card but is not functioning properly, no display output, no real name, only generic name and vram like 128MB only...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jacobsson]

Anyone know the best place of ordering the AKitio in Europe? It's seems like they like to direct convert USD to EUR :S

For instance $265 Akitio Thunder2 box (US) = €265 in Europe... facepalm

[entzoe]

Guys with Macs here, can you please save me a ioreg and a dsdt dump along with system profiler log?

I can't make my GTX 680 work under Mavericks.

I see the card but is not functioning properly, no display output, no real name, only generic name and vram like 128MB only...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

did you perform the following steps?

- install nvidia web graphic drivers, restart, select the nvidia graphic driver option in the system preference nvidia driver manager .

- install cuda drivers

- kext modifications

see detail steps here http://here http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7792-[warning]-osx-egpu-os-x-releases-10-9-5-update.html

@Arise let me know if you were able to resolve your issue.

[Dschijn]

Do you anticipate having to do any wire modding on that setup?

At first, no. Maybe later if I get my hands on a cheap adapter.

Anyone know the best place of ordering the AKitio in Europe? It's seems like they like to direct convert USD to EUR :S

For instance $265 Akitio Thunder2 box (US) = €265 in Europe... facepalm

238€ (germany): format.de-Artikelinformation: AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe Box

249€ (france): Thunder 2 PCIe Box - Châssis d'extension Thunderbolt 2 Pour Cartes PCIe - Chassis d'extension - AKITIO - MacWay