DIY eGPU Macbook experiences

[MVC]

I was hoping that I am had somehow buggered it up and installed it MBR, but it certainly looks like I installed in GPT/UEFI.

In fact, it appears that in my haste and eagerness to be sure I did it right, I didn't even leave a partition for OSX.

I realize that the one thing I haven't tried in some time is an honest to goodness PC card with UEFI.

I have either been using eEFI (for eGPU) or regular Mac EFI (for desktops).

I will try with an unadulterated GTX980 that came in today. But if that doesn't work, this may be tricky. It appears otherwise that I have doen everything as I have done with Mini, only difference being it doesn't work AT ALL.

[bsohn]

Any expresscard solution (PE4L, ViDock, EXP GDC) requires a Sonnet Echo Expresscard adapter. Not only is that more complex than a native AKiTiO Thunder2, but it's more costly AND gives lower bandwidth and performance. Why would anybody pay more for less? I've elaborated more on this at http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/7939-rip-off-alert-thunderbolt-vidock-bizonbox-crippled-tb-ec-4gbps-units.html

Once you get your video card working without any error 12 then it's just configuring Win7 multiple displays like at Configuring Multiple Monitors - NVIDIA Surround (Single GPU) - CCL Computers . Win7 would be a MBR installation on your system. Please see previous MBR implementations of your system at to see what's involved in overcoming error 12 on it at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-hub-tb-ec-mpcie.html#Thunderbolt

Thank You very much for consolidating all of the information here for me.. One last question as Im sure there are several Hw to build.. but what is the best forum post for the newest methods (How-To of building up the Akitio with the High wattage power supply as I would like to probably get a 960 or so for what I wish to do. and I know from your earlier descriptions that that is beyond the 200 watt directly connected methods.

Thanks in advance.

Brion

[Dschijn]

A GTX 960 doesn't need more than 200W. Even if… you can easily limit the TDP by Software in Windows!

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Thank You very much for consolidating all of the information here for me.. One last question as Im sure there are several Hw to build.. but what is the best forum post for the newest methods (How-To of building up the Akitio with the High wattage power supply as I would like to probably get a 960 or so for what I wish to do. and I know from your earlier descriptions that that is beyond the 200 watt directly connected methods.

Thanks in advance.

Brion

The up-to-date best build info/guidance is linked at the bottom of the opening post at http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/7205-us%24189-akitio-thunder2-pcie-box-16gbps-tb2.html#post98210 .

Best example builds are ones that DO NOT USE a PCIe riser from http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-hub-tb-ec-mpcie.html#Thunderbolt . Just go through the ones that have no "Y" in the RISER section, honing on ITX builds (no mods to the AKiTiO chassis) or ones marked "AKiTiO Thunder2-opened" for where the chassis is modified to allow unlimited length cards to fit depending on whether you will be using an ITX sized video card or larger.

[Dschijn]

@w4vz: Sounds right to me... @bsohn: Well there are two problems: 1. cards can't be too wide 2. The PCIe power connector is too tall to make the AKiTiO beeing able to close.

Imho, get a slim GTX 960/970, like the card I linked, get small 6-Pin PCIe (or craft them yourself) cables like Tech Inferno Fan linked here: http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-apple/8771-2012-15-macbook-pro-gtx970%4010gbps-tb1-akitio-thunder2-win8-1-osx10-10-%5Bgiordy%5D-2.html#post130496

and not just drill holes but make two ventilation holes right in front of the GPU fans in the size of the fans. Get some black colored fan grills and put them on the holes.

This is a Zotac GTX 970 with 8mm clearance from the PCIe connector to the case (a german shop is measuring it as 204x111mm):

Sources: http://geizhals.de/zotac-geforce-gtx-970-zt-90101-10p-a1167955.html?hloc=at&hloc=de

http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-apple/8771-2012-15-macbook-pro-gtx970%4010gbps-tb1-akitio-thunder2-win8-1-osx10-10-%5Bgiordy%5D-2.html

[bsohn]

@w4vz: Sounds right to me... @bsohn: Well there are two problems: 1. cards can't be too wide 2. The PCIe power connector is too tall to make the AKiTiO beeing able to close.

Imho, get a slim GTX 960/970, like the card I linked, get small 6-Pin PCIe (or craft them yourself) cables like Tech Inferno Fan linked here: http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-apple/8771-2012-15-macbook-pro-gtx970%4010gbps-tb1-akitio-thunder2-win8-1-osx10-10-%5Bgiordy%5D-2.html#post130496

and not just drill holes but make two ventilation holes right in front of the GPU fans in the size of the fans. Get some black colored fan grills and put them on the holes.

This is a Zotac GTX 970 with 8mm clearance from the PCIe connector to the case (a german shop is measuring it as 204x111mm):

Sources: Zotac GeForce GTX 970, 4GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort (ZT-90101-10P) Preisvergleich | Geizhals Deutschland

http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-apple/8771-2012-15-macbook-pro-gtx970%4010gbps-tb1-akitio-thunder2-win8-1-osx10-10-%5Bgiordy%5D-2.html

OK another question.. Does anyone know of a link that has multiple pictures of the Akitio Cover?? I want to see how it fits as I am thinking that to get the look I want I might be able actually make a new cover (granted won't probably be as sturdy as Akitio cover which from the small photos of the edge I ave seen looks extruded.

Thank you

Brion

[Dschijn]

You want to see the front?

[bsohn]

You want to see the front?

Thank you for the photo but what I was actually looking for were pictures of the cover wrap and how it mounts to the main chassis.

Brion Sohn

[Dschijn]

Thank you for the photo but what I was actually looking for were pictures of the cover wrap and how it mounts to the main chassis.

Brion Sohn

cover wrap? You mean the outer shell of the case? The case around the AKiTiO, that you can slide out?

[bsohn]

cover wrap? You mean the outer shell of the case? The case around the AKiTiO, that you can slide out?

Yea that is what I mean.. The outer casing, Shell, Surrounds.. basically the part that normally will not fut if you have a card that is too tall or too wide..

Id like to see it Off of the main chassis so I can see how it is actually attached to see if I cn actually remake a shell in some manner that can maybe make side clearance for a regular card or higher for a taller card or even longer in some way (though probably not really needed for the longer cars.

Brion Sohn

[Mark]

Okay, it's happened again.

I have a late 2013 rMBP with a Titan X and an Akitio Thunder2. I have done nothing to it other than make a PSU-to-barrel plug and opened the case to fit my GPU in. For the first few days, the set-up worked flawlessly.

I then decided to do my regular system cleanup, i.e. back up everything, install a clean copy of the OSes, etc. Just to get rid of clutter in my laptop. After fighting Bootcamp errors all day, I finally managed to install Windows and OS X together, and eagerly installed the eGPU. Then it happened again. The same dreadful kernel panic when booting up into OSX that led me into thinking that my SEL+980 setup was fried.

However, unlike the SEL+980, my eGPU boots fine in Windows 8.1. My suspicion now is for some reason I have screwed up the bootloader when installing Windows under Bootcamp. I'm going to try to start again, wiping everything and then installing the eGPU under OS X first before installing Windows (at least I can guess how I can do this without errors). And if that fails I don't know what else to do.

For the record, I was on 10.10.3 with the latest NVIDIA driver that I modded to skip the system check (346.something) and Windows 8.1, also with the latest NVIDIA driver installed (350.something).

[Mark]

Update: I reinstalled the OSes as I described. Hooray as I thought, both OSes booting as usual, until I accidentally unplugged my eGPU under OS X and this problem happened again, from time to time. The eGPU is still booting fine under Windows!

A solution that I discovered is that when my setup goes into kernel panic under OS X, I reboot the laptop without the eGPU plugged in, shut down, perform an SMC reset with the eGPU plugged in and switched on. This solution has fixed the OS X crash-on-bootup issue every time so far!

[kedar]

Hello Friends,

I have a late 2013 imac 27 inch model and has a 1GB Graphic card. I would like to add external GPU Nvidia card using a Akitio or Sonnet thunderbolt expansion box. I am a newbie and would like your ideas & help in doing this. Thanks a lot in advance and awaiting your responses.

Regards,

Kedar.

[kedar]

[h=2]Hello Friends,[/h]

I have a late 2013

imac

27 inch model and has a 1GB

Graphic card

. I would like to add external

GPU Nvidia card

using a Akitio or Sonnet thunderbolt expansion box. I am a newbie and would like your ideas & help in doing this. Thanks a lot in advance and awaiting your responses.

Regards,

Kedar.

[Dschijn]

What do you want to do/achieve with the eGPU? Which OS?

[kedar]

I am using this Imac for color grading of films. The software is called Da Vinci Resolve. It requires lot of GPU power for color processing of videos/films. Imac obviously has a built in monitor which i would like to continue using. I am currently on osx 10.8.5 but i can upgrade my os if required.

[Dschijn]

I am not familiar with that software, but if you can adress a specific GPU in the preferences of the programm it will work

To get an idea, you can check out this video (gets more interessting at 10min):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPOB9qmPjaE&t=10m20s

[euqlaog]

I am using this Imac for color grading of films. The software is called Da Vinci Resolve. It requires lot of GPU power for color processing of videos/films. Imac obviously has a built in monitor which i would like to continue using. I am currently on osx 10.8.5 but i can upgrade my os if required.

Combination of Nvidia web driver 346.01.02f02 and CUDA 7.0.36 on OS X 10.10.3 (14D136) will detect reference GTX 980:

DaVinci Resolve can also utilize AMD / OpenCL resources with Apple’s native drivers:

[kedar]

Combination of Nvidia web driver 346.01.02f02 and CUDA 7.0.36 on OS X 10.10.3 (14D136) will detect reference GTX 980:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]14730[/ATTACH]

This is a bit unclear to me ( Sorry i am new to all this )

[euqlaog]

Combination of Nvidia web driver 346.01.02f02 and CUDA 7.0.36 on OS X 10.10.3 (14D136) will detect reference GTX 980:

This is a bit unclear to me ( Sorry i am new to all this )

There are a few things you should pay attention to when running eGPU on OS X,

- some of the image/video processing apps are CUDA accelerated only, in which case only Nvidia card is possible

- in order to use Nvidia Maxwell card externally via Thunderbolt, you need to install Nvidia web driver where the build version match the operating system version, such as 14D136. Browse through the Apple implementation section how to install a web driver. There are many ways, one is shown on the video. I prefer Terminal commands.

- most of the new TB2 Macs have much trouble in recognising an external monitor via Nvidia eGPU on OS X:

http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-apple/8619-tb2-macbooks-allow-monitors-used-nvidia-egpus-osx-3.html#post129287

so if your application has OpenGL accelerated parts, those may not work at all. OpenGL is not meant for GPGPU processing - some algorithms can be run in offscreen mode though, but it depends on the application. DaVinci Resolve uses CUDA or OpenCL, so I don’t see a problem. For CUDA processing, you have to install CUDA driver - if not detected, DaVinci Resolve gives an error window:

[nikyork93]

hello, i have a little problem, each time that i'm trying to playing to any games happen the black screen! i can't play any games, i read that the solution could be this: "The solution is to set the PE4H 2.4 fuse bypass jumper" but i really don't know what i have to do... can someone explain me what i have to do? thank you very much.

my gpu is: gtx 970 evga

system. win 7 64bit

macbook pro 15 early 2013 TB1

[Dschijn]

@nikyork93: A little more informations would be good.

[Izzard]

Hi all!

TL;DR: If I start up my AKiTiO/GTX970 eGPU and then turn on my Mac mini, Yosemite boots most of the way then - instead of displaying the login screen - the computer restarts. This repeats indefinitely. If I power up the eGPU with OS X running, System Information shows it as "NVIDIA Chip Model" instead of "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970". The kernel panic while booting only happens once I've modified IONDRVSupport.kext. The rest of this post will be me explaining what I've done and what results I get. I'd be over the moon if someone can help me get this thing started up!

(Incidentally, I have Windows 10 Insider Preview installed in legacy/BIOS mode on a second SSD and this same hardware worked at least once giving me fantastic benchmark results, etc. But generally, Windows also fails to boot if the eGPU is powered on.)

Hardware:

• Mac mini (Mid 2011)
  
  • Processor Name:Intel Core i7
    
  • Processor Speed:2.7 GHz
    
  • Number of Processors:1
    
  • Total Number of Cores:2
    
  • L2 Cache (per Core):256 KB
    
  • L3 Cache:4 MB
    
  • Memory:16 GB
    
  • Boot ROM Version:MM51.0077.B10
    
  • SMC Version (system):1.75f0
    

  [*]AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe box

  [*]PSUs tried:

  • CiT 400W 12cm Silent Fan Dual Rail
    
  • Corsair Builder Series CX 430 Watt ATX/EPS
    

  [*]GPUs tried:

  • MSI AMD 280X Graphic Card (3GB, 384-Bit, GDDR5, DL-DVI-I/DVI-D, HDMI, DL Mini-DP, TF FAN, PCI-E)
    
  • Asus Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 Strix Graphics Card (4GB, GDDR5, PCI Express 3.0)
    

  [*]2 displays - one connected the Mac mini by HDMI, one connected to the eGPU by HDMI.

(I added the "server" SATA cable to my Mac mini and it has two identical SSDs in it, so I can have one totally dedicated to OS X and one totally dedicated to Windows. I really like this setup when it comes to formatting and rebuilding new OS versions!)

Software:

• OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 (14D136)
  
  • CUDA Driver Version: 7.0.36
    
  • GPU Driver Version: 10.3.7 (346.01.02f02)
    

  [*]Windows 10 Insider Preview build 10074

As mentioned, I can "hot-plug" the eGPU in OS X. This is what appears in the console:

[FONT=courier new]03/05/2015 19:58:15.000 kernel[0]: AppleThunderboltGenericHAL::earlyWake - complete - took 0 milliseconds
03/05/2015 19:58:15.000 kernel[0]: IOThunderboltSwitch<0xffffff8031861000>(0x3)::listenerCallback - Thunderbolt HPD packet for route = 0x3 port = 11 unplug = 0
03/05/2015 19:58:15.000 kernel[0]: IOThunderboltSwitch<0xffffff8031861000>(0x3)::listenerCallback - Thunderbolt HPD packet for route = 0x3 port = 2 unplug = 0
03/05/2015 19:58:15.000 kernel[0]: IOThunderboltSwitch<0xffffff8031861000>(0x3)::listenerCallback - Thunderbolt HPD packet for route = 0x3 port = 12 unplug = 0
03/05/2015 19:58:15.000 kernel[0]: considerRebuildOfPrelinkedKernel prebuild rebuild has expired
03/05/2015 19:58:17.000 kernel[0]: [ PCI configuration begin ]
03/05/2015 19:58:17.000 kernel[0]: [ PCI configuration end, bridges 17, devices 20 ]
03/05/2015 19:58:17.360 com.apple.kextd[40]: kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67030 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA2A for kext "/System/Library/Extensions/NVDAStartup.kext"
03/05/2015 19:58:17.000 ker[/FONT][FONT=courier new]nel[0]: NVDAStartup: Web
03/05/2015 19:58:17.000 kernel[0]: NVDAGM100HAL loaded and registered
03/05/2015 19:58:17.000 kernel[0]: [AGPM Controller] unknownPlatform[/FONT]

Is that part about AppleGraphicsPowerManagement Controller significant? Notice there are no complaints about requiring IOPCITunnelCompatible so I'm pretty sure I've edited the Kexts correctly.

The three Kexts in question (when using the Nvidia card) are AppleHDA, IONDRVSupport and NVDAStartup. I've tried swapping in and out edited/original versions of these in different combinations and it seems that AppleHDA and NVDAStartup - when modified - don't cause the issue. If I use the original IONDRVSupport then it doesn't kernel panic on boot, only if the ePGU is connected and IONDRVSupport is modified.

Hardware combinations I've tried:

I started with the cheap CIT PSU and the MSI AMD R9 280X. I adapted the PSU to power the AKiTiO via a barrel plug. I also tried using a powered PCIe riser. It made no difference to the symptoms. I couldn't get any display out of the 280X (of course some of the kexts required are different) so I went out and bought a better PSU and GPU. (The much nicer Corsair and the Asus Nvidia GTX 970). I tried this eGPU powered by barrel plug and PCIe riser. Still no joy - extremely similar symptoms, just Nvidia-flavoured now. I've also tried the CIT PSU with the GTX 970 and the Corsair with the 280X, just for completeness but these don't seem to be what's causing the problem. I have since returned the 280X to concentrate on getting the GTX970 working (because it worked great in Windows on one of my attempts).

Attempts with OS X Yosemite:

If I try booting with the eGPU powered on, OS X's loading progress bar gets to the point where it would normally display the login screen / Desktop and the machine reboots, which I'm calling a kernel panic. On the next boot attempt it displays the dreaded "Your computer restarted because of a problem…"

If I boot without the eGPU and then hot-plug it, everything looks like it wants to work… it just doesn't. Here's what I get with the Nvidia card: In System Information under Graphics/Displays, I see the AMD Radeon HD 6630M and its display as normal, plus "NVIDIA Chip Model" where I'd expect to see it identify as a GTX 970...

Using NVIDIA Web Driver:

Using the OS X default driver:

I'll try to prove that I've followed the right steps to get here!

Boot arguments:

[FONT=Menlo]sudo nvram boot-args[/FONT]
[FONT=Menlo]Password:[/FONT]
[FONT=Menlo]boot-args    kext-dev-mode=1 nvda_drv=1[/FONT]

• My NVDAStartup plist (pastebin.com)
  
• My AppleHDAController plist (pastebin.com)
  
• My IONDRVSupport plist (pastebin.com)
  

Kext cache - no errors:

Kexts loaded OK (hot-plugging):

NVIDIA Driver Manager:

CUDA Preference pane:

CUDA-Z:

About This Mac:

I've even tried using only 1 x 8GB stick of RAM, then the other one. Makes no difference. I'm not sure what else is useful to provide for troubleshooting but I'm ready to try anything!

The hardware looks quite happy in my opened-up AKiTiO box. The card uses one 8-pin PCIe connector, which I've voltage tested and which is illuminating the white LED next to it (it's a red LED if the PCIe slot is powered but the 8-pin connector isn't). I've checked my barrel connector and it's supplying 12 volts. The AKiTiO is happily illuminated at both ends (on-board blue and green LEDs are steady and cable-attached blue LED is steady). However, by this point, it's in danger of being short-circuited by saltwater as I'm close to crying into it. :'(

[MVC]

OK, First up thank you for supplying lots of info, "I've got an eGPU and it doesn't work, why?" is always tough to answer. You seem very thorough so hopefully we'll get you up and running.

The only thing I see missing is how you turn on the PSU, but I'm guessing you must be doing something or the power lights wouldn't work. So either a SWEX or a paperclip?

Have you tried plugging TB in RIGHT AFTER the boot chime?

I have a 2014 Mini and that gives me best results with PC cards into Windows.

Next I would check each of your modded files. If you are on Build 14D136 I will put up a dropbox with the 3 files that definitely work.

I once found that I had missed one of the < at the beginning or end of a edit.

All it takes is one missing < in one kext and nothing will work.

Have you looked through the various guides to find someone on same machine?

This stuff tends to either work on a model or not work on a model.

So if there is someone with your same machine, reading their report should give you valuable info.

The good news is that most early TB macs have had relative ease getting eGPU working.

The bad news is that some have reported trouble with Maxwell cards, similar to what you are having.

But I guarantee that those 3 files MUST be modded, and they must be modded correctly. And you need to "repair permissions" after every install.

Typically, if I have them done correctly I will be able to see them in the "extensions" section of System Profiler and they will be "Loaded" but also "Loadable " "No".

You may be able to see which ones loaded and which ones did not when it shows up as Nvidia Card Model and that may tell you which piece is broken.

[nikyork93]

i've RMA my card once time because i tought was it but wasn't, i reinitialized my windows partition, i reinstalled the invdia drivers, i've deleted geforce experience. my PSU is ANTEC 550. i use a riser molex to power the akitio . could be the PSU the problem? (sorry for my english)