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2015 13" MBP + GTX970@16Gbps-TB2 (AKiTiO Thunder2) + Win8.1 [franknickzhang]


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Hello guys, I just bought my gears and built them up. I am so upset that I can't boot into Windows and in most of situations, I can't even turn on my Mac when connected to eGPU.

Here is what I got:

1. 2015 13'' MacBook Pro (the forcetouch one)

2. MSI GTX 970

3. CORSAIR VS550 (500W PSU with paperclip trick)

4. AKiTiO Thunderbolt 2 PCIE box + Cable given with it

5. PCIE extended cable with power input unit

6. 90 degree raiser

7. Philips 244E Display connected by HDMI and VGA

post-18090-14495000021098_thumb.jpg

post-18090-14495000021729_thumb.jpg

So what I do is as follows:

1. Connect all cables:

a.PSU to graphics with one 6 pin and one 8 pin cable;

b.PSU to PCIE extending cable with 12V power input;

c.Graphics to 90 degree raiser to extended cable to Akitio; Graphic to external display with HDMI cable

d.Akitio is connected to Mac with given thunderbolt cable

e.Akitio was NOT connected to akitio power adaptor and was not connected to fan or LED on the metal box

2. Mac is turned off, then connected to above system by thunderbolt.

3. Wait for 2 minutes after turning on the PSU (sometimes I don't wait, making no difference), then PRESS the power button on Mac

And at this time, I usually get NOTHING on either displays. I can only see fans rotated for a while then stopped, and blue light on the Akitio board turned on

Moreover, my Mac is totally non responding: I pressed caps lock but the light didn't change at all.

After around ten tries, and I even reinstalled Windows 8.1 through bootcamp (I originally used Win10, and I finished bootcamp driver installation in both Win8 and Win 10 before trying eGPU installation)

I finally saw the boot screen of Windows, BUT it was on internal display instead of external one

I was so excited that installed Nvidia driver immediately, and turned off the computer.

When again I press the power button, the non responding Mac was all I got. I had to force the computer turn off and restart it again, and after another 10 tries, I again went into windows in my internal display and everything was just as awesome as it should be.

BUT after turning off my Mac, everything back to the 10% chance booting up, and I have never made it to use eGPU in Windows again.

I tried modifying EFI files as this thread: http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-apple/8558-%5Bguide%5D-macbook-enabling-optimus-internal-lcd-mode.html

But now, when I manage to see the boot screen of Windows 8, I stuck on the loading screen with dots circling around forever. It lasts for minutes and I had to turn of the system by force. Stuck as the following figure: there are actually dots circling on the screen, sorry for my iPad-shooting.

post-18090-14495000022425_thumb.jpg

I don't know why I just can't boot in external display solely, not even once. My only two successful cases happened under optimus?

I tried cleaning NVRAM as well as SMC. The percentage of non-turning on case decreased, but still I can't boot into windows with eGPU attached.

My biggest problem so far is that I can't boot in external display, giving me no chance to modify anything. The display works when I put HDMI into my computer directly without eGPU connected (I just tried that).

Second problem is why do I have to try so many times before a successful turning on of Mac, otherwise the laptop was non responding with a complete non-powered display.

I really need some help here and thanks for any kind of reply!

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Hello guys, I just bought my gears and built them up. I am so upset that I can't boot into Windows and in most of situations, I can't even turn on my Mac when connected to eGPU.

Here is what I got:

1. 2015 13'' MacBook Pro (the forcetouch one)

2. MSI GTX 970

3. CORSAIR VS550 (500W PSU with paperclip trick)

4. AKiTiO Thunderbolt 2 PCIE box + Cable given with it

5. PCIE extended cable with power input unit

6. 90 degree raiser

7. Philips 244E Display connected by HDMI and VGA

K, you have a Broadwell 2015 13" Macbook Pro. This system has presented problems for some other users:

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7910-diy-egpu-macbook-experiences-52.html#post127342

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7910-diy-egpu-macbook-experiences-58.html#post128390

Means we have no existing working implementation as a precedent. Maybe yours will be the first?

I'd suggest try each of the following to get the Macbook booted into Windows 8.1 with working eGPU:

1. unplug the external LCD connector on the eGPU video card, power on notebook, hit OPTION key to get OS selection menu, proceed to boot Win8.x, plug in external LCD.

This can help if the firmware is falling over knowing what to do with the externally LCD.

2. unplug the TB cable, power on notebook, hit OPTION key to get OS selection menu, plug in TB cable, proceed to boot Win8.x

This can help if the firmware is falling over knowing what to do with attached eGPU.

3. unplug the PCIe power to the video card, power on notebook, hit OPTION key to get OS selection menu, plug in PCIe power to the video card, proceed to boot Win8.x

This can help if the firmware is falling over knowing what to do with attached eGPU, here it's partially disabled.

4. unplug the yellow/black cable that connects the two AKiTiO boards, power on the notebook, hit OPTION key to get OS seletion menu, plug in yellow/black cable, proceed to boot Win8.x

This can help if the firmware is falling over knowing what to do with attached eGPU, here it's completely not on the PCIe bus but the AKITiO is.

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@Dos43 said that it doesn’t work on OS X either. Only black external and internal screen. That worries me a lot. 2011-2014 Macs never required manual delays on OS X, eGPUs detected 100% on OS X.

Hopefully the startup manager at least shows up when Option key is pressed. Try verbose mode (Command-V) if that outputs something.

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I don't understand why he has a riser at all.

He has the Akitio barenaked, he could just plug the card in and be done.

Just needs to power the Akitio barrel via the 12V he has on riser.

Also, I find that Windows works much better with TB being plugged in AFTER boot chime. What Nando suggest should work. I think you just need to delay the plug in.

I have seen the UEFI on cards freak out the Mac EFI before, plugging in after the chime means it doesn't get read.

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4. unplug the yellow/black cable that connects the two AKiTiO boards, power on the notebook, hit OPTION key to get OS seletion menu, plug in yellow/black cable, proceed to boot Win8.x

This can help if the firmware is falling over knowing what to do with attached eGPU, here it's completely not on the PCIe bus but the AKITiO is.

@Dos43 @R-U-S-S @goalque @Dschijn @MVC

UPDATE1:

Thank you for your help, sincerely!

I finally got it worked, but not every boot is successful. The ratio is about one fourth.

Here is what I did:

1. I encountered code 12 problem, so a DSDT override was applied as this thread instructed: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7476-%5Bguide%5D-dsdt-override-fix-error-12-a.html#post102517

2. Disabled HD6100 (haven't tried not to)

3. Connect all the cables EXCEPT the one connecting two AKiTiO boards.

4. Boot into Windows Boot Manager, and plug in the cable that connects the two AKiTiO boards.

5. Boot into windows, there is still a high failure rate, though.

6. I set eDisplay as main display and closed lid as well as disabled internal monitor.

So above is what I did to make things work, games were tested, and they worked smoothly with the CPU as bottleneck,

but still it should be noted that:

1. I don't know if DSDT override is compulsory, since I sometimes boot into windows with only internal display works, and Device Manager reports again code 12. Reboot can solve this problem. But I have a much lower rate getting into windows before DSDT override. Moreover, sometimes when only internal display works, it got Bluescreen crash a few seconds later seeing desktop picture.

2. It's still frustrating to have only 25% chance to boot successfully, even if a successful boot works extremely stable. Therefore I think there is still improvement on boot technique.

3. ONLY OPTIMUS MODE AVAILABLE, I have never had an experience to get eDisplay worked solely on this 2015 13'' rMBP model.

4.The raiser can be moved or not, it doesn't matter at all (of course). The reason why I used a raiser is I wanted to move this system into a box, so I set the system as that scenario may required.

5. Another reason why I use x16 Cable is that I don't have resources to solder the cables......

6. I have not tried eGPU in OSX yet

post-18090-14495000034393_thumb.png

I will post if there are any improvements on this system.

post-18090-14495000032876_thumb.png

post-18090-14495000033416_thumb.png

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@Dos43 @R-U-S-S @goalque @Dschijn @MVC

UPDATE1:

Thank you for your help, sincerely!

I finally got it worked, but not every boot is successful. The ratio is about one fourth.

Here is what I did:

1. I encountered code 12 problem, so a DSDT override was applied as this thread instructed: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7476-%5Bguide%5D-dsdt-override-fix-error-12-a.html#post102517

2. Disabled HD6100 (haven't tried not to)

3. Connect all the cables EXCEPT the one connecting two AKiTiO boards.

Since you are using a powered riser then you can do the same thing as the yellow/black cable unplug/replug by isolating the first 6 pins on the riser (the power pins) with cellophane tape and unplugging/plugging the riser's molex instead at the Mac OS selection screen (Option key). Isolating a powered riser this way will also give a more stable config.

See http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/7205-us%24189-akitio-thunder2-pcie-box-16gbps-tb2-98.html#post122901 for a bit more info about this.

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Have you tried a few times just plugging the TB cable in AFTER the boot chime? And I mean right after.

Also, i have noticed two versions of the Error 12. The better one is when there is a line at bottom that says "The changes you have made to hardware require a restart"

Usually I will have a good result on next one, even though I still need to plug in TB after chime most of the time.

On 2014 Mini I can get by Error 12 with a reboot or two. On 2013 nMP I have yet to find a way, haven't dug into DSDT but instead mucked with mmio in EFI.

A lot of people very curious about your test as things are worrisome with Apple making harder with each new model.

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  • 2 weeks later...
@Dos43 @R-U-S-S @goalque @Dschijn @MVC

UPDATE1:

Thank you for your help, sincerely!

I finally got it worked, but not every boot is successful. The ratio is about one fourth.

Here is what I did:

1. I encountered code 12 problem, so a DSDT override was applied as this thread instructed: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7476-%5Bguide%5D-dsdt-override-fix-error-12-a.html#post102517

2. Disabled HD6100 (haven't tried not to)

3. Connect all the cables EXCEPT the one connecting two AKiTiO boards.

4. Boot into Windows Boot Manager, and plug in the cable that connects the two AKiTiO boards.

5. Boot into windows, there is still a high failure rate, though.

6. I set eDisplay as main display and closed lid as well as disabled internal monitor.

So above is what I did to make things work, games were tested, and they worked smoothly with the CPU as bottleneck,

but still it should be noted that:

1. I don't know if DSDT override is compulsory, since I sometimes boot into windows with only internal display works, and Device Manager reports again code 12. Reboot can solve this problem. But I have a much lower rate getting into windows before DSDT override. Moreover, sometimes when only internal display works, it got Bluescreen crash a few seconds later seeing desktop picture.

2. It's still frustrating to have only 25% chance to boot successfully, even if a successful boot works extremely stable. Therefore I think there is still improvement on boot technique.

3. ONLY OPTIMUS MODE AVAILABLE, I have never had an experience to get eDisplay worked solely on this 2015 13'' rMBP model.

4.The raiser can be moved or not, it doesn't matter at all (of course). The reason why I used a raiser is I wanted to move this system into a box, so I set the system as that scenario may required.

5. Another reason why I use x16 Cable is that I don't have resources to solder the cables......

6. I have not tried eGPU in OSX yet

[ATTACH=CONFIG]14883[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]14884[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]14885[/ATTACH]

I will post if there are any improvements on this system.

@franknickzhang

Have you had any recent progress? I've successfully been able to boot into Windows 8.1 on a 2015 MBPr 13", utilizing the eGPU. However, I do not get a code 12. Instead the macbook either does not post (ie: non-initialized internal and external screen), I get stuck at the windows boot screen (spinning wheel), or it gets into windows but device manager says that the graphics card is hidden and not connected (code 45). The only way that I've been able to get it to work is by uninstalling the graphics card device and deleting the drivers in device manager, rebooting, it then may be detected as a generic video device, I then reinstall the NVIDIA drivers, shutdown, startup (usually black screen), shutdown, and startup again. This doesn't always work though.

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@franknickzhang

Have you had any recent progress? I've successfully been able to boot into Windows 8.1 on a 2015 MBPr 13", utilizing the eGPU. However, I do not get a code 12. Instead the macbook either does not post (ie: non-initialized internal and external screen), I get stuck at the windows boot screen (spinning wheel), or it gets into windows but device manager says that the graphics card is hidden and not connected (code 45). The only way that I've been able to get it to work is by uninstalling the graphics card device and deleting the drivers in device manager, rebooting, it then may be detected as a generic video device, I then reinstall the NVIDIA drivers, shutdown, startup (usually black screen), shutdown, and startup again. This doesn't always work though.

Gents, have you guys applied http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-apple/8558-%5Bguide%5D-macbook-enabling-optimus-internal-lcd-mode.html ? This was what was required at http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-apple/10087-2014-13-mbp-gtx970%4016gbps-tb2-akitio-thunder2-win8-1-osx10-10-3-%5Bba10s118%5D.html

After installing Win 8.1 via bootcamp, the Akitio would boot /w a black screen (internal and external)

Solution: uEFI mod install required

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@franknickzhang

Have you had any recent progress? I've successfully been able to boot into Windows 8.1 on a 2015 MBPr 13", utilizing the eGPU. However, I do not get a code 12. Instead the macbook either does not post (ie: non-initialized internal and external screen), I get stuck at the windows boot screen (spinning wheel), or it gets into windows but device manager says that the graphics card is hidden and not connected (code 45). The only way that I've been able to get it to work is by uninstalling the graphics card device and deleting the drivers in device manager, rebooting, it then may be detected as a generic video device, I then reinstall the NVIDIA drivers, shutdown, startup (usually black screen), shutdown, and startup again. This doesn't always work though.

I am sorry to say I didn't know about your problem, may be you should try the optimus solution.

And I encountered new problems: code 43

I just moved my stuff to another room today, during which I disconnected all the cables. And after setting them up again, I just couldn't get a successful boot. I either stuck at spinning wheel, or get a code 43 (Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems).

Previously, in successful scenarios, I usually got several spinning wheel boots before a successful boot.

First I tried to install optimus dmg in OS X, didn't work;

and in Windows, I tried uninstallation eGPU drivers, and re-installing it. It didn't change anything.

I tried to disable the eGPU, and then re-enable it, sometimes I get the status"this device is working properly" without changing anything including eDisplay posting. After rebooting, again I got code 43.

I also tried disconnect TB cable, and this crashes Windows immediately (without blue screen but no response to any operations except mouse cursor), I think this suggests that Windows successfully recognizes and drives eGPU but somehow is not able to transfer information to it.

I think I am really close to make it work again, but I am still trying how to.

I am wondering if there is any method to reset eGPU, like DIY eGPU software (I cannot use that due to compulsory EFI boot mode)

And the last thing I want to try is reinstalling Windows, although I believe this will definitely work, but I just can't reinstall windows every time I move hardwares.

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  • 1 month later...

Do you have an update on your situation? I am also running the same 2015 MBP 13" as you and am having issues consistently booting with eGPU working. I was wondering if you found a solution to make bootup consistent.

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