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Headless mac, is it true GPU won't engage?
- Thread starter rueyloon
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never tried it but as there where macpro servers sold & they have been used for network rendering (there some old cool posts of a guy who had a home render farm with mac pros' with 3-4 GPU's installed from way back if you look) i assume the gpu will work for apps etc
not hard to test if you have access to one i gess?
i assume this is for macpro as home server or render node ?
not hard to test if you have access to one i gess?
i assume this is for macpro as home server or render node ?
Yup, it's true.
You can buy something like a FIT Headless HDMI dongle to trick OS X into firing up the GPU drivers. If you buy one of these, make sure you get the non-4K model as the one that emulates a 4K display doesn't work properly with 10.10+ and network logins via Screen Sharing (you won't be able to select a non-HiDPI resolution, and the display scaling will screw up the network display).
-SC
You can buy something like a FIT Headless HDMI dongle to trick OS X into firing up the GPU drivers. If you buy one of these, make sure you get the non-4K model as the one that emulates a 4K display doesn't work properly with 10.10+ and network logins via Screen Sharing (you won't be able to select a non-HiDPI resolution, and the display scaling will screw up the network display).
-SC
For my Mac mini I used this:
This is only a Mini-DP (Thunderbolt) to VGA Adapter with a simple resistor connecting one pin with another one.
With this I can use my mini headless without any problems.
The article to build it can be found here: https://macminicolo.net/blog/files/build-a-dummy-dongle-for-a-headless-mac-mini.html
This is only a Mini-DP (Thunderbolt) to VGA Adapter with a simple resistor connecting one pin with another one.
With this I can use my mini headless without any problems.
The article to build it can be found here: https://macminicolo.net/blog/files/build-a-dummy-dongle-for-a-headless-mac-mini.html
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Also note that KVM devices have a similar shunt to fool all of the systems - so a cheap or spare KVM can do the job.
Many "servers" did not need to utilize GPU while Apple was still selling the X-SERVE. When the Mac Pro started "replacing" those units after the X-SERVE was discontinued, these solutions started to appear.
There are many cheap HDMI, DisplayPort, and miniDisplayPort dongles that virtualize display to engage GPU to improve performance for VNC and screen sharing style connections. SOME people who setup render farms on Macs back in the day utilized them as well, but those have moved to mostly PC/Windows or cloud-based these days.
If you're running a full-time server on Mac, spending $10 on a headless adapter is the least of your concerns right now. The removal of true server features from the OS is probably your top concern.
There are many cheap HDMI, DisplayPort, and miniDisplayPort dongles that virtualize display to engage GPU to improve performance for VNC and screen sharing style connections. SOME people who setup render farms on Macs back in the day utilized them as well, but those have moved to mostly PC/Windows or cloud-based these days.
If you're running a full-time server on Mac, spending $10 on a headless adapter is the least of your concerns right now. The removal of true server features from the OS is probably your top concern.
Using one on my mini. First I used Thunderbolt version before I got smart enough to use the HDMI. Needed the Thunderbolt for a USB3/SATA adapter.
I have a fit headless hdmi 4k version and works fine. Worked through 10.10, 10.11,0.12 and now 10.3.
I have a Zotac 680Gb 4Gb version flashed with the available EFI so get boot screens and everything.
run my 5,1 headless and screen share from 2009 mini with Apple LED Cinema Display and no problems with screen sharing at all.
It was a long time ago, but I swear there was a software (OS or ARD) method to manually set the desired resolution on a headless MacOS server. Definitely haven't seen it in a while.
