Resolved Please Help w/ Video Card Power Connection/AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 work in cMP 5,1?

[ZombiePhysicist]

Has anyone gotten the 9100 to work in your 5,1 cMP? Apple says this card is supported for Mojave.

When I plugged it in using this cable:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M49SELW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It screamed like a banshee.

I have since ordered this and will cross my fingertips praying it makes a difference:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HLP4647/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
But I suspect the problem not enough power.

Has anyone gotten this card to work, and if so, what power cabling did you use? I suspect if I put in another power supply that would be enough? Thanks for any pointers!

For what it's worth, here are the plugs the card has.

 

[MIKX]

You only connected one socket ?

It has two sockets . . .

Search for Mac Pro 2 X Mini 6 pin to 1 8 pin plus two SATA to one 6 pin

The SATA power cables need the right side tab to be clipped off.

" Measure twice. . .cut once " = read up here and also at http://forum.netkas.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=129t4km0d8luq5nhl252fohv75mkbk93&#1

Hopefully you haven't damaged your Mac Pro or the GPU.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

I searched for "Mac Pro 2 X Mini 6 pin to 1 8 pin plus two SATA to one 6 pin" and it only came back to this thread.

The link to netkas was just to the general site. Searching for the string didn't bring up anything that I could understand as relevant (e.g., Mac Mini Firmware Upgrade Utility Needed).

Thankfully my Mac Pro is fine (at least when I put in the original video cards). Would appreciate any points in how to properly connect the power lines. Sorry, I dont understand what you mean by clipping SATA power cables as I'm not using SATA.

Sorry if I'm oblivious. I feel like I thought I was just getting in a shallow pool to hook up a power lead in a tower and may have wandered into the Marianas Trench.

 

[MIKX]

The sockets that power your internal hard drives have two parts. . (1) power (2 ) data transfer.

You can use the POWER part of the socket by using the cable in the photo below . . .but the cable has a tab on either side . .one of them needs to be clipped off to allow the cable to be inserted correctly because the DATA transfer part of the on board socket gets in the way.



This cable to connect from the Mac Pro's 6 pin to 8 pin socket
https://www.ebay.com/itm/18AWG-Dual-Mini-6-Pin-Male-To-8-Pin-PCI-e-Y-Splitter-Power-Cable-For-Mac-Pro/273406546488?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649


This cable for the 6 pin socket https://asset.conrad.com/media10/is...pg?x=1000&y=1000&ex=1000&ey=1000&align=center

You plug these into your internal SATA HDD sockets but you'll have to clip off one of the side tabs to be able to insert it. Shut down your Mac Pro, unplug the power cord, lay the Mac Pro on it' side .. now work out which of the SATA tabs you have to clip off. If you can't work that out you need your eyes tested.

Use a piece of string to measure how long the cable needs to be to reach the GPU's 6 pin socket when ordering.

AliExpress is a good place to buy cables but longish delivery times.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Fre...6-Pin-Female-Video-Card-Power/2041017613.html

Using this cable you will lose two hard drives spaces. Or if you can get a really long one. . you could remove your DVD drive and use the two SATA cable there. . have a look . .you'll see what I mean.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

So thanks very much MIKX. That got the video card to come up and work! Now the problem is I cannot close the case as I have the wires dangling down the side of the case to get to the card, and the cables are too thick for the case to close.

I guess I would have to take apart the entire machine and re-route those sata power cables to the motherboard? That sounds like a painful procedure.

But thank you so much for the help!

 

[MIKX]

Send us some pics of how you have the GPU connected.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

It was wired towards the outside of the case. Here are some pics. You can see in the 4th image where the card is seated in the slot, I'm draping the SATA power cables over and through the 2nd drive bay.

 

[MIKX]

You can move two of your internal hard drives you can use the SATA sockets above your GPU.
You can put those two hard drives into the DVD drive space. I think the mounting holes allow for them to be connected to where normally two DVD drives are connected.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

You can move two of your internal hard drives you can use the SATA sockets above your GPU.
You can put those two hard drives into the DVD drive space. I think the mounting holes allow for them to be connected to where normally two DVD drives are connected.

Oh, that is a super great idea. So straight off the motherboard there. I think that should work. A bit extreme, on the other hand, since I just dont need the spinners, that's a nice solution to get me by until the new Mac Pro is released (fingers crossed it's not some un-upgradable disaster like the iMac Pro/MacBook Pro)...

Thanks so much MIKX!

 

[MIKX]

Congratulations ! That's a very powerful & expensive GPU.
Make sure that the GPU SATA to 6 pin cables are firmly inserted on the motherboard and also to the GPU 6 pin socket. Check . . and then . . check again.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

The funny thing is I don't really need the power. I just need the 6 display hookup and Mojave compatibility.

If this card would, work, it would actually be better for my purposes...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017NL5BUM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Pressure]

As far as I am aware all graphic cards with DisplayPort (1.2+) support Multi-Stream Transport (MST) so you can daisy chain 2 monitors, no? Or buy a dock with MST. A single DP1.4 can drive 8 x 1080p monitors.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

As far as I am aware all graphic cards with DisplayPort (1.2+) support Multi-Stream Transport (MST) so you can daisy chain 2 monitors, no? Or buy a dock with MST. A single DP1.4 can drive 8 x 1080p monitors.

Maybe the mst works better now but every time I tried it failed. Paps is because my monitors are 2560x1600, but the mst dongles I got never worked.

 

[Pressure]

Maybe the mst works better now but every time I tried it failed. Paps is because my monitors are 2560x1600, but the mst dongles I got never worked.

It generally depends whether or not the monitor supports it. DisplayPort 1.2+ supports it.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

The Apple 30" displays are DVI dual link and have a DVI dual link to mini display port adapter. That adapter has always been a "barely working" solution.

 

[Ludacrisvp]

MST for multiple displays is not supported in MacOS, it only works for a single display or for mirroring.

 

[Ashok.Vardhan]

The Apple 30" displays are DVI dual link and have a DVI dual link to mini display port adapter. That adapter has always been a "barely working" solution.

Hello, Did you manage to get your WX 9100 to work in your cMP 5.1? I have a cMP 5.1 (mid-2012) Dual-Processor with High-Sierra installed, and it does not show up despite all the different power options I have tried so far (Pixlas Mod, onboard PCI-e powering).

Is there something that you did that made a difference?

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Hello, Did you manage to get your WX 9100 to work in your cMP 5.1? I have a cMP 5.1 (mid-2012) Dual-Processor with High-Sierra installed, and it does not show up despite all the different power options I have tried so far (Pixlas Mod, onboard PCI-e powering).

Is there something that you did that made a difference?

Yes, I did get it to work. I was using Mojave at the time, but it was just a matter of feeding it enough power to get the card working. I pulled power from the SATA ports as well as from the motherboard. And it was plug and play after that.

 

[Ashok.Vardhan]

Yes, I did get it to work. I was using Mojave at the time, but it was just a matter of feeding it enough power to get the card working. I pulled power from the SATA ports as well as from the motherboard. And it was plug and play after that.

Was it detected in High Sierra? Or did you have to install Mojave for it to get detected?

Did you have to do any changes to kexts?

I am on High Sierra and it just does not show up in System Report (under Graphics/Displays & PCI).

I have used the Pixlas mod and am drawing power directly from the PSU.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Was it detected in High Sierra? Or did you have to install Mojave for it to get detected?

Did you have to do any changes to kexts?

I am on High Sierra and it just does not show up in System Report (under Graphics/Displays & PCI).

I have used the Pixlas mod and am drawing power directly from the PSU.

‘I was running Mojave at the time. No changes to kexts

 

[Tinism]

Was it detected in High Sierra? Or did you have to install Mojave for it to get detected?

Did you have to do any changes to kexts?

I am on High Sierra and it just does not show up in System Report (under Graphics/Displays & PCI).

I have used the Pixlas mod and am drawing power directly from the PSU.

Hi Ashok. im dealing with an issue exactly like yours on mojava. i have done the pixla's mod but my wx 9100 still wont show up at all. am i missing anything?

 

[Matty_TypeR]

Hi Ashok. im dealing with an issue exactly like yours on mojava. i have done the pixla's mod but my wx 9100 still wont show up at all. am i missing anything?

Check your pixlas mod with VM meter to check each pin, you only need 1 bad connection to make it not work. if connections are all OK then i would check the card in a PC which has dual 8 pin direct from the PSU.

 

[Tinism]

Thar card works. Tested on a PC and also works on an EGPU. Problem is when I put it on the Mac Pro it can’t see it

 

[Matty_TypeR]

As I said check your pixlas mod, you have said the card works in PC and Egpu so it’s obviously getting enough power to do so. So you must have a bad connection in your pixlas mod or it has not been done correctly. Check each cable with VM volt meter and check connections where you have connected your Pcie cable to PSU.

 

[Ashok.Vardhan]

Hi Ashok. im dealing with an issue exactly like yours on mojava. i have done the pixla's mod but my wx 9100 still wont show up at all. am i missing anything?

My apologies for not replying to your earlier messages.

Did you have any success in getting the card detected in your MacPro?

I did not have access to a PC with a PCI-e 2.0/3.0 lane to check in a Windows host, so had to send it to my friend--in another city--to get it tested (got it back today after a month and half).

He says it works fine in a PC, so I am still having the same issue. Does not get detected in High-Sierra.

Earlier this WX9100 worked fine in OSX using an eGPU (Razer Core X Chroma) in a MacMini, detected and showed up as an external GPU in the menu-bar.

I tried a combination of powering options on the WX9100 in both High-Sierra and Mojave:

1. 8-Pin and 6-Pin from Pixlas mod: No-Go
2. 8-Pin off PSU and 6-Pin from motherboard: No-Go
3. 8-Pin off motherboard and 6-Pin from PSU: No-Go
4. 8-Pin and 6-Pin from motherboard: No-Go

I also have a GeForce Titan-X (Maxwell) which also is powered by a 8-Pin and 6-Pin. This card seems to work with these combinations:

1. 8-Pin and 6-Pin from motherboard: OK
2. 8-Pin and 6-Pin from Pixlas mod: OK

My basic understanding is that for some reason the Pixlas mod is not giving enough power to turn on the WX9100 (though the GPU fan is on and buzzing) however there is no display.

The only other option I guess is testing the individual connectors as Matty suggests, before using an external PSU to power just the WX9100 alone:

So you must have a bad connection in your pixlas mod or it has not been done correctly. Check each cable with VM volt meter and check connections where you have connected your Pcie cable to PSU.

Will have to test that. I thought this would be simple.