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Using the new Mac mini with an eGPU
- Thread starter stratokaster
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If you boot mini to monitor plug one.
And have egpu plugged in to only mini
See if you get a screen.
Then pull the hdmi cable out of the mini put it into the egpu.
That may work.
Also there are some hdmi switches.
Go mini to hdmi to switch to
a ) epgu
b ) monitor.
Boot with switch set to b)
Bypassing the epgu
Then switch to epgu.
I can not curse on this site.
But I hate hdmi protocols.
I am certain that is issue.
I have lots of weird hdmi issues with both rx580 and with Vega.
I mine a lot and bypass hdmi hookups on tons of amd rigs with rx580s and vega 56s
Ok it worked connecting one TB to the monitor and from the monitor to the eGBU. I have a monitor with two thunderbolt connections. Ran the geek bench and got a score of 111059 on the graphics test. I wonder if this is a good test. Thoughts? The boot time was fast so that is an improvement compared to entering some crazy boot process.
Good. It seemed a little odd that nobody was talking about it on YouTube if one has to do somersaults to make it work.
Can someone suggest a test process so I can test this version to see if it faster than plugging both the monitor and the eGPU into the computer
No... if you have a firmware password, you must enter it if "starting up from any disk other than the designated startup disk" per Apple's support document. If you're booting normally, you don't need to enter it.
Plus if you DO need to enter it - go ahead! You don't need to see the prompt, just type in the password and press "Return". Not a big deal.
Also do a really simple firmware password. Like your name and birth year so you don’t forget it.
I'm having the same problem and I don't have FileVault nor Firmware Password on. My setup is Viewsonic VX3211-4K monitor connected to Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650 eGPU with Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 via HDMI and then from eGPU to my Mac Mini connected via USB-C. I do have an external drive that I boot from and not sure if that's causing problem. I'm also waiting for my DisplayPort cable to come in and hopefully I don't get the same problem. What cables are you guys using from your external display to your eGPU?
So finally got my Displayport cable. Bad news and good news. I plugged the DP cable from my monitor to the eGPU and then I plugged the USB-C cable from my eGPU to the Mac. As usual the monitor is not getting any signal during the process, I cannot see the Apple logo. But the good news is, after the boot up, the monitor will get a signal finally and show me the login screen. I tried to restart and it's the same result. I'm not sure what will happen if it goes to sleep.
So for now I'm happy but if I ever need to do a recovery mode, that's when I'm going to have to do a direct connection from my monitor to the Mac instead. It's a bit hassle but I guess I'll have to live with it hopefully for now. I hope Apple find a fix. If anybody else has a suggestion, I will greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
This is really odd.
When I did the same thing with AMD's RX 590 GPU, Asus's XG Station Pro housing and an HDMI cable, it worked immediately on a plug and play basis: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/external-gpu-egpu-resources.2154653/page-6#post-26826596
I think that there's something wrong with your setup. Maybe that you're booting from an external disk, maybe something else. You might try setting up your mini so that it doesn't require a password on boot, and see what happens.
Do you realise that you are currently publishing the same posts to three different threads at once?
Yeah chasing this same conversation in three different threads is slightly annoying.
The behavior he's describing is pretty normal if the card doesn't have proper BIOS support for booting a Mac. Are you actually seeing the Apple logo when you boot? If so, that would be a good thing to make specific note of in your eGPU resources thread.
TB3's original spec was two DP1.2 streams. There are bandwidth limitations on older controllers with 5K displays (you can't do it with a single cable unless you use MST.)
1.4 allows for some fancy-named compression technology for higher data rates at supposedly imperceptible quality losses, as well as 5K@60Hz HDR, 8K@60Hz, and 4K HDR at >60Hz.
There's also the minor side benefit of just being able to use one cable rather than an adapter, given that Thunderbolt displays are a relative rarity (one of the reasons why Apple getting back into the standalone display business would be good.)
No I could not see the Apple log when I boot. I will only see the login screen. So in recovery mode it will be difficult for me to know when to let go of the recovery mode command button.
edtorious wrote:
"No I could not see the Apple log when I boot. I will only see the login screen. So in recovery mode it will be difficult for me to know when to let go of the recovery mode command button."
I'll guess that this makes booting to the startup manager (hold down option key at boot) impossible, correct?
Could someone with an eGPU try this, and report back?
"No I could not see the Apple log when I boot. I will only see the login screen. So in recovery mode it will be difficult for me to know when to let go of the recovery mode command button."
I'll guess that this makes booting to the startup manager (hold down option key at boot) impossible, correct?
Could someone with an eGPU try this, and report back?
FileVault, firmware password and boot menu are not visible unless using a card with proper BIOS support. Which is virtually all cards you can buy on Amazon, Newegg and so on.
Again, use an alternate input on your monitor connected directly to the Mac and switch inputs if you need to see things before the login screen when the driver has loaded.
I have the same and actually I'm fine with it. If I have to get to the boot screen I go HDMI to the monitor. Otherwise I pick the OS I want to boot from within Boot Camp Control Panel in Windows or Settings in Mac OS.