Level 1

21 points

White screen with EGPU only connected

I'm using a Radeon RX580 epug with my 2018 mac mini. If I try to boot with Catalina with only the egpu connected I just get white screen on boot. However if I boot with a combination of a monitor attached to the hdmi port and the egpu connected to other monitors, then the mac will boot correctly. It's very strange because the egpu works, but not without a hdmi display connected to the mini. Has anyone else had this bug and any suggestions? For now I'll just keep a hdmi display attached.

Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on Oct 8, 2019 8:01 AM

Top-ranking reply

selected9

Level 1

9 points

Posted on Oct 9, 2019 11:08 PM

This is a known and repeatedly reported issue which was sadly overlooked during the Catalina Betas by the Apple team. The issue is dubbed "white screen of death"

The problem mostly affects the 2018 Mac Mini running Catalina connected to a AMD Radeon RX570 or RX580 based eGPU.

The symptom is mostly a blank white screen (sometimes black or magenta) upon boot and excessive GPU heat which causes the GPU fans to spin to full speed after a while.

You have to do the following to live with the issue:

When the white screen appears, turn off your eGPU for 5 seconds and then turn back on. The login screen should appear normally.
Turn off "Start up automatically after a power failure" under Settings/Energy Saver
Turn off "Install macOS updates" under Settings/Software Update/Advanced...

The last two actions are needed to prevent your Mac to boot to a white screen unattended causing your eGPU to overheat for extended periods of time (this might cause further hardware related problems).

See these discussions for more information:

https://egpu.io/forums/mac-setup/state-of-egpu-for-macs-catalina-10-15-update

https://egpu.io/forums/mac-setup/macos-catalina-tidbits-egpu-updates/paged/2/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/catalina-egpu.2193797/page-4?post=27853347#post-27853347

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-mini-2018-hot-egpu-fan-full-throttle-after-upgrading.2204860/

https://www.reddit.com/r/eGPU/comments/dex36o/egfx_breakaway_box_550_amd_580_catalina_troubles/

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151 replies

BradDE

Level 1

13 points

Apr 9, 2020 9:34 AM in response to MacOde

My Mac Mini 2018, Breakaway Box 550, RX580 with FileVault and 2 monitors connected directly to the RX580 booted with no problem under Mojave at the time Catalina was released. Upgraded to Catalina and the setup no longer booted correctly. A short while later, Apple changed the boot process in Mojave (apparently to what was in Catalina) and systems started having the same issues Catalina users were having. That's my experience and memory, at least.

Oct 10, 2019 10:03 PM in response to BradDE

The problem affects other eGPU boxes as well. There are reports from Razor, AKiTiO, Zotac users. I think this points to an issue fixable by Apple.

Yockster

Level 1

82 points

Oct 11, 2019 5:23 PM in response to rsmith4321

I have installed the Beta 10.15.1 Beta (19B68f), and I am still having the same issue, apple logo, black screen, sonnet 550 with AMD 580x goes full blast on, then calms down, and does nothing after that. I still have to shut off the EGPU for 5 seconds, and then turn it on, in order to work again.

rsmith4321 Author

Level 1

21 points

Oct 25, 2019 2:06 PM in response to richarddcrossley

A slight inconvenience on boot is not quite the same as something being bricked, but yes it is annoying. Remember just attach an hdmi display or disconnect the egpu during boot. It's why it's always better to wait a few months to upgrade to a new version, I've learned my lesson. And by the way, to answer another question, you can't downgrade to the previous os version because it's a firmware update that causes the issue and it's permanent. So you will just have to deal with the boot up issue until a new firmware is released.

Dec 14, 2019 5:59 PM in response to richarddcrossley

I hate this situation because after some months from Catalina the Apple didn’t find a solution to problem.

in the last upgrade was more bad because Mac mini started with black display of death.

the only way for work my egpu is connect Mac mini’s hdmi and Egpu DisplayPort to my monitor.

Dear Apple I spent a lot of money for you products (I have iPads,iPhone, MacBook Pro and mini) and you don’t spend resources for fix a stupid problem with Egpu.

ps. I have Egpu with rx 580

Jan 29, 2020 9:28 AM in response to sigmar19

I was able to upgrade with a 2018 mini and a 5700xt but it wasn't pretty... I disconnected my OWC 550W GPU and connected via HDMI to the mini and the screen went black once the installer started... waited 10 minutes still no screen. Powered off (still with HDMI only) and restarted to see that the install was to take 45 minutes.

Once completed I plugged in the eGPU and switched the HDMI back to the eGPU Displayport and all is working fine.

However, I have not rebooted yet with the eGPU on (little scared at this point it will only work if hot plugged as before).

Ignistra

Level 1

4 points

Feb 11, 2020 9:34 AM in response to neilrocks25

For me, it isn't fixed completely with the latest public beta. The white screen is gone but sometimes it ends up in an black screen and sometimes it is working now. But I also mentioned that the first time since I have my eGPU, my LG Monitor is recognized as a HDR monitor. But the colors are weird if I set it to the HDR mode. My setup is a Mac mini 2018 with Razer Core X + RX590. Hopefully they will fix it completely in the next beta.

BradDE

Level 1

13 points

Apr 9, 2020 6:27 AM in response to MacOde

I'm glad you're happy with the setup.

I don't call having to use an HDMI switch (or any of the other methods that have been posted in the discussion) in order to boot as working fine. Systems (prior to Catalina and then prior to the boot changes made to Mojave) use to boot with monitors only attached to the eGPU. Apple broke it and has yet to fix it.

MacOde

Level 1

19 points

Apr 9, 2020 10:20 AM in response to BradDE

My experience was identical to @BradDE. The only way I could boot was to completely disconnect the BreakAway Box until the Mac booted then replug it which was a PITA. This is why I am so pleased with the current behavior.

cruxto

Level 1

4 points

Apr 9, 2020 11:35 AM in response to MacOde

Have 2 monitors, 1 connected directly to the Mac mini via HDMI, and the other connected to the via HDM to the eGpu (RX570).

I decided to leave the 1 monitor connected to the Mac mini, so I how if that is connected and the GPU is switch off I can boot my Mac and login every time.

Does anyone know if there is any GPU that can be connected to the Mac Mini without having to go through this frustrating process every time you power on the computer? I find if I do a restart, most times I can get away with that.

I don't currently use Bootcamp, I use VMWare Fusion instead to access Windows 10 and Linux.

dre2k25

Level 1

4 points

Apr 9, 2020 11:53 AM in response to cruxto

Nope, I just turn my eGPU off when I shut down my comp at night and then boot computer, wait for a bit then turn eGPU switch on. This has been the best process for me so I'm not unplugging and replugging eGPU, or HDMI etc.

I haven't tried the new beta yet, but I did just get an official update for 10.15.14

Apr 9, 2020 4:32 PM in response to cruxto

My 580 worked fine I was really happy with it until the update, I never had a problem not one then bam. Now I have to load it with HDMI in my mack mini unplug the HDMI plug in thunderbolt to my eGPU then it works, I don't want to do this every day!

It was great before.

BradDE

Level 1

13 points

Oct 29, 2019 3:08 PM in response to Steve1234

I can also confirm 10.15.1 didn't help my Mini 2018, Sonnet 550 and Radeon RX 580 setup. Of course, it really was wishful thinking that the issue would be resolved, right? :(

Nov 14, 2019 10:34 PM in response to Yockster

Has anyone tried to use Apple Care or go to an Apple Store with this issue?

Leap Sim

Level 1

4 points

Nov 20, 2019 5:26 PM in response to tb1001

It will work just fine if you plug your monitor to your mac not directly from the egpu.

You can set the app that you want to run with egpu by right on the app > get info > check prefer egpu.

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White screen with EGPU only connected