eGPU crashes my macbook pro when plugged in

Hello c_luc9,

I have the same problem with Sapphire GearBox Thunderbolt 3 eGFX enclosure (Radeon RX 5700 XT) but definitely I use Mac with a Thunderbolt 3 port. I have MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) and macOS Catalina, version 10.15.6.

What do you advice me?

Best.

I am afraid that this whole eGPU thing is shaky at best.

I am running a recommended setup using an AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 with a Razer Core X Chroma. All high end cables attached. All system software up to date (Catalina). No identifiable issues found in EtreCheck reports. Yet, I experience WindowServer crashes randomly, and the occasional panic crash, when the MacBook Pro (13" 2020) sits idle at night. One day, I can drag and drop an image onto an email I am composing in Mail.app - boom - instant logout. The next day all is good, but when I fire up Evernote - boom again.

I have narrowed it down a bit to some issues with ICC profiles that may be corrupt, or some malloc errors in the macOS core code where it deals with freed objects (WindowServer crashes). But I cannot for the life of me get to any stable conclusion rather than this is a general issue with macOS using external GPUs, which I think is out of our hands - unfortunately. Does someone know anyone close to Tim Cook who could pass on the message? I don't trust the 'official' feedback systems that Apple have. This is frustrating - not only from a gaming, but a professional perspective as well.

@generic_username_ : Have you tried www.egpu.io ? You can sometimes find some help there. Even though, as I stated, the eGPU support on macOS is shaky, you might be able to resolve some of your issues. From my own standpoint, all is working well, except from these random logouts and crashes, which thankfully are only happening once or twice every fortnight and without me being able to properly troubleshoot the issue. But we are not alone - a lot of people are having same and similar issues. Let us hope, as you say, that some software updates will help.

I too have a Mid-2015 macbookpro running 10.15.6.

16GB Ram and 1TB Storage

it has both the Intel Iris and the AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2 GB internal

Have setup a Sonnet Breakway Box and a AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, tried it first with secondary market cables, wouldn't mount. currently using apple Thunderbolt 3 adapter to Thunderbolt 2 with an Apple Thunderbolt 2 cable.

on egpu.io you'll find on on purge-wrangler and a step by step setup

setup worked well. zero problems with most of the gpu intensive apps, Premier, Photoshop, et al. But when I'm playing on Rust it lasts about 15 minutes and then my external display - connected from Sonnet Box/Radeon card to display by hdmi - goes green and the cpu crashes. I'm forced to reboot to restore.

Hope the info helps. I'm hoping someone knows Rust well enough to make a suggestion on settings.

I've been having this issue as well. I'm using a MacBook Pro 2019 15" and using the AMD Radeon 5700 XT (PowerColor Red Devil) in a Razer X chassis. I'm using Thunderbolt 3 cables and have thunderbolt 3 ports, so the thunderbolt isn't the issue. Oddly, I have good support until running certain applications (yes, I know that some applications don't support eGPUs) that have worked with my eGPU - sometimes for hours, sometimes for only a couple minutes. Regardless, they crash, and then I can't reboot without unplugging the eGPU. Color me confused.

I am having the same issues with my MacBook Pro 13 2020 i7 32GB 1TB connected to the Razor Core X with RX 5700 XT. It crashes on boot and keep rebooting till I disconnect the eGPU.

l had no issues before the latest MacOS update, not sure if it’s related to this issue.

Same here. I was conned into believing Apple hadn't stripped all ability to do 3D work on my MacBook, and judging from the comments here even the current generation of MacBooks Pros just are not "Pro" quality.

I have a Macbook Pro 15-inch 2014, MacOS Catalina 10.15.7 just bought an $800 decoration otherwise known as an AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT GPU w/ Razer Core X Chroma enclosure.

Installed latest Mac driver, just crashes. Only crashes.

Same issue with following spec:

MBA 2019

Akitio Node Pro

RX 580 Sapphire Nitro+ Special Edition

TB3 cable

Update: 10.15.17

Akitio Node Pro

RX 580 Sapphire Nitro+ Special Edition

The eGPU had worked fine before this update.

Seems they don't care, probably hope you'll buy new M1 hardware and they can force your purchase to the App Store... because everyone can get everything cool in the App Store.... yeah right... go tell that to the other big tech out there...

Golan, good words here.

Not sure it's the same for me but I went ahead and filled out the feedback form. Lot's of noise on a single issue gets attention in other app forums so I will add my noise.

Have similar specs to a few posters here. 2019 MBP running 10.15.7 (did a recent update to .7 and am wondering if that is part of my issue). eGPU is the Razer Chroma X w/ AMD Radeon RX 5700XT. I have yet to see the total crash of the machine but I am seeing consistent 2nd monitor crashes. macOS warns that the eGPU disconnected improperly and then all the apps on monitor 2 are either crashed or moved to the MBP main screen. Most of the time about 5-10 seconds pass and the 2nd monitor reboots and macOS moves the open apps back to that screen and will even attempt to open the crashed apps. On occasion the 2nd monitor never reboots and I have to reboot the MBP to reset everything.

Odd behavior that a eGPU can randomly disconnect itself, but having read a few of the posts here, it makes sense that macOS has some core issue that is creating the problem.

I have a Macbook pro(Retina, 13-inch, 2020) and was getting constant crashes as soon as I would plug in the eGPU(Razer Core X with AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT), I'm running 3 monitors. The only thing that works for me is to plug in the eGPU without any monitor cables plugged in and then connect the monitor cables one by one. I know it's a super lame fix but it works for me until Apple pushes a fix for this bug.

Macbook Pro (13-inch, 2017 Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

Processor 2.5GHz Dual-Core Inter Core i7

Memory 16 GB

Graphics Radeon RX 570 4 GB

Thunderbolt Bus: eGFX Breakaway Box 550

This has been working just fine for a couple years. There were a couple idiosyncrasies that were minor and I've lived with them. Main one being after switch from Dell 28" Monitor to a Samsung 4K TV as my display, I have to completely place the Macbook in sleep mode, hitting escape to ensure it's powered down (Ctrl+Cmd+Q then Esc key sequence). If I don't follow that sequence then invariably I will have to undock and boot up on the Macbook screen, unplug and reconnect the TB3 cable and the Samsung will be active again. And I get the obvious message about improper disconnect of the eGPU device.

But after the Catalina update things have been markable worse! I've had random shutdowns. I am yet to make out a pattern to reproduce the issue. My latest crash I had a YouTube video playing in Chrome and the screen lost signal, I could hear the audio still going for approx. 10-15 seconds before it stopped. Then I had to open the Macbook lid sign in and unplug and reconnect as usual.

Also noteworthy is these crashes don't appear to be caught by the crash event logger as pop-up crash reporter window has not shown up once since these recent events. In all fairness I'm cannot say with 100% certainty it's GPU related. But checking through the reports and logs in Console shows no other logged failures or events around the time of the last crash. I will start looking at Console directly after restart for further clues.

Edit: Upgrade to Big Sur and not Catalina, brain freeze.

Update: I'm 99% certain my issue is related to the third party app Magic Window 4K. After my last crash almost a week ago, I decided not to restart the app. I haven't have a crash since. Ironically there was an update for the app release recently. I'll update, restart and check stability.

Same issue with my MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018) on macOS 11.2.1 with AMD Radeon RX 5700 in Razor Core X. I sent in feedback. Hopefully this is fixed soon. It was working great before Big Sur release (no issues during the initial betas).

Several updates into Big Sur and this is still an issue. Catalina handled eGPUs fairly well after a couple updates. Somehow the issue seems to be worse with latest OS. Not sure how Apple took steps backwards...

I say it's AppleCoreRot :p