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User profile for user: Mac Ed
Mac Ed Author
User level: Level 1
14 points

2018 Mac Mini and eGPU Problem

I'm having a problem where when my Mac Mini boots, I could not see the Apple logo when it boots up and my monitor display a no signal message and then my monitor will go to standby mode but then after the Mac boots up and goes to login screen, my monitor will detect a signal and it will show the login screen. My problem is if I want to go to recovery mode, it will be hard when not seeing the Apple logo if you know what I mean.

My setup is Viewsonic VX3211-4K monitor connected to Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650 eGPU with Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 via DisplayPort cable and then from eGPU to my Mac Mini connected via Thunderbolt 3 cable. I don't have the FileVault nor Firmware Password on. I do have an external drive that I boot from and not sure if that's causing problem, it's a Samsung portable 2TB SSD drive. For now I'm happy that I'm able to see the login screen but if I do have to go to recovery mode, I'm going to have to connect my monitor directly to the Mac because I don't get the problem with direct connection. And so any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Mac mini, iOS 12.1

Posted on Nov 27, 2018 10:52 PM

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User profile for user: John Lockwood
John Lockwood
User level: Level 6
13,685 points

Nov 30, 2018 5:17 AM in response to Mac Ed

The cause is two fold.


  1. The Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 does not support Mac EFI firmware and as such cannot be used before the Mac operating system has finished booting and hence loaded a driver for this video card, if it supported Mac EFI firmware it would have a driver in that firmware that could be loaded before any operating system has loaded
  2. Mostly due to the above but it is possible that even with a theoretical video card containing Mac EFI firmware it still would not work in an eGPU connection since almost certainly the Mac firmware does not directly support eGPUs - this is a feature added in Mojave and therefore would not work before Mojave has loaded


Even the most recent video cards with Mac EFI firmware are so old as to be pointless to use as eGPU cards, the most recent possible AMD card is a DIY flashed RX 280x. Nvidia cards are not supported by Apple for use as eGPU cards. See - Use an external graphics processor with your Mac - Apple Support

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User profile for user: uksaint
uksaint
User level: Level 1
8 points

Nov 29, 2018 8:36 AM in response to Mac Ed

Hi Ed,


I have a similar problem with my new Mac mini. I have the same egpu set up as you except I'm using the wx9100 Radeon Pro card in the same box. The only way I can boot to login is to use an HDMI cable from the mini to my monitor. Once I'm logged in the egpu is recognised and I can go through the procedure of assigning apps etc but I cannot use the egpu in isolation. This is a real pain.


This would also seem to suggest that the FileVault issue exists regardless of whether it's active or not.


Would be interested to see what 'experts' make of it!


Thanks

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2018 Mac Mini and eGPU Problem

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