Monterey and eGPU

[iAssimilated]

This post is to start a thread similar to the ones below but focusing on eGPU usage with Monterey:

Big Sur and eGPU

This is a continuation of this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/catalina-egpu.2193797/page-16 Currently on Beta 3, after multiple tests, I am able to boot successfully through my eGPU (Mac mini 2018 + Razer Core X + RX 590)! I have tested this through a restart and cold boot, with...

forums.macrumors.com

Catalina & eGPU...

How is eGPU working with the latest beta?

forums.macrumors.com

Full disclosure, I have not updated to Monterey because my eGPU is working beautifully in Big Sur, but if the consensus is eGPUs work well in Monterey that might change my mind.

If you are running Monterey and an eGPU:

• What is your overall experience?
• What is you configuration (Mac model, GPU, eGPU enclosure, FileVault on/off, sleep enabled, etc)?
• Does your Mac show the boot screen?
• Anything else?

 

[Monotremata]

Running perfectly fine here with a Sonnet 750ex/Radeon RX570/Samsung LU28R55. Sonnets connected via TB4 cable, display via DisplayPort. Moving to external graphics took a flat 20% off the cpu meter inside Ableton Live, Logic Pro and Cubase Pro on top of being able to actually play games again. Just bought it last month so I guess Im sticking with this Intel Mini for awhile now haha.

 

[frou]

I'm also still on Big Sur and there my eGPU is finally working near perfectly. (Mini 2018, Vega64 in a Sonnet eGFX, FileVault On, Boot Screen shows).

Will be looking to update to Monterey around the time the .3 version is released, like I usually do. Hopefully there are no eGPU-related regressions!

 

[iAssimilated]

Hopefully there are no eGPU-related regressions!

The exact reason for this thread. Hopefully we can find out so we are upgrading with eyes wide open.

 

[yukari]

Working perfectly fine:
Mac Mini 2018 (6-Core Intel Core i7; file vault: on; and sleep enabled)
Razor Chroma Core
AMD Radeon RX590

Yes, it does show boot screen.

 

[joevt]

Mac mini 2018, AMD W5700. Seems ok. Sometimes doesn't show boot screen. I'm not sure in what situations it will or won't show the boot screen.

 

[Monotremata]

Should've mentioned in my post, no FileVault on here, no sleep (I just let the monitor shut off after 20 minutes) and boot screen every time I reboot. The one gripe I have is when I do reboot, the splash screen is at 4K, doesn't scale down until I log in. With the Intel GPU it kept my 2K resolution at boot up.

 

[frou]

The one gripe I have is when I do reboot, the splash screen is at 4K, doesn't scale down until I log in.

On Big Sur, my login screen is presented at a bizarre resolution of 1920x2160 (that's an 8:9 aspect ratio) and looks a bit messed up because some of the UI elements are overlapping. After entering the account password and logging in, it switches to the actual resolution of the monitor.

 

[joevt]

On Big Sur, my login screen is presented at a bizarre resolution of 1920x2160 (that's an 8:9 aspect ratio) and looks a bit messed up because some of the UI elements are overlapping. After entering the account password and logging in, it switches to the actual resolution of the monitor.

Are you using an old 4K display?

 

[frou]

Are you using an old 4K display?

Nope, it's the Iiyama 5K monitor (DP 1.4). I just chalk this up as the latest in a long line of eGPU initialisation quirks I guess. Pretty harmless thankfully, there were much more annoying ones a few years ago.

 

[joevt]

Nope, it's the Iiyama 5K monitor (DP 1.4). I just chalk this up as the latest in a long line of eGPU initialisation quirks I guess. Pretty harmless thankfully, there were much more annoying ones a few years ago.

The Iiyama 5K display has a couple half width resolutions in its EDID: 1920x2160 and 2560x2880.
Can you use SwitchResX to set those modes as hidden? What does SwitchResX say is the Startup resolution? Maybe you can override that?
If neither of those work, then I would try overriding the EDID to remove those resolutions.
https://gist.github.com/joevt/32e5efffe3459958759fb702579b9529

 

[frou]

The Iiyama 5K display has a couple half width resolutions in its EDID: 1920x2160 and 2560x2880.
Can you use SwitchResX to set those modes as hidden? What does SwitchResX say is the Startup resolution? Maybe you can override that?
If neither of those work, then I would try overriding the EDID to remove those resolutions.
https://gist.github.com/joevt/32e5efffe3459958759fb702579b9529

Thanks for the pointers. In SwitchResX, the Startup Resolution showed as 2560x1440 @ 0Hz but was greyed out because the box was unchecked. I tried checking it and changing that to 2560x1440 @ 60Hz but that didn't make any difference. In the Current Resolutions tab, disabling the 1920x2160 entry (or redirecting it to 2560x1440 HiDPI) didn't make any difference either.

Frankly I don't think this particular issue bothers me enough to start hacking things too much. Anyway I'll stop trying to resolve it here since it's off topic for a Monterery thread

 

[3460169]

Chiming in to state that the menu bar icon to disconnect the eGPU is serving as a guaranteed kernel panic button on my system. This setup was working mostly fine on Catalina and Mojave (never tried Big Sur).

• 2019 15" MBP nearly maxed-out configuration
• Core X Chroma eGPU enclosure with Radeon VII, driving a single 1440p 144Hz monitor via DisplayPort and powering the MBP
• I don't use any of the USB ports or the LAN port on the Core X Chroma, and I don't let the MBP sleep because the Radeon VII's fans will spin full speed. If the machine is shut down or sleeps while the Radeon VII is powered the fans on it go bonkers (known issue that will never be solved).
• I typically disconnect the eGPU in software using the menu bar icon in macOS and then turn off the eGPU enclosure via its power switch to allow the MBP to run on its battery and cycle it and also silence the fans of the GPU.
• I installed Monterey 12.1 clean roughly 36 hours ago. Clean meaning macOS was download and I created a bootable installer, wiped the disk on this system, installed the OS fresh and set up as "new".
• The external monitor is the "main" screen and this is where I attempt the eGPU disconnect via the menu bar icon and elicit the kernel panic 100% of the time.

I've submitted crash reports to Apple. For now I'm avoiding that menu icon!


EDIT: I've tried with the laptop screen as the "main" screen as well and the experience is the same. Kernel panic.

 

[3460169]

Just curious if anyone else is experiencing kernel panics when attempting to disconnect the eGPU from the system via the menu bar icon. I wonder if it has to do with the fact the Core X Chroma chassis has its own USB hub and ethernet port (neither of which I use, as noted above), as I recall folks had various issues with external hubs including but not limited to kernel panics.

macOS Monterey Users Report Connectivity Issues With USB Hubs

Some Mac users who upgraded to macOS Monterey this week are experiencing problems getting USB hubs and other USB-based devices to work properly with their machines, based on scattered online reports. There have been several reports on Reddit, Apple's Developer Forums, and Apple's Support...

forums.macrumors.com

🤔

It's a curious thought but I don't have another eGPU chassis laying around to test the theory.
My wife has a 2019 13" MBP though and I'm likely going to have the joy of updating that thing to Monterey and as such I can use that as a test subject with the Core X Chroma.


Cheers

 

[3460169]

Just curious if anyone else is experiencing kernel panics when attempting to disconnect the eGPU from the system via the menu bar icon. I wonder if it has to do with the fact the Core X Chroma chassis has its own USB hub and ethernet port (neither of which I use, as noted above), as I recall folks had various issues with external hubs including but not limited to kernel panics.

macOS Monterey Users Report Connectivity Issues With USB Hubs

Some Mac users who upgraded to macOS Monterey this week are experiencing problems getting USB hubs and other USB-based devices to work properly with their machines, based on scattered online reports. There have been several reports on Reddit, Apple's Developer Forums, and Apple's Support...

forums.macrumors.com

🤔

It's a curious thought but I don't have another eGPU chassis laying around to test the theory.
My wife has a 2019 13" MBP though and I'm likely going to have the joy of updating that thing to Monterey and as such I can use that as a test subject with the Core X Chroma.


Cheers

I could've sworn I posted again here yesterday but it's no where to be found ¯\(ツ)/¯

Anyway I wound up getting a plain Razer Core X case and I'll probably be re-homing the Core X Chroma case because I don't use or need the various other ports on that case. I also wanted to be able to test another eGPU case that's explicitly on Apple's supported list.

Unfortunately this system still kernel-panics when attempting to disconnect the eGPU via the menu icon. I've sent crash reports on each one, dozens of them by now. Hopefully this gets addressed in future Monterey updates.

 

[weaztek]

I still have issues waking my display while using the eGPU (my Mac is set to never sleep). I have sort of a unique situation though. My LG monitor has two HDMI ports. I'm using #1 for an Xbox Series S and #2 for my 2018 Mini.

I had a big crash last week and had to reinstall Monterey. Mac would not safe boot or repair boot with the eGPU plugged in. That one took me a few days to troubleshoot.

Running the Mini without the eGPU I was able to repair boot and reinstall the OS. The display also has no problems waking from eco-mode (as I said, Mac is not set to sleep).

 

[Maccotto]

I have Mac mini i7 Razer core X e Vega 56. Work perfectly but sometime I weak up the Mac mini and I see EGPU disconnected advice

 

[3460169]

I'm sorry to report that my 2019 MPB still kernel-panics on Monterey 12.2 when attempting to disconnect the eGPU via the menu bar icon. It takes slightly longer to panic and restart but it does occur 100% of the time.

And this is with the Core X (not Chroma) eGPU chassis and a Radeon VII. I have submitted multiple crash reports.

Do such crashes happen for anyone else? The menu bar icon looks like a little computer chip and when you click it, it offers you the option to disconnect the eGPU. Like:

If you have an eGPU connected and you don't see this menu bar icon, you can bring it back from the via the terminal with:

open "/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/SafeEjectGPUExtra.menu"

or navigate to /System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/ in Finder and open SafeEjectGPUExtra.menu


I thought that maybe some of my other USB devices were part of the equation. I use a Belkin hub with some other devices dangling off of that. However I've tried disconnecting the other USB devices before attempting the eGPU disconnect via the menu bar and I can assert that the system crashes 100% of the time with just the eGPU physically connected.

 

[joevt]

I'm sorry to report that my 2019 MPB still kernel-panics on Monterey 12.2 when attempting to disconnect the eGPU via the menu bar icon. It takes slightly longer to panic and restart but it does occur 100% of the time.

What if you just disconnect the eGPU without using the menu? Does it still panic?

 

[3460169]

What if you just disconnect the eGPU without using the menu? Does it still panic?

Ahhh good point. I guess I'm a bit pre-programmed to always use the menu because of the the nag message that arrives if the eGPU is not disconnected "safely" (as in the pic below).

The system in fact does not panic if the eGPU is disconnected without using the menu. With the aforementioned nag message of course.

To my knowledge the menu bar disconnect serves as a check to see if any processes are using the eGPU hardware and offers a chance to kill those processes before physically disconnecting the eGPU. Very often I see some background processes using it and if possible I'm all for shutting down processes gracefully before pulling their hardware out from under them lol.

Looks like we can use the Activity Monitor to inspect what processes are using which GPUs. So in this case if there's some process I care about using the eGPU I could make sure it's done before abruptly disconnecting the hardware.

I've submitted feedback via https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html as well.

Thanks for the tip about just disconnecting the thing haha! That's kind of a facepalm moment for me I admit.

Though I'm still curious is there are other panics out there courtesy of the menu bar eGPU disconnect. I Google the bejesus out of this topic and there's not a ton of leads out there on the Interwebs.

Cheers,

 

[DocTaree]

What if you just disconnect the eGPU without using the menu? Does it still panic?

Since updating my 2019 MBPro to Monterey 12.2 my Sonnet/Radeon 6900XT is causing massive problems: from

This post is to start a thread similar to the ones below but focusing on eGPU usage with Monterey:

Big Sur and eGPU

This is a continuation of this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/catalina-egpu.2193797/page-16 Currently on Beta 3, after multiple tests, I am able to boot successfully through my eGPU (Mac mini 2018 + Razer Core X + RX 590)! I have tested this through a restart and cold boot, with...

forums.macrumors.com

Catalina & eGPU...

How is eGPU working with the latest beta?

forums.macrumors.com

Full disclosure, I have not updated to Monterey because my eGPU is working beautifully in Big Sur, but if the consensus is eGPUs work well in Monterey that might change my mind.

If you are running Monterey and an eGPU:

• What is your overall experience?
• What is you configuration (Mac model, GPU, eGPU enclosure, FileVault on/off, sleep enabled, etc)?
• Does your Mac show the boot screen?
• Anything else?

I just updated my 2019 MacBook Pro from Monterey 12.1 to 12.2 and now my eGPU (Sonnet/Radeon 6900XT) is crashing my system with kernel panics, rebooting my machine at random, and only works partially stable with 1 out of 3 different monitors. I’ve tried DisplayPort as well as HDMI on all monitors and the two 4K monitors don’t work at all. But the 2K monitor at least gets working and stays stable for a while, but I still get kernel panic once in a while.

WARNING: If you are on Monterey 12.1 DO NOT run the 12.2 update yet. I’ve heard others having numerous issues from memory leaks to crashes. I think Apple messed around with the AMD drivers some how and now my eGPU is basically useless. If I leave the eGPU unplugged the laptop is stable with all three monitors. It’s all to do with the AMD drivers for some reason. Now I need to wait until they release a fix. Which is supposedly in the works right now. But who knows how long that will take?

 

[DocTaree]

What if you just disconnect the eGPU without using the menu? Does it still panic?

I don’t get kernel panics once my Sonnet eGPU with Radeon 6900 is physically disconnected. But once it’s plugged-in, all hell breaks loose in 12.2

 

[Monotremata]

And my Sonnet 750ex with an RX570 in it has been flawless since day 1 and is still running beautifully after the 12.2 update.

 

[DocTaree]

And my Sonnet 750ex with an RX570 in it has been flawless since day 1 and is still running beautifully after the 12.2 update.

I’m now wondering if it’s just the 6800/6900’s that are having an issue.

 

[3460169]

It's kind of disconcerting that we can have such a mixed bag of experiences with respect to eGPU usage in macOS. Good grief.

Looking forward to 12.3... but not holding my breath!