DIY eGPU experiences

Hi guys,

First of all, thank you all for all the time dedicated to this project.

I have got PE4L device a while ago and sucessfully that worked fine.

Here is My laptop's spec which running Windows 7 64bit.

Laptop:
- Compal JHL91
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 2.80Ghz
- Intel(R) ICH9
- VGA: Geforce9600M GT 1680*1050
- RAM: 2GB PC6400
- OS: Windows 7 Home Preminum X64

Connected via ExpressCard/PE4L/x1:
- VGA: Geforce7600 GT 512MB
- Monitor: lm300w01-a1(2560 * 1600)

-working mode : 2G Ram with VGA

보낸 사람 DIY ViDock Sonny~

-not working mode : 4G Ram without VGA

보낸 사람 DIY ViDock Sonny~

-not working mode : 4G Ram with VGA

보낸 사람 DIY ViDock Sonny~

보낸 사람 DIY ViDock Sonny~

but I haven't solved pci memory allocation error when i use 4GB RAM. so I removed 2GB Ram and use only 2GB Ram right now.

As long as I've followed memory allocation issue. but I don't know how to do.

Can you help?

Many thanks!

 

You can manually configure your Nvidia cards to use the Fxxx range to host their additional 32MB windows. Then use the Cxxx and Dxx range for the 256MB windows. FYI: Both Nvidia and ATI drivers still require PCI allocation in 32-bit space, even for Win7/64. Only Intel 4500MHD can be relocated in PAE(36-bit) space with the driver working fine.

A tool called compact is in testing to do PCI Reallocation for you

 

After bunch of more attempts to make a working DOS bootdisk, I lastly tried using bootdisk created by files from XP, but much to my disappointment this also gave me the same result when I tried any of the commands starting with pt .
Would making a partition and using grub make any difference? Or I guess just that my computer has problem with pt command?

 

@Prazisions, what kind of flash drive are you using and what filesystem?
I couln't boot from a 16GB flash, fat32 and ntfs. I even tried making a small fat16 partition in it and still nothing. So i took a 4GB flash and formatted it to fat16 and then it booted and everything worked. dunno if that'll help you

@Nando - what value did you write to Root Port Config for ICH7-M for x1E?

 

We don't have an Everest southbridge screenshot for the E1505. Can you post one? The generic instructions are:

Code:

:: Identify RCBA address to offset from, ensure rightmost number is zero
setpci -s 0:1f.0 f0.l

::choose port1 (+ non occupied port2) to be x2 high priority port
pt MEM write 4 [RCBA+224h] 0x81

::choose port3 (+ non occupied port4) to be x2 high priority port
::This also sets port1 to be a x2 port [ no way to prevent this! ]
pt MEM write 4 [RCBA+224h] 0xA2

::choose port5 (+ non occupied port6) to be x2 high priority port
pt MEM write 4 [RCBA+224h] 0xC4

Ensure the adjacent port is disabled AND there is no device occupying it, ie: 'pt MEM write 4 [RCBA+3418h] [set bit 17/19/21 to 1 to disable port2/port4/port6]'.

Also added DX10-specific benchmarking table added to the first post.

 

do again making a dos bootdisk with the program, BootFlashDOS.
FAT Formatting and using embedded boot image files of WIN-ME,
so, one ristriction to memory stick is the capacity of memory stick should be less than 2GB.
execute the util.

refresh >> usb awared >> check "quick format" >> start. >> success

and then, copy all files of DIYVdock folder but excluding system files, command.com, kernel.sys, kernel1.sys.
and paste them to usb.

reboot.

here comes the luck.

i just attached the util & usage pic here.

 

here it is

 

Is there ANY POSSIBLE way to use vidock without external monitor??

 

No. Anyway, not for now.

 

1.a)
when there is no monitor connected to the external videocard, windows doesn't let picking that card as a display nor show it, but it is present in device manager and working. Also when I start a game it says no DX10 present

when there is a monitor, I chose external as primary, then "extend desktop". Now I can run any game that supports windowed mode and drag it to the laptop's screen. The framerate cuts almost in half... it was 37 fps and became 20 @ 1x, maybe it'll be better @ 2x

If there was a device that you could connect to DVI/HDMI and that would emulate the signals the monitor is sending to the card, this could work. Also since you can't see what's on the screen, you'd have to blindly launch the game and drag it to the lappy screen. This problem might be solved by making keyboard shortcuts/macroses.

1.b) "theoretical dummy monitor device" + some program that'll mirror the display from external card to lappy's card, like copying each pixel. Presumably both resolutions should be the same and the framerate will be cut in half again - limited PCI-E bandwidth.

1.c) a windows "fix" that'll let you select vidock when there is no physical monitor connected + read above

2. usb 3.0 + videocapture/grabber that supports DVI/HDMI that you connect to vidock. it's unknown whether the grabber will emulate the monitor, the OS might not display anything to vidock

3. you'd need both expresscard and mpcie: vidock w/video card is connected to expresscard and then the output goes to another vidock w/ PCI-E screen grabber that supports HDMI/DVI and connects to mpcie
Again, it's unknown whether the grabber will emulate the monitor, the OS might not display anything to vidock

4. Mod your lappy screen to accept the output from the videocard
---------------------
then there is/was amilo graphics booster which supposedly lets you use the lappy screen without a monitor

 

I am pleased to report I have a partial success.

I ordered a Radeon 5450 off newegg and received it today. I bought a 5450 instead of a 4550, as it was on sale for cheap and it benchmarks around the same.

My laptop recognized it as a Standard VGA adapter. I figured that would happen, as I am running Catalyst 10.2 legacy for the onboard 690G chipset, which does not include support for the 5000 series.

I downloaded Catalyst 10.3 and installed it. The graphics card came to life and worked immediately. I tested it through L4D2, Fallout 3, and Bioshock 2, and while it doesn't offer stellar framerates, they are playable and much better than what the 690G could push out. I was pleased.

However, after a reboot, it stopped working. Not only that, the driver for the onboard stopped working, and fell back to Standard VGA.

I realized that the legacy driver and the new driver cannot coexist, as the legacy driver uses WDDM 1.0 and the new driver uses WDDM 1.1. So unless ATI releases a catalyst driver which supports older chipsets under WDDM 1.1, the only ATI chipsets which will work well with 5000 series cards are 700 and 800 series, as they are supported by current drivers. Elsewise, those with 600 series and earlier are limited to 4000 series and below.

Argh, so close.

 

hi, key001.

thanks for your effort.
it's very interesting thing ignored frequently.

i've sometimes experienced the case in the dragging the gamming window from X-monitor to lappy lcd.
i agree with a lot of your opinion & suggestions now.
it's a valid theory.

i attached the pics performed in lappy lcd just before with X-monitor.
it should be mentioned that my lappy & GMA950 had naver possibly played the game before diyvidock installed 'cause of the lack of performance capability.

1280x800 resolution in lappy. DMC4.
1280x1024 in X-monitor.

refer to attached pics.

bye..
Have a good SURPRISed day. thanks.

 

Wow! I tried this. Ran dmcv4 on the HD5750, switched to windowed mode, dragged the window to the internal LCD and it runs. What it's doing is cloning the output but using the HD5750 to do the processing.

Ultramon/Chung-Gun internal LCD-only setup

This is a second option if don't have NVidia Optimus available to transparently use the internal LCD.

Pros
-Accelerated graphics to your internal LCD without needed an external LCD!!

Cons
-Performance penalty due to the cloning required
-Caters to only Windowed mode apps/games
-Requires management software to be able to do successfully

Performance: internal notebook LCD vs external LCD

This is performance measured after setting up the cloned windowed mode below. For comparison both external LCD and aero on results are shown. Yes, this implies different results if the aero interface is enabled or disabled. It should be noted:

* aero on results appear to be what the GPU is outputting. This is not an accurate FPS report as the window still needs to be cloned.
* aero off result are the actual FPS the user sees. This is the cloned image FPS. While the numbers may look low the actual game play is reasonable. Anything at 30FPS gives a smooth animation effect.

We see the non-CPU bound dmcv4 using internal LCD with aero_off FPS benchmark histogram below shows a straight edge at ~25-30FPS. So Win7 has a fixed cloning rate. If that could be increased via a registry setting then could get near the aero_on FPS results.

</tbody

System	RAM	GPU	3dmark		RE5 (*=dx10)		dmcv4.scene4		PCIScript	Ports	OS
			06	vant.gpu	var	fixed	dx9	dx10
T2050-1.6 HP Pavilion DV2000	3.0	HD5750@x2 external LCD	NA	NA	38.5*	18.3*	60.1	55.4	dv2000	ICH7M	Win7/32
		HD5750@x2 internal LCD, aero_on			27.7*	15.1*	44.2	38.2
		HD5750@x2 internal LCD, aero_off			16.1*	11.5*	22.4	21.0
T6600-2.2 Dell Inspiron 1440	4.0	HD5750@x1E external LCD	NA	NA	60.9	30.8	66.7	42.1	insp1440	ICH9M	Win7/32
		HD5750@x1E internal LCD, aero_on			43.5	23.8	41.7	25.8
		HD5750@x1E internal LCD, aero_off			18.9	14.9	22.4	18.4

NA - can't do a windowed mode to perform test

I also noticed audio would get out of sync with the aero_on RE5 testing.

Setting up Internal LCD only mode

UPDATE: chung_gun's method here differs to the one below as it doesn't use mirroring. Instead a hotkey switches the two monitors, the visible internal LCD and the invisible desktop-gfx LCD between primary and secondary displays. When secondary, the visible internal LCD is used to start the game/app. That will default run it on the primary (invisible) display desktop_gfx LCD. Ultramon's visible taskbar icon -> Move to other monitor option is used to switch the app to the visible LCD. A clean solution.

Another option is Actual Window Manager. See here with task bar extension and "Move To Monitor" ability suitable for DIY ViDock using only the internal LCD setup.

Technique below sets up a dummy LCD, mirrored to the internal LCD for the purpose of running the application on the desktop gpu. Once the application has been started mirroring is disabled and the internal LCD is set as the primary display. Applications running on the 'dummy LCD' snaps into same position on the internal LCD and now use Win7's window cloning mode, allowing a window to be moved across different video adapters but processed by the video card it was started on. There is a performance drop doing this as explained above, but it's still way faster than the IGPs in these systems.

1. Fool the system into thinking a LCD is attached by using a DVI dummy. See DVI dummy. Just need 3 resistors and a DVI-to-VGA adapter, often supplied with video cards or purchased for $5 as an accessory. I found that only a 75ohm resistor was needed to connect green (pin 2 to pin7) for this to work.

2. Install ultramon. It's a 30-day free trial or US$40 for a single user full license. Ultramon is very handy. It provides mirroring from one display to another and ability to set which is the primary display.

3. Run Ultramon's mirror setup and set monitor 1 to mirror monitor 2 as shown here. Increase screen updates from 5FPS to the maximum of 30FPS.

4. Create two shortcuts on your desktop as noted below.

mirror.bat

Code:

:: Setup the 'dummy' external LCD to be primary display and mirror
:: it to the internal LCD. This allows you to see and run your application
:: The ultramon mirror driver is reasonable performing, but does not
:: compare in performance win7's windowed cloning mode (native.bat)

:: Set display 2 as primary and start mirroring to display 1
"%ProgramFiles%\UltraMon\UltraMon.exe" /p 2
start "" "%ProgramFiles%\UltraMon\UMMirrorClient.exe" /start

native.bat

Code:

:: Turn off mirroring and switch primary display to be internal LCD.
:: Windows will flick your apps to be shown on your internal LCD BUT
:: still be using the desktop video card to run them.

:: Stop mirroring, set display 1 as primary
"%ProgramFiles%\UltraMon\UMMirrorClient.exe" /stop

:loop
:: Wait for Mirroring to exit completely else switching to display 1 fails
tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq UMMirrorclient.exe" 2>NUL | find /I /N "UMMirrorclient.exe">NUL
if "%ERRORLEVEL%"=="0" goto loop

"%ProgramFiles%\UltraMon\UltraMon.exe" /p 1

:: Disable then enable secondary to flick apps to primary
"%ProgramFiles%\UltraMon\UltraMon.exe" /d
"%ProgramFiles%\UltraMon\UltraMon.exe" /e

4. Add hotkey "to run program or script" in ultramon. Set ctrl+win+m to start mirror.bat and ctrl+win+n to start native.bat

5. Ensure that your internal LCD is the primary LCD on bootup by adding native.bat to your startup folder.

6. Hit ctrl+win+m then start your game/app requiring accelerated graphics, then hit ctrl+win+n to switch off mirroring and set the internal LCD to be the primary display. The effect of this is the windows created on the 'dummy LCD' will automatically flip your game's window to the internal graphics. Great!!

This method only works with windowed games and applications. If the game doesn't have a native windowed mode that responds to ALT-ENTER then can use D3Dwindower to force a D3D game into a windowed mode.

Enthusiasts can do more extensive customisations. Eg: ToggleMirroring2 and SwitchPrimary from http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/scripts/.

BUG with Ultramon's mirroring setup

It may issue an error to do mirroring setup again, yet not allowing it. See symptom+solution.

 

I have catalyst 10.3 for 5750 and a microsoft driver for x1400 (not ati's legacy friver) and they coexist
"ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (Microsoft Corporation WDDM 1.1)" = ati2mtag_M54, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_7145
"ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series (Microsoft Corporation WDDM 1.1)" = ati2mtag_Evergreen, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_68BE

oh and i had the driver revert thing after reboot too, try installing the driver from the lit or point it to the inf file

 

I'm about to pull the trigger in ordering all this stuff (PE4H + PSU + 4670).. I'm running Win7 32-bit with 4GB RAM on my W510 - Will I be forced to take out one of my 2GB sticks, or is there a fix I can apply?

 

A new DIY ViDock bootdisk will be released by the time you've acquired the parts to greatly assist with pre-boot PCI Configuration if your system needs it. Testing finding 9300M and Intel 4500MHD/HD allow PCI allocation in 64-bit space, so your NVidia FX880M would do so as well. That means a 256MB window could be liberated for ATI graphics in 32-bit space, a requirement for ATI Win7 drivers.

What does that mean? It means you can proceed with a high level of confidence this solution will work with a W510 using 4GB of RAM.

If you are after gaming performance graphics, you may also wish to look at the accessibility of your mPCIe slots and consider if you want a x2 link [see first post on what to look for]. T400/X200 appears capable of x2 so likely W510 is also.

 

I received an email from hwtools regarding revision 2 of the PE4H. It will begin shipping this coming tuesday, May 4th. Woohoo.

 

congratulations!

 

would it be helpful to this project to try it on a very new laptop? my friend has a t410.

 

I would GREATLY appreciate knowing how well it works on a t410 (or a Dell Latitude E6410), as I'm currently thinking about buying one of these two laptops over a macbook pro after learning about the diy vidock project!

Thanks in advance!

 

Hey guys, I've been reading about this project and it seems very awesome to me. I have a Sager NP5796/Windows7/Intel Core 2 Duo T9800/GTX 280M/4gb ram. I wanted to know if I would be able to use this DIY ViDock and even if it would be worth it considering my laptop isn't really that bad. If it would work what all would I need to get (which adapter and what GPUs) to even see a performance increase, I'll worry about the prices later I just want to gather some info right now. Thanks for all the help!

 

Look at performance tables and answer to yourself! I don't see any reason, why would you like to use such solution (except multihead configuration or additional PhysX engine if possible).

 

I too am seriously considering building the PE4L with EC2C and HD 4670 (if they're available - are they?), but would like some expert feedback. Since I have an HP with an ExpressCard slot, I'm also considering getting the HP TV Tuner to use with a Slingbox, but in my quest to create a HTPC, PVR, etc. via wireless HDMI (and avoid renting a HD STB from Comcast in the process perhaps if I have the CableCARD and QAM decoder, as well as convert my VGA output to HDMI, etc.).
---
Here are my relevant system specs:
HP 2730p Elitebook Tablet PC, Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, 4GB RAM 800 MHZ DDR2 (2 DIMM)
Interface: PCI Express x1
Graphics: Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD, up to 384 MB of shared system memory
Microsoft DirectX 10 (Shader 4.0) and OpenGL 2.0 capable
Intel Core 2 Duo LV Processor SL9400 (1.86 GHz, 6 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz FSB)
12.1-inch diagonal Illumi-Lite WXGA UWVA anti-glare with Digitizer (1280
× 800 resolution)
VGA port supports resolutions up to 2048 x 1536 at 75 Hz, and lower
resolutions at up to 100 Hz
2 x USB 2.0 (1 powered)
RJ-11 and RJ-45
SD Card Slot
ExpressCard/54 slot Supports ExpressCard/54 and ExpressCard/34
or
Optional Integrated Smart Card Reader (replaces ExpressCard slot)
Compatible with ISO 7816 compliant Smart Cards
PC/SC interface support
Secure Digital slot Supports SD (Secure Digital), MMC (MultiMedia Card)
Audio/Visual High Definition Audio support w/24-bit DAC

Intel Centrino 2 with vPro technology Enabled
Audio ADI High Definition CODEC
Communications Integrated Intel Gigabit Network Connection (10/100/1000 NIC)
56K V.92 modem
Integrated Wireless Intel® WiFi Link 5100AGN (802.11a/b/g/draft-n)
----
Is this possible?

---

Also trying to figure out if setup will support x2 or x1. I really like this Tablet, but have been hobbled by the lack of a decent graphics card, and HDMI output. First tried looking at VGA to HDMI converters to deal with my 42" LCD HDTV's lack of practical VGA input (RCA), (of course, know there won't be a increase in quality), and there are a few VGA to HMDI converters/scalers on eBay for around $80US (making sure could support 1280x800@60Hz). A solution like this would adress lots of problems. I also, as I said want to build a nice DVR alternative, which the HDMI outputs could support, whether via cable or wirelessly. I'm also wondering how to build the requisite CableCARD slot (renting the CableCARD from the cable co.) into this to receive encrypted signals, as well as adding a digital TV tuner.

Ceton is delivering a multi-stream digital card quad TV tuner InfiniTV 4 (4 cards simultaneously) later this month: http://www.cetoncorp.com/index.php
and there is the AT-TV Wonder Digital TV Cable Tuner:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAsQ8wIwAA#ps-sellers

The HP TV Tuner with Slingbox will work the ExpressCard slot I have, but it's a bit pricy ($180 for HP TV tuner), plus $120 for used Slingbox SOLO, $230 for used Slingbox Pro. Also, that would mean my one ExpressCard slot would then be occupied.

 

Since these systems come with recent onboard Nvidia graphics OR Intel 4500MHD/HD graphics, all of which are 64-bit relocatable, they are good candidates for DIY ViDock with Win7. Error 12 issues can be easily overcome and all can use a x1 1.0 link. It's only if wanting a x1E or x2 link that things get more complicated:

1. Would need a x2 link and likely a 2GB HD4870/HD5850/HD5870 to see performance improvements over a GTX280M.
2. If expresscard slot is port3, like it is on a 2530P, then can do a x1E link.
3. Likely both systems likely can do a x2 link based on T400 and E6400 port layout on the first page. Whitelisting (if enabled) of Lenovo's port3 might require the whitelst.bat workaround.

Note: if using port3+port4 for a x1E/x2 link, port1 becomes a x2 link as well, so any wifi on port2 will no longer work.

 

THanks for the guidance Nando4, on the HP2730p SL9400 4500MHD 4GB. I'm looking at ordering now.

I apologize if this has been covered many many times already, but as I'm looking at them, trying to decide on the differences between the PE4L version 1.0 or version 1.4, or the PE4H, version 1.0 or version 2.0, all used with the EC2C. Thinking x1 1.0 ExpressCard, for cost/benefit performance improvement, and ease of setup, rather than x1E/X2. And thinking about scrounging around for a suitable enclosure. Source ideas?
If I go with the HD4670, then would choice of PE4L 1.0 versus 1.4, or PE4H, 1.0 v. 2.0 make a difference? Probably choice is then PE4L 1.0 correct?
I'm showing ICH9 PCI Express with Ports 1, 2, 3, 5.

 

if u can use a set of port1 & port2 for DIYViDock, then possible to x2 setting using PE4H, but if not, then it is possible only to x1 or x1E setting using PE4L.
...
... as Do i've HEARD about it.

 

Just want to ask a quick question.

Sony Z vs X201, which is better in support with ViDock? I believe neither model supports x2 so they should have similar performance correct? And is there any reason to get PE4H over PE4L in this case?

 

Question for anyone who already has a PE4H -- will a notebook DC adapter like this work? 19V 3.16A AC Power Adapter For Samsung Notebook/Laptop - eBay (item 170481218112 end time May-08-10 03:05:11 PDT)

I'm really curious about the physical size... thanks in advance.

Also, about how long did it take hwtools to ship you the order? please include your state. thanks again!

 

hi, curious.


and PE4H sizes about 30x200 (mm) in except for the thickness.

.. delivery is usually performed by FeDex. so spended time for the delivery is about 2-4 working days after shipping be done.

... bye.

 

I do not own PE4H but...
It depends on graphic card you want to use it for (60W max. is not very much)... circuits on PE4H can handle this type of PSU (most limiting factor is max input voltage of R1224N PWM and that is 20V)

My personal favorite is 19V 4.74A @ 90W

 

I'm also using a 19V 90W power adaptor on my PE4H. The PE4H has a voltage regulator circuit so it can use any adaptor that provides between 12-20V. Remember that the PEAH will only supply 75W of power to the card via the PCIe connection. Most desktop graphics card require an additional connection to the PSU due to extra power requirements. Only a few recent cards, such as the HD 4670 and the HD 5750 Green can run without that additional power source. I had to connect a second 35W power source directly to my Sapphire HD 5750 Vapor-X through a molex adaptor for it to work.

 

Thanks for the answers. From the PE4H spec sheet, it says it accepts 15~20V/3A so I went ahead and ordered this one, Amazon.com: AC Adapter/Power Cord for Toshiba PA3468U-1ACA Satellite U305 Laptop: Electronics to pair up with my nvidia GT240. Max wattage on my vid card is 70watts so I should be good.

 

Well I received all my stuff(went with the PE4L, HD4670, 80w psu) I've hooked it up to my w500 and tx2500 with no success(both are running win7 64bit) both refuse to bootup with it attached. If I boot into windows and attach it, the w500 blue screens almost instantly, if I turn switchable graphics on, it gives me a code 12 and the HP tx2500 just kinda refuses to do anything with it, it recognized it once but never fully initialized.. I'll try it with my W510(Win7 32bit) tomorrow, but it looks like I'll need to make a boot disk?

oh yeah, is the graphics card supposed to be on all the time? It's on full speed, and when I flip the switch it goes down a little, but not much.. man this thing is loud! I'm going to need to put it in some kind of enclosure..

 

It could be a power supply issue.. i connected the molex connector to a 12v 1.5a psu I had from my usb-sata converter and Windows was able to recognize it. I'm guessing 12v 6.6A (80w) is too much for this?

still doesn't work though, but I'm sure it's because the psu is way underpowered..

 

thanks guys

 

Got all the stuff (sans the laptop power adapter, can come later will use ATX power supply for now). Ready to put it all together!

My config:
Thinkpad X200, 4GB RAM, Intel C2D P8600, ICH9-M, Win 7 64bit
+
PE4H-EC2C (at x1E I hope), nVidia GT240 1GB GDDR5

I expect to need a PCI realloc bootdisk, but I'm going to try w/o first. (attached memory map for future reference). Will keep updating w/progress...

EDIT-- updated screenshots.

 

Tried with a new power supply.. same deal. Only one of the lights turn on, the only way I can get the other LED to power on(and the device to recognize on a w510) is to plug in a cheap psu in the molex connector.. the W510 gives a resource error as well. I guess I have a defective unit? It should be able to receive all of its power through the barrel connector or am I missing something?

 

Taking out a 2GB stick of ram(leaving it with 2GB) got it to work! But it only works if I have both power supplies plugged in.. which goes to my original question on why this is happening and if this is a defective unit? I'd like to get some thoughts before I contact hwtools

 

did you try changing the jumpers? you can set them to get a) both 12V and 3.3V? from the psu or b) 12v from psu and 3.3v from expresscard
the jumper info is on hwtools site somewhere in a manual

 

EDIT: message was for hallucinate rather than MaxMuscle

You bought a PE4H. It's regulated DC jack needs 15-19V so a 12V adapter can't be used there. You'd need to run it via the unregulated floppy molex plug with some barrel<->molex converter OR otherwise just plug in a ATX PSU on the PE4H. A PE4L has the advantage of being able to accept 12V via it's unregulated DC jack.

Your system+GT240M is quite capable of running a 4GB setup using a number of different strategies (i) you have a 256MB window already@C0000000 so just need to define the bridge to use that and another 32mb (see bridge.bat). (ii) 4500MHD can be relocated in 36-bit space and it's 256MB window hijaaked (see igpreloc.bat). (iii) Nvidia driver testing for 9300M and 9600GT show they can use an underlying bridge using 64-bit allocation so just modify bridge.bat for 64-bit allocation. Nvidia Win7 drivers superior to ATI ones that are still stuck in the 32-bit PCI allocation world.

The PCI compactor tool should be ready for release "soon" for use with DIY ViDock bootdisk which will 4GB configuration of this a breeze. It can do perform all of the relocation methods above.

Did you buy the bits for a x2 link? Can you post your Everest southbridge screenshot with the PE4H attached via expresscard slot? I have some prelim port layout details here. X200/X201 + DIY ViDock offering a stack of performance and portability, overcoming their handicap of no HDMI port too.

 

Hi Nando, I purchased the PE4L and using it with a HD4670 and 12V 80W PSU(which should work, 2.5x5.5mm barrel plug) - this is on a Lenovo W510 with an internal NVIDIA Quadro FX 880M graphics card.

When I plug in the PSU, my video card fires up full speed.. but only the D1 LED turns on.. the D2 LED is off unless a connect a PSU to the molex connector(which then Win7 recognizes the card). I've tried this with two different PSU's in the barrel connector, both 12V.. one at 70W and the other at 80W.

This is using Windows 7 32-bit. I've tried the jumpers, it makes no difference.

 

Well, after reading some more instructions, etc. HWTools pdfs, etc., think I'll stick with the PE4L+E2C+HD4670 for my HP2730p, 4500MHD, 4GB, to use x1 1.0, but two questions:

1) I read the HD4670 can be powered without use of 12V PSU via just the ExpressCard. Is that correct in my case?

2) With the HD4670, would PE4L version 1.0 or 1.4 make a difference?

 

Only power supply that express card slot provides is 3.3V (rated at max 1.2A + 375mA for 3.3VAUX afaik) so there is no chance that you can power it using only express card slot even if you had step up voltage regulator (for 12V).

just imagine, your notebook is probably powered by 60 or 90W DC adapter - even if express card slot had 12V pins - where you want to get needed 50-60W (4 - 5A 12V) for connected card ? (HD4670)

If you are running notebook under full load and recharging battery at the same time, you are pretty much near DC adapter limit already.

with 4670 you need 1 adapter to power card through card slot (you connect this adapter to PE4L or PE4H). More power hungry cards need more powerful DC adapter (and split 12V cable for port power & card 6 or 8 pin power connector) or 2 adapters.

 

pe4h v2.0 is still not available for purchase at hwtools
how the heck do i get my hands on one of those things?
getting impatient

 

Using no bootdisk, I am indeed getting a code 12. The pc won't boot if the expresscard is plugged in, it has to be swapped in after windows boot->sleep->popin->wake (likely I read this already, as it came as no surprise).

As for realloc, I tried option one and updated bridge.bat to:
set port=3
set io_win=2020
set mem_win=C0000000
Ran it but then couldn't get W7 to chain boot in the limited time I had to try, using grub --config-file=menu.w7

Attached is the everest screenshot.

And no, I didn't buy the other PM3N for 2x link. The internal mPCI ports are really tough to get to (have to disassemble most of the chassis). But I'm pretty sure it would work & is nice to know it's a possibility in the future.

 

hi, hallucinate.
i wanna help u, but insuffient information.

is your system' xpresscard port PORT4, isn't it right?

if it is right,
CHECK the bridge.bat out, again.

usually... mem_set= 0xcff1c001(NOT c000000) applied to prefetchable memory ( each pci-e port# config. base address + 24h, 32bits).

bit31-bit20 : allocated memory address upper limit of bit31-20 of the address for the pci-e port, and bit19-0 is filled with '1' to make a 32 bits addressing limit.

bit15-bit4 : allocated memory address lower base of bit31-20 of the address for the pci-e port, and bit19-0 is filled with '0' to make 32 bits addressing base.
bit19-16, bit3-0 : represents 64 bits addressing availability.
so, 256MB is allocated to the range of 0xc0000000-0xcfffffff.

and be careful to add ' 0x' to the number 'cause these numbers are hexa decimal. if you omit the ' 0x', system will recognize it as decimal numbers to operate wrongly, what was worse, system shutdowned.

retry, again.
bye.

 

Try the correct syntax 'set mem_win=CFF1C001'. Also Nvidia needs another 32MB window, so have a look if one is free in the Fxxxxxxx range.

Code:

:: Nvidia cards appear to require an additional 32MB window
setpci -s 00:1c.%port% 20.l=F1FFF000

Your mem screenshot was cutoff before I could see that region. Use the Nvidia example in bridge.bat to add that second window. Confirm also in Win7 that the io_win isn't occupied by something else as that too will throw an error 12.

The x200's expresscard slot is port4. So here's what's possible:

* x1 using port4 as you are doing now.
* x1E/x2 using port3+port4. X1E connecting using PM3N in turbo memory slot. Either one also sets port1+port2 into x2 model, so your wifi wouldn't work concurrently. Port1+port2 or port5+port6 can be set into x2 with port3 and port4 remain as x1 ports so are preferred x2 port layouts.
* For both X1E/x2 there is the additional hurdle of Lenovo whitelisting. Would whitelst.bat work it did for the 2510P?

As an aside, the HP 2530P has port3 as expresscard slot so can do x1E, but can't do x2 since it's wifi is port2.

 

thanks for the new reponses. I've updated the memory/io screenshots here in my earlier post http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...51-diy-vidock-experiences-54.html#post6220980

by the way, this is what I've got now:
set port=3
set io_win=1808
set mem_win=0xCFF1C001

@echo on
setpci -s 0:1c.%port% 1c.w=%io_win%
setpci -s 0:1c.%port% 24.l=%mem_win%

:: Nvidia cards appear to require an additional 48MB window
setpci -s 00:1c.%port% 20.l=F2FFF000

 

Cannot figure out why windows won't start. I type grub --config-file=menu.w7 after running the bridge.bat and it says starting windows but that's it, stops indefinitely, no logo animation or anything, have to hard shutdown...

 

Try the MBR method instead: 'grub --config=file="menu.mbr"'. Ensure you get the right commandline to successfully chainload before doing any PCI configuration. If neither works then need to figure out what grub4dos configuration file parameters you need. Refer to the README_GRUB4DOS.txt contained in the grub package here to help you along.