DIY eGPU experiences

My toys just arrived... pics will follow

sooo first pic is here

Update 1:


Update 2:
Okay just ran into the first problems... the 300W bequiet PSU did not have 8pin pci-e and 6pin pci-e to power the GTX-480 I need to buy a molex adapter now Searching for drivers now. 800x600 sucks

Update 3:
Now online with the X200 and the GTX-480 fired up. No problems during the boot. Just booted normal.

 

can i ask anyone..hurmm if i buy the PE4H with EC2C..does the package already contain EC2C??or i need to buy additional Ec2C??

 

if you buy the package for 85$ it contains the EC2C with a realy short cable... U might need to buy a miniHDMI cable on ur local store or order it from hwtools.net

 

Didn't one of the video cards have a 12V molex to 8pin pci-e adapter in it?

 

noooo!!!! Stupid idiots from gainward! I did not open the Spaphire one yet but I am online with the GTX-480 now. Ran into the local store and bought a 600W PSU was easier to find then a Molex adapter

any tips on the drivers I should use for the GTX-480?

 

The 2GB HD5870 has a 12V to molex plug as shown on the newegg pics. Can just use it.

Software? NVidia desktop adapters allow 64-bit allocation. An advantage over ATI. So will be just plug and play for x1 mode via expresscard using Win7.

For x2 mode or anti-whitelisting can use the DIY ViDock Setup. If only need x2 switching you *might* be able to do it in Win7 using BarEdit as shown at the bottom of this post.

 

I ment graphics drivers. But thanks for the explanation. I go for the ForceWare 257.15 Win 7 as far as I know its the fastest driver from Nvidia so far.

Is there a way to disable HDMI audio?

 

Device Manager->Sound, Video and Game controllers. Disable HD Audio Controller that appears when the NVidia 480GTX is plugged in.

 

Benchmark 06 is not running thru...

 

I had to rewrite my grub command to deal with the fact that I have two hard drives in my laptop.

My simple command is:
grub --config-file="root (hd1,0);chainloader /bootmgr;boot"

 

The dell isn't playing nice...
I see the ATI Radeon HD5800 series under display adapters (however my on-board nvidia is missing) and I'm stuck on a "This device cannot work properly until you restart your computer (Code 14) Click Restart Computer to restart your computer"

I've tried so far going to the boot disk, but it's not looking promising so far.

FWIW the Dell is running Vista Business x64... might upgrade to w7 to see if it helps.

 

SonicBoom may wish to reveal his P8600+GTX480@x1 results from a Lenovo x200. Looks very fast for DIY ViDock purposes. Incredibly quick for x1 1.0, using expresscard slot 4.

dmcv4.scene4 DX10: 76.9
RE5 dx9 1280x800: 69FPS (have a P8600+HD5850@x1 getting 58.2 on first page).
3DMarkvantage.gpu 8962

The dmcv4.dx10 scene4 and 3dmarkvantage results beating ATI results on the first page by quite a margin, even beating my T2050-1.6+HD5750@x2. Does NVidia's latest offering implement super-efficient pci-e bandwidth usage? Or are these apps super optimized for NVidia cards?

X200's port3 for x2 setup?

X200's turbo memory slot is port3 and is rather difficult to access, being under the keyboard. Sonicboom had to do a 45 degree entry to insert a PM3N and did manage it, but frayed his mini HDMI cable in the process. So the troubleshooting session did no result any x2 1.0 GTX480 benchmarks as much as I would have like it to.

 

On the card, there are two sockets which I believe are 6 pin. Does that mean I'll need two of the 12V adapters to 6 pin?

 

I can happily report another XPS M1530 running the DIY ViDock.
Using XP 32bit, 3GB ram, 7000rps HD, GeforceM 8600GT and an external 5770.

Internal vs external card. All settings high. 1680x1050.













External card, 1920x1080, all settings high

 

I don't think you are able to run the gpu without both connectors connected. Even if you are then your card will either run at a lower speed (if the card is able to downclock by itself) or run instable due to not being supplied with the required power. Better go grab two 12V to 6 pin adapters. If you are in doubt regarding whether or not it is 6 pin then just tell the wholes (6 holes = 6 pin & 8 hole = 8 pin ).

I have no clue why the SWEX does not fit properly. But why use it in the first place? Just wire the green cable to ground (one of the black ones) like this:

(random image found at Google, my cable-thingy-job looks prettier )
And then if you need to switch the gpu on/off just use the switch on the back of the PSU. Works perfectly for me

 

Btw, I found this program called "Actual Window Manager" which have a 60-days free trial. It works a bit similar to UltraMon. However it has a feature to extend the taskbar (including the start menu and tray icons!) and making specific rules for programs and windows.

E.g. I have a rule saying that all windows with the class (or name) like "Left 4 Dead" are moved to screen nr. 2. Then I will start the game at the primary screen like normal (through shortcut) and then the program will auto detect the window and move it to screen nr. 2 (internal laptopscreen).

I haven't really tested it so much but so far it seems to work out pretty good.

btw, sry for double-post..

 

Collaris112, how did you link your external graphic card back to theinternal laptopscreen? Basicaly you're saying you could use your normal laptopscreen with your extarnal graphic card?

 

Did anybody find a nice little case which can be used for the card and the psu?

 

nando4 already explained it here

You are using some soft of "dummy" to fake a screen connected to your external GPU. Then the trick / hard part is to launch the game/program in such a way that it runs on the external "dummy" monitor and then drag it over to your laptops monitor. There is a drop in FPS but 30 fps (external gpu) vs. 5 fps (internal gpu) in L4D is pretty nice

 

Obviously I'm familiar with that trick, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to run the whole thing in the first place. However, I plan to MacGyver a case and I NEED to get the SWEX to work. (plus its safer)

 

have you tried any games on it yet? I just bought an x201t and would love to be able to play some games on it as it replaced my desktop now

 

does my comp support the x2 1.0 pci-e link? sony vaio VGN-FW290J -- 4.0GB RAM; 2.26GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo; ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 512MB RAM, 1600x900 16.4" HD Screen.

 

** System config**
Clevo M860TU
[email protected], 4GB ,9800M GTS internal*
Win7/64
Running x4/x2E using port 1 and port 2**

*Regarding the 9800M GTS apparently it use a 512MB BAR space instead of a normal 256MB. This problem is specific to only the Clevo M860tu laptops. Any other 9800M GTS card should be fine like the one used in the Gateway P7811Fx. This would cause any external card to have resource allocation problems unless 2gb is used. The best solution to this problem is to get a Nvidia external card as they support 64 bit reallocation. The alternate solution that I used is to locate the PRSNT#1 for the MXM card. I had to do it by trial and error. Once found, you could isolating that pin with cellophane tape, running a tiny lead off the edge of the system board pin and MXM pin and joining them at a switch point. Connect them for on, disconnect them for off. For me i just slide a plastic pin at the point to disable it and when i go mobile I just remove it. Do note that this method completely disables your laptops lcd screen so you wont be able to use it at all. The laptop will completely run of the external screen until you remove the pin or on the switch.


** Running the x2 link as x4 to see another 15% more performance. Nando4 calls this x2E. Can only do that if have port1+port2 x2 setup maybe too if have port5+port6 setup

Everest Screenshot at x4
Imageshack - everestportsetupx4.png

Everest Screenshot at x2
Imageshack - everestportsetupx2.png

HD5850@x2E - stock clocks
=====================
3dmark-vant.gpu=10543
3dmark06=11761
RE5/dx9_var=78.3
RE5/dx9_fixed=37.9
RE5/dx10_var=72.9
RE5/dx10_fixed=39.0
dmcv.4_scene4/dx10=68.0

HD5770@x2E - 920/1350 (OC)
========================
3dmark-vant.gpu=9627
3dmark06=11393
RE5/dx9_var=77.4
RE5/dx9_fixed=37.4
RE5/dx10_var=72.1
RE5/dx10_fixed=38.6
dmcv.4_scene4/dx10=76.3

+ Just Cause and Company Of Heroes results as well.
All the screen shots of the benchmarks and the system spec are in the link below.
DIYVidock Benchmark and System Specs.rar

Also the startup.bat files that i used are as below
STARTUP.rar

Based on my current observations most of the games I have played such as Crysis, Dragon Age, Borderland, Far Cry 2 and Mirrors Edge all run smoothly at high settings at 1600 by 1080 resolution. Extremely happy with the x2 set up as it is much better than my internal 9800M GTS and even is on par with the Mobility Radeon 5870 and cost much less too

Would like to thank Nando4 for all the help he has provided including the 4 days of continues pm that helped in finally enabling all the system to run smoothly. Here is hope to the further development to the external graphic card solution for laptops.

 

Hi, I ordered the Pe4h on thursday, do you know if they will send a shipping information or what? Because I am not sure when it is coming or what is going on?

 

if you paid with paypal, paypal will send you an email with the tracking number

 

Allright I was just wondering, Still havent recieved a Tracking number is this normal?

 

i don't think i got a tracking number when i ordered mine. it came in about 4 days . don't worry it will show up prob Tuesday.

 

Hi Guys

I am a bit of newb in all this DIY hardware

I have a nice little x201 with a i5 and intel ssd, and I would like to be able to do some casual gaming after I do part with my old c2d desktop and go all portable.

I think a 5770 is the best bang for the buck and I´ll couple it with the PE4L-EC2C, but in terms of PSU, can I use e.g a xbox PSU? They are dirt cheap and are rated at 175W (falcon) I believe. e.g. http://cgi.ebay.com/175w-XBOX-360-P...t=Video_Games_Accessories&hash=item483a10edab
I know I will have to butcher the powerconnector, so which parts would I need extra?

 

The xbox PSU has neither a floppy molex, 12V molex nor pci-e power connector. Would require a fair bit of work to adapt it. So if wanting a small PSU hunt down a 1U rackmount SFF type instead like oddious did here. Plug and play.

As to the video card, you'd be running a Intel-cripped x1 1.0 link using your x201's expresscard port4. So can't apply the x1E tweak. In which case the NVidia GTX4xx series appears more pci-e bandwidth efficient based on the GTX480 results (compare against HD58xx results on first page). So then consider a US$280 GTX465 instead of a $150 HD5770. The extra cost *might* be worth it. I say might because we don't have GTX465 benchmark results yet so there is some pioneering involved if going that solution.

 

Bummer

I was looking at the xbox psu because it is cheap, fanless and small.

The gtx465 is twice that of the 5770, does this extra price tag really relate to extra performance? Its just the guy with the t400 did quite well with the 5770
Also does Fermi based card not require a lot of power?

How about a picopsu?

PicoPSU-150-XT ATX Mini Power Supply & 150W AC Adapter - eBay (item 200477702191 end time Jun-28-10 12:00:21 PDT)

Could this not be used? Its a bit pricey though

 

Do not recommend using 3dmark06 as a comparison point. The key aspect of DX10 performance while rendering multiple objects simultaneously, as a game would, is not accurately benchmarked.

Yes, GTX465 uses 199W at peak usage, so would need a ATX or 1U PSU to drive it. Not a solution if wanting silent/fanless operation. Is a solution if wanting maximum performance. Consider:

P8600-2.4: GTX480, HD5850, HD5750(OC) on x1 1.0 intel-cripplied links:

GTX480@x1: RE5_dx9=69.0, dmcv4.scene4_dx10=76.9, 3dmk.vant.gpu=8972
HD5850@x1: RE5_dx9=64.2, dmcv4.scene4_dx10=34.0, 3dmark.vant.gpu=7163 (results from i7-640LM. P8600+HD5850 gets RE5/dx9=58.2, don't have others)
HD5750@x1: RE5_dx9=55.1, dmcv4.scene4_dx10=38.4, 3dmk.vant.gpu=4805

dmcv4.scene4 has a stack of textures being shown simultaneously where ATI DIY ViDock implementations bog down to < 37FPS on a Intel-crippled x1 1.0 link. THe GTX480 scores 76.9. That's two times faster. These results show NVidia GTX480 is either far more efficient at pci-e bandwidth usage or the games are better optimized for NVidia.

Only problem of interpolating that data back to a GTX465 it's a slower clocked GPU and has 1GB of VRAM versus GTX480's 1.5GB. How much will that affect results is unknown until someone posts data. Otherwise the 1.5GB GTX480 results show it comprehensively outperforming a 1GB HD58xx/HD5750 on a x1 1.0 link in the above tests.

 

this is the power supply that i got from my local goodwill computer store. set me back 10 bucks

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Image...Mark=1&Description=Athena Power AP-U1ATX30A%2


the size of the PS is about the same as the 9800gt that i am driving it with .

 

Just ordered a PE4H with EC2C ver2.0 for my Sony VAIO Z46GD.

Planning to buy this with this so that I can run up to 160W without a noisy PSU running on my desk.

Also planning to go for nvidia cards since my notebook has one built-in, also will not hit the code 12 error with nvidia. Am thinking of GTX260 or GTX240.

Any problems and recommendations with my planned setup?

 

Hi guys,

I've been using my HD5750@x1E setup for a few months now and I am reasonably pleased. The GPU is noticeably sitting there idling most of the time so I am still keen on figuring out a solution to implement a x2 link.

I've finally received the riser board I had mentioned before that potentially could add a mpCIe slot for port#1 and allow me to make a port 1+2 2xPM3N link. Indeed it is a mPCIe riser card that allows me to use another slot but unfortunately it's hooked up to port #4 and not #1. This means that my Southbridge PCIe port configuration is:

PCI-E 1.0 x1 port # 1 Empty
PCI-E 1.0 x1 port # 2 mPCIe slot # 1
PCI-E 1.0 x1 port # 3 Realtek Gigabit LAN controller
PCI-E 1.0 x1 port # 4 mPCIe slot # 2
PCI-E 1.0 x1 port # 5 ExpressCard slot

From what I learned from Nando and others in this thread, this means I can't have a x2 link without some heavy tinkering. I reckon my options are to stick with x1E or hook up a mPCIe slot to port #1. I managed to obtain a set of Asus F8S schematics (PM me if you need them) and discovered that port # 1 does not appear to be connected in the Southbridge chip (see below).




Notice on the diagram on the right the pins labelled PERN1, PERP1, PETN1 and PETP1 are not connected. I guess I could try to hook up a mPCIe slot to these BGA pins using the method that nando4 referred to or see if there are any lines on the MB connecting to those pins that I could use. It won't be easy, especially since I am not particularly experienced in soldering but I am willing to give it a try. What do I need to hook up in order to have a functional mPCIe x1 a slot, just these 4 pins plus power and gnd? Any tips/ideas/examples of similar mods that I could follow?

EDIT: Instead of fitting a complete mPCIe slot to port #1 in parallel with the others already available, I could swap the 4 communication links in slot 2 from port #4 to port #1 so that the layout would look like this:

PCI-E 1.0 x1 port # 1 mPCIe slot # 2
PCI-E 1.0 x1 port # 2 mPCIe slot # 1
PCI-E 1.0 x1 port # 3 Realtek Gigabit LAN controller
PCI-E 1.0 x1 port # 4 disabled
PCI-E 1.0 x1 port # 5 ExpressCard slot

What do you think?

 

I looked into this as well, I found a combo a bit cheaper on ebay btw

I would also like to know if this would work, the gtx260 also seems to be a nice card, better than the 5770 in a x1 setup right?

 

..... more to come

 

I got myself a new laptop 2 months ago:

Asus M60J 16"
1.6Ghz Core i7 720 QM
6 GB DDR3 1333MHz Memory
PM55 Chipset with PCIe 2.0 (Intel is actually currently running Intel 5 series chipsets PCIe 2.0 at half speed at 2.5GT/s instead of 5GT/s according to here and these are the chipsets affected here)
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

My new EVGA Nvidia GTX 465 card arrived yesterday from Newegg.

Connecting the GTX 465 card to the laptop was entirely plug and play without any problems, just as I expected since everything is 64 bit: the operating system, the laptop chipset (PM55) and it's an Nvidia card (Nvidia cards can do 64-bit PCI allocation)

The card was fully recognized out of the box even with 6 GB system RAM and is connected through the DVI port. I power on the GTX 465 first and then the laptop and, interestingly, the laptop screen is entirely bypassed. Everything comes on straight on the external monitor, even the Asus splash screen.

In the Everest screenshot here

PCI-E 2.0 x1 port#1: empty
PCI-E 2.0 x1 port#2: mPCIe port with the Atheros wireless card
PCI-E 2.0 x1 port#3: Expresscard port with the Nvidia GTX 465
PCI-E 2.0 x1 port#4: disabled


Benchmarks with expresscard 2.0 @ 1x:


** edit ** : Ran the benchmarks again with the new nvidia 257.21 signed drivers

RE5_DX9: 71.1
dmcv4.scene4 DX10: 69.32
3DMarkvantage.gpu: 6443

 

I admire the effort you're going to. x2 link mode supports lane reversal so could use the second lane (port2,port4,port6) to do the extra signalling and use the first port (port1, port3, port5) to supply the extra 4 tx/rx pci-e lines and the GNDs around them (8-wires all together) to do x2. The possibilities with your setup being:

* use port3 (LAN) to work as lane2. This would be the easiest route. The way to do that would be to disable/disconnect the LAN controller and hijaak it's 4 tx/rx pci-e lines. You'd need the datasheet to identify the pci-e tx/rx pins and some ultra fine soldering. Using port3+port4 to do x2 means you'd lose port2 functionality, since it gets switched to x2. Another disadvantage of doing a port3+port4 x2 implementation is it doesn't allow you to run x2E mode. Need port1+port2 for that (x2E=x4 with last 2 lanes not connected- extra 15% performance).

* hunt down pci-e tx/rx pins from port1 or port6. Could be a bit of effort. The idea port would be port6 as then you could combine it with your expresscard slot port5.

Or go a GTX465 card and run it at x1E. NVidia seems to do better with multiple textures being rendered simultaneously as well as DX10.

Awesome. Renders dmcv4.scene4 much better than an ATI card. I bet RE5/DX10 outperforms ATI cards as well. The general pattern of results has been NVidia performing better on DX10 than ATI cards.

Would like to request following, requiring the use of the DIY VIDock Setup v1.x to see how fast can a GTX465 go on a x1E link?. Suggest use this 1.0c2 development version following these installation instructions.

1. get this running with x1E mode 'iport x2 3' since it's port3 and re-do benchmarks. Extra bandwidth should get anywhere from 10-30% better results.

2. run the GTX465 concurrently with the LCD by powering it on after bootup up. Use the Selective 36-bit compaction if need to, applying it to only the onboard and GTX465 GFX.

GTX260 would need ~180W to drive it. The single T7500-2.2 RE5/DX10 1280x800 benchmark (53.3) we have of it on the first page is actually pretty good compared to ATI ards.

 

From what I gathered from a newbie POV, yes it seems. I might also want to try the GTX4xx route since its more bandwidth efficient. But would like to go with cheaper equipment first, since everything is modular in a sense, so its easy to upgrade.

When my PE4H arrives, I'll use an old 7600GT and some spare PSUs I have lying around to try it out.

 

Johnny, sorry, but do you know if it is possible to improove those intel chipset in order to achive 5 GT/sec? I guess you cannot have the reall advantage of Expresscard 2.0 now, right? I'm just asking because I'm also trying to find laptops where I can really use expresscard 2.0 with full speed...
Theoratically Intel chipset HM55 also have PCIe 2.0 and there are laptops with this chipset for like 500 USD...

 

Hey, the PE4H came in today, I was going to test my AMD RS780m chipset with a 8800GT just to see if everything works out, and if it does probably get a 465,

Anyways I was just wondering to make sure I have everything down right
1) PSU unit to power video card
-- saw pics, does something from the PSU have to plug into the PE4H?
2)PE4H with Card adapter
3) Video Card
4)?????
5) Profit

 

Fardavid,

That's sad, but it was Intel's conscious decision to reduce their PCIe 2.0 at PCIe 1.1 speed.

If you look at the Intel Series 5 Datasheet page here, you see that it says "PCI Express 2.0 specification running at 2.5 GT/s", but that's PCIe 1.1!

Reason? According to an Anandtech article here: "We believe with the DMI link continuing to operate at 1GB/s in each direction, a decent 6Gb/s SAS/SATA RAID card and a few upcoming 6Gb/s drives could easily saturate the link."

Reading through this thread, I see there's been several attempts at establishing a PCIe 5GT/s link, but no success so far. Apparently, the laptops with real PCIe 2.0 5GT/s will be released later this year.

 

Ok, so I have been pouring through all the posts in this thread, and I haven't not found an answer to my problem. I ordered the PE4L and an HD 5770 with PSU to run it all and the switch to turn it off and on. I hooked everything up and got it running....kinda....after a couple hours I figured out that I needed to install the drivers through Device Manager to get everything going. The only game I play online currently is WoW and when I was testing this out and found 2 issues I need to work around:

1) After about 1-2 hours of use I lose all of my USB ports (as in they no longer work until I reboot) and also lose most functionality of the laptop's builtin keyboard.

2) I received a wonderful little stop error that said something about memory and rebooted my comp too quickly for me to get the error. (this lovely blue screen has only happened once, but still an issue)

I am running a Toshiba Satellite A215 (wish I had better, but this is what I have to work with) that has the following:

AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual-Core TK-57 1.90GHz
4GB RAM
Windows Vista 32-bit

If anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance

 

Hey guys love the work that you're doing here!

I'll be a college student next year, and I'm hoping to pick up an Alienware M15x (Believe me, I know its heavier than most laptops, but 4 more lbs doesn't phase me, and if battery becomes a problem, then I'll just pick up another battery). I was wondering, though, if this DIY viddock would work within an M15x, say, with a 5870 or a 5970 graphics card. This would be amazing, even if it only worked with 80% or the power available (maybe I could even power an eyefinity setup). Anyway, I know the laptop has an expresscard slot for sure, I'm just wondering if you guys know if the Alienware M15x has an internal mPCIe slot so that I can setup an x2 link or something like that. I don't know much about how this stuff actually works... would anyone care to explain if I could get both slots on the Alienware M15x to work? Thanks so much in advance!

 

Yeah I have the distinct impression I am way over my head here but I'll try anyway

I've managed to find a BOM file for the motherboard (so I can see which pins connect to which components) but sadly it didn't come with the PCB connection layout. So I took the laptop entirely apart, took some pictures of both the top and bottom sides of the PCB over the Southbridge chip and I am now trying to correlate the position of the holes on the bottom side with the chip ballout. My idea was to hook up the links to the to appropriate plated-through holes on the bottom side of the PCB underneath the Southbridge hoping that the pins I need are all connected with PTHs. Unfortunately, it does appear to be the case - I'm having difficulty matching the layouts so I'm not 100% sure yet but the odds don't look good. If confirmed, this means that the only way to access the pins for port#1 and #6 is going between the top of the PCB and the Southbridge to access the BGA array directly. That's a nightmare - I either have to remove the Southbridge, reball it and fit it with new connections (with no experience on doing so) or somehow touch the 8 pins with thin wires between the chip and the board like here...!!

This is starting to look like the only feasible option for a x2 link with this machine. OK does that mean I could hook up 2 sets of 4 tx/rx plus GNDs to a single mPCIe slot? If so, how do I accomplish that?

 

I take it you want to be able to plug in a PM3N into a slot, just as a physical placeholder that has all the correct wiring to your LAN controller from which you'd like to run the mini HDMI cable to PE4H's x2 connector. The way I think this could be done is:

- take a PM3N and mask off the bottom of all the pins with cellophane tape. Means that when plugged into mPCIe slot it doesnt connect any pins.

- Ensure there a little room on the top edge of the pins. It is there where you would solder the 4xtx/rx pins and 4xgnd.

- attach 80pin IDE pcable (can just use 8 strands of them) that links the PM3N and LAN controller. 80-pin IDE cable pitch is close but not quite 100%. The 4xGND and 4xtx/rx must run parallel to do the shielding.

The PM3N soldering is a fine art. Might consider a reflow method (tin top edge of PM3N pads, apply flux to cable pins, hold down the cable wire on the pins, then heat with a heatgun to form a connection). It's like $20+$22-shipping for another PM3N so they're not such cheap replacements if you bugger it up.

Consider too that the lan chip mod would have a negative affect on the resale of your system. For that reason you may just consider a GTX465 instead running at x1E until can id a system that can do x2 1.0. Then could just do a complete system upgrade. Maybe expresscard 2.0 will be out by then.

There are PNY and Point-of-View GTX465 units with 10mem chips that can be unlocked to GTX470 speed. See here.

 

Hey, when I hooked up my Power supply (350 watt) the 2nd LED light turns on but I get a really loud beeping noise. Whats going on?

Edit: Ok it seems to only make the noise when my 8800 GT is plugged in. Any ideas?

 

Boot up system with DIY ViDock switched off. Power it on when get past your bios screen, eg: at Win7 bootloader screen.

Likely problem is your bios is halting with a beep alerting you it's detected a video card and has no idea what to do with it. Workaround is to ensure the bios doesn't see the video card and allow either Win7 or DIY ViDock Setup 1.x to do the correct PCI allocation for it.

FYI: PE4L 1.5 and PE4H 2.1 will have a PCI Reset Delay jumper so will effectively delay the DIY ViDock poweron without needing user intervention (switch on/off) just for this circumstance.

 

Hello,

I'm a MacBook Pro user and I've taken the plunge to see if I can get a the PE4H working with my laptop.

I'm using an NVIDIA 9800GTX+, 480W power supply, and PE4H 1.0 with EC2C express card.

The results were less than promising on the first attempt. With the graphics card attached on boot, the system would continually try to POST without continuing to the grey apple loading screen. If I toggled the power to the graphics card quickly the laptop would continue to boot and would now show a video card as being attached but most of the video card information is missing. Attaching the video card after boot does not work so hot swapping is not an option.

Laptop: MacBookPro 2,2 15"
CPU: Core 2 Duo 2.16ghz
Internal GPU: ATI1600
MEM: 3GB
Boot ROM: MBP22.00A5.B07
SMC: 1.12f5


The following information was pulled from System Profile with the graphics card attached (after I do the toggle power on boot):
Under "Graphics/Displays" I now have an adapter label "Display" with:
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
Slot: ExpressCard
PCIe Lane Width: x1
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x612
Revision ID: 0x00a2

Under "PCI Cards" the ExpressCard lists:
Type: VGA-Compatible Controller
Driver Installed: Yes
Bus: PCI
Slot: ExpressCard
Link Width: x1
Link Speed: 2.5GT/s

Any suggestions or thoughts on why the system would pass POST? Would trying a different video card help? The baseline mac video card is a GT120 which I could pick up to test.

Thanks!

 

The beeping noise was coming from the PE4H itself, not the computer, because I was just testing if the device itself was working, ie
PE4H attached to 8800 GT with PSU stuff connected, and none of it is connected to computer.
EDIT:
Or... it could be coming from the 8800 GT, not sure going to look into it further.