DIY ViDock N00b needs Help

Hi,
You know the PE4H does it require any special software to run & is it worth buying if using an expresscard for a high end GPU?

I ask because I want to connect my Windows 7 laptop externally to a Nividia Quadro FX 1800.

My computer does not have an expresscard slot, but has firewire 800 slot built in.

So my idea is that I get the PE4H, the graphics card, an expresscard to 800 firewire adapter & a 9 pin to 9 pin firewire cable.

Is it likely this set up will work?
Do you need special software to run the PE4H with EC2C?
Also, is it worth buying all this gear if the bandwidth is only a tiny fraction of what it is due to the expresscard systeM?

My use is as a 3D animation designer using autodesk maya.

kind regards,
PeanutButterJelly108

 

Firstly I have zero experience of setting up a DIY ViDock on a Macbook Pro 15" with bootcamp, so can only advise from the outside looking in. With the right tools and patience, I believe it can be made to work so long as the MBPhas a 256MB window in it's 32-bit PCI Configuration space to accomodate the video card.

Your first issue is the firewire interface. I have zero experiece with Firewire 800 to expresscard adapters, but would say it probably wouldn't work. So I'll start off by eliminating that option to remove complexity in a more setup with higher complexity to begin with.

The interconnect that would allow it to work would be a mini pci-e port. Do you have an accessible mini pci-e port? It would be occupied by a wifi card. If so, then could consider a PEL4+PM3N solution instead swapping out the wifi card. For some this is inconvenient so would dismiss this as solution.

Lastly, about software configuration. I do not know how a Apple sets up the PCI Configuration. It's equivalent of bios may do all the work for you. If not then you'd see the infamous error 12: cannot allocate resources error in Win7. On PCs we do a manual pre-boot PCI Configuration using DOS, then chainload the operating system using grub4dos.

You can attempt to do the same with your Mac by performing a dry-run of the tools to see if they could be used:

1. Boot DIY ViDock USB bootdisk, then run:

Code:

atiflash -ai > ati.txt
nvflash --list > nvidia.txt
lspci -tv > tree.txt
pt PCI map > map.txt
lspci -vv -x >  devs.txt
pcitool /db:snapshot
(pcitool fails on some systems. It's OK, can use output from above instead)

Save ati.txt, nvidia.txt, tree.txt, map.txt, devs.txt and snapshot.bdf to rar/zip, upload to mediafire.com and link here.

2. Try to chainload the operating system using one of the following:

Code:

grub --config-file="menu.w7"
grub 

If the above tools do not work for you, consider asking the Mac Forums "how to manually configure PCI BARs of devices/bridges/ports prior to OS boot"?

The mini pci-e or expresscard (not via firewire 800) solution plus, if needed, pre-boot PCI Configuration would likely see this work. However would need a pioneer to detail exactly what is involved in setting it up on a MBP.