Hi everyone!
I'm a new here, decided to join the community of eGPU enthusiasts. So far it was a messy experience, so I'm writing this post now 
My hardware configuration:
- MacBook Pro 15' Mid 2019
- MacBook Pro 16' Late 2019
- Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box
- Sapphire Radeon 5700 XT
My software configuration:
- Both MacBook Pros have the latest macOS Cataliina (10.15.4 (19E266))
- No custom drivers, kext or anything that will require additional setup (just few .app applications and several binaries installed through brew)
The Problem:
Sometimes macOS can become frozen, after few minutes it spins out fans to the max and reboots. What is notably is that it sometimes can happen even without eGPU connected (but not so often, with eGPU it become an annoying issue).
I even can't figure out the dependencies here and why or when it is happening. For example, here are some scenarios I've faced:
- MacBook Pro 15' Mid 2019 - when it is on and I'm plugging in eGPU "on the fly" mac continues to work but there is no response from eGPU or external monitor at all. eGPU enclosure LED is on, my Mac starts to charging, but no display. It works only when I'm booting macOS with eGPU already connected. Even so, it can sometimes be totally fine and work the whole day on the external monitor and sometimes it can just froze and go into reboot.
- MacBook Pro 16' Late 2019 - when it is on and I'm pluggin in eGPU "on the fly" mac continues to work AND eGPU detects normally. This the case when Plug-n-Play really works out. After I plug in Thunderbolt 3, external monitor came to live and macOS switched to eGPU (it says on Displays tab and About tab). Though, when I'm trying to power on it with eGPU connected - it freezes after I pressed Enter after typing in my password. I can power on MacBook normally only without eGPU. And yet, behavior while working the same as in Mid 2019, it sometimes can just freeze my Mac, spin out the fans to max and reboot.
What else have I noticed?
When I'm using not so expensive operations - seems like it is working more stable. Though, when I'm starting to use eGPU for BOINC project (donating eGPU to science projects) or start Steam to play some games - it can hold for few minutes and the boom again - fans to the max and reboot.
Kernel dump after reboot not so useful... No info about stack traces, registers state or anything related to the MacOS, just few of "Core 0" with empty data "0000000...00" that repeats several times.
Any ideas to debug it, at least?
So far, my suspicions is that macOS have awful drivers for 5700 XT OR it is macOS Catalina that is awful OR BOTH. Anyway, I hope that it is software-related problem and I didn't spent my money for nothing.
To do: Create my signature with system and expected eGPU configuration information to give context to my posts. I have no builds.
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Drivers for RX 5700 XT are awful in general
Asus G501VW I7 6700HQ Razer Core X RTX 2070 SUPER
I've just caught some useful information in kernel dump (x86 CPU CATERR detected)
panic(cpu 1 caller 0xfffffff029abb7b4): x86 CPU CATERR detected Debugger message: panic Memory ID: 0xff OS version: 17P4263 macOS version: 19E266 Kernel version: Darwin Kernel Version 19.4.0: Mon Mar 2 20:38:56 PST 2020; root:xnu-6153.101.6~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T8010 Kernel UUID: 3695E9D9-323E-350E-9A6E-65819BE397D7 iBoot version: iBoot-5540.105.2 secure boot?: YES x86 EFI Boot State: 0x16 x86 System State: 0x0 x86 Power State: 0x0 x86 Shutdown Cause: 0xec x86 Previous Power Transitions: 0x70707060400 PCIeUp link state: 0x1614 Paniclog version: 13 Kernel slide: 0x0000000021a84000 Kernel text base: 0xfffffff028a88000 mach_absolute_time: 0x5f2ac6d1a7 Epoch Time: sec usec Boot : 0x5e7f174c 0x000a6116 Sleep : 0x00000000 0x00000000 Wake : 0x00000000 0x00000000 Calendar: 0x5e7f59ce 0x000895a4 Panicked task 0xffffffe0006bea00: 3338 pages, 216 threads: pid 0: kernel_task Panicked thread: 0xffffffe0008ce4f8, backtrace: 0xffffffe00aac34b0, tid: 326 lr: 0xfffffff02934c764 fp: 0xffffffe00aac34f0 lr: 0xfffffff02934c5c0 fp: 0xffffffe00aac3560 lr: 0xfffffff029466e7c fp: 0xffffffe00aac3610 lr: 0xfffffff02991562c fp: 0xffffffe00aac3620 lr: 0xfffffff02934bf28 fp: 0xffffffe00aac3990 lr: 0xfffffff02934c280 fp: 0xffffffe00aac39e0 lr: 0xfffffff02a182934 fp: 0xffffffe00aac3a00 lr: 0xfffffff029abb7b4 fp: 0xffffffe00aac3a30 lr: 0xfffffff029aacbe4 fp: 0xffffffe00aac3aa0 lr: 0xfffffff029aaeb0c fp: 0xffffffe00aac3b50 lr: 0xfffffff029aac31c fp: 0xffffffe00aac3be0 lr: 0xfffffff029a73780 fp: 0xffffffe00aac3c10 lr: 0xfffffff029882abc fp: 0xffffffe00aac3c50 lr: 0xfffffff029882340 fp: 0xffffffe00aac3c90 lr: 0xfffffff029920514 fp: 0x0000000000000000
To do: Create my signature with system and expected eGPU configuration information to give context to my posts. I have no builds.
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Nah, both the 5700XT and 10.15.4 work great on my Mac Mini 2018.
Not a single issue with either one.
- On your Mac, choose Apple menu
- > System Preferences, then click Energy Saver.
- Do one of the following:
- If you see Graphics options, select Higher Performance.
You need to log out and then log in again for the change to take effect. - If you see the “Automatic graphics switching” option, deselect it.
Your Mac will always use high-performance graphics.
- If you see Graphics options, select Higher Performance.
Also, use a standard 18” 40Gbs thunderbolt cable.
I've already did that before, set the "Automatic graphics switching" to OFF. Also, I made a primary display on my MacBook Pro the one which is connected to eGPU through DisplayPort directly.
As a result I have the following in "About" all the time:
To do: Create my signature with system and expected eGPU configuration information to give context to my posts. I have no builds.
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