RX 5700 XT (External GPU) on MacOS 10.15.2 - drivers not installed? And sort of a fix too.  

How about performance of 10.15.3 public beta? !0.15.2 was quite disappointing in terms of Navi drivers speed.

PS: I posted this issue at Apple Communities too.

Wrong macOS version in the title 😉

Posted by: @atpeaz

I had this weird problem. I have a RX 5700 XT installed on my Razer Core X eGPU and it had been working well for weeks. Then suddenly today, it stopped working. Rather, the card powers up fine as I can see the LED on the Sapphire Pulse card and its fan spinning, but MacOS claims there is no eGPU detected.

 

While I managed to get it working again, installing a public beta isn't quite the ideal solution.

So, reaching out to the community to see if anyone else knows how to force re-install the GPU drivers on MacOS. Anyone?

PS: I posted this issue at Apple Communities too.

I have exactly the same configuration, from the Mac mini to the enclosure, but I am on 10.15.1.

The Nitro+ RX 5700 XT also suddenly stopped working, but the card was not spinning and the LEDs were not on. Only the enclosure was recognised by Mac OS, not the card.

I thought at first the card was dead but booting on Bootcamp did start the card. I managed to install the free game from the AMD promotion (which needs Win10 to recognise the card), but I have Code 12:

At least I know the card is OK, had already contacted the reseller customer support, which is quite good by the way for the standards we are used to in France (ldlc.com) and were paying for the return costs for investigation in their workshop.

I am hesitating to update the OS to 10.15.2, I do not know if it will help. It cannot get worse anyway... Any thoughts?

Regards

Posted by: @ikir

How about performance of 10.15.3 public beta? !0.15.2 was quite disappointing in terms of Navi drivers speed.

 

PS: I posted this issue at Apple Communities too.

Wrong macOS version in the title 😉

Thanks for pointing out my mistake with the versions! Guess I typed it out all wrong when I was still stressed with the problem. But when I blogged it on my site here, it was correct. LOL

Anyways. Here are some quick benchmark results, unfortunately I don't have one from 10.15.2 to compare.

@jangoloti_1 If you're up to it, try installing 10.15.3 Beta and see if it helps you. I can't seem to find any other ways to get it working again.

@atpeaz

Members here have learned not to believe anything Geekbench tells them. 😅

Still it's fun to speculate as to why your Saphire Pulse 5700XT and @begpu 's Saphire Pulse 5700XT score so much higher in the Metal benchmark. 

My Power Color 5700XT score for Metal in GB 5.1 is only 35,000. 🤔

@atpeaz

Did you try reinstalling macOS 10.15.2 on top of your existing install (leaves data intact)? I believe that would have solved the issue. Actually all that might be needed is a kernel cache rebuild:

sudo kextcache -i /

@mini-i5

Yes. I’m currently using DP on the setup. I’ve found that when using HDMI, the display is set at 30Hz vs 60Hz over DisplayPort. also, There’s also a noticeable lag even with things like moving the mouse and windows around when I used HDMI. So perhaps your speculation is correct.

RE Geekbench, I agree. I wouldn’t read much into it other than just one datapoint to compare. Less so to compare with others, more for comparing my own setup/configuration. But ultimately, the real test is actually getting the results on the apps/games you use/play with your setup.

@mac_editor: No I didn’t try it as I thought updating to 10.15.3 beta was easier. I’m also fairly used to using public betas and was happy to be “forced” to test it. Also, thanks for the kext tip. Was not aware of this. Will keep it in mind if this comes up again.

@mini-i5

Yes. I’m currently using DP on the setup. I’ve found that when using HDMI, the display is set at 30Hz vs 60Hz over DisplayPort. also, There’s also a noticeable lag even with things like moving the mouse and windows around when I used HDMI. So perhaps your speculation is correct.

RE Geekbench, I agree. I wouldn’t read much into it other than just one datapoint to compare. Less so to compare with others, more for comparing my own setup/configuration. But ultimately, the real test is actually getting the results on the apps/games you use/play with your setup.

@mac_editor: No I didn’t try it as I thought updating to 10.15.3 beta was easier. I’m also fairly used to using public betas and was happy to be “forced” to test it. Also, thanks for the kext tip. Was not aware of this. Will keep it in mind if this comes up again.

Posted by: @mini-i5

@atpeaz

Members here have learned not to believe anything Geekbench tells them. 😅

Still it's fun to speculate as to why your Saphire Pulse 5700XT and @begpu 's Saphire Pulse 5700XT score so much higher in the Metal benchmark. 

My Power Color 5700XT score for Metal in GB 5.1 is only 35,000. 🤔

 

 

Do ALL of your 5700Xt DisplayPorts work correctly?  Specifically, does DP3 work in macOS?

Believe all of this is a driver issue.  GB5/5.1 scores for METAL are unreliable at best, but it's one of the easiest across the board tests for multiple users and configs to even try.  Unfortunately, not everyone has access to apps that can directly use METAL hardware acceleration.  Even video compression apps need to be setup correctly.

@begpu

To pursue some idle fun, I did swap the HDMI cable for a DP type between my PowerColor 5700XT and my LG 4K display.

And... the Metal score remains much lower than your and @atpeaz Sapphire Pulse cards' - according to the Geekbench Multiverse of Madness 😅

Right around 35,000 on all (3) DP ports, and HDMI 🙄

Geekbench is what Geekbench’s track record says it is, ha ha. Still... everyone enjoys a good Circus! 🐘🐘🐘 😁