Github: purge-wrangler.sh
With macOS 10.13.4, Apple officially began supporting external GPUs on macs. However, they imposed the following limits:
- Mac must have Thunderbolt 3
- Select AMD GPUs only (reference: Apple)
- No NVIDIA GPUs
- No Ti82 Thunderbolt 3 enclosures
purge-wrangler.sh removes these restrictions and enables:
- eGPUs for Thunderbolt 1 & 2 systems
- NVIDIA eGPUs for all systems
- Legacy AMD eGPUs for all systems
- Ti82 TB3 enclosures
Please read the entire document before proceeding.
System Requirements
The following is a list of basic requirements a mac must meet to run purge-wrangler.sh.
Hardware
- Mac: must have a Thunderbolt port (any variant)
- eGFX: Any enclosure + eGPU
Software
- iMac Pro & 2018 MacBook Pro (T2): Disable Secure Boot, as instructed here.
- macOS: 10.13.4-6 (High Sierra), 10.14+ (Mojave)
- System Integrity Protection: must be disabled.
A system backup is highly recommended. Although the patches and recovery techniques have been refined over time, having a fallback is always important.
Installation
All steps are mandatory. Please follow the steps as advised for the most optimal experience.
Step 1
Read the macOS eGPU Troubleshooting Guide to familiarize yourself with how eGPUs work on macOS. Please read this before asking questions - it becomes repetitive and unproductive to repeat what I've already written.
Step 2
Disable system integrity protection. This can be done with the following procedure:
- Power on computer while pressing ⌘ + R to boot into System Recovery
- After recovery loads, go to Utilities > Terminal from the Menu bar
Once in Terminal, type in the following commands:
csrutil disable reboot
Your system will boot back into macOS if all's well.
Step 3
Download and install the script. Simply copy-paste the following command into Terminal and execute:
curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/mayankk2308/purge-wrangler/releases/latest" | grep '"browser_download_url":' | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/' | xargs curl -L -s -0 > purge-wrangler.sh && chmod +x purge-wrangler.sh && ./purge-wrangler.sh && rm purge-wrangler.sh
The script will automatically install itself for recovery purposes and is ready for use at this point. The command above only needs to be run once. For future use, simply type the following in Terminal:
purge-wrangler
OR
Use @jeroen-van-keulen's ALLn1 for easy installation + use.
You will be prompted to install updates to the script (3.1.0 onwards) if and when they are available, using the above command, eliminating the first-time setup process per script version.
PurgeWrangler provides users a very simple & straightforward menu-based mechanism:
Advanced users may prefer bypassing the menu using the convenient script arguments, detailed on the Github page.
Notifications
Every macOS update rewrites kernel extensions (including security updates). This means that all patches installed using purge-wrangler.sh are reset. With V5.0.0 or later, the system will notify you if this has happened, and allow you to re-patch immediately.
If you choose "Never" the reminder will never activate until you reinstall purge-wrangler in the future and then are in the same situation again.
AMD eGPUs
Patch by: © egpu.io [@mac_editor], @fricorico (for hints)
If you are on a Thunderbolt 3 mac, you do not need any patches, except for legacy AMD GPUs. The script will detect this and not modify anything else besides installing automate-eGPU.kext after requesting permission from the user. To enable AMD GPUs on older macs:
- Run purge-wrangler and select Option #1.
- You will be asked if you would like to enable legacy AMD GPUs - this is for people using unsupported AMD eGPUs only.
- Reboot system.
AMD eGPUs will be operational at this point.
Additional Resources & Support
- Not all legacy AMD eGPUs may work.
- purge-nvda.sh - to resolve rendering issues with AMD eGPU + discrete NVIDIA GPU in Macs.
NVIDIA eGPUs
Patch by: © egpu.io [@goalque]
All macs will require patching for NVIDIA eGPUs to work on macOS. Mojave support depends on NVIDIA Web Drivers which are not available at this time. Using older drivers does not work.
The steps are straightforward:
- Run purge-wrangler and select Option #2.
- Follow instructions and reboot.
NVIDIA eGPUs will be operational at this point.
Additional Resources & Support
- If you are using a GTX 780 or older GPU, choose not to install web drivers.
- May see black screen on both internal and external display on hot-plug. Press ⌘+⇪+Q then Return to logout.
- Hot-unplugging is not unsupported with NVIDIA eGPUs.
- If you already of web drivers installed, script may prompt you to remove macOS build limitation -> this is optional.
- purge-nvda.sh - to resolve OpenCL/GL issues with macs with NVIDIA dGPU + eGPU on the latest web drivers.
Troubleshooting
In cases where the system fails to boot, it is possible to recover changes made by purge-wrangler in Single User Mode. To do so:
- Power on the system while pressing ⌘ + S
- Let the initial system boot complete
Once the command line is available, execute the following commands:
mount -uw / purge-wrangler -r
The program may take up to a minute to execute. Use the recovery options from the menu to revert changes made by the program.
For other issues, please read the Troubleshooting Guide. Also check out how to accelerate applications on the internal display using the eGPU if you don't have an external monitor.
Community
This patch is not possible without the assistance of multiple members on this forum. A thank you suffices, but for those kind souls who would love to contribute:
This project is currently active, but focused on bug fixes at this time. Development of a UI-based client that will incorporate all of my work so far is underway, which you can check out here.
Incredible job! Just went through the bash script and saw the wonderful job you did making it as easy as possible on patching and uninstalling if anything goes wrong!
Keep up the good work 👏
Incredible job! Just went through the bash script and saw the wonderful job you did making it as easy as possible on patching and uninstalling if anything goes wrong!
Keep up the good work 👏
Thank you good sir! 🙂
You Sir are a legend!
✧ALLn1✧
MBP11,4, i7-4980HQ, 256gb SSD, 16gbRAM Mojave (Sonnet Breakaway box 350 + Gigabyte Radeon RX 580 Gaming 8GB)
MacBook7,1 A1342, P8600 120gb SSD 4gbRAM. Mojave (Hiking/Camping)
iMac7,1 A1224, T9500 CPU upgrade 120gb SSD 4gbRAM. HS
Mac mini3,1 P7350, 250gb SSD 8gbRAM. HS (server) iPhone10,3 64gb. iOS12 iPad5,3, 16gb. iOS12 iPod shuffle 2nd gen. 2gb
✧GeekBench✧
You Sir are a legend!
Did you try it? Any hiccups?
Nice job dude! Glad we could figure this out so quickly and provide a working solution for all TB2 users out there. I will also try using the script tonight and let you know the outcome.
Nice job dude! Glad we could figure this out so quickly and provide a working solution for all TB2 users out there. I will also try using the script tonight and let you know the outcome.
Thank you for that hint in our private discussion. Was an eye-opener of sorts. 🙌
Patch works successfully on macOS 10.13.5 Beta 1 as well.
OMG! Will this work with hot plug feature too? I'm looking forward to try it in a few hours. Great work. Thank you!
Native eGPU support as if its a TB3 mac. Should not be a problem as far as I can tell in my tests. Macs with NVIDIA dGPUs still require my other patch to get things going.
Nice, impatient to test it next week when I will come back from vacation 🙂
good job !
👍
Haven't tested yet (will do so as soon as I have time to upgrade, plus time to restore from backup if needed) but have read the script, looks solid enough.
I can't unsee "IoT BS witch type" tho 😉
@mac_editor
Although the enabler for .4 isn't finished yet, I can say that I will add your script to mine as well (if needed, still fixing the panics) once it's in the final release for .4
in the meantime would you like to test my thunderbolt recognition script:
bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/learex/macOS-eGPU/macOS10134/ScriptTB.sh)
if someone does not get the correct answer or even that it could not be detected please say...
macOS-eGPU.sh on GitHub (fr34k's macOS-eGPU.sh on eGPU.io)
----
2016 15'' MacBook Pro + [email protected] (Sonnet Breakaway 550) + macOS 10.13.6 (17G65 driver: 378.10.10.10.30.107 + CUDA: 396.148)
I have a feeling that Apple kept Intel happy, and left a backdoor for us. If they deliberately wanted to block older TB technology, there are more effective ways to accomplish that in the EFI level.
I'm gonna try right now. I have a Nvidia 650M dGPU and I'm using a GTX1070 eGPU (Akitio Thunder2) on my TB1 MacBookPro. What patch do you say I need to install? Do you mean the nvidia-egpu.v7 from here?
So what's the proper order to enable a Nvidia dGPU Mac with TB1/2 from scratch? Would this be correct?
1- Install Nvidia drivers (SIP enabled)
2- Install NVIDIAEGPUSupport (SIP enabled without Kext)
3- Install PureWrangler (SIP disabled)
EDIT: This is a bit offtopic but I've noticed I no longer have to use DIYeGPU 1.35 to boot with my eGPU on Bootcamp since now I can plug the egpu, turn on the mac and choose Windows without having to do the double boot dance. Before this, if I tried to boot with the egpu plugged in, the mac freezed. I needed to plug the egpu cable just after the chime and do the double boot using the DIYeGPU boot partition.
@rmvz3, Nvidia cards are still not working with 10.13.4, unfortunately.
That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die.
@rmvz3, Nvidia cards are still not working with 10.13.4, unfortunately.
Ouch! 🙁
I'm sorry that it takes so long,
I only have a few hours a day where I can test and tweak.
And still some research needs to be done before a closed beta can be published and then on the following day if all goes well then to the public.
atm, the drivers cause the problem not the wrangler (as far as I can tell for now)
macOS-eGPU.sh on GitHub (fr34k's macOS-eGPU.sh on eGPU.io)
----
2016 15'' MacBook Pro + [email protected] (Sonnet Breakaway 550) + macOS 10.13.6 (17G65 driver: 378.10.10.10.30.107 + CUDA: 396.148)
Everything works fine (including hotplug) with my 2014 mbp13 + Akitio node + RX 580 ~
@kyorosweb, thank you for your report! I have a similar configuration (MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)) and I was wondering if a RX 570/RX 580 would be natively compatible. Cheers!
Thank you @mac_editor! Great effort by all to show defiance as a community.
@tiagoamaro RX 470/570 should work. They share PCI ID with RX 480/580.
@rhenriques11 Check out @mac_editor's Purge-NVDA to disable Nvidia dGPU so that it doesn't clash with AMD eGPU. Once you've done that, run PurgeWrangler script to unblock eGPU for TB1/2 Macs.
@rhenriques11
important is here the dGPU not eGPU.
The purge-NVIDIA script is meant. A link can be found in his signature
EDIT: @itsage you were faster, dang it.
macOS-eGPU.sh on GitHub (fr34k's macOS-eGPU.sh on eGPU.io)
----
2016 15'' MacBook Pro + [email protected] (Sonnet Breakaway 550) + macOS 10.13.6 (17G65 driver: 378.10.10.10.30.107 + CUDA: 396.148)
@kyorosweb, thank you for your report! I have a similar configuration (MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)) and I was wondering if a RX 570/RX 580 would be natively compatible. Cheers!
However, there still some performance drops in some apps like photoshop & sketch. You will feel some lag on drawing, but I this it is a software problem as it has no lag on non-retaina mode (I am using a 4k monitor) and this issue also happened in nvidia cards. All native app are running fine.
But when I connect the monitor directly to 2017 mbp has no any graphic problem. So it may also cause by the speed bottleneck of TB2. Or I can try to connect the egpu with my 2017 mbp.
Please, don't apologize for that. We are all extremely grateful for your job. You guys are awesome.
Thank you so much guys. I'll test tonight. I do not have a Nvidia dGPU, only eGPU. Let's see if it works.
I have already upgraded both CUDA an Nvidia Web Driver to the latest versions. Is it necessary to use an upgraded nvidia-egpu-v7.zip (this is always necessary to make things work) from this post "https://egpu.io/forums/mac-setup/wip-nvidia-egpu-support-for-high-sierra/"
This has been always a sensitive script to use and it seems that it needs to be tuned for every new driver. If so anyone has it handy for 387.10.10.10.30.103 and MacOS 10.13.4?
Cheers
PS - My setups are: - MBP 2015 with internal AMD Radeon R9 M370X; Aktio Box with Nvidia GF 1080Ti
- Mac Pro mid 2013 TrashCan with 2 internal AMD Fire pro 500; Two eGPU - Aktio Box with Nvidia GF 1080Ti and Sonnet Box also with a Nvidia GF 1080Ti.
Works great on MBP 13 Late 2013, MSI RX480. macOS is able to auto detect GPU as Radeon RX 480 8192 MB, which in previous versions was always a Radeon R9.
Also, not sure if it's just me, but CSGO frames rates seems higher, perhaps better driver support for RX480 this time around.
Next, I will be monitoring if the random egpu sleep/wake crashes that were happening on 10.13.3 is resolved in this version.
Has anyone tried with tb1 Mac? Haven’t heard of a success yet and can’t test on my end.
I‘m so glad that you found a solution. I started to gather all I need for my eGPU Setup for my 2015 MBP (got an Omen extreeeeemly cheap)
Regarding GPU‘s: With this Script I will also have no trouble to get a RX460 run, correct?
Just needed to run three displays.
@mac_editor
Although the enabler for .4 isn't finished yet, I can say that I will add your script to mine as well (if needed, still fixing the panics) once it's in the final release for .4
in the meantime would you like to test my thunderbolt recognition script:
bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/learex/macOS-eGPU/macOS10134/ScriptTB.sh)
if someone does not get the correct answer or even that it could not be detected please say...
Looks fine to me at a glance, need to test though. Would love to integrate into purge-wrangler.sh.
Has anyone tried with tb1 Mac? Haven’t heard of a success yet and can’t test on my end.
I will try tonight with a 2011 17" MBP [TB1]. It was successful with kext swap so I bet your script will work.
@thefurious RX 460/560 is a bit of a wild card. While there are drivers and support, I've seen issues with external monitor output. I will test using Breakaway Puck 560 and provide an update.
@mac_editor
Although the enabler for .4 isn't finished yet, I can say that I will add your script to mine as well (if needed, still fixing the panics) once it's in the final release for .4
in the meantime would you like to test my thunderbolt recognition script:
bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/learex/macOS-eGPU/macOS10134/ScriptTB.sh)
if someone does not get the correct answer or even that it could not be detected please say...
Looks fine to me at a glance, need to test though. Would love to integrate into purge-wrangler.sh.
That's what it's for...
macOS-eGPU.sh on GitHub (fr34k's macOS-eGPU.sh on eGPU.io)
----
2016 15'' MacBook Pro + [email protected] (Sonnet Breakaway 550) + macOS 10.13.6 (17G65 driver: 378.10.10.10.30.107 + CUDA: 396.148)
@mac_editor let me buy you a beer! (give me your PayPal)
It runs like a charm!
✧ALLn1✧
MBP11,4, i7-4980HQ, 256gb SSD, 16gbRAM Mojave (Sonnet Breakaway box 350 + Gigabyte Radeon RX 580 Gaming 8GB)
MacBook7,1 A1342, P8600 120gb SSD 4gbRAM. Mojave (Hiking/Camping)
iMac7,1 A1224, T9500 CPU upgrade 120gb SSD 4gbRAM. HS
Mac mini3,1 P7350, 250gb SSD 8gbRAM. HS (server) iPhone10,3 64gb. iOS12 iPad5,3, 16gb. iOS12 iPod shuffle 2nd gen. 2gb
✧GeekBench✧
@mac_editor let me buy you a beer! (give me your PayPal)
It runs like a charm!
Appreciate the sentiment and generosity! That's more than enough 😉