eGPU help/advice

Framework Laptop 13 Linux
1

Which Linux distro are you using?
Ubuntu

Which release version?
24.04

Which kernel are you using?
6.8.0-49-generic

Which BIOS version are you using?
03.05

Which Framework Laptop 13 model are you using?
Framework 13 Ryzen 7 7840U
-64GB Kingston Fury Impact 5600
-SK Hynix Platinum p41

Hi Guys

So I’ve not long had my framework 13. Great device.

The idea was to consolidate my devices. I had an hp elite book Ryzen 5 3500U, and a DIY built R7 3700X desktop with an RX5700XT GPU.

Simple enough plan, buy an eGPU enclosure and plug the RX 5700XT into it.

So I got a Lenovo Legion booststation 2nd hand (like the extra ports, networking and HDD bay) and when I plugged it into the laptop, the laptop started to charge… And nothing else.

boltctl monitor
Gives no output when plugging or unplugging the device. (I’m using the type c ports at the pack, i.e. closer to the hinge)

Tried 3 different cables, all tb3 cables, one of them IF certified 40Gbps, same story.

Booting up with the enclosure already connected, or waiting until it’s booted to plug it in, nothing. No change to lspci, lsusb or boltctl monitor. HDD installed in the enclosure doesn’t show up in disks.

Literally did nothing but make the ping noise because the charger was connected. In fact, if the laptop was already connected to a charger via one of the other ports, it didn’t even do that.

I tried running Windows 10 Pro on it :nauseated_face: and that also, even after installing all the drivers and losing my fingerprint data (thanks for that windows), got absolutely nothing out of the enclosure but charging.

So I took the enclosure to my nearest branch of CeX (I bought online from them) and they couldn’t get it to work either so they refunded it. So I’m pretty sure the enclosure was dead. There are a few reports online about PSU failure on them so it’s not hugely surprising I guess.

So I ordered another one. Put in my GPU, turned it on, plugged it in, charging but no boltctl output.

So I think I’m probably just really unlucky and I’ve had 2 dead enclosures delivered.

Before I make the 20 mile drive to Merthyr Tydfil to dump this massive paperweight on their desk again, is there any eGPU setup step I’m missing??

I’ve watched a few different YouTube videos on using eGPUs on a framework and literally none of them go into any detail, they just say “I got 75fps in game X” or whatever and don’t go through the steps required to set anything up, and given that eGpus are a consumer product I expect it to be plug and play.

And yet in other places I see references to things like “of course I needed to add the missing firmware” or whatever with absolutely no detail or context.

For sanity I have 1 other TB3 device, and that’s a Samsung 34" ultra wide. The moment I plugged that in boltctl detected and auto-authorised it and my desktop displayed out on the monitor hence my expectation that a GPU enclosure would do something similar. Even if some jiggery pokery is needed to get display out of the enclosure device, I would expect the enclosure itself to be detected?

Assuming I’m doing it right and this device is also dead, I’m not going to bother with another Lenovo they’re clearly suffering from some design fault. Can anyone with a framework 13 AMD using an egpu with an AMD GPU recommend an affordable and working enclosure?

Thanks.

2

I’ve had a Razer Core X (non-chroma) and a PowerColor external GPU enclosures to talk to my Framework 13 AMD, and they show up in boltctl.

You wouldn’t have the integrated AMD graphics working without the amdgpu firmware, so this shouldn’t be an obstruction to your use case.

K3n.

3

you mean the same model again? If so, I would bet that it’s probably incompatibility between Framework 7840u mobo and this particular eGPU adapter: generally Thunderbolt/USB-4 compatibility is a delicate matter, kinda like silicon lottery.

So assuming it’s the same model, I would recommend trying another: egpu.io is a good place to look for recommendations. Generally I recommend “raw” adapters (without a PSU nor enclosure), so that you are not limited to a specific dimensions nor power output. Consider for example 1 of the first 2 positions from this ranking: Best eGPU Enclosures – October 2024 External GPU Buyer’s Guide | eGPU.io

4

I have the TH3P4G3 adapter with an RX6700 and it works great in Windows 11. I have not been able to get it to work in Fedora 41 though - it always uses the igpu. I also have not messed with it a ton, but Wayland and eGPUs seem like it takes some tweaking to get working.

Seems a promising solution from what I’ve read, but I have not had time to play with it a lot. My first attempt did not work.

5

I used to use th3p4g3 with my old xps13-9360 running debian/x11 and it was mostly flawless (as soon as I resolved some hardware issues related to cables). From what you wrote, It seems to me that Wayland still needs some work in this area.

6

I should also add that the hot plug/play detection with respect the TH3P4G3 Thunderbolt works flawlessly in Fedora 41 and the eGPU shows up with lspci. So, my take away is that full functionality should be there in Linux too. It just might take some tinkering.

7

Thanks all for your comments, exactly the sort of confirmations I was hoping for.

Yes, the 2nd one I ordered was the same model. With ref to the Lenovo being incompatible, I did read a post - on here I think - of someone successfully using that model with an amd13 framework, but with an Nvidia GPU under windows, so it “should” work. I was just wondering if I had missed some config step in bios or anything else.

I have ordered a th3p4g3 off AliExpress for 100 quid on black Friday which should be arriving in a day or 2.

I think I’m in for a frustrating few days of Xorg config once it gets here tho lol even if it does work ok.

I’m planning on recording game capture, and my thought is that to better manage PCIe bandwidth, I’d use my razer usb capture device to grab the egpu hdmi output to read in through another usb port, then use the iGPU to encode via vaapi. That all seems straightforward to me (maybe I’m being too optimistic) but the thing I’m not sure about is wether the internal display can still operate for OBS etc without making the window manager start spamming data back and forth on the PCI. That’s a bit further down the line though, we’ll see how it goes :smiley:

8

FWIW, with Nvidia card the setup on Debian/X11 was really straightforward: install the Nvidia GPU driver, optionally add 6 lines of config to X to run on eGPU and voila (my post on egpu.io). If you go to BUILDS section you can filter by OS-Linux and GPU-AMD to find some guidelines. If you run into troubles, you can make “build-in-progress” post there and ask for help.

you mean something like Ripsaw? This sounds super exciting! Definitely please do make a post on egpu.io about putting this all together :slight_smile:
A n00b question regarding this out of curiosity: If you plug your HDMI output into this Ripsaw device, how do you plan on actually viewing the video output yourself? I mean because the output will go to the Ripsaw, not to any display, right? The simplest way to do it that comes to my mind is to plug both the Ripsaw (via HDMI) and your display (via DP) to your RX5700XT eGPU and setup X with 2 mirror-screen “monitors”, one of them being the Ripsaw (I mean “same image in all monitors” option), but I have never played with such capturing devices, so not sure if it’s a right way to do it…

9

So update on the overall situation, CeX refunded my second Lenovo Legion BoostStation. definitely a major design flaw in that product somewhere so a word to the wise - steer clear!

I’ve just received a TH3P4G3 from AliExpress, plugged it all in, and without ANY changes to the laptop whatsoever it was instantly recognised on boltctl (as expected) and less than 2 minutes later, after setting Jurassic World Evolution’s Steam start command to DRI_PRIME=1 %command% I was gaming on the RX5700 XT, passed back to the laptops internal display without issue.

@Morgwai
yes I have a ripsaw :slight_smile:

the ripsaw has instant passthrough for up to 4k60, so it has hdmi in and out. you use an external monitor connected to the ripsaw and you wouldnt know any different from just plugging the monitor into the gpu directly.

that being said it’s so low latency that for anything short of esports you could actually game via the usb capture if you wanted to lol

the issue is with the whole X running on the GPU thing, is that I ideally want to still use the laptop’s internal display to run OBS etc and don’t want that being rendered on the eGPU wasting pcie bandwidth. But that’s for me to figure out another time. right now I’m happy my eGPU is working :slight_smile:

1 Like
10

glad yo got it running :slight_smile:

ah, I see now: so it must be some higher model than the one in my link (that one does not seem to have HDMI out and supports only up to 4k@30Hz according to the website).

AFAIK running a single session on 2 GPUs each with its own set of connected displays is not possible on X11 (I haven’t dig too deep though so pls don’t cite me on this). From what I heard, Wayland will be able to do it, but as @AKNickolai pointed, it still has some other issues that need to be resolved first. Until this happens, the way you do it now (with DRI_PRIME) seems like the only option.