OcuLink eGPU works with the Dual M.2 expansion bay module

[Erik_Miralles]

I don’t think that anybody expects all of that from you. We are all just excited about this and I, for one, am totally willing to take those risks and that price sounds reasonable to me. I’m sure the same can be said for others. Take your time and do what you have to do. We are all just excited about it

[Erik_Miralles]

Honestly, I think the best solution would be making a completely custom module that directly connects to the interface instead of the m.2 slots. Somebody was doing that in another thread but unfortunately disappeared which is a real shame. I am also following your attempts because if you’re able to have success, that’s exciting news

[Kyle_Tuck]

Well folks! These adapters are in hand and testing is underway. Testing is going well so far.

So… I think it’s finally time for a list.

If you’re serious about getting one, feel free to submit the form. Be sure to read my earlier post as well.

OCuLink Adapter for Framework 16

I will send a black IO shield with the adapter but here is a link to the model on Tinkercad.

3D design Framework 16 OCuLink IO Shield - Tinkercad

[MJ1]

Damn!
Awesome to see one working irl.

I haven’t kept up with the thread. Would anyone be so kind as to fill me in on whether anyone is planning a 8i OcuLink one?
Like so:

@MJ1

Mockup with OcuLink 8i port to the left side on a dual 2242 M.2 adapter PCB. Made in Kicad, so actual size. In reality the OcuLink port would be on the underside of the PCB.

Or maybe that not feasible at the moment? I recall there are limitations in what the EC will do.

[Jacob_Padgett]

AFAIK the only serious attempt was @Gu_tally’s standalone expansion bay module (not an adapter for the M.2 baord). It seems they’ve been busy with life ever since July

@Gu_tally

a quick update. I will be moving back to China next month. by than I can visit my friend with the laptop and the board to do the onsite test. than it will be easier to fix the fan and EC and etc issue.
the PCIe lane configuration is still, I believe a bios issue at framework end. you can manually overcome this with umaf bios editor, but it is a very not ideal solution.
to get a PCIe 4.0x8, you disable the mux, force dgpu connect and prefer start on external monitor.

EDIT: There’s another currently active project

@Filip

I have been playing around with my own oculink 8i board that I got produced
…
GitHub - Terrails/FW16-OCuLink

There is another relevant project, however:

https://community.frame.work/t/framework-16-pcie-x-16-slot-for-expansion-bay/

@Pierre_Cruse

This, in conjunction with a PCIe to 8i adapter (such as this), could also work

[mathsaey]

@MJ1

Or maybe that not feasible at the moment? I recall there are limitations in what the EC will do.

Correct. The expansion bay module tells the CPU to split the 8 lanes into 2x4. According to what I’ve read it may be possible to flash the expansion bay module to not do this, but I don’t think anybody is pursuing this avenue.

[Gmanny]

There was an update to EC which allows changing the expansion bay EEPROM contents from the OS, so it might actually become easier to do this in the future (source)

@Jeff_the_man

EC firmware that allows flashing to and reading from the dGPU EEPROM

Merge pull request #171 from FrameworkComputer/fw16.dgpu_file_program