Radeon Compatibility Guide - ATI/AMD Graphics Cards

[Adrian B]

@yacob841 ,

In order to use three monitors you must use an active displayPort adaptor with many of the AMD cards. This is the same for Windows and Linux as it is how the cards are designed. Try a quick google search for AMD 7970 three monitors.

 

[Fl0r!an]

Your 7950's should even support 4 displays each. It's required to use native DisplayPort devices or active DP adapters on the DP ports though, since the cards only support two legacy devices (DVI, HDMI, passive DP) at a time.

 

[yacob841]

Gotcha. I only have 1 monitor that has a DisplayPort and I have a DisplayPort to Mini, so that should work for that one. I guess I'll need an adapter for the other. Or just have my next two be DisplayPort devices. Thanks!

 

[Fl0r!an]

One real DP device is sufficient if you want to use three displays.

The "AMD Eyefinity rule" goes as follows: Max displays = <No. of DP devices> + 2

 

[regrexion]

Guys, could we use bot IGC and AMD cards on the same screen to avoid the Boot on black screen? I mean, IGC set to primary card (ex. via hdmi/dvi) and AMD connected to the same monitor (via DP)? Could it work? Maybe the only thing to do is switch the source from the monitor..

 

[mossman44]

Exactly.

Awesome, thank you for confirming that. I'll make sure to pick up a 1st gen GCN card.

In terms of getting to the root cause of the sleep/wake issue, are there any leads to where the problem is originating (Clover, UEFI, kext, or something else)? Once I eventually get this system setup, are there any system logs in macOS that could provide clues to what error is occurring? I'm still learning the ins and out of macOS, but am more than willing to poke around and help troubleshoot.

 

[Jungster124]

Guys, could we use bot IGC and AMD cards on the same screen to avoid the Boot on black screen? I mean, IGC set to primary card (ex. via hdmi/dvi) and AMD connected to the same monitor (via DP)? Could it work? Maybe the only thing to do is switch the source from the monitor..

Yes this works with my build (i7 6700K + RX 460) and leads to a dual monitor setup in OS X. Use the "Mirror Displays" checkbox in the systemconfig to avoid a second screen you can't see.

 

[Fl0r!an]

In terms of getting to the root cause of the sleep/wake issue, are there any leads to where the problem is originating (Clover, UEFI, kext, or something else)? Once I eventually get this system setup, are there any system logs in macOS that could provide clues to what error is occurring? I'm still learning the ins and out of macOS, but am more than willing to poke around and help troubleshoot.

The problem of both AMD issues (sleep/wake and boot to black screen) seems to be caused by the UEFI display driver. Both problems are "solved" by avoiding the initialization of the GPU during boot phase, which most people do by configurering iGPU=Primary. Depending on the UEFI implementation it's also possible to just unplug the display (or turn it off) during boot, as the UEFI won't init GPUs with no displays attached (true for my Asus board when disabling CSM).

So either the EFI to OS handoff just goes wrong, or the UEFI driver does something else "wrong" (-> different to Apple's slightly proprietary EFI implementation).

 

[regrexion]

Yes this works with my build (i7 6700K + RX 460) and leads to a dual monitor setup in OS X. Use the "Mirror Displays" checkbox in the systemconfig to avoid a second screen you can't see.

Great. So with IGP and RX 460 connected to the same monitor you get the pre OS screen (with bios and boot drive selection) and the right OSX screen with no problem...not really a pita in my opinion, just 1 more cable

 

[Jungster124]

The problem of both AMD issues (sleep/wake and boot to black screen) seems to be caused by the UEFI display driver.

My RX 460 has no sleep/wake issues. Only the HD530 is disabled after sleep/wake.

Great. So with IGP and RX 460 connected to the same monitor you get the pre OS screen (with bios and boot drive selection) and the right OSX screen with no problem...not really a pita in my opinion, just 1 more cable

Exactly. The only issue is that after sleep/wake the HD530, which isn't used, isn't recognized any more.