Apple's Pro Display XDR on one Nvidia 2080 Ti thru the Gigabyte Titan Ridge add-in card

[Voltron4Real]

I’m enjoying my Pro XDR Nano Texture Display. Just some issues with controlling the brightness on Windows. I tried installing the latest boot camp and was able to install. The problem is the drivers to control the brightness are still not there.

I had the same problem. It turns out that not all boot camp driver packages are created equal! When you create the "windows support software" package from Boot Camp Assistant, it only includes the drivers suitable for the Mac it is being run on. So, for example, if that Mac doesn't support the Pro Display XDR, then you won't get the drivers for it.

The solution is to use the "brigadier" python script (https://github.com/timsutton/brigadier) which downloads the drivers directly from Apple, but, crucially, allows you to specify the exact Mac model you want the drivers for. In my case I specified MacPro7,1 and it worked great.

Make sure you use the latest source code version from GitHub, as the prebuilt binaries are from 2016 and don't reference the latest software catalogue required to fetch drivers for more modern Mac models.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I apologize for bumping this old thread..

I have a confirmation question.

I have a Hackintosh with an RX 6600 XT.

Could I use the Belkin Charge and Sync Cable for HUAWEI VR Glass, CAZ001 cable to power an LG Ultrafine 5k with just my DisplayPort 1.4 output?

(and USB ports if needed also - have plenty of those)

 

[Amethyst1]

Could I use the Belkin Charge and Sync Cable for HUAWEI VR Glass, CAZ001 cable to power an LG Ultrafine 5k with just my DisplayPort 1.4 output?

Only if you have the newer model (27MD5KL). And you’ll be limited to “4K” resolution.

If you have the older model (27MD5KA), it’s not going to work at all.

The only way to get 5K at 60 Hz on the UltraFine 5K from a non-Mac is by using a Thunderbolt 3 add-in card that two DisplayPort outputs from your GPU must be connected to.

Reason: The UltraFine 5K is a “dual-link SST” display, meaning it requires two DisplayPort 1.2 signals in a Thunderbolt 3 stream for 5K at 60 Hz.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Only if you have the newer model (27MD5KL). And you’ll be limited to “4K” resolution.

If you have the older model (27MD5KA), it’s not going to work at all.

The only way to get 5K at 60 Hz on the UltraFine 5K from a non-Mac is by using a Thunderbolt 3 add-in card that two DisplayPort outputs from your GPU must be connected to.

Reason: The UltraFine 5K is a “dual-link SST” display, meaning it requires two DisplayPort 1.2 signals in a Thunderbolt 3 stream for 5K at 60 Hz.

How are the folks using the XDR with just that cable?

Different/newer connection tech inside the XDR?

 

[Amethyst1]

Different/newer connection tech inside the XDR?

Indeed. The XDR accepts video input via USB-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode and can do 6K60 via a single DisplayPort 1.4 HBR2+DSC signal.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Indeed. The XDR accepts video input via USB-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode and can do 6K60 via a single DisplayPort 1.4 HBR2+DSC signal.

Amazing that a cable/adapter exists to do it -- and Apple doesn't want to sell one!
Could be like $249 for the Apple version of this concept.

Hey - more buyers for Displays - even if not macOS users!

Same goodness on the Studio Display I take it?

(not that I'm forking over anything close to what Apple wants for either of these monitors)

Part of me is still hoping LG might keep the Ultrafine 5k going and perhaps spec bump it internally at some point.

 

[Amethyst1]

Same goodness on the Studio Display I take it?

It does 5K60 via USB-C (Ars Technica have tested that) and needs DSC for that to work as well.

 

[Amethyst1]

Amazing that a cable/adapter exists to do it -- and Apple doesn't want to sell one!

I'm not surprised.

Want another example? I have the 21.5” LG UltraFine 4K which requires video input via USB-C DP Alt Mode. None of my systems have that — so, how…? Using a Wacom Link Plus, which does the same thing as this cable.

 

[joevt]

Could I use the Belkin Charge and Sync Cable for HUAWEI VR Glass, CAZ001 cable to power an LG Ultrafine 5k with just my DisplayPort 1.4 output?

If you have the 27MD5KL then you can get 4K60Hz. You can try creating a custom resolution to get 5K39Hz.

 

[fpenta]

Indeed. The XDR accepts video input via USB-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode and can do 6K60 via a single DisplayPort 1.4 HBR2+DSC signal.

Can you link the cable needed? I have a desktop with a 3080 ti. Will it work with only one cable?

 

[Amethyst1]

Can you link the cable needed? I have a desktop with a 3080 ti. Will it work with only one cable?

Belkin Sync and Charge cable for the Huawei VR.
You need a USB connection to the display for things like brightness control, presets and the built-in USB hub.

If you can live without all that, Moshi's bidirectional cable is also an option.

 

[fpenta]

Belkin Sync and Charge cable for the Huawei VR.
You need a USB connection to the display for things like brightness control, presets and the built-in USB hub.

If you can live without all that, Moshi's bidirectional cable is also an option.

Thanks! Does it work in 6k 60hz?

 

[Amethyst1]

Thanks! Does it work in 6k 60hz?

Since the 3080 can do DSC, I don't see why it wouldn't.

 

[er2429]

Hello All -

I have a Intel 10900K, ASUS ROG STRIX Z590-E motherboard, NVIDIA 3090 FE, and an ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 (I believe it's a Maple Ridge) add-on card connected to TB Headers. I have everything setup and working flawlessly on the LG UltraFine 5K through the ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 (video, usb, etc) using the included LG TB3 cable but when I connect the Pro Display XDR using the native braided cable from Asus ThunderboltEX 4 to Pro Display XDR, I get nothing but a blank screen. I am on Windows 11.

I am able to boot into Windows using low resolution mode but even that sometimes works / sometimes doesn't. When I attempt to flip the resolution to 6K in windows it just reverts back to the low resolution.

Any idea of if this has any shot at all of succeeding? Anyone else who has done something similar? Not sure if there are BIOS settings that I am missing, firmware, drivers, etc. but I am running out of ideas. This, in theory, should work flawlessly. I am not sure what I am doing incorrectly here.

 

[joevt]

I have a Intel 10900K, ASUS ROG STRIX Z590-E motherboard, NVIDIA 3090 FE, and an ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 (I believe it's a Maple Ridge) add-on card connected to TB Headers. I have everything setup and working flawlessly on the LG UltraFine 5K through the ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 (video, usb, etc) using the included LG TB3 cable but when I connect the Pro Display XDR using the native braided cable from Asus ThunderboltEX 4 to Pro Display XDR, I get nothing but a blank screen. I am on Windows 11.

I am able to boot into Windows using low resolution mode but even that sometimes works / sometimes doesn't. When I attempt to flip the resolution to 6K in windows it just reverts back to the low resolution.

Any idea of if this has any shot at all of succeeding? Anyone else who has done something similar? Not sure if there are BIOS settings that I am missing, firmware, drivers, etc. but I am running out of ideas. This, in theory, should work flawlessly. I am not sure what I am doing incorrectly here.

Instead of connecting with a 40 Gbps cable, try a 20 Gbps (such as a USB-C non-Thunderbolt cable)? Or disconnect one of the DisplayPort inputs of the ThunderboltEX 4?

 

[er2429]

Instead of connecting with a 40 Gbps cable, try a 20 Gbps (such as a USB-C non-Thunderbolt cable)? Or disconnect one of the DisplayPort inputs of the ThunderboltEX 4?

Appreciate the response. I've tried Apple's Thunderbolt 3 and 4 braided native cable, a Belkin Thunderbolt 3 cable, LG UltraFine 5K's Thunderbolt Cable, a generic USB-C 3.2 cable, and USB-C Amazon Cable. None of them work. Interestingly all of the Thunderbolt cables activate my USB devices and USB works but I'm not getting any display signal.

I've also messed around with the Thunderbolt native OS security setting in BIOS.

BIOS is flashed and updated. I'm on the latest Thunderboltex 4 drivers afaik.

 

[joevt]

Appreciate the response. I've tried Apple's Thunderbolt 3 and 4 braided native cable, a Belkin Thunderbolt 3 cable, LG UltraFine 5K's Thunderbolt Cable, a generic USB-C 3.2 cable, and USB-C Amazon Cable. None of them work. Interestingly all of the Thunderbolt cables activate my USB devices and USB works but I'm not getting any display signal.

I've also messed around with the Thunderbolt native OS security setting in BIOS.

BIOS is flashed and updated. I'm on the latest Thunderboltex 4 drivers afaik.

Does the ThunderboltEx 4 work? Do you have any other Thunderbolt devices?
Are you able to connect two displays (not Thunderbolt displays) to the Thunderboltex 4?
Are you able to connect two displays to a Thunderbolt dock connected to the ThunderboltEx 4?

I think the USB-C 3.2 cables should have also activated your USB devices.

One of the tests I suggested was to exclude the ThunderboltEx 4 from the test. That would require a bidirectional USB-C to DisplayPort cable but I would suggest a Belkin Charge and Sync Cable.

I tested the dual cable mode of the Dell UP2715K. It works properly at 5K60 10bpc. CRU only shows one active connection but the second DisplayPort connection is among the registry EDIDs (it has a weird 848x480 timing). The active EDID has two empty Default Extension blocks - it knows there's supposed to be 2 extension blocks but only reads the main block. The 2nd tile EDID is supposed to have 1 extension block but it's empty. It's not doing E-EDID properly.

Monitor Asset Manager (moninfo.exe) can read one extension block from the main EDID which is identified as "Real-time". The 2nd tile EDID is identified as "Registry-Active".

Maybe since the EDID's are bogus, we need a display driver. For example, my Dell UP2715K has a inf file. I don't see any EDID override in it or anything that might be for a tiled display.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/display/overriding-monitor-edids
Did you try getting the driver using the method described in #101 ? I used the command line exe with the "-model MacPro7,1" argument but I don't see any driver inside the BootCamp-002-34411 folder that might be a Studio Display driver. Maybe someone who has done this can check Device Manager properties for the Studio Display to see if there's any inf file or something.

Does Nvidia even support arbitrary tiled displays? I remember the macOS driver wouldn't work for the LG UltraFine 5K but did work for the Dell UP2715K because the Nvidia driver had specific code for the Dell UP2715K. This is why I suggest trying a non-tiled mode.

Anyway, when connected to AMD, the Dell UP2715K has a 5120x2880 60Hz mode and can be set to RGB 10bpc. "Advanced Display Settings" says the "Active resolution" is 2560x2880 so you know it's using the tiled mode correctly.

 

[joevt]

Maybe ignore everything I wrote. I'm getting the Studio Display + GTX and XDR + RTX mixed up. Maybe I need to eat some food.

 

[er2429]

Does the ThunderboltEx 4 work? Do you have any other Thunderbolt devices?
Are you able to connect two displays (not Thunderbolt displays) to the Thunderboltex 4?
Are you able to connect two displays to a Thunderbolt dock connected to the ThunderboltEx 4?

I think the USB-C 3.2 cables should have also activated your USB devices.

One of the tests I suggested was to exclude the ThunderboltEx 4 from the test. That would require a bidirectional USB-C to DisplayPort cable but I would suggest a Belkin Charge and Sync Cable.

I tested the dual cable mode of the Dell UP2715K. It works properly at 5K60 10bpc. CRU only shows one active connection but the second DisplayPort connection is among the registry EDIDs (it has a weird 848x480 timing). The active EDID has two empty Default Extension blocks - it knows there's supposed to be 2 extension blocks but only reads the main block. The 2nd tile EDID is supposed to have 1 extension block but it's empty. It's not doing E-EDID properly.

Monitor Asset Manager (moninfo.exe) can read one extension block from the main EDID which is identified as "Real-time". The 2nd tile EDID is identified as "Registry-Active".

Maybe since the EDID's are bogus, we need a display driver. For example, my Dell UP2715K has a inf file. I don't see any EDID override in it or anything that might be for a tiled display.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/display/overriding-monitor-edids
Did you try getting the driver using the method described in #101 ? I used the command line exe with the "-model MacPro7,1" argument but I don't see any driver inside the BootCamp-002-34411 folder that might be a Studio Display driver. Maybe someone who has done this can check Device Manager properties for the Studio Display to see if there's any inf file or something.

Does Nvidia even support arbitrary tiled displays? I remember the macOS driver wouldn't work for the LG UltraFine 5K but did work for the Dell UP2715K because the Nvidia driver had specific code for the Dell UP2715K. This is why I suggest trying a non-tiled mode.

Anyway, when connected to AMD, the Dell UP2715K has a 5120x2880 60Hz mode and can be set to RGB 10bpc. "Advanced Display Settings" says the "Active resolution" is 2560x2880 so you know it's using the tiled mode correctly.

I’ve played with nearly every BIOS combination possible and it doesn’t seem to be an issue there. My LG UltraFine works flawlessly at 5K.

I was able to get it to boot reliably in low resolution mode but every time I try to switch to the native 6K resolution it reverts back to low resolution mode. (Open NVIDIA Control Panel: Click 6K resolution. It goes black. Then reverts back to 1024x768)

I should clarify I have been using the Moshi DP->USB-C cable which I believe directly connects DP 1.4 leveraging USB-C Alt Mode. I get native 6K / 10-bit / HDR using that cable directly from my 3090 but can’t use the USB ports or control brightness, which by the way is STUNNING for both video and gaming. To be totally honest, gaming on the Pro Display XDR is incredible regardless of the low framerate and high resolution. At the end of the day, not a huge deal, I guess the USB-C will have to do. I can quickly plug it into my Mac to adjust brightness if needed.

I just thought of this project and thought it would be really fun to get it to work.

 

[joevt]

I’ve played with nearly every BIOS combination possible and it doesn’t seem to be an issue there. My LG UltraFine works flawlessly at 5K.

I was able to get it to boot reliably in low resolution mode but every time I try to switch to the native 6K resolution it reverts back to low resolution mode. (Open NVIDIA Control Panel: Click 6K resolution. It goes black. Then reverts back to 1024x768)

I should clarify I have been using the Moshi DP->USB-C cable which I believe directly connects DP 1.4 leveraging USB-C Alt Mode. I get native 6K / 10-bit / HDR using that cable directly from my 3090 but can’t use the USB ports or control brightness, which by the way is STUNNING for both video and gaming. To be totally honest, gaming on the Pro Display XDR is incredible regardless of the low framerate and high resolution. At the end of the day, not a huge deal, I guess the USB-C will have to do. I can quickly plug it into my Mac to adjust brightness if needed.

I just thought of this project and thought it would be really fun to get it to work.

If Thunderbolt won't work (with one or two DisplayPort inputs, 40 Gbps or 20 Gbps cable, etc), then you'll need to stick with the DisplayPort to USB-C method. But you can use a Belkin Charge and Sync cable to get the USB functionality (at USB 2.0 speed though).

 

[er2429]

Ok. Long week of work and I finally got to play around with this a little bit. I found the main issue but have one final thing I need to get past. Firstly the main issue, you have to enable the Native OS Security for Thunderbolt host. Once I did that, everything just worked.

A couple final issues, firstly when I plug in the Thunderbolt cable I'm immediately greeted with a "Display connection limited" error message. I'm also limited to 6K resolution at 6bpc output color depth, so there is some issue going on here. Maybe it's not using DSC? Is there anyway to manually enabled this? Is it the DP cable maybe? Thoughts on what might be going on here?

 

[joevt]

Ok. Long week of work and I finally got to play around with this a little bit. I found the main issue but have one final thing I need to get past. Firstly the main issue, you have to enable the Native OS Security for Thunderbolt host. Once I did that, everything just worked.

A couple final issues, firstly when I plug in the Thunderbolt cable I'm immediately greeted with a "Display connection limited" error message. I'm also limited to 6K resolution at 6bpc output color depth, so there is some issue going on here. Maybe it's not using DSC? Is there anyway to manually enabled this? Is it the DP cable maybe? Thoughts on what might be going on here?

6 bpc is not possible without DSC unless it's using HBR3 link rate but I don't think the XDR allows HBR3 link rate except when connecting via dual HBR3 over Thunderbolt with a GPU that doesn't support DSC.
Maybe run GPU-Z and check the advanced tab? For Nvidia GPUs, it should report the link rate and lanes (but it probably doesn't have info for if a tiled mode is being used?)
"Display connection limited" might mean it's trying to do two DisplayPort connections at HBR3 (tiled mode) but only macOS allows that mode and one of the DisplayPort connections must therefore be reduced to HBR link rate?
Another possibility would be 6K tiled mode with dual HBR2 but I've never seen that before. I don't know how Windows does tiled displays or how you would detect that it's doing tiles (except in Windows 10, I saw that it showed "active signal mode" in "Advanced Display Settings" as 2560x2880 for a 5K tiled display)
Can you find a Windows utility that dumps DPCD registers? I couldn't find any.
I would try forcing a single DisplayPort connection using a USB-C cable (which can do Thunderbolt at 20 Gbps). Or a non Thunderbolt connection directly to the GPU.

 

[Dudenesspa]

So I just wanted to reach out for help. I have an Asus Z690 with the ThunderboltEX 4 add in card. I previously had an AMD 6900 XT and when plugged into the Thunderbolt port, the display worked as expected up to 6K. I decided to get an RTX 3090 and now I can’t get 6K. In fact it defaults to some portrait mode resolution and I have to use my Oculus to switch the Nvidia preference pane to 2560x1440. That’s the highest landscape resolution that works. I’ve played with CRU and other tools but I cannot get 6k resolution. Not even 5k or 4k. Anyone have any ideas? I ordered the Belkin Cable but I definitely should not have to use it. Why AMD could read the full EDID but Nvidia can’t? Customize resolution grayed out.

UPDATE: Got it up to 5k if I plug it in at the display back after POST and if there’s an HDMI display also attached.

 

[raphaelmatto]

This thread helped me out, so I'll post some information.

I have a 15-inch 2018 Macbook Pro connected to a Radeon VII inside a Razor X eGPU container. I had no way to connect the Radeon VII directly to my Apple Studio Display, which I assumed (correctly, it turned out) would enable much better graphics performance in both MacOs & Bootcamp/Windows 10 (vs connecting it directly to a Thunderbolt port)—so I purchased the Belkin Charge and Sync Computer Connection Cable for HUAWEI VR Glass recommended in this thread, from vmallworld:

Belkin Charge and Sync Computer Connection Cable for HUAWEI VR Glass

Adapt HUAWEI VR Glass to connect with computer. Support DisplayPort high-speed transmission. Support HUAWEI VR Glass PC mode 3K 90Hz resolution. 4.5 meters in length, enjoy immersive VR games. 2 USB-A and 1 DisplayPort connet with PC, 1 USB-C port connects with Huawei VR Glass.

www.vmallworld.com

I didn't receive an order confirmation email, so I followed up with vmall via email, got a tracking number & then watched the cable slowly travel across the planet from 学士速运营业点,长沙市,湖南省 China to me in Boston, took about 2 & 1/2 weeks.

I'm getting 4k at 60hz. The brightness control works & the webcam works w/centerstage. The USB ports on the back of the Apple Studio Display provide power, but don't fully work. For example, if I plug various external drives in, they spin up or activate, but aren't accessible via an OS.

I'm under the impression that I can't get 5k because the Radeon VII doesn't support DSC, based on this post:

Radeon VII + LG 27GN950B

Hi. I paired my Radeon VII with LG 27GN950B display, which has 4k resolution and up to 144Hz refresh rate and HDR10 color depth. For the convenience here are technical details of both: https://www.amd.com/en/products/graphics/amd-radeon-vii...

community.amd.com

... so others who have cards that support DSC may get 5k. So, I'm slightly disappointed that I'm missing 5k and lose the ports on the back of the Studio Display, but consider it a win b/c I can finally edit video smoothly in Davinci Resolve w/a two monitor setup (where the other monitor is an LG G1) and play PC games w/high settings in Windows on either the G1 or my Apple Studio Display.

Having both monitors go through the Radeon VII "just works," it's much better than connecting only the G1 to the Radeon VII and connecting the Studio Display directly to the mac; that setup was super buggy—maybe because each monitor was being controlled by a different graphics card.

If anyone knows how I can improve this setup, preferably w/o purchasing a new graphics card, lmk.

 

[RainbowSWE]

Have you installed the Pro XDR drivers? I'm using the Belkin Sync cable and I was only able to get 6K resolution (plus controlling brightness) by installing the bootcamp package for the Mac Pro (that includes the drivers for the Pro XDR.)

It's not clear if you did but asking just incase.

So I just wanted to reach out for help. I have an Asus Z690 with the ThunderboltEX 4 add in card. I previously had an AMD 6900 XT and when plugged into the Thunderbolt port, the display worked as expected up to 6K. I decided to get an RTX 3090 and now I can’t get 6K. In fact it defaults to some portrait mode resolution and I have to use my Oculus to switch the Nvidia preference pane to 2560x1440. That’s the highest landscape resolution that works. I’ve played with CRU and other tools but I cannot get 6k resolution. Not even 5k or 4k. Anyone have any ideas? I ordered the Belkin Cable but I definitely should not have to use it. Why AMD could read the full EDID but Nvidia can’t? Customize resolution grayed out.

UPDATE: Got it up to 5k if I plug it in at the display back after POST and if there’s an HDMI display also attached.