Not much documentation about what you really need to do this successfully.With all of the things I have done, it works great! So, if you are hoping to mount a MacMini in this regard, it is super quiet! Even the eGPU is inaudible. They are used for headless remote connections. It is a small device that plugs into an HDMI port to simulate a monitor during the boot process. However, the plug/unplug thing is not a suitable option. It worked, and at least I can say I was able to run everything. I read somewhere else that you can boot by connecting first to the Mini, and after boot, reconnecting back to the eGPU. Thus, neither monitor came up with anything. The external GPU is not recognized on boot. It turns out that a MacMini is expecting its primary video display to be connected to its HDMI port. Unrack the whole thing insert the new cable rerack and reconnect all the damn Toslink connectors.
TB3 cables (active they are called) that can transfer up to 40Gbps are not expensive, especially when you add overnight shipping. It shouldn't be connected in a daisy chain.Crap. In addition, it turns out that if using an eGPU, it needs to be directly connected to a TB3 port on the Mini itself. I was psyched that this would work! The breakout box only comes with a 0.5m TB3 cable. I bought an external GPU breakout box from Sonnet too and outfitted it with a Radeon X850 that has twin HDMI and twin Displayport ports. Looking around, many folks mention that the internal Intel video in the Minis is not very good for this purpose. BAD.It worked, but I was getting drops, flickers, etc. Thus, I bought one TB3-HDMI adapter and opted to plug the primary directly into the HDMI port replicator on the back of the xMac chassis. Video - Powering dual video-monitors from a MacMini with all the other things attached is also interesting.Of course I didn't know that off the bat, and I had to re-order a reverse cable. This requires a 10-pin REVERSE ribbon cable. I ultimately chose to use a longer ribbon cable and mount the WCM in the chassis where the WC cable would mount directly to it. The ribbon cable that RME provides to connect the WCM is too short to reach the second expansion slot on the rear of the chassis. For the WCM, However, it would be so far inside the chassis that I would need a 2-ft coax to connect the WCM to the bulkhead BNC connector. They also provide two holes for BNC bulkhead couplers. WCM - Sonnet provides a mounting location for smaller daughter boards.There are some gotchas that needed to be worked out, and I thought I would share in the event somebody else goes down this path.
I wanted to add 1-TB storage internal to the chassis.I wanted to retain the WCM, as I use an Antelope Isochrone OCX too.It allows you to mount a Mini with slots for two PCI cards, port replication, etc. Then, I noticed that have something named the xMacMini Server.
A company named Sonnet Technologies makes some nice PCIe breakout boxes as well. I didn't want to shell out the bucs for a MacPro.
MAC MINI SERVER RACK MAC
I investigated methods for incorporating the RayDAT into a Mac studio. I also wanted to be able to continue using my RME RayDAT, as I have it nad two ADI-8DS converters that I have been happy with. I wanted something quiet and rackmountable. I became a Mac person back in 2008, so I thought to myself that I should just move forward on Logic now.
When it came time to plug in the noisy DAW that I had in the new building, my wife (can you believe it?) suggested, "why don't you just get a new one?" I had run SONAR since it was ProAudio, but I also use REAPER and have used Logic some on my laptop.