HELP! struggling to make 6 gpu R9 290 rig to run on windows 7 (SOLVED)

[Morbid]

yep. this might help:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=102547.0

It's been 3 years since I GPU mined but I think it had to do with the slot not recognizing when a card was plugged into it when using a riser

wow! thank you! i just shorted the presence detection pins and now i get all six cards in device manager, though two are with explanation marks! gotta work out what that means now. thank you Olly_K & ssateneth!

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[Olly_K]

np np making progress now

might need to install the drivers manually for the ones showing !! in device manager.

There's also another setting in the BIOS which can help, I can't for the life of me remember what it was........something to do with the pci-e lanes bandwidth. I know the setting was 96 or similar but can't remember the option. Something like "pci express lanes"

in all honesty I found windows with that amount of cards to be flakey, and went over to BAMT - apparently it does litecoin now too

[ssateneth]

The !! ones in device manager is a driver/windows problem, unfortunately. You will be limited to 4 GPU in windows 7 (doesnt matter 32 or 64 bit), and probably 5 in Windows 8. Look up linux solutions to get all 6 working. I'm not fluent in linux, so unfortunately i can't help with that. Most linux guys here seem to keep to themselves as far as actually setting it up software-wise.

[Olly_K]

I've had more than 4 cards working on Vista 64 bit so W7 should be no different

[1632008]

Win8 x64 supports 6 gpus but some driver tweaking might be required.
Here is a guide for it:
http://www.gobitgo.com/articles/1002/How-to-Mine-with-6-GPU/

[Morbid]

Win8 x64 supports 6 gpus but some driver tweaking might be required.
Here is a guide for it:
http://www.gobitgo.com/articles/1002/How-to-Mine-with-6-GPU/

i tried this but the guide only has custom drivers for upto 7xxx models. i got new r9 290 video cards and totally stalled right now.

[Rakessh]

Win8 x64 supports 6 gpus but some driver tweaking might be required.
Here is a guide for it:
http://www.gobitgo.com/articles/1002/How-to-Mine-with-6-GPU/

i tried this but the guide only has custom drivers for upto 7xxx models. i got new r9 290 video cards and totally stalled right now.

Windows 8 will do 5 gpu's out of the box no problem. Install different version driver than the other 5 for the 6th is also a trick I hear sometimes work. Then you got all 6 cards running.

[nvandertill]

Should really use linux with a rig like that. You spent that much dough on it but you are running Windows? Quite tragic... Linux is easier than people think. Your uptimes alone will be worth the switch.

[Morbid]

Should really use linux with a rig like that. You spent that much dough on it but you are running Windows? Quite tragic... Linux is easier than people think. Your uptimes alone will be worth the switch.

i tried bamt, ubuntu, xubountu. i cant get pass boot. as soon as i click install the screen goes blank (black with underscore blinking).. apparently its something to do with my uefi bios or gpus or usb port or usb partitioning. will research later when i have more time. frustrated by now. ok gotta go to work now. hashing four cards right now at 825kh. thanks for all your help lads - will update this as i go along.

[ssateneth]

Win8 x64 supports 6 gpus but some driver tweaking might be required.
Here is a guide for it:
http://www.gobitgo.com/articles/1002/How-to-Mine-with-6-GPU/

I pretty much wrote the steps for this a long time ago. This website is just adding pictures to my steps.

Also, this guide is invalid for any of the new R7/R9 GPUs (or radeon 7790), as they will not be supported with the 12.6 driver, which enables 6 GPU in win8.

[takagari]

I'm in the process of building a 6 gpu rig. although now I'm considering sticking to 4, spend a bit more on more Mother boards, etc. but I'd like to run the 290 cards as well.

Suggestion on best mobo for these cards?

Thanks for the insight guys!

[1632008]

I'm sorry for that. I just found the link for the guide via google.
So there is no way to port the method to the latest driver?
 

I pretty much wrote the steps for this a long time ago. This website is just adding pictures to my steps.

Also, this guide is invalid for any of the new R7/R9 GPUs (or radeon 7790), as they will not be supported with the 12.6 driver, which enables 6 GPU in win8.

[rograz]

found this msi forum thread. some dude on reply #2 mentioned that 990 chipset only allows upto 4 gpus.

bs, just needs shorting of the detection pins, when in doubt short the pins in all cables and be done with it. There was a way to even get 6x79xxs to run under win 7 but it included running 2 of the cards with a older version of catalyst (not exactly an option for 290s) and was just a pain. The problem is win/catalyst and not the motherboards.

[Morbid]

I'm in the process of building a 6 gpu rig. although now I'm considering sticking to 4, spend a bit more on more Mother boards, etc. but I'd like to run the 290 cards as well.

Suggestion on best mobo for these cards?

Thanks for the insight guys!

well id pretty much recommend this board as its way cheaper than the rest and have power plug for pcie lanes. once you short the pins on the motherboard you are good to go. now hardwarewise im hassle-free. though the 6 card project will have to wait until after the holidays as im going away in two days.

[ssateneth]

found this msi forum thread. some dude on reply #2 mentioned that 990 chipset only allows upto 4 gpus.

bs, just needs shorting of the detection pins, when in doubt short the pins in all cables and be done with it. There was a way to even get 6x79xxs to run under win 7 but it included running 2 of the cards with a older version of catalyst (not exactly an option for 290s) and was just a pain. The problem is win/catalyst and not the motherboards.

Somewhat wrong. You don't run older driver for just 2 of them. Doing the trick to get them all properly installed replaces the driver entirely. You can only have 1 catalyst driver installed. Replacing it for 1 card replaces it for all the cards, so you would be running 12.6 on all of them, not just 2 of them and the other 4 run on 13.1.

[Morbid]

finished hardware:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=7216.msg4016641#msg4016641

[miztaziggy]

Hi,

Did you get to the bottom of this?

I am having exact same problem, need Windows 8 maybe? Does it work?

I have no experience at all with Linux and there are no easy step by step guides to follow

[pontiacg5]

Hi,

Did you get to the bottom of this?

I am having exact same problem, need Windows 8 maybe? Does it work?

I have no experience at all with Linux and there are no easy step by step guides to follow

If you are using 6 of any 200 series cards you have to use linux. The beta drivers you have to use for R9 cards don't support more than 4, even in windows 8. It is a driver limitation, not hardware, as 6 work perfectly fine in linux.

R9 cards won't mine on anything but the 13.11 beta drivers, it's not possible to use modified 79xx series drivers to get 6 working in windows (yet, give it time...)

[miztaziggy]

Hi,

Did you get to the bottom of this?

I am having exact same problem, need Windows 8 maybe? Does it work?

I have no experience at all with Linux and there are no easy step by step guides to follow

If you are using 6 of any 200 series cards you have to use linux. The beta drivers you have to use for R9 cards don't support more than 4, even in windows 8. It is a driver limitation, not hardware, as 6 work perfectly fine in linux.

R9 cards won't mine on anything but the 13.11 beta drivers, it's not possible to use modified 79xx series drivers to get 6 working in windows (yet, give it time...)

Thanks for the advice

I have tried 5 in one mobo with Windows 8 and 13.12 drivers.

I can confirm that works OK.

Windows 7 only detects 4 cards, Windows 8 detects all 5 OK and mines OK too.

[spinx]

Hi,

Did you get to the bottom of this?

I am having exact same problem, need Windows 8 maybe? Does it work?

I have no experience at all with Linux and there are no easy step by step guides to follow

If you are using 6 of any 200 series cards you have to use linux. The beta drivers you have to use for R9 cards don't support more than 4, even in windows 8. It is a driver limitation, not hardware, as 6 work perfectly fine in linux.

R9 cards won't mine on anything but the 13.11 beta drivers, it's not possible to use modified 79xx series drivers to get 6 working in windows (yet, give it time...)

Thanks for the advice

I have tried 5 in one mobo with Windows 8 and 13.12 drivers.

I can confirm that works OK.

Windows 7 only detects 4 cards, Windows 8 detects all 5 OK and mines OK too.

What combination of drivers/sdk are u running with Windows 8.1??? I have 5 x 280x but it detects 4 cards, and on of them as disabled (code 43). This is with Catalyst 13.12 and SDK 2.9 on Win 8.1. Any advice?