good, but it does not look like you are using K5 Pro special thermalpaste for vram and power capacitors.
I highly reccomend K5 Pro btw !
[automerge]1581790595[/automerge]
great work !
Very nice đź‘Ť
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iM 4,1-14,4 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade
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good, but it does not look like you are using K5 Pro special thermalpaste for vram and power capacitors.
I highly reccomend K5 Pro btw !
[automerge]1581790595[/automerge]
great work !
Very nice đź‘Ť
i'm using K5 pro.
Can someone give me some clues on how to configure Catalina so that it works well? The card is slow and I guess it's the configuration of Catalina Patcher ....
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Again, in post #1 you will find the hint to disable post install patching within the options menu of the Catalina patcher before creating the patched installer and before installation. After installation just reboot the installer and do the post install patching using the selected patches for the iMac 2010 EXCEPT the legacy video patch. The Dosdude patcher is not “iMac“ aware in this sense.
![Nick [D]vB](/data/avatars/m/1132/1132239.jpg?1552018909){kind=avatar}
Nice work! I will have to try this when I get time. I think we could probably use a Pi Zero connected over USB using the RNDIS driver, maybe connected to the IR sensor header to keep everything inside, if it doesn't pull too much power? Even the Pi Zero is really "over-kill" just for one PWM signal, but it is great to have another option.
In the future maybe you could integrate support for those cheap PWM modules, it's just a few COM commands so should be quite easy to implement, as you have already done most of the hard work building the app etc, just an idea. It seems the DyingLight is out of stock again so this should be very useful. I am struggling to enable native brightness on the 765 / 770 cards even with OpenCore.
Actually, i think i just killed my Raspberry PI. Not because of the PWM, something else... so i'm unable to test it at the moment, but i will get a pi zero, its really cheap. And the PWM module should be fine using the usb module, i'll order one and integrate it into the app, so it will have 3 different methods to control the brightness. The cheap pwm module can be fit inside, but the rapsberry pi is not a good idea, because it takes some time to boot up and until it actually turns on, you won't get any signal out from the GPIO. So the use-case for that is to mount it outside(its easy to route the wires out at the top vent for example) and use a 3 state switch, so you can switch back to the original pwm signal for full brightness if something goes wrong with the PI(needs an update, lost internet etc...). But yes, i think the cheap pwm module is the best solution.
Yes of course, I forgot about the Pi boot delay, maybe we could find 5v standby power from somewhere, but probably best to use a switch. We actually have a similar problem with the new AMD cards, they can have native brightness control OR boot-screen/boot-picker - but not both at the same time without using a physical switch (or OpenCore). Adding support for those PWM modules would be great, I recommend using the 2 channel version and an FTDI USB cable. Really the App should not care about drivers etc, it just needs pointing at the right COM port.
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Hi! I finally managed to flash my k2000m card with nicks rom and everything works fine now! I run El Capitan at the moment! I have two questions! first in "about this mac" overview the card is recognized as quadro k2000m by Nick[D] vB 2048 mb is that alright? second in order to upgrade to mojave or catalina from El Capitan what should I do or be aware of? Thanks in advance!
Your "About This Mac" is correct, it is Nick's VBIOS, so it shows his credit appropriately.
Post #1 has info regarding challenges and post-install fixes for upgrading to Mojave and/or Catalina using the dosdude1 patcher. Good luck!
Hi All,
First just want to say thanks to everyone for all the effort in making all this possible and sharing the info!
I have a 21.5" mid-2011 imac running High Sierra. I have upgraded to a 2gb ssd, maxxed out the ram to 32gb, and it has the i7 cpu. I got the ssd and ram installed and working properly before moving onto the gpu.
I purchased a K2100m on ebay and got it installed. Put everything back together without ssd, dd, and used the usb thumb drive method outlined in post #4363 to flash the rom file and verified the installation. Everything seemed in order and I have put everything fully back together. When i power up it makes the chime and if I tilt the screen forward I see all 4 led lights are on, yet the screen is completely black.
Hoping someone can maybe point out some simple step that I missed. I have taken everything apart and made sure everything is plugged in properly but still getting the black screen. Any ideas what could be missing?
I don't have bootcamp/windows to boot into. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
First just want to say thanks to everyone for all the effort in making all this possible and sharing the info!
I have a 21.5" mid-2011 imac running High Sierra. I have upgraded to a 2gb ssd, maxxed out the ram to 32gb, and it has the i7 cpu. I got the ssd and ram installed and working properly before moving onto the gpu.
I purchased a K2100m on ebay and got it installed. Put everything back together without ssd, dd, and used the usb thumb drive method outlined in post #4363 to flash the rom file and verified the installation. Everything seemed in order and I have put everything fully back together. When i power up it makes the chime and if I tilt the screen forward I see all 4 led lights are on, yet the screen is completely black.
Hoping someone can maybe point out some simple step that I missed. I have taken everything apart and made sure everything is plugged in properly but still getting the black screen. Any ideas what could be missing?
I don't have bootcamp/windows to boot into. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
do you have video on an external screen.. ?
Sounds like your screen connector is perhaps broken or bad, or logic board screen connections..
Since you have 4 diagnostic lights, it does mean your quadro card has the rom flashed correctly, since nicks rom enables the 3rd led, as far as I know..
test with external display first, and run macOS on internal HDD/SSD
No, the leading M notes it will be a card using Nvidia's Maxwell chips. MacOS has no drivers for any Macwell based video card. You have to stick with the cards on page one (post#1).
I have been reading this amazing[ly confusing for the dummy like me] thread for a couple of months, since my 2011 27" iMac's card died. I am not afraid to dismantle the thing, use a Dremmel, smear thermal paste on things, etc., but even after having read the 1st post several times, combing through easily over 200 posts here (at a clip), I must confess the whole thing is very confusing for me. (Maybe senility is sitting in 
Is anyone else overwhelmed?
Is there a post in here to a video by any chance? I admit I have not read all 4000+ posts....
Thanks, no matter what, for this thread. I at least know there is a path to glory. (Whether or not it is for me remains to be seen
Is anyone else overwhelmed?
Is there a post in here to a video by any chance? I admit I have not read all 4000+ posts....
Thanks, no matter what, for this thread. I at least know there is a path to glory. (Whether or not it is for me remains to be seen
I have been reading this amazing[ly confusing for the dummy like me] thread for a couple of months, since my 2011 27" iMac's card died. I am not afraid to dismantle the thing, use a Dremmel, smear thermal paste on things, etc., but even after having read the 1st post several times, combing through easily over 200 posts here (at a clip), I must confess the whole thing is very confusing for me. (Maybe senility is sitting in
Is anyone else overwhelmed?
Is there a post in here to a video by any chance? I admit I have not read all 4000+ posts....
Thanks, no matter what, for this thread. I at least know there is a path to glory. (Whether or not it is for me remains to be seen
I would highly advise you to read the first post of this thread first.
it's a wiki post, and contains all the info you basicually need to get started..
I would recommend you pay a visit to this siteI have been reading this amazing[ly confusing for the dummy like me] thread for a couple of months, since my 2011 27" iMac's card died. I am not afraid to dismantle the thing, use a Dremmel, smear thermal paste on things, etc., but even after having read the 1st post several times, combing through easily over 200 posts here (at a clip), I must confess the whole thing is very confusing for me. (Maybe senility is sitting in
Is anyone else overwhelmed?
Is there a post in here to a video by any chance? I admit I have not read all 4000+ posts....
Thanks, no matter what, for this thread. I at least know there is a path to glory. (Whether or not it is for me remains to be seen
iFixit: The Free Repair Manual
iFixit is a global community of people helping each other repair things. Let's fix the world, one device at a time. Troubleshoot with experts in the Answers forum—and build your own how-to guides to share with the world. Fix your Apple and Android devices—and buy all the parts and tools needed...
www.ifixit.com
especially
Here you follow the guide step by step. At the very end you have to separate the heat sink with the graphics card from the logic boar (2 screws). Before you just have to disconnect the thermal sensor cable between heat sink and logic board. Replacement is following the guide backwards!
The dremel part is more or less simple, you do it in your garage far away from your computer. If you go with a short K1100M or K2100M card there is no need to modify the heat sink at all. Just reinstall the card and do the flash using the Linux image posted in #4363. As long as you are not a "gamer" there is no need for more sophisticated and expensive cards.
No, I was not overwhelmed, I made just a step by step plan on a piece of paper reading through this thread. Post #1 is the entry point for doing this. And I knew ifixit.com for more than a decade, now.
At the very end I missed the "sleep kext installation" when upgrading to Catalina or Mojave, but his was after playing Lego with my iMac 2011.
You just need K5 pro for VRAM and capacitor and MX-2 for the GPU chip and some hands to do the fine work.
Very. There are some things the first post hasn’t been able to explain.I have been reading this amazing[ly confusing for the dummy like me] thread for a couple of months, since my 2011 27" iMac's card died. I am not afraid to dismantle the thing, use a Dremmel, smear thermal paste on things, etc., but even after having read the 1st post several times, combing through easily over 200 posts here (at a clip), I must confess the whole thing is very confusing for me. (Maybe senility is sitting in
Is anyone else overwhelmed?
Is there a post in here to a video by any chance? I admit I have not read all 4000+ posts....
Thanks, no matter what, for this thread. I at least know there is a path to glory. (Whether or not it is for me remains to be seen
I have been reading this amazing[ly confusing for the dummy like me] thread for a couple of months, since my 2011 27" iMac's card died. I am not afraid to dismantle the thing, use a Dremmel, smear thermal paste on things, etc., but even after having read the 1st post several times, combing through easily over 200 posts here (at a clip), I must confess the whole thing is very confusing for me. (Maybe senility is sitting in
Is anyone else overwhelmed?
Is there a post in here to a video by any chance? I admit I have not read all 4000+ posts....
Thanks, no matter what, for this thread. I at least know there is a path to glory. (Whether or not it is for me remains to be seen
iMac Intel 27" EMC 2374, AMD Radeon HD 4850 Video Card Removal & Repair
This video guide (see "Video Instructions" below) shows how to disassemble the iMac in order to remove and repair the video card, then reassemble...
www.ifixit.com
I haven't had a kernel panic in a while since I did this reinstall and set the computer to never auto sleep. Sleep isn't bugged, since I can put it to sleep manually and it will wake up just fine after hours with no issues. All that being said though, followed the instructions (several times to make sure I wasn't making any mistakes, and I cannot for the life of me get it to detect QuickSync.
Thanks FlorisVN for your help and reply. I tried pluggin in an external display - the best I could do was a small monitor connected via mini display to display port cable. The monitor never received a signal from the imac. Everything including the internal ssd is connected and was working fine before installing the k2100m.
I noticed that when I power it on I get 3 leds lights, then 4, then after about a minute the 4th goes out and the fans turn on to full power. If I press the space bar or other key the 4th light comes back on. I then tried unplugging the 4 cable connecting the screen, removed the screen completely, and unplugged the mini display port, and the 4th led light was still on. ??
I will try putting the original gpu back into the machine and make sure all original connections are still working. If that works, I'm not sure what to try next, but if it doesn't maybe the connection to the logic board is faulty as you said. Will let you know...
LED #1 + LED #2 + LED #3 + LED #4 = Power available, system is powered on, video card found, and internal LCD found.
When the fans spin up then the LCD thermal sensor has no connection to the logic board, just reseat it on both sides. The thermal sensor is the other thin cable near the display connector in the middle of the LCD back.
The up spinning fans you have only without a display connected, in detail, without the thermal sensor connected.
Nick's BIOS has according to other posts currently a 5s delay, so after switching the iMac on you will no see an image on external or internal display for this time. Sometimes the SSD boot has finished and you just get the login screen...
I put the original gpu card back in got everything hooked back up. The computer booted up but the screen was flickering wildly and randomly, which it did not do before with the original card. I rebooted with a NVRAM reset and it was still flickering craziness. I was able to login but then the screen went black. Rebooting again now only brings up a black screen, but again with the 4 led diagnostic lights all on. The fans turned on to full speed the first boot, but not the second. I reseated the lcd thermal connector as suggested and that must have kept the fans off.
Perhaps I damaged something in the process of all the disassembly/reassembly??
Anyone suggestions would be very appreciated, thanks for your help!
I would recommend you pay a visit to this site
iFixit: The Free Repair Manual
iFixit is a global community of people helping each other repair things. Let's fix the world, one device at a time. Troubleshoot with experts in the Answers forum—and build your own how-to guides to share with the world. Fix your Apple and Android devices—and buy all the parts and tools needed...
especially
Here you follow the guide step by step. You just need K5 pro for VRAM and capacitor and MX-2 for the GPU chip and some hands to do the fine work.
Well... this is extremely nice of you. I am not lazy. Been on this forum a long time but this particular task, the whole concept of flashing, just gets scary yet I know the machine is dead so how much more can I kill it?
I've been to ifixit.com before, but this I never would have known to look for, so thank you! (I used fixit.com for repairing my camera.)
Thanks again!
Flickering may be the main display connector or more likely the vertical sync cable - which is the first cable to be disconnected and last connected back. On in the top left on the 27“ - never saw a 21“.
I understand how everyone who has been through the hard knocks feels when others roll in after 4000 posts and expect to surf easily in to repair Nirvana. Believe me I know! I hate having to post my desperation ha ha. Glad to know I'm not the only one perplexed by some of these SHH, or is it SSH?, tips where I'd need to read post two thousand eight hundred and forty five (or whatever) to unravel the mystery of a given acryomn.....
That said: the 4k posts are because people are suffering through the solutions, which unto itself demonstrates how courageous many here are! I confess I am a total coward. Total!