iM 4,1-14,4 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

[HighSierraCosworth]

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!

I am not only a coward, but I'm an impatient coward. I have pretty much given up on getting Mojave and later to work properly with my new GPU. I'm going to use it however it chooses to work, and on High Sierra, until I get enough money saved up to buy a 5K iMac, and/or a 15 inch Retina MacBook Pro. The issues, my lack of knowledge, and the seeming lack of documentation for when stuff inevitably hits the fan has left me with a major sour taste in my mouth.

 

[Brennan Schmidt]

Just got my 21.5in 2010 iMac up and running with a K2100M flashed with nicks bios and updated to dosdude Catalina. For some reason I can't seem to get the audio devices working (Speakers and Mic). I tried searching through the thread but a lot of the information regrading audio seems to be somewhat limited to Windows diag. If anyone has any ideas that would be great, Thanks!

 

[FlorisVN]

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!

Reseat verical sync cable, and check all display connections again..

And does it also flicker on external display.. ?
You can test external display withouth the internal imac display connected..

 

[hijglander]

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!

You could take out the graphics card and bake it for 9 minutes in a preheated oven on 200 celcius. It might fix it temporarily (weeks/months). You can then start preparing the GPU swap and vbios flash (I'd suggest you use the Linux image someone posted a couple of pages back).. should work without too much effort.
[automerge]1581927445[/automerge]

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!

It's SSH... and I see you have a MACbook Pro so you have that available to you in a terminal window...

Open the terminal and type without the brackets:
ssh [Your Username on the iMac]@[IP address of the iMac]
<Enter>

It should work flawlessly if the iMac is turned on that is... ;-)

 

[phu34r]

Just got my 21.5in 2010 iMac up and running with a K2100M flashed with nicks bios and updated to dosdude Catalina. For some reason I can't seem to get the audio devices working (Speakers and Mic). I tried searching through the thread but a lot of the information regrading audio seems to be somewhat limited to Windows diag. If anyone has any ideas that would be great, Thanks!

The internal display is now detected as an external monitor, you have to change the audio output device in the sound settings to the internal speakers. Hope that helps, cheers.

 

[tgaillar]

Here is the sourcecode and an updated version, now it will display the built-in OSD when you press the brightness keys on your apple keyboard.

https://github.com/passatgt/imac-pwm-control (you can download the app from the Releases tab).

View attachment 894309

If I may, very respectfully, I'd suggest you (re)name your app "imac-gamma-brightness-control" (or so) rather than "imac-pwm-control" (which it is not as you properly explained in post #4569) so its behavior/features is/are clear to everyone.

The (main) concern is about the end user having a (false) sense of dimmed backlight while the LEDs in the bottom of the screen are actually "burning" (litterally) because kept at full power (since no PWM -- PWM pin on the MXM board is kept a logic high <=> 100% duty-cycle). Not good for aging! When a (true/real) PWM control app is available, then it can deserve the name "imac-pwm-control".

Apart from that, great job contributing with public/open code! 👍

 

[Ausdauersportler]

You could take out the graphics card and bake it for 9 minutes in a preheated oven on 200 celcius. It might fix it temporarily (weeks/months). You can then start preparing the GPU swap and vbios flash (I'd suggest you use the Linux image someone posted a couple of pages back).. should work without too much effort.
[automerge]1581927445[/automerge]

If you plan to re-use the iMac you will use the modern versions of MacOS, too. I went through this baking story, it did not work at all. So I would not recommend it unless you a second oven not used for food preparation (ROHS) and a lot of time.
And you will go through all this hand work a second time when yo have your new graphics adapter prepared. The baking story was the solution before Nick came up with his BIOS. This is history. But you can use the video above and the ifixit.com link to get an idea which tools you need and what has to be done.

 

[passatgt]

If I may, very respectfully, I'd suggest you (re)name your app "imac-gamma-brightness-control" (or so) rather than "imac-pwm-control" (which it is not as you properly explained in post #4569) so its behavior/features is/are clear to everyone.

The (main) concern is about the end user having a (false) sense of dimmed backlight while the LEDs in the bottom of the screen are actually "burning" (litterally) because kept at full power (since no PWM -- PWM pin on the MXM board is kept a logic high <=> 100% duty-cycle). Not good for aging! When a (true/real) PWM control app is available, then it can deserve the name "imac-pwm-control".

Apart from that, great job contributing with public/open code! 👍

In the description you can find this info, also with a sample node-red code to setup real pwm control. I just ordered a usb serial PWM module, so i will integrate that into the app too

 

[Brennan Schmidt]

The internal display is now detected as an external monitor, you have to change the audio output device in the sound settings to the internal speakers. Hope that helps, cheers.

I’ve looked into the sound settings already and it’s all blank. I’ve also gone into system report and there’s no signs of sound devices recognized at all. But thanks for the advice.

 

[HighSierraCosworth]

I’ve looked into the sound settings already and it’s all blank. I’ve also gone into system report and there’s no signs of sound devices recognized at all. But thanks for the advice.

Last time I got that problem, all I had to do was boot back into the install drive, reinstall the patches, and force a cache rebuild. Worked on Mojave, my iMac, and my MacBook Pro

 

[NOTNlCE]

I’ve looked into the sound settings already and it’s all blank. I’ve also gone into system report and there’s no signs of sound devices recognized at all. But thanks for the advice.

Are you confident the speakers were reconnected? The audio devices (at least on my 27" models) are on a daughterboard that connects with a ribbon cable. Do you get a chime when you boot up? If not, something inside may not be seated correctly.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I’ve looked into the sound settings already and it’s all blank. I’ve also gone into system report and there’s no signs of sound devices recognized at all. But thanks for the advice.

Would you like to upload a system report? You get it with this terminal command:

system_profiler -detailLevel basic > ~/Desktop/system_report_basic.txt

and you will find it on the desktop. Did you have the latest and greatest firmware installed before using Catalina, although 10.15.3 comes with the latest one. Which OS version?

 

[Brennan Schmidt]

Are you confident the speakers were reconnected? The audio devices (at least on my 27" models) are on a daughterboard that connects with a ribbon cable. Do you get a chime when you boot up? If not, something inside may not be seated correctly.

Yep! I get the chime on boot still and I’m on a 21.5in and it’s just left and right speaker connectors and they were working on high Sierra. But yeah I can upload that file as soon as I get home for the day. Also I’m on 10.15.3 according to the about Mac page and I just downloaded the Catalina upgrade a few days ago from Dosdude’s patcher tool. Thanks for the help!

 

[passatgt]

Yep! I get the chime on boot still and I’m on a 21.5in and it’s just left and right speaker connectors and they were working on high Sierra. But yeah I can upload that file as soon as I get home for the day. Also I’m on 10.15.3 according to the about Mac page and I just downloaded the Catalina upgrade a few days ago from Dosdude’s patcher tool. Thanks for the help!

Are you sure you plugged in the audio jack to the motherboard? Or maybe damaged the cable?

 

[Brennan Schmidt]

Are you sure you plugged in the audio jack to the motherboard? Or maybe damaged the cable?

View attachment 894755

Well I got the gpu upgrade done did my initial tests and then finalized everything and put it all back together and tested everything on high Sierra. Everything was working normally including headphone jack speakers and mic. I then upgraded straight from high Sierra to Catalina and audio and mic stopped working right after that. I’m guessing it’s got something to do with some kext file possibly? But when i installed Catalina I turned off the auto apply post install patches so that the metal accelerator would work and wouldn’t get disabled.

 

[MMFC378]

Sooooo the whole temp sensor on the apple HDD is all a lie? I was pretty close to buying that cable with the "Temperature Sensor". Luckily i have a y splitter lying around. Thank you internet!

Im not seeing info on the optical drive though (where i plan to put the ssd). Thats a real sensor right? maybe?

 

[HighSierraCosworth]

Sooooo the whole temp sensor on the apple HDD is all a lie? I was pretty close to buying that cable with the "Temperature Sensor". Luckily i have a y splitter lying around. Thank you internet!

Im not seeing info on the optical drive though (where i plan to put the ssd). Thats a real sensor right? maybe?

no, it’s true.There are extra pins in the SATA cable to incorporate a temperature sensor. OWC sells a cable with an in-line temperature sensor. I just opted to use Macs Fan Control. The optical drive temperature sensor is a separate sensor with a separate connector on the Logic board.

 

[passatgt]

Sooooo the whole temp sensor on the apple HDD is all a lie? I was pretty close to buying that cable with the "Temperature Sensor". Luckily i have a y splitter lying around. Thank you internet!

Im not seeing info on the optical drive though (where i plan to put the ssd). Thats a real sensor right? maybe?

It depends... for the 2010 version, it was a separate sensor that plugged in into the motherboard. If you replace the HDD with an SSD, you can just simply short these two wires, plug it in and you are good to go(fan will go at the lowest speed always).
For the 2011, it is using extra pins in the sata or something like that. But i found that some SSD i replaced worked out of the box, some are not. If not, i just use the Macs Fan Control app to set the fan speed.
The ODD sensor is a separate cable and just glued onto the ODD. You can take it off if needed and place it on the SSD for example.

 

[andripandi]

Hi guys,
here's the thing: I've replaced my iMac mid 2011 gpu with a 860M. The internal screen does not turn on, but with an external monitor I can navigate through the system.

In order to follow all the steps described in the first post for flashing the new card through nvflash and installing windows on bootcamp I said let's bake my radeon card and put it back into the iMac so I can work on a 27" monitor.

Well, after the "bake", the chime comes, the apple logo appear but at half of the preload bar the screen turns black and I can use the mac only on the external monitor.

On my video settings I can see only the external monitor, not the internal one.

I also reset the NVram but the problem persists.

So I think, cable connections are ok otherwise I can't probably see the apple logo on the internal screen.

Any idea to get back to the internal primary monitor and kick out the external one?


Thanks for your support!

 

[Ausdauersportler]

no, it’s true.There are extra pins in the SATA cable to incorporate a temperature sensor. OWC sells a cable with an in-line temperature sensor. I just opted to use Macs Fan Control. The optical drive temperature sensor is a separate sensor with a separate connector on the Logic board.

No, but obviously the smarter new HDD or SSD provide some internal temperature data, which even Mac Fan Control shows...

I found out by chance, that the splitter cable at least stops the HDD fan in the middle going wild. I am asking for different experiences, but I never would buy this OWC cable. This is ridiculous...

Writing this from my iMac 27 2011 with splitter cable and Samsung EVO 860 SSD without using Fan Control - except for taking this screen shot. I have other machines having an SDD and HDD connected to both free ports using the splitter cable, too. Without Fan Control, without normal HDD fan behavior.
[automerge]1581977029[/automerge]

Hi guys,
here's the thing: I've replaced my iMac mid 2011 gpu with a 860M. The internal screen does not turn on, but with an external monitor I can navigate through the system.

In order to follow all the steps described in the first post for flashing the new card through nvflash and installing windows on bootcamp I said let's bake my radeon card and put it back into the iMac so I can work on a 27" monitor.

Well, after the "bake", the chime comes, the apple logo appear but at half of the preload bar the screen turns black and I can use the mac only on the external monitor.

You are asking why a "baked" original apple card stops in the middle of the boot process working with your internal display? I do not get it

 

[HighSierraCosworth]

No, but obviously the smarter new HDD or SSD provide some internal temperature data, which even Mac Fan Control shows...

I found out by chance, that the splitter cable at least stops the HDD fan in the middle going wild. I am asking for different experiences, but I never would buy this OWC cable. This is ridiculous...

Writing this from my iMac 27 2011 with splitter cable and Samsung EVO 860 SSD without using Fan Control - except for taking this screen shot. I have other machines having an SDD and HDD connected to both free ports using the splitter cable, too. Without Fan Control, without normal HDD fan behavior.
[automerge]1581977029[/automerge]

You are asking why a "baked" original apple card stops in the middle of the boot process working with your internal display? I do not get it

They do, yes. Macs fan control can read SMART temperature data from both of my SSDs just fine, its a standard. That being said, the fans don't use that data for their control, they use the independent temperature sensors. Why, I don't know. Steve Jobs wisdom, maybe.

 

[vjson]

I have a K2100M coming in the mail in a few days, and I'm trying to get hold of some thermal paste or thermal pads to put on the vram. I can't seem to find the K5 pro anywhere here in Sweden, so I'm wondering what my other options are. Will any basic thermal pads work well enough, since the quadro card isn't super power hungry, or is there some other paste similar to K5 pro that I should look for?

 

[HighSierraCosworth]

I have a K2100M coming in the mail in a few days, and I'm trying to get hold of some thermal paste or thermal pads to put on the vram. I can't seem to find the K5 pro anywhere here in Sweden, so I'm wondering what my other options are. Will any basic thermal pads work well enough, since the quadro card isn't super power hungry, or is there some other paste similar to K5 pro that I should look for?

I refused the thermal pads that came with my iMac when I made the swap to the K1100M. If memory serves, they memory chips were in the same spot

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I have a K2100M coming in the mail in a few days, and I'm trying to get hold of some thermal paste or thermal pads to put on the vram. I can't seem to find the K5 pro anywhere here in Sweden, so I'm wondering what my other options are. Will any basic thermal pads work well enough, since the quadro card isn't super power hungry, or is there some other paste similar to K5 pro that I should look for?

Amazon was delivering at least to Germany from Greece, I guess.

 

[nikey22]

Hi guys,
here's the thing: I've replaced my iMac mid 2011 gpu with a 860M. The internal screen does not turn on, but with an external monitor I can navigate through the system.

Maxwell based GPUs like your 860M will not work. Apple has already said that it is unwilling to support Maxwell, Pascal and Turing GPUs. They don't have webdrivers for them and their firmware engineers certainly don't have intentions of developing the necessary EFI UGA display drivers that we would need.

Instead they are focusing on AMD as its dedicated graphics card provider.