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iM 4,1-14,4 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade
- Thread starter MichaelDT
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It's everywhere in this thread. It's been recommended countless time to use a DELL Card because HP cards were not "flashable". But if it worked, good for you.
You got the EFI bootscreen and backlight control with OpenCore?
No, you won't get a picture on the stock vBIOS without a back-light mod,
AMD users should flash the GOP vBIOS attached, you can do it from windows.
Then use OpenCore to get boot-screen and brightness control with no other mods!
AMDVBFlash / ATI ATIFlash 5.0.567 Download
AMD AMDVBFlash is used to flash the graphics card BIOS. The version released by ATI was called ATIFlash or just WinFlash. It supports all AMD Radeowww.techpowerup.com
Download: iMac OpenCore Loader.dmg
FEATURES:
[1] Native brightness control on Quadro K1100M & K2100M cards.
(more cards may be added in the future through vBIOS updates)
[2] Target Display Mode on Quadro K1100M & K2100M cards.
[3] Real-time hardware monitoring using HWMonitor app:
Nvidia GPU Die Temp + GPU, VRAM & CPU core Frequencies.
[4] Reduced boot-screen delay, no more random black-screen boots.
[5] OpenCore + rEFInd boot-pickers on AMD cards with NO MODS!
(allows bootscreen & native brightness control simultaneously)
[6] SideCar + Video acceleration on new AMD cards (Mojave+)
Huge H264 & HEVC video encoding speed improvements in FCPX etc
Playback of DRM protected streaming content (Netflix 4K etc)
2011 iMacs only -
[7] UEFI Windows: Sound fix for HDAudio code 12 driver error,
can also fix some ThunderBolt eGPU resource issues in Windows.
(Enable DSDT in ACPI section of the OpenCore configuration tool)
[8] Mojave & Catalina: Integration of SandyBridge iGPU Kexts
required for the AirPlay + Sleep + GVA QuickSync video fixes
Catalina needs IOSurface.kext replacing FIRST, more details here:
2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade
EDIT: 7/28/20 Please download the newest Lilu/WhateverGreen kexts from Github, they constantly change. EDIT: 4/17/20 An additional AppleIntelSNBGraphics.kext has been added to the pack to include board ID for iMac Pro/AMD-WX Series Config.plist. You can now have working sleep when your board ID...forums.macrumors.com
INSTALLATION:
Restore the image to an SD card or USB stick, I do not recommend installing to a non-removable drive. If using an AMD card show hidden files and extract the AMD config.plist file inside the /EFI/OC/ folder. Set the "Catalina Loader" drive as the default boot disk in system preferences or by using Ctrl+Enter from the Apple boot-picker. If you have problems booting delete any Lilu or Whatevergreen kexts from S/L/E, to disable OpenCore just remove the drive and do an NVRAM reset.
WARNING:
Congratulations, you are now running a Hackintosh! I have done some basic safety checks but I can't test everything, there is a non-zero risk that something will go spectacularly wrong. I accept NO responsibility if Apple ban your accounts or if your iMac blows-up, wipes all your data, and injures your cat... Make sure you have current back-ups of all your drives, and use the RomTool to make a back-up of your iMacs BootRom so it can be restored in case of corruption (very unlikely, but possible). Configuration tools are included, be careful - here be dragons!
Based on "Catalina Loader" by Rastafabi.
Thanks to Highvoltage12v & Ausdauersportler for testing.
Full credit to all the original developers & those who shared essential information.
Better late than never...
Is it possible to get the brightness control to work on Windows 10 as well?
Yes, it does. I think you might have missed this post back in February #4,698
From a quick review done today, most WX4170 cards on the market are intended for HP Zbook17 and don't have the bios chip on board. Considering that, I strongly suggest that the note from @Ausdauersportler ("Buy this WX4170 as long as is has a BIOS chip on board ") should be included in Post #1 of this present thread. I think it did previously by making a reference to Dell cards.
Is my understanding OK ?
Gaston
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I added a link to the post #1 in the section about the WX4170 card. I did not discover this fact, I was not the first mentioned it here, but my picture seems to be pretty clear on this.
Did anybody test the WX4130 or WX4150 in a 2010 or a 27" late 2009 iMac yet?
Should the VBIOS for the WX4150 work on a 2 GB WX4130 as well?
I'm currently running a FirePro M5950 in a 27" late 2009 i5 iMac. I've also got a K1100m but for now I prefer using the M5950 with High Sierra and Windows 10 (EFI booted).
Edit: Just ordered a 2 GB WX4130 for finding out; will report results when I get it - maybe in 2 months from now.
Should the VBIOS for the WX4150 work on a 2 GB WX4130 as well?
I'm currently running a FirePro M5950 in a 27" late 2009 i5 iMac. I've also got a K1100m but for now I prefer using the M5950 with High Sierra and Windows 10 (EFI booted).
Edit: Just ordered a 2 GB WX4130 for finding out; will report results when I get it - maybe in 2 months from now.
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That's great! Dell cards were becoming harder to source!
@ZenSurfeur on me ... my card is not broken 10.15.4 is broken and i search 12hours what is broken use 10.15.3 and all fine.... dont touch running system . and i wanted to buy a new graphics card
GTX 860m kepler ...2011i mac
10.15.4 is broken and i search 12hours what is broken use 10.15.3 and all fine.... dont touch running system . and i wanted to buy a new graphics card GTX 860m kepler ...2011i mac
One more question here... Do I need to fallback to the original bootrom? I've had it altered and flashed for the GTX765M before.
If you're one of the original people who modified your bootrom for bootscreens, you're good. In fact it's beneficial to you if you go AMD in the future.
So you do not need to touch your bootrom
Yes that’s my case. I will go AMD. I hope i will have luck with the delivery of the wx7100 in a couple of days.
I have been working with @Ausdauersportler and AMD cards. I have created a successful version of AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB.kext that contains the board ID of the iMac-Pro 1,1. What this means for AMD users is you can now have working sleep with an AMD card. This is due to the fact that Open Core for AMD users injects the iMac board ID 7BA5B2D9E42DDD94 which prevents AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB.kext from loading. Since I replaced the board ID that belongs to a early 2011 MacBook Pro, this Kext can still work on any 2011 iMac. Maybe in the future we can have one universal config.plist that let's all users iMac's board ID be changed to 7BA5B2D9E42DDD94/iMac Pro.
We are still working on having h.264 and HVEC through AMD cards. While it does work, performance is decreased in some situations. Trying to figure out a fix for this.
To be clear this Kext replaces the existing AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB.kext from my Kext pack HERE
We are still working on having h.264 and HVEC through AMD cards. While it does work, performance is decreased in some situations. Trying to figure out a fix for this.
To be clear this Kext replaces the existing AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB.kext from my Kext pack HERE
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On the FirePro M5950, did you have to do any flashing or does it just work out of the box? I assume no boot menu but once it's in everything works? Obviously it maxes out at High Sierra..
Well, I bought it on ebay from a guy called iMacGFX. He soldered a higher capacity EEPROM on it, containing his custom VBIOS. Just search this thread for "M5950" and you'll find some more information.
There's everything working with the exception of the GPU diode thermal sensor - plus the graphics card is even working when EFI booting into Windows, which is great for SSD owners (I'm not), since it makes possible using the Intel AHCI driver without patching the MBR.
I've found that the system suddenly reboots after stressing the GPU for some time - I guess/hope it's because I didn't put any cooling on the backside RAM chips; it does have 1 GB of RAM while the 6770m has only 512 MB.
I got 10.15.4 GM installed using dosdude1's 1.3.5 patch from today onto a 2009 27-inch iMac 11,1 with K1100M card replacement GPU. The lack of nVidia drivers in Catalina 10.15.4 seems to be solved using Nick's Coreloader SD card and all seems to be running well EXCEPT I have lost WiFi, which was running fine in High Sierra. I've tried the wifi and broadcom post-install patches in dosdude1's patcher but no success.
Any suggestions welcomed.
Any suggestions welcomed.
I had a problem with Wifi on an iMac the other day and this Atheros fix worked instantly for me :
GitHub - chris1111/WIFI-Atheros-macOS-Mojave: Visit BLOG : https://chris1111.github.io/My-Github-Pages/
Visit BLOG : https://chris1111.github.io/My-Github-Pages/ - chris1111/WIFI-Atheros-macOS-Mojave
github.com
Hey did you ever happen to find these or post these, I looked but can't seem to find them? Thanks!
I think windows works in UEFI mode, but not legacy MBR mode? Maybe the black-screen issue only happened on the 27" ?? I remember different combinations of card type / vbios / efi were needed for different iMac models, but it's years since I tested them. They would not have needed to mod the system bootrom because they soldered a bigger EEPROM to the card. I should still have the bootrom patch files for the M5950 / M5800 cards somewhere, which saves you from having to change the EEPROM chip, I'll post them when I can find the right hard disk!
Yes RDP works great for windows, but then you need a different system for MacOS, VNC etc
I think it works on the AMD 460 / 580 cards, I'll try and test it when I get time. Airplay probably does H.264 encoding on CPU, so would need the SandyBridge kexts installed, but SideCar does HEVC on the GPU.
Yes I'm sure they were getting ready to switch to the green team, even before the 2011 shipped!
Good point, I'd be really interested to know if GPU die temp is reported on the 540M card in MacOS?
If it does we might be able to flip some magic bits in the vBIOS/EFI and fix that on the Kepler cards!
The padded rom is attached, it will work in Flashrom now. EDIT - glad to see you worked it out already! 8)
I did ask DosDude1 about fixing this, as I understand it the legacy patch is pretty useless on the 2010/11 iMacs anyway because it can't fix acceleration on HD5/6xxx gen cards. There's something to be said for letting users who know what there doing have some more control over the patching process...
Hey, great to see you back, we were about to send out a search party! Just flashing my 765M vbios should fix the clock / power limits, unless the SMC pokes it's nose in somehow? The PSU should be ok, just don't go nuts overclocking the card in windows! No boot-screen on the Quadro cards yet, even with a bootrom mod, I'll try and get around to modding their vbios at some point, but need cards to test with. I do have a few spare RX560 cards if you're interested in switching to the red team? Let us know how the tests go - before you go AWOL again!
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good job guys!
but i have a q:
why not simply do it in sbmbios injecting via clover/opencore, instead of patching directly the kext?
is doable on hackintosh i don't see why it wouldn't be possible on real imac
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On a real Mac you run a very high chance of bricking your EFI/Bios by it writing the incorrect (serial/UUID/MAC) values entered to the private NVRAM section. You also run the risk of your iMac being Blacklisted from Apples iMessage/iCloud servers.
It's a big NO NO and is actually why we prefer Open Core to Clover.
Happy to report I completed my swap this morning. I thought I didn't need to remove the motherboard, but after opening it up last night I realized I needed to.
2011 27" iMac w/ 6970m to 880m kepler gpu.
Lost the normal things, brightness control, boot screen etc, but had picture immediately without flashing any new VBIOS and running default macOS Graphics Driver.
Heat sync needed some grinding to make room for the 880m, but nothing crazy. Used the x-bracket from the 880m.
FYI for anyone worried about this being too much work, if you're tech savy it's just a matter of patience. This was my first time working on a computer so it was a bit time consuming as I labeled every cable and took pictures of everything.
Happy to answer any questions since so many folks on here helped me take the leap.
2011 27" iMac w/ 6970m to 880m kepler gpu.
Lost the normal things, brightness control, boot screen etc, but had picture immediately without flashing any new VBIOS and running default macOS Graphics Driver.
Heat sync needed some grinding to make room for the 880m, but nothing crazy. Used the x-bracket from the 880m.
FYI for anyone worried about this being too much work, if you're tech savy it's just a matter of patience. This was my first time working on a computer so it was a bit time consuming as I labeled every cable and took pictures of everything.
Happy to answer any questions since so many folks on here helped me take the leap.
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This is only true for new AMD cards from HP that are the WX series. Old MXM cards from HP such as Quadro series have a VBIOS chip.
Flashed my 765M over the weekend with great success! Luckily I was able to get everything working relatively easily even without a boot screen. a massive thanks to @Nick [D]vB for his hard work, this has been a really great / easy mod to pull off.
1. Burn or Find a windows install DVD
2. Place the DVD into the DVD drive and boot the Mac whilst holding down C
3. Run through the installer prompts, I found it easier to erase my entire drive and just install windows.
4.when the Mac restarts, eject the DVD whilst holding the left **** click and then wait for the installer to restart (can take some time)
5. Once windows is installed, install NVFlash and run through flashing the card, easier just to put NVFLASH at the root of your drive along with the VBIOS files, then just Change directory via command prompt to that folder.
6. once the card has been flashed reboot whilst holding option to confirm that the install has completed successfully.
I've installed Catalina but keep getting kernel panics, this is probably due to the fact that its a non supported OS and the version I've installed has only just come out. Will attempt reinstalling an older version today.
1. Burn or Find a windows install DVD
2. Place the DVD into the DVD drive and boot the Mac whilst holding down C
3. Run through the installer prompts, I found it easier to erase my entire drive and just install windows.
4.when the Mac restarts, eject the DVD whilst holding the left **** click and then wait for the installer to restart (can take some time)
5. Once windows is installed, install NVFlash and run through flashing the card, easier just to put NVFLASH at the root of your drive along with the VBIOS files, then just Change directory via command prompt to that folder.
- CD nvflash
- nvflash64 --save backup.rom (this will save the existing ROM)
- nvflash64 -6 nameofromfile.rom
6. once the card has been flashed reboot whilst holding option to confirm that the install has completed successfully.
I've installed Catalina but keep getting kernel panics, this is probably due to the fact that its a non supported OS and the version I've installed has only just come out. Will attempt reinstalling an older version today.
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Because the GTX880M is an expensive card, be mindful of the difference that are out there before you purchase one.
The MSI version of the board has a 8-WSON EEPROM chip that can't be read off SOIC-8 clips. So if you ever needed to hard flash them, it would be difficult and would probably require desoldering.
The MSI version of the board has a 8-WSON EEPROM chip that can't be read off SOIC-8 clips. So if you ever needed to hard flash them, it would be difficult and would probably require desoldering.