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

[xanderon]

i want to reflash k2000m with the original.rom I saved before flashing with nicks bios.
now I get this error:

"Found Macronix flash chip "MX25L2005(C)/MX25L2006E" (256 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.


Error: Image size (93184 B) doesn't match the flash chip's size (262144 B)!"

can I just -f force it?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

i want to reflash k2000m with the original.rom I saved before flashing with nicks bios.
now I get this error:

"Found Macronix flash chip "MX25L2005(C)/MX25L2006E" (256 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.


Error: Image size (93184 B) doesn't match the flash chip's size (262144 B)!"

can I just -f force it?

You have used the nvidia flash software to read and now you are trying the clip to write back? You can pad the remaining bytes with zero to get a full size bios file or use the nvidia flash software again...
You may also take a look at this discussion...

 

[mrswede]

Not a kext, you need to replace AppleGVA with the one from 10.13.6 located in System/Library/PrivateFrameworks, make sure you rebless it with Terminal. The file should be attached in the guide post #3271 Also make sure all the plugins/Kexts are in System/Library/Extensions.

Sorry not picking on you just repeating myself for other people reading as well.

• AppleIntelHD3000Graphics.kext
• AppleIntelHD3000GraphicsGA.plugin
• AppleIntelHD3000GraphicsGLDriver.bundle
• AppleIntelHD3000GraphicsVADriver.bundle
• AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB.kext
• AppleIntelSNBVA.bundle
• AppleMCCSControl.kext
• IOSurface.kext

Woohoo! Pick away highvoltage12v! You nailed it (mostly)!...

As per the previous attached screenshot, I DID seem to have the correct (older HighSierra) AppleGVA framework loaded correctly. The issue turned out to be that I thought the other listed graphics kexts/plugins/bundles were being loaded by OpenCore (wasn't there checkboxes for those?) Anywho, unlocking via Hackintool again and copying these into the Kext Utility per your post #3271 did the trick!

Note VideoProc status screenshot attached. And per Part 2/Benefit #5 charts on this VideoProc site:

VideoProc's Full GPU Acceleration Makes Video Editing Faster

Full GPU hardware acceleration makes large (4K) video conversion, editing, rendering faster, and terminates freezes, laggy playback, endless buffering, etc.

www.videoproc.com

It appears that my Sandy Bridge/Kepler GPU combo is now "Available" for H264 hardware acceleration (but alas, not HEVC)!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

 

[xanderon]

a crap, you are right. damn, ok. so I refreshed K2000m from nick and same problem: white screen internal or green square external screen. I have to refresh the original file and hope to revive the cards…

how can I add zero / null padding to this file?

 

[xanderon]

ALRIGHT PARTY PEOPLE a little tutorial

how to zero / null padding a file on macOS,
because you used nvflash to backup the original.rom and now you want to reflash it back with ch341a programmer:

nasty error right?
Error: Image size (93184 B) doesn't match the flash chip's size (262144 B)!"

calculate 262144 - 93184 = 168960 in excel, a calculator or your head

duplicate your original.rom to newfilsize.rom to be extra save here…

truncate -c newfilsize.rom -s +168960
you are adding to an existing file zeros to end up with the desired file size

now flash that with the clip
sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -w newfilsize.rom -V

and your are good to go

and I hope you all use flashrom on a Mac with brew install flashrom and also the ch341a drivers from: http://www.wch.cn/downloads/file/178.html
[automerge]1588887114[/automerge]
and now my revived two HP K2000m Cards are back in the game!

so the "white screen internal screen & green cube on external screen" problem is _only_ with K200M NICKS Bios.

the cards are working when flashed back to the original.rom they were shipped with.

any ideas how to get nicks bios running? so its not the logic board, not the cards. its somehow just the bios from nick at this state BUT! (now listen up) I want to clear things right now that Nicks Bios is NOT responsible for green cubes or other errors. its just this one case. I had many K1100 to 770m flashed with Nicks Bios and they all work great! I repeat: its not nicks fault.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

... Maybe I've a wrong version of software, but I haven't found in my database the W25x20CLNIG, I've found only W25x20, could you please send me your software ?

flashrom is open source and you may download it from this website or if you have a Mojave/Catalina Mac using homebrew following this short guide...

I do not believe another software will solve your particular problem. You may first try to read your iMacs rom or your old ATI graphics cards VBIOS to prove the functionality of your CH314A setup.

 

[sosa13]

Need some help guys. I just received the Nvidia Quadro K1100M 2GB GPU. Installed it in my Late 2009 27inch iMac 11,1 model. I bought this MXM-A type card since I didn't have to make any heatsink modifications. Used K5 & K4 Pro kit for the thermal paste. I also upgraded the RAM to 32GB and replaced the HDD with 2TB SSD. I hear the apple chime when I push the power button, but nothing else, no screen, and the chime keeps repeating after about a min, sounds like it's trying to start but just does not. I am assuming I still need to do some additional steps like flash the vbios or something? I have been following the thread, but not all that familiar with what I need to do. Seems like the USB option to flash it as User @xanderon suggested is the quickest way? How do I do all these steps if my iMac doesn't actually turn on? Do I create the USB using another computer? I only have my work laptop which is a PC. I don't have another computer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Need some help guys. I just received the Nvidia Quadro K1100M 2GB GPU. Installed it in my Late 2009 27inch iMac 11,1 model. I bought this MXM-A type card since I didn't have to make any heatsink modifications. Used K5 & K4 Pro kit for the thermal paste. I also upgraded the RAM to 32GB and replaced the HDD with 2TB SSD. I hear the apple chime when I push the power button, but nothing else, no screen, and the chime keeps repeating after about a min, sounds like it's trying to start but just does not. I am assuming I still need to do some additional steps like flash the vbios or something? I have been following the thread, but not all that familiar with what I need to do. Seems like the USB option to flash it as User @xanderon suggested is the quickest way? How do I do all these steps if my iMac doesn't actually turn on? Do I create the USB using another computer? I only have my work laptop which is a PC. I don't have another computer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I do not no where to start: The common plan here is to flash before installing using the CH341A or after using the Linux USB or Windows7 Bootpartition method described in the very first post on page 1 of this thread. Very often used cards come without a usable VBIOS installed.
Yes, you need obviously another computer.

 

[rc3105]

No, it would not (21.5" BIOS enforces 65W TDP limit -- not sure how, though)!
...

I have a regular 95w i7-2600 in a 21" 2011 and it works fine, no bios or cpu issues.

Now the power supply is another story. It's right on the edge of capacity. It can't handle the startup surge of a spinning drive so I went with ssd, removed the dvd drive and replaced the stock 6750 with a K1100m to conserve power. Works great, keeps pace with my identically configured 27" 2011.

 

[Marsupio]

In both instances your benchmarks result in half of what my iMac scores. So something is wrong here. Either Hyperthreading makes a huge difference. Your ram config is wrong (not in multichannel mode) or your card is severely throttled down because you didn't use new thermal paste and some parts of your Die are very hot. Unfortunately I'd like you to fix your thermal paste and flash your card to continue investigating what the issue could be.

170F is hot about 76C my card usually sits at 68C when benchmarking, please do things properly for the sake of that card.

His Valley benchmark indicates "2xAA full screen" : this is the cause for half performance ?

 

[highvoltage12v]

His Valley benchmark indicates "2xAA full screen" : this is the cause for half performance ?

I'll go do another benchmark with 2xAA tomorrow.

 

[limmers2015]

I'll go do another benchmark with 2xAA tomorrow.

Yeah. Sorry about that. I just went with the “Basic” default, kicked Vsync on, and ran with it. I’ll redo both of the benchmarks tomorrow with AA off, so we’ve got two points of comparison for each benchmark.

Good news on the “keeping the card cool for the next 2-ish weeks until I’m allowed to work on it again” front! (See my previous post if that’s confusing, I edited it heavily, as what I had to say didn’t need to be a new post). I fiddled with my fan settings, creating a special “gaming” preset in Macs Fan Control and made them even more aggressive.

It now sounds like the computer’s trying to take off, which is... nice. (Yes, the fan bearings are fine. I checked and oiled them back when I put the card in ~9 months ago. It’s just quite loud with the optical drive fan [best way to push air across the GPU heatsink] spun up almost all the way quite a bit of the time). It does keep the card down at ~140F (rather than 170F) though, despite it only making a 5F difference to the heatsink (130F -> 125F).

The CPU fan I did make slightly more aggressive, but only by lowering the “max temp” setting by 5 degrees. Not much. CPU doesn’t really get hot anyways. Fan doesn’t max out even under sustained 100% CPU utilization in either mode.

The hard drive fan I had set up as a general fan for the case, as it seems to move the most air, and be in the right spot. This fan is controlled by the temp at the back of the LCD panel, as I felt that was a better place to judge by than the HDD itself. That fan I left completely as-is. I’m seeing decent temps from both the LCD and the HDD with my settings there. 120 - 130F.

Should I just look into getting a 27” mid-2011 iMac cheap off of Ebay or somewhere like that, and proceed further with my modding there, where there’s much looser power and space limitations?

I’m not sure, particularly as my UPS was reading 140 - 150W for the whole computer while running those benchmarks, and about 100W at idle. Those don’t seem like overwhelming numbers for the 21.5” PSU, although it does generally get up to 140 - 150F when running, regardless of load. Unfortunately, there isn’t really a fan for it directly.

Could I just get a PSU from a scrap 27”, and hook it up? Would that work, actually give me more power, and/or even fit in the existing PSU space?

 

[rc3105]

Could I just get a PSU from a scrap 27”, and hook it up? Would that work, actually give me more power, and/or even fit in the existing PSU space?

No A 27" power supply won't fit in a 21".

By all means get a 27" to play with ;-)

 

[limmers2015]

No A 27" power supply won't fit in a 21".

By all means get a 27" to play with ;-)

What’s the concensus on putting the PSU external to a 21.5” and just running cables in through the hole where the power cord went? Anyone been desperate/crazy/innovative enough to do that? Does it work?

If so, then I could just get a >500W PC power supply and hook it up. Problem solved, source of heat moved outside the case, and probably better efficiency than a PSU from 2011, depending on the quality of power supply that I got.

Probably a terrible idea, and also probably won’t do it, but it’s definitely a potential fix if it works...

Edit: I know that the power supply is only one of many components that produce heat. (I like to think that I'm not completely retarded. ) However, every little bit helps, and I regularly see temps of 140 - 150F on the PSU primary temp sensor, so it seems (to me) like it would be more helpful than you might think...

 

[Ausdauersportler]

What’s the concensus on putting the PSU external to a 21.5” and just running cables in through the hole where the power cord went? Anyone been desperate/crazy/innovative enough to do that? Does it work?

If so, then I could just get a >500W PC power supply and hook it up. Problem solved, source of heat moved outside the case, and probably better efficiency than a PSU from 2011, depending on the quality of power supply that I got.

Probably a terrible idea, and also probably won’t do it, but it’s definitely a potential fix if it works...

Sources of heat are still insde, you just put alle sources of electrical power outside. All components like memory, cpu, gpu, and lcd draw electrical power and convert it (by magic) nearly completely into heat. Only the transforming power supply - which converts some electrical power into heat too, is now placed outside. Get a 27 inch model to drive a faster gpu and cpu.

 

[xanderon]

I like the idea for a crazy one (its electricity, please know what you are doing! live danger) and the heat would definitely be outside. but that's would be really a Frankensteins monster

 

[Ausdauersportler]

No, the heat production remains INSIDE except the transformer loss.

 

[ck81144]

How to Boot Seamlessly using the OpenCore Bootloader

Many thanks to Nick(D)VB for bringing my iMac back to life!

After spending many hours on a bazillion forums, here are the steps on how to get your iMac to boot using the OpenCore Bootloader with no keyboard manipulations. This works for Catalina 10.15.3 on a 2011 iMac. I can't say for other versions or other iMacs.

1. Read the post from Nick here and download the OpenCore Bootloader.
2. Download BalenaEtcher https://www.balena.io/etcher/. Alternatively, you can use Disk Utility.
3. Using BalenaEtcher copy the Opencore Bootloader.dmg to your USB or SD card. With Disk Utility, you can restore the file to your USB or SD Card. If you use BalenaEtcher, it is normal to get the error message about a missing partition table. Click on Continue.
4. Eject and reinsert your USB or SD card. You should see in Finder "Catalina Loader".
5. Go to Finder, click on Go from the top menu and choose Go to Folder. Put without quotation marks "/Volumes/Catalina Loader/EFI/OC". Hit enter.
6. In this folder, locate config.plist and rename it. For example, configbak.plist.
7. Unzip the appropriate archive: nvidia.zip for Nvidia cards and amd.zip for AMD cards.
8. Double-click the new config.plist that was just extracted. OpenCore Configurator should open. If not, you will have to go to the root of your USB and SD card and open OpenCore Configurator and find your config.plist file.
9. On the left, click on Kernel. Make sure the first 6 kexts are checked. UNLESS, you have a Nvidia card and you installed kexts when setting up your card (namely Sandybridge and Sleep). In this case, uncheck the first two (Lilu.kext and WhateverGreen.kext). If your computer hangs after the OpenCore Bootloader, this is why.
10. Click on Misc on the left. Change External to Builtin. Make sure Show Picker and PollAppleHotKeys are checked.
11. At the top right, click on Security. Make sure AllowSetDefault is checked.
12. Click on File and then Save.
13. Normally, you would go into System Preferences and in the StartUp Manager choose Catalina Loader. This did NOT work for me and caused me a lot of grief trying.
14. Reboot your computer
15. Be ready to hit your Option key, as your iMac reboots.
16. When you are presented with your boot options, use the arrow to select Catalina Loader. Here this is important to hit CTRL + Enter at the same time, You will see an arrow under Catalina Loader indicating that it is the default boot item.
17. You should now see the OpenCore Boot Picker. Use the arrow to select your iMac boot drive. Again, very important to use CTRL + Enter. This will tell the OpenCore boot loader this is your default boot device. It will now boot into your Apple partition.
18. Do a test. Reboot your computer and should boot directly to your Apple partition through the OpenCore Bootloader. Be patient it does sit on the OpenCore Boot Picker for about 10-15 seconds. You can check if you are able to change your brightness settings.
19. If it works correctly, go to Finder. Click on Go from the top menu and choose Go to Folder. Put without quotation marks "/Volumes/Catalina Loader/EFI/OC". Hit enter.
20. Open the config.plist with the OpenCore Configurator again.
21. Click on Misc on the left. Uncheck Show Picker.
22. Click on File and Save again.
23. Reboot again and you should have a slight delay. You will not see the OpenCore Boot Picker then it will go directly to the Apple boot screen.
24. You must leave the USB or SD card in your iMac as it will boot from the OpenCore boot loader.

It should work beautifully now!

How to Boot Seamlessly using the OpenCore Bootloader

Many thanks to Nick(D)VB for bringing my iMac back to life!

After spending many hours on a bazillion forums, here are the steps on how to get your iMac to boot using the OpenCore Bootloader with no keyboard manipulations. This works for Catalina 10.15.3 on a 2011 iMac. I can't say for other versions or other iMacs.

1. Read the post from Nick here and download the OpenCore Bootloader.
2. Download BalenaEtcher https://www.balena.io/etcher/. Alternatively, you can use Disk Utility.
3. Using BalenaEtcher copy the Opencore Bootloader.dmg to your USB or SD card. With Disk Utility, you can restore the file to your USB or SD Card. If you use BalenaEtcher, it is normal to get the error message about a missing partition table. Click on Continue.
4. Eject and reinsert your USB or SD card. You should see in Finder "Catalina Loader".
5. Go to Finder, click on Go from the top menu and choose Go to Folder. Put without quotation marks "/Volumes/Catalina Loader/EFI/OC". Hit enter.
6. In this folder, locate config.plist and rename it. For example, configbak.plist.
7. Unzip the appropriate archive: nvidia.zip for Nvidia cards and amd.zip for AMD cards.
8. Double-click the new config.plist that was just extracted. OpenCore Configurator should open. If not, you will have to go to the root of your USB and SD card and open OpenCore Configurator and find your config.plist file.
9. On the left, click on Kernel. Make sure the first 6 kexts are checked. UNLESS, you have a Nvidia card and you installed kexts when setting up your card (namely Sandybridge and Sleep). In this case, uncheck the first two (Lilu.kext and WhateverGreen.kext). If your computer hangs after the OpenCore Bootloader, this is why.
10. Click on Misc on the left. Change External to Builtin. Make sure Show Picker and PollAppleHotKeys are checked.
11. At the top right, click on Security. Make sure AllowSetDefault is checked.
12. Click on File and then Save.
13. Normally, you would go into System Preferences and in the StartUp Manager choose Catalina Loader. This did NOT work for me and caused me a lot of grief trying.
14. Reboot your computer
15. Be ready to hit your Option key, as your iMac reboots.
16. When you are presented with your boot options, use the arrow to select Catalina Loader. Here this is important to hit CTRL + Enter at the same time, You will see an arrow under Catalina Loader indicating that it is the default boot item.
17. You should now see the OpenCore Boot Picker. Use the arrow to select your iMac boot drive. Again, very important to use CTRL + Enter. This will tell the OpenCore boot loader this is your default boot device. It will now boot into your Apple partition.
18. Do a test. Reboot your computer and should boot directly to your Apple partition through the OpenCore Bootloader. Be patient it does sit on the OpenCore Boot Picker for about 10-15 seconds. You can check if you are able to change your brightness settings.
19. If it works correctly, go to Finder. Click on Go from the top menu and choose Go to Folder. Put without quotation marks "/Volumes/Catalina Loader/EFI/OC". Hit enter.
20. Open the config.plist with the OpenCore Configurator again.
21. Click on Misc on the left. Uncheck Show Picker.
22. Click on File and Save again.
23. Reboot again and you should have a slight delay. You will not see the OpenCore Boot Picker then it will go directly to the Apple boot screen.
24. You must leave the USB or SD card in your iMac as it will boot from the OpenCore boot loader.

It should work beautifully now!

This works fine on a 2009 iMac with a K2100 card and High Sierra.

 

[herrdude]

This works fine on a 2009 iMac with a K2100 card and High Sierra.

Thanks! I updated my post with that info.

 

[Vego17]

Lost in Space:

For some days @jborko and me tried to get a WX7100 running in two different mid 2011 27" models in two different European countries checking out all the available VBIOS options.

I simply not wanted to start up in a 2011 model. Fans turned spinning for a split second and that was it.

Surprisingly I got the card slowly (core frequency was locked on 300 MHz) running in one late 2009 27" system the latest version of Catalina 10.15.4. Since it was not my mission to check this card out on the 2009 I did no further tests with different operating system versions and different VBIOS options there.

If somebody is interested to get this card for a 2009/2010 system @jborko will happily answer. Otherwise the card will be returned to China.

Two pictures of the card will be added, device ID was ????, the serial is 109-C95847-00C-02.

Wish I could have better news.

So 109-C95847-00C_02 is confirmed not to work? Sad because just today I received mine, guess i'll have to send it back.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

So 109-C95847-00C_02 is confirmed not to work? Sad because just today I received mine, guess i'll have to send it back.

Please take a picture of both sides and share before sending it back. There is so much confusion about the identity string right now.

 

[Vego17]

Please take a picture of both sides and share before sending it back. There is so much confusion about the identity string right now.

Sure, here it is. It had that "Ellesmere" text on the bottom so I through it's ok.

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

Sure, here it is. It had that "Ellesmere" text on the bottom so I through it's ok.

View attachment 913236View attachment 913237

You should try it before sending it back. The reason for recent failure is not established, it was maybe only a bad card.

Using a clip, just backup the original bios to be able to flash it back, in the case you need to send the card back.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Sure, here it is. It had that "Ellesmere" text on the bottom so I through it's ok.

Thanks for sharing! This looks pretty identical to the card @jborko bought and we both did not get to run or post in the mid 2011 model. Since we are not the center of truth I cannot clearly say that this card will not work, but at least we both failed with it.

I guess you have the chance to return it.

Before flash it with the latest GOP VBIOS (clip) and just mount it once with thermal pads and the grease on the GPU on the sink and check it out in your iMac (which model, by the way?).

If you get a second LED in a mid 2011 and the spins start to turn your card is working better than ours. If you have the same situation like we had, no post, just spinning fans for a split second, that unmount and send it back. It is probably not worth to go through our experiments a second time.

If your target system is a 2009/2010 use the former BIOS versions (67W or more) and check this with Mojave. We did not check this because we wanted it in our 2011 systems...

 

[Vego17]

Thanks for sharing! This looks pretty identical to the card @jborko bought and we both did not get to run or post in the mid 2011 model. Since we are not the center of truth I cannot clearly say that this card will not work, but at least we both failed with it.

I guess you have the chance to return it.

Before flash it with the latest GOP VBIOS (clip) and just mount it once with thermal pads and the grease on the GPU on the sink and check it out in your iMac (which model, by the way?).

If you get a second LED in a mid 2011 and the spins start to turn your card is working better than ours. If you have the same situation like we had, no post, just spinning fans for a split second, that unmount and send it back. It is probably not worth to go through our experiments a second time.

If your target system is a 2009/2010 use the former BIOS versions (67W or more) and check this with Mojave. We did not check this because we wanted it in our 2011 systems...

Sadly i have 2011 27" imac, will try to do as you say and post results.