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

[BadBiscuit]

@sparky720John, I agree with your assessment. It does not make sense that it is PS considering your setup and that you are not alone in having this issue with a 2011 machine. Others found the card would then work fine in a 2010, but same card would not work in 2011. Puzzling. That said, I have seen PCs that would not boot after hardware changes, only to find unplugging a USB device or SATA drive allows it to work. I suspect Macs may share that trait. Trying a minimal setup allows you to narrow the focus. Definitely swap in a SSD if you still have the original HD, would use less power and make for a more enjoyable experience, but if I recall you had tried booting with no drive attached.

Update: Just saw your post. Sounds like you have already tried this.

 

[MikkelF]

Do a config.plist backup before and then edit manually config.plist.
Do a backup of AppleGVA and replace it.

Something is not right...Hackingtool now reports that VDA is fully supported.
But Videoproc and MacX Converter claims there is no hardware support.

Installing the kexts instead of injecting them speeded up booting a lot which is nice.
I did however not install Lilu+WhateverGreen because some of the guides here claim that they cause issues when booting with OpenCore - so I still inject them with OpenCore.
Maybe I have misunderstood something - should I install them too and stop injecting them?

Could something else be wrong in the plist file?

 

[sparky720John]

@sparky720John @jborko
yes, it might. i'm not sure, i have to take a look in side my imac to see the PSU.
( or one of you have a open i mac and want to check that)

reading the About of @Pascal Baillargeau
and what have, and i do a rough calculation based on what i can finde on the network of power draw. per component

- i7 2600 - 95watt (max) idle about 45 watt.
- wx7100 - 130 Watt (max) idle 20watt.
- 3 SSD's, - what i read about 0.5watt per ssd. so 2 watts.
- 32GB ram - 2 watt per RAM, so 8 watt.

if we assume idle power, its bout 100 watts ( more or less)

what is left is the power draw of the LCD and main board.
and the consumption of fan's
i dont think that all is at full blast when you power the imac. i can stick a power meter between the main's and the imac to see the draw with the default GPU

i have
2011 27"
- i7 2600
- 1TB original HDD.
- 32GB ram
spin up of the HDD seems to be 30 watss acording to what i read on the internet.
but i have to see, test.
to round of.

i see that a iMac A1312 27 inch PSU is 310Watt, i'm not around my imac now. but i can take a look if i have the same PSU. 310watts sounds more than enough.

Update: as just a test to see nothing was touching and causing a short, i tried to fireup the WX7100 with nothing else but an 8 gig ram stick and system still won't even power on to post or anything, more then a quick spit to spin the fans for less than a second

View attachment 917677

@RRPC I have the exact same power supply with that DC Output 310 max and not to exceed 25.8A Max, and Model PA-2311-002A

so what i have in my system with the upgrade would be as follows.
I5-2500S processor 65W TDP
1-SSD and was adding another 1-SSD
1 Optical Drive
32-gigs of ram
and the upgraded WX7100 video

taking all your numbers I'm thinking even adding fans and what not i would theoretically be under to around the same amount of power you quoted without coming close to the 310W Max

now I'm beyond baffled, except maybe i was totally blindsided with a brand new card out of the box dead?
or plugging it into my system and hitting power button fried it??

looking at the card too, i can see nothing is touching the card to short it out either, all memory modules are thermal covered too.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Dear all,

after years of reading this incredible thread anonymously, I'd like to present myself after successfully upgrading my imac mid 2011 gpu thanks to your great work.

Nevertheless, in January I was lucky to buy the WX7100 (109-C95847-00C_02 "Ellesmere") from TheFalChris.
Motivation was to being able to play X-Plane on my imac.

Thanks to the incredible Work of NickDvB, herrdude and of course Ausdauersportler (amdvbflash) I was able to flash the GOP Bios and get it to work with opencore and Catalina, including sleep.

Benchmarks are somewhat dissapointing though, because the GPU clock is stuck at 300MHz, while Mem Clock can rise up to 1250MHz.

After thinking and reading a lot, I get the impression that this throttling might be either due to faulty GPU Power Management / DSDT / kext issues or due to BIOS itself.

Unfortunately my opencore/hackintosh knowledge is as insufficient as for BIOS editing...(yet)

What are your thoughts regarding the WX7100 GPU clock issue, this hasn't been discussed in a while...

Cheers,

roscho

Assuming you get sleep working, again: Have you used valley right after startup before and after first sleep of the machine? Could you check this? Please add your complete config to the signature... and your problem, too 😇

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

Dear all,

after years of reading this incredible thread anonymously, I'd like to present myself after successfully upgrading my imac mid 2011 gpu thanks to your great work.

Initially (around 2018) my HD6970 failed, but I was able to reflow it, using a heat gun (together with a fancy adapter cut out of a beer can) and an IR thermometer. This worked flawlessly for almost 2 years but in the meantime i got curious upgrading the dGPU by reading this thread. Like 1 year ago I failed getting a GTX 880m to work, although I did not try flashing a 780m BIOS yet, as suggested recently.

Nevertheless, in January I was lucky to buy the WX7100 (109-C95847-00C_02 "Ellesmere") from TheFalChris.
Motivation was to being able to play X-Plane on my imac.

Thanks to the incredible Work of NickDvB, herrdude and of course Ausdauersportler (amdvbflash) I was able to flash the GOP Bios and get it to work with opencore and Catalina, including sleep.

Benchmarks are somewhat dissapointing though, because the GPU clock is stuck at 300MHz, while Mem Clock can rise up to 1250MHz.

After thinking and reading a lot, I get the impression that this throttling might be either due to faulty GPU Power Management / DSDT / kext issues or due to BIOS itself.

Unfortunately my opencore/hackintosh knowledge is as insufficient as for BIOS editing...(yet)

What are your thoughts regarding the WX7100 GPU clock issue, this hasn't been discussed in a while...

Cheers,

roscho

View attachment 917678
View attachment 917675
View attachment 917676

Hi,

Glad to see another working WX7100!
The core clock stuck is annoying, it was an issue with bios versions 1 and 2. But with latests bioses this issue is corrected.
You have flashed WX7100_GOP.rom?
[automerge]1590169229[/automerge]

Something is not right...Hackingtool now reports that VDA is fully supported.
But Videoproc and MacX Converter claims there is no hardware support.

Installing the kexts instead of injecting them speeded up booting a lot which is nice.
I did however not install Lilu+WhateverGreen because some of the guides here claim that they cause issues when booting with OpenCore - so I still inject them with OpenCore.
Maybe I have misunderstood something - should I install them too and stop injecting them?

Could something else be wrong in the plist file?

Have you seen infos i added to precedent post concerning hd3000 headless?
Whatevergreen and Lilu injected by Opencore, it's OK.

 

[roscho]

Salut Pascal,

I flashed WX7100_GOP (015.050.000.001.019413) as seen on my pics ;-)
And I tried sleep /wake, did not help unfortunately...

Cdmt,

roscho

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

Salut Pascal,

I flashed WX7100_GOP (015.050.000.001.019413) as seen on my pics ;-)
And I tried sleep /wake, did not help unfortunately...

Cdmt,

roscho

I saw but i needed to ask because the good news would have been that you've flashed another one. I use this bios and i have memory and core clocks throttling.

 

[MikkelF]

Have you seen infos i added to precedent post concerning hd3000 headless?
Whatevergreen and Lilu injected by Opencore, it's OK.

Yes, and I have done my best to copy your settings.
But maybe I messed up some small detail? Heres is the screendump.

 

[NOTNlCE]

Several people have DM'd me asking about the WX4130/WX4150 - I will reiterate what I posted a few pages back.
Please hang on all just a bit longer.

While *my* WX4130 works well in the 2010, these are still new and are still actively being tested. Currently, we are working to see what revisions of cards work, what model systems they work in, and what kind of performance metrics we can get from these cards. Since they are the same GPU core, we can likely even stretch them to WX4150 performance by unlocking additional shaders in VBIOS. (thanks @internetzel and @Nick [D]vB !)

I understand your desire to have a Polaris based card for the ~$100 price range, but please let us finalize our testing so we can make solid recommendations and give you proven methods! @highvoltage12v has a few on order from China, and shipping is not the fastest with the current world state!

Thank you for your patience! To everyone who DM'd me, please consider this your response and hang tight!

 

[MikkelF]

Yes, and I have done my best to copy your settings.
But maybe I messed up some small detail? Heres is the screendump.

The GVAdebugchecker you attached spits this out every 20 seconds:

2020-05-22 20:18:04.438 Df Hackintool[647:1454] (AppleGVA) GVA info: getMainDisplayDecoder, intel:-1, vp2:-1, vp3:-1, vp4:0, amd:-1, gfx:vp4
2020-05-22 20:18:04.441 Df Hackintool[647:1454] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVDLoadAllAccelerators metalId: 0, metalIdIsValid: 0, needToLoad: 0, gRefCount: 154
2020-05-22 20:18:04.441 Df Hackintool[647:1454] (AppleGVA) GVA info: plugin is INTEL, offline.
2020-05-22 20:18:04.445 Df Hackintool[647:1454] (AppleGVA) GVA info: [11.6.8] AVFQTX_CreateInstance 0x10929e000, [1920x1056::1280x720] profile_level:77:41, tt(fp):0(0), usage:0, frame_mbs:1, di:0, dither:1, oold:0, boostOff:0, stream_ram:0, stream_buf_size:2097152, fmt: 420v ...
2020-05-22 20:18:04.445 Df Hackintool[647:1454] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFQTX_CreateInstance, GFX:0 ,Bandwidth:94003200, PhysicalAccelerator create error = 0
2020-05-22 20:18:04.446 Df Hackintool[647:1454] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFQTX_DisposeInstance 0x10929e000, scheduled:0, output:0, high_perf:0[ nan%], blocked:0[ nan%], error:0, slices:0, maxFrameSize:

Don't know if that is helphul...

 

[passatgt]

Dear all,

after years of reading this incredible thread anonymously, I'd like to present myself after successfully upgrading my imac mid 2011 gpu thanks to your great work.

Initially (around 2018) my HD6970 failed, but I was able to reflow it, using a heat gun (together with a fancy adapter cut out of a beer can) and an IR thermometer. This worked flawlessly for almost 2 years but in the meantime i got curious upgrading the dGPU by reading this thread. Like 1 year ago I failed getting a GTX 880m to work, although I did not try flashing a 780m BIOS yet, as suggested recently.

Nevertheless, in January I was lucky to buy the WX7100 (109-C95847-00C_02 "Ellesmere") from TheFalChris.
Motivation was to being able to play X-Plane on my imac.

Thanks to the incredible Work of NickDvB, herrdude and of course Ausdauersportler (amdvbflash) I was able to flash the GOP Bios and get it to work with opencore and Catalina, including sleep.

Benchmarks are somewhat dissapointing though, because the GPU clock is stuck at 300MHz, while Mem Clock can rise up to 1250MHz.

After thinking and reading a lot, I get the impression that this throttling might be either due to faulty GPU Power Management / DSDT / kext issues or due to BIOS itself.

Unfortunately my opencore/hackintosh knowledge is as insufficient as for BIOS editing...(yet)

What are your thoughts regarding the WX7100 GPU clock issue, this hasn't been discussed in a while...

Cheers,

roscho

View attachment 917678
View attachment 917675
View attachment 917676

Do you have the screen connected correctly? All cables, temp sensor too? Without that, it will throttle down, i had this issue with a 2010 iMac before.

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

Yes, and I have done my best to copy your settings.
But maybe I messed up some small detail? Heres is the screendump.

Correct.
[automerge]1590172381[/automerge]

The GVAdebugchecker you attached spits this out every 20 seconds:

2020-05-22 20:18:04.438 Df Hackintool[647:1454] (AppleGVA) GVA info: getMainDisplayDecoder, intel:-1, vp2:-1, vp3:-1, vp4:0, amd:-1, gfx:vp4
2020-05-22 20:18:04.441 Df Hackintool[647:1454] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVDLoadAllAccelerators metalId: 0, metalIdIsValid: 0, needToLoad: 0, gRefCount: 154
2020-05-22 20:18:04.441 Df Hackintool[647:1454] (AppleGVA) GVA info: plugin is INTEL, offline.
2020-05-22 20:18:04.445 Df Hackintool[647:1454] (AppleGVA) GVA info: [11.6.8] AVFQTX_CreateInstance 0x10929e000, [1920x1056::1280x720] profile_level:77:41, tt(fp):0(0), usage:0, frame_mbs:1, di:0, dither:1, oold:0, boostOff:0, stream_ram:0, stream_buf_size:2097152, fmt: 420v ...
2020-05-22 20:18:04.445 Df Hackintool[647:1454] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFQTX_CreateInstance, GFX:0 ,Bandwidth:94003200, PhysicalAccelerator create error = 0
2020-05-22 20:18:04.446 Df Hackintool[647:1454] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFQTX_DisposeInstance 0x10929e000, scheduled:0, output:0, high_perf:0[ nan%], blocked:0[ nan%], error:0, slices:0, maxFrameSize:

Don't know if that is helphul...

Can you try to play a movie in VLC and checking at the same time GVAdebugchecker window?

 

[highvoltage12v]

Several people have DM'd me asking about the WX4130/WX4150 - I will reiterate what I posted a few pages back.
Please hang on all just a bit longer.

While *my* WX4130 works well in the 2010, these are still new and are still actively being tested. Currently, we are working to see what revisions of cards work, what model systems they work in, and what kind of performance metrics we can get from these cards. Since they are the same GPU core, we can likely even stretch them to WX4150 performance by unlocking additional shaders in VBIOS. (thanks @internetzel and @Nick [D]vB !)

I understand your desire to have a Polaris based card for the ~$100 price range, but please let us finalize our testing so we can make solid recommendations and give you proven methods! @highvoltage12v has a few on order from China, and shipping is not the fastest with the current world state!

Thank you for your patience! To everyone who DM'd me, please consider this your response and hang tight!

My USA Dell 00D card came and it's actually an RX560.(sold as a wx4130) However currently it's not detected in my 2011 iMac but works just fine in my HP elite 8200USDT and now 800G1 USDT. Everyone please just let me do my own testing and stop nagging about the AMD cards. I have the decency to not **** over sellers when the cards don't work as planned. We are actually pissing off some sellers which we don't want to happen, Because then we have nothing.

 

[sparky720John]

My USA Dell 00D card came and it's actually an RX560. However currently it's not detected in my 2011 iMac but works just fine in my HP elite 8200USDT and now 800G1 USDT. Everyone please just let me do my own testing and stop nagging about the AMD cards. I have the decency to not **** over sellers when the cards don't work as planned. We are actually pissing off some sellers which we don't want to happen, Because then we have nothing.

Thank you @highvoltage12v

thats kind of why I'm not bad mouthing my seller as the card seems to be find its just not working for me at the moment if it doesn't work for me, id be more than happy to sell it to someone else or even ship it to one of you to see if it works for you or not and go from there.

I took a chance bought it and now may have gotten stuck, but i at least can say i tried.

look forward to your results and what may come of it for you.

 

[MikkelF]

Can you try to play a movie in VLC and checking at the same time GVAdebugchecker window?

Trying some different videos gave this output:

2020-05-22 20:35:05.998 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39c] (AppleGVA) GVA info: plugin is INTEL, offline.
2020-05-22 20:35:05.999 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39c] (AppleGVA) GVA info: ** Scaling Enabled
2020-05-22 20:35:06.007 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b309] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_Finalize
2020-05-22 20:35:06.015 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_Create
2020-05-22 20:35:06.015 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: source Format 420v, widht = 1920, height = 1080
2020-05-22 20:35:06.015 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: dest Format 420v, widht = 28, height = 15
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetSourceChromaLocation = 0
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetScaling (1)
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Source (1920.00 x 1080.00)
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Source (0.00 x 0.00)
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Dest (28.00 x 15.00)
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Dest (0.00 x 0.00)
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetDestChromaLocation = 0
2020-05-22 20:35:06.017 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetPriority
2020-05-22 20:35:06.017 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVDLoadAllAccelerators metalId: 0, metalIdIsValid: 0, needToLoad: 0, gRefCount: 1

2020-05-22 20:48:03.457 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_Create
2020-05-22 20:48:03.457 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: source Format 420v, widht = 1920, height = 1080
2020-05-22 20:48:03.457 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: dest Format 420v, widht = 1920, height = 1080
2020-05-22 20:48:03.458 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_Finalize
2020-05-22 20:48:03.462 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: IOService IOGVACodec Gen6
2020-05-22 20:48:03.464 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: getMainDisplayDecoder, intel:-1, vp2:-1, vp3:-1, vp4:0, amd:-1, gfx:vp4
2020-05-22 20:48:03.468 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVDLoadAllAccelerators metalId: 0, metalIdIsValid: 0, needToLoad: 1, gRefCount: 0
2020-05-22 20:48:03.468 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: plugin is INTEL, offline.
2020-05-22 20:48:03.475 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: [11.6.8] AVFQTX_CreateInstance 0x116ef9000, [1920x1088::1920x1080] profile_level:77:42, tt(fp):0(0), usage:0, frame_mbs:1, di:0, dither:1, oold:0, boostOff:0, stream_ram:0, stream_buf_size:2097152, fmt: 420v ...
2020-05-22 20:48:03.475 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFQTX_CreateInstance, GFX:0 ,Bandwidth:94003200, PhysicalAccelerator create error = 0
2020-05-22 20:48:03.480 Df VLC[3242:d197] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFQTX_DecodeFrame, burstSizeNormal: 2, burstSizeHighPerf: 4
2020-05-22 20:48:03.488 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_Create
2020-05-22 20:48:03.488 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: source Format 420v, widht = 1920, height = 1080
2020-05-22 20:48:03.488 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: dest Format 420v, widht = 1920, height = 1080
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetSourceChromaLocation = 0
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetScaling (1)
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Source (1920.00 x 1080.00)
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Source (0.00 x 0.00)
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Dest (1920.00 x 1080.00)
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Dest (0.00 x 0.00)
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetDestChromaLocation = 0
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetPriority
2020-05-22 20:48:03.490 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVDLoadAllAccelerators metalId: 0, metalIdIsValid: 0, needToLoad: 0, gRefCount: 1
2020-05-22 20:48:03.490 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: plugin is INTEL, offline.
2020-05-22 20:48:03.491 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: ** Scaling Enabled

2020-05-22 20:49:42.225 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFQTX_DisposeInstance 0x116ef9000, scheduled:5918, output:5918, high_perf:5918[100.00%], blocked:5913[99.92%], error:0, slices:1, maxFrameSize:549663
2020-05-22 20:49:42.257 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_Finalize

 

[jborko]

@sparky720John @jborko
yes, it might. i'm not sure, i have to take a look in side my imac to see the PSU.
( or one of you have a open i mac and want to check that)

reading the About of @Pascal Baillargeau
and what have, and i do a rough calculation based on what i can finde on the network of power draw. per component

- i7 2600 - 95watt (max) idle about 45 watt.
- wx7100 - 130 Watt (max) idle 20watt.
- 3 SSD's, - what i read about 0.5watt per ssd. so 2 watts.
- 32GB ram - 2 watt per RAM, so 8 watt.

if we assume idle power, its bout 100 watts ( more or less)

what is left is the power draw of the LCD and main board.
and the consumption of fan's
i dont think that all is at full blast when you power the imac. i can stick a power meter between the main's and the imac to see the draw with the default GPU

i have
2011 27"
- i7 2600
- 1TB original HDD.
- 32GB ram
spin up of the HDD seems to be 30 watss acording to what i read on the internet.
but i have to see, test.
to round of.

i see that a iMac A1312 27 inch PSU is 310Watt, i'm not around my imac now. but i can take a look if i have the same PSU. 310watts sounds more than enough.

View attachment 917677

I think that there are some other parts that need to be taken into consideration

±095W - i7 2600
±030W - LogicBoard
±010W - Memory Sticks x4
±009W - SSDs x3 (more for HDD)
±006W - Fans x3
±030W - Inverter Board/Display (at Max brightness)
±130W - WX7100 (at Heavy Usage)
====================
±300W

I also compared several PSU from 2011 27' models and all appear to have the same PSU model PA-2311-02A.

So I am developing my thoughts further. I am thinking that the problem is not a stable sustained power but a potential peak in the current, that might trigger some sort of OverCurrent Protection on the PSU or the Logic Board. If you look at the power supply specification, it can support maximum 25.8A current (which again is logical because P=VxI, and V being constant 12V). Since this is DC, we can take that V=12V remains constant, so the peak in the current can be caused only by a short (R=0) or a component with very low resistance somewhere on the 12V line (R<0,5 Ohms) (since I=V/R => P=V²/R). Which might mean a lot of things but in simple terms most probable cause will be some dead component on the card.

Maybe too deep, and unnecessary calculations, but if you look at all the available cards this one has highest TDP and very small power margin that you can work with.

Thermals are different thing too... Perhaps there is a limit to that too, so perhaps connecting/disconnecting thermal sensors could help to fool the thermal protection of the system (though difficult to say if it is worth to risk it)...

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

Trying some different videos gave this output:

2020-05-22 20:35:05.998 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39c] (AppleGVA) GVA info: plugin is INTEL, offline.
2020-05-22 20:35:05.999 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39c] (AppleGVA) GVA info: ** Scaling Enabled
2020-05-22 20:35:06.007 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b309] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_Finalize
2020-05-22 20:35:06.015 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_Create
2020-05-22 20:35:06.015 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: source Format 420v, widht = 1920, height = 1080
2020-05-22 20:35:06.015 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: dest Format 420v, widht = 28, height = 15
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetSourceChromaLocation = 0
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetScaling (1)
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Source (1920.00 x 1080.00)
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Source (0.00 x 0.00)
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Dest (28.00 x 15.00)
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Dest (0.00 x 0.00)
2020-05-22 20:35:06.016 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetDestChromaLocation = 0
2020-05-22 20:35:06.017 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetPriority
2020-05-22 20:35:06.017 Df VTDecoderXPCService[3114:b39f] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVDLoadAllAccelerators metalId: 0, metalIdIsValid: 0, needToLoad: 0, gRefCount: 1

2020-05-22 20:48:03.457 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_Create
2020-05-22 20:48:03.457 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: source Format 420v, widht = 1920, height = 1080
2020-05-22 20:48:03.457 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: dest Format 420v, widht = 1920, height = 1080
2020-05-22 20:48:03.458 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_Finalize
2020-05-22 20:48:03.462 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: IOService IOGVACodec Gen6
2020-05-22 20:48:03.464 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: getMainDisplayDecoder, intel:-1, vp2:-1, vp3:-1, vp4:0, amd:-1, gfx:vp4
2020-05-22 20:48:03.468 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVDLoadAllAccelerators metalId: 0, metalIdIsValid: 0, needToLoad: 1, gRefCount: 0
2020-05-22 20:48:03.468 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: plugin is INTEL, offline.
2020-05-22 20:48:03.475 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: [11.6.8] AVFQTX_CreateInstance 0x116ef9000, [1920x1088::1920x1080] profile_level:77:42, tt(fp):0(0), usage:0, frame_mbs:1, di:0, dither:1, oold:0, boostOff:0, stream_ram:0, stream_buf_size:2097152, fmt: 420v ...
2020-05-22 20:48:03.475 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFQTX_CreateInstance, GFX:0 ,Bandwidth:94003200, PhysicalAccelerator create error = 0
2020-05-22 20:48:03.480 Df VLC[3242:d197] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFQTX_DecodeFrame, burstSizeNormal: 2, burstSizeHighPerf: 4
2020-05-22 20:48:03.488 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_Create
2020-05-22 20:48:03.488 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: source Format 420v, widht = 1920, height = 1080
2020-05-22 20:48:03.488 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: dest Format 420v, widht = 1920, height = 1080
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetSourceChromaLocation = 0
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetScaling (1)
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Source (1920.00 x 1080.00)
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Source (0.00 x 0.00)
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Dest (1920.00 x 1080.00)
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: Dest (0.00 x 0.00)
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetDestChromaLocation = 0
2020-05-22 20:48:03.489 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_SetPriority
2020-05-22 20:48:03.490 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVDLoadAllAccelerators metalId: 0, metalIdIsValid: 0, needToLoad: 0, gRefCount: 1
2020-05-22 20:48:03.490 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: plugin is INTEL, offline.
2020-05-22 20:48:03.491 Df VLC[3242:d1f0] (AppleGVA) GVA info: ** Scaling Enabled

2020-05-22 20:49:42.225 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFQTX_DisposeInstance 0x116ef9000, scheduled:5918, output:5918, high_perf:5918[100.00%], blocked:5913[99.92%], error:0, slices:1, maxFrameSize:549663
2020-05-22 20:49:42.257 Df VLC[3242:d193] (AppleGVA) GVA info: AVFPixelProcess_Finalize

Correct permissions on AppleGVA: (It cannot hurts)
sudo chmod -R 755 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleGVA.framework (THEN ENTER)
sudo chown -R 0:0 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleGVA.framework (THEN ENTER)

Reboot.

Play a h264 video with VLC.
Open Activity monitor.
search for VTD
Open every VTD instance.
Look at files and open ports on each
You should see hardware decoder presence.

 

[roscho]

Do you have the screen connected correctly? All cables, temp sensor too? Without that, it will throttle down, i had this issue with a 2010 iMac before.

Thanks for your suggestion passatgt,

opened up the imac and verified that all cables were in place.

Performed SMC reset afterwards, still no change.
During geekbench for example, Mem clock increases shortly to 1250MHz and falls back to 300 directly, while GPU clock stays at 300...

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

Thanks for your suggestion passatgt,

opened up the imac and verified that all cables were in place.

Performed SMC reset afterwards, still no change.
During geekbench for example, Mem clock increases shortly to 1250MHz and falls back to 300 directly, while GPU clock stays at 300...

Before you flashed the card what was the behavior with precedent bios installed by Falchris?

 

[xanderon]

Something is working. Boot without the SD card holding OpenCore and check the Monitor panel in the systems preferences app, again. Make a screen shot and compare the pictures.
Somehow you display is right now recognized as the internal one and the picture has been changed to reflect this. Unfortunately the backlight control has not been enabled.

Could you please take and send screen shots from

About this Mac -> System Report -> Graphics/Display
and
About this Mac (only)

without open core I have an external apple screen, with opencore I have the iMac under system settings / monitor

 

[highvoltage12v]

without open core I have an external apple screen, with opencore I have the iMac under system settings / monitor

Sometimes just doing a PRAM reset will fix this.

 

[Fernando Cardone]

Hi my friends, I´m glad I found this forum and maybe you can help me out.

I have Imac 27 2011 /i5 3.1/ 480ssd with no data/ dead radeon 6970m.

Honestly I need this computer to be working. I´m seeking the fastest cheapest way of doing this at this moment, and then a proper upgrade.

After reading some cases in the thread I´ve come to the conclusion that I can make this mac working:
- under Windows 10
- with NVIDIA Quadro K610M installed
- via windows I’m going to run native brightness control and windows system ok
- I´ll have no custom VBIOS for boot screens.

Can anyone corroborate this?

If going this way, what´s the best option to install win10? xanderon pre-made USB that can flash Nvidia cards in the iMac with Linux over SSH?

For Quadro K610M ( MXM-A ) there are no modifications needed on the heatsink for 27" iMac right?


I want to keep this first try as simple as possible. Can you recommend or tell me the flaws if I’m mistaken? Thanks to the community

 

[rc3105]

For quick, easy & usable get a K1100m.

edit: can't speak to the 610m, haven't used one.

Xanderon's SD linux is the easiest way to flash if you're any good with the cmd line.

 

[Fernando Cardone]

I understand what you mean, but i want to remove doubts concerning this. I don´t have the money right know believe it or not for the k1100m. Is my objective achievable so to speak?

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

I understand what you mean, but i want to remove doubts concerning this. I don´t have the money right know believe it or not for the k1100m. Is my objective achievable so to speak?

Did you tried a 6970m reflow already?