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

[fdmr]

Hello,
I have an iMac Mid 2011 21.5'' 2.5 GHz i5 with graphics card "AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512 MB".

The only way to run Catalina is by changing the graphics card?

Thanks.

 

[khindemit]

Your setup looks correct.
That AMD card uses a "Gigadevice" Flash Rom. It is 4M bit.
The correct reading on it is: 25Q40CT.
Try using manu:"GIGADEVICE" and try: "GD25D40".
The "Q" just means 3V.

Thanks for quick reply!
I tried with provided settings, but it seems not working (7.png)

 

[rtowner75]

Greetings Everyone -
i have my 2011 27” iMac successfully upgraded with the WX7100 and working almost flawlessly. i still have some crashes when restarting or going into sleep mode. i have disabled sleep function to avoid that.

I see a fair amount of posts regarding opencore and updating to 10.15.4 or 10.15.5.

can anyone say if i go this route and update i can fix the sleep and restart issues?

Thanks
Robert

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

Greetings Everyone -
i have my 2011 27” iMac successfully upgraded with the WX7100 and working almost flawlessly. i still have some crashes when restarting or going into sleep mode. i have disabled sleep function to avoid that.

I see a fair amount of posts regarding opencore and updating to 10.15.4 or 10.15.5.

can anyone say if i go this route and update i can fix the sleep and restart issues?

Thanks
Robert

Sleep/wake works installing HD3000 kext set.

 

[sparky720John]

So it took a little bit longer that i promised, but the dell starts with the GPU. That said I wanted to test if anything else works on gpu, but when i tried to flash back the vBIOS from GOP to the original one I couldn't do it. For some reason EVERY time I'm trying to clip the chip the programmer disconnects from the PC, when i take off the clip it turns on again, anyone have any idea how to fix it? It looks like the programmer is lacking power to run or something, same thing happens on other laptop even when i first clip the chip then connect programmer to the usb.

I ran tests to make sure the clip was reading on system a couple times before i flashed the chip, and also put a little pressure on it to hold it hold and make contact with the chip the whole time.

 

[khindemit]

Thanks for quick reply!
I tried with provided settings, but it seems not working (7.png)

Now I tried to read the flash on my Mac using flashrom utility. Here is the terminal output:

$ sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -r flash_backup.bin
Password:
flashrom v1.2 on Darwin 17.7.0 (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Calibrating delay loop... OK.
Found GigaDevice flash chip "GD25Q40(B)" (512 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.
===
This flash part has status UNTESTED for operations: PROBE READ ERASE WRITE
The test status of this chip may have been updated in the latest development
version of flashrom. If you are running the latest development version,
please email a report to flashrom@flashrom.org if any of the above operations
work correctly for you with this flash chip. Please include the flashrom log
file for all operations you tested (see the man page for details), and mention
which mainboard or programmer you tested in the subject line.
Thanks for your help!
Reading flash... done.

When I open the flash_backup.bin file in xCode, it shows me just FF FF.
Could it be that this card has nothing written to BIOS?

 

[r6mile]

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 and 10.15.4 on a 2009 2011 iMac (possibly 2010, but I would need someone to confirm). 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!

Very useful post, thanks. I have followed these instructions but I get a message saying 'Error: Already started returned from Opencore.efi", after which I am greeted with the OpenCore selection where I must click"Boot macOS from Macintosh SSD". Any idea what I am doing wrong? Opencore is clearly working as I am able to adjust the brightness, it would just be great if it went straight into MacOS without having to select anything on boot

Update: That message seems to have gone away after a couple of restarts by itself, and now boots straight into MacOS!

 

[rtowner75]

Sleep/wake works installing HD3000 kext set.

Thanks so much for the quick reply. I'm afraid I must have done something wrong though. I tried this and my Mac would no longer boot. I had to reinstall macOS to fix.

nice thing is I guess, now I am updated to 10.15.5 but still no sleep and crashes on restart. any ideas??

Thanks!

 

[highvoltage12v]

Thanks so much for the quick reply. I'm afraid I must have done something wrong though. I tried this and my Mac would no longer boot. I had to reinstall macOS to fix.

nice thing is I guess, now I am updated to 10.15.5 but still no sleep and crashes on restart. any ideas??

Thanks!

If the Mac isn't booting after installing, then IOSurface isn't being installed properly, causing a Kernel Panic, I'm on 10.15.5 now, no issues.

The AMD Kext in the folder is only IF you are booting OpenCore which changes your Board_ID to iMacPro1,1 otherwise if not using OpenCore you just use the regular AppleSNBGraphics Kext. I see you are an AMD user, the readme says this.

 

[rtowner75]

If the Mac isn't booting after installing, then IOSurface isn't being installed properly, causing a Kernel Panic, I'm on 10.15.5 now, no issues.

The AMD Kext in the folder is only IF you are booting OpenCore which changes your Board_ID to iMacPro1,1 otherwise if not using OpenCore you just use the regular AppleSNBGraphics Kext. I see you are an AMD user, the readme says this.

ok... i just tried again and same result. I’m not sure if i should be using OpenCore or not??

i am reinstalling MacOS now and will try what you suggest.

Thanis for the help! Much appreciated! I will let you know how it goes soon.

 

[highvoltage12v]

ok... i just tried again and same result. I’m not sure if i should be using OpenCore or not??

i am reinstalling MacOS now and will try what you suggest.

Thanis for the help! Much appreciated! I will let you know how it goes soon.

I'm guessing you are using a GOP ROM and not an EG2 ROM. So use OpenCore. But then when it's time to install use the SNB Kext in the AMD folder. Make sure you are unlocking your System partition with Hackintool and installing the Kexts to S*/L*/E using Kext utility drag all the Kexts onto Kext utility icon.

 

[rtowner75]

I'm guessing you are using a GOP ROM and not an EG2 ROM. So use OpenCore. But then when it's time to install use the SNB Kext in the AMD folder. Make sure you are unlocking your System partition with Hackintool and installing the Kexts to S*/L*/E using Kext utility drag all the Kexts onto Kext utility icon.

i did flash the card myself, but not sure what ROM i used. how do i check? so you recommend one over the other? also is there a set of instructions on how to properly use OpenCore? I’ve searched and searched and just trying to piece together bits of direction from here and there. Can’t seem to find one set of instructions??

 

[highvoltage12v]

i did flash the card myself, but not sure what ROM i used. how do i check? so you recommend one over the other? also is there a set of instructions on how to properly use OpenCore? I’ve searched and searched and just trying to piece together bits of direction from here and there. Can’t seem to find one set of instructions??

Unless you modified your BootROM on the logic board by Clipping the EEPROM on the logic board you must use the GOP ROM. The EG2 ROM needs 2 .FFS files added to your BootROM which is alot of work for some people.

 

[rtowner75]

Unless you modified your BootROM on the logic board by Clipping the EEPROM on the logic board you must use the GOP ROM. The EG2 ROM needs 2 .FFS files added to your BootROM which is alot of work for some people.

ok... i did use the clip tool. I will search a bit for the file that i used. i did get it from here somewhere but it was a while ago.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. it is very much apprecreated!

 

[highvoltage12v]

ok... i did use the clip tool. I will search a bit for the file that i used. i did get it from here somewhere but it was a while ago.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. it is very much apprecreated!

To put it simply, did you dump your iMacs BootROM using RomTool open it with UEFITool then add EDIDParser.ffs and CoreEG2.ffs to your BootROM and then manually flash it back to the main logic board? If you did all that then you can use an EG2 ROM otherwise use a GOP ROM.

 

[rtowner75]

To put it simply, did you dump your iMacs BootROM using RomTool open it with UEFITool then add EDIDParser.ffs and CoreEG2.ffs to your BootROM and then manually flash it back to the main logic board? If you did all that then you can use an EG2 ROM otherwise use a GOP ROM.

ok, i think i understand. I did not do anything to the iMac’s boot rom. just the rom on the graphics card.

**edit

Nevermind that comment.. yes I did do the dump and added those files. i did all this back in January and had to go back through my notes to find what i actually did. this is definitely not my normal day job LOL

 

[RRPC]

I tested today iMac 27'' 2011 WX100 power draw with a power meter plug. (LCD to 40%)
During boot maximum draw was 202W.
Idle on desktop : around 95W average.
During valley benchmark, 190W average, with some higher values up to 220W.
We are far here from maximum power supply capacity 310W.

Pretty good Pascal. Thx for the share.
And to see that even with the wx7100, that there are no power drawing issues
You might miss my post that I also did do a measurement from cold boot to Mac os.

2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

Yes, but you talk about the maximum current ldrawing of all components. Then you have maybe maximum 10watts headroom. And it's good to think about it. As said. And promised I'm having a power meter plug. And I have stick it between the imac's and the mains. With start up the imac pulls 100watt...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[overshoot]

Hi,

I have an iMac 2011 27" with a Core i7 and a GTX765 flashed by latest nick's bios under Catalina 10.15.4
I am experiencing this:

Any time I start the iMac, I have to hold the option key to go to the EFI boot menu and then select the boot drive.
Otherwise my screen will remain black.
If I reset the PRAM, it will work fine.

Even if the screen is black, I can tell it's loading the OS and will boot fine.
I can even turn it off using the short cut keys.

I haven't installed OpenCore yet but I am wondering if that would fix the problem.

Any idea what I could do to prevent that?
Thanks!

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

Hi,

I have an iMac 2011 27" with a Core i7 and a GTX765 flashed by latest nick's bios under Catalina 10.15.4
I am experiencing this:

Any time I start the iMac, I have to hold the option key to go to the EFI boot menu and then select the boot drive.
Otherwise my screen will remain black.
If I reset the PRAM, it will work fine.

Even if the screen is black, I can tell it's loading the OS and will boot fine.
I can even turn it off using the short cut keys.

I haven't installed OpenCore yet but I am wondering if that would fix the problem.

Any idea what I could do to prevent that?
Thanks!

What choices do you have on EFI boot menu?

 

[overshoot]

What choices do you have on EFI boot menu?

Simply the entry to load Catalina.

 

[bokkow]

-Wrong page, sorry-

 

[highvoltage12v]

Hi,

I have an iMac 2011 27" with a Core i7 and a GTX765 flashed by latest nick's bios under Catalina 10.15.4
I am experiencing this:

Any time I start the iMac, I have to hold the option key to go to the EFI boot menu and then select the boot drive.
Otherwise my screen will remain black.
If I reset the PRAM, it will work fine.

Even if the screen is black, I can tell it's loading the OS and will boot fine.
I can even turn it off using the short cut keys.

I haven't installed OpenCore yet but I am wondering if that would fix the problem.

Any idea what I could do to prevent that?
Thanks!

See post #5587 it has the AppleGraphicsControl Kext patched for 10.15.4+.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hello,
I have an iMac Mid 2011 21.5'' 2.5 GHz i5 with graphics card "AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512 MB".

The only way to run Catalina is by changing the graphics card?

Thanks.

The most popular way to install catalina is using the @dosdude1 installer. Go there and read carefully the compatibility list and notes and then come back to change your graphics card.

 

[overshoot]

See post #5587 it has the AppleGraphicsControl Kext patched for 10.15.4+.

Thanks!

 

[nathansz]

Greetings Everyone -
i have my 2011 27” iMac successfully upgraded with the WX7100 and working almost flawlessly. i still have some crashes when restarting or going into sleep mode. i have disabled sleep function to avoid that.

I see a fair amount of posts regarding opencore and updating to 10.15.4 or 10.15.5.

can anyone say if i go this route and update i can fix the sleep and restart issues?

Thanks
Robert

were you able to sleep with high Sierra?