Sometimes you get a card with a blank vBIOS that may act like this. You have a CH341A, give it a try.
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iM 4,1-14,4 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade
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unfortunately @Pascal Baillargeau was sharing the bios on these type of cards are not clippable as the legs are to small,
so I'm pretty much stuck on getting the bios on the card unless i had a system to plug into and get it to even turn on, with this it seems now my system doesn't like anything i put in it besides the original graphics card to power on.
Let's see, I bought 2 HP WX4150's that do the same thing, no power on, and I was accidentally sent a RX560M that doesn't work in 2011 iMacs and will software break the SMC in 2010 iMacs. Try beating that!
I can't beat you on that it maybe the wrong thing to do but i may just drop out and stick with the original card till the wheels fall off and just say to heck with upgrading the card,
i feel thats a low copout but with all the money invested and having to wait on china to get my part back and give me my money is a nightmare.
The following is an vbios ROMs for: Nvidia Quadro K4100M
NVIDIA Quadro K4100M
N15E-Q3-A2
MXM-B (3.0) bus interface, TDP 100W
The ROM is again based on Nick[D]vB's ROMs. All credit goes to him for his incredible work.
I used @tgaillar method to secure the card to a 3-pipe heatsink on the 27” 2011 iMac.
I used @xanderon technique to flash the ROM.
I am NOT a fan of Opencore. I don’t like using it. I refuse to use it.
I will admit, it seems to be the only way right now to solve certain problems which I’m working on, namely the kp when the AGDC plug-in is invoked.
Boot picker menu is functional with the usual black-screen 'delay'.
I have not had a chance to test it fully, but I can confirm brightness control will work with Opencore on at least High Sierra 10.13.6; no Lilu/WEG. You will likely need the patched AppleGraphicsControl.kext by @highvoltage12v after the 5-2020 security update and for higher version OS installs.
caution: these cards are based on a WSON flash package and therefore are much more difficult to recover from a bad flash for the average user. The EEPROMs are “lead-less” and a CH341a USB programmer cannot engage their pads. Be fair warned.
While it is still experimental, I’ve used it for 4wks now with/without OpenCore on a iMac 2011 27", no issues. Appreciate @highvoltage12v and @Ausdauersportler for their insights and sharing of ideas.
This card should be added to our database of working GPUs.
Enjoy!
**update**
This ROM is deprecated now and a newer version is available here <link>
NVIDIA Quadro K4100M
N15E-Q3-A2
MXM-B (3.0) bus interface, TDP 100W
The ROM is again based on Nick[D]vB's ROMs. All credit goes to him for his incredible work.
I used @tgaillar method to secure the card to a 3-pipe heatsink on the 27” 2011 iMac.
I used @xanderon technique to flash the ROM.
I am NOT a fan of Opencore. I don’t like using it. I refuse to use it.
I will admit, it seems to be the only way right now to solve certain problems which I’m working on, namely the kp when the AGDC plug-in is invoked.
Boot picker menu is functional with the usual black-screen 'delay'.
I have not had a chance to test it fully, but I can confirm brightness control will work with Opencore on at least High Sierra 10.13.6; no Lilu/WEG. You will likely need the patched AppleGraphicsControl.kext by @highvoltage12v after the 5-2020 security update and for higher version OS installs.
caution: these cards are based on a WSON flash package and therefore are much more difficult to recover from a bad flash for the average user. The EEPROMs are “lead-less” and a CH341a USB programmer cannot engage their pads. Be fair warned.
While it is still experimental, I’ve used it for 4wks now with/without OpenCore on a iMac 2011 27", no issues. Appreciate @highvoltage12v and @Ausdauersportler for their insights and sharing of ideas.
This card should be added to our database of working GPUs.
Enjoy!
**update**
This ROM is deprecated now and a newer version is available here <link>
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I saw recently this card in an eBay offer already flashed with @nikey22 vBIOS. And honestly: This card is on the unofficial support list for a few days, try to take a least some risk like others did before.
Well, actually this is exactly my problem. My score is even worse than that... Screen below:
Can you please check (and report back) the CPU and GPU core frequency using the HW Monitor on the Catalina Loader image while running the valley benchmark? The CPU should go up to the 2.5 GHZ and probably more. Thanks in advance
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Hello
My iMac runs like a charm with a K2100M 2Go
I may get a K3100M or K5000M both 4Go, will they work?
My iMac runs like a charm with a K2100M 2Go
I may get a K3100M or K5000M both 4Go, will they work?
I searched all the 288 pages of this great thread, thank you! I'm here to ask only one info that seems to be missing. I'm interested in a WX4130/WX4150 for a late 2009 27" with the custom firmware already published, but I can't find a picture where is clear how to find, if the board I'm buying, have or not have the VBIOS chip. So, can someone share a photo of a board with the chip and/or highlight in some way where to check? Will be a good idea to put it on the first page as reference? Thank you very much!
All we know is that you need a board with a BIOS chip. Most HP boards does not have it because the HP notebooks carry the video BIOS in it's own firmware. But that does not mean HP cards will not work at all. You are free to buy everything you want, we cannot burn our money on pre checking the market to make your live more easy
The BIOS has been released, now please help us with checking the available products.
I'm not asking anyone to buy these GPUs to help me save money, at all! Please see the picture below, this is a generic picture of a WX4150 I found on the web, if someone can tell which arrow is pointing the right VBIOS chip, I'll send it to the vendor in order to check their supplies. Thank you
Please see the picture below, this is a generic picture of a WX4150 I found on the web, if someone can tell which arrow is pointing the right VBIOS chip, I'll send it to the vendor in order to check their supplies. Thank youAttachments
It's the one on the top left corner, they made the package shorter now so it's impossible to put a clip on. Yes the vendors don't want to hear anything about the word "iMac" it triggers them.I'm not asking anyone to buy these GPUs to help me save money, at all!
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You do not get it: I will not comment on buying opportunities. You are trying to get a cheap used card from a Chinese reseller. Do it, take the vBIOS and check it out.I'm not asking anyone to buy these GPUs to help me save money, at all!
There is no generic picture of such a card as we already know of at least five different boards available. Some Chinese resellers do not sell any longer to users planning to use such a card in an iMac because in most cases these customers trying return the card later - because it does not run.
Assuming that your model is a 21.5" Mac-942B5BF58194151B (s-SKU CPU) here is a patched kext for you to try in Mac OS Catalina. Hopefully its not a CPU boost issue, but I haven't come across that before. I have also seen scores affected based on thermal paste application, boot High Sierra for a baseline score and report back as well.
Ok, now I get what you mean, I'll try to ask the seller to send the pictures of the card, just in case...
👍 if the pinout is similar (have to check datasheet) is not a problem, we are talking about 8 wires only
🥺
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Well, as you have anticipated, all cores' speeds stay at around 1.6 GHz...
Screenshot below. Grüße aus Polen
Okay, now we have at least two people sharing the very same problem. When I upgraded my 21.5 iMac two days ago I was adding like you a SSD and a HDD using both SATA 0 and SATA 1 ports - because I had no power cable I used a power splitter cable. Disconnecting the HDD does not solve the problem.Well, as you have anticipated, all cores' speeds stay at around 1.6 GHz...
Screenshot below. Grüße aus Polen
@highvoltage12v just told my he had cleaned his thermal paste and was getting better values later.
May be we face a thermal issue with the card here, too. The CPU refuses to boost while the internal system reports this issue back to the CPU. I do not know. I see the problem within three different MacOS versions so I am pretty sure it is not a software problem.
With my 27 iMac 2011 using a K2100M I had never seen such a problem so far. But if you watch the Valley score list I get the feeling we are not alone, here.
Piękny wieczór! (translate.google.com)
So to confirm your CPU speeds are locked at 1.58GHz and Never go above this? Are you by chance using an OWC HDD thermal sensor fix the missing HDD temp sensor? I'm using them in all my iMac's, just curious if it makes a difference.Well, as you have anticipated, all cores' speeds stay at around 1.6 GHz...
Screenshot below. Grüße aus Polen
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Hi Master
,indeed, all CPU cores' speeds are locked @ 1,58GHz. I have applied Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste to no change, unfortunately. The kext patch, you have posted today did not help, either. I am bit confused now ;/
I have two SSDs connected, as well as original DVD drive without any mods or special adapters. I use Macs Fan Control in order for my iMac to stay on the desk rather than shooting into space with all fans maxed
Was your k2100m a HP or dell card? You have any pictures of the card? I blindly used the OWC in-Line Digital Thermal Sensor and never checked to see if going without this could lock the CPU to 1.58GHz, @Ausdauersportler is going too check this out.Hi Master
indeed, all CPU cores' speeds are locked @ 1,58GHz. I have applied Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste to no change, unfortunately. The kext patch, you have posted today did not help, either. I am bit confused now ;/
I have two SSDs connected, as well as original DVD drive without any mods or special adapters. I use Macs Fan Control in order for my iMac to stay on the desk rather than shooting into space with all fans maxed
You mind just trying an SMC reset where you pull power cord, and hold power button for 10 seconds? Also a PRAM reset
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Apparently it is DELL's (DELL nVidia K2100M 2GB GDDR5 PN: 0G4FN0 G4FN0)
I have tried both SMC and PRAM resets. No luck ;(
Hi!
I have a few problems after a GPU replacement. First of all my mac starts only after a few attempts. I press the power button and nothing happens. After that with a 2-3 seconds delay I make another try and nothing. Pressing power button 3-5 times does the thing and system boots. But then my bluetooth module doesn't work at all. Also any USB mouse or keyboard doesn't work too which I think is very weird. After that I make hard reset by pressing power button for some time and then the story repeats - mac starts only with 3-5 pressings on the power button and no sign of bluetooth working. Bluetooth menu at the status bar shows squiggly icon. However sometimes USB mouse works and bluetooth not. So after 3-5 reboots like that my mac suddenly starts with the first attempt and my bluetooth works again with no signs of problem at all. This happens every time I'm trying to boot my mac correctly. One day I've decided leave it turned on for a few days and bluetooth works great without any problems. I didn't have theese issues before the new GPU instalment. I have also win 10 installed and the problem exists in windows too. So does anyone have similar issues or knows how I can fix this? BTW my new card is 770M patched with the Nick[D]vB firmware. Also I did both SMC and NVRAM resets multiple time. Thank you for any help!
I have a few problems after a GPU replacement. First of all my mac starts only after a few attempts. I press the power button and nothing happens. After that with a 2-3 seconds delay I make another try and nothing. Pressing power button 3-5 times does the thing and system boots. But then my bluetooth module doesn't work at all. Also any USB mouse or keyboard doesn't work too which I think is very weird. After that I make hard reset by pressing power button for some time and then the story repeats - mac starts only with 3-5 pressings on the power button and no sign of bluetooth working. Bluetooth menu at the status bar shows squiggly icon. However sometimes USB mouse works and bluetooth not. So after 3-5 reboots like that my mac suddenly starts with the first attempt and my bluetooth works again with no signs of problem at all. This happens every time I'm trying to boot my mac correctly. One day I've decided leave it turned on for a few days and bluetooth works great without any problems. I didn't have theese issues before the new GPU instalment. I have also win 10 installed and the problem exists in windows too. So does anyone have similar issues or knows how I can fix this? BTW my new card is 770M patched with the Nick[D]vB firmware. Also I did both SMC and NVRAM resets multiple time. Thank you for any help!
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