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

[eablokker]

You I would assume that you have a local issue with your network setup or cable or...

I just tried redownloading the linux usb and reformatting the usb drive and copying it back on. I saw it show up on the network for a brief period with some random name, but couldn't ssh into it, before it disappeared again. Once I choose configure network, then it shows up on the network as "grml" and I can ssh into it. I guess there could be some issue with my network, but that doesn't explain why it works fine after I go through the network configurator.

Whatever, I can probably do the network configuration blind after boot.

 

[caxias_Brazil]

Installed Windows_10x64 on the GPT drive in EFI mode.
To get the sound you need to use the "Large amount of memory."
For this we use this method. We get a new memory allocation table formed in the dsdt.aml file.
Next, we check its performance in the "Test Windows Operating Mode" without checking the driver signature.
If the performance of the new memory allocation table is confirmed (sound appeared), we can do two things.
(This is done in order to get away from the "Test Mode")
The first one. Change EFI with CLOVER. I did not consider this option for myself.
The second one. We create an external bootable USB stick or SD card according to this scenario. We write to it our modified dsdt.aml file.
This method is good in that it does not make adjustments and does not change the equipment settings.
Everything works fine and everything suits me.
But as always in life there are shortcomings and small inconveniences that I want to fix in accordance with their own whims.
For some short time I will follow the topic on the forum. Contact. I have not forgotten how to keep a spoon.
The technical parameters of my typewriter are in the signature.

Thanks for you support!
I fixed the sound problem. I used the dosdude patch(OpenCore).

 

[e-tip]

Hi everyone,
i've finally managed to replace my already baked ATI 6970 with a K2100 card.
Everything worked , ( brightness control and boot with opencore ) but i had issues when copying kext using kext utils ( my system resulted unbootable at the end ). So i reinstalled the system and this time i want to use the terminal to install kexts, but in the guide i see ( the pdf linked somewhere in this post ) that the last command should be sudo kcditto, which unfortunatley is not available in Mojave. Does anyone knows the mojave version of kcditto. I've googled but found none.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi everyone,
i've finally managed to replace my already baked ATI 6970 with a K2100 card.
Everything worked , ( brightness control and boot with opencore ) but i had issues when copying kext using kext utils ( my system resulted unbootable at the end ). So i reinstalled the system and this time i want to use the terminal to install kexts, but in the guide i see ( the pdf linked somewhere in this post ) that the last command should be sudo kcditto, which unfortunatley is not available in Mojave. Does anyone knows the mojave version of kcditto. I've googled but found none.

This Guide was created installing on Catalina, only. Probably the normal reboot is sufficient as a last step instead of the kcditto. You should be aware that there are two different sets of extensions for Mojave and Catalina. Pick the right one.

kcditto (Catalina) copies the newly prelinked kernel to a place where the system can us it:

Copying kernel: /Library/Apple/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel -> /System/Library/PrelinkedKernels
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I just tried redownloading the linux usb and reformatting the usb drive and copying it back on. I saw it show up on the network for a brief period with some random name, but couldn't ssh into it, before it disappeared again. Once I choose configure network, then it shows up on the network as "grml" and I can ssh into it. I guess there could be some issue with my network, but that doesn't explain why it works fine after I go through the network configurator.

Whatever, I can probably do the network configuration blind after boot.

Unless the source of the Linux boot stick contents has been changed recently and secretly we have for months now not a single user complaining about the network setup of this tool. You might have simply have a bad usb drive?
It is pretty clear that there must be something at your site wrong. Please fix this!

 

[e-tip]

Uh, that could be the reason behind my failure. I didn't realized that i need kext for Mojave. I'm reading the thread looking for Mojave version of kexts. Thanks for your support @Ausdauersportler

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Uh, that could be the reason behind my failure. I didn't realized that i need kext for Mojave. I'm reading the thread looking for Mojave version of kexts. Thanks for your support @Ausdauersportler

First page of the guide, nearly at the start...

1. Bevor starting the installation get also the latest files from @highvoltage12v post, especially the AppleGVA.framework and the AppleIntelSNB* files - there are patched versions for AMD card users out, now.

 

[e-tip]

First page of the guide, nearly at the start...

1. Bevor starting the installation get also the latest files from @highvoltage12v post, especially the AppleGVA.framework and the AppleIntelSNB* files - there are patched versions for AMD card users out, now.

Uhm, don't know how i missed that. Sorry

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Uhm, don't know how i missed that. Sorry

Come on, when I did my first GPU exchange and the following Catalina installation I missed this part entirely. Got a machine panicking on each sleep
And I will add a note to point out the differences to Mojave in the guide. This should be the only one, hopefully.

 

[Warbeard]

Hey everyone. Quick question since the people posting on this sub are experts;

A friend pulled a graphics card from a recycled 2011 imac at his repair shop. He doesn't know which card it is. How do I help him identify which 6970m card he has?

I asked him for the computers serial number but he said it was already gone and that he only had the grpahics card left of its parts.

I am asking for selfish reasons as I have a 2011 iMac with the 1gb card.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hey everyone. Quick question since the people posting on this sub are experts;

A friend pulled a graphics card from a recycled 2011 imac at his repair shop. He doesn't know which card it is. How do I help him identify which 6970m card he has?

I asked him for the computers serial number but he said it was already gone and that he only had the grpahics card left of its parts.

I am asking for selfish reasons as I have a 2011 iMac with the 1gb card.

Read the vBIOS from the card and use the terminal command strings to get the readable information out of the binary file. I had only 1GB cards and what I got from this using this method was:

strings BIOS.ROM | more
Apple K62 Blackcomb XT C29608/10/17/18 GDDR5 32Mx32 1GB

You can also use a simple hex editor to open and read the file. The human readable parts are easy to find.

The other method would be probably: Read the print on the VRAM chips, use google to find out the capacity and try your basic math knowledge...

 

[Warbeard]

Thanks!

 

[ZenSurfeur]

Hello

My imac 27 2011 works like a charm upgrade K2100m and BT4.0/Wifi ac > catalina 10,15,5 + Opencore

In this iMac, 4/4 dignostic leds are on.

I got another one, and two graphic cards another K2100m and a k1100m

I both flash them with the Nick vbios but.....

Chime Ok, Black screen, 2/4 leds on from the left on the "new" iMac, it seems no video card found

Try to test the cards in the functional iMac same results

Any idea?

Is there a way to verify if a graphic card is dead?

thx

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Any idea?

Is there a way to verify if a graphic card is dead?

thx

Do we have to take the blue or the red pill, now?

 

[ZenSurfeur]

The news

using the second iMac 27 with a k2100m using an external screen
- black screen main screen, chime but no apple logo
- the K2100m flashed with Nick modded vBios is recognized as.... a Nvidia GTX 660 1023Mo !?!?
on the gpu it's written N15P-Q3-A1 and this means Quadro K2100M 2Gb, so what's wrong?

with the k1100m nothing
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Do we have to take the blue or the red pill, now?

this is your choice Neo

 

[dnarna]

As of yesterday I have successfully upgraded the graphics cards in two 2011 27" iMacs (512MB and 1GB cards originally) with K2100m: the first took a few days of chipping away, the second took about 2.5 hours. I used the linux USB boot and SSH method to flash, and have OpenCore running from SD cards in both. Both seem to be running really well. I've kept High Sierra simply for stability at this point (the one iMac is the Family Daily Driver so I always hesitate to take it out of service).

1. GPU Die Temp is blank: is this helpful for fan operation and is there any way to get this going again?
2. Can OpenCore be installed on a small partition on the main boot drive (or second HDD in one iMac) so the external drive is not necessary?
3. Is upgrading to Mojave (likely my high point to keep 32 bit applications on the Family Daily Driver) or Catalina fairly straightforward from here? Wikipost has been upgraded since I last read! Nevermind!

I realize many of these questions are probably fairly naive or covered elsewhere but just to confirm! Thanks so much to everyone.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

As of yesterday I have successfully upgraded the graphics cards in two 2011 27" iMacs (512MB and 1GB cards originally) with K2100m: the first took a few days of chipping away, the second took about 2.5 hours. I used the linux USB boot and SSH method to flash, and have OpenCore running from SD cards in both. Both seem to be running really well. I've kept High Sierra simply for stability at this point (the one iMac is the Family Daily Driver so I always hesitate to take it out of service).

1. GPU Die Temp is blank: is this helpful for fan operation and is there any way to get this going again?
2. Can OpenCore be installed on a small partition on the main boot drive (or second HDD in one iMac) so the external drive is not necessary?
3. Is upgrading to Mojave (likely my high point to keep 32 bit applications on the Family Daily Driver) or Catalina fairly straightforward from here?

I realize many of these questions are probably fairly naive or covered elsewhere but just to confirm! Thanks so much to everyone.

Elsewhere is post #1 on page #1 ...
1. no, third party fan control necessary
2. yes
3. elsewhere

 

[e-tip]

Hi all!
after issues i had with mojave ( after stop the monitor didn't restart ) even if i changed the kexts, i decided to upgrade to Catalina ( i need it also to develop with swift UI ). i just installed catalina over Mojave but the system keep on rebooting at boot. So my idea was to wipe out the Macintosh-HD volume and do a clean install. Just for confirmation, if i format only Macintosh_HD but i don't touch the Macintosh_HD - Data created during Catalina install, it's the same as having a clean system, without loosing user data, correct ?

 

[eablokker]

1. GPU Die Temp is blank: is this helpful for fan operation and is there any way to get this going again?

I was wondering about this too. First post says this:

7. GPU temperature monitoring is available on the K1100M, K2100M, WX4170, and WX7100 when using both custom VBIOS and OpenCore. A modified version of FakeSMC and GPUSensors is included with the OpenCore bundle to allow monitoring of GPU temps.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I was wondering about this too. First post says this:

Yes, it says YOU can monitor the temps using HW Monitor, unfortunately Apple and the SMC rely upon the GPU die temperature, which is gone.
Unless someone comes up which a patch of this software to use the newly available temperature data or the heat sink temp everybody should carefully use a third party control app. Every MXM B card will be baked to death during normal use without a running fan management.
Guys, everybody should have recognized that the Apple fan control does not work. Just run a valley benchmark and observe the fans. My fans do nothing unless I switch on the Mac Fan Control ...
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Hi all!
after issues i had with mojave ( after stop the monitor didn't restart ) even if i changed the kexts, i decided to upgrade to Catalina ( i need it also to develop with swift UI ). i just installed catalina over Mojave but the system keep on rebooting at boot. So my idea was to wipe out the Macintosh-HD volume and do a clean install. Just for confirmation, if i format only Macintosh_HD but i don't touch the Macintosh_HD - Data created during Catalina install, it's the same as having a clean system, without loosing user data, correct ?

The black screen issue has been observed with every MacOS. Go back to page one and try to solve this before you end up with Catalina in the same situation. Pressing the option key to get the EFI boot picker helps around at least with Nvidia cards and proper vBIOS. Page one, post one.

Backup your data before deleting APFS the APFS container. You will find more help about the system management on threads focussing on that topic.

Installation using a USB drive overwrites (at least I believe this) the system completely, I cannot see why deleting the system partition should give you an advantage...

 

[BadBiscuit]

... Guys, everybody should have recognized that the Apple fan control does not work. Just run a valley benchmark and observe the fans. My fans do nothing unless I switch on the Mac Fan Control ...

I guess I was not aware, but will pay more attention. I can hear the fan(s) running but perhaps it is only the one for CPU. There is a sensor on the GPU‘s heatsink. Shouldn’t that be providing sufficient input for the GPU fan‘s operation?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I guess I was not aware, but will pay more attention. I can hear the fan(s) running but perhaps it is only the one for CPU. There is a sensor on the GPU‘s heatsink. Shouldn’t that be providing sufficient input for the GPU fan‘s operation?

Third party software should use the heat sink temp because the fan cools the sink. I do exactly this until we find a better solution!

 

[okamiokami]

Yes, go to the first page and first post and search for "black screen" issue. For each MacOS version @highvoltage12v published a fitting kernel extension to replace. Than you can get around the "alt/option" bypass. You need it at least once to get into the MacOS and do the extension installation.

The saga continues!

I installed the extension (the guide was a little confusing, Hackintool points to L/E but the extension must be installed in S/L/E AFTER disabling gatekeeper, mounting the disk in RW and possibly after deleting the original Kext).

Latest problem: I'd like to solve the sleep and brightness issues. Apparently I need OpenCore to do that, but as little as I know about hackintosh, you normally do NOT need to boot from USB (as the guide apparently suggests). In open core hackintosh videos, the OC configuration is normally written onto the (internal) startup disk.

Is that possible with a modded iMac?

Apologies for my dreadful English, it's quite late and I'm not a native speaker...

Any help is appreciated!

 

[dn325ci]

Third party software should use the heat sink temp because the fan cools the sink. I do exactly this until we find a better solution!

Out of curiousity @Ausdauersportler what do you set your sensor limits at for fan control? I'm trying to set my own and looking for what others are doing. Google isn't fronting up any best practices I can see. Thanks.

 

[dualstereo]

Hi, so I tried to upgrade my iMac 21.5 11' gpu to k2000m, disassemble everything, putting on the GPU and I try to check the led diagnostic before putting on the LCD.

At first there were only one led turn on. I unscrew the logic board and check evry cable at the back in case I miss something, then screw it back on and plug in psu and power cable.

As I was pressing the power button, I saw a spark on my logic board

As you can see on the bottom left 😣

I don't know what went wrong but yeahhh, goodbye logic board

 

[e-tip]

Out of curiousity @Ausdauersportler what do you set your sensor limits at for fan control? I'm trying to set my own and looking for what others are doing. Google isn't fronting up any best practices I can see. Thanks.

If you download the pdf from this post you'll find some suggested settings for macs fan control
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I was in the situation that, a clean installation of Catalina 10.15.5 lead to a continue reboot loop caused by a kernel panic ( unfortunatley i cannot read the error message as it was too fast ) during the system boot. I've tried everything ( reinstalled catalina, boot with open core and without opencore, with no luck, until i remembered that mac os has a safe mode. So i started my mac in safe mode, installed all the required kexts, following the guide found in this post in safe mode and than i finally got my catalina working. Hope this can help.

I want to report to @Ausdauersportler that there's a little error in the pdf, at page 8 ( where the manual explaination of installing kexts ) commands should be

sudo chmod -R 755 /System/Library/Extension/
sudo chown -R 0:0 /System/Library/Extension/

instead of

sudo chown -R 755 /System/Library/Extension/
sudo chmod -R 0:0 /System/Library/Extension/