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

[Ausdauersportler]

😀 Oh, it's compareable with ATI HD4670M 😀

The fans ran like crazy during the Valley benchmark. But, it runs Catalina with all the other metal aware apps unlike the 4670M. For writing, surfing, programming etc. this card is more than enough.

 

[Pacific1972]

The fans ran like crazy during the Valley benchmark. But, it runs Catalina with all the other metal aware apps unlike the 4670M. For writing, surfing, programming etc. this card is more than enough.

That is for a 27" iMac the cheapest and worst solution 🙄 but of course
better than disabling complete AMD / NVIDIA Driver - if I think about the
native screen resolution, it's good for an 21.5" Core i3 and with perhaps
24 frames on a FHD screen it becomes attractive again...

😉

 

[RockettSJ]

First of all apologies if this has already been asked. I upgraded the video card in my iMac Mid 2011 on Tuesday, flashed the BIOS to Nick[D]vB's custom firmware. All worked well in High Sierra, my external display was correctly detected.

I then added the OpenCore USB boot solution and got native brightness control.

So I took the plunge and installed Catalina using the DOSDude utility. I am now typing this from Catalina and everything is working except my external display is no longer detected.

I am hoping there is a quick and easy fix for this?

Shaun

 

[Ausdauersportler]

First of all apologies if this has already been asked. I upgraded the video card in my iMac Mid 2011 on Tuesday, flashed the BIOS to Nick[D]vB's custom firmware. All worked well in High Sierra, my external display was correctly detected.

I then added the OpenCore USB boot solution and got native brightness control.

So I took the plunge and installed Catalina using the DOSDude utility. I am now typing this from Catalina and everything is working except my external display is no longer detected.

I am hoping there is a quick and easy fix for this?

Shaun

Read post one on page one of this thread!

 

[RockettSJ]

Read post one on page one of this thread!

I'll never really understand why it's always assumed that you haven't read the first post. The fact that I got this far should imply otherwise. I know one thing, I never want to go through dismantling another 21.5" iMac again. Good old Apple and their screws on the back of the logic board =). Anyway I decided to try switching the adapter I was using. My secondary display was connected with a Mini-DP to VGA adapter. I switched to Mini-DP to DVI and it worked.

Shaun

 

[Pacific1972]

I'll never really understand why it's always assumed that you haven't read the first post. The fact that I got this far should imply otherwise. I know one thing, I never want to go through dismantling another 21.5" iMac again. Good old Apple and their screws on the back of the logic board =). Anyway I decided to try switching the adapter I was using. My secondary display was connected with a Mini-DP to VGA adapter. I switched to Mini-DP to DVI and it worked.

Shaun

Hello if you come so far I hope you haven't rebuild your IMac back to original condition ?
It's good to get practice to open and repair an IMac or should people in India or china
make it better ? Perhaps you must open your iMac from time to time 😵

External Displays are securely only working with High Sierra (one piece, not two) but with
an installed 3rd party video card you are almost entering "EXPERIMENTAL AREA 51" and this
is same while using dosdudes OS Mojave Patcher or OS Catalina Patcher on an unsupported
machine !

It's useful to handle HDD or SSD with High Sierra and installing Mojave / Catalina on another
Partition - it's more secure. Otherwise it's useful to have a working original Apple video card
for solving problems like boot or logical macOS complications while using the Nvidia cards.

Infos while using Nvidia Quadro cards:

High Sierra
+ use "AppleGraphicsControl.KEXT" with KextDrop
+ disable / deactivate more than one bootable Device (not 2xSSD inside iMac)
+ test Nvidia Web Driver & NVIDIA CUDA Support - disable it if any problems
+ disable energy relevant sleep modes: shut down / boot up - only
(sleep mode is for sleepers 😄)

Mojave / Catalina
+ On install and second USB Stick boot use recommended Attributes for your machine
but disable "Legacy Video Support / Driver"
+ use original Apple driver (no NVIDIA Web Driver / CUDA Support)
+ use 2nd Partition only for Mojave 32-64Bit / Catalina 64Bit Apps & Metal Games

for black screen on start / hibernate / sleep mode because of wrong EFI settings (?)
perhaps you can take the CR2032 battery out of the Logic Board or disconnect the power
plug for minimum 1/2 hour...

 

[RockettSJ]

My point was only that replacing the graphics card is not very easy from a hardware perspective. I even drilled the screw holes on the video card. However I got through it and didn’t break anything. I certainly don’t plan to open and close it for practice 😀

Anyway the issue was just the adapter and now the external display is working. Sleep and wake are working.

To your point I fully understand this is all experimental. I started with Hackintosh’s before iMacs so I don’t expect things to just work without some patches, trial/error.

 

[BadBiscuit]

Reporting a working WX7100 installed in a 27" iMac mid-2011. I've been craving one for a while, so happy it worked. I purchased the card from the same vendor as @wa9im and was pleased to get it quickly (China to US in 11 days). VBios was installed with a CH341a clip using the @Nick [D]vB WX7100_GOP.ROM file, then traded out a K2100M for it using a 3 pipe heatsink. It is being booted with OpenCore (AMD config), to a previously installed DosDude Mojave; I still need to work out sleep which had been working with the K2100M (Something to do tomorrow).

Just wanted to provide the details and to offer my thanks to @wa9im, @Pascal Baillargeau, @Nick [D]vB, @Ausdauersportler, @Emilio306 and @jborko for blazing the trail and contributing to making this a success.

UPDATE: The sleep problem was within OpenCore; went to native Mojave boot, and sleep is now working again. Since OpenCore is not needed for brightness controls, I suppose I don't need it, unless I want to add alternate OS in future and have a selection at boot.

UPDATE #2: I reformatted (bye bye Mojave) and installed Catalina fresh; then installed BootCamp/Win10. The WX7100 works well from Windows (and Zuma does too 🙂 ). Once back on Catalina, I followed the @Ausdauersportler PDF guide for OpenCore, and got a much improved Valley score, over what I saw from Mojave without OC. Sleep is working thanks to that and advice from @Pascal Baillargeau. Now just need the BCM94360CDPAX kit I ordered from HK, and this machine can be moved onto my main desk.

 

[GreppMichaels]

Could be a non standard apple Keyboard? See if just holding the letter T brings up the target disk mode screen. Also check for a capslock light

So today my Quadro k2100m officially died, literally ran a benchmark this morning and everything was perfect FPS wise in Valley, was loading up Logic Pro and my display went nuts and then blank, it had been in my computer for 2 months with zero issues until I lost external display last week, put back in the radeon HD and it was working! So looks like my card was faulty from the getgo, or on the road to failure, it's a shame so many of these cards seem to go bad, or just these MXM cards in general.

Thanks again for all your help, it wasn't in vain.

 

[Machist]

Random shutdowns are highly unlikely a MacOS problem. Because of the encapsulation of user land apps I cannot imagine in these days of an app causing a random shutdown. You may have bad installer fiies or an hardware issue. Reinstall MacOS on a separat partition using freshly installed USB installers (probably a new stick) and check this on your own.

Linux -> no problems I run YouTube over night and installed some apps. Also sleep work wery well.

Catalina -> I create new installation media (new usb stick). First kernel panic after I format SSD and start installation.
Now it is in loop. Kernel panic -> boot -> installer language selection -> 20 second -> panic... etc..

I try to install High Sierra next.

 

[RRPC]

Reporting a working WX7100 installed in a 27" iMac mid-2011. I've been craving one for a while, so happy it worked. I purchased the card from the same vendor as @wa9im and was pleased to get it quickly (China to US in 11 days). VBios was installed with a CH341a clip using the @Nick [D]vB WX7100_GOP.ROM file, then traded out a K2100M for it using a 3 pipe heatsink. It is being booted with OpenCore (AMD config), to a previously installed DosDude Mojave; I still need to work out sleep which had been working with the K2100M (Something to do tomorrow).

Just wanted to provide the details and to offer my thanks to @wa9im, @Pascal Baillargeau, @Nick [D]vB, @Ausdauersportler, @Emilio306 and @jborko for blazing the trail and contributing to making this a success.

UPDATE: The sleep problem was within OpenCore; went to native Mojave boot, and sleep is now working again. Since OpenCore is not needed for brightness controls, I suppose I don't need it, unless I want to add alternate OS in future and have a selection at boot.

thx. so a suc6 story after all.
nice to read.
might also buy then from this seller

299.54US $ |Originele WX7100 8Gb Met X Beugel Video Graphics Card 109 C95847 00C Voor Dell M7710 M7720 Laptop Volledig Getest|Computer Cables & Connectors| - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

nl.aliexpress.com

i have the CH341a clip ready for this job.
what do you mean with "native mojave boot"
you just boot with no OpenCore ? SD card

 

[Murometc]

Reporting a working WX7100 installed in a 27" iMac mid-2011.

On the last photo ( Graphics.png ), the parameter "Automatically Adjust Brightness" is "No".
How are things in reality ?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I'll never really understand why it's always assumed that you haven't read the first post. The fact that I got this far should imply otherwise. I know one thing, I never want to go through dismantling another 21.5" iMac again. Good old Apple and their screws on the back of the logic board =). Anyway I decided to try switching the adapter I was using. My secondary display was connected with a Mini-DP to VGA adapter. I switched to Mini-DP to DVI and it worked.

Shaun

Just go back some pages and reread the posts.

Approximately 50% of request here are related to the "black screen issue", 10% to the missing sleep on 2011 systems using Catalina and your case could have been better answered by "please use the search function" on top and limit results to this thread.

The story lasts seven years, not every poster of the 300+ pages is still active and I wish the people would read the docs and posts made more carefully to avoid such "read the docs reply".

Another huge part is not describing their own setup correctly, as you did not tell us you are owning a mDP-VGA adapter. What do you expect? Nobody can look through the internet into your hidden setup. First line of defense is remembering to re read the docs made.
[automerge]1594972395[/automerge]

On the last photo ( Graphics.png ), the parameter "Automatically Adjust Brightness" is "No".
How are things in reality ?

What are you asking for? The brightness controls? It is there natively with the AMD BIOS supplied by @Nick [D]vB and @internetzel without OpenCore. You need the OpenCore for other things described in the first post and the linked docs. I will not copy and paste here...
[automerge]1594972564[/automerge]

So today my Quadro k2100m officially died, literally ran a benchmark this morning and everything was perfect FPS wise in Valley, was loading up Logic Pro and my display went nuts and then blank, it had been in my computer for 2 months with zero issues until I lost external display last week, put back in the radeon HD and it was working! So looks like my card was faulty from the getgo, or on the road to failure, it's a shame so many of these cards seem to go bad, or just these MXM cards in general.

Thanks again for all your help, it wasn't in vain.

You had the Mac Fan Control (or a similar App) running all the time you used the K2100M?
Otherwise you probably just boiled it slowly to death by benchmarks and other heavy usage.

 

[Murometc]

It is there natively with the AMD BIOS supplied...

I'm interested in something else.
If this parameter is initially present in these cards, then why is it equal to "No"? (on the screen)
Then he must equal "Yes".
Or am I not understanding something? 🙄
(After all, the participant BadBiscuit fulfilled all the conditions and produced all the necessary firmware. Or not ?)

 

[Amsterdamned]

Reporting a working WX7100 installed in a 27" iMac mid-2011. I've been craving one for a while, so happy it worked. I purchased the card from the same vendor as @wa9im and was pleased to get it quickly (China to US in 11 days). VBios was installed with a CH341a clip using the @Nick [D]vB WX7100_GOP.ROM file, then traded out a K2100M for it using a 3 pipe heatsink. It is being booted with OpenCore (AMD config), to a previously installed DosDude Mojave; I still need to work out sleep which had been working with the K2100M (Something to do tomorrow).

Just wanted to provide the details and to offer my thanks to @wa9im, @Pascal Baillargeau, @Nick [D]vB, @Ausdauersportler, @Emilio306 and @jborko for blazing the trail and contributing to making this a success.

UPDATE: The sleep problem was within OpenCore; went to native Mojave boot, and sleep is now working again. Since OpenCore is not needed for brightness controls, I suppose I don't need it, unless I want to add alternate OS in future and have a selection at boot.

Ive been looking at photos for these cards and for all reports I’ve seen where cards have worked, the small chip, just next to the bottom right corner of the main chip, is missing. For all reports I’ve seen where the card didn’t work, this chip IS present. Could it be that simple?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I'm interested in something else.
If this parameter is initially present in these cards, then why is it equal to "No"? (on the screen)
Then he must equal "Yes".
Or am I not understanding something? 🙄
(After all, the participant BadBiscuit fulfilled all the conditions and produced all the necessary firmware. Or not ?)

Yes, just cross checked with a K4100M/K610M/WX4170: You can have the checkbox "adjust brightness automatically" selected in the monitor panel of the system pref pane but you still get the contradicting "No" from the "About the Mac->System Report->Graphics/Display" view.

To be honest I never checked or noticed this before. My main concern was just having the brightness control manually back.
[automerge]1594978357[/automerge]

Ive been looking at photos for these cards and for all reports I’ve seen where cards have worked, the small chip, just next to the bottom right corner of the main chip, is missing. For all reports I’ve seen where the card didn’t work, this chip IS present. Could it be that simple?

There is a difference (and more than this chip) between the Ver 1.0 "00C" and the Ver. 1.1 "00D" card. Are you sure you have seen a picture of a working Ver 1.0 "00C" card without this chip?

There are also some resistors missing on the "00D" card of you posted picture compared to the "00C" pictures I have.

 

[RRPC]

Ive been looking at photos for these cards and for all reports I’ve seen where cards have worked, the small chip, just next to the bottom right corner of the main chip, is missing. For all reports I’ve seen where the card didn’t work, this chip IS present. Could it be that simple?

intresting. but that don't explain why @Pascal Baillargeau have a working 00D card with the chip on it.
it could be that it's a second BIOS chip. and simply on the card of Pascal have no data. ist a intresting topic.
to me it looks like OPAMP, but that is making no sence on a vid card 😅

Well, end of suspense.
I apply this thermal paste (GC-Extreme by GELID), which by the way works better than attended. And had the opportunity to take photos of my card.
I was wrong to believe the listing visual was a picture of the real card.

It's not a 109-C769A1-00B -xx that i have, but a 109-C95847-00D-02.

I made a new benchmark too. There is nearly a 15, 20 degrees gain in load, i stay to nearly 72 degrees, and the animation is perfectly fluid.

After i flashed 580X_GOP.rom which is an overclock version of W7100_GOP.rom, benchmark is better but temps go a little bit too high (89,90) and i have choppy animation again. It could be manageable but i reverted back to W7100_GOP.rom.

Sorry for this chaos, but we can discard 109-C769A1-00B -xx, which is based on a Tonga chipset (not the same visual, size), and i can now confirm that there is a WX7100 with PCB serial number 109-C95847-00D-02 working, with W7100_GOP bios.

 

[Murometc]

I’ve seen where cards have worked, the small chip

Also pay attention.
On working cards there is a small inscription at the bottom of the "V345 VER 1.1".
Unlike the inscription "V345 VER 1.0".
For example:
Post @meggle
and screen

You can have the checkbox "adjust brightness automatically" selected in the monitor panel of the system

So it turns out:
How would you check this box, then in the system the parameter "Automatically Adjust Brightness" will be equal "NO".
But automatically maintaining the backlight level will work correctly.
Did I understand everything correctly? 🙂

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Also pay attention.
On working cards there is a small inscription at the bottom of the "V345 VER 1.1".
Unlike the inscription "V345 VER 1.0".
For example:
Post @meggle
and screen

So it turns out:
How would you check this box, then in the system the parameter "Automatically Adjust Brightness" will be equal "NO".
But automatically maintaining the backlight level will work correctly.
Did I understand everything correctly? 🙂

NO to your WX7100 analysis:

The Ver 1.0 card have the ident number ending with 00C, the Ver 1.1 cards ending with 00D. So you guys just found out some differences between these cards. BUT we have users running 00C and 00D cards. This cannot be the complete story unless all owners of Ver 1.0 00C cards come back here and post a different story.

Has anybody downloaded all posted pictures and listed the success in some form?

DO NOT KNOW to "automatically maintaining the backlight level" - I simply do no use or observe or know. Yesterday with the K610M during sun set I had the first time the impression brightness will be adjusted by the system. I do not need a thinking machine, I need a manually adjustable brightness - this works.

 

[RRPC]

Has anybody downloaded all posted pictures and listed the success in some form?

good idea, maybe a google sheet.
and make it public.

like this ?
i can link this to a google Forum. that drops it in this sheet.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

good idea, maybe a google sheet.
and make it public.

like this ?
View attachment 934664

I knew you have them all! 😎

Go ahead, we need probably just the link to the picture or better post on the thread, the type of the card and success or not. The less we copy from the source the better it can be maintained..

I bet a lot of readers here will like this kind of summary and a link to it on the post #1...

 

[ZenSurfeur]

my feedback
install 10.15.6 combo install > doesn't work
install using usb key with dosdue1 > ok
open core > ok
sleep/airplay > ok
graphic acceleration > ok
all is fine but you will need
1- after the first reboot while installing you will get a black screen > power off the iMac > power on and reset pram (alt + cmd + r + p), installation will continue
2- a second black screen at the end of the installation, do as 1
3- re-apply patch sleep/air

 

[RRPC]

I knew you have them all! 😎

Go ahead, we need probably just the link to the picture or better post on the thread, the type of the card and success or not. The less we copy from the source the better it can be maintained..

I bet a lot of readers here will like this kind of summary and a link to it on the post #1...

no, but i can creat the file in about 1 day. (maybe in the weekend)
i know the members that try, and failed and suc6ed. so, easy for me
so give me some time. and i make it and make it public,
its about ( atleest ) 5 members that tried. so not so much work.
ill think also about link to the source ( listing where the card was bought)

 

[Ausdauersportler]

my feedback
install 10.15.6 combo install > doesn't work
install using usb key with dosdue1 > ok
open core > ok
sleep/airplay > ok
graphic acceleration > ok
all is fine but you will need
1- after the first reboot while installing you will get a black screen > power off the iMac > power on and reset pram (alt + cmd + r + p), installation will continue
2- a second black screen at the end of the installation, do as 1
3- re-apply patch sleep/air

Did you install the AppleGraphicsControl extension in the end?

I do not have installed it and the system is booting fine now...if you have an external display connected during the complete installation (miniDP to DVI) you see the active display moving to the external one while you experience a "black screen" on the internal LCD, but you can continue with the installation without resetting the PRAM on the external one.
At the very end everything is working fine.

Booting now using alt/option directly into Catalina (without OpenCore) works, too (no black screen). Of course you have no brightness control then...

 

[ZenSurfeur]

Did you install the AppleGraphicsControl extension in the end?

I do not have installed it and the system is booting fine now...if you have an external display connected during the complete installation (miniDP to DVI) you see the active display moving to the external one while you experience a "black screen" on the internal LCD, but you can continue with the installation without resetting the PRAM on the external one.
At the very end everything is working fine.

Booting now using alt/option directly into Catalina (without OpenCore) works, too (no black screen). Of course you have no brightness control then...

I installed AppleGraphicControl at the end