Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

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

Status
The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
Murometc said:
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? :rolleyes:
(After all, the participant BadBiscuit fulfilled all the conditions and produced all the necessary firmware. Or not ?)
Click to expand...

Just checked the "automatic brightness adjustment" with all the systems and cards listed in my signature and it turns out that

  1. the brightness sensor is working
  2. the automatic brightness adjustment is working, too (just put my hand over the sensor near the iSight webcam to force the adjustment)
  3. manual brightness control is working (we knew this)
 
As far as I remember (history of this forum branch) all videocards -00C VER1.0 have a small chip.
And all the owners of just such cards were dissatisfied with them.
But there is one caveat (it can be confusing):
I saw a photo of the card today -00D VER1.1.
In this post @RRPC
(The photo is very large. I did not repeat it.)
And it has a small chip !!!
But I don't know if this particular video card works or not.
RRPC will comment. I think.
RRPC said:
it could be that it's a second BIOS chip.
Click to expand...
Not. This is a temperature sensor. Probably (the initial function) it should control the speed of the fans.
His marking T19D. So this is a microchip LM89 (8-pin MSOP). See at PDF. Page 30 (T19D). (I could be wrong about the definition of the chip. But rather, I'm right.)
Ausdauersportler said:
the brightness sensor is working
Click to expand...
Thank you for further clarification.
One way or another, for me the most important thing is that automatic adjustment of the display backlight works. And it doesn’t matter that the negotiated parameter has the value "NO".
 
Anyone in UK/Europe interested in a flashed K2100M 2GB? It works fine, I just broke something in the logic board on my 2010 27' iMac when I went back in to re-apply thermal pads, so the computer is dead now.
I was going to look for a 2009/2010 iMac with a broken GPU to do a transplant, but since then I've got a nearly-free 2008 Mac Pro (see specs in my sig if of interest), so don't need an iMac anymore. I am just looking to recoup what I paid for the card - PM me for details.
 
RRPC said:
thx. so a suc6 story after all.
...
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
Click to expand...

Yes, a success. I too had been reluctant considering the cost and rate of non-success. All I meant by "native mojave boot" is that I pulled the OpenCore SD, so the target drive went back to the SSD which only has Mojave installed on it. BTW, @wa9im flashed his by first booting to a Windows installed drive, so either option can be used.

Murometc said:
On the last photo ( Graphics.png ), the parameter "Automatically Adjust Brightness" is "No".
How are things in reality ?
Click to expand...

As others have stated, brightness controls work regardless of how it is booted. I just checked the automatic adjust brightness feature, and although the system reports "No" this is working well too.

Other Misc Thoughts
Click to expand...

I'm still learning about how this differs from the K2100M. I had read post #1, and all other's regarding this card prior to starting, but actually having one to work with makes it easier to understand what others have mentioned.

My only "issue" with this card is that the game "Zuma's Revenge!" does not work with it (as it loads, the screen is garbled, so unplayable). I'm sure this is more of an issue with this legacy, 32-bit game and not the card, for other games are working fine. Maybe someone here knows the PopCap developer and can encourage a 64-bit port so I can move on to Catalina/Big Sur. ;)

... for that matter this may be a good development, for that time wasting game was the main reason I was still running Mojave. :)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Murometc
BadBiscuit said:
As others have stated, brightness controls work regardless of how it is booted. I just checked the automatic adjust brightness feature, and although the system reports "No" this is working well too.
Click to expand...
Briefly and clearly. In life, your name is probably Talent. )
One question. What do you mean when you say: " brightness controls work regardless of how it is booted " ?
What do not need to apply different patches OpenCore ?
Okay then. After all, the first page clearly says:
AMD WX7100 Brightness Control yes (natively)
Really Ausdauersportler ?:)
 
Murometc said:
Briefly and clearly. In life, your name is probably Talent. )
One question. What do you mean when you say: " brightness controls work regardless of how it is booted " ?
What do not need to apply different patches OpenCore ?
Okay then. After all, the first page clearly says:
AMD WX7100 Brightness Control yes (natively)
Really Ausdauersportler ?:)
Click to expand...
Now it comes to the final answer: Just read all the announcements and comments and posts @Nick [D]vB (and others) made about having brightness and boot screen with Nvidia and AMD cards.
 
Hello, to everyone that might know.
I have a 27inc imac late 2011 i7 24gb ram.
I have installed gtx765m flashed by nicks firmware. along with dyinglight and everything works as it should.
My issue is this i want to boot on Catalina with opencore (just to see the gpu diode (gpudie) temp) i have follow the info from herrdude but my imac keeps restart loop almost as the proses bar reaches full.
What seams to be the problem?
Also when i try to boot into catalina recovery it gives me the stop symbol. i have patched the catalina installation with dosdude patcher, i even used Catalina-Recovery-HD-Partition-master but with no luck.
Any help would be much appreciated.
 
The 'framebuffer depth' of the AMD card is interesting. It is 30-bit with ARGB 2101010. Is this macOS dependent? I wonder what the reading would be in High Sierra for example. The Nvidia cards have 24-bit pixel depth as far as I know.

The fact that there are still Nvidia drivers in Big Sur means we can still use the GTX and Quadro cards, but it'll be interesting to see if the colour depth is controlled by the GPU hardware or the macOS drivers, or the efi ROM drivers. I'm close to an answer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ausdauersportler
r6mile said:
...so don't need an iMac anymore.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing that may apply to most of us. I have more Apple systems then will fit in my signature, but tinkering with the iMacs is the most fun. Hobby machines for the most part, but my go to machine for Zoom calls.

Murometc said:
One question. What do you mean when you say: " brightness controls work regardless of how it is booted " ?
What do not need to apply different patches OpenCore ?
Okay then. After all, the first page clearly says:
AMD WX7100 Brightness Control yes (natively)
Really Ausdauersportler ?:)
Click to expand...

All I meant is that I had started by booting from the OpenCore SD (not necessary, I know) and that worked but even when following the OpenCore steps for configuring AMD, sleep was causing a crash. Brightness did work. After I pulled the SD and booted without OpenCore (as post #1 suggests) brightness still worked as did sleep. The Option key does not give you a boot selection (as expected with this card), though if you boot to OpenCore you do get a boot selection screen. I suspect everyone that paid attention realized this, though I may have been sleeping in class. :). It should not be an issue, for you can just select your target disk from within the OS settings, and reboot to switch to another.

nikey22 said:
The 'framebuffer depth' of the AMD card is interesting. It is 30-bit with ARGB 2101010. Is this macOS dependent? I wonder what the reading would be in High Sierra for example. The Nvidia cards have 24-bit pixel depth as far as I know.

The fact that there are still Nvidia drivers in Big Sur means we can still use the GTX and Quadro cards, but it'll be interesting to see if the colour depth is controlled by the GPU hardware or the macOS drivers, or the efi ROM drivers. I'm close to an answer.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately "framebuffer depth" is outside of my knowledge; might it relate to a solution for my beloved Zuma game? I tried toggling to lower resolutions before starting, but unfortunately mighty Casey still struck out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Murometc
Ausdauersportler said:
If you have no hard drive installed the HDD fan will run at max RPM by default unless you install another original HDD, an SDD which will be recognised like the original HDD or you have a MacOS/Windows running with an app like Mac Fan Control (free).
Having no internal LCD may be related to the current non custom VBIOS loaded on the K2100M. Please flash the card, reinstall the SSD, boot from a @dosdude1 patcher stick or High Sierra USB boot stick and reinstall MacOS. Please check with HS first before moving on to Catalina. Most people struggle when trying four steps in one jump instead one by one...
Click to expand...
I did have the OWC temp thing plugged in since I had replaced the HDD several years ago. The linux boot works but does not see anything attached to the SATA bus that I could find.

Anyhow, I've given up and ordered a newer iMac. If it's as good as the old one it should last until 2028.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BadBiscuit
dstd123 said:
Hello, to everyone that might know.
I have a 27inc imac late 2011 i7 24gb ram.
I have installed gtx765m flashed by nicks firmware. along with dyinglight and everything works as it should.
My issue is this i want to boot on Catalina with opencore (just to see the gpu diode (gpudie) temp) i have follow the info from herrdude but my imac keeps restart loop almost as the proses bar reaches full.
What seams to be the problem?
Also when i try to boot into catalina recovery it gives me the stop symbol. i have patched the catalina installation with dosdude patcher, i even used Catalina-Recovery-HD-Partition-master but with no luck.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Does it boot normally without OpenCore?
 
r6mile said:
Anyone in UK/Europe interested in a flashed K2100M 2GB? It works fine, I just broke something in the logic board on my 2010 27' iMac when I went back in to re-apply thermal pads, so the computer is dead now.
I was going to look for a 2009/2010 iMac with a broken GPU to do a transplant, but since then I've got a nearly-free 2008 Mac Pro (see specs in my sig if of interest), so don't need an iMac anymore. I am just looking to recoup what I paid for the card - PM me for details.
Click to expand...

How much do you want for it? I live in Germany so should not be a problem for the shipping.
 
dstd123 said:
Hello, to everyone that might know.
I have a 27inc imac late 2011 i7 24gb ram.
I have installed gtx765m flashed by nicks firmware. along with dyinglight and everything works as it should.
My issue is this i want to boot on Catalina with opencore (just to see the gpu diode (gpudie) temp) i have follow the info from herrdude but my imac keeps restart loop almost as the proses bar reaches full.
What seams to be the problem?
Also when i try to boot into catalina recovery it gives me the stop symbol. i have patched the catalina installation with dosdude patcher, i even used Catalina-Recovery-HD-Partition-master but with no luck.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
You will not see the GPU diode temp, you get the Peci temp. This does not help with the fans and you have to use apps like Mac Fan Control anyway.
Of course following the guide we made you can use the OpenCore booter. The guide covers both type of cards and you would know this if you would have just tried to read the docs.
 
i have read the docs very carefully, i have 2 nvidia cards one 765m and one 770m both are new i have also bought dying light with them. i have them since september 2019 all this time i have read all the posts!!!!
Just to make everything perfect, i also waited for fixing the brightness issues with a new firmware for those cards.
I sort am very serious in my job and didn't want to bother anyone with stupid questions.
Anyway the docs doesn't seem to work on my iMac.
 
dstd123 said:
i have read the docs very carefully, i have 2 nvidia cards one 765m and one 770m both are new i have also bought dying light with them. i have them since september 2019 all this time i have read all the posts!!!!
Just to make everything perfect, i also waited for fixing the brightness issues with a new firmware for those cards.
I sort am very serious in my job and didn't want to bother anyone with stupid questions.
Anyway the docs doesn't seem to work on my iMac.
Click to expand...
You still don’t get it. It is not the docs not working it is the single reader not catching it.
At least the 20 page long OpenCore guide covers exactly the fan and temperature data problem.
If you would have read it you could easily point out a mistake in the guide or a passage not clear. You do not do this, no, you claim to get the GPU die temp which is unfortunately still not possible.
Long story short: At least for your goal I see currently no advantage in using OpenCore.
 
But it is possible, Peci temp is native doesnt need open core.
i only need to see it once to figure out how much is the temp difference from the gpu heatsink to arrange my fans accordingly.
Here is a proff for the native peci temp
[automerge]1595014734[/automerge]
i have read this: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread....1596614/page-197?post=28281414#post-28281414
forums.macrumors.com

2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

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...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
forums.macrumors.com

2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

No, there is just no real installation instruction. But do handle such a tool one should please read the OpenCore documentation. Then you get an idea how this machine is working. Long story short (I am writing about the 27" 2011): If you have already installed all the kext files in advance on...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
And as i said before ALL THE POSTS MADE 315
[automerge]1595014893[/automerge]
also why i cant boot on Catalina recovery hd?
 

Attachments

  • d.jpg
    d.jpg
    79.8 KB · Views: 155
Last edited:
The Peci temp is not important. The ODD fan blows the air under the ODD into the heat exchanger connected to the heat sink through the copper pipes. So so will cool the heat sink with the fan directly, not the GPU.
The GPU temp may vary on a really short time scale, check this out with the GeekBench metal benchmark. This is more an on and off situation. But the heat dissipated even in this on/off mode reaches the heat sink and so the fans have to come in and cool the sink.

It is nice to see more data with OpenCore and you can reach this following the guides. But I see currently no gain. There is no simple and linear relationship between the sink temperature and the GPU diode (invisible to us) or the GPU Peci. So you cannot use it the estimate something. The only real important data is the sink temp.

I would advice to use the fans very defensively, i.e. ramping them up early starting at 30 degrees centigrade sink temperature to avoid a dying GPU...

Wait: Did you read this?

Wait, wait: Ever thought about asking or better searching the Catalina related questions in this thread?

Wait, wait, wait: Did you check the first post recently?
 
Well nvidia gpus run much cooler, i have added this also (the 3d file Has wrong dimensions but i fix that so its also makes difference)
forums.macrumors.com

2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

I made one a few days ago, mine's need some trimming/sanding to fit but it works really well. I'll drop it here and maybe save you some time. ;) Please despite the GPU in the images, it's an HD7970m which I couldn't make it work... I hope it helps someone!
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ausdauersportler
dstd123 said:
Well nvidia gpus run much cooler, i have added this also (the 3d file Has wrong dimensions but i fix that so its also makes difference)
forums.macrumors.com

2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

I made one a few days ago, mine's need some trimming/sanding to fit but it works really well. I'll drop it here and maybe save you some time. ;) Please despite the GPU in the images, it's an HD7970m which I couldn't make it work... I hope it helps someone!
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
Click to expand...
I recently found this by chance. This is a cool thing. Now you may also control the HDD fan depending on the sink temp. You bought an China 3D printer to create it? When using an SSD no-one need the HDD fan really in these days unless you overheat the system completely with heat coming from CPU, LCD and GPU at the same time.
 
played a game in windows and didn't pass 63 degrees Celsius.
With amd 80 to 90!! (******** card)
[automerge]1595016022[/automerge]
Native imac Amd is a Trash card
[automerge]1595016255[/automerge]
No i have send it to a print shop to print it. but the dimensions that user gives are wrong for the middle 2011 hdd fan.
[automerge]1595016300[/automerge]
any idea for not booting on recovery hd?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back