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- I tried that but i am not sure my keyboard registers as soon as the computer starts up due to it being wireless and connecting via bluetooth.

if the reset actually happens you will hear another chime, if not get the regular USB keyboard for couple of bucks and use this one.
 
- Original IMac Config was Quad Core 2.7 GHz Intel "Core i5" I5-2500S 4 GB of RAM (1333 MHz PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM), a 1 TB (7200 RPM) hard drive, a vertically-mounted slot-loading DVD�R DL "SuperDrive", and AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics with 512 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory.

- Origin of the k4100m was from ebay (boivllc ) From a HP Zbook

- I tried that but i am not sure my keyboard registers as soon as the computer starts up due to it being wireless and connecting via bluetooth.

- I only have the original heatsink which is the 2 pipes version. Not to sure if that would impact the performance of connectivity.
You need a second computer on the local network to control the Linux USB flash tool remotely. You need it because in 90% of the cases you get no internal or external display with a new card not flashed.

All this has been described in detail in various posts. Please reread post #1 and get a second computer with an SSH client installed (another Mac will be great) and follow the guides...

And the small MXM-A type sink will most likely just help to overheat the MXM-B type K4100M card during heavy usage. Observe the temps you see during a longer Valley run and if you cannot control the temperature even with a ODD fan run at the maximum RPM you are going to loose this card. Apple used for a good reason the bigger MXM-B type sinks with the bigger MXM-B type cards.
 
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You need a second computer on the local network to control the Linux USB flash tool remotely. You need it because in 90% of the cases you get no internal or external display with a new card not flashed.

All this has been described in detail in various posts. Please reread post #1 and get a second computer with an SSH client installed (another Mac will be great) and follow the guides...


Thank you so much! I will try all of the above mentioned and get back to you with an update! I will also look to order the 3 pipe heatsink and wired keyboard to reset the pram
 
Some update on that - have just tested the same Catalina Loader SD on 3rd iMac (i7 and also k2100m) and it works fine. This must be something with my iMac then... I have already tried resetting PRAM/NVRAM, will try SMC reset. If that does not help, I suppose I need to switch to OC debug version and see where it hangs (it must be somewhere at the very beginning...

To finish this thread - I tried the OC DEUG version, but didn't gen any output at all, which made me thinking the problem may be happening even before any EFI booting. Did again the NVRAM reset, SMC reset and recreated the GPT partition on the card, put the Catalina Loader contents and this time it worked. So not sure which was causing the problem - probably SMC reset as this SD card was working fine on two other iMacs.
 
Thank you so much! I will try all of the above mentioned and get back to you with an update! I will also look to order the 3 pipe heatsink and wired keyboard to reset the pram
If you have this endless and fast "boot-chime-boot" loop you probably will not get even using a cable connected keyboard the PRAM reset. I had this once with my very first K4100M. I had to disassemble and rebuild the system before I could get around this weird behaviour.
 
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Thanks all who working on this project, to help us bring us iMacs work again.
i Have one qusetion about K3000M.

In Main Post here, i`ve see support for K3000M with link to ROM, next i download it and flash with programmer with resolding eeprom.

what i see next? - card running on, with bootscreen and brightness control but VRAM Set incorrect.

K3000M is 2Gb , but witn new bios mod card show up 4096 mb. and in 3D card crashes.

Atteched this bios with VRAM size is incorrect.
 
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Thanks all who working on this project, to help us bring us iMacs work again.
i Have one qusetion about K3000M.

In Main Post here, i`ve see support for K3000M with link to ROM, next i download it and flash with programmer with resolding eeprom.

what i see next? - card running on, with bootscreen and brightness control but VRAM Set incorrect.

K3000M is 2Gb , but witn new bios mod card show up 4096 mb. and in 3D card crashes.

Atteched this bios with VRAM size is incorrect.
Check the first post, this BIOS has been pulled back because it is not working correctly. And do not ask how long it might take to get a working one. Meanwhile use the other BIOS mentioned by user @Roman78 ..
And please delete this ROM from your post. It does not getting better if othees jump onto this train, too.
 
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Check the first post, this BIOS has been pulled back because it is not working correctly. And do not ask how long it might take to get a working one. Meanwhile use the other BIOS mentioned by user @Roman78 ..
And please delete this ROM from your post. It does not getting better if other jump onto this train, too.

ok. i will delete bios as u ask. but, where get other? link. thx.
 
Hello.
More than two months after the upgrade, I still could not solve the problem with the bluetooth and usb error. Also this problem was noticed by at least two other forum users.

My original post describing the problem:

Two other posts with a similar problem:

In an attempt to fix the error, I replaced the bluetooth board, and also disconnect it entirely and used USB mouse and keyboard. It did not help, the computer still doesn't starts up normally or/and the USB ports may not work.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? Perhaps someone managed to solve it? Thank you for any provided help! I am desperate and now I'm thinking about replacing motherboard or find another video card. But I think it's software problem not a hardware problem.
 
Hello.
More than two months after the upgrade, I still could not solve the problem with the bluetooth and usb error. Also this problem was noticed by at least two other forum users.

My original post describing the problem:

Two other posts with a similar problem:

In an attempt to fix the error, I replaced the bluetooth board, and also disconnect it entirely and used USB mouse and keyboard. It did not help, the computer still doesn't starts up normally or/and the USB ports may not work.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? Perhaps someone managed to solve it? Thank you for any provided help! I am desperate and now I'm thinking about replacing motherboard or find another video card. But I think it's software problem not a hardware problem.
Hi
First it could be a great to give us :
- the original configuration (hardware and macos),
- the upgrade done (and method),
- update your signature
 
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Hi
First it could be a great to give us :
- the original configuration (hardware and macos),
- the upgrade done (and method),
- update your signature

The original configuration is the same as in my signature except GPU (of course). Before the upgrade it was 6970m 1GB. After the upgrade I have installed Catalina with dosdude patcher.

In this two month I've tryed many things to determine the problem:

- revert Nick's vBios to original GPU bios and then reinstalled it
- clean Catalina install
- removed my BCM92046MD bluetooth board
- multiple SMC and NVRAM resets

Nothing worked. Sometimes iMac boots normally with bluetooth and usb both works, sometimes I need 5-10 attempts to boot it. It is very annoying.

Things I didn't do:
- revert to original GPU to check if problem still exists because now I didn't have it with me
- check another GPU
- use another motherboard
 
do you have same troubles with high sierra?
do you have 4 diagnostic leds on?
can you test the voltage of the cell battery?
do your memory stick are installed like this? both 2Go the farest ports from the apple logo

may try this

only one system ssd or hard drive plugged before testing do a reset PRAM and SMC
put back high original gpu with high sierra > check
keep original gpu + catalina > check
put gtx770m with high sierra > check
 
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The original configuration is the same as in my signature except GPU (of course). Before the upgrade it was 6970m 1GB. After the upgrade I have installed Catalina with dosdude patcher.

In this two month I've tryed many things to determine the problem:

- revert Nick's vBios to original GPU bios and then reinstalled it
- clean Catalina install
- removed my BCM92046MD bluetooth board
- multiple SMC and NVRAM resets

Nothing worked. Sometimes iMac boots normally with bluetooth and usb both works, sometimes I need 5-10 attempts to boot it. It is very annoying.

Things I didn't do:
- revert to original GPU to check if problem still exists because now I didn't have it with me
- check another GPU
- use another motherboard
I am tired of explaining this:

A remote thread cannot solve hardware problems. A remote thread cannot solve hardware problems. A remote thread cannot solve hardware problems.

We can only collect data about such problems and if definitely more than a few are facing the very same problem under the same circumstances one could assume it has been caused not only by a bad piece of hardware.

Whenever you open and work on a logic board or it's components you may damage these. You also may have had a broken hardware before. The only way to check this is measurement of components (which nearly nobody can really do), or simply exchange one by one unless the faulty part has been found or fenced out (which is nearly impossible for the owner of a single iMac).

But it does not help to post hardware problems when you cannot fence the problems out by yourself first. This transports only (or most likely) a damage you have to the public without any chance of the public to repair this.

And to fence out any software problems I would start with High Sierra and check the hardware issues there. Redo the complete hardware installation, heat sink mods, card installation on the sink, etc. Check all the cables! And if this does not work out you have to go back your list of things you did not do so far.
 
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Yes I did.
Now I can't even install Catalina because I get kernel panic to the installer (boot to the installer -> language selection screen -> wait couple minutes and it restart).
Mojave installer work ok, but when it is installed it reboot every 10-15 minutes.

Ok, today I change all memory modules.
Now I installed Samsung modules and Catalina seems to run fine.

Now I need to test but looks good.

Old memory modules passed all tests and they seems to be problematic only Mojave and Catalina.
Kingston and Elpida brand modules.
 
@ZenSurfeur @Ausdauersportler The reason I wrote this is because I'm still not sure it is a hardware problem and some users here were affected by the same issue. So I will fight ✊ I have sold my original GPU to the guy who really need it so it's a big headache to restore the original configuration now. But I will test another GPU, maybe 780m (it's much easier and cheaper to find it in my country then 6970m) and another motherboard. I hope it will help. Thank you.
 
@ZenSurfeur @Ausdauersportler The reason I wrote this is because I'm still not sure it is a hardware problem and some users here were affected by the same issue. So I will fight ✊ I have sold my original GPU to the guy who really need it so it's a big headache to restore the original configuration now. But I will test another GPU, maybe 780m (it's much easier and cheaper to find it in my country then 6970m) and another motherboard. I hope it will help. Thank you.
Last weekend I had such a 2011 board with similar issues. The owner admitted at the very end after two days of testing and work for nothing that he had hardware problems before. An AASP checked the system six months ago and found nothing but some unusual thermal data coming from the original old 1TB HDD. The owner bought a new 3.5 HDD, including the cheap OWC sensor.

After trying to install a K2100M, a K4100M, and the original 6790 back we never got a stable system. We changed every single SATA cable, power supply and inverter board, checked parts like the LCD and GPUs in another system (everything except the logic board, of course). On this long way I had to sort out bad memory, too.

At the very end I had to give up this (half dead) board and system.

This discussion again and again about hardware problems is just cluttering the thread in my opinion. Because we cannot look into your hardware. Hundreds of people installed a new GPU in their own systems now and most of them had no such issues. Your observation can rarely be a software problem introduced by the BIOS, there is no evidence.
 
Maybe a good idea to add this to post#1?
Not really, my personal experience is that (most) people coming up with such problems did not read the post #1 anyway. And cluttering it up with more and more information and making it longer than one or two pages confuses the most readers.

We can make this post longer and more sophisticated than the old (2009-2011) iMac technician guides and even then it will be not good enough. I am just trying to get rid of this hardware problems. People find iMacs in a dumpster and start to eat our time up with repair efforts. This is not an iMac repair thread.

PRAM reset and SMC reset are the first things to do before getting lost into the dark.

Have you checked recently the seven problems on post #1 - there is no point saying that a card will not work at all. So I found the comment lately - because it is not listed there - it will be totally unexpected to get a black screen (i.e. non working card) with an unsupported card not having a suitable BIOS newly installed in an iMac?
 
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Actually, I think that hardware troubleshooting tree summary you've created there in post #9047 @Ausdauersportler is INCREDIBLY helpful. I'd suggest adding an asterisked "*Note:Link to hardware troubleshooting tree" to the post #1 at the end pointing to this post for reference at a minimum. That way you can just point people to "See page #1 and especially to make sure they read the *'Process of elimination tree' at the end. Those two cover 95% or more of what everyone needs to know first to succeed with this endeavor. Well done good sir.

Scratch that. I just double checked and see it is #5:

5. You may face all kind of hardware problems after assembling your iMac again. There is an incomplete list of common problems including the links to the original Apple iMac Technician Guides to trouble shoot such problems. Please understand that we cannot remotely repair or identify broken hardware. And there is no proof possible that hardware is broken. Do not ask for one.

Maybe just tell them to see post #1 and reread #5 10x. :)
 
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EDIT: 7/28/20 Please download the newest Lilu/WhateverGreen kexts from Github, they constantly change.
EDIT: 4/17/20 An additional AppleIntelSNBGraphics.kext has been added to the pack to include board ID for iMac Pro/AMD-WX Series Config.plist. You can now have working sleep when your board ID is changed to 7BA5B2D9E42DDD94 to enable HEVC.

I am creating a guide linked to the first page to show how to reinstall HD3000 sleep kext as well as bring back Airplay and intel Quicksync rendering. This guide is exclusive to 2011 iMacs Running Mojave or Catalina.
  1. download Kext Utility from here http://cvad-mac.narod.ru/index/0-4 download Hackintool from here http://headsoft.com.au/download/mac/Hackintool.zip download and unzip my files at the bottom of this post for Mojave or Catalina.
  2. Move files to the desktop, (Catalina only) Open Hackintool, move to the Tools tab and click on the GateKeeper icon, enter your password and Finder should restart, this unlocks the System Partition.View attachment 885972
  3. Unzip the Mojave or Catalina files and unzip them to the Desktop. Drag Kext Utility into the same folder as the kexts. Drag the kexts onto Kext Utility, they will install but Kext utility will give a timeout error in Catalina, this is normal. You can reboot your iMac now, Sleep/Airplay should work. View attachment 885982View attachment 885983Part 2: Enabling Intel QuickSync for rendering using the IGPU.
  4. Since Mac OS Mojave, Apple changed the "AppleGVA.framework to longer be compatible with Sandybridge CPU's. To reenable QuickSync we have to reinstall a Private framework from High Sierra. The 'AppleGVA.framework' included works with both Mojave and Catalina.
  5. (Catalina) Use Hackintool to unlock the System partition as shown earlier
  6. navigate to /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ take the unzipped AppleGVA.framework and drag it into a blank area of the PrivateFrameworks folder. click "Replace" from the Finder popup. View attachment 885986
  7. Open terminal and enter the following:
    Code:
    sudo chmod -R 755 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleGVA.framework THEN ENTER
    sudo chown -R 0:0 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleGVA.framework
View attachment 886317
You can reboot now.

Optional you can download Mac X video recorder and check to make sure intel QuickSync is enabled.
View attachment 886318

Okay,
I have figured out the slow boot issue in Catalina and allowing the HD3000 kexts to be installed along the "AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB" that was mentioned earlier. Turns out you need to modify the IOSURFACE.kext file (File from @dosdude1 patcher, all I did was replace it within the kext) and install the patched iosurface.kext with the HD3000 kexts. Now I have a normal boot time and proper sleep/wake function.

I also added the AppleGraphicsPowerManagement.kext from the patcher, I have not done any testing yet if this kext has any improvement on MXM cards, but it's a newer version than the one from High Sierra 110.23.46 vs. 110.23.37

EDIT: looks like the AppleMCCSControl.kext should be added along with IOSurface.kext to prevent artifacts in Safari.

To install I use "Hackintool" to unlock the Catalina System partition to install, then drag all the files on top of Kext Utility to install. Alternatively you can open terminal and type


I also added Mojave proper sleep kexts to this post as well.

Catalina Sleep Kexts still work as of 10.15.2, if performing a software update it is necessary to reinstall AppleMCCSControl.kext. Otherwise webpages on Safari won't load right.
Hi guys,
just one question! Should I do this patches for my mid 2010 iMac as well?
 
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