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

[passatgt]

I 100% believe that to be true on a 27" iMac and I've seen YouTube videos to prove it. I cannot foresee how it can be done on a 21.5" one, but if it can, I would surely love to see the technique!

Next time i work on a 21.5" i will try to record it from a good angle.

 

[passatgt]

Hi to everyone, i own a quadro k3100m from hp, when i flash the imac vbios the card stop working, i flash the bios via nvflash. To make the card work again i need to flash the original bios. can anyone help? what im doing wrong? Regards

Are you using the nvflash boot image? Did you tried an nvram/pram reset after flashing and first boot? If you can still use the nvflash tool, that means the card is working, so it must be some kind of another issue.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi to everyone, i own a quadro k3100m from hp, when i flash the imac vbios the card stop working, i flash the bios via nvflash. To make the card work again i need to flash the original bios. can anyone help? what im doing wrong? Regards

Hi!

HP cards do not contain a valid BIOS, only a file the looks like a BIOS. If your card is not working with the @nikey22 BIOS than we have either another dead card or a bad installation on the heat sink. Sorry....

Attached I can give you a Dell BIOS I pulled from a card I own...

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Are you using the nvflash boot image? Did you tried an nvram/pram reset after flashing and first boot? If you can still use the nvflash tool, that means the card is working, so it must be some kind of another issue.

This is not true! I had some cards I could flash with valid BIOS version but they never booted an OS or made it over the boot screen. The same as with dying Apple/AMD cards...

It is the other way around. As long as a dead card does not contain a valid BIOS to fire up the screen nobody can see that the GPU cannot handle any longer the graphics mode...

 

[Netboy69]

Can anyone get a scraped version of the vbios for the k3100m? the one here is 256 and my bios only take 168. can any one? Regards

 

[Netboy69]

Hi!

HP cards do not contain a valid BIOS, only a file the looks like a BIOS. If your card is not working with the @nikey22 BIOS than we have either another dead card or a bad installation on the heat sink. Sorry....

Attached I can give you a Dell BIOS I pulled from a card I own...

I found the problem now looks like the file is too big for the bios chip the original bios when i read i get 168kb and the one i need to flash is 256kb so i need a scraped version.

thanks for that dell one, but will i get boot menu and boot logo on the imac? regards

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I found the problem now looks like the file is too big for the bios chip the original bios when i read i get 168kb and the one i need to flash is 256kb so i need a scraped version.

thanks for that dell one, but will i get boot menu and boot logo on the imac? regards

This is not true. The BIOS chip has a fixed capacity of 256KB. Because some BIOS chips can be programmed by a clip programmer we provide here the full size ROMs. Effectively these are padded with zero values at the end.

Use the one @nikey22 published. If this does not work your card is DEAD. You can use the Dell BIOS to cross check if something went bad during download. But I bet you already did this...

 

[Netboy69]

This is not true. The BIOS chip has a fixed capacity of 256KB. Because some BIOS chips can be programmed by a clip programmer we provide here the full size ROMs. Effectively these are padded with zero values at the end.

Use the one @nikey22 published. If this does not work your card is DEAD. You can use the Dell BIOS to cross check if something went bad during download. But I bet you already did this...

Card is not dead 100%, when i read the original bios on the card i get a 168kb file dump, with that dump all work perfect, any test and 3d anything works fine so card not dead. the nikey file is 256kb if i flash that card stop working still shows on windows but the driver wont load, if i flash the dell file size 163kb also card dont work, now if i flash the dell file that has the same size has mine 168kb the dell vbios then card work fine again. so i need a nikey file with 168kb size that i try to scrape but best i can get is 214kb so far from 168kb. tomorrow ill try to remove the bios chip its a mx25l2005 and program with the programmer and see the result if the files 256kb fits this bios chip then with the programmer must be ok then when installed on the card again when i read it i should get an 168kb that works. Unless anyone can scrape this and save me the time of removing the chip from the card if possible.

Thanks to all.

 

[jay508]

Hello, Would anybody be willing to update my K610m GPU i purchased for my 2011 iMac? I would send the card and pay for your services. Thank you

Hello, which country are you in? I can easily buy various types of graphics cards in Fujian, China.

 

[ShadowFlay]

The files size cannot be the same because we provide here full chip size BIOS versions while nvflash only ready until the EOF marker - which ends up with a smaller file size.

If you get artefacts after flashing and after the screen comes up than there is only one and a half explanation: The card is bad or (the is the half) badly installed on the heat sink. We had a longer discussion about hardware failures, you are alone with it and may reread the first post about this topic.

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply! Really appreciated. Thanks for the explanation of different pre and post flash sizes.
I understand you can't help with hardware issues. I have run a small apple computer repair business for years so I'm not a complete stranger to hardware diag but this flashing process and its potential failure points and modes is new to me.
A few quick followup questions if you are willing:

Given the machine chimes two or three times in a row and the last chime is truncated and then does nothing(sitting there with the fans running and backlight on but screen dark without any artefacts) and yet it was booting into the linux USB fine before the flash, I had thought it could have been an issue caused by the flashing process it self. What do you think?

The LEDs 1, 2 & 3 are illuminating on the logic board now and its changed to an infinite chime boot loop. Bing 1 sec bing 1 sec bing etc
My understanding is if LED 3 is solid green, then coms with the GPU are working. Is that your understanding.

What I don't know is if a ROM problem on the GPU can cause this boot loop.

Thanks.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Card is not dead 100%, when i read the original bios on the card i get a 168kb file dump, with that dump all work perfect, any test and 3d anything works fine so card not dead. the nikey file is 256kb if i flash that card stop working still shows on windows but the driver wont load, if i flash the dell file size 163kb also card dont work, now if i flash the dell file that has the same size has mine 168kb the dell vbios then card work fine again. so i need a nikey file with 168kb size that i try to scrape but best i can get is 214kb so far from 168kb. tomorrow ill try to remove the bios chip its a mx25l2005 and program with the programmer and see the result if the files 256kb fits this bios chip then with the programmer must be ok then when installed on the card again when i read it i should get an 168kb that works. Unless anyone can scrape this and save me the time of removing the chip from the card if possible.

Thanks to all.

I will not scrape file for you. Do this on your own if you want using a HEX editor removing the trailing 00 or FF values. And you may check the data sheet of your mx25l2005. It should tell you the capacity...

 

[highvoltage12v]

Bonsoir,

I solved my "problem" without having to change the identity of my machine, I took kexts from the latest Big Sur beta (AppleGraphicsControl.kext, AppleGraphicsPowerManagement.kext, AppleMCCSControl.kext and IOSurface. kext) no idea if they are all needed though, I don't know if it was useful either but I modified the info.plist by putting 10.5 instead of 11.0 in "DTPlatformVersion" and "LSMinimumSystemVersion", easy to do them all at once with TextMate.

I forgot to say it but I don't use the new AppleBacklightFixup.kext but the old one, because it doesn't work on my configuration.

I don't have the impression that the FakeSMC are used for something, I missed an info?

I also (definitely) have a question about the "black screen" with the Quadro K2100M, does it work with all machines? I'm asking this because it never happened to me.


Otherwise, as requested above, my benchmark with Valley:

View attachment 949728

ApplegraphicspowerManagement. Kext is the place to modify. You can null out the 12,1 and 12,2 entries. And then find the board ID for the 650M 2012 iMac and replace your Board ID there. Boom your card will k2100m will boost properly. My k2100m died. So I pulled down the Kext due to lack of further testing. But you can continue this journey if you'd like.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply! Really appreciated. Thanks for the explanation of different pre and post flash sizes.
I understand you can't help with hardware issues. I have run a small apple computer repair business for years so I'm not a complete stranger to hardware diag but this flashing process and its potential failure points and modes is new to me.
A few quick followup questions if you are willing:

Given the machine chimes two or three times in a row and the last chime is truncated and then does nothing(sitting there with the fans running and backlight on but screen dark without any artefacts) and yet it was booting into the linux USB fine before the flash, I had thought it could have been an issue caused by the flashing process it self. What do you think?

The LEDs 1, 2 & 3 are illuminating on the logic board now and its changed to an infinite chime boot loop. Bing 1 sec bing 1 sec bing etc
My understanding is if LED 3 is solid green, then coms with the GPU are working. Is that your understanding.

What I don't know is if a ROM problem on the GPU can cause this boot loop.

Thanks.

Please, read the first post and the hardware section there. You will find the technician guides and you may read and study these, too. I do no remote guessing ...

 

[olindacat]

We did not list any result, because we had mixed results. Cards have the same number and same source sometimes work and sometimes not. The other reason - frankly speaking - is the consumer alike "give my a free lunch" attitude of a lot of people demanding more and better information and documentation. This is a community effort. This cannot work out if 99% are sitting back in a chair until a few spend money and a lot of time into experiments. You already have the choice out of nearly 20 different cards - all inventions of the past 9 months - and it is still not good enough.

You are welcome to buy another version of such a card, check it out and post the results.

Well... I for one can test to the accuracy of Ausdauersportler's point: forums are for contributing, not just taking. That said, to be honest: I firmly believe she are more capable (and competent) at making suggestions..

Now, I've read a lot on this thread about how-to. I then bought a card.

I then studied how to implement the bios flash. I tried to do it, I really did: downloading the flash card version, etc., and would you believe, after hours/days trying, am too stupid to implement?

Bottom line: I'm a loser. Feels like crap.

So... computer users: if you love your 2011 iMacs, and/or hate to see them wasted: I am with you, but be aware: it's not easy!

I am ashamed to say the process is harder than I am capable of doing.

 

[olindacat]

This is not a mod for the average idiot like me!

 

[Netboy69]

I will not scrape file for you. Do this on your own if you want using a HEX editor removing the trailing 00 or FF values. And you may check the data sheet of your mx25l2005. It should tell you the capacity...

Thanks anyway, I'll remove the bios chip tomorrow and program the bios with the programmer and that should do the trick, the mx25l2005 take a 256kb file the it will fit ok. Once it's done I'll public the scrape file. Regards

 

[jay508]

ApplegraphicspowerManagement. Kext is the place to modify. You can null out the 12,1 and 12,2 entries. And then find the board ID for the 650M 2012 iMac and replace your Board ID there. Boom your card will k2100m will boost properly. My k2100m died. So I pulled down the Kext due to lack of further testing. But you can continue this journey if you'd like.

gtx780m gtx870m gtx880m has system brightness adjustment, install the ApplebacklightFixup.kext patch 10.13.6 can not be the maximum brightness of no use, 10.15.6 can specify the maximum brightness patch. 10.13.6 How can the screen reach the maximum brightness?

 

[highvoltage12v]

gtx780m gtx870m gtx880m has system brightness adjustment, install the ApplebacklightFixup.kext patch 10.13.6 can not be the maximum brightness of no use, 10.15.6 can specify the maximum brightness patch. 10.13.6 How can the screen reach the maximum brightness?

You need LILU.kext along with ApplebacklightFixup.kext in 10.13.6 10.14.6 and 10.15.6 for the kext to work properly. The ApplebacklightFixup.kext works fine in all 3 OS versions. If you feel like you still cannot get brightness to work properly you can modify your own AppleBacklight.kext here.

 

[jay508]

You need LILU.kext along with ApplebacklightFixup.kext in 10.13.6 10.14.6 and 10.15.6 for the kext to work properly. The ApplebacklightFixup.kext works fine in all 3 OS versions. If you feel like you still cannot get brightness to work properly you can modify your own AppleBacklight.kext here.

LILU.kext? ? ? ?
If ApplebacklightFixup.kext is not modified, 10.15.6 is the maximum brightness, but 10.13.6 has no change.

 

[highvoltage12v]

LILU.kext? ? ? ?
If ApplebacklightFixup.kext is not modified, 10.15.6 is the maximum brightness, but 10.13.6 has no change.

You probably installed Lilu when adding the sleep kexts (needed for 10.14.6 and 10.15.6) from the Kext pack. Since sleep works in 10.13.6 this Kext wasn't installed.
Go here and get the Kext


Also make sure CSRUtil is disabled for High Sierra...

Releases · acidanthera/Lilu

Arbitrary kext and process patching on macOS. Contribute to acidanthera/Lilu development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

 

[earmstr18]

Hi all.
Currently I'm a little confused or perhaps just ignorant.
I've compared scores for valley with two other users who've posted scores with the k5100m.
#8603 and #8576 for reference

My score with same specs (as far as I know)

I'm not to sure why the score and fps are so much lower than the two in the posts referenced.
I've killed any programs running in background using gpus and that has increased minimal amounts.

Is there anything I've potentially missed? Installing a certain kext(s)
Is there something I potentially haven't enabled or turned on?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated cause I feel like I'm spinning my wheels at this point trying to find/think of what could be the issue.

 

[Conney]

Just guessing... It looks like you're on Mojave. Other benchmarks were done on Catalina.

 

[ZenSurfeur]

Hi all.
Currently I'm a little confused or perhaps just ignorant.
I've compared scores for valley with two other users who've posted scores with the k5100m.
#8603 and #8576 for reference

My score with same specs (as far as I know)
View attachment 949857

I'm not to sure why the score and fps are so much lower than the two in the posts referenced.
I've killed any programs running in background using gpus and that has increased minimal amounts.

Is there anything I've potentially missed? Installing a certain kext(s)
Is there something I potentially haven't enabled or turned on?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated cause I feel like I'm spinning my wheels at this point trying to find/think of what could be the issue.

if you look attentively there is a difference of Darvin version > yours 18.7 Mojave mine 19.6 Catalina
Catalina supports only 64bits apps Mojave 32/64

​

Then :

- is this a clean install or upgraded macos?
- did you install kext like described int the 1st page?

​

 

[earmstr18]

Just guessing... It looks like you're on Mojave. Other benchmarks were done on Catalina.

That's correct. However, I'm not too sure jumping from Mojave to Catalina would cause a significant jump in score considering the jump from Sierra to high sierra was miniscule and jump from High Sierra to Mojave only improved a little more.
Then again I could be completely wrong lol

 

[earmstr18]

if you look attentively there is a difference of Darvin version > yours 18.7 Mojave mine 19.6 Catalina
Catalina supports only 64bits apps Mojave 32/64

View attachment 949866
​

Then :

- is this a clean install or upgraded macos?
- did you install kext like described int the 1st page?

​

Upgraded macos... Which now that you mention would that be the cause or reason why so little of a jump in score would be noticed from HS to Mojave?

Kext was installed. Sleep and Quicksync both work!