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

[hexagram92]

I think i will wait a little for it as i experienced a sudden reboot when launching a ps remote connection for a first test before a local game 🙃
For your information, never seen that before, the extensions report says now the same date (6/13/2020) for the two AGC et AGDP extensions. So the work on Mojave made a result i think. Do you agree ?

Do you think this is a hardware problem such as a failing PSU, it's not uncommon for the 2009 iMac's to have a failing PSU. We have seen it before on this thread.

Unigine goes well with the best scores i've ever had... i don't know what to think really about it.
PSU temp is quite high after a unigine with 59°C but i've seen worse.
Will try diablo3 and tomb raider to see how it goes.

But i'm already very happy about it because it's mostly a workstation and not a gamestation

And if i can share my experience here, i will try to help the others

 

[hexagram92]

Do you think this is a hardware problem such as a failing PSU, it's not uncommon for the 2009 iMac's to have a failing PSU. We have seen it before on this thread.

Ok. I think it comes from deleted process problem coming again, normal with Mail app (a bunch of mails account with big amount to sync) in my case.
I will see in normal usage if it comes again.

 

[Wolfmann2904]

Hi guys,

I've upgraded GPU on my iMac 2011 27" with Nvidia Quatro K1100m. Installed Catalina using dosdude1 Catalina patcher. I also installed Opencore on a separate partition on my hard disk and chose Catalina Loader (Opencore partition) as startup disk in the System Preferencies.

The trouble is I can't choose my iMac HDD as a default drive in the Opencore Picker. It defaults all the time to Catalina Loader partition. I tried with Ctrl + Enter combo and it didn't work. I checked plist in Opencore configurator and the settings there are as they should be. If I choose iMac HDD as startup disk in system preferencies then I won't be booting from opencore and I won't have brightness control, right?

Another problem is that video hardware encoding is not enabled. For this one I followed this guide:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Enabling Intel Quick Sync

• Open Hackintool
• Click on “Utilities”
• Click the bottom icon that says “Disable Gatekeeper and mount the disk in read/write mode”
• Transfer the “AppleGVA.framework.zip” file to the iMac and unzip it
• Replace the folder /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleGVA.framework with the extracted one
• Open Terminal and type the following commands:
  • sudo chmod -R 755 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleGVA.framework
  • sudo chown -R 0:0 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleGVA.framework
• Reboot the system
• (Optional): To check that Intel Quick Sync is enabled, download MacX Video Converter
  • Open the app
  • “Intel/AMD/Nvidia” should be checked
  • Click the “i” icon and it should display “Hardware Encoding Supported: Yes”
• --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can you tell me what I am doing wrong?

 

[Yasmel Diaz]

Good evening folks after updated my mid 2011 with AMD WX4150 lost control of fans speed as expected they went all crazy noisy, seted up Macs Fan Control and everything went fine... I got control of my fans with this app... now all this was with an external display ONLY since my LCD cable was broken, now that I replaced and repaired my main display for some reason I did a clean Catalina install and all my fans are working as expected WITHOUT fan control app any idea what's going on here? Does main display has anything to do with the fans?

 

[highvoltage12v]

Good evening folks after updated my mid 2011 with AMD WX4150 lost control of fans speed as expected they went all crazy noisy, seted up Macs Fan Control and everything went fine... I got control of my fans with this app... now all this was with an external display ONLY since my LCD cable was broken, now that I replaced and repaired my main display for some reason I did a clean Catalina install and all my fans are working as expected WITHOUT fan control app any idea what's going on here? Does main display has anything to do with the fans?

Yes on the 2011 models there is a 4 wire connector that plugs into the logic board from the Display/LCD. When this is unplugged the iMac thinks the LCD is off and the fans will run at full speed with the CPU downclocked to 1.6GHz. I attached an image of this connector.

BTW you really should use a Fan Control app, it will help the airflow of components and prevent your LCD from Yellowing from the heat. The WX4150 is a power efficient card but prolong the life of it with the ODD fan at 1800-2200RPM.

 

[drew442]

I'm in need of some assistance on what to do next. I'm trying to get a K1100M to work in a 2010 21.5" EMC2389. I've used the v1.2 ROM linked from page 1 and flashed it with my ch341a.

I was just checking if this was a known not to work situation or if I should try reflashing or something else. I'm getting LED 1 and 2 lit but LED 3 is not coming up.

I also put an i7 860 and 16G in at the same time. Are they known to stop LED 3 from coming up?

Thanks,

 

[Yasmel Diaz]

Yes on the 2011 models there is a 4 wire connector that plugs into the logic board from the Display/LCD. When this is unplugged the iMac thinks the LCD is off and the fans will run at full speed with the CPU downclocked to 1.6GHz. I attached an image of this connector.

BTW you really should use a Fan Control app, it will help the airflow of components and prevent your LCD from Yellowing from the heat. The WX4150 is a power efficient card but prolong the life of it with the ODD fan at 1800-2200RPM.

I didn't know that, thanks for the information, I guess I don't need Macs Fan Control system seems stable thanks!

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I'm in need of some assistance on what to do next. I'm trying to get a K1100M to work in a 2010 21.5" EMC2389. I've used the v1.2 ROM linked from page 1 and flashed it with my ch341a.

I was just checking if this was a known not to work situation or if I should try reflashing or something else. I'm getting LED 1 and 2 lit but LED 3 is not coming up.

I also put an i7 860 and 16G in at the same time. Are they known to stop LED 3 from coming up?

Thanks,

Please check the first post for hardware problems. This is most likely a dead card, bad flash or bad installation. We cannot help with that.

 

[drew442]

Please check the first post for hardware problems. This is most likely a dead card, bad flash or bad installation. We cannot help with that.

Okay, cool. I'll do a reflash and reinsert. Just didn't want to waste time on something that wasn't compatible.

 

[herrdude]

I'm in need of some assistance on what to do next. I'm trying to get a K1100M to work in a 2010 21.5" EMC2389. I've used the v1.2 ROM linked from page 1 and flashed it with my ch341a.

I was just checking if this was a known not to work situation or if I should try reflashing or something else. I'm getting LED 1 and 2 lit but LED 3 is not coming up.

I also put an i7 860 and 16G in at the same time. Are they known to stop LED 3 from coming up?

Thanks,

No, the third LED means there is communication between the motherboard and the graphics card. It has nothing to do with the RAM or CPU. Therefore, either the card was not properly flashed (try the Linux method in the first post) or the card is faulty.

Good luck!

EDIT: @Ausdauersportler is faster on the keyboard than me!

 

[drew442]

No, the third LED means there is communication between the motherboard and the graphics card. It has nothing to do with the RAM or CPU. Therefore, either the card was not properly flashed (try the Linux method in the first post) or the card is faulty.

Good luck!

EDIT: @Ausdauersportler is faster on the keyboard than me!

I used AsProgrammer in Windows the same as I did with a gtx860m for a 2011 imac which worked. Thanks for the encouragement, I'll try again.

 

[m0bil]

Well, after countless hours of testing I've finally managed to get brightness working right on my 2010 iMac 21.5" with Catalina

All resorts to the fact that my 2010 iMac seems to have an uncommon display not supported on current available AppleBacklightFixup.kext

My DisplayID is F10T9cde

So adding this lines to the ApplePanels section of the AppleBacklightFixup fixes it:

                                <key>F10T9cde</key>
                                <data>
                                ABEAGAA3AF8AigCzAOsBJAFnAakB1AIJAlQCogL4A00D
                                </data>

Note that the data value is for corrected brightness on the K610M/K1100M/K2100M cards

Maybe it's a good idea to add it to the library available on this post by @Ausdauersportler

 

[rikoari]

Both BIOS versions have the same generation.

The only visible difference I know of: The K610M BIOS does not offer the internet recovery on boot. The K1100M does. All cards support a single external display, i.e. in the 2011 27" only one port works.

Please start reading on page one and post #1

Thanks @Ausdauersportler, page 1 had been my best friend during the installation!

I finally bought the K2000m because available locally and relatively affordable.

GPU upgraded, as well as OS to Catalina.

You guys rock!! 🤘🏻

Just wondering if there's any possibility to turn on the internal display right after we press the power button, just like original GPU.

 

[KennyW]

Well, after countless hours of testing I've finally managed to get brightness working right on my 2010 iMac 21.5" with Catalina

All resorts to the fact that my 2010 iMac seems to have an uncommon display not supported on current available AppleBacklightFixup.kext

My DisplayID is F10T9cde

So adding this lines to the ApplePanels section of the AppleBacklightFixup fixes it:

                                <key>F10T9cde</key>
                                <data>
                                ABEAGAA3AF8AigCzAOsBJAFnAakB1AIJAlQCogL4A00D
                                </data>

Note that the data value is for corrected brightness on the K610M/K1100M/K2100M cards

Maybe it's a good idea to add it to the library available on this post by @Ausdauersportler

Hi, m0bil.

How do you check the DisplayID and generate the data value for the display?

Thanks in advance.

 

[herrdude]

Hi, m0bil.

How do you check the DisplayID and generate the data value for the display?

Thanks in advance.

From @nikey22 post here : The above data pattern will allow for a wider span of steppings for the brightness control and utilizes more of the capacity of the HD3000. If you have a different machine, your panel ID can be found by going to System Preferences > Displays > Color > Open Profile > mmod.

Look at the field for model, which is 4 alphanumeric characters. If it says a007, the it is F10Ta007.

 

[Lady Titan]

friends, I have the opportunity to buy an iMac 13 can I install GTX880M from my iMAC 2011)) will this firmware work???

 

[m0bil]

From @nikey22 post here : The above data pattern will allow for a wider span of steppings for the brightness control and utilizes more of the capacity of the HD3000. If you have a different machine, your panel ID can be found by going to System Preferences > Displays > Color > Open Profile > mmod.

Look at the field for model, which is 4 alphanumeric characters. If it says a007, the it is F10Ta007.

Also form terminal:

ioreg -n AppleBacklightDisplay -arxw0 | grep AppleBacklightDisplay

will give you a string that ends with the last 4 alphanumeric characters

 

[KennyW]

Also form terminal:

ioreg -n AppleBacklightDisplay -arxw0 | grep AppleBacklightDisplay

will give you a string with the last 4 alphanumeric characters

Learn new things every day

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Thanks @Ausdauersportler, page 1 had been my best friend during the installation!

I finally bought the K2000m because available locally and relatively affordable.

GPU upgraded, as well as OS to Catalina.

You guys rock!! 🤘🏻

Just wondering if there's any possibility to turn on the internal display right after we press the power button, just like original GPU.

View attachment 963791

Go back to your best friend and read until the very end, or scroll down ...

 

[StephN999]

Greetings,

As I had no more pliers to reprogram my graphic card that I flashed with a rom that did not work from my manufacture (I would have done better to abstain) I unsolder the EEPROM and involuntarily resistors that was around, reprogramming, the graphic card no longer turns on my LCD panel (or an external screen) but strangely works (is recognized by linux nvflash)...

In short I come to my question, I take the same or an AMD FirePro WX4130 or WX4150?

I don't know when I could order it though...

For those who are interested, I could always do a blind test of my new processor.

Thank you and have a nice day.

 

[Piotrus]

Hi guys,

I've upgraded GPU on my iMac 2011 27" with Nvidia Quatro K1100m. Installed Catalina using dosdude1 Catalina patcher. I also installed Opencore on a separate partition on my hard disk and chose Catalina Loader (Opencore partition) as startup disk in the System Preferencies.

The trouble is I can't choose my iMac HDD as a default drive in the Opencore Picker. It defaults all the time to Catalina Loader partition. I tried with Ctrl + Enter combo and it didn't work. I checked plist in Opencore configurator and the settings there are as they should be. If I choose iMac HDD as startup disk in system preferencies then I won't be booting from opencore and I won't have brightness control, right?

Another problem is that video hardware encoding is not enabled. For this one I followed this guide:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Enabling Intel Quick Sync

• Open Hackintool
• Click on “Utilities”
• Click the bottom icon that says “Disable Gatekeeper and mount the disk in read/write mode”
• Transfer the “AppleGVA.framework.zip” file to the iMac and unzip it
• Replace the folder /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleGVA.framework with the extracted one
• Open Terminal and type the following commands:
  • sudo chmod -R 755 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleGVA.framework
  • sudo chown -R 0:0 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleGVA.framework
• Reboot the system
• (Optional): To check that Intel Quick Sync is enabled, download MacX Video Converter
  • Open the app
  • “Intel/AMD/Nvidia” should be checked
  • Click the “i” icon and it should display “Hardware Encoding Supported: Yes”
• --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can you tell me what I am doing wrong?

Hi,

The same for me. Have you fixed the issue?

 

[Lady Titan]

great news for gamers my observations hastily share ) in the settings nvidia purity 67 hertz q vertical synchorization the number of frames increases)) q in the settings of the game to limit the number of frames monitor and frames 67, works steadily )

 

[VakaF]

my setup is a 2010 imac, i flashed the card in windows and i have the boot menu and boot screens... windows 7 works without drivers installed but as soon as i install the drivers i get black or white screens and osx just gives me a black screen on installers and my main HS.. the firmware for EFI is up to date.. any more ideas?

I have same issue, but on my imac 2011 27
Did you solve that?

 

[Wolfmann2904]

Hi,

The same for me. Have you fixed the issue?

No luck. Still having trouble with the Opencore Picker defaulting to Catalina Loader partition. I want to use my iMac's hard drive as default so I can hide Opencore Picker and boot directly to macOS Catalina without having to choose my Catalina HDD in Opencore Picker all the time. It drives me crazy, because I have been a Hackintosh guy for many years, and it's so easy to choose default HDD in Clover boot loader, for example. I think Opencore uses rEFInd as a boot loader so I'm sure it must be a way to configure rEFInd in a way to choose default HDD.

Hi,

The same for me. Have you fixed the issue?

Now I can boot directly to my iMac HDD. See attached screenshots, I hope it helps. Catalina Loader is a bit of a mess. It uses rEFInd boot loader to initialise OpenCore boot loader, and then from there you boot MacOS. There are two pickers. The first one (rEFInd picker) can be configured in Catalina Loader/System/Library/CoreServices/refind.conf and the other one (OpenCore) in Catalina Loader/EFI/OC/config.plist . Also, I don't see why Catalina Loader shouldn't be installed on a separate partition on your iMac HDD. I've created 5Gb partition (MacOS Extended Journaled), set it as a StartupDisk in System Preferences, and I boot from there.

Still no luck with H264 and HEVC hardware video decoding.

 

[drew442]

Greetings,

As I had no more pliers to reprogram my graphic card that I flashed with a rom that did not work from my manufacture (I would have done better to abstain) I unsolder the EEPROM and involuntarily resistors that was around, reprogramming, the graphic card no longer turns on my LCD panel (or an external screen) but strangely works (is recognized by linux nvflash)...

In short I come to my question, I take the same or an AMD FirePro WX4130 or WX4150?

I don't know when I could order it though...

For those who are interested, I could always do a blind test of my new processor.

Thank you and have a nice day.

I've been using Taobao to get cards. It's currently mid-autumn festival though. You'll have to wait until next week or the week after to get a response from anyone most likely.