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

[Ausdauersportler]

What on earth is this type of ROM?

Just recieved a gtx 780m from china with a weird looking ROM. Can anyone clarify what i’m looking at? A native mac-rom maybe?

Thanks.

Okay, searching this thread to just reading the 780M BIOS announcement post would have given you the same answer: This is a WSON type BIOS chip found on most NVIDIA cards. You cannot clip it, you need to use software tools to flash.

 

[Jazzandmac]

Okay, searching this thread to just reading the 780M BIOS announcement post would have given you the same answer: This is a WSON type BIOS chip found on most NVIDIA cards. You cannot clip it, you need to use software tools to flash.

Thanks. I've been reading this forum intensely since January, but obviously missed this info.

 

[FlorisVN]

Thanks. I've been reading this forum intensely since January, but obviously missed this info.

first wiki post of this little thread, contains some usefull info
But like Ausdauersportler said, you should be able to flash the rom trough software just fine.
Use tools like nvflash on Linux of Windows Bootcamp is your best option out there.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Thanks. I've been reading this forum intensely since January, but obviously missed this info.

I agree that you cannot know and keep everything...
Possibly we need a new flash post or section on post #1 including all recent knowledge. But currently everything is only as single linke away from this first post and internet is using links...

 

[Underbeat88]

Guys, please help me get rid of this effect. I don't know what to do, it worries me a lot.
I hope there are those who were able to solve this problem?
Please help 🙏

 

[FlorisVN]

Guys, please help me get rid of this effect. I don't know what to do, it worries me a lot.
I hope there are those who were able to solve this problem?
Please help 🙏

as far as I know, this is a known bug in the K4100M firmware.
@nikey22 explained in the past, he is aware of this.

As far as I can remember do a sleep mode, and wake and this should fix the color problem.
To be sure, look up his post from nikey22, it is a few pages back or just use the search function..

 

[Underbeat88]

as far as I know, this is a known bug in the K4100M firmware.
@nikey22 explained in the past, he is aware of this.

As far as I can remember do a sleep mode, and wake and this should fix the color problem.
To be sure, look up his post from nikey22, it is a few pages back or just use the search function..

Yes, @nikey22 described the solution to the problem, but I don't understand how to do it🥺, where to look for the file to edit. Perhaps there are detailed instructions on how to do this?

 

[xanderon]

@Underbeat88

i have the same. just do the following:

every time you start the iMac, let it boot. and then:
just put it too sleep with OPTION + CMD + EJECT (CD) on your keyboard or with the mouse:  > Sleep

after directly waking it up, the others driver take over the card and the 16bit bug is gone. until the next restart. no files to change, just a move more

 

[Underbeat88]

@Underbeat88

i have the same. just do the following:

every time you start the iMac, let it boot. and then:
just put it too sleep with OPTION + CMD + EJECT (CD) on your keyboard or with the mouse:  > Sleep

after directly waking it up, the others driver take over the card and the 16bit bug is gone. until the next restart. no files to change, just a move more

Thanks, I understand that, but this is a temporary solution to the problem. I wanted to get rid of this bug permanently.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Thanks, I understand that, but this is a temporary solution to the problem. I wanted to get rid of this bug permanently.

If YOU want to get rid of it permanently create a new BIOS for this card yourself and share it here. We all would be so happy to get something in return other than complaints...

 

[Underbeat88]

If YOU want to get rid of it permanently create a new BIOS for this card yourself and share it here. We all would be so happy to get something in return other than complaints...

I'm happy! Thank you all for the work done. I don't know if there is a solution to this error, so I asked. Why did you react to my question this way?) This is just a question, not a complaint. And thank you for your work, you did a lot for all of us too.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I'm happy! Thank you all for the work done. I don't know if there is a solution to this error, so I asked. Why did you react to my question this way?) This is just a question, not a complaint. And thank you for your work, you did a lot for all of us too.

Because it was not just a question, it was more a demand to get a new "bug free" version of a BIOS.

I am just citing the first post:

"Please do not harass the BIOS developers to go faster, release a particular BIOS, etc. Please do not clog up the thread with useless posts asking if your specific card will get a new BIOS."

 

[Underbeat88]

I'm happy! Thank you all for the work done. I don't know if there is a solution to this error, so I asked. Why did you react to my question this way?) This is just a question, not a complaint. And thank you for your work, you did a lot for all of us too.

No, this is not entirely true. I really didn't want everyone to think that. Maybe I misunderstood @nikey22 answer from previous posts and thought there was a solution, but it turned out I was wrong. Sorry.

 

[daniq]

EDIT: 8/16/20 NEW AGC kexts have been added to change "board-id" to "board-ix" in the AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy binary. This has the same affect as "agdpmod=pikera" from Whatevergreen, this upload is for AMD users.

"instant on" K3100m/k4100m/k5100m/780m etc cards need this kext to fix DisplayPort Output.

I'm uploading a patched AppleGrapahicsControl.kext that is now necessary as of 10.15.4, the symptoms after this update are a blank screen but system sounds are heard when holding down the Escape key, as well a loss of any Displayport output. The cause of this is Apple Clamping down on 3rd party kexts from loading, this mainly affects hackintosh users, but affects us as our iMacs are no longer a supported platform.

What does this patched AppleGraphicsControl.kext do to allow 2009-2011 iMacs to properly boot? We now need our board ID's to be added to the AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy.kext within AppleGraphicsControl.kext, this allows the kext to properly load on boot, before this wasn't necessarily needed. I have so far all known 5 board ID's that are supported on our thread.

iMac12,2	(27-inch Mid 2011)	Mac-942B59F58194171B
iMac12,1	(21.5-inch Mid 2011)	Mac-942B5BF58194151B
iMac11,3	(27-inch Mid 2010)	Mac-F2238BAE
iMac11,2	(21.5-inch Mid 2010)	Mac-F2238AC8
iMac11,1	(27-inch Late 2009)	Mac-F2268DAE

Thanks to @Ausdauersportler for the helping/testing for this kext.

How to install when your iMac boots with a Blank screen? (assuming your LCD works just fine)

When booting you need to Hold Alt/Option to bring up the AppleBootPicker, then select the Catalina partition. Since the iMac's Screen is already on when using AppleBootPicker the iMacs screen will remain on the entire boot process allowing you to log in and then proceed to install the Patched AppleGraphicsControl Kext.

To install this kext
1. unlock your System partition, open terminal enter

sudo mount -uw /
killall Finder

2. drag the kext on-top of the kext utility icon let it install/timeout with an error.

3. Open terminal and enter "sudo reboot" skipping this step may leave your iMac hanging at the desktop (A Catalina issue)


Make sure to unzip the kext to a new folder, so there aren't any "1" or "2"... at the end of the AppleGraphicsControl.kext filename. Remember the is replacing the System Kext in System/Library/Extensions and must be done using Kext Utility linked here http://cvad-mac.narod.ru/index/0-4.

Hi,

I have iMac 2011 27", Xeon E3 1275+K2100M (bios by @nikey22 ) I can't solve black screen on the latest Catalina 10.15.7. I used tutorial https://helloworldcodes.com/index.p...100m-graphics-card-swap-and-install-catalina/ after add kexts few times I didn't saw black screen and Catalina loaded ok, but now black screen load everytime and Catalina load only through click "option" on keyboard.

Anyone have solution for this issue?

 

[FlorisVN]

No, this is not entirely true. I really didn't want everyone to think that. Maybe I misunderstood @nikey22 answer from previous posts and thought there was a solution, but it turned out I was wrong. Sorry.

there is a temp. Solution as far as I understand.
Put your iMac in sleep mode, and wake it backup from sleep.
Should be a simple fix workarround for now I would say..

 

[ezugaru]

No, this is not entirely true. I really didn't want everyone to think that. Maybe I misunderstood @nikey22 answer from previous posts and thought there was a solution, but it turned out I was wrong. Sorry.

Yeah, Nick just pointed what the source of the problem is, and also that isn't something trivial to fix. So he wrote about the sleep work around.

 

[Underbeat88]

there is a temp. Solution as far as I understand.
Put your iMac in sleep mode, and wake it backup from sleep.
Should be a simple fix workarround for now I would say..

Thanks for the information.🙏

 

[Underbeat88]

Yeah, Nick just pointed what the source of the problem is, and also that isn't something trivial to fix. So he wrote about the sleep work around.

I use a Google translator, perhaps the translation was not entirely correct and I misunderstood. But now I understand everything.)

 

[Underbeat88]

I want to ask everyone for forgiveness, maybe I didn't put it that way and said too much. I just needed information. Now I understand everything. We will believe that this issue will be resolved.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I want to ask everyone for forgiveness, maybe I didn't put it that way and said too much. I just needed information. Now I understand everything. We will believe that this issue will be resolved.

This not really necessary. I am happy if you are happy. Please keep in your mind that all effort spent here by all people is for free. And this is no commercial service organisation.

 

[astuermer]

Hi there

I haven't found something simmilar here, just copper pads and pads for 27" iMacs, so perhaps someone can help ...
I own an iMac 2011 21,5" with AMD 6770M graphics - which I exchanged to a NVidia K1100M today.
Flashing and assembling was no trouble so far.

But...
The thermal pads from the AMD card were wasted.
I couldn't measure the thickness, so I used 1,5mm pads I had at home for the RAM chips - together with MX4 paste for the GPU itself.
I am using MacsFanControl but the GPU Diode goes up to 55°C degrees in idle and 70 in games.
I set it to GPU Heatsink temp from 38-55 degrees.

Is there any recommendation for thermal pads thickness for a K1100M with the default heatsink to "optimize" the temperature?

Kind regards

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi there

I haven't found something simmilar here, just copper pads and pads for 27" iMacs, so perhaps someone can help ...
I own an iMac 2011 21,5" with AMD 6770M graphics - which I exchanged to a NVidia K1100M today.
Flashing and assembling was no trouble so far.

But...
The thermal pads from the AMD card were wasted.
I couldn't measure the thickness, so I used 1,5mm pads I had at home for the RAM chips - together with MX4 paste for the GPU itself.
I am using MacsFanControl but the GPU Diode goes up to 55°C degrees in idle and 70 in games.
I set it to GPU Heatsink temp from 38-55 degrees.

Is there any recommendation for thermal pads thickness for a K1100M with the default heatsink to "optimize" the temperature?

Kind regards

Read the first post!

Q7: What paste is recommended to cover the VRAM/Components on the MXM card like Apple’s design?

A: For the GPU Die any thermal Paste like Thermal Grizzly’s Kryonaut paste is good for the Die. For onboard components, many recommend using K5 Pro Viscous paste instead of thermal pads, due to the unevenness of the heatsink, it’s also similar to Apple’s original Design. You can get it from the Bay or from the Book Store, too.

 

[hugodlc]

Hi, I'm sorry to bother, but I bought a wx4170 mxm card for my Zbook laptop and the Eeprom chip was blank.
I needed a ROM to be present so my virtual machine could use the GPU, so after days of hunting for the right VBIOS, my search led me here.

The modified ROMs that exist scattered in this thead "work" but there are problems with the device info, the connectors, TDP, is for the 4130, uefi broken, etc... so while they "work" the card is not getting the performance, and/or autodetect plug for outputs, as well as if I switch the bios to GPU only, the screen is black and I have to take the card out to revert to hybrid mode.

I tried getting the VBIOS out of the bios update as well as from the windows registry, but no luck.

I know this is not a Zbook support forum and I apologize for the request, but I hope someone with a similar card has the vanilla unmodified ROM for the WX 4170 card, as this is the only place I've found with some answers.

Thank you

 

[coops312]

Hi all. I've managed to successfully install a K2100m in my 2011 iMac 27".

Using Opencore I can boot into High Sierra or Mojave without issue and have managed to get sleep/wake working on both.

However I'm finding booting through Opencore a bit hit and miss. I select "Catalina Loader" from the boot picker which then takes me to Opencore's boot picker.

I find if I get the boot picker with the flat white icons things generally work. However I often get the Opencore boot picker with the 3D icons (like the system), I can't get either Mojave or High Sierra to load. Mojave hangs at the grey apple screen with no progress bar, and High Sierra hangs with the progress bar at about 60%.

Appears to be random which boot picker I get, I usually need to try about 7-8 times. I've tried a few different versions of Opencore from this thread (0.5.9, 0.6.0, 0.6.2) with the same issue.

Not sure what I've done wrong here, any pointers would be appreciated.

I'm not sure where to begin with debugging this. Presume I may have something not quite right in my Opencore configuration, though all I've changed from @Ausdauersportler 0.6.0 bundle is rename "config.NVIDIA.plist" to "config.plist" ("config.NVIDIA-2011-27.plist" for 0.6.2).

Also noticed I don't get a brightness slider in Mojave system prefs (I think it's there in HS). This is less of an issue as I can control with another app, but maybe another symptom of something I've missed.

 

[astuermer]

For onboard components, many recommend using K5 Pro Viscous paste instead of thermal pads, due to the unevenness of the heatsink, it’s also similar to Apple’s original Design.

I see, those K5 Pro Paste is some kind of "pad" from what I found so far...