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

[MirComputers]

Bro, if You are a Hackintosher You really should know by now that one thing is opencore on the USB for installing macos and verifying the configuration , and other the opencore on your internal drive to run your system. Perhaps, many people here use SD Cards to launch their systems, there must be a reason, but as it has be stated before, this is not the opencore thread, that questions of yours is out of place.
The community here is focused on making some GPUs usable, thats all.
There are other threads as well as discord channels you can go when they might be able to elighten You.
Remember , the Core of a Hackintosher is reading...reading....reading...and keep reading

Actually, there is no difference in the likelyhood of it breaking your bios/bootrom . As long as you let the opencore efi load he OS it does not matter where it comes from. What i do understand is that if opencore is configured to auto-set itself as the primary boot option it is a good idea to have a way to stop it from loading, so i guess that's what you guys are referring to?

Reading is the key, but some information here are kept to an insane semplified level for stuff that could brick your imac - yeah i could open and SPI program the bootrom, but the tool to do the backup hangs my system (also the password efi is not given on the tutorials here)

 

[theRockstarz]

hello everyone. has anyone figured out how to improve the cooling system after upgrading the video card to gtx 780m/880m? after all, it emits much more pace and the native cooling system can not cool it at full load, for example in games.

 

[m0bil]

if you can put that here. thank you

Did that version work for you?

 

[JOSHUNHAPPY]

Yes, of course!

You miss this from the first post:

You may face all kind of hardware problems after assembling your iMac again. There is an incomplete list of common (hardware) 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. You may likely buy a dead used card. Check it before! This is not the "repair my iMac help desk thread".

Thank you very much for your response, I found you reply about this card before where you reassemble and it worked fine, I did the same and mine is working but has still some issues. I'm going to keep reading this thread and try to figure it out if I missing something, thank you!

 

[Ausdauersportler]

hello everyone. has anyone figured out how to improve the cooling system after upgrading the video card to gtx 780m/880m? after all, it emits much more pace and the native cooling system can not cool it at full load, for example in games.

If you are using the BIOS provided here than your 780M should dissipate on average the 70W. This amount of heat can be transferred out of the machine if, and only if you have a clean installation of the card on the 3pipe (2011 MXMB) sink. I can run my card under max load for hours not hitting the 70C using the @nikey22 or @Nick [D]vB BIOS versions.

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

Actually, there is no difference in the likelyhood of it breaking your bios/bootrom . As long as you let the opencore efi load he OS it does not matter where it comes from. What i do understand is that if opencore is configured to auto-set itself as the primary boot option it is a good idea to have a way to stop it from loading, so i guess that's what you guys are referring to?

Reading is the key, but some information here are kept to an insane semplified level for stuff that could brick your imac - yeah i could open and SPI program the bootrom, but the tool to do the backup hangs my system (also the password efi is not given on the tutorials here)

I think, we should begin at the beginning. Please take the time to put your hardware in your signature. After that you'll surely have more answers.

 

[theRockstarz]

If you are using the BIOS provided here than your 780M should dissipate on average the 70W. This amount of heat can be transferred out of the machine if, and only if you have a clean installation of the card on the 3pipe (2011 MXMB) sink. I can run my card under max load for hours not hitting the 70C using the @nikey22 or @Nick [D]vB BIOS versions.

I have 880m with BIOS from the table from the first page (nikey 22), radiator I use from 6970 with 3 tubes. I use windows via boot camp for games, the temperature reaches 90+ degrees. On Mac OS High Sierra, I can't track the temperature because Macsfancontrol doesn't see the video core sensor. In the benchmark the radiator heats up above 75 at maximum fan speed

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

I have 880m with BIOS from the table from the first page (nikey 22), I use windows via boot camp for games, the temperature reaches 90+ degrees. On Mac OS High Sierra, I can't track the temperature because Macsfancontrol doesn't see the video core sensor. In the benchmark the radiator heats up above 75 at maximum fan speed

It's to much, there is a problem.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I have 880m with BIOS from the table from the first page (nikey 22), radiator I use from 6970 with 3 tubes. I use windows via boot camp for games, the temperature reaches 90+ degrees. On Mac OS High Sierra, I can't track the temperature because Macsfancontrol doesn't see the video core sensor. In the benchmark the radiator heats up above 75 at maximum fan speed

Macs Fan Control will run with Windows and MacOS and you can use the Heat Sink Sensor to control the fans. This has been mentioned more than one time...

 

[theRockstarz]

MACS Fan Control будет работать с Windows и MacOS, и Вы можете использовать датчик теплоотвода для управления вентиляторами. This has been mentioned more than one time...

I have configured radiator management by the heat removal sensor in MacOS, in Windows on the GPU (Windows sees the GPU temperature). The problem is that the video card does not cool down even at 2500rpm ODD fan.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I have configured radiator management by the heat removal sensor in MacOS, in Windows on the GPU (Windows sees the GPU temperature). The problem is that the video card does not cool down even at 2500rpm ODD fan.

Than your ambient temperature is probably too high. I do not have this problem. But the worst thing I do with this card is running Valley 2h...

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

I have configured radiator management by the heat removal sensor in MacOS, in Windows on the GPU (Windows sees the GPU temperature). The problem is that the video card does not cool down even at 2500rpm ODD fan.

Maybe your physical setup between heatsink and gpu needs investigation.

 

[theRockstarz]

Than your ambient temperature is probably too high. I do not have this problem. But the worst thing I do with this card is running Valley 2h...

did you run the Valley from Windows?

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

did you run the app from Windows?

I did. No problems.

 

[theRockstarz]

I did. No problems.

what is the temperature after 30 minutes of the test? My temperature after 5 minutes of operation Valley:

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Off topic:

WX7100 4GB

 

[MirComputers]

I think, we should begin at the beginning. Please take the time to put your hardware in your signature. After that you'll surely have more answers.

My question is not specific to my config, but more broadly related to the (non) working procedure of opencore install, as i cannot find a way to burn the dmg to usb with balena etcher (i think that's because the DMG has a password "Nick" ) and i would like to keep the SD card and the USB port free so i'm tryn to understand if i can put opencore inside the system EFI (or the reason it's not advised)

 

[herrdude]

My question is not specific to my config, but more broadly related to the (non) working procedure of opencore install, as i cannot find a way to burn the dmg to usb with balena etcher (i think that's because the DMG has a password "Nick" ) and i would like to keep the SD card and the USB port free so i'm tryn to understand if i can put opencore inside the system EFI (or the reason it's not advised)

Check this post.

 

[mega_frog]

Hi all,

Just wanted to THANK YOU all for everything that goes on here. Just upgraded my 2011 27'' iMac to a GTX880M following all the instructions here and on Curtis video and BOOM! Now I'm rocking an 8gb graphics card with boot menu and full brightness control. Thank you @nikey22, @xanderon and @Curtis Gross and everyone else that dropped nuggets of knowledge here and there. You are all rock stars, THANK YOU!

 

[griffincox]

Hi all, I may be missing something simple, so forgive me if so.
I have a iMac 11,3 27”. I put in a K1100M. Updated VBIOS. Have 10.13, 10.15 and Windows 10 installed. Using open core. The speakers chime at boot but do not work in any OS. I have tried removing and adding the legacy audio patch in Catalina patcher a few times. No luck. What am I missing? Speakers should work? Everything else seems good.
Thanks!

 

[chrisx78]

Hi all, I may be missing something simple, so forgive me if so.
I have a iMac 11,3 27”. I put in a K1100M. Updated VBIOS. Have 10.13, 10.15 and Windows 10 installed. Using open core. The speakers chime at boot but do not work in any OS. I have tried removing and adding the legacy audio patch in Catalina patcher a few times. No luck. What am I missing? Speakers should work? Everything else seems good.
Thanks!

After install the patch, have you try to rebuild the kextcache?

• sudo kextcache -i /

 

[m3t9v]

No, you won't get a picture on the stock vBIOS without a back-light mod,

AMD users should flash the GOP vBIOS attached, you can do it from windows.

Then use OpenCore to get boot-screen and brightness control with no other mods!

AMDVBFlash / ATI ATIFlash 5.0.567 Download

AMD AMDVBFlash is used to flash the graphics card BIOS. The version released by ATI was called ATIFlash or just WinFlash. It supports all AMD Radeo

www.techpowerup.com

Download: iMac OpenCore Loader.dmg


FEATURES:

[1] Native brightness control on Quadro K1100M & K2100M cards.

(more cards may be added in the future through vBIOS updates)

[2] Target Display Mode on Quadro K1100M & K2100M cards.

[3] Real-time hardware monitoring using HWMonitor app:

Nvidia GPU Die Temp + GPU, VRAM & CPU core Frequencies.

[4] Reduced boot-screen delay, no more random black-screen boots.

[5] OpenCore + rEFInd boot-pickers on AMD cards with NO MODS!

(allows bootscreen & native brightness control simultaneously)

[6] SideCar + Video acceleration on new AMD cards (Mojave+)

Huge H264 & HEVC video encoding speed improvements in FCPX etc

Playback of DRM protected streaming content (Netflix 4K etc)


2011 iMacs only -

[7] UEFI Windows: Sound fix for HDAudio code 12 driver error,

can also fix some ThunderBolt eGPU resource issues in Windows.

(Enable DSDT in ACPI section of the OpenCore configuration tool)

[8] Mojave & Catalina: Integration of SandyBridge iGPU Kexts

required for the AirPlay + Sleep + GVA QuickSync video fixes

Catalina needs IOSurface.kext replacing FIRST, more details here:

2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

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...

forums.macrumors.com

INSTALLATION:

Restore the image to an SD card or USB stick, I do not recommend installing to a non-removable drive. If using an AMD card show hidden files and extract the AMD config.plist file inside the /EFI/OC/ folder. Set the "Catalina Loader" drive as the default boot disk in system preferences or by using Ctrl+Enter from the Apple boot-picker. If you have problems booting delete any Lilu or Whatevergreen kexts from S/L/E, to disable OpenCore just remove the drive and do an NVRAM reset.


WARNING:

Congratulations, you are now running a Hackintosh! I have done some basic safety checks but I can't test everything, there is a non-zero risk that something will go spectacularly wrong. I accept NO responsibility if Apple ban your accounts or if your iMac blows-up, wipes all your data, and injures your cat... Make sure you have current back-ups of all your drives, and use the RomTool to make a back-up of your iMacs BootRom so it can be restored in case of corruption (very unlikely, but possible). Configuration tools are included, be careful - here be dragons!


Based on "Catalina Loader" by Rastafabi.

Thanks to Highvoltage12v & Ausdauersportler for testing.

Full credit to all the original developers & those who shared essential information.



Better late than never...

Hi, First thank you for all the work to make this available. A question on the OpenCore Loader: is it possible to put the loader on a separate APFS volume and boot from it, instead of using a SD card(or external USB drive) to boot?

 

[jay508]

Help oc 0.6.0 version, when oc boot is configured, there is brightness adjustment, only about 80% brightness can not be the maximum brightness. How to set iMac 2011 27 k2100m, oc boot U disk efi copy to SSD EFI partition, unplug U disk oc boot fails. How do I need to configure it, or do I need a U disk oc?

 

[Pascal Baillargeau]

My question is not specific to my config, but more broadly related to the (non) working procedure of opencore install, as i cannot find a way to burn the dmg to usb with balena etcher (i think that's because the DMG has a password "Nick" ) and i would like to keep the SD card and the USB port free so i'm tryn to understand if i can put opencore inside the system EFI (or the reason it's not advised)

You can create a small HFS+ partition and put there all files from Opencore image (invisible files too).
And as you have an NVIDIA card with a Native Apple bootscreen because you flashed it, you can put just the Opencore EFI folder in the EFI partition of a secondary SSD, not the main boot disk. This way, if you have to do a PRAM reset you will default to Apple Bootscreen.
It's dangerous to do that with an AMD card because, in this case, you have no Apple bootscreen (GOP vbios) and can be stuck if you misconfigure Opencore. With no other solution than reopen iMac to disconnect physically SSD or HDD to make your boot selection.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi, First thank you for all the work to make this available. A question on the OpenCore Loader: is it possible to put the loader on a separate APFS volume and boot from it, instead of using a SD card(or external USB drive) to boot?

No, it has to be a Journaled FS, no APFS. Read the original OpenCore docs on Github or search for the Opencore on Mac thread to get an idea what options you have. We kept it that way because it is easy to maintain for the mass of users not being able to do deep dive terminal explorations.

Do not follow these options with an AMD card, there is no native boot screen available and you will it be able to recover from a bad config other than plugging your internal drive.