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

[Ausdauersportler]

The K2000M has EFI boot screen if properly flashed. Additionally there is the install to disk option with the @dosdude1 patcher for 2011 systems.

Honestly I do not understand your request.

Start reading at page one and post #1.

 

[HelloDarknes]

The K2000M has EFI boot screen if properly flashed. Additionally there is the install to disk option with the @dosdude1 patcher for 2011 systems.

Honestly I do not understand your request.

Start reading at page one and post #1.

Hi, thank you for your reply. I can't flash my card, because I haven't downloaded windows, before I installed the graphics card. Flashing with different USBs and external flashing tools isn't for me, because I think that I will make more harm to me and my computer than benefit.

If I explain my question more, can I upgrade to macOS Catalina without flashing or taking apart the computer? I saw the option on DosDude1s patch, that was saying Install on this computer. I was wondering, if this option auto-applies the patches, so that I don't have to go to boot and install it there and will I be able to see the OS after upgrading?

I saw a lot of your comments @Ausdauersportler and I see that you have a lot of knowledge when it comes for this. I thank you for your reply and I hope you and other people included in this discussion will now understand what I wanted to ask.

Best regards and happy holidays,

HelloDarknes

 

[Ausdauersportler]

The Linux flash utility is as complicated as I installing Catalina.

The install to this computer will work even without boot screen on the 2011.

On the long run having no boot screen is not really an option.

You can use OpenCore to emulate a boot screen but this is again as complicated to setup as flashing the K2000M in the first place.

Post #1 and flash ...my best advice.

 

[HelloDarknes]

The Linux flash utility is as complicated as I installing Catalina.

The install to this computer will work even without boot screen on the 2011.

On the long run having no boot screen is not really an option.

You can use OpenCore to emulate a boot screen but this is again as complicated to setup as flashing the K2000M in the first place.

Post #1 and flash ...my best advice.

OK, so how do I boot into Linux? Do I have to do it blind on start and pressing the ALT key? And can I install Linux onto an USB drive, right?

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[HelloDarknes]

OK, so how do I boot into Linux? Do I have to do it blind on start and pressing the ALT key? And can I install Linux onto an USB drive, right?

Thanks for the help so far.

And one question I forgot to ask. Will I be able to see linux on screen?

Best regards.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

And one question I forgot to ask. Will I be able to see linux on screen?

Best regards.

What screen? You are removing the internal LCD to install the MXM card, are'n't you?
For iMac2011, you may see something on an external screen, since Linux may use the Intel iGPU to simulate display. If you are lucky that way, you don't have to SSH to it for flashing command.

 

[KennyW]

OK, so how do I boot into Linux? Do I have to do it blind on start and pressing the ALT key? And can I install Linux onto an USB drive, right?

Thanks for the help so far.

It is in the first post.

Look under Q&A Q3. You need another PC or Mac to SSH to it with Ethernet connection for the flashing.

Sometimes, there may be video signal from external display connected to miniDS port at the back as Nguyen said.
Then it may save you the trouble of SSH.

 

[vastunghia]

Ok so, just to close the matter, I dumped 3 times for each of the 3 choices in the chip selection list (obtaining 3x3=9 bin ROM dump files), and then

1. binary compared (diff'ed) one vs all the 8 others => green light, they are all the same
2. also opened one in a hex editor, just to make sure that they are not containing only zeroes => green light, they do contain some data

Thanks for the hints!

@KennyW , no, actually ROMtool does not recognize the specific chip (check my previous post with screenshot attached).

Ciao,

I moved on and finally found the time to do the GPU swap. As anticipated, I installed an AMD WX4150 (fully aware of the risks).

After finishing, the iMac looks dead. I push the power-on button, but nothing happens. No fan noise, no chime. Nothing at all.

I see three main reasons:

1. the GPU is not recognized and this is exactly how it works -- the iMac won't even make a small sound at all;
2. I forgot to plug back something somewhere, i.e. I only need to open it back and check for everything to be in place;
3. I did something horribly wrong, and the motherboard is gone.

Re: points 2 and 3, I will investigate of course. I was just wondering if somebody may help me in assessing point 1: what are the symptoms when mounting a non-viable WX4150? Is the iMac expected to produce some kind of noise (fans, possibly, or even startup chime) when pressing the power-on button? Or is this 'silence of death' exactly the symptom telling me that my specific WX4150 can be trashed?

I looked around in the forum, but could not find this info.

Thank you in advance

Sergio

 

[MirComputers]

Ciao,

I moved on and finally found the time to do the GPU swap. As anticipated, I installed an AMD WX4150 (fully aware of the risks).

After finishing, the iMac looks dead. I push the power-on button, but nothing happens. No fan noise, no chime. Nothing at all.

I see three main reasons:

1. the GPU is not recognized and this is exactly how it works -- the iMac won't even make a small sound at all;
2. I forgot to plug back something somewhere, i.e. I only need to open it back and check for everything to be in place;
3. I did something horribly wrong, and the motherboard is gone.

Re: points 2 and 3, I will investigate of course. I was just wondering if somebody may help me in assessing point 1: what are the symptoms when mounting a non-viable WX4150? Is the iMac expected to produce some kind of noise (fans, possibly, or even startup chime) when pressing the power-on button? Or is this 'silence of death' exactly the symptom telling me that my specific WX4150 can be trashed?

I looked around in the forum, but could not find this info.

Thank you in advance

Sergio

One of the easiest cable to miss is actually the power button

 

[Ausdauersportler]

OC or not OC, that was the question!​

OpenCore and our special implementation using the Catalina Loader divided the users into two groups since it has been posted nearly a year ago.

One part were adapting it quickly and using OC from day one, the other tried to ignore it and got rewarded by @nikey22 with his great NVIDIA Bios versions.

Today we face the following situation, OpenCore is needed - and there is no other option available - when:

• enabling emulated boot picker (OpenCore Canopy) for AMD cards using a GOP BIOS
• enabling emulated boot picker (OpenCore Canopy) for NVIDIA K1000M, K2000M, K4000M (and other unlisted GPU)
• enabling 4K HEVC for AMD cards
• enabling Big Sur installation and boot on Late 2009 and Mid 2010 system (all GPU types)
• enabling brightness control with K610M/K1100M/K2100M
• enabling OTA upgrades with Big Sur (all systems, all GPU)
• enabling OTA upgrades with Catalina (all systems, all GPU)
• enabling full speed of AMD cards (PolarisBoost.kext)
• enabling sound on Windows UEFI installations on iMac Mid 2011 models
• getting rid of the black screen issue after PRAM reset on iMac Late 2009 with NVIDIA GPU (this is a full replacement of the AGC patch). If installed to the EFI of the boot disc it will be available even after PRAM reset on the next reboot.

You do not need OpenCore:

• with NVIDIA ++ GPU using the @nikey22 BIOS with High Sierra, Mojave or Catalina until 10.15.7 (19H04)
• with AMD using an EG BIOS (EFI boot screen on external display) ignoring 4K HEVC (there is no user known doing this) and High Sierra, Mojave, and Catalina until 10.15.7 (19H04)

Why do I write all this down?

I want all of you to understand that we cannot ignore OpenCore if we want go on and want to install most recent macOS versions. From my perspective it becomes more and more complicated to keep track of all these different cases (which system and which GPU can ignore OC and which does it need).

The near future the plan is therefore to enhance the Big Sur patcher and include the OpenCore configs available with the Catalina Loader. This would mean that there will be no Big Sur installation without using OpenCore in future, or the other way around: Big Sur will need OpenCore in any case!

Notes:
Of course, the OTA update story is not completely written to the textbook, now. There is still the danger of getting these unwanted firmware upgrades...so please backup your iMac firmware remotely.

 

[internetzel]

Re: points 2 and 3, I will investigate of course. I was just wondering if somebody may help me in assessing point 1: what are the symptoms when mounting a non-viable WX4150? Is the iMac expected to produce some kind of noise (fans, possibly, or even startup chime) when pressing the power-on button? Or is this 'silence of death' exactly the symptom telling me that my specific WX4150 can be trashed?

You could try removing the WX4150 again and power on the iMac without any graphics card installed.
If it actually powers up, you could then try to install the WX4150 without any heatsink at all.
In case the iMac does power up with the blank WX4150 installed you should power it off immediately and install the heatsink to it, paying special attention to avoid any short circuiting between the board components and the heat sink; you may use some adhesive tape to achieve this. A copper shim between the GPU die and the heat sink is necessary in almost any case; you'll find all necessary information regarding this in either the first post or some of the more recent ones.

 

[giampi.bel]

I made a small app that fixes the color-depth issue at startup for some cards, like the 780M with @nikey22's ROM. After startup, start this app, the screen should turn black for a second and the colors/performance should be good to go. Appears to be working fine for me but obviously needs some testing first. Previously i had to put my iMac to sleep at least once or change screen resolution back and forth to fix this problem, now its a bit faster as i set it up in a way that it runs automatically on startup.

Download: https://github.com/passatgt/imac-color-depth-fix

Usage: just simply double click imaccolordepthfix to run. You can add it to your login items(system settings/users/login items), so it runs on a fresh startup automatically

Hello! It seems that doesn't works for High Sierra. Could you make an app version for High Sierra?

 

[vastunghia]

You could try removing the WX4150 again and power on the iMac without any graphics card installed.
If it actually powers up, you could then try to install the WX4150 without any heatsink at all.
In case the iMac does power up with the blank WX4150 installed you should power it off immediately and install the heatsink to it, paying special attention to avoid any short circuiting between the board components and the heat sink; you may use some adhesive tape to achieve this. A copper shim between the GPU die and the heat sink is necessary in almost any case; you'll find all necessary information regarding this in either the first post or some of the more recent ones.

@MirComputers, thanks for the hint, unfortunately it was too good to be true -- and indeed the power button was fine already.

@internetzel, I guess you are right and that short circuiting between GPU and heatsink is the issue I need to focus on next.

By the way, I noticed that plugging the power cord slowly in results in some dreadful static noises... and the desk lamp, attached to the same power strip as the iMac, flickering... Hope this is compatible with GPU short circuiting, and not other issues, possibly even more serious! I would like to have a functioning iMac, even with its original GPU.

I read here in this thread that user @davidg5678 achieved at installing the WX4150, and that he was experiencing a dead iMac just before putting insulating tape basically all over the graphics card. So I guess that's what I'm going to do next. I read that his iMac at least chimed when he removed the HDD, but I'm so scared of plugging the power chord back in, after hearing those statics, that I'm not even considering to do this experiment at this time.

By the way, please find below some pics I took of the card, just before installing it. As you may notice, I applied on the GPU a 1mm copper plate with thermal paste on both sides. I spilled some thermal paste over the GPU board, anyway. Yes I know, I did quite a mess with that thermal paste I will try and clean that as well.

Thanks

Sergio

 

[Pacific1972]

Sometimes I think (after a bulk of requests in some people try to get other methods
to patch Video Cards / initialize iMac & macOS) we are here at Chaos Computer Club
- focus on chaos 🤪 !

Why not use for 3rd party Video card patch a method you are experienced with ?

-> CH341A USB programmer with Windows (for SOP8 BIOS Chips)
-> if there is WINDOWS as BOOT Camp partition in your iMac, you can use NVFlash (WIN)
-> if you are experienced with Linux and have a bootable Linux partition in your iMac,
you can use NVFlash (Linux).
-> if you have a Laptop with MXM Slot, you can use NVFlash (WIN / Linux)

And last but not least: don't ignore the documentation at page #1 of this thread !
You cannot tell a story if you begin to read a book from the middle of it - what you
read in here most actual is often only half of information and with that you cannot
begin to fix an iMac..

 

[KennyW]

@MirComputers, thanks for the hint, unfortunately it was too good to be true -- and indeed the power button was fine already.

@internetzel, I guess you are right and that short circuiting between GPU and heatsink is the issue I need to focus on next.

By the way, I noticed that plugging the power cord slowly in results in some dreadful static noises... and the desk lamp, attached to the same power strip as the iMac, flickering... Hope this is compatible with GPU short circuiting, and not other issues, possibly even more serious! I would like to have a functioning iMac, even with its original GPU.

I read here in this thread that user @davidg5678 achieved at installing the WX4150, and that he was experiencing a dead iMac just before putting insulating tape basically all over the graphics card. So I guess that's what I'm going to do next. I read that his iMac at least chimed when he removed the HDD, but I'm so scared of plugging the power chord back in, after hearing those statics, that I'm not even considering to do this experiment at this time.

By the way, please find below some pics I took of the card, just before installing it. As you may notice, I applied on the GPU a 1mm copper plate with thermal paste on both sides. I spilled some thermal paste over the GPU board, anyway. Yes I know, I did quite a mess with that thermal paste I will try and clean that as well.

Thanks

Sergio


View attachment 1702348

View attachment 1702349

View attachment 1702350

I also heard some static noise sometimes when connecting the power cord after change of GPU. No need to worry.

At the front, if you have placed a 1mm copper shim, it should give enough room as spacer for other components to be clear of the heatsink. Nevertheless, I also put a 0.5mm heat pad over the 6 most protruding grey components.

On the back, the area of the X-bracelet is covered with heat tape as well.


You may disconnect all HD/SSD, connect the Linux Flash USB to a USB port, connect an external display to the miniDS port, and power up to see anything on the external display. If there is no chime sound, it usually means no POSTing or defective card. But still check whether you can SSH to your iMac to see whether you can flash the card or not.

Otherwise, flashing with Ch341a programmer may be the alternative option to try.

 

[passatgt]

Hello! It seems that doesn't works for High Sierra. Could you make an app version for High Sierra?

I think if you run Make yourself to build the executable, it should work. I don't have access to HS right now to do this.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I think if you run Make yourself to build the executable, it should work. I don't have access to HS right now to do this.

Have you ever tried to install WhateverGreen and Lilu to solve this problem?

 

[MirComputers]

** NVIDIA Quadro K3100M Mac Edition ROM **
Genuine Native Boot Screen & Brightness Control​

View attachment 942193


Pre-installation Requirements:
- iMac12,2 (27-inch Mid 2011) Mac-942B59F58194171B (Tested machine)
- BootROM: 87.0.0.0.0. Please use High Sierra to update your BootROM to latest version.

- GPU Variant: N15E-Q1-A2

- Hynix GDDR5 Die Generation variants
View attachment 1687878
H5GQ2H24AFR - Hynix 1st Generation die - VDD 1.5V, use K3100M_AFR.rom
H5GC2H24BFR - Hynix 2nd Generation die - VDD 1.35V, use K3100M_BFR.rom
H5GQ2H24BFR - Hynix 2nd Generation die - VDD 1.5V, use K3100M_BFR.rom

known working cards:
Dell K3100M vbios: 80.04.B0.00.0A
HP K3100M vbios: 80.04.CD.00.0A. PN: 744354-001

This ROM does not require a 3rd party bootloader like OpenCore.
This ROM is build on the same principles as my K4100M. Unfortunately, the color-pixel bug is still present. But I am working on it. The brightness will need to be adjusted via a kext as previous. I have a feeling that the native brightness dimness is also inline with the same generic driver bug previously mentioned. The rom has a modest clock table boost as well.

Post-installation Requirements:
Brightness Control Stepping Mod:
-Turn computer on, hold down Command(⌘)-R
-Choose Utilities > Terminal
-Enter:csrutil disable
-Reboot
-Download and open 'Kext Utility v2.6.6'

-Navigate to S/L/E (System/Library/Extensions)
-Copy "AppleBacklight.kext" to Desktop
-Edit: AppleBacklight.kext/Contents/Info.plist
-Scroll down to: IOKitPersonalities > AppleIntelPanelA > ApplePanels
-There you find several Apple LCD profiles.
-For the iMac 2011 27" machine locate:

<key>F10Ta007</key>
<data>
ABEABgALABQAHAAnADMAPwBOAFwAZwBzAIEAkQClAL8A2wD/
</data>

-Change the <data> section to:
ABEAAgA3AF8AigCzAOsBJAFnAakB1AIJAlQCogL4A00DlgRpBGk=

-Drag your modded kext into Kext Utility, allow it correct permissions
-Applebacklight.kext.bak folder will be created
-Reboot

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

warning: please remember this is a WSON based card. You will be unable to recover from a bad flash with clip.



View attachment 939736 View attachment 939740

"insanely great!"
-Steve Jobs

**update**
12-7-2020 TDP/3D/Boost adjusted for both ROMs
12-6-2020 new roms for Hynix AFR and Hynix BFR based vRAMs should fix white/black screen issue
10-4-2020 working on Catalina 10.15.7, HP PN:744354-001 @GButorin
08-4-2020 working on Sierra 10.12.6 @Ausdauersportler

Quick report: on my zbook 17 g2 i have H5GC2H24BFR memories. Don't know if anyone will be willing to test flashing without checking his exact variant first though.

 

[Pacific1972]

I also heard some static noise sometimes when connecting the power cord after change of GPU. No need to worry.

At the front, if you have placed a 1mm copper shim, it should give enough room as spacer for other components to be clear of the heatsink. Nevertheless, I also put a 0.5mm heat pad over the 6 most protruding grey components.

On the back, the area of the X-bracelet is covered with heat tape as well.
View attachment 1702358

You may disconnect all HD/SSD, connect the Linux Flash USB to a USB port, connect an external display to the miniDS port, and power up to see anything on the external display. If there is no chime sound, it usually means no POSTing or defective card. But still check whether you can SSH to your iMac to see whether you can flash the card or not.

Otherwise, flashing with Ch341a programmer may be the alternative option to try.

Very professional solution !!! 👍

 

[nikey22]

• getting rid of the black screen issue after PRAM reset on iMac Late 2009 with NVIDIA GPU (this is a full replacement of the AGC patch). If installed to the EFI of the boot disc it will be available even after PRAM reset on the next reboot.

Was there a user here that burned a mid-2010 imac bootrom into their late-2009 imac to help solve this issue? If so please let me know who you are. I may be able to track down the module in the bootrom responsible for this and add it to the 2009 systems.

 

[Misterhealy]

this is because if you install w10 in uefi mode, windows automatically installs the drivers for the iGPU.
you can force windows not to install those drivers by following the workaround in my post #11,698

Hope it helps!

also if you want the internal audio interface to work you need to follow the instructions on this link

[GUIDE] DSDT override eGPU error 12 fix

Page shortcut: /a> | dsdt [GUIDE] DSDT override eGPU error 12 fix (Windows only) here ◄ Mac owners please work through this thread to solve...

egpu.io

it is for an eGPU but it works

alternatively you can install windows in bios / mbr mode, but you will need to use the command line within the W10 installation environment and it gets a bit more complicated if you have never used tools like diskpart in windows

Hi,

so I have successfully installed a K4100m, Catalina and Windows 10 and all are currently stable.

I noticed this post regarding audio in Win10 and was wondering if someone could shed some light on this process linked in the original post. There seems to be a number of avenues to take in this method and it’s not overly clear which one I should take.

If there is another method of removing the “HD Audio” drivers and replacing them with the Cirrus ones in the Bootcamp folder then I’m all ears; I can’t seem to get them to work as windows defaults to the HD Audio drivers.

thanks all.

 

[luckasa]

Hello!
first of all: I've read a lot of times the first post and now I'm trying to install the Opencore.
It says: "Install the latest firmware for your iMac". I have imac Mid 2011 and I've tried to update the firmware but it doesn't work: I've install a lot of times Mac OS and all the security updates a lot of times in one hard disk and in the other.
The last firmware version is 87.0.0.0 but mine is 004F.B00.1804101150
Someone has the 87.0.0.0 version and I can try to update from dosdude1 ROMTool.
Thank you!

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hello!
first of all: I've read a lot of times the first post and now I'm trying to install the Opencore.
It says: "Install the latest firmware for your iMac". I have imac Mid 2011 and I've tried to update the firmware but it doesn't work: I've install a lot of times Mac OS and all the security updates a lot of times in one hard disk and in the other.
The last firmware version is 87.0.0.0 but mine is 004F.B00.1804101150
Someone has the 87.0.0.0 version and I can try to update from dosdude1 ROMTool.
Thank you!

No you cannot do this and use romtool to flash. Writing is blocked to all post 2008 systems. The only way to achieve a firmware upgrade is described on post #1. Install High Sierra and all Updates on an internal disc.

EDIT:
@dosdude1 has on his site a package linked in:

macOS Catalina Patcher

-> Important Information

Read this before downloading....

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi,

so I have successfully installed a K4100m, Catalina and Windows 10 and all are currently stable.

I noticed this post regarding audio in Win10 and was wondering if someone could shed some light on this process linked in the original post. There seems to be a number of avenues to take in this method and it’s not overly clear which one I should take.

If there is another method of removing the “HD Audio” drivers and replacing them with the Cirrus ones in the Bootcamp folder then I’m all ears; I can’t seem to get them to work as windows defaults to the HD Audio drivers.

thanks all.

First post, Windows UEFI needs OpenCore. If you believe to find a different approach you found the wrong thread. Doing a BIOS installation via DVD is the only way to enable sound from the very beginning. There are Win10 threads here, this is the GPU one...

 

[luckasa]

Ok.
I'm trying to download a 10.13.0 and I'll install all the updates...