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

[Ausdauersportler]

That is also my experience. I have a non-POSTing Dell WX4150 and a HP WX4150, both of which can't be made to work despite my successful flashing with ch341a. But my experience is limited, unlike the more definitive findings of our developers

Okay, let‘s phrase it more defensively:

I have never had a not posting card which I could cure by flashing. The system should chime and show 2 LED, in this case we know the system is fine and a card without a proper BIOS has been detected.

Only exceptions are HP card containing no BIOS. Using those the system does the POST, but show only one LED. Sometimes these cards remain not detected (one LED) and than software flashing is not possible. You need a CH341A.

First cross fingers and hope the card will post at all.

 

[Ekki83]

You can put such panic reports into [SPOILER=„My really important panic report“]The long an winding report[/SPOILER]. It make posts more readable...

Can you comment on (patched) extensions you have installed additionelly to the stock High Sierra?

Hi Ausdauersportler,

so far I have not installed any patched extension (no kext or anything) I am afraid of doing so.
I still don't get the full process....

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi Ausdauersportler,

so far I have not installed any patched extension (no kext or anything) I am afraid of doing so.
I still don't get the full process....

In this case I do not know what might have caused the issue. These NVIDIA cards should run High Sierra without any changes unless you are experience the black screen issue. Installing packages is easy as all have been put into package installers (mouse user ready).

My only guesses:
- GPU is damaged
- GPU installation is sub optimal (contact problems)
- memory modul defective (just it is one of the hottest topics, but no trace visibly from the panic log)

Unless you can force the panic by running a particular program (GPU benchmark) or situation (sleep) there is no real root cause analysis possible. You should watch your system carefully and track upcoming panics exactly to find your problem - we habe no remote analysis tools.

 

[Ekki83]

In this case I do not know what might have caused the issue. These NVIDIA cards should run High Sierra without any changes unless you are experience the black screen issue. Installing packages is easy as all have been put into package installers (mouse user ready).

My only guesses:
- GPU is damaged
- GPU installation is sub optimal (contact problems)
- memory modul defective (just it is one of the hottest topics, but no trace visibly from the panic log)

Unless you can force the panic by running a particular program (GPU benchmark) or situation (sleep) there is no real root cause analysis possible. You should watch your system carefully and track upcoming panics exactly to find your problem - we habe no remote analysis tools.

Ok,
card is running on max 58°C - so I guess there should no problem with the installation and heat.
I can't judge the chip installation - not a pro

I'll watch the system and report what I do / did to get the Kernel panic if it might happens in the future.

 

[Umarx]

Thanks Kenny and Ausdauersportler, this cleared the fog. I assumed I may need it as backup but it is clear now. Waiting for WX to arrive.

 

[panwato]

Second chance.

I started fresh, with micro patcher fork of Ausdauersportler (dev-v0.5.3), installed OpenCore in EFI usb, nuke the drive, install, config-OpenCore, and no brightness control.
So, I’m blind right now.
0.6.3 with kernel patch, all good.
I also have NightShift.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Second chance.

I started fresh, with micro patcher fork of Ausdauersportler (dev-v0.5.3), installed OpenCore in EFI usb, nuke the drive, install, config-OpenCore, and no brightness control.
So, I’m blind right now.
0.6.3 with kernel patch, all good.
I also have NightShift.

You can reinstall the 0.6.3 on the EFI of the USB or somewhere else. The OC versions coming with the 0.5.3 are the very same as on the Catalina Loader post here on the thread. So you cannot expect to get different results when using the very same software.

 

[panwato]

You can reinstall the 0.6.3 on the EFI of the USB or somewhere else. The OC versions coming with the 0.5.3 are the very same as on the Catalina Loader post here on the thread. So you cannot expect to get different results when using the very same software.

The only change was micro-patcher.
I don’t expect different results, but I don’t lose anything to try 😋

 

[Ausdauersportler]

The only change was micro-patcher.
I don’t expect different results, but I don’t lose anything to try 😋

I told you what you have to do:

Open both config files side by side in the OpenCore configurator and look for differences.

What I have seen on a quick look was this:

Kernel: AppleBackLightFixup: uncheck it, it might be simply the wrong version!
-> if this works than copy over the AppleBacklightFixup.kext from 0.6.3 to the 0.6.5 kexts folder and enable again and test again.

Kernel: Cpuid1Data and ..Mask: clean in on 0.6.5
-> if this was the cause please report back

What makes me really sad is that you waste your time into installing the same software on your iMac again instead of helping to find the cause. This cause is the OC configuration.

 

[panwato]

I told you what you have to do:

Open both config files side by side in the OpenCore configurator and look for differences.

What I have seen on a quick look was this:

Kernel: AppleBackLightFixup: uncheck it, it might be simply the wrong version!
-> if this works than copy over the AppleBacklightFixup.kext from 0.6.3 to the 0.6.5 kexts folder and enable again and test again.

Kernel: Cpuid1Data and ..Mask: clean in on 0.6.5
-> if this was the cause please report back

What makes me really sad is that you waste your time into installing the same software on your iMac again instead of helping to find the cause. This cause is the OC configuration.

I don’t understand what to do with AppleBackLightFixup.
uncheck in 0.6.3 or 0.6.5?
What has to happen?

I already tried to change the kext from 0.6.3 to 0.6.5, no changes.
I’m going to try cpuid clean.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I don’t understand what to do with AppleBackLightFixup.
uncheck in 0.6.3 or 0.6.5?
What has to happen?

I already tried to change the kext from 0.6.3 to 0.6.5, no changes.
I’m going to try cpuid clean.

You are serious? Why would we try to change things in the 0.6.3 which is working for you? Obviously something changed on our way from 0.6.3 over 0.6.4 to 0.6.5 what broke the brightness control. So we have to change things in 0.6.5 very carefully until we see an effect.

Other sources might be the csr-active-config - change it back. Always do a PRAM reset on boot and select the EFI Boot where she modified config.plist resides on boot. Otherwise you will only have a mixture of both settings.

At first try a PRAM reset and boot directly into your "working" 0.6.3 and tell me what happens...

Please send the output of "sudo nvram -p" in the terminal.

 

[panwato]

@Ausdauersportler, first boot on 0.6.3 after PRAM

 

[nandor690]

Just ordered this k2100m for my iMac. Pretty excited to get in in and flashed. Just so I have things straight. If it has hynix chips on it I use rom1 any other chips I would use rom2? Correct?

 

[nandor690]

Actually, looking at this side, it looks like it has Samsung chips. That would be rom2 then correct??
Thanks for any help

 

[panwato]

I told you what you have to do:

Open both config files side by side in the OpenCore configurator and look for differences.

What I have seen on a quick look was this:

Kernel: AppleBackLightFixup: uncheck it, it might be simply the wrong version!
-> if this works than copy over the AppleBacklightFixup.kext from 0.6.3 to the 0.6.5 kexts folder and enable again and test again.

Kernel: Cpuid1Data and ..Mask: clean in on 0.6.5
-> if this was the cause please report back

What makes me really sad is that you waste your time into installing the same software on your iMac again instead of helping to find the cause. This cause is the OC configuration.

Cpuid clean, nothing
Uncheck AppleBacklightFixup, working backlight control!!
Changed kext (from “working” 0.6.3), check again in config, WORKING!
This has to be a joke, I've already tried to change the kext, but without the step of unmarking it in the config.

So now I have a working 0.6.5 DRM with backlight control. 🎉🎉

thanks @Ausdauersportler for your hints!

PS.- I have cleaned the Cupid too.

 

[GermanS]

У меня была такая же ситуация на моем iMac 2009 27 с картой K5000M, я использовал K2100M обратно

Привет всем. gtx 780m 4gb можно установить на imac 27 2009 года?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Cpuid clean, nothing
Uncheck AppleBacklightFixup, working backlight control!!
Changed kext (from “working” 0.6.3), check again in config, WORKING!
This has to be a joke, I've already tried to change the kext, but without the step of unmarking it in the config.

So now I have a working 0.6.5 DRM with backlight control. 🎉🎉

thanks @Ausdauersportler for your hints!

PS.- I have cleaned the Cupid too.

Would you please attach the working AppleBacklightFixup.kext. zipped. I am going to adjust all OC configs, again. We had this month ago...

You may delete the nvram output...ask a moderator to do so in case you cannot.

 

[Stefanox2410]

a question for all compatible cards, if I install the rom it always remains even if it is formatted?

 

[KennyW]

Spoiler: New Catalina Loader based on OpenCore 0.6.5

New Catalina Loader based on OpenCore 0.6.5

Important: Upload of image is encrypted now just to please Google, password is NICK​

Latest version of OpenCore and latest version of the Lilu and Whatevergreen extensions already configured. We have for each card type a special preconfigured config. Just pick yours from the list below and rename it to config.plist.

Whenever you change OC or your config.plist you need a PRAM reset. Otherwise old settings will remain in the NVRAM.

Support matrix: (I will not spent time in supporting High Sierra with new versions!)

OC Version	High Sierra, Sierra, Snow Leopard	Mojave	Catalina	Big Sur
0.5.9	yes	yes	yes	no
0.6.0	yes	yes	yes	no
0.6.3	yes ?	yes	yes	no
0.6.4	TBT (to be tested)	yes ?	yes ?	yes
0.6.5pre	yes (AMD)	yes (AMD)	yes (AMD)	yes
0.6.5	yes (AMD)	yes (AMD)	yes (AMD)	yes
0.6.5 DRM	?	?	?	yes

(all tests with AMD cards using 2010 and 2011 systems)

Big Sur installation:

config_INSTALL_BigSur - all systems using OpenCore to install Big Sur especially with AMD cards

(there is a grey screen problem during the early installation, after installation change to first config listed above, this config does not change the board-id of your system unlike the AMD config files below)

Big Sur:

config_AMD_BigSur - all systems running Big Sur with an AMD card
config_NVIDIA_BigSur - all systems running Big Sur with an NVIDIA card

(including settings for NightShift on Big Sur and for booting Big Sur on 2009/2010 systems)

other unsupported macOS versions:

config_AMD - all systems from Sierra up to Catalina with an AMD card
config_NVIDIA - all systems from Sierra up to Catalina with an NVIDIA card

Sierra or High Sierra with AMD cards on 2011:

You need OpenCore to enable the boot screen, but you do not need the iMacPro1,1 spoofing coming the all AMD config files. To avoid kernel panics on sleep on 2011 system please disable the PlatformInfo section within the config_AMD file.

Important:

1. To do the Big Sur installation and patching on an iMac Late 2009 to Mid 2011 use this version of the micro patcher.
2. The 0.6.5pre version is based on an development release of the upcoming new version and all config files have a new entry in the Platforminfo->SMBIOS section advertising a BIOS version of 999.0.0.0.0 - this should protect against unwanted firmware upgrades with Catalina (using vmware CPU settings in the Kernel section) and during Big Sur installation and later OTA upgrades.

Spoiler: Frequently Asked Questions and known Issues

Q0: What is the single - important - need to be done in advance prerequisite?
Backup your iMacs firmware using @dosdude1 program named romtool (link on first post)!

Q1: How to install the image on an SD/USB?
Installation on an SD card or USB flash drive is simple: Use the disk utility to restore the card/drive from the image you downloaded and unpacked before. The Catalina Loader is now an empty stack. It will need to have an EFI folder you get from the additional packages (currently 0.6.4). Make sure that partitions of the card have been deactivated.

Q2: Where to find these config files you are talking about?
You will find the config files on the image in the EFI/OC folder. Please check my previous post for more a documentation and more detailed info.

Q3: How to use a specific config file provided here?
Delete the existing config.plist file, make a copy of your target file and rename this to config.plist. Do a PRAM reset on reboot and choose the Catalina Loader either on boot with alt/option or using the system preferences and the start object selection (AMD GOP BIOS users):

Q4: How to use the different versions of OC EFI folders?
First download the additional archive, unzip it and move the folder named EFI directly onto the Catalina Loader image (picture attached). PRAM reset!

Q5: Why separate only an EFI folder and no complete Catalina Loader image?
6 times the space needed and 10 times the time needed for me to maintain and upload such a new image.

Q6: So I really need the SD/USB card all the time?
Yes, there is no way around booting OpenCore to get the enhancements wanted. Users of NVIDIA cards or EG modded AMD BIOS may install the EFI folder into the EFI partition if their boot drive. Users of AMD GOP BIOS versions not having a native boot picker should stick with the external SD/USB version. If things to wild changing the config you can always just plug the USB/SD. Otherwise you will need to reopen your iMac to force a boot selection by plugging HD cables. Not a real option, right?

Q7: Will my iMac Late 2009 or iMac Mid 2010 boot Big Sur using this?
Yes, using the OC 0.6.4 and the config files for BS will install and run Big Sur. For an unknown reason you will have to use a special config.BSINSTALL.plist only while installing (grey screen). After installing you should change the config file according to your GPU (NVIDIA or AMD). Choose the file and rename it to config.plist to make it active on the next reboot.

Q8: Where is PolarisBoostMAX?
@Pascal Baillargeau released a new version of the stock PolarisBoost. It has the same features and is save to use with the WX7100, too.

Q9: How can I get Windows 10 UEFI sound back on my iMac Mid 2011 (model 12,x)?
Open the config.plist you currently use and go to the ACPI section and enable the fitting DSDT patch.

Q10: I cannot make the CL the start object! How to solve this?
Just have a single Catalina Loader installed on your iMac and eject and remount the image once. The mount point needs to be /Volumes/Catalina Loader - use mount or diskutil list to check this.

Q11: I cannot select the CL image in Big Sur (not included in selection)?
Boot another older macOS version and select it there. Known (currently unsolved) issue. if you have an EFI Boot screen select the Catalina Loader pressing the CRTL key - this makes it the default boot partitions, too.

Q12: Cannot use this with High Sierra, what to do?
Use the 0.5.9 folder - the functionality is the same. Somewhere on the road a fork has been used to make newer version not booting into High Sierra.

Q13: Where are the Big Sur files in the 0.6.3 version gone?
I pulled them back to make sure you are using the 0.6.4 and newer - this is the Big Sur version of OpenCore.

Q14: Can I just using the Apple OTA upgrades visible within the system preferences?
Dangerous game: Although there are heavy efforts made to block unwanted firmware upgrades to your (old) iMac it may come through creating a nice big brick on your real desktop. Only possible in theory with 0.6.4 (as of now) and even there complicated. The the internal disks EFI folder for firmware upgrades and delete them. If you do not know what I am writing about forget the idea to use Apple OTA upgrades now.

Q15: How to decrypt the encrypted Catalina Loader image file attached here in advance?
Just download the image and use this command in terminal hdiutil convert -format ULMO -o CL.dmg Catalina\ Loader.dmg. You will be asked for your password and the encryption password, too. The decrypted file is named CL.dmg

Q16: How to enable Windows 10 sound support with ÙEFI installations on iMac 2011?
Please download a proper configurations tool and an XML editor and enable within the ACPI section the DSDT patches. Only enable the proper version for your iMac model - system will not boot if you hit the wrong one.

Q17: Why is the image file encrypted at all?
Google marked this file as "dangerous" and so all modern browsers block the download. The only solution is to encrypt the file making int impossible for google robot analysis to look into the file and inspect it. Be patient while decrypting the file using Apple disk utility!

EDIT:

Spoiler: older changes:

08/13/2020: Added config.AMD.MAX.plist and changed image.
08/20/2020: The Lilu and Whatevergreen versions available on GitHub may change over time. Please check yourself if more recent versions are available.
08/23/2020: Upgraded all config.plist version with "run-efi-updater" "No" in the NVRAM section to avoid firmware updates. added back the older version of the GPU_Monitor_ORIG script to watch the temp data for AMD cards.
08/24/2020: attached former version AppleBacklightFixup.kext more suitable for K1100M, K2100M, K610M ?

10/08/2020: uploaded OC 0.6.2 image, possibly Nvidia users should replace AppleBacklightFixup on the image with the separate attached one, changed csr-active-config in the light of upcoming Big Sur, latest Whatevergreen and Lilu, SystemAudioVolume=25, different files for different AMD cards, added display ID F10T9cde to AppleBacklightFixup on image
10/09/2020: uploaded compressed image to fit on 1GB USB drives or SD cards, added display ID F10T9cde to attached separate file AppleBacklightFixup
11/01/2020. Uploaded new image 0.6.2 containing just new plist files. Check it out an report back. You can edit the plist files yourself using the Open Core Configurator.
11/13/2020: Uploaded disk image only containing the EFI folder of 0.6.3. This includes the config.plist versions to be used to install and run Big Sur on iMac Late 2009 and Mid 2010.
11/13/2020: Uploaded EFI folder of OC version 0.6.0 and 0.6.3.
11/20/2020: Replaced the old complete 0.6.0 CL image with an encrypted empty one and two archives with EFI folders.
12/08/2020: Added 0.5.9 EFI folder back for High Sierra users.
12/09/2020: Added to 0.6.3 EFI folder a config.NVIDIA.HS.plist for High Sierra users.

12/14/2020: Added 0.6.4 EFI folder upgrade
12/23/2020: Added 0.6.5pre EFI folder upgrade (based on development release)
01/05/2021: Added 0.6.5 EFI folder upgrade
01/08/2010: Added 0.6.5 EFI DRM upgrade (Apple TV+ streaming for AMD GPU on Big Sur, only)

Many thanks to @Nick [D]vB, @highvoltage12v, @jborko, and @Pascal Baillargeau for creating the contents.

Disclaimer: You just made a Hackintosh out of your iMac. There are some risks related to this method. You take all this risks on your own!

Important: Upload of image is encrypted now just to please Google, password is NICK​

I have confirmed the OC 0.6.5DRM works in Catalina in iMac 2010 with RX480, including the Apple TV+ and Hardware Acceleration for videos. I just use the config_AMD_BigSur.plist

Two suggestions for improvement:

1. Further simplify the iMac dedicated OC EFI structure as suggested in the dortania OC documents for easier maintenance:

OpenCore-Install-Guide/installation/installation-process.md at master · dortania/OpenCore-Install-Guide

Repo for the OpenCore Install Guide. Contribute to dortania/OpenCore-Install-Guide development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

2. Dim the backlight of the OC Bootscreen by setting the backlight-control parameters under DeviceProperties in Config.plist.
Currently it is in full white brightness 01000000
Alternative values are:
00000000: Syrah Black
BFBFBF00: Light Gray
=> doesn't really work on changing the values !

P.S. Finally found the needed info. It is in NVRAM section under "4D1EDE05-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B38C14efaultBackgroundColor" in Config.plist. Apparently it's a four-byte BGRA data - hex colour with two extra zeros.

For consideration by our talented developers

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I have confirmed the OC 0.6.5DRM works in Catalina in iMac 2010 with RX480, including the Apple TV+ and Hardware Acceleration for videos. I just use the config_AMD_BigSur.plist

Two suggestions for improvement:

1. Further simplify the iMac dedicated OC EFI structure as suggested in the dortania OC documents for easier maintenance:

OpenCore-Install-Guide/installation/installation-process.md at master · dortania/OpenCore-Install-Guide

Repo for the OpenCore Install Guide. Contribute to dortania/OpenCore-Install-Guide development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

2. Dim the backlight of the OC Bootscreen by setting the backlight-control parameter under DeviceProperties in Config.plist.
Currently it is in full white brightness 01000000
Alternative values are:
00000000: Syrah Black
BFBFBF00: Light Gray

For consideration by our talented developers

Welcome to the club Light Gray looks pretty good.

Lately the guys spent some timo into creating opencore themes for opencanopy - anybody interesting in doing this?

 

[kesseljunge]

hey guys,
it's me again. Sorry...;-)
I ordered an other 780M and put the horse into my machines.
Checked the lights, all on except the last one. Have heard the bootsound too but the LCD stays dark. AGC patch kext is installed, iam still on high sierra. VBios is flashed (flashed it with windows). Any thoughts on this?

thanks again for the awesome community.

 

[Stefanox2410]

it also happened to me with the k3100, I tried them all, I gave up
hey guys,
it's me again. Sorry...;-)
I ordered an other 780M and put the horse into my machines.
Checked the lights, all on except the last one. Have heard the bootsound too but the LCD stays dark. AGC patch kext is installed, iam still on high sierra. VBios is flashed (flashed it with windows). Any thoughts on this?

thanks again for the awesome community.

 

[Povilas1988]

Hi, I have question. i Instales in mu Imac 25,5 2010 m Nviadia Quaddro K2100M. had one. Flashed with USB Method, but Now Imac can1l Load OS., Apple logo shows and nothing happening. Cabt go In to Bootloader menu. I have PC keyboars. and pressing alt is doing nothing . I Instaled Catalina Dosdude patch on that Mac. I have MBP 2015. all Instales where made Using MBP. the Screen shows I can boot Linux USB . and See what i am doing. maybye K2100 imcompatable with imac 2010 ?

 

[junley4]

Hi... Thanks to all our great devs!
I have an imac mid 2011 27" and my stock 6970m 1GB card died and was resurrected several times by baking and is now finally at rest. Inside my machine is a quadro K3100M with hynyx bfr memory. I flashed it with bfr rom by nikey22 using xanderon method and all is well except the not so bright backlight but that is fine for my usage so i will use it as it is.

I came from High Sierra 10.13.6 and it worked fantastically. Then I updated to Catalina 10.15.7 using dosdude1 patcher and it also worked great with graphics acceleration. Then I updated to Big Sur 11.0.1 using BenSova's Patched Sur and I used the imac-color-depth-fix by passatgt and everything works great and amazing! Even parallels 16 with windows 10 works without issue. Later I will upgrade to Big Sur 11.1 or maybe 11.2 if it will be released soon.

Added info: I also owned a Mid 2011 imac 21.5" with 6750M 512mb card which didn't die but showed colored artifacs all over the screen. I upgraded the gpu into a quadro K610M with hynyx memory, flashed the card successfully using xanderon method but screen both internal and external showed black screen only. I returned the card to the seller and got a new one with samsung memory. I did the same procedure and viola! The screen lit up! I then created a 1.5GB partition in main drive using disk utility. In that 1.5Gb partition I installed the Catalina loader and used the opencore 0.5.9. Then I edited the config.plist to automatically load the opencore upon startup and it worked amazingly well. It has boot screen/switcher and brightness control. It ran very well on Catalina 10.15.7. I have attached the EFI files that i used with moded config.plist if you want to automate your opencore loader only if you are using the same machine and gpu as mine - mid 2011 21.5" with quadro K610M (samsung memory, not hynyx). I dont have the machine as I have sold it to someone who needs it for work from home setup. He is happy with the machine right now and it will be up to him to upgrade to Big Sur or not.

To all who wants to take this path. Please read the mighty 1st post as I did. Make your detailed plan base on infos from 1st page. When you do, you will succeed despite not having deep knowledge on mac modding / hackintoshing as this thread contains all the infos you will need. Some infos not mentioned in the 1st post can be accessed using the "search button." Good luck!

My machine (27" with k3100M) is insanely great now! Again, many thanks to our great devs and contributors to this amazing community. Long live the last true modular iMac!!!

 

[lfom]

a question for all compatible cards, if I install the rom it always remains even if it is formatted?

If you meant VBIOS, then yes, it will remain even if the Mac is formatted or even the graphics board swapped. The flash replaces the firmware on the board (hardware).

hey guys,
it's me again. Sorry...;-)
I ordered an other 780M and put the horse into my machines.
Checked the lights, all on except the last one. Have heard the bootsound too but the LCD stays dark. AGC patch kext is installed, iam still on high sierra. VBios is flashed (flashed it with windows). Any thoughts on this?

thanks again for the awesome community.

The last LED lights up only if the main board can communicate with the LCD panel. Check the connections again (see first post and the excellent guide from Ausdauersportler about common hardware issues). If it still does not work, please post the full iMac and board specifications so someone may help further.

Hi, I have question. i Instales in mu Imac 25,5 2010 m Nviadia Quaddro K2100M. had one. Flashed with USB Method, but Now Imac can1l Load OS., Apple logo shows and nothing happening. Cabt go In to Bootloader menu. I have PC keyboars. and pressing alt is doing nothing . I Instaled Catalina Dosdude patch on that Mac. I have MBP 2015. all Instales where made Using MBP. the Screen shows I can boot Linux USB . and See what i am doing. maybye K2100 imcompatable with imac 2010 ?

This board may have more than one memory chip, there are working VBIOS for both Samsung and Elpida AFAIK. Make sure you have flashed the correct VBIOS according to the memory chips on your board. If it does not work, provide full specs of your Mac and board, including chips versions and manufacturer, and possibly a photo showing them.