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

[Ewen12]

W

My card is K610m I have to reboot with option key to get the GPU in legacy mode.

What’s legacy mode?

 

[peekpt]

W

What’s legacy mode?

Every GPU boot in safe mode , no acceleration, when you perform installation you are also in that mode. In your old GPU you probably notice an apple progress changing color or brightness when it boots, it's changing modes to accelerated.
When you upgrade GPU you won't get that mode, you will get a black screen and then when the accelerated progress logo kicks in you are briefly able to see it and the screen is on. To get that mode working on boot you need to press option key, then you can select drives

 

[Ewen12]

Every GPU boot in safe mode , no acceleration, when you perform installation you are also in that mode. In your old GPU you probably notice an apple progress changing color or brightness when it boots, it's changing modes to accelerated.
When you upgrade GPU you won't get that mode, you will get a black screen and then when the accelerated progress logo kicks in you are briefly able to see it and the screen is on. To get that mode working on boot you need to press option key, then you can select drives

But is this needed when I only have one disk in my iMac?

 

[peekpt]

But is this needed when I only have one disk in my iMac?

After you set the boot partition, no. You can set a default boot in system prefs or when you are in drive selection on boot screen by holding ctrl key and click or enter

 

[Ewen12]

After you set the boot partition, no. You can set a default boot in system prefs or when you are in drive selection on boot screen by holding ctrl key and click or enter

I’ve tried the legacy boot mode and still not working. I need to get windows to work, what should I do?

 

[bluecrowHH]

Hey folks i searched for it but couldnt find it so far. Why is it possible to run the WX 4130-7100 cards but not their counterparts for example the rx480m. The architecture is more or less the same ha? Any drivers i progress?
Thank you and best wishes!

 

[peekpt]

I’ve tried the legacy boot mode and still not working. I need to get windows to work, what should I do?

You have to specify what you did.

did you flash rom?
what OS version you are running?
Give us some background please

 

[Ewen12]

You have to specify what you did.

did you flash rom?
what OS version you are running?
Give us some background please

I haven’t flashed the rom, I’m running windows 10 latest version and I’ve tried 3 different drives with windows 10 now and none of them seem to boot.

 

[peekpt]

I haven’t flashed the rom, I’m running windows 10 latest version and I’ve tried 3 different drives with windows 10 now and none of them seem to boot.

Oh... That's different!!!
you need to disconnect all drives and boot the Linux usb (only usb is connected) and ethernet. you need the Linux boot cd and send command to flash via ssh

You don't need to put the lcd on when you boot from usb Linux. The fans will make noise, that's normal because of the temperature from screen that's not connected.
Basically you boot your usb withouth monitor , access through ssh from your phone or computer enter the command to flash and that's it

 

[Ewen12]

Oh... That's different!!!
you need to disconnect all drives and boot the Linux usb (only usb is connected) and ethernet. you need the Linux boot cd and send command to flash via ssh

You don't need to put the lcd on when you boot from usb Linux. The fans will make noise, that's normal because of the temperature from screen that's not connected.
Basically you boot your usb withouth monitor , access through ssh from your phone or computer enter the command to flash and that's it

I tried that, the mac wouldn’t boot into the Linux.

 

[peekpt]

I tried that, the mac wouldn’t boot into the Linux.

Did you try your bootusb on another computer? Did you try to boot before changing cards? It must boot, are you sure you format it GPT + FAT32? How do you know it's not booting?

 

[Ewen12]

Did you try your bootusb on another computer? Did you try to boot before changing cards? It must boot, are you sure you format it GPT + FAT32? How do you know it's not booting?

It’s not booting because when I try to ssh it says ‘operation timed out’. Nothing is booting on the iMac. Also, I’m not sure how to make the usb drive bootable. I put the files on the drive but it’s just seen as a usb not a bootable device by all my devices

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hey folks i searched for it but couldnt find it so far. Why is it possible to run the WX 4130-7100 cards but not their counterparts for example the rx480m. The architecture is more or less the same ha? Any drivers i progress?
Thank you and best wishes!

Try to hit the search button once....limiting the results to this thread.

 

[Ewen12]

I was able to flash my k4100m overclock using the usb Linux. As soon as I turned my pc off after flashing the k4100m, when turned on the iMac would turn the backlight on, chime 5 times then sit there doing nothing. After doing every imaginable thing, the iMac just loops chimes forever. I put an old 2010 iMac gpu in it and it doesn’t do this. How can I fix it?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I was able to flash my k4100m overclock using the usb Linux. As soon as I turned my pc off after flashing the k4100m, when turned on the iMac would turn the backlight on, chime 5 times then sit there doing nothing. After doing every imaginable thing, the iMac just loops chimes forever. I put an old 2010 iMac gpu in it and it doesn’t do this. How can I fix it?

The only medicine I know of is doing now the SMC reset (which you probably have done without knowing) and then 3-5 times the PRAM reset, i.e. hold down CMD+OPTION+P+R unless you heard the starting chime five times.

Then put the K4100M in and try again. Sometimes the systems behaves in that way, rarely, built it happens. BTW there is a hardware problems section on the first post which you have not seen now...

 

[Ewen12]

The only medicine I know of is doing now the SMC reset (which you probably have done without knowing) and then 3-5 times the PRAM reset, i.e. hold down CMD+OPTION+P+R unless you heard the starting chime five times.

Then put the K4100M in and try again. Sometimes the systems behaves in that way, rarely, built it happens. BTW there is a hardware problems section on the first post which you have not seem now...

I took my gpu out and did this, I’ll tell you the results.

 

[Ewen12]

The only medicine I know of is doing now the SMC reset (which you probably have done without knowing) and then 3-5 times the PRAM reset, i.e. hold down CMD+OPTION+P+R unless you heard the starting chime five times.

Then put the K4100M in and try again. Sometimes the systems behaves in that way, rarely, built it happens. BTW there is a hardware problems section on the first post which you have not seem now...

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I will now enjoy my iMac thanks to you, if you didn’t tell me this I would be £400 in debt haha

 

[peekpt]

Mine had to reboot several times to assume the new GPU, reseted the pRam a few times also.

 

[scimable]

No, it is not broken! Your browser, your net, your system, your upload link, the caches, the cache servers may be broken. But downloading works for me right now.

Weird, I can download all the other files except 0.6.6.zip with the following message

No, it is not broken! Your browser, your net, your system, your upload link, the caches, the cache servers may be broken. But downloading works for me right now.

I found that I needed to logon before I was able to download the file, while for the other files login in was not necessary ;-)

 

[Pacific1972]

Hitting the limit!! Cool.

Did you manually control the fans at maximum speed?

It's winter outside, plug it in on your back porch and run more benchmarks

GeForce GTX 880M - Full Trottle with Macs Fan Control

(don't use automatic MacsFanControl rpm) - risk of overheating !

MacsFanControl (now max. 58° Celsius on GPU heatsink)

- ODD 2450rpm
- HDD 5450rpm
- CPU 2000rpm

MAKE SURE: DON'T OVERHEAT YOUR GPU

NO MORE Blue Screen, Green Screen, Black Screen - stay cool !!!

 

[Jforte]

On post 1, when something is updated, you guys put the date on first line... but how do we know what info is updated?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

On post 1, when something is updated, you guys put the date on first line... but how do we know what info is updated?

 

[The_Croupier]

So the hardware installation went well for my 770M in the 2011 iMac.

However I hit a bit of a roadblock when trying to flash via Linux bootable usb.
I/O ERROR Cannot open file: 770M_EG2.rom

I've done a lot of searching but could only find 1 thread (2010 iMac Graphics Card K2000M flashing failed) specifically mentioning the IO error but it looked like in was a naming format issue? I seem to have everything right and the other commands in nvflash seem to work

cd /lib/live/mount/medium/flash
./nvflash_linux --save ~/original.rom
./nvflash_linux --save ~/original_2nd.rom
diff ~/original.rom ~/original_2nd.rom
scp root@YOURIP:/root/original.rom ~/Desktop
./nvflash_linux --protectoff
./nvflash_linux -6 yournewbios.rom
./nvflash_linux --verify

I do get a error (ssh: connect to host 10.0.0.80 port 22: Connection refused) when trying to save the backups to iMac runing the commands. and I cannot find the backed up rom (riginal.rom and original_2nd.rom) anywhere in the linux usb stick?

new.rom in the Kepler_Beta3 dir is the 770M_EG2.rom I just copied from the KeplerBeta3.zip and renamed it to test incase the roms included in the 2011imcusb.zip were corrupted.

Last login: Thu Feb 18 08:45:56 on ttys000 You have new mail. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx$ ssh root@10.0.0.38 root@10.0.0.38's password: Linux grml 4.19.0-1-grml-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.19.8-1+grml.1 (2018-12-11) x86_64 grml - Linux for geeks Last login: Wed Feb 17 21:46:14 2021 from 10.0.0.80 root@grml ~ # cd /lib/live/mount/medium/flash root@grml /lib/live/mount/medium/flash # ./nvflash_linux --protectoff NVIDIA Firmware Update Utility (Version 5.414.0) Simplified Version For OEM Only Adapter: GeForce GTX 770M (10DE,11E0,1028,05AA) H:--:NRM S:00,B:01,D:00,F:00 Identifying EEPROM... EEPROM ID (C8,4012) : GD GD25Q20 2.7-3.6V 2048Kx1S, page Setting EEPROM software protect setting... Remove EEPROM write protect complete. root@grml /lib/live/mount/medium/flash # ls AMD_Beta3 Kepler_Beta3 Quadro_Beta1.2 README nvflash_linux root@grml /lib/live/mount/medium/flash # cd Kepler_Beta3 root@grml ..b/live/mount/medium/flash/Kepler_Beta3 # ls 765M_EG2.rom 770M_EG2.rom 780M_EG2.rom new.rom root@grml ..b/live/mount/medium/flash/Kepler_Beta3 # cd .. root@grml /lib/live/mount/medium/flash # ./nvflash_linux -6 770M_EG2.rom NVIDIA Firmware Update Utility (Version 5.414.0) Simplified Version For OEM Only I/O ERROR: Cannot open file: 770M_EG2.rom 3 root@grml /lib/live/mount/medium/flash #

Any ideas what Im doing wrong?
Cheers.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

So the hardware installation went well for my 770M in the 2011 iMac.
View attachment 1731520
View attachment 1731521

However I hit a bit of a roadblock when trying to flash.
I/O ERROR Cannot open file: 770M_EG2.rom

Last login: Thu Feb 18 08:45:56 on ttys000 You have new mail. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx$ ssh root@10.0.0.38 root@10.0.0.38's password: Linux grml 4.19.0-1-grml-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.19.8-1+grml.1 (2018-12-11) x86_64 grml - Linux for geeks Last login: Wed Feb 17 21:46:14 2021 from 10.0.0.80 root@grml ~ # cd /lib/live/mount/medium/flash root@grml /lib/live/mount/medium/flash # ./nvflash_linux --protectoff NVIDIA Firmware Update Utility (Version 5.414.0) Simplified Version For OEM Only Adapter: GeForce GTX 770M (10DE,11E0,1028,05AA) H:--:NRM S:00,B:01,D:00,F:00 Identifying EEPROM... EEPROM ID (C8,4012) : GD GD25Q20 2.7-3.6V 2048Kx1S, page Setting EEPROM software protect setting... Remove EEPROM write protect complete. root@grml /lib/live/mount/medium/flash # ls AMD_Beta3 Kepler_Beta3 Quadro_Beta1.2 README nvflash_linux root@grml /lib/live/mount/medium/flash # cd Kepler_Beta3 root@grml ..b/live/mount/medium/flash/Kepler_Beta3 # ls 765M_EG2.rom 770M_EG2.rom 780M_EG2.rom new.rom root@grml ..b/live/mount/medium/flash/Kepler_Beta3 # cd .. root@grml /lib/live/mount/medium/flash # ./nvflash_linux -6 770M_EG2.rom NVIDIA Firmware Update Utility (Version 5.414.0) Simplified Version For OEM Only I/O ERROR: Cannot open file: 770M_EG2.rom 3 root@grml /lib/live/mount/medium/flash #

This cannot work. The file is still in the subfolder Kepler_Beta3, your command should look like:

./nvflash_linux -6 Kepler_Beta3/770M_EG2.rom

P.S.: You even made the cd to the subfolder And you should have installed the GPU on 2011 heat sink.

 

[The_Croupier]

This cannot work. The file is still in the subfolder Kepler_Beta3, your command should look like:

./nvflash_linux -6 Kepler_Beta3/770M_EG2.rom

P.S.: You even made the cd to the subfolder And you should have installed the GPU on 2011 heat sink.

Thank you so much, I must admit I'm a real noob in terminal and navigating directory's etc.
You answer made perfect sense I did however use the 3 pipe heat sink from the 2011 😉 i should have taken a photo of the other side but was happy with my Dremel job 🙏