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

[Umarx]

The VBIOS is flashed to the card itself so no change is done to the rest of the machine. You might need a PRAM/NVRAM reset - I never needed it but others did.

that's a big relief!!! THANKS

 

[internetzel]

2- Update to High Sierra

You need to update to the latest High Sierra security update in order to make sure to get the firmware update installed.
And High Sierra has to be installed on the internal drive, if I read correctly some of the latest posts here.

 

[OnawaAfrica]

something ham wondering if the K610m is similar to the HD6750m why is GTA V running way smoother and better on the K610m than on the HD7650m on windows?

 

[spacebiscuit]

Just flashed my K2100M card - all went well but I have no display after re-booting. I hear the chimes and I can ssh into the mac but display is black/off.

I have checked the first post - do I need to try applying this-> SandyBridge kexts - presumably I need to connect an external screen via the mini-port to be able to do this?

Is there any other way to check if my card is simply not dead?

A couple of points to note:

My Mac is already running Catalina which I installed with the Dos Dude patcher.
One I booeted into Linux to flash the vbios the fans sounded like they were spinning at full speed
The output from the flash:

NVIDIA Firmware Update Utility (Version 5.414.0) Simplified Version For OEM Only Checking for matches between display adapter(s) and image(s)... Adapter: Quadro K2100M (10DE,11FC,1028,15CC) H:--:NRM S:00,B:01,D:00,F:00 Current - Version:80.06.7D.00.06 ID:10DE:11FC:1028:15CC GK106 Board - 20390503 (Normal Board) Replace with - Version:DE.AD.00.BE.EF ID:10DE:11FC:1028:15CC Quadro K2100M by Nick[D]vB (Normal Board) Update display adapter firmware? Press 'y' to confirm (any other key to abort): y Identifying EEPROM... EEPROM ID (C2,2012) : MX MX25L2005 2.7-3.6V 2048Kx1S, page Storing updated firmware image... ................................................................ Verifying update... Update successful. Firmware image has been updated from version 80.06.7D.00.06 to DE.AD.00.BE.EF. A reboot is required for the update to take effect. ./nvflash_linux -6 Quadro_Beta1.2/K2100.rom 50.68s user 2.73s system 87% cpu 1:01.15 total

Many thanks.

 

[Umarx]

You need to update to the latest High Sierra security update in order to make sure to get the firmware update installed.
And High Sierra has to be installed on the internal drive, if I read correctly some of the latest posts here.

The iMac booted with stock card HD6970 totally normally, so nothing was wrong with display or cable, now installing High Sierra, then "Security Update 2020-006 (High Sierra)" as that's 11-2020 from apple and considered latest.
SIP disable and screen share activation to go.
do you advise of anything else for this preparation?

Thanks all for continuous guidance!!

 

[spacebiscuit]

Regarding my black screen - I reset the PRAM which seems to have down the trick - imac is now booting and I see the desktop and I can put it to sleep - previously with the AMD card and Catalina the sleep didn't work so mac was on all day!

Not sure I read in any of the guides that a PRAM reset is something to try, so if anyone fancies the black screen it might be worth a try. Just hope someone isn't going to tell me I shouldn't have done that!

UPDATE - I spoke a little too soon. Left to sleep for about 10 minutes and when I returned i saw the mouse pointer but seemingly didn't wake up. Rebooted and back screen again. Had to reset PRAM again to get to boot. I haven' installed opencore yet.

 

[internetzel]

The iMac booted with stock card HD6970 totally normally, so nothing was wrong with display or cable, now installing High Sierra, then "Security Update 2020-006 (High Sierra)" as that's 11-2020 from apple and considered latest.
SIP disable and screen share activation to go.
do you advise of anything else for this preparation?

Thanks all for continuous guidance!!

Prepare your OpenCore boot volume with the stock card still installed and practice how to boot it. Remember that you'll not be able to use the option key while booting to get into Apple's boot volume chooser.
You might want to select your OpenCore boot volume selected as default boot drive before swapping graphics cards. This is done best using Apple's boot volume chooser by holding the option key and selecting the boot volume.
Get used to how the different boot options are named in OpenCore and what you need to do in order to achieve what you want.
Practice the use of OpenCore so you'll be able to navigate it blindly. For example if you know your boot volume appears as third option from the left, just press the left arrow key 10 times and then 2 times the right arrow key.
In order to select a boot volume using OpenCore hold the ctrl key and while holding it hit the enter key once.
Might be I'm not 100% right with this but for that reason you have to practice it.

 

[luckasa]

​

OpenCore on the iMac 2011​

@NOTNICE an me played around with OpenCore 0.6.7 and tried to pass the time of patching systems. We came close and we want to share our findings with a greater audience, now.

What is it?

It is a complete EFI folder containing OpenCore 0.6.7 (DEBUG version) and some Apple High Sierra, Mojave and Catalina kernel extension to inject.

Why should I use this?

Using OpenCore it changes your iMac 2011 to an iMacPro1,1. You can now install Mojave, Catalina and Big Sur without needing a patcher just by downloading the stock Apple installer applications named Install macOS Mojave/Catalina/Big Sur and start them using the Finder.
You get access to apple OTA upgrades (Apple software update). You can install the latest and greatest updates.

What systems can I use?

I have tested this with my Mid 2011/AMD WX4130 test system with Mojave (18G9018), Catalina (19H1016) and Big Sur (20D81) unpatched and (20D81) micropatched.

iMac11,x should work, too.

What are my benefits?

• Night Shift, Brightness Control, sleep works out of the box after plain installation without any patching at all.
• OTA upgrades work, i.e. asking Apple software update for system updates as on supported systems for all there macOS versions tested!
• External sound cards and BT sound devices will work.
• Atheros WiFi support has been added

What is broken?

• iMac12,x using an NVIDIA card with Mojave and Catalina need more testing to enable the iGPU and QuickSync correctly.
• Sound doesn't work, only the extern Stereo chinch port can be used with a iPhone head set or a similar devices (in and out for FaceTime etc). You need to enable the AppleALC.kext to get this!
• Ethernet does not work on Big Sur

What do I have to do?

Put the EFI on your Catalina Loader or on your internal EFI partition (only if you have a GPU with EFI boot screen). Reboot into your installed (even classical patched) macOS. (sound will be disabled then)

Install one of the name macOS versions into a new APFS partition of size 50-100GB and test there!!!
Do not apply OTA upgrades to your one and only working macOS version installed on your single iMac!
Do not play with your data.
Create a test installation!

What Do I need to know?

Unless you want to work on this project nothing more. Otherwise some Hackintosh experience will help. Basically I looked up what extensions @dosdude1 added and tried to inject them. At the very end I needed only a few to get the same and even better functionality.

What is special?

SIP has been enabled!

About the future:

Sound may work in Future with updates of AppleALC.kext.
OCLP goes a similar way. The developer of OCLP writes about adding the sound and ethernet kernel extensions via classical patching. I am doing this right now using a stripped down micropatcher core. So the goal is minimize the patching and maximize the injection and OpenCore support. My personal plan is to add all my knowledge into OCLP, I believe this is the way to go.

Thanks to @khronokernel for providing the HD3000 patch to disable the iGPU and bring sleep back!

Thank you very much!
With this Opencore version I can compress (not only playing) with Final cut pro X and GPU HW Acceleration.
I have Catalina and an AMD WX4130 GPU. Also the sound works ok (It's an Mac OS Catalina with dosdude1 installer).
You are the best!

 

[Umarx]

Prepare your OpenCore boot volume with the stock card still installed and practice how to boot it. Remember that you'll not be able to use the option key while booting to get into Apple's boot volume chooser.
You might want to select your OpenCore boot volume selected as default boot drive before swapping graphics cards. This is done best using Apple's boot volume chooser by holding the option key and selecting the boot volume.
Get used to how the different boot options are named in OpenCore and what you need to do in order to achieve what you want.
Practice the use of OpenCore so you'll be able to navigate it blindly. For example if you know your boot volume appears as third option from the left, just press the left arrow key 10 times and then 2 times the right arrow key.
In order to select a boot volume using OpenCore hold the ctrl key and while holding it hit the enter key once.
Might be I'm not 100% right with this but for that reason you have to practice it.

Noted!

Thanks.

 

[Umarx]

WX4130 QUESTION

Is it normal with 1mm thick copper piece (15x15mm) no other chip touches the 3 pipe heat sink? I did not find any trace of MX4 on HS except the main gpu chip. (K5-pro is on the way)

Attached images.

 

[internetzel]

WX4130 QUESTION

Is it normal with 1mm thick copper piece (15x15mm) no other chip touches the 3 pipe heat sink? I did not find any trace of MX4 on HS except the main gpu chip. (K5-pro is on the way)

Attached images.

Yes, this is a must. But this isn't a chat. This has been explained here and I guess you'll find links on the first post describing the process.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Just flashed my K2100M card - all went well but I have no display after re-booting. I hear the chimes and I can ssh into the mac but display is black/off.

I have checked the first post - do I need to try applying this-> SandyBridge kexts - presumably I need to connect an external screen via the mini-port to be able to do this?

Is there any other way to check if my card is simply not dead?

A couple of points to note:

My Mac is already running Catalina which I installed with the Dos Dude patcher.
One I booeted into Linux to flash the vbios the fans sounded like they were spinning at full speed
The output from the flash:

Many thanks.

To check the card initially you should always use the latest supported macOS version (there is a note on post #1 about this).

To use Catalina you need to install it from the scratch avoiding the legacy video patch (there is a note on post #1 about this).

Accoding to the picture you posted before your found a K2100M with Hynix BFR memory type - I honestly do not know if the original vBIOS you currently flashed supports this memory type (there is a note on post #1 about this).

Please make some notes while reading the docs and before starting all this and prepare yourself according to the docs.

 

[spacebiscuit]

To check the card initially you should always use the latest supported macOS version (there is a note on post #1 about this).

To use Catalina you need to install it from the scratch avoiding the legacy video patch (there is a note on post #1 about this).

Accoding to the picture you posted before your found a K2100M with Hynix BFR memory type - I honestly do not know if the original vBIOS you currently flashed supports this memory type (there is a note on post #1 about this).

Please make some notes while reading the docs and before starting all this and prepare yourself according to the docs.

The PRAM reset was the only way I could get the screen to work, but after shutting down and restarting I was back to the black screen. I just installed the patch:

iMac-2011-Catalina​

Screen now seems to work when I power up the mac, I'm able to wake the machine from sleep and reboot is working. I tried full screen video which looks fine.

Am I out of the woods?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

The PRAM reset was the only way I could get the screen to work, but after shutting down and restarting I was back to the black screen. I just installed the patch:

iMac-2011-Catalina​

Screen now seems to work when I power up the mac, I'm able to wake the machine from sleep and reboot is working. I tried full screen video which looks fine.

Am I out of the woods?

No,
to use Catalina you need to install it from the scratch avoiding the legacy video patch (there is a note on post #1 about this).

I would assume your ignored this when installing Catalina and you need to check it. Otherwise video acceleration will not work.

 

[spacebiscuit]

I installed Catalina over a year ago via the patcher but continued to use the original 1mb AMD card suffering the poor video performance since I use the mac for software development - mostly command line.

Since of late, having to screen-share via hangouts has come to be painful so I belatedly did the GPU upgrade.

So as it stands my imac is running the patched Catalina with the K2100M card. Video acceleration seems to be working as I can now view video such as catch-up TV full screen with out the poor performance I had with the previously with the original AMD card.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I installed Catalina over a year ago via the patcher but continued to use the original 1mb AMD card suffering the poor video performance since I use the mac for software development - mostly command line.

Since of late, having to screen-share via hangouts has come to be painful so I belatedly did the GPU upgrade.

So as it stands my imac is running the patched Catalina with the K2100M card. Video acceleration seems to be working as I can now view video such as catch-up TV full screen with out the poor performance I had with the previously with the original AMD card.

This is no proof at all. Try to get Valley app loaded and do some benchmarks as described (sorry) on post #1, performance section.

 

[spacebiscuit]

This is no proof at all. Try to get Valley app loaded and do some benchmarks as described (sorry) on post #1, performance section.

As instructed on the 1# post I installed and ran the Valley app - I have uploaded my results:

Unigine Valley Benchmark 1.0​

FPS:	28.3
Score:	1184
Min FPS:	12.9
Max FPS:	54.8

System​

Platform:	Darwin 19.5.0 x86_64
CPU model:	Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz (3100MHz) x4
GPU model:	Quadro K2100M by Nick[D]vB (2048MB) x1

Settings​

Render:	OpenGL
Mode:	1920x1080 windowed
Preset	Custom
Quality	Medium

 

[Ausdauersportler]

As instructed on the 1# post I installed and ran the Valley app - I have uploaded my results:

Unigine Valley Benchmark 1.0​

FPS:	28.3
Score:	1184
Min FPS:	12.9
Max FPS:	54.8

System​

Platform:	Darwin 19.5.0 x86_64
CPU model:	Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz (3100MHz) x4
GPU model:	Quadro K2100M by Nick[D]vB (2048MB) x1

Settings​

Render:	OpenGL
Mode:	1920x1080 windowed
Preset	Custom
Quality	Medium

Looks great!

The package you installed fixes the AppleGraphicsControl.kext and avoids the black screen on boot with NVIDIA cards. You should have been able to get a working LCD all the time by pressing alt/option on boot (on the first post, too). This is only broken on Late 2009 systems.

Yes, yes. I guess the 2011 is the only system not getting the video legacy patch by default so you are clean. I left the @dosdude1 patching months ago and already forget how it worked

 

[spacebiscuit]

Ok that's good to hear thanks for confirmation. Hopefully my experience may help others considering the Hynix based K21000M card - at least in my case it seems to have worked.

I still think there is a lingering wake form sleep issue though, I tried an hour or so ago after it was in a deeper sleep and I got a black screen and a mouse pointer, then the mac reboota. The problem report after rebooting:

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff8003a15f27): "NVDA::setPowerState(0xffffff8015ec2480 : 0xffffff7f84556d76, 0 -> 2) timed out after 45403 ms"@/AppleInternal/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-6153.121.2/iokit/Kernel/IOServicePM.cpp:5296
Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff800ecdbb40 : 0xffffff800331f5cd
0xffffff800ecdbb90 : 0xffffff8003458b05
0xffffff800ecdbbd0 : 0xffffff800344a68e
0xffffff800ecdbc20 : 0xffffff80032c5a40
0xffffff800ecdbc40 : 0xffffff800331ec97
0xffffff800ecdbd40 : 0xffffff800331f087
0xffffff800ecdbd90 : 0xffffff8003ac27cc
0xffffff800ecdbe00 : 0xffffff8003a15f27
0xffffff800ecdbe50 : 0xffffff8003a15809
0xffffff800ecdbe60 : 0xffffff8003a2cd9e
0xffffff800ecdbea0 : 0xffffff8003a145b8
0xffffff800ecdbec0 : 0xffffff8003361565
0xffffff800ecdbf40 : 0xffffff8003361091
0xffffff800ecdbfa0 : 0xffffff80032c513e

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task
Boot args: -no_compat_check amfi_allow_any_signature=1

Mac OS version:
19F101

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 19.5.0: Tue May 26 20:41:44 PDT 2020; root:xnu-6153.121.2~2/RELEASE_X86_64
Kernel UUID: 54F1A78D-6F41-32BD-BFED-4381F9F6E2EF
Kernel slide: 0x0000000003000000
Kernel text base: 0xffffff8003200000
__HIB text base: 0xffffff8003100000
System model name: iMac12,2 (Mac-942B59F58194171B)
System shutdown begun: NO
Panic diags file available: YES (0x0)

Is there anything I can do about this?

 

[mperaltaoz]

Hi there,
probably more of a question to @Ausdauersportler but sharing here for the benefit of others who might be on the same boat.

I installed Big Sur on my iMac mid 2010 using @Ausdauersportler 's big-sur-micropatcher v0.5.4. At the time, the latest Big Sur was 11.2.2.

Now Software Update (within System Preferences) is advising that version 11.2.3 is available for update.
Is is safe to just do the update? Or I should do a new install with the new versionof the big-sur-micropatcher (currently v0.5.5)?

The reason I'm asking is because v0.5.5 documentation says it is safe to now use the Software Update and there seems to be changes on the patch-kexts.sh script as well as the install/config-opencore ones...

Appreciate any help

 

[internetzel]

Ok that's good to hear thanks for confirmation. Hopefully my experience may help others considering the Hynix based K21000M card - at least in my case it seems to have worked.

I still think there is a lingering wake form sleep issue though, I tried an hour or so ago after it was in a deeper sleep and I got a black screen and a mouse pointer, then the mac reboota. The problem report after rebooting:

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff8003a15f27): "NVDA::setPowerState(0xffffff8015ec2480 : 0xffffff7f84556d76, 0 -> 2) timed out after 45403 ms"@/AppleInternal/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-6153.121.2/iokit/Kernel/IOServicePM.cpp:5296
Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff800ecdbb40 : 0xffffff800331f5cd
0xffffff800ecdbb90 : 0xffffff8003458b05
0xffffff800ecdbbd0 : 0xffffff800344a68e
0xffffff800ecdbc20 : 0xffffff80032c5a40
0xffffff800ecdbc40 : 0xffffff800331ec97
0xffffff800ecdbd40 : 0xffffff800331f087
0xffffff800ecdbd90 : 0xffffff8003ac27cc
0xffffff800ecdbe00 : 0xffffff8003a15f27
0xffffff800ecdbe50 : 0xffffff8003a15809
0xffffff800ecdbe60 : 0xffffff8003a2cd9e
0xffffff800ecdbea0 : 0xffffff8003a145b8
0xffffff800ecdbec0 : 0xffffff8003361565
0xffffff800ecdbf40 : 0xffffff8003361091
0xffffff800ecdbfa0 : 0xffffff80032c513e

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task
Boot args: -no_compat_check amfi_allow_any_signature=1

Mac OS version:
19F101

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 19.5.0: Tue May 26 20:41:44 PDT 2020; root:xnu-6153.121.2~2/RELEASE_X86_64
Kernel UUID: 54F1A78D-6F41-32BD-BFED-4381F9F6E2EF
Kernel slide: 0x0000000003000000
Kernel text base: 0xffffff8003200000
__HIB text base: 0xffffff8003100000
System model name: iMac12,2 (Mac-942B59F58194171B)
System shutdown begun: NO
Panic diags file available: YES (0x0)

Is there anything I can do about this?

19F101 is Catalina 10.15.5 so you should first update your Catalina installation. See macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs for how to do this.
The reboot happened because the Nvidia driver had a problem (NVDA::setPowerState). So it's related to the new GPU. In case you're the only one experiencing I fear there's very little what could be done to fix it.

 

[it9exm]

Hello, I was able to flash a K610M with nikey22's bios, now it is detected (3 leds on the logic board instead of 2)
but apparently, the on-die temperature probes are not working, and the fans are spinning to max after ~25 seconds from power on. These temperatures are wrong

GPU:
TG0D: -127.0°C
TG0d: -127.0°C
TG0p: -127.0°C

LCD:
TL0P: -126.0°C
TL0V: -128.0°C
TL0p: -126.0°C
TL1P: -126.0°C
TL1p: -126.0°C
TL1v: -128.0°C
TL2V: -128.0°C
TLAV: -128.0°C
TLCV: -128.0°C

Anybody here ever had the same issue?
I have no display available for this machine, which is an A1311 with Intel i5 2nd gen.

 

[ChrisCaro]

Hello, I was able to flash a K610M with nikey22's bios, now it is detected (3 leds on the logic board instead of 2)
but apparently, the on-die temperature probes are not working, and the fans are spinning to max after ~25 seconds from power on. These temperatures are wrong

GPU:
TG0D: -127.0°C
TG0d: -127.0°C
TG0p: -127.0°C

LCD:
TL0P: -126.0°C
TL0V: -128.0°C
TL0p: -126.0°C
TL1P: -126.0°C
TL1p: -126.0°C
TL1v: -128.0°C
TL2V: -128.0°C
TLAV: -128.0°C
TLCV: -128.0°C

Anybody here ever had the same issue?
I have no display available for this machine, which is an A1311 with Intel i5 2nd gen.

From ifixit.

"LED 4 - Indicates that the computer and the LCD display panel are communicating. This LED will be ON when the computer is turned on and video signal is being generated. If the LED is ON and there is no image on the LCD display panel, the LCD display panel or inverter might be installed incorrectly or need replacement"

What you're describing I believe is normal behavior for not having an LCD connected.

I guess you're using an external display?

 

[herrdude]

Hello, I was able to flash a K610M with nikey22's bios, now it is detected (3 leds on the logic board instead of 2)
but apparently, the on-die temperature probes are not working, and the fans are spinning to max after ~25 seconds from power on. These temperatures are wrong

GPU:
TG0D: -127.0°C
TG0d: -127.0°C
TG0p: -127.0°C

LCD:
TL0P: -126.0°C
TL0V: -128.0°C
TL0p: -126.0°C
TL1P: -126.0°C
TL1p: -126.0°C
TL1v: -128.0°C
TL2V: -128.0°C
TLAV: -128.0°C
TLCV: -128.0°C

Anybody here ever had the same issue?
I have no display available for this machine, which is an A1311 with Intel i5 2nd gen.

If the fans are spinning up, most likely it's because there is no LCD (which explains the temperature you have for the LCD) or there is a non Apple hard drive (i.e. you installed an SSD).

PS Somewhere in this thread, @Ausdauersportler did a tutorial where you can use the temp sensor from the ODD on the graphics card.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hello, I was able to flash a K610M with nikey22's bios, now it is detected (3 leds on the logic board instead of 2)
but apparently, the on-die temperature probes are not working, and the fans are spinning to max after ~25 seconds from power on. These temperatures are wrong

GPU:
TG0D: -127.0°C
TG0d: -127.0°C
TG0p: -127.0°C

LCD:
TL0P: -126.0°C
TL0V: -128.0°C
TL0p: -126.0°C
TL1P: -126.0°C
TL1p: -126.0°C
TL1v: -128.0°C
TL2V: -128.0°C
TLAV: -128.0°C
TLCV: -128.0°C

Anybody here ever had the same issue?
I have no display available for this machine, which is an A1311 with Intel i5 2nd gen.

No, this is entirely new!

Nobody has ever had a black screen on boot with Nvidia GPU and everybody has proper temperature readings

We should really start to create docs about this project, presumably the first post might be a good place to put it?