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

[Ausdauersportler]

imac 12,2, big sur..K1100m thx

If you already have Big Sur installed with micropatcher you should reinstall using OCLP and and USB installer using the original macOS Big Sur installer - using OCLP with SIP/SecureBoot enabled will not let you boot in that patched installation.

You data and settings will be save. Do not delete or touch the APFS partition before reinstalling.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

with version 0.6.8 i get a KP on Boot. no Entry point in vm_map. is there stil any link to the old 0.6.6 OC? i was so dump not to backup my old folder -.- SMH

Again:

The EFI is meant to have a native and unpatched installation. It is not meant to replace the 0.6.6 with your @dosdude1 patched and iMac repatched installation of Mojave and Catalina!

Especiallly users of iMac12,x with NVIDIA cards with Mojave and Catalina are asked to stay with their patched installation because the HD3000 iGPU will not work with this EFI.

Especiallly users of iMac12,x with NVIDIA cards with Mojave and Catalina are asked to stay with their patched installation because the HD3000 iGPU will not work with this EFI.

Especiallly users of iMac12,x with NVIDIA cards with Mojave and Catalina are asked to stay with their patched installation because the HD3000 iGPU will not work with this EFI.

(to be continued)

Long story short:

Using this EFI you can run and start a stock macOS Mojave or macOS Catalina installer and install the macOS exactly as on a supported system. You will not need any patches, or any additional package, or any special kernel extension as before.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

In patched 11.2.3, with your EFI in the internal, it’s not booting. (Of course, with a PRAM reset). Backing to CL.

Waiting for 11.3 final for a clean install and do another test.

Anwering from a micropatched 11.2.3 Mid 2011 with AMD GPU. It boots fine. You will likely have another issue.

 

[OnawaAfrica]

Again:

The EFI is meant to have a native and unpatched installation. It is not meant to replace the 0.6.6 with your @dosdude1 patched and iMac repatched installation of Mojave and Catalina!

Especiallly users of iMac12,x with NVIDIA cards with Mojave and Catalina are asked to stay with their patched installation because the HD3000 iGPU will not work with this EFI.

Especiallly users of iMac12,x with NVIDIA cards with Mojave and Catalina are asked to stay with their patched installation because the HD3000 iGPU will not work with this EFI.

Especiallly users of iMac12,x with NVIDIA cards with Mojave and Catalina are asked to stay with their patched installation because the HD3000 iGPU will not work with this EFI.

(to be continued)

Long story short:

Using this EFI you can run and start a stock macOS Mojave or macOS Catalina installer and install the macOS exactly as on a supported system. You will not need any patches, or any additional package, or any special kernel extension as before.

i dont use Catalina nor dosdude. but thanks for the infos. i found a work arround i reinstalled Big Sur using OCLP and copied the Device Settings for Backlight from the 0.6.6 Plist for nvidia which i found on my imac now i boot with OLCP and Backlight brightness works aswell Great Work

 

[Ausdauersportler]

i dont use Catalina nor dosdude. but thanks for the infos. i found a work arround i reinstalled Big Sur using OCLP and copied the Device Settings for Backlight from the 0.6.6 Plist for nvidia which i found on my imac now i boot with OLCP and Backlight brightness works aswell Great Work

You should have configured OCLP on the command line enabling the metal NVIDIA GPU patch. This should have added the DeviceProperties needed to the EFI!

Please check this and open an issue on GitHub if this does not work as intended!

 

[BadBiscuit]

If you already have Big Sur installed with micropatcher you should reinstall using OCLP and and USB installer using the original macOS Big Sur installer - using OCLP with SIP/SecureBoot enabled will not let you boot in that patched installation.

You data and settings will be save. Do not delete or touch the APFS partition before reinstalling.

@Ausdauersportler
I'm overjoyed with your v0.6.8 EFI. I upgraded both my AMD systems and it could not have gone smoother. They were previously installed with micropatched Big Sur, so I reinstall that from USB (over the top). I did the same for the DosDude1 Mojave partition on the one with that. The results are outstanding; everything working perfectly (including internal sound) with no patching. You should be very proud.

Edit: To be clear I re-installed BS/Mojave using the original USB sticks, but skipped the patching steps.
------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: Long Boring Story Follows:

Spoiler: It did get me to re-look at an old issue that has always annoyed me ...

I keep Mojave on one of these systems (SCOOBY), so I can boot over and play legacy 32-bit games on occasion. One of those games (Zuma's Revenge) has never worked consistently ever since moving to the AMD card. I had hoped that with unpatched Mojave it might make a difference, but it did not. Oddly this game works consistently on my systems with nVidia cards (K3000M and K2100M), so my conclusion is there must be compatibility issue with AMD. That said, it will work occasionally on the AMD, leaving me with hope, yet also in frustration. Not sure why I still want to play this old $5 game, but I find it addicting.

Let me clarify what I mean by "not working consistency". It does not crash, but the graphics are corrupt with the mouse position out of sync, and video zoomed in and showing tearing, so unplayable. I can tell immediately at start when it will fail, for the "Pop Cap" logo which should appear in the middle of the splash screen is way oversized. I've tried toggling from windowed to full screen and between resolutions without any consistent success. Any thoughts as to what might help correct this behavior, other than convincing EA (current owner) to update the game and/or support 64-bit? That would truly make me overjoyed, but holding breath for that is likely to end in death. I will gift the game on Origin to anyone that has a 2011 iMac with AMD card and running Mojave that cares to give it a try. DM me with your Origin username if you want to experience the issue; I'll send out at least 5 copies assuming the requesters have needed specs in their signature. Regardless @Ausdauersportler gets coffee/beer money for his fine work on OCLP EFI. Thanks for listening to me vent.

 

[OnawaAfrica]

You should have configured OCLP on the command line enabling the metal NVIDIA GPU patch. This should have added the DeviceProperties needed to the EFI!

Please check this and open an issue on GitHub if this does not work as intended!

ahh i seen it however i misstook it for being the Patch to use NonMetal GPUs with the OS Like in Mojave & Catalina. Maybe i should take more time reading and going trough all Settings Thanks for the Hint. As Always Great work you Guys are doing. Keep it up. Much love from Kenya

 

[Ausdauersportler]

ahh i seen it however i misstook it for being the Patch to use NonMetal GPUs with the OS Like in Mojave & Catalina. Maybe i should take more time reading and going trough all Settings Thanks for the Hint. As Always Great work you Guys are doing. Keep it up. Much love from Kenya

Non metal GPU support is still not available, but under development. But we left this can or worms behind. We all have a metal GPU....

Greetings back from the cold center of Germany in the middle of the night!

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Good morning!

It becomes better every night:

During this night @internetzel, @NOTNlCE and me did a lot of tests and we are pretty confident that the stock EFI folders generated by the latest OCLP version are sufficient to use Mojave, Catalina, and of course Big Sur (all tests made on iMac11,1 and iMac11,3 and iMac12,2).

You will have to do new installations with Mojave and Catalina to get there! You can do an OTA update with Big Sur with the next full installer available. You can update using the same Big Sur version using an (unpatched!) USB installer.

It is not possible to change an existing @dosdude1 patched installation. Backup, new installation, restore. The really big advantage even for Catalina and Mojave: OTA upgrades are working again without 20 step post patching and rebooting.
Edit: But you can update an @dosdude1 patched Mojave or Catalina to Big Sur using the software update process!

So you all need to learn how to use OCLP - it is not that difficult.

Some expert hints:

1. Mojave and older needs SecureBootModel to be Disabled in Misc->Security - this can be done within the OCLP patcher program.
2. FakeSMC and EFICheckDisabler have to be added manually. This change is a manual edit of the config.plist and to the EFI/Kexts folder by adding the files.
3. setting PlatformInfo->SystemProductName to iMacPro1,1 (modifying the spoofing) will enable to use the macOS installer programs directly called from the Finder, i.e. you can startup the Catalina installation from a High Sierra system in the very same way as on fully supported systems. Of course Apple allows only upgrades, i.e. you cannot start an Catalina installation from a Big Sur system. This change is a manual edit of the config.plist.
4. Otherwise you can always create an USB installer and use it to install any macOS version you want!

Notes: Will delete the 0.6.8 EFI folder and have already rewritten some posts and docs.

 

[The_Croupier]

This is really awesome, great work to all involved. 👍

 

[KennyW]

Good morning!

It becomes better every night:

During this night @internetzel, @NOTNlCE and me did a lot of tests and we are pretty confident that the stock EFI folders generated by the latest OCLP version are sufficient to use Mojave, Catalina, and of course Big Sur (all tests made on iMac11,1 and iMac11,3 and iMac12,2).

You will have to do new installations with Mojave and Catalina to get there! You can do an update with Big Sur with the next full installer available. It is not possible to change an existing @dosdude1 patched installation. Backup, new installation, restore. The really big advantage even for Catalina and Mojave: OTA upgrades are working again without 20 step post patching and rebooting.

So you all need to learn how to use OCLP - it is not that difficult.

Some expert hints:

1. Mojave and older needs SecureBootModel to be Disabled in Misc->Security - this can be done within the OCLP patcher program.
2. FakeSMC and EFICheckDisabler have to be added manually. This change is a manual edit of the config.plist and to the EFI/Kexts folder by adding the files.
3. setting PlatformInfo->SystemProductName to iMacPro1,1 (modifying the spoofing) will enable to use the macOS installer programs directly called from the Finder, i.e. you can startup the Catalina installation from a High Sierra system in the very same way as on fully supported systems. Of course Apple allows only upgrades, i.e. you cannot start an Catalina installation from a Big Sur system. This change is a manual edit of the config.plist.

Notes: Will delete the 0.6.8 EFI folder and have already rewritten some posts and docs.

A marvellous achievement for iMac 2009-2011 users with metal GPU upgrade !

I tried the latest OC 0.6.8 EFI you posted on my iMac 2010 running BS 11.2.3 patched previously with iMac micropatcher.
Firstly, I prepared the OCLP Loader SD card with OC 0.6.8.


Secondly, with gibMacOS-master, I downloaded Big Sur 11.2.3 and ran the InstallAssistant.pkg to reconstitute the Install macOS Big Sur app in Applications folder.


Thirdly, I ran the createinstallmedia in the Resources folder of the Install macOS Big Sur app to create a bootable Big Sur Install USB thumb drive in GUID partition and Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format.


Fourthly, while the Big Sur USB Installer is not directly bootable in our unsupported iMac without patching, by booting from the OCLP Loader (after PRAM resetting) I can select the Install macOS Big Sur USB thumb drive to secondarily boot and start the Big Sur installation. I had it directly install over my prior Big Sur 11.2.3 again. That took over 30 minutes with multiple reboots with no need of user intervention. At some stage it may seem it was hanging with no visual changes but it would go through finally. Just be patient.

Finally I was greeted with the Big Sur login screen again. All my data and accounts are preserved. Everything works without any further patching. The only visual difference is the spoofed Mac identity of iMac Pro as compared to before.



Audio (Internal speaker), Bluetooth (4.2), Ethernet (build-in), Graphics/Display (RX480), and WiFi all work.
My internal USB3 modification still works.
Brightness control and Night Shift are enabled.
Hardware graphics and video acceleration are also fully enabled for my AMD GPU.
Even Apple TV+ works flawlessly.















There is no problem with Sleep and Waking.
No OpenGL performance drop in first Start, that requires Sleeping once to amend.



However, Macs Fan Control is confused by the spoofed Mac ID with changed fans labelling, and iStat Menu that I used to monitor the power consumption also gets a much reduced list of sensors reading.





Despite these minor glitches, Kudos to Ausdauersportler and other developers here 👍

 

[The_Croupier]

A marvellous achievement for iMac 2009-2011 users with metal GPU upgrade !

Nice little mini tutorial, thx @KennyW

 

[kral84]

OCLP imac 12,2 ...go to oclp efi --> install big sur .... but no keyboard and no mouse response can you help me...?
patcher i correct imac 12,2 patched

 

[londonhab]

OCLP imac 12,2 ...go to oclp efi --> install big sur .... but no keyboard and no mouse response can you help me...?
patcher i correct imac 12,2 patched

Having exactly the same issue - just looking at This Post as the next step. Contemplating just getting the BT4.2 upgrade installed and seeing if that fixes it.

 

[kral84]

Having exactly the same issue - just looking at This Post as the next step. Contemplating just getting the BT4.2 upgrade installed and seeing if that fixes it.

wait for @Ausdauersportler i mean we must install an kexts ..I read it a few days ago under troubleshooting but unfortunately it is gone.

 

[KennyW]

OCLP imac 12,2 ...go to oclp efi --> install big sur .... but no keyboard and no mouse response can you help me...?
patcher i correct imac 12,2 patched

I used wired Apple keyboard and wired Razor mouse. So, there is no problem.
But I also tested the Apple keyboard and another Apple Mouse in wireless manner. No problem at all in Big Sur.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi!

The goal of using OCLP is not to patch any kernel extension manually ever again (except NVIDIA users on 2011 for QuickSync support - not available now).

I cannot really comment on USB devices problems, but using OCLP you should read the terminal output. The system has to be recognized correctly, i.e. on an iMac 27“ 2011 the tool should print out iMac12,2 - if this recognition fails for some reason (most likely because you already use OpenCore) you have to set the system manually.

Give it a try, do not hurry while creating the EFI and all NVIDIA users can install the EFI to the internal disks EFI partitions (most likely /dev/disk0s1) while AMD users should prepare an SD card or USB stick format HFS/GUID (this way it has an EFI partition, too) and install the EFI with the patcher on that SD card / USB memory stick. Time to say good bye to the Catalina Loader.

Have fun!

 

[NOTNlCE]

Hi!

The goal of using OCLP is not to patch any kernel extension manually ever again (except NVIDIA users on 2011 for QuickSync support - not available now).

Give it a try, do not hurry while creating the EFI and all NVIDIA users can install the EFI to the internal disks EFI partitions (most likely /dev/disk0s1) while AMD users should prepare an SD card or USB stick format HFS/GUID (this way it has an EFI partition, too) and install the EFI with the patcher on that SD card / USB memory stick. Time to say good bye to the Catalina Loader.

Have fun!

For those using NVIDIA cards who *do NOT* care about QuickSync, you can patch using OCLP just the same. It will disable the unsupported Intel GPU and give you sleep functionality just the same. Working great on my little 21.5" with K1100M.

Also - be sure you run OCLP on each system yourself! Due to the way the USB-Map.kext is generated, EFIs are not necessarily transferable between models. Much, much safer to simply use the tool on each machine yourself.

 

[panwato]

Trying right now an install of 11.2.3 with OCLP, and when installed, transfer the EFI to internal to test.
I will post later with the results.

 

[herrdude]

I tried out the latest version of OCLP with Big Sur (11.2.3) and it got into a weird boot loop after the first part of the installation from the USB. I started it again and it worked fine. However, the brightness isn't great. I am curious for those who did this version of OCLP what do you get for backlight-level when you run "nvram -p" from the command line. Mine is always: "%ff%00". I can't do anything to change this. If I delete the value or put a new one or reset the nvram, it always comes back to this value.

EDIT: This is with the K4100m card.

 

[panwato]

Successful install of 11.2.3 with OCLP.

When installed I had full brightness, but with the 0.6.8 of @Ausdauersportler, everything is working fine.

The only thing I can tell is the brightness is not at full level when is Max. Other than that, working flawlessly with an unpatched BS

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I tried out the latest version of OCLP with Big Sur (11.2.3) and it got into a weird boot loop after the first part of the installation from the USB. I started it again and it worked fine. However, the brightness isn't great. I am curious for those who did this version of OCLP what do you get for backlight-level when you run "nvram -p" from the command line. Mine is always: "%ff%00". I can't do anything to change this. If I delete the value or put a new one or reset the nvram, it always comes back to this value.

EDIT: This is with the K4100m card.

I do not remember exactly if the AppleBacklightFixup made it to the current OCLP - can you please check it out?
Did you forced the metal NVIDIA setting on creation of the EFI?

 

[herrdude]

I didn't. I just did it now and then reset the PRAM. Everything looks good until the OS finally loads and then it is dim. So, it is probably AppleBacklightFixup. I am heading over to the the first page to check this out.

 

[globetribe]

Tks Guys for this Awesome development. A dream comes true !
I am currently running BS 11.2.3 on my iMac 12,2 installed with the micropatcher. Should I wait 11.3 to play with OCLP or could I install 11.2.3 OCLP over 11.2.3 micropatcher ? I mean, is this technically an upgrade and would the system accept it ?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Tks Guys for this Awesome development. A dream comes true !
I am currently running BS 11.2.3 on my iMac 12,2 installed with the micropatcher. Should I wait 11.3 to play with OCLP or could I install 11.2.3 OCLP over 11.2.3 micropatcher ? I mean, is this technically an upgrade and would the system accept it ?

No, I think I wrote update! You can try, but I am pretty sure the installer will refuse to update your current 11.2.3 version because you are already there. Tested this with Mojave, Catalina and High Sierra and had to reinstall every single macOS because the installations where all at the same level or more recent than the last full installer.