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

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The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
Johnny Sanzimippi said:
My original vBIOS is gone for good? Peace and farewell, may its soul hover gracefully in the fields of lost unsaved files.

It's been my bad of course, and I feel guilty to haven't saved it before flashing the card, next time I will surely do it.
Click to expand...
You should have used my modified Xanderon GRML linux boot usb file with persistence noted in post 1.

I wrote a idiot proof guide to save your vbios to the flash usb, why did I do this.

Like you I was a noob and thought I was saving the vbios in the command line but the readme file doesn't go into the nuances of how to use cmd line ect, so I read up a little and learnt what I was doing wrong.

So yeah I lost an original vbios to a particularly troublesome 880m with Samsung ram.

Luckily for me I tested the bejesus out of it in multiple iMacs and managed to get the $270 card to work perfectly.

It felt good to give a little back to the community to help others avoid my mistake and to contribute to the toolset that is so important to keep this revival alive.

Sometime you need a little tough love to step up and solve your problems 👍
 
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good evening, I was able to use opencore for brightness control on k610m video card but it works only on Mojave partition but not on BigSure partition. why?
 
Ausdauersportler said:
You hit it nail:

1) IMHO it is impolite not to read the docs and spend your own lifetime on solving your own problems *before* posting a question an bothering other people. This has become something like genius bar service for people not willing to plan before act.

2) It is very depressing and demotivating getting such requests because people act with a „link please manner all the day“.

And I am not saying you request was exactly one of those. But I love people coming here and claim they did everything by the books because the watched some silly youtube video. Do you find a link to those videos on this thread? Guess why?

P.S.:
My winter tires need to be replaced by the summer ones and my living room needs new paint. Where is the thread where find the people to get it done? This weekend, professional, for free, friendly and if your are on your way do not forget to bring the pizza and beer.
I watched a video about painting and changing tires, so I am prepared perfectly!
Click to expand...

So, let me understand: just because I mentioned that I watched that Curtis Gross video, that automatically makes me a person that doesn't plan before acting. Wow, ok.

I studied months to build the hardware and software pre-requisites needed to perform this tricky mod.
I was not a complete "noob", I've already done some modifications to other Apple computer, but I never owned an iMac before, let alone opened one.

Not so long ago I managed to built a Mid-2009 BlackBook using a black Mid-2007 A1181 (as you can see in my signature). This is a process not particularly well documented here or elsewhere online, and you know what I've found the most useful of everything? Yes, a "silly YouTube video" made by good old Greg Hrutkey of Hrutkey Mods.
Not everything I needed was covered in his video, of course, but watching him actually doing the damn thing, helped me understand quickly and better, things that weren't clear from my preliminary studies for doing the swap.

You know why people continue to come here saying that they've watched that Curtis Gross video? Because it exist and it's the first things to appear when you search for "iMac GPU upgrade" on YouTube, he is a very polite guy that gives a good overview of the whole process from a "human" prospective (not too much technical), and IT LINKS DIRECTLY TO THIS THREAD for having more infos in doing the mod yourself.

I didn't asked directly and specifically for YOUR help and then wasted your precious time. You wasted your time answering me, as I simply posted a request on a free-to-enter forum online, asking the entire community if someone, in their spare time, if they wanted to, in a VERY polite way (knowing that I know little on the subject), could help me with a strange behavior of a card that I anyway successfully flashed, on an unsupported OS that I installed trying various methods without "bothering" anyone here. I didn't come here claiming for a fix for my problems, nor professionally, nor for free.

Your final example made simply no sense, here's why:

You wanna change your tires? You have a lot of viable choices:
1) Go to your car-branded repair shop
2) Go to a local mechanic or tire dealer/seller
3) Ask a friend who works as a mechanic if can do it for you (subject to availability of mechanic-friends)
4) Search on internet for a guide, buy the right equipment and try yourself to change your tires

You wanna instead upgrade your old iMac GPU card to a newer one (that doesn't die again eventually because the original ones are all buggy), in order to keep using it and don't spend a lot of money you don't have for a newer one?
0) Go to an Apple Store/authorized repair shop and... cry
1) Ask a friend who already did the mod (subject to availability of tech-friends)
2) Spend an immoral amount of money for a pre-flashed card on eBay, then add other money to find a local computer repair shop willing to install the card for you (spoiler: there are few, and they're not cheap anyway)
3) Search online, find this very neat guide, then: study GPU types/versions and current market for them, find a good deal on one and wait for it to show up while you learn how to disassemble a machine with exposed power supply that can potentially kill you, learn how to flash a GPU, learn what OpenCore is, then dive in the mod and troubleshoot, troubleshoot, and repeat until you have a stable system

Yeah, way easier then painting a wall with a roller and a paint can.
 
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The_Croupier said:
You should have used my modified Xanderon GRML linux boot usb file with persistence noted in post 1.

I wrote a idiot proof guide to save your vbios to the flash usb, why did I do this.

Like you I was a noob and thought I was saving the vbios in the command line but the readme file doesn't go into the nuances of how to use cmd line ect, so I read up a little and learnt what I was doing wrong.

So yeah I lost an original vbios to a particularly troublesome 880m with Samsung ram.

Luckily for me I tested the bejesus out of it in multiple iMacs and managed to get the $270 card to work perfectly.

It felt good to give a little back to the community to help others avoid my mistake and to contribute to the toolset that is so important to keep this revival alive.

Sometime you need a little tough love to step up and solve your problems 👍
Click to expand...
Hi to you!

Wanna hear a sad story? You posted your merciful modified Linux Bootable USB file the day after I flashed my card 🥲 No kidding, I flashed it on 26th of march and you posted it on the 27th 🥲

Thanks A LOT for giving to the community that much needed contribute, now hopefully no more innocent VBIOS will be sent to digital fields of reeds ^^
 
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Johnny Sanzimippi said:
So, let me understand: just because I mentioned that I watched that Curtis Gross video, that automatically makes me a person that doesn't plan before acting. Wow, ok.

I studied months to build the hardware and software pre-requisites needed to perform this tricky mod.
I was not a complete "noob", I've already done some modifications to other Apple computer, but I never owned an iMac before, let alone opened one.

Not so long ago I managed to built a Mid-2009 BlackBook using a black Mid-2007 A1181 (as you can see in my signature). This is a process not particularly well documented here or elsewhere online, and you know what I've found the most useful of everything? Yes, a "silly YouTube video" made by good old Greg Hrutkey of Hrutkey Mods.
Not everything I needed was covered in his video, of course, but watching him actually doing the damn thing, helped me understand quickly and better, things that weren't clear from my preliminary studies for doing the swap.

You know why people continue to come here saying that they've watched that Curtis Gross video? Because it exist and it's the first things to appear when you search for "iMac GPU upgrade" on YouTube, he is a very polite guy that gives a good overview of the whole process from a "human" prospective (not too much technical), and IT LINKS DIRECTLY TO THIS THREAD for having more infos in doing the mod yourself.

I didn't asked directly and specifically for YOUR help and then wasted your precious time. You wasted your time answering me, as I simply posted a request on a free-to-enter forum online, asking the entire community if someone, in their spare time, if they wanted to, in a VERY polite way (knowing that I know little on the subject), could help me with a strange behavior of a card that I anyway successfully flashed, on an unsupported OS that I installed trying various methods without "bothering" anyone here. I didn't come here claiming for a fix for my problems, nor professionally, nor for free.

Your final example made simply no sense, here's why:

You wanna change your tires? You have a lot of viable choices:
1) Go to your car-branded repair shop
2) Go to a local mechanic or tire dealer/seller
3) Ask a friend who works as a mechanic if can do it for you (subject to availability of mechanic-friends)
4) Search on internet for a guide, buy the right equipment and try yourself to change your tires

You wanna instead upgrade your old iMac GPU card to a newer one (that doesn't die again eventually because the original ones are all buggy), in order to keep using it and don't spend a lot of money you don't have for a newer one?
0) Go to an Apple Store/authorized repair shop and... cry
1) Ask a friend who already did the mod (subject to availability of tech-friends)
2) Spend an immoral amount of money for a pre-flashed card on eBay, then add other money to find a local computer repair shop willing to install the card for you (spoiler: there are few, and they're not cheap anyway)
3) Search online, find this very neat guide, then: study GPU types/versions and current market for them, find a good deal on one and wait for it to show up while you learn how to disassemble a machine with exposed power supply that can potentially kill you, learn how to flash a GPU, learn what OpenCore is, then dive in the mod and troubleshoot, troubleshoot, and repeat until you have a stable system

Yeah, way easier then painting a wall with a roller and a paint can.
Click to expand...
No you did no understand and you do not understand, but nevermind. Next time you ask for help here I will simply ignore your request because I do not want to hurt your precious feelings, again.

You made it to my personal ignore list. That was quick!
 
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Hi guys,

If someone could tell me what I'm doing wrong.
I did prepare a USB key with OC legacy patcher for my iMac12,2.
I did setup the model number and disable both secureboot and SIP in the settings.
I was able to install Big Sur and boot to it.
Then I saw we can now get brightness control when using GTX765M through OC so I went into the setting and selected NVidia in the Metal GPU option.
Now when I am restarting the iMac it never reaches the desktop and halts at the loading bar.
My GTX765M is flashed with Nick Bios (latest version).

I did a PRAM reset at restart when it didn't make a change.

Any idea?
 
overshoot said:
Hi guys,

If someone could tell me what I'm doing wrong.
I did prepare a USB key with OC legacy patcher for my iMac12,2.
I did setup the model number and disable both secureboot and SIP in the settings.
I was able to install Big Sur and boot to it.
Then I saw we can now get brightness control when using GTX765M through OC so I went into the setting and selected NVidia in the Metal GPU option.
Now when I am restarting the iMac it never reaches the desktop and halts at the loading bar.
My GTX765M is flashed with Nick Bios (latest version).

I did a PRAM reset at restart when it didn't make a change.

Any idea?
Click to expand...
1. You need to flash the BIOS provided by @Santa's Little Helper (link on post #1) in advance.
2. You need to follow the OCLP on post#1 before creating and installing the EFI (the app itself does not change the OC already on disk or USB stick)
3. IMHO you can leave SIP and Secureboot enabled IF you have an untouched (aka unpatched) installation.
4. When changing a running system always keep the working configuration.
5. Always do a PRAM rest when changing the OC config in use. I will not work the other way.
6. Make sure you have only a single OC version installed (you cannot use one on an USB stick and have another installed on internal disk, these will interfere).
7. Press alt/option on boot and select the newly created OCLP EFI.

I cannot tell you what exactly you did wrong (except point 4). You possibly need to start over with the old OC setting and compare both configs.
 
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Ausdauersportler said:
1. You need to flash the BIOS provided by @Santa's Little Helper (link on post #1) in advance.
2. You need to follow the OCLP on post#1 before creating and installing the EFI (the app itself does not change the OC already on disk or USB stick)
3. IMHO you can leave SIP and Secureboot enabled IF you have an untouched (aka unpatched) installation.
4. When changing a running system always keep the working configuration.
5. Always do a PRAM rest when changing the OC config in use. I will not work the other way.
6. Make sure you have only a single OC version installed (you cannot use one on an USB stick and have another installed on internal disk, these will interfere).
7. Press alt/option on boot and select the newly created OCLP EFI.

I cannot tell you what exactly you did wrong (except point 4). You possibly need to start over with the old OC setting and compare both configs.
Click to expand...
Thanks a bunch for the quick reply!
I'll try that. I didn't even know about the new VBios.
 
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Santa's Little Helper said:
It looks like the video memory is over-heating, try turning your ODD fan up.

If that doesn't fix it try flashing this patched bios with lower memory clocks,

it will also enable brightness control on 765M & 770M with the OpenCore loader!

This hybrid 780M bios doesn't need OpenCore, it just fixes the Boot Camp problem.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...

nice, I missed this one
gonna test this rom tommorow on my test 27" 2011 iMac with GTX765M.

:)
 
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dannyp881 said:
good evening, I was able to use opencore for brightness control on k610m video card but it works only on Mojave partition but not on BigSure partition. why?
Click to expand...
Please tell us how did you install Mojave and Big Sur. Possibly the Big Sur patcher you took has not the patches to support brightness control.

Please check out the first post of this thread and select the OCLP to install Big Sur. You can also use the same to to install Mojave (without any patches and fully supported).
 
khronokernel said:
What error? Unfortunately we're not mind readers so cannot understand what's broken without proper information
Click to expand...
Sorry, I was just stepping out so I didn't have to take a screenshot. Hopefully, this will give you the info you need. This was for three different iMac 12,2.
 

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I updated OCLP to 0.0.23 and all is working perfectly, including backlight control.
I do some changes in patcher settings, (force Nvidia, set both SIP and SBM to true, and disabled boot picker)

So, thanks to all the people behind this incredible tool.
 
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khronokernel said:
@internetzel Can you try the below build to see if it crashes as well? You'll need python3 installed to run it
Click to expand...
Code: 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/tousa/Downloads/Archive/./OpenCore-Patcher.command", line 190, in <module>
    OpenCoreLegacyPatcher().main_menu()
  File "/Users/tousa/Downloads/Archive/./OpenCore-Patcher.command", line 29, in __init__
    Build.BuildOpenCore(self.constants.custom_model or self.current_model, self.constants).check_pciid(False)
  File "/Users/tousa/Downloads/Archive/Resources/Build.py", line 62, in check_pciid
    self.constants.dgpu_vendor = self.hexswap(binascii.hexlify(self.constants.dgpu_devices[0]["vendor-id"]).decode()[:4])
I'll look into it.
 
internetzel said:
Code: 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/tousa/Downloads/Archive/./OpenCore-Patcher.command", line 190, in <module>
    OpenCoreLegacyPatcher().main_menu()
  File "/Users/tousa/Downloads/Archive/./OpenCore-Patcher.command", line 29, in __init__
    Build.BuildOpenCore(self.constants.custom_model or self.current_model, self.constants).check_pciid(False)
  File "/Users/tousa/Downloads/Archive/Resources/Build.py", line 62, in check_pciid
    self.constants.dgpu_vendor = self.hexswap(binascii.hexlify(self.constants.dgpu_devices[0]["vendor-id"]).decode()[:4])
I'll look into it.
Click to expand...
Build.py line 66 has to catch IndexError instead of ValueError? At least OCLP will launch then.
 
khronokernel said:
Problem is that would unfortunately remove all dGPU probing support, so would like to figure out why it breaks on machines with upgraded GPUs. Can someone upload an IOReg and send it here? I wonder if the class-code value is broken for some reason

File -> SaveAs:
Click to expand...
class-code is <00 80 03 00> here, probably because of my modded Apple EG VBIOS. So you should probably do some masking here.
 
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