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

[cabinfourus]

Okay Thanks.

 

[cabinfourus]

Each GPU has an identification string printed on it.

I had purchased several cards from sellers claiming they come from dell laptops but the numbers didn'tmatch.

 

[Klineex]

Not good with spanish. But I can tell you a1224/a1225 iMacs are another problem. They use LVDs and not eDP so it's hard to create a DCB table for these models. The Color of the LCD will be off even if a card did work.

I have a GT130 iMac and some unused Nvidia cards if anybody wants to experiment with me.

I successfully did this with an early 2009 24 and a Quadro K3000M with the stock bios, im using an LVDS controller board to DP internally and having the mini displatyport cable go out the memory door to the Mini DisplayPort port in the back for the internal LCD output

 

[west125]

Hello everyone, I have such a problem when installing big sur wi-fi, it works and they see other networks as soon as the installation finishes and the wi-fi reboots does not see more than one network that might be, imac2009

 

[LegoNickD]

I successfully did this with an early 2009 24 and a Quadro K3000M with the stock bios, im using an LVDS controller board to DP internally and having the mini displatyport cable go out the memory door to the Mini DisplayPort port in the back for the internal LCD output

Have you found any way to retain brightness and does an OSD pop up every boot?

 

[axrst]

Have you checked the post explaining the mod? Link can be found on the first post, too (#10900).

Of course i did, and that points me in this question. It is said that the new gpu bios cannot provide temperature information. I don’t know exactly how the sensors works, so I’m asking to understand better. To me the sensors as I see them seems as a cable with “sensor” in one end and a connector in the other. Without knowing how exactly works, I suppose that they both meters temperature and send it to the logic board. I don’t see any interference with the gpu bios. So why the one will work and the other not.

Does the ODD temp. sensor meters the temperature of a surface and sends that info to the logic board? Is this why we connect it to the heatsink? As I can understand something like this happening. But then, why the original sensor doesn’t do the same work?

Sorry if i bother you with silly questions, but as I am waiting my replacement card, I want to be as good prepared as I can.

 

[X-Housed]

Pulled out the heatsink and grinded more.
I can't see any contact between card and heatsink except die and RAM.
Progress bar stuck again at about 60%
Give up on that.

 

[axrst]

Is the thermal paste in the gpu conductive or not? Is it possible to touching some of the micro conductors near it? I recently saw a video with someone mention this…

 

[X-Housed]

Not sure about that, used Arctic MX-4 Thermal Paste

 

[Klineex]

Have you found any way to retain brightness and does an OSD pop up every boot?

Brightness can be changed with the LVDS board’s control board but I just keep that in the casing for cosmetic reasons and keep it on full brightness all the time, and yes, since technically it’s seen as an external display even though physically it’s still using the internal display

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Not sure about that, used Arctic MX-4 Thermal Paste

No, it is not conductive and we have seen worse here The only point left is how firm you fixed the card on the sink using the four screws. Do not bend the card. If this does not change anything you can add +1 to the first of thel known issues on the post #1.

 

[stephengrenfell]

Just updated my mid 2011 iMac 12.2 from High Sierra to Bug Sur 11.4 with OpenCore using the OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) method.

I tried several attempts to upgrade to Catalina using Dosdude’s patcher method but it always got stuck during reboot.

I also updated the GTX780M 4GB GPU to the BIOS provided by nikey22

My first time using OpenCore. All went quite smoothly nothing difficult at all.

All seems to be working except that the iMac will now not recognize a USB connected UPS, there’s no button / sub menu in System Preferences > Energy Saver. I have tried 3 different UPS and different USB cables none work. UPS connected by USB worked fine with hIgh Sierra. Any ideas on solving this appreciated.


Many thanks to all those who contribute to this forum, making our old macs live on with the latest Mac OS.

 

[X-Housed]

Another thing i didn't pay attention to when i first time booted the linux flash tool are some blue dots on the screen.
Booted up now to look again, there are a bunch more and spread across the screen, may be a indicator of a dead gpu.
The screws are not thightened too much.

 

[stephengrenfell]

Today i upgraded a 27" iMac 2011 with a nVidia GTX870M 3GB N15E-GT-A2 GPU and flashed vBIOS GTX870M_V1 from Nikey22 in this thread. Additionally i installed a new 1TB SSD.
The problem is that several tries to install High Sierra, Catalina (Dos Dude) failed because installation process stuck at about 60%.
Even the old High Sierra disk gets stuck when i try to boot from USB
Any suggestions what can i try or is it a Hardware issue with the GPU?

If the internal screen is just black screen - then maybe GPU HW problem. I had this with two GTX780m before finding a third card that worked correctly. However in both cases an external screen worked fine with the two faulty GTX780m cards.

Maybe it helps.

 

[X-Housed]

If the internal screen is just black screen - then maybe GPU HW problem. I had this with two GTX780m before finding a third card that worked correctly. However in both cases an external screen worked fine with the two faulty GTX780m cards.

Maybe it helps.

The internal screen is not black, the progress bar stuck about 60% regardless which OS or Install Image i try. @Ausdauersportler mentioned in this phase the gpu is initializing by the OS.
Only Linux Flash tool can be loaded but with blue dots across the screen which is another indicator of a dead gpu.
Try to send it back and get a replacement.

 

[The_Croupier]

Does the ODD temp. sensor meters the temperature of a surface and sends that info to the logic board? Is this why we connect it to the heatsink? As I can understand something like this happening. But then, why the original sensor doesn’t do the same work?

The sensor that is attached permanently to the GPU heatsink works, It reads GPU heatsink temp, GPU DIE temp does not work as this is integrated into the hardware of OEM gpu cards that apple used, the GPU heatsink sensor does not control the ODD fan to cool the GPU down hence the mod of glueing the ODD sensor to the GPU heatsink so the cooling system works in a more automated way.

 

[Dilli]

Pulled out the heatsink and grinded more.
I can't see any contact between card and heatsink except die and RAM.
Progress bar stuck again at about 60%
Give up on that.

View attachment 1804062View attachment 1804061View attachment 1804063View attachment 1804064

Two things you have to make sure. First the contact to to card and thermal paste should bond correctly. Second hope you have the correct BIOS injected for your card type. Go through the spoilers and documentation carefully on 1st page for your card type.

If it still does not work your GPU card is bad.

 

[Dilli]

Another thing i didn't pay attention to when i first time booted the linux flash tool are some blue dots on the screen.
Booted up now to look again, there are a bunch more and spread across the screen, may be a indicator of a dead gpu.
The screws are not thightened too much.
View attachment 1804231

Blue dots and some crazy lines could also be indication of bad memory module. I had similar issue that got the double beep continuous sound. One of the memory modules was bad. I replaced it with new and now all is working great as I type ever since. So proceed carefully before you return your GPU

 

[The_Croupier]

Blue dots and some crazy lines is also indication of bad memory module. I had similar issue that got the double beep continuous sound. One of my memory modules was bad. I replaced it with new and now all is working great as I type ever since.

I have never experienced graphical glitches from bad ram but have experienced random shutdowns, led 1 out on power button press and the obvious beeps from bad memory modules.

 

[stephengrenfell]

The internal screen is not black, the progress bar stuck about 60% regardless which OS or Install Image i try. @Ausdauersportler mentioned in this phase the gpu is initializing by the OS.
Only Linux Flash tool can be loaded but with blue dots across the screen which is another indicator of a dead gpu.
Try to send it back and get a replacement.

Sounds like you’ve well covered adapting the heatsink, and installing the card onto the heatsink.

The MXM card must perfectly aligned and fully seated into its connector slot, the gold plated edge connector contacts on the card should be perfectly clean, ideally with no oxidation (isopropyl alcohol is good for this). And there must be no debris (from dust particles for example) in the connector slot or damage to the connector pins on the motherboard.

The problem with all these used MXM GPU cards is always the risk of getting one thats had a hard life and has problems. Even if the seller genuinely tested it this still won’t guarantee fault free. The MXM interface has 3 display outputs only 1 of which is used for the internal iMac screen. Testing in a laptop for example won’t guarantee it will work in an iMac.

Random blue dots maybe GPU memory issue = faulty card.

Sadly sending it back maybe your only choice.

 

[axrst]

The sensor that is attached permanently to the GPU heatsink works, It reads GPU heatsink temp, GPU DIE temp does not work as this is integrated into the hardware of OEM gpu cards that apple used, the GPU heatsink sensor does not control the ODD fan to cool the GPU down hence the mod of glueing the ODD sensor to the GPU heatsink so the cooling system works in a more automated way.

Thanks for your answer. Now that makes sense to me.

The point of somehow I'm still confused is the part that:

Just cut off the two cables in the near the sensor and exchange the cable ends with the plugs connecting the same colors simply together (grey to grey and black to black). So you can easily connect the original heat sink sensor to the ODD connector in the logic board and vice versa.

If I exchange the cable ends of the 2 sensors, would be enough cable until the connectors (when the card, goes to its location), or I have to increase the cable length ? Maybe just switching the 2 connectors only in the other's logic board's socket (if 1. the connectors are the same and 2. the cable is enough)?

 

[The_Croupier]

Thanks for your answer. Now that makes sense to me.

The point of somehow I'm still confused is the part that:


If I exchange the cable ends of the 2 sensors, would be enough cable until the connectors (when the card, goes to its location), or I have to increase the cable length ? Maybe just switching the 2 connectors only in the other's logic board's socket (if 1. the connectors are the same and 2. the cable is enough)?

The connectors aren't interchangeable one is a what I call a blade connector (ODD) and one is what I call a cube connector (GPU Heatsink) If you have difficulties with the cable length just use a similar gauge insulated wire to extend the cable. IE: recycle a old iPhone charger cable or similar.
I think you will find, with the cables connected to their default sockets, that you can eyeball where you need to cut the ODD cable to make it reach as obviously the heatsink cable is way to short to route directly to the ODD temp socket.

 

[Pogoon]

Hello,

Recently I bought an updated 2011 iMac with a K3100M GPU by nikey22.

It was installed with Catalina but I wanted to go to Big Sur so I performed a clean install with bootable USB and Patched Sur.

The installation went very well. Then I put automatically back all the kexts (still with Patched Sur) to recover the bluetooth, wifi, ethernet, etc.

Everything works, but now the only problem is that I lost the full brightness which cannot go beyond about 60%, even if the settings are set to the maximum with the keys of the keyboard or in the parameters.

I believe it is related to the AppleBacklight.kext, so I tried to edit the kext, replace it in "Extensions" folder, watched many tutorials on MacRumors but it doesn't work, or maybe i'm doing something wrong ? I am tearing my hair because I do not understand how to find the solution to this problem. I am not very familiar with the MacOS universe. I spent 6 hours to understand how to install Big Sur on a non-compatible mac and put the kext back on, and now it's the problem of the brightness that I can't fix ^^'

Could someone help me and explain the process to me?

Here's my setup :

Sorry for my English!

Thank for your help

 

[Ausdauersportler]

For the iMac9,1, which uses LVDS: It might be possible to produce a working NVIDIA VBIOS using the DCB tables I posted in that post. The GeForce 9400M VBIOS is ripped from an actual iMac9,1. Please also dump the VBIOS of that GT130. The DCB tables should be the same of the GeForce 9400 VBIOS I used for that.

I myself am kinda stuck as I have an iMac10,1, I want to replace the GPU on. This uses DP but for some reason it still doesn't work with the VBIOSses posted here. I need the iMac10,1 GeForce 9400M VBIOS for proper investigation, but I did not acquire it yet.

Some time with the search machine lead me to the conclusion that there exist slightly older iMac9,1 (early 2009 EMC 2267) 24" models with ATI and NVIDIA MXM cards. Take a look at the ifixit.com repair guide.

So getting the vBIOS from the GT120 or GT130 from this machines should be of great help. Within the comments of the ifixit page I found the part numbers of the graphics cards used in this 24" iMac model:

* NVIDIA GT120 (256Mb): part #661-4991

* NVIDIA GT130 (512Mb): part #661-4990

* ATI Radeon HD 4850 (512Mb): part #661-5135

 

[X-Housed]

Two things you have to make sure. First the contact to to card and thermal paste should bond correctly. Second hope you have the correct BIOS injected for your card type. Go through the spoilers and documentation carefully on 1st page for your card type.

If it still does not work your GPU card is bad.

When i taped the X-Clamp i checked the Thermal Paste on Die and Heatsink.
Heatsink was well covered with Paste.

Blue dots and some crazy lines could also be indication of bad memory module. I had similar issue that got the double beep continuous sound. One of the memory modules was bad. I replaced it with new and now all is working great as I type ever since. So proceed carefully before you return your GPU

This iMac run with the Modules for years until the GPU died.

Sounds like you’ve well covered adapting the heatsink, and installing the card onto the heatsink.

The MXM card must perfectly aligned and fully seated into its connector slot, the gold plated edge connector contacts on the card should be perfectly clean, ideally with no oxidation (isopropyl alcohol is good for this). And there must be no debris (from dust particles for example) in the connector slot or damage to the connector pins on the motherboard.

The problem with all these used MXM GPU cards is always the risk of getting one thats had a hard life and has problems. Even if the seller genuinely tested it this still won’t guarantee fault free. The MXM interface has 3 display outputs only 1 of which is used for the internal iMac screen. Testing in a laptop for example won’t guarantee it will work in an iMac.

Random blue dots maybe GPU memory issue = faulty card.

Sadly sending it back maybe your only choice.

Isopropyl is part of my standard repertoir toolcase
Found that contacts are not in a perfect shape, used Microfiber towel and Isopropyl to clean it up.
There is no room to make something wrong inserting the card into the slot, you can't align the card much because it is fixed by 2 screws to the bracket.
Good point with the display outputs, the seller guaranteed that the card was working, if it was tested only in a notebook, than the guarantee is worthless.

Look, many would say it is not worth it, from a labor/Return of Invest perspective it is not.
I like these old machines and giving them some more years lifetime is kind of satisfying.
A 21" iMac i repaired is heavily in use by my daughter and hopefully will be for the next couple years.
A guy who called me up for some issues with his Mac told me he held 2 iMacs with the graphics issue for long time because he can't throw them to the garbage disposal and would be very happy if i could repair them.

It may be the same reason why people create great Firmware for the Cards, the Open Core and OCLP teams who make newest OS for old machines possible and much more, or all you folks here in the Forum who help guys like me when i have no clue what to do, even after reading dozens of pages.

The first MXM i bought had a wrong BIOS flashed, but fortunately no hardware issues.
If it turns out that the card is faulty (what i strongly belive) even when the seller guarantee that the card is working than it is very frustrating, having the hassle of returning and waiting for a replacment and losing additional lot of time because some people want to make some quick bucks let me in doubt to keep on repairing.