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

[Ausdauersportler]

Question, I recently got an Alienware GTX780M, however, I saw there are two ROM available. May I please ask which one I should use?
Do I have to check which Vram this card use and to find a suitable ROM? or the Rom provided in first thread, that is universal???
thank you so much

Please just follow the links to both ROM versions and read the description provided by the programmer and pick the version according to your needs.

In fact there exist even more different versions published on this thread and because we have still two listed on the first post there can be no universal solution existing right now!!!

 

[voot566]

Please just follow the links to both ROM versions and read the description provided by the programmer and pick the version according to your needs.

In fact there exist even more different versions published on this thread and because we have still two listed on the first post there can be no universal solution existing right now!!!

Thank you. My concern is, as I watch some of the youtube video, where some youtubers said that we need to flash the rom in accordance to the type of vram of the card. I am just a bit worry if I flash the rom on the first post, which it could kill my card

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Thank you. My concern is, as I watch some of the youtube video, where some youtubers said that we need to flash the rom in accordance to the type of vram of the card. I am just a bit worry if I flash the rom on the first post, which it could kill my card

Then ask these youtubers, obviously these are the real experts.

 

[jay508]

Three HP M5950 6770M respectively two green PCB a blue PCB, are blank does not contain VBiOS chip patch VBiOS chip refreshed modified 6770_M5950.rom test VBiOS data does not work blank does not contain any VBiOS information compared to the back of the Dell red PCB there are differences. Not sure how to get the VBiOS data to work on HP 6770M. Tested normal on PC machine VBiOS information blank tried refreshing several times also.

Dell 6770M photos are found on the Internet I do not have, who has Dell 6770M posted on the complete and clear large image comparison to see the difference between Dell HP 6770M, why HP 6770M patch VBiOS chip refresh VBiOS does not work properly. PC machine to view VBiOS information is blank. I can't get the VBiOS information from the VBiOS chip correctly to make it work properly.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 

[Papoto]

Big Sur and HD3000 QuickSync​

Folks, I have a bad and a good message to deliver!

The bad:

OTA (delta) updates with 2011 iMacs using an NVIDIA dGPU will be broken again, if you want QuicKSync!

The good:

Finally I got it working, again! At least using an older original AMD 6770 GPU using the latest graphics patches.

We will see how this can be included into the upcoming OCLP versions. For those able and willing to modify the root system volume of their Big Sur installation with an NVIDIA Kepler GPU I have added the necessary files and the recipe to the post linked above. It is not complete, though. One would need to enable the HD3000 through OC, again. And you need the HD3000*, AppleIntelSNB* files from High Sierra, too. Basically it would be the micropatcher Nvidia patch set and the AppleGVAcore.

EDIT:

Who is willing to test this on his own Mid 2011 + Nvidia GPU system?
I can provide all the (OCLP+kext+framework) files and help during the patching process. Please PM.

Hi Ausdauersportler,
It might be because I'm new on the forum or because I'm dumb or both, but I couldn't find a way to send you a PM (private message), to let you know my setup is at your disposal for testing.
Regards...

 

[Amiga3000D]

Hi there,
got an 27" 2009 imac with the i5 and a dead GPU and got myself a already vbios-patched (nikey) Quadro K3100M - installed the GPU and had a dark internal LCD BUT also external displays are getting no signal. Reinstalled the dead GPU and it displays artifact stuff on the external display and lcd as well, so the internal display and the adapter for the external display seems fine.

Tried to boot with unpatched High Sierra to install the fixes mentioned in this thread - as I'm lacking a working (old) GPU, does this have to be applied BEFORE the install of the new card and thats the reason why the screens keep black?

Help appreciated.

 

[The_Croupier]

has been a power outage in the house. Once back the imac didn't turn on.

Power outage?
That sounds like a power surge. A power outage shouldn't kill you PSU. Could be that you logic board got fried, test your components in another same spec iMac to find the fault.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Hi there,
got an 27" 2009 imac with the i5 and a dead GPU and got myself a already vbios-patched (nikey) Quadro K3100M - installed the GPU and had a dark internal LCD BUT also external displays are getting no signal. Reinstalled the dead GPU and it displays artifact stuff on the external display and lcd as well, so the internal display and the adapter for the external display seems fine.

Tried to boot with unpatched High Sierra to install the fixes mentioned in this thread - as I'm lacking a working (old) GPU, does this have to be applied BEFORE the install of the new card and thats the reason why the screens keep black?

Help appreciated.

Test the K3100m with only external LCD to see if the machine is running normally.
Boot the machine while holding "Option" on the keyboard to see if it can change anything.
For the fix (OCLP)
If the half-dead stock GPU still can get you to High Sierra dekstop, then you can create an OCLP USB and boot from it, without applying any change to the High Sierra disk.
The OCLP USB can be created on any Macs with proper procedure (not very complicated).

If your screens are still black, the reasons may be:
1. Bad K3100m => Buy another one
2. Wrong vBios flashed to K3100m => flash another vBIOS.

 

[Amiga3000D]

Test the K3100m with only external LCD to see if the machine is running normally.
Boot the machine while holding "Option" on the keyboard to see if it can change anything.
For the fix (OCLP)
If the half-dead stock GPU still can get you to High Sierra dekstop, then you can create an OCLP USB and boot from it, without applying any change to the High Sierra disk.
The OCLP USB can be created on any Macs with proper procedure (not very complicated).

If your screens are still black, the reasons may be:
1. Bad K3100m => Buy another one
2. Wrong vBios flashed to K3100m => flash another vBIOS.

The external screen is still black when running with/without the internal LCD connected - thus you can hear the "macOS has an integrated voice...."-info so it its booting fine.

Sadly the dead gpu freezes when booting, leaving the mac with articfacts on the boot screen with the loading status. Mouse pointer works still (funny).

The card has been said to be flashed and used by the seller on eBay, so it SHOULD have bootscreen and everything already in place. Hard to confirm.

 

[RTouris]

Not getting any signal at all (or the full array of LEDs light up) is also a case of the card not having the mac-compatible BIOS flashed to it. If i were you I'd attempt a USB-linux flash with ssh access just for the sake of things. I've so far lived through 2 such cases where the GPU was supposed to be pre-flashed but instead came with stock ROM. Setting up a flash-usb thumb drive is humongusly easy nowadays...

 

[Amiga3000D]

Not getting any signal at all (or the full array of LEDs light up) is also a case of the card not having the mac-compatible BIOS flashed to it. If i were you I'd attempt a USB-linux flash with ssh access just for the sake of things. I've so far lived through 2 such cases where the GPU was supposed to be pre-flashed but instead came with stock ROM. Setting up a flash-usb thumb drive is humongusly easy nowadays...

is it possible to do this without a running system? As for now i have a) a dead gpu & b) dark screens^^°

My concern is that the imac might not have the latest firmware as well, but thats just a guess.

Would it make sense to boot the high sierra ssd in an external usb enclosure on i.e. a macbook pro and install the patches on it & whoop it back into the imac?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Would it make sense to boot the high sierra ssd in an external usb enclosure on i.e. a macbook pro and install the patches on it & whoop it back into the imac?

That would be one solution.

You can use the Linux GRML based flash utility without a working display just using an ssh client from/on another Mac or iPad or PC. That is why we built it in the past - just because most users would start with a dead and an unflashed GPU both not working.

You could have known this is you would have checked the first post. We are starting to repeat it just for you.

 

[Amiga3000D]

That would be one solution.

You can use the Linux GRML based flash utility without a working display just using an ssh client from/on another Mac or iPad or PC. That is why we built it in the past - just because most users would start with a dead and an unflashed GPU both not working.

You could have known this is you would have checked the first post. We are starting to repeat it just for you.

I've worked through the first post, checked the compatibility list, collected the necessary patches for installation, checked eBay and bought the (sold-as) patched GPU - I also already watched tutorials for the replacement of the GPU.

I did some more research in the thread and bought an adapter dp-->hdmi to connect an external display, as this was also mentioned if the internal LCD keeps black. As this also didn't work, i started my question in the thread.

edit: at no point in the first post is mentioned what needs to be done first: patching the OS or installing the GPU.

As I'm running a pre-installed SSD with a fresh OS installed, the iMac MIGHT also not have gotten the latest firmware.

At which point am I "allowed" asking questions in this thread in your opinion? I worked through the content until i reached the current state --> unpatched sys, dead old gpu, (working?) new gpu, black screen internal+external, unaware of the correct patching process (if needed).

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I've worked through the first post, checked the compatibility list, collected the necessary patches for installation, checked eBay and bought the (sold-as) patched GPU - I also already watched tutorials for the replacement of the GPU.

I did some more research in the thread and bought an adapter dp-->hdmi to connect an external display, as this was also mentioned if the internal LCD keeps black. As this also didn't work, i started my question in the thread.

At which point am I "allowed" asking questions in this thread in your opinion? I worked through the content until i reached the current state --> unpatched sys, dead old gpu, (working?) new gpu, black screen internal+external.

You can ask what you want, but when I am starting to repeat the written docs than I do not have a lot of patience. The flash process has been described several times.

Your assumption to have/own a working and properly flashed new card has to be proven - but not by me. This is your task. All we do here (all day long) is discussing about likely dead card from Far East. Do not get me wrong, I do not know different sources. But you are repeating just my experience from 12 month ago. And it certainly did not became better within the last year.

Why exactly do we have to support this business?

--

Docs on first post:

1. patch before changing the GPU to be sure to avoid the black screen issue
2. check or flash your new card yourself using the tools we designed and published and the lastest vBIOS versions published

Both tasks have not been finished!

--

Private words:
I do not like other people to waste my own time. If you feel the very same (this is Kant) then just act according to this.

EDIT:
About your claim "at no point in the first post is mentioned what needs to be done first: patching the OS or installing the GPU."

1. Black Screen: After complete installation of the iMac the internal LCD can stay black, only three status LED light up. This is the black screen software issue. Normally you can get around it (temporarily) by pressing alt/option on boot. Late 2009 system you will face (only there) a more severe variant. After a PRAM reset the LCD gets and remains black. To fix this for all iMacs a kernel extension needs to be patched at best in advance. Only after booting into this patched macOS the screen will come back. Use this package installer to achieve this with all ++ cards on all systems up to macOS Catalina. Do not use this package on Big Sur and later. Alternatively OpenCore (e.g. OCLP) with agdpmod=vit9696 in the boot-args fires up the LCD after a PRAM reset or GPU change, too.

 

[Pacific1972]

Three HP M5950 6770M respectively two green PCB a blue PCB, are blank does not contain VBiOS chip patch VBiOS chip refreshed modified 6770_M5950.rom test VBiOS data does not work blank does not contain any VBiOS information compared to the back of the Dell red PCB there are differences. Not sure how to get the VBiOS data to work on HP 6770M. Tested normal on PC machine VBiOS information blank tried refreshing several times also.

Dell 6770M photos are found on the Internet I do not have, who has Dell 6770M posted on the complete and clear large image comparison to see the difference between Dell HP 6770M, why HP 6770M patch VBiOS chip refresh VBiOS does not work properly. PC machine to view VBiOS information is blank. I can't get the VBiOS information from the VBiOS chip correctly to make it work properly.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

😄 👍 this should be my table of MXM cards 😄 👍

 

[JohnPascololo]

Ok, here is the situation. I have got an 12,2 for cheap and put in a GTX880m. Problem is the system does not boot up at all. It does not even go on to LED 2. If i swap in the old card everything seems ok. An interesting oberservation i made is that when I press the power button even LED 1 turns off for a second. This is not the case with the original gpu inserted. It will straight go to LED 2 without turning off LED 1.

I'm just wondering if this is a similar MOSFET related problem as with some of the WX4150 that someone modded successfully to bypass these?

Or is it simple the hardware problem no 1 which simply means there is a major incompatibity? The card could of cause also be broken since it is used which is a very sad situation since I cannot test it in another standard pc system.

Did anyone encounter similar problems? It's supposed to be pulled from a DELL alienware which i assumed it might have a good chance of working...

 

[unclemiltie]

I have a 12,2 too that I tried a GTX880. The seller assures me that they tested it in a Dell laptop before they sent it to me but the system will not power on. I "baked" the original failed 6970M so that it would work and it does indeed power on and boot. The GTX is still connected to my spare heat sink sitting on my desk since I've not had a chance to play around with it. (it has not had the BIOS flashed since I can't get it to boot even the GRML USB stick)

Symptoms are that on push of the power button the fans spin for a second or so and then stop. I can't remember if the LEDs turn on since it's been a few weeks since I played with this thing.

I made sure that there was plenty of room on the heat sink and the X-bar has been slightly modified so that it's not touching or pressing on any of the components on the back of the board, as well a the plastic insulator is under it.

There is a note somewhere in this very long thread that the Mid 2011 27" model (iMac 12,2) has some issues with some of these cards and POST where a card will work in some (seemingly identical) systems and not in others. I was going to link to it but couldn't find it.

But hey, if you figure this one out, let me know!

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Problem is the system does not boot up at all. It does not even go on to LED 2. If i swap in the old card everything seems ok. An interesting oberservation i made is that when I press the power button even LED 1 turns off for a second. This is not the case with the original gpu inserted. It will straight go to LED 2 without turning off LED 1.

Did anyone encounter similar problems?

I did twice on my-known-to-be-working WX4150m. Things went wrong after I'd taken out the card to try on another machine, putting it back on my iMac and pusshing the power button didn't turn on the machine.

The cause is simply short-circuit because some parts of the card was touching the heatsink.
After a thorough re-asseming of the card+heatsing with Kapton tape covering probably touching parts, the issue was solved.
In your case, you have isolated the issue to be on the new GPU:
MXM card + Heatsink + assembling (thermal paste, screw tightening, etc.)
I you are sure that the MXM card is good, presumably, then check the rest of the above combination.

 

[JohnPascololo]

I did twice on my-known-to-be-working WX4150m. Things went wrong after I'd taken out the card to try on another machine, putting it back on my iMac and pusshing the power button didn't turn on the machine.

The cause is simply short-circuit because some parts of the card was touching the heatsink.
After a thorough re-asseming of the card+heatsing with Kapton tape covering probably touching parts, the issue was solved.
In your case, you have isolated the issue to be on the new GPU:
MXM card + Heatsink + assembling (thermal paste, screw tightening, etc.)
I you are sure that the MXM card is good, presumably, then check the rest of the above combination.

Thanks for your reply. It is related to the card for sure as you said. I did another test without heatsink just to check the behavior. It is the same. As soon as i press the power button led 1 goes off and nothing.
There is lots of therml paste on it but it is supposed to be non conductive and non capacitive. So could it be related to power draw on powerup?

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Thanks for your reply. It is related to the card for sure as you said. I did another test without heatsink just to check the behavior. It is the same. As soon as i press the power button led 1 goes off and nothing.
There is lots of therml paste on it but it is supposed to be non conductive and non capacitive. So could it be related to power draw on powerup?

Before drawing the last conclusion that the card is short circuit by itself, I would do a through cleaning of the redundant thermal paste, which probably has spreaded to small components on the card, then re-apply an adequate amount.
Be aware that the short circuit sometime occures at the contact points of the screws as well.
I remembered that on my WX4150m, I one time got the short circuit (machine shutdown while running) just by simply assembling the screw to firmly fix the heatsink backframe to the logicboard.
Another time, screwing in the LCD panel caused the short circuit.

Another problem your are facing, is the current which your GTX880m is drawing.
All of those happened on a MXM type B card (small size card, same as the original HD5670m) with low TDP 50W. Yours is a MXM type B, 100W TDP, which would requires a lot of other things as well: modified heatsink, underclocked vBIOS to reduce the current overload at start, etc.
Maybe it's time to search for a card with lower TDP like K3100m etc.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Thanks for your reply. It is related to the card for sure as you said. I did another test without heatsink just to check the behavior. It is the same. As soon as i press the power button led 1 goes off and nothing.
There is lots of therml paste on it but it is supposed to be non conductive and non capacitive. So could it be related to power draw on powerup?

No, it is simply and most likely another dead card.

Check if this card is working properly in a Dell laptop running video benchmarks and delivering numbers in sync with the same GPU line.

You can also check the card without a heat sink to fence out all installation problems. Just press the power butting and if you get a chime and a second and third LED pull the plug before the card is over heating. This is somewhat dangerous.

 

[dfranetic]

A mod for the EEPROM-less AMD WX4170 cards​

Recently, @m0bil and I came up with a mod for the EEPROM-less AMD WX4170 cards to make them POST (and run) in iMac12,2 machines (2011 27' iMacs). (In all likelihood, they will also run in iMac11,1 and iMac11,3. They will not - see additional mod below.) It requires quite a bit more than 'above average' soldering skills, so I'll deliberately skip the details of the soldering process. (I did manage to do it with a soldering iron with a special 'drag soldering' tip, tweezers, a lot of flux and even more time and patience.)

(Original mod, first four photos) The 'missing' components - there are 4:

• top layer: 0R 0603 size SMD resistor (R1342, jumper) and P25Q40H (or equivalent) EEPROM (U10). (Make sure that the EEPROM is in the narrow - 150 mils - SO8 package.)
• bottom layer: 0R 1206 size SMD resistor (R2, jumper) and 4x 33R size 0804 resistor network (RP1).

@m0bil was the one who traced the signal lines from the EEPROM to the missing RP1 resistor network. I simply added the two 0R resistors - similar to the WX4150 mod I proposed.

(Additional mod) To make the card work properly in 27' 2009-2010 iMacs (iMac11,1 and iMac11,3) removal of two additional 0402-sized 0R resistors (jumpers) is required. On the bottom layer, lower left corner, to the left of the heatsink mounting hole, there are those two jumpers in (again) orange rectangles. These two need to be removed. See last two photos.

Spoiler: Revisions of the EEPROM-less WX4170 cards

In online offers you will find a few different revisions of the EEPROM-less WX4170 cards. I had 3 EEPROM-less cards in my hands, all Rev. F. I strongly believe the mod will 'work' for any EEPROM-less revision. If you are lucky, you might get the one with RP1 soldered in place, but still missing the remaining 3 components. (RP1 is the smallest missing component and requires extreme patience while soldering.)

See the attached photos, where the missing/'redundant' components are clearly marked.

 

[unclemiltie]

Thanks for your reply. It is related to the card for sure as you said. I did another test without heatsink just to check the behavior. It is the same. As soon as i press the power button led 1 goes off and nothing.
There is lots of therml paste on it but it is supposed to be non conductive and non capacitive. So could it be related to power draw on powerup?

yea, I did that as well with mine when I was trying it. I convinced myself that I have a bad card but the seller assures me that it works with a laptop. Some day I'll get back to tinkering but I'd suspect the card

 

[dfranetic]

Two One examples of failing/failed new(ish) AMD GPUs​

In the past month I got my hands on 4 AMD WX4170 cards (3 EEPROM-less, one with an EEPROM). It turned out two one of the cards were was bad.

Here are some pictures of the artefacts produced by the (second) failing WX4170 card. (It is a flashed, modded, originally EEPROM-less card.) It shows the boot screen, it loads the installer (and I was even able to install macOS Monterey), but it does not load into macOS. (Once it tries to switch to GPU drivers the display just remains black.)

Turns out that this card is not bad after all! Those artefacts were due to improper VRAM section in previous VBIOS version. With updated @internetzel 's VBIOS (the _ALT_VRAM variant with @edwardgeo 's VRAM section) it works perfectly!

It was harder to identify the first WX4170 I got my hands on as a failed card. (This card was generously 'loaned' to me by @m0bil.) Once fully modded and built into an iMac it would (after the press of the power button) sound a short, cut-off chime and then simply repeat those cut-off chimes consecutively every 3 (maybe 3.2) seconds. (It became apparent that the card is no good only after modding a second EEPROM-less WX4170 card in the same way.)

 

[The_Croupier]

Two examples of a failing/failed new(ish) AMD GPUs​

In the past month I got my hands on 4 AMD WX4170 cards (3 EEPROM-less, one with an EEPROM). It turned out two of the cards were bad.

Here are some pictures of the artefacts produced by the (second) failing WX4170 card. (It is a flashed, modded, originally EEPROM-less card.) It shows the boot screen, it loads the installer (and I was even able to install macOS Monterey), but it does not load into macOS. (Once it tries to switch to GPU drivers the display just remains black.)
View attachment 1807068View attachment 1807069View attachment 1807070

It was harder to identify the first WX4170 I got my hands on as a failed card. (This card was generously 'loaned' to me by @m0bil.) Once fully modded and built into an iMac it would (after the press of the power button) sound a short, cut-off chime and then simply repeat those cut-off chimes consecutively every 3 (maybe 3.2) seconds. (It became apparent that the card is no good only after modding a second EEPROM-less WX4170 card in the same way.)

This should be a lesson to all people that want to fix their old iMac and or upgrade them for Metal support, unless you can source a verified mxm card to be brand new (even then brand new can be years old sitting in storage degrading) chances are the card you buy has been driven hard to exhaustion, has been cheaply refurbished or even baked, is already a dud and being flipped for some quick cash or simply gets damaged in transit.

There are so many ways that this process can fail, hardware, installation and accident that you should not have great expectations even with a overwhelming majority of successful upgrades.

My suggestion to all is to be honest with the sellers, explain your intentions, ask the question about refunds or exchange and by all means handle the card and iMac logic board with care, read this entire thread all 617 pages, read post one and every spoiler 10 times, buy the correct tools and don't take shortcuts or you will pay the price.