Thanks! I will look into that archive and try to patch!
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iM 4,1-14,4 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade
- Thread starter MichaelDT
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Sounds like 2 bad video cards to me. Was the original card working before you put the eBay card in? What macOS version do you have installed currently?
Hi Jowaju!
Thank you very much for your reply! The GPU was correctly working before swapping, nothing strange. This is why I am really confused.
The version is High Sierra, boot rom 87.0.0.0.0
I managed to enter into safe mode, and from the command line I runt the disk checker, seemed ok. Literally no clue on what is wrong
Have you reset the PRAM by holding Cmd+Option+P+R ? Let it do it multiple times in a row. Also if your AMD 6000 series card is still working you can now put Mojave, Catalina, OR Big Sur on it with acceleration patches. I just used it on a 2011 21.5" last night and it works amazingly well on Catalina.
well I hope I will be able to do it before throwing it in the bin! I managed to reset the PRAM on the old one, but nothing happens. I still have the apple logo on boot, with the loading bar, and then the white screen with nothing on
Did you try safe mode boot? Hold down the shift key while booting to try safe mode. It's also possible the heatsink / fan isn't attached properly when you put the old card back in, that could cause the issue you are describing. Wouldn't hurt to take it back apart and check all the connections again.
Face the bitter truth: you probably have two failed/failing GPUs. The 'old one' may have just failed - once you removed the heatsink some cracks in solder balls under the GPU and/or RAM ICs may have widened... The 'new one' is an old, high performance gaming GPU - and that is what it was (ab)used for. (Don't forget that there is a warning on post 1 about non-POSTing NVIDIA GPUs - everyone who buys a supported, used high-performance NVIDIA GPU should be prepared for the scenario you just described.)
Yes I strongly believe that what you say just happened. I have now a question in genera: if it were you, would you buy a different Mac or try to repair this one? Maybe other gpu will fail so I do not really want to keep on doing this valzer of the graphics. Plus this is the iMac I have in my old house, in Italy, where I don’t live anymore. Thanks man for the reply!!!
Hi! I tried safe mode, but as soon as I press shift same story repeats. Logo, bar, white screen!
I like to repair stuff, so I'm probably not the right person to ask. If you decide to repair: Either go with an low(ish) end AMD GPU or a low end NVIDIA GPU - the recent report about failing AMD GPU is (as we learn) at least half-wrong, and low end NVIDIA GPUs were not (as) abused as high end ones.
Yeah I got what you mean, I just am not at home as I used to be and I am not sure whether the gpu will come before I leave again to try it out. I am so damn disappointed! Thank you again for your reply and the support!
Can these information be applied to the vBIOS of other AMD GPU like WX4130/4150/7100, RX480 to activate the internal LCD even at boot ? Just curious as I am ignorant on vBIOS
Scroll back to somewhere late 2019 when @Nick [D]vB proposed some hardware mods to switch on the internal LCD on boot.Can these information be applied to the vBIOS of other AMD GPU like WX4130/4150/7100, RX480 to activate the internal LCD even at boot ? Just curious as I am ignorant on vBIOS
But this would still give you no EFI boot screen with the desired boot selector as far as I understood. So using a GOP vBIOS and OC is the way we currently have to go.
Anyway: Without OC no installation of more recent macOS versions and no AMD hardware acceleration.
I don't. However, I wouldn't rely on photos in online offers. You will (likely) not get what you see.
I asked this question 2 weeks ago ))
@nikey22 replied in the following post.
Post in thread '2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade'
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596615/post-30120032
You need to test the GTX880m in a Dell Alienware that it originally shipped in or similar to be sure the GPU is faulty. Perfectly working cards just sometimes won’t post for reasons unknown. To me it sounds like you bodged the install most likely a short.
This WX4170 VBIOS fired up the internal display (of course)! Great! I will have more time to test tomorrow - I have to assemble 2 iMac12,2's into 'more presentable' form to begin some long term stability tests. Thank you @edwardgeo and @nikey22!
Using OpenCore. I currently have no High Sierra installation to test - that's probably another thing I should test tomorrow.
(All) GOP based vBIOS versions can use OC to switch the LCD on - so this is more or less the expected behaviour.Using OpenCore. I currently have no High Sierra installation to test - that's probably another thing I should test tomorrow.
Hello everyone
I'm Japanese and can't speak English so I use google translate.
It may be difficult to convey the content, but please forgive me.
When upgrading the GPU, the wx7100 has the highest performance, so I considered upgrading with the wx7100.
(I purchased "Quadro 4100m" as a sub-plan. This can be used without any problem.)
<My machine>
iMac mid 2011 27inch (iMac 12.2)
OS: High Sierra 10.13.6 (security update applied)
(Windows is not installed.)
<Details of implementation>
1. I bought a card that seems to be wx7100 on ebay. It is attached to the photo.
* According to a recent post, it was reported that those with the description of "ver1.1" will work with imac12.2.
2. Flash vbios using "ch341a"
I rewrote vbios of eeprom with ch341a. As for the vbios used, I tried all the ones described as rx580 included in "amd beta 4" that was uploaded to the destination accessed from the link "rom0" of wx7100 described in post 1.
3. Install wx7100 and turn on the power
I installed OC on the SD card in a bootable state in advance and set the boot screen to start. As usual, the activation chime will work, but the card will not be recognized. The four LEDs on the logic board are lit up to the second, but there is no display on the built-in display, and there is no external display output from the TB port.
I tried to do the usb method by rewriting vbios, but I couldn't because the GPU is not recognized.
<Question>
1. There is a lot of discussion in this thread, but is it okay to just rewrite vbios to use "wx7100"? I understand that gpu upgrades are not plug and play. I also know that the information I have collected is not enough to understand.
2. Is my card wx7100?
3. Should I think of my card as a "dead card"?
I'm Japanese and can't speak English so I use google translate.
It may be difficult to convey the content, but please forgive me.
When upgrading the GPU, the wx7100 has the highest performance, so I considered upgrading with the wx7100.
(I purchased "Quadro 4100m" as a sub-plan. This can be used without any problem.)
<My machine>
iMac mid 2011 27inch (iMac 12.2)
OS: High Sierra 10.13.6 (security update applied)
(Windows is not installed.)
<Details of implementation>
1. I bought a card that seems to be wx7100 on ebay. It is attached to the photo.
* According to a recent post, it was reported that those with the description of "ver1.1" will work with imac12.2.
2. Flash vbios using "ch341a"
I rewrote vbios of eeprom with ch341a. As for the vbios used, I tried all the ones described as rx580 included in "amd beta 4" that was uploaded to the destination accessed from the link "rom0" of wx7100 described in post 1.
3. Install wx7100 and turn on the power
I installed OC on the SD card in a bootable state in advance and set the boot screen to start. As usual, the activation chime will work, but the card will not be recognized. The four LEDs on the logic board are lit up to the second, but there is no display on the built-in display, and there is no external display output from the TB port.
I tried to do the usb method by rewriting vbios, but I couldn't because the GPU is not recognized.
<Question>
1. There is a lot of discussion in this thread, but is it okay to just rewrite vbios to use "wx7100"? I understand that gpu upgrades are not plug and play. I also know that the information I have collected is not enough to understand.
2. Is my card wx7100?
3. Should I think of my card as a "dead card"?
Attachments
0. Since you have booted with the card installed (you got the boot chime) it will work in your iMac12,2 (Mid 2011)
1. This is a VER 1.1 WX7100
2. You need OpenCore (OC) to light up the internal LCD on boot
or
3. You can boot without OC and you have just to wait until the boot has been finished, the macOS Radeon driver will switch on the internal LCD at the very end.
4. You could have tried the original Dell vBIOS on the card, in most cases it works, too.
5. The AMD_BETA4 version needs an external display connected to start up the internal LCD and the very end of the boot using High Sierra (this may be your problem!)
( copied from the Beta4 post)
Although the Beta4 roms enable native brightness control, there is a catch:
[1] To enable brightness control and keep full performance in MacOS we use the generic "Radeon frame-buffer", but this seems to break High Sierra, causing a black screen during boot that is fixable using OpenCore / WEG or by connecting an external display. High Sierra users could just stick with Beta 3, which used the Salado framebuffer to restore performance but doesn't allow native brightness control. Beta 1 & 2 used the Longavi / Berbice frame-buffer which can work with native brightness control but also applied mobile power-gating that cripples performance in MacOS.
6. Try the AMD_GOP vBIOS version and later install OC
7. With all the AMD vBIOS versions you get only the first two and the fourth LED working, the last only after activation of the internal LCD!
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Anyone had issues with screen recording with a WX4130 on a 2011 27"? The recording starts but it always say that "Your screen recording can’t be saved. Error saving recording". Not sure if this is a GPU issues or Big Sur OCLP though, but i thought i'll ask here first.