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

[IvanKS]

Hello.
Please help me with my AMD m4000.
I did:
1. flash with GOP vBIOS

2. Create OCLP config, open EFI and replace APPLE folder with new BOOT+OC.
3. Got black screen (no boot and OS screen)
4. If i install back my card everything is ok

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hello.
Please help me with my AMD m4000.
I did:
1. flash with GOP vBIOS
View attachment 1956644
2. Create OCLP config, open EFI and replace APPLE folder with new BOOT+OC.
3. Got black screen (no boot and OS screen)
4. If i install back my card everything is ok

Check the post I made about the FirePro M4000, you need to add the AMDGOP.efi driver to OpenCore additionall, otherwise no boot screen.

When running OCLP before installing the M4000 you need to pick manually the AMD GCN metal GPU settings!

Which iMac Model?

Idea: PRAM reset after changing the GPU, possibly two in a row?

 

[IvanKS]

Check the post I made about the FirePro M4000, you need to add the AMDGOP.efi driver to OpenCore additionall, otherwise no boot screen.

When running OCLP before installing the M4000 you need to pick manually the AMD GCN metal GPU settings!

Thank you for reply.
I did, chose in developer settings AMD GCN and add AMDGOP.efi driver.
Still black screen(

GPU is getting warm, if it's important.

iMac 2009 27 10.1 HD4670 Catalina

 

[IvanKS]

PRAM reset after changing the GPU, possibly two in a row?

No changes(

Do you think problem in GPU?
Or maybe you have another ideas?(

 

[drew0986]

Experimental AMD FirePro M6100 2GB (AMD R9 M380)

View attachment 1876272

This thread will chronicle my efforts to get the AMD FirePro M6100 MXM 3.0 card working on a 2009/2010 iMac. I've been working on it for several months. I will concentrate on the older iMacs as the 2011 iMacs have an issue with the "wake" cycle not recognizing the GPU and make this card nearly unusable.

This card is used internally in a iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015), model Identifier: iMac17,1

SSH Access:

Adapter  0    SEG=0000, BN=01, DN=00, PCIID=66401002, SSID=00000000)
    Asic Family        :  Bonaire
    Flash Type         :  M25P10/c    (128 KB)
    Product Name       :  Dell / Compal Brooks Saturn XT C60001 A1 GDDR5 2GB 300e/150m   <-- card recognized!
    Bios Config File   :  BR44933.001
    Bios P/N           :  P/N Not Available
    Bios Version       :  015.040.000.001.044933
    Bios Date          :  10/02/13,10:35:3
    ROM Image Type     :  Hybrid Images
    ROM Image Details  :
        Image[0]: Size(65024 Bytes), Type(Legacy Image)           <-- legacy vbios recognized!
        Image[1]: Size(61440 Bytes), Type(EFI Image)              <-- PCI option ROM/UEFI recognized!

MacOS integration:
This card uses the AMD8000Controller.kext and the AMDBonaireGraphicsAcccelerator - RadeonX4000.kext which also natively runs in MacOS. The AMDMTLBronzeDriver is used to initialize its Metal capability. The default framebuffer is in use: RadeonFrameBuffer.

You will like need to apply the same Device Properties as previously stated in other posts <@Ausdauersportler> here recently.

Mods:
- I modified the OBJ table to work with our current iMac models: eDP:14, EncoderID:21, I2CID:92, SenseID:03.
- I used the IM17,1 Header to trick AppleGraphicsPolicy into accepting it as native
- I used an IM17,1 VGA bootloader firmware instead of the stock Dell one and adjusted the pointer to the parser-fall-call in the TVdispout table to point to the correct area in the patched bootloader.
- I used a PC UEFI GOP to communicate with OC and/or OCLP, so you will not get a native MacOS boot picker screen, but instead the OC one.
- GPIO_Pin_LUT has 6 pin assignments for Dell ROM, there are 8 defined in the Apple ROM. This was patched.
- In EFI 1.x systems, the INT 10H and the VESA BIOS Extensions (VBE) are replaced by the EFI UGA protocol. In the more widely used UEFI 2.x systems, the INT10H and the VBE are replaced by the UEFI GOP which is what we are using here to communicate with OpenCore or OCLP using device properties.

The card is recognized as an 'HD8xxx', but that doesn't matter. With the proper OperCore config file, it should be recognized appropriately. I have only tested with High Sierra and Catalina:



View attachment 1876252


View attachment 1876257


Thermal IC chip:
The SMC "0" SMBus Connections on the iMac uses a write address of: 0x98 for the 8-bit SMC slave address. This is equivalent to a 0x4C 7-bit slave address:

0x98 = 1001 1000
0x4C = 0100 1100  (you can see that the 7-bit address is just bit-shifted to the right by 1)

So a GPU card with a ADM1032 thermal IC with a part marking "T1J" seems to work because it communicates on the 0x4C SMC address and will not cause an address collision with other thermal ICs on the logic board. In contrast, an ADM1032 chip with a part marking "T1C" is internally connected to 0x4D and therefore will not communicate with the imac SMC. An EMC1402-1 chip has a slave address of 1001_100 (corresponding to 7-bit 0x4C) and theoretically should also work, but there could be other interactions that are interfering with this. More investigation is necessary.

10/25/2021 addendum:
@dfranetic has pointed out correctly that the SMC information is not being read correctly by this chip, ADM1032. It appears that Mac Fan Control queries the thermal IC directly and not the SMC lane. So back to the drawing board! Sometimes sounds theories don't turn out as we expect in reality

Here is Macs Fan Control:
View attachment 1876141

Let's take a closer look at this IC:
View attachment 1876140
You can see here, that it uses 2 Jumper resistors (lime green) to connect the SCL and SDA lines to the GPU. The pull up resistors are right next to them, both are 100KOhm I believe. I will as an experiment remove these 0 Ohm resistors and see what happens to the GPU temp read out, stay tuned. More research here is necessary.


Benchmark:
View attachment 1876142

Other members have been working on variants of this card, but be warned, these are experimental in nature and still have a lot of troubleshooting to get them working appropriately. They are painful to recover from a bad flash. It's been a long frustrating road with these class of cards, but nevertheless, it has always been insanely great!

Enjoy.​

Thanks for the upload. I tried this vBios on a Dell M6100 (Red) card in a 12,2 iMac. I don't get led #3 or #4 on the mainboard, even when I hear a chime (which isn't every boot). Either the vBios doesn't play nicely with the 2011 12,2 iMac or my Dell card is toast... I thought I hit the lottery with it having a T1J thermal IC, but less excited when I found that the card doesn't work... I've also tried other OS's and thunderbolt external monitor in/out. PRAM and SMC resets. Anyway, thanks for all the hard work. You and every developer on here are just awesome. Thanks....

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Thanks for the upload. I tried this vBios on a Dell M6100 (Red) card in a 12,2 iMac. I don't get led #3 or #4 on the mainboard, even when I hear a chime (which isn't every boot). Either the vBios doesn't play nicely with the 2011 12,2 iMac or my Dell card is toast... I thought I hit the lottery with it having a T1J thermal IC, but less excited when I found that the card doesn't work... I've also tried other OS's and thunderbolt external monitor in/out. PRAM and SMC resets. Anyway, thanks for all the hard work. You and every developer on here are just awesome. Thanks....

LED three will never come up with GOP vBIOS versions. LED four comes up only when the internal LCD has been enabled. Most GCN cards are really difficult to handle in the iMac12,x systems, the M6100 will cause NVRAM corruption needing PRAM resets on reboot and break sleep/wake.

You may try to add this SSDT patch to your OC config to avoid NVRAM corruption, but I cannot guarantee the success. You can edit the aml file using MaciAML (free software). You have to put the file into the ACPI subfolder and add a dict to enable it, use the existing SSDT patch entry for copy/paste/modify.

 

[drew0986]

Hello all!

I have scoured the forum and read everything I could relating to a GPU upgrade for my 27" 2011 iMac (12,2) i5 3.5Ghz Apple graphics card HD 6770M 512MB, and decided to try an AMD M6100 gpu (link to similar to the one i bought) upgrade. This is two reasons, cost of a card off ebay, and the heat pipe I have is a 2-pipe. The 3-pipe would add considerable expense to the upgrade process and the M6100 is happy with the two pipe a slight mod (I had to grind away a slight notch in the aluminum part of the sink so it didn't hit one of the voltage regulators) and really high quality thermal paste... I got a Dell red PCB M6100, mounted it with a slightly modified 2-pipe heat sink to make sure it made good contact and all of the ram chips are in contact with the sink, I then successfully flashed the vBios using one of the linux tools I found in the forum and the edited vBios from the link to the Rom on the main page (here). I installed a fresh and clean High Sierra on my HD. Then tried reinstalling the Dell M6100. I got a bong and then blank screen and nothing else. Tried PRAM reset. Still Nothing. I get two LEDs for sure.

Then i put the original apple card back in and tried to make the appropriate OCLP EFI partition edit.

I used the settings for 12,2 which are...

Developer Settings ----> GCN graphics
Lowest SIP Settings
Disable Secure Boot

After this I replaced the M6100 did a PRAM reset and nothing again. I tried a few variations with/without SIP and SecureBoot. This time the Bong was sporadic and I would have to try and cycle the power to get a bong maybe every 5 tries.

I tried making a "recovery" OCLP CD and boot from that blindly. Bong and then Nothing again. Still sporadic startup Bongs with M6100 Installed.

In the course of unplugging my internal HD, and making an OCLP EFI partition with the CAIL .PLIST edit (hopefully did it correctly) on an 8gb USB that has an activity LED on it so I know when its accessed and plugging it in(this way there would be no boot option but the edited EFI) I did get a boot selection screen once but I was never able to replicate getting that native screen on the internal or external LCD. I will always get two LEDs, but maybe got the Fourth LED when the boot picker screen showed that one time (Im not sure since the lcd was in place obscuring my view of the motherboard). I have never gotten any graphics from an external screen except when using the stock Apple GPU that (thankfully) still works on my machine. (also just for clarification all sporadic Bong issues disappear with the original Apple graphics card HD 6770M 512MB.)

When I boot into the linux distro (password: flash) using these instructions that allows flashing the vBios, the ./amdflash -i utility always returns a "pass" on the test portion of the readout so I am fairly certain the card is functional and being recognized, plus with the one brief and now frustratingly rare boot screen picker display on an internal LCD I am lead to believe that the GPU is functional and being recognized.

Does anyone have any advice? Or would anyone like to give me a succinct run down of the steps needed to get this to work. I am happy to start the whole process from scratch and start from step 1. I just humbly ask that with the instructions please don't use abbreviations. For example, I know what OCLP means (open core legacy patcher) but i do not know what GOP in GOP vBios stands for, and a few other ones I can't think of off the top of my head. Also a lot of the instructions written reference really old version of OCLP, for clarification I have been using OCLP GUI 0.4.2 (latest at time of writing). do i still need to edit PLIST entires with this version? I also have been using the OCLP TUI from my 2010 Macbook pro with Big Sur installed (and working perfectly) when i need a boot USB with an edited EFI part when my iMac has the M6100 installed and doesn't display anything.

This has been one of my most challenging hardware upgrades and this forum is incredible repository for this process. The only issue is there is conflicting info, some outdated, some of the directions are for other cards which I am just supposed to know what parts are correct and not (for example on the ROM page for the M6100 the PList edit directions is just a link to the directions from the AMD W5170 GPU (AMD M5100), or even the ROM instructions are listed as made on a 2009/2010 iMac because the developer considered the card useless on a 2011 due to a wake issue, is the rom still valid for a 2011 12,2 iMac that I flashed onto the Dell GPU?).

On a side note has anyone considered taking the info on this forum and making a dedicated web page such as OCLP has? I would be happy to contribute and parse through posts and update processes and links to each card to make it organized and some what standardized with step by step instructions for each card and each iMac model.

Thank you for any help.

-Nucci

 

[drew0986]

LED three will never come up with GOP vBIOS versions. LED four comes up only when the internal LCD has been enabled. Most GCN cards are really difficult to handle in the iMac12,x systems, the M6100 will cause NVRAM corruption needing PRAM resets on reboot and break sleep/wake.

You may try to add this SSDT patch to your OC config to avoid NVRAM corruption, but I cannot guarantee the success. You can edit the aml file using MaciAML (free software). You have to put the file into the ACPI subfolder and add a dict to enable it, use the existing SSDT patch entry for copy/paste/modify.

wow thank you. I will try this process and update my subsequent posts accordingly... thank you for your time.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hello all!

I have scoured the forum and read everything I could relating to a GPU upgrade for my 27" 2011 iMac (12,2) i5 3.5Ghz Apple graphics card HD 6770M 512MB, and decided to try an AMD M6100 gpu (link to similar to the one i bought) upgrade. This is two reasons, cost of a card off ebay, and the heat pipe I have is a 2-pipe. The 3-pipe would add considerable expense to the upgrade process and the M6100 is happy with the two pipe a slight mod (I had to grind away a slight notch in the aluminum part of the sink so it didn't hit one of the voltage regulators) and really high quality thermal paste... I got a Dell red PCB M6100, mounted it with a slightly modified 2-pipe heat sink to make sure it made good contact and all of the ram chips are in contact with the sink, I then successfully flashed the vBios using one of the linux tools I found in the forum and the edited vBios from the link to the Rom on the main page (here). I installed a fresh and clean High Sierra on my HD. Then tried reinstalling the Dell M6100. I got a bong and then blank screen and nothing else. Tried PRAM reset. Still Nothing. I get two LEDs for sure.

Then i put the original apple card back in and tried to make the appropriate OCLP EFI partition edit.

I used the settings for 12,2 which are...

Developer Settings ----> GCN graphics
Lowest SIP Settings
Disable Secure Boot

After this I replaced the M6100 did a PRAM reset and nothing again. I tried a few variations with/without SIP and SecureBoot. This time the Bong was sporadic and I would have to try and cycle the power to get a bong maybe every 5 tries.

I tried making a "recovery" OCLP CD and boot from that blindly. Bong and then Nothing again. Still sporadic startup Bongs with M6100 Installed.

In the course of unplugging my internal HD, and making an OCLP EFI partition with the CAIL .PLIST edit (hopefully did it correctly) on an 8gb USB that has an activity LED on it so I know when its accessed and plugging it in(this way there would be no boot option but the edited EFI) I did get a boot selection screen once but I was never able to replicate getting that native screen on the internal or external LCD. I will always get two LEDs, but maybe got the Fourth LED when the boot picker screen showed that one time (Im not sure since the lcd was in place obscuring my view of the motherboard). I have never gotten any graphics from an external screen except when using the stock Apple GPU that (thankfully) still works on my machine. (also just for clarification all sporadic Bong issues disappear with the original Apple graphics card HD 6770M 512MB.)

When I boot into the linux distro (password: flash) using these instructions that allows flashing the vBios, the ./amdflash -i utility always returns a "pass" on the test portion of the readout so I am fairly certain the card is functional and being recognized, plus with the one brief and now frustratingly rare boot screen picker display on an internal LCD I am lead to believe that the GPU is functional and being recognized.

Does anyone have any advice? Or would anyone like to give me a succinct run down of the steps needed to get this to work. I am happy to start the whole process from scratch and start from step 1. I just humbly ask that with the instructions please don't use abbreviations. For example, I know what OCLP means (open core legacy patcher) but i do not know what GOP in GOP vBios stands for, and a few other ones I can't think of off the top of my head. Also a lot of the instructions written reference really old version of OCLP, for clarification I have been using OCLP GUI 0.4.2 (latest at time of writing). do i still need to edit PLIST entires with this version? I also have been using the OCLP TUI from my 2010 Macbook pro with Big Sur installed (and working perfectly) when i need a boot USB with an edited EFI part when my iMac has the M6100 installed and doesn't display anything.

This has been one of my most challenging hardware upgrades and this forum is incredible repository for this process. The only issue is there is conflicting info, some outdated, some of the directions are for other cards which I am just supposed to know what parts are correct and not (for example on the ROM page for the M6100 the PList edit directions is just a link to the directions from the AMD W5170 GPU (AMD M5100), or even the ROM instructions are listed as made on a 2009/2010 iMac because the developer considered the card useless on a 2011 due to a wake issue, is the rom still valid for a 2011 12,2 iMac that I flashed onto the Dell GPU?).

On a side note has anyone considered taking the info on this forum and making a dedicated web page such as OCLP has? I would be happy to contribute and parse through posts and update processes and links to each card to make it organized and some what standardized with step by step instructions for each card and each iMac model.

Thank you for any help.

-Nucci

brevis sit

Just because you have either a broken card or a broken installation do not doubt the posts we made. You have to accept the chronological order, e.g. some later developments in OCLP made manual plist edition superfluous etc… it is really funny that after years people come around and wonder about 18.000 posts on 700+ pages and the difficulty to keep track of it.

We cannot add a glossary for each computer industry acronym used here, but the big search machine is only a single click away. You should know how to find and use it.

And yes, this is / has become a complex task, especially when picking a card with experimental status in the wrong system.

 

[drew0986]

LED three will never come up with GOP vBIOS versions. LED four comes up only when the internal LCD has been enabled. Most GCN cards are really difficult to handle in the iMac12,x systems, the M6100 will cause NVRAM corruption needing PRAM resets on reboot and break sleep/wake.

You may try to add this SSDT patch to your OC config to avoid NVRAM corruption, but I cannot guarantee the success. You can edit the aml file using MaciAML (free software). You have to put the file into the ACPI subfolder and add a dict to enable it, use the existing SSDT patch entry for copy/paste/modify.

Thank you again for the advice, i am a bit embarrassed to say it but i can't figure out how to do what you recommended, I got as far as getting MaciAML and getting bot AML files loaded, but I don't quite understand how to patch the original AML file with the new one... I tried looking it up for a while, but I am really bad at programming and coding and everything related... I just don't understand what exactly i need to do... Sorry again for being kinda useless at this...

 

[drew0986]

brevis sit

Just because you have either a broken card or a broken installation do not doubt the posts we made. You have to accept the chronological order, e.g. some later developments in OCLP made manual plist edition superfluous etc… it is really funny that after years people come around and wonder about 18.000 posts on 700+ pages and the difficulty to keep track of it.

We cannot add a glossary for each computer industry acronym used here, but the big search machine is only a single click away. You should know how to find and uses it.

And yes, this is / has become a complex task, especially when picking a card with experimental status in the wrong system.

Thanks for the feedback... appreciate your work Aus.. not doubting anything, just looking for clarification. In my regular life I am a lawyer, not software/hardware engineer. Some of knowledge/perspective you have and may take for granted, I am definitely lacking. My lack of understanding wasn't a comment on your work or thoroughness, but an indictment of my naivety. apologies for any offense. and industry acronyms are corollary to terms of art, i highly doubt you would understand/use correctly some of the latin we use legal circles, but is common parlance for us, or even the phraseology/acronyms i used as an air traffic controller... The point is you have specialized knowledge, and lots of it. i apologize for my lack of understanding...

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Thank you again for the advice, i am a bit embarrassed to say it but i can't figure out how to do what you recommended, I got as far as getting MaciAML and getting bot AML files loaded, but I don't quite understand how to patch the original AML file with the new one... I tried looking it up for a while, but I am really bad at programming and coding and everything related... I just don't understand what exactly i need to do... Sorry again for being kinda useless at this...

The file was already prepared, the note about the tool MaciAML was just added for others following this thread and using different GCN cards. You can easily change the device-id as needed.

- Find the location of your current OpenCore installation (hint: read OCLP docs uninstall section, it is hidden in the so called EFI partition of your disk).
- Add the unchanged aml file to the ACPI folder
- Edit the config.plist and search for SSDT, there is already another such patch included.
- Copy the complete entry inducing the leading and trailing <dict> </dict> (will be approximately ten lines), change the file name found there and possibly the comment line (just cosmetics) and save the config.plist.

You can use either Apple xcode to edit plist files or the free proper tree application, use the search machine to find it.

Reboot and check what happens….

Sorry:
I like being not too precise, people do not learn the hidden secrets when they just press buttons following a video or a step by step.

 

[drew0986]

The file was already prepared, the note about the tool MaciAML was just added for others following this thread and using different GCN cards. You can easily change the device-id as needed.

- Find the location of your current OpenCore installation (hint: read OCLP docs uninstall section, it is hidden in the so called EFI partition of your disk).
- Add the unchanged aml file to the ACPI folder
- Edit the config.plist and search for SSDT, there is already another such patch included.
- Copy the complete entry inducing the leading and trailing <dict> </dict> (will be approximately ten lines), change the file name found there and possibly the comment line (just cosmetics) and save the config.plist.

You can use either Apple xcode to edit plist files or the free proper tree application, use the search machine to find it.

Reboot and check what happens….

Sorry:
I like being not too precise, people do not learn the hidden secrets when they just press buttons following a video or a step by step.

Thank you I will give it a try. I will try and figure out what lines of code and correct formatting I need. So far with the edit I made proper tree app it just added two lines of code... I copied and pasted the acpi key entry that linked to the original SSDT file and edited the link to the new SSDT-GPU file. so under proper tree it looked like there were two entires for the SSDT file under acpi. I have gone ahead and gotten xcode to see if there is anything else I can try. But so far there is no change to the M6100 install. I still have a bong but no LCD and IM unable to ssh or VNC into my machine, so that makes me think it isn't booting into High Sierra properly right now...

thanks again for your help and time. i can understand your frustration with people not taking the time to try and learn things... Ill keep you updated if there are any changes...

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Thank you I will give it a try. I will try and figure out what lines of code and correct formatting I need. So far with the edit I made proper tree app it just added two lines of code... I copied and pasted the acpi key entry that linked to the original SSDT file and edited the link to the new SSDT-GPU file. so under proper tree it looked like there were two entires for the SSDT file under acpi. I have gone ahead and gotten xcode to see if there is anything else I can try. But so far there is no change to the M6100 install. I still have a bong but no LCD and IM unable to ssh or VNC into my machine, so that makes me think it isn't booting into High Sierra properly right now...

thanks again for your help and time. i can understand your frustration with people not taking the time to try and learn things... Ill keep you updated if there are any changes...

It is not frustration, it took me a long time to understand that the thing itself is not that simple. So there are in principle two solutions. A few experts are doing the remote debugging and fixing all problems. Or we force the users into doing the debugging yourself. Believe me, the first one does not scale.

Since you got a boot screen once I still believe you have just a broken config. Possibly you make a backup of the existing state and start over with OCLP latest. There is no gain in adding cosmetic features to a still not working config.

 

[Stefanox2410]

You have to create and enable the group policy before windows connects to the internet. I wrote about it on a past post.
This is how it looks in my (spanish) windows 10:
View attachment 1955653

Hello I managed to install windows 10 avoiding the problem of the hd3000.
Now the Problem remains that the gtx 880 is not detected and the nvidia installation does not find it

 

[DeletteUA]

Hello all!

I have scoured the forum and read everything I could relating to a GPU upgrade for my 27" 2011 iMac (12,2) i5 3.5Ghz Apple graphics card HD 6770M 512MB, and decided to try an AMD M6100 gpu (link to similar to the one i bought) upgrade. This is two reasons, cost of a card off ebay, and the heat pipe I have is a 2-pipe. The 3-pipe would add considerable expense to the upgrade process and the M6100 is happy with the two pipe a slight mod (I had to grind away a slight notch in the aluminum part of the sink so it didn't hit one of the voltage regulators) and really high quality thermal paste... I got a Dell red PCB M6100, mounted it with a slightly modified 2-pipe heat sink to make sure it made good contact and all of the ram chips are in contact with the sink, I then successfully flashed the vBios using one of the linux tools I found in the forum and the edited vBios from the link to the Rom on the main page (here). I installed a fresh and clean High Sierra on my HD. Then tried reinstalling the Dell M6100. I got a bong and then blank screen and nothing else. Tried PRAM reset. Still Nothing. I get two LEDs for sure.

Then i put the original apple card back in and tried to make the appropriate OCLP EFI partition edit.

I used the settings for 12,2 which are...

Developer Settings ----> GCN graphics
Lowest SIP Settings
Disable Secure Boot

After this I replaced the M6100 did a PRAM reset and nothing again. I tried a few variations with/without SIP and SecureBoot. This time the Bong was sporadic and I would have to try and cycle the power to get a bong maybe every 5 tries.

I tried making a "recovery" OCLP CD and boot from that blindly. Bong and then Nothing again. Still sporadic startup Bongs with M6100 Installed.

In the course of unplugging my internal HD, and making an OCLP EFI partition with the CAIL .PLIST edit (hopefully did it correctly) on an 8gb USB that has an activity LED on it so I know when its accessed and plugging it in(this way there would be no boot option but the edited EFI) I did get a boot selection screen once but I was never able to replicate getting that native screen on the internal or external LCD. I will always get two LEDs, but maybe got the Fourth LED when the boot picker screen showed that one time (Im not sure since the lcd was in place obscuring my view of the motherboard). I have never gotten any graphics from an external screen except when using the stock Apple GPU that (thankfully) still works on my machine. (also just for clarification all sporadic Bong issues disappear with the original Apple graphics card HD 6770M 512MB.)

When I boot into the linux distro (password: flash) using these instructions that allows flashing the vBios, the ./amdflash -i utility always returns a "pass" on the test portion of the readout so I am fairly certain the card is functional and being recognized, plus with the one brief and now frustratingly rare boot screen picker display on an internal LCD I am lead to believe that the GPU is functional and being recognized.

Does anyone have any advice? Or would anyone like to give me a succinct run down of the steps needed to get this to work. I am happy to start the whole process from scratch and start from step 1. I just humbly ask that with the instructions please don't use abbreviations. For example, I know what OCLP means (open core legacy patcher) but i do not know what GOP in GOP vBios stands for, and a few other ones I can't think of off the top of my head. Also a lot of the instructions written reference really old version of OCLP, for clarification I have been using OCLP GUI 0.4.2 (latest at time of writing). do i still need to edit PLIST entires with this version? I also have been using the OCLP TUI from my 2010 Macbook pro with Big Sur installed (and working perfectly) when i need a boot USB with an edited EFI part when my iMac has the M6100 installed and doesn't display anything.

This has been one of my most challenging hardware upgrades and this forum is incredible repository for this process. The only issue is there is conflicting info, some outdated, some of the directions are for other cards which I am just supposed to know what parts are correct and not (for example on the ROM page for the M6100 the PList edit directions is just a link to the directions from the AMD W5170 GPU (AMD M5100), or even the ROM instructions are listed as made on a 2009/2010 iMac because the developer considered the card useless on a 2011 due to a wake issue, is the rom still valid for a 2011 12,2 iMac that I flashed onto the Dell GPU?).

On a side note has anyone considered taking the info on this forum and making a dedicated web page such as OCLP has? I would be happy to contribute and parse through posts and update processes and links to each card to make it organized and some what standardized with step by step instructions for each card and each iMac model.

Thank you for any help.

-Nucci

Hello,

Just create a usb drive with oclp(do not forget to change the model if you do this from another device) with default config(as for me there is a chance that it could me enough).
How I do this :
- downloading OS from App Store(you can use another way to download).
- making install using sudo command provided by apple(also to be sure that everything is ok - I'm using 32gig usb flash drive)
- patching it with oclp, also I have to reset nvram every time when I turn on the iMac with new videoCard.
If i want to boot from usb for sure - I connect internally a USB adapter to another Mac and erase the drive - as a result - the system will be looking for each device with boot loader(usually - up to 1 minute for searching the bot device), also you can try to use dosdude patcher with Catalina/mojave.
You can also try - erase the drive(using another macOS device) and just install OCLP on efi partition(I did not tried this)
P.S. after changing the oclp config -> shutdown -> turnOn with nvram/pram reset -> and if it does not boot I just plug the USB adapter(from external 2.5 enclosure and reinstall oclp with standard osclp config)
P.S.S. external HDD was replaced with SSD - so if you use 3.5 HDD - there is a chance that additional power supply will be required

AMD w6170m in use right now

 

[motorm3]

is there a way to get the original wifi card to work in iMac mid 2011 27.it was working nice before but after oclp 4.2 update it works but cuts out every couple minutes and you have to reconnect its on and off.

 

[Terros]

Not sure what I'm doing wrong here - I have installed a WX7100 and it's working at OSX Login and Windows fine as long as I have an external display plugged in.

I however have no bootscreen or bootpicker - this is due to OpenCore not being installed, but how do I try install OpenCore without if I can't see bootpicker to select the new drive to install OpenCore/OSX?

I have GOP's bios on the machine

Any advice where I'm going wrong?

 

[DeletteUA]

Not sure what I'm doing wrong here - I have installed a WX7100 and it's working at OSX Login and Windows fine as long as I have an external display plugged in.

I however have no bootscreen or bootpicker - this is due to OpenCore not being installed, but how do I try install OpenCore without if I can't see bootpicker to select the new drive to install OpenCore/OSX?

I have GOP's bios on the machine

Any advice where I'm going wrong?

boot picker available only with oclp(as I understand)

you can:

boot into this OS that you can run and try to install oclp on the current drive where your boot osX(refi) (also, there is a chance that after it - you won't be able to boot up the current OS but theoretically you will have an oclp boot picker )
you should create a USB installer with oclp first than - flash efi of the disk on your Mac, do not forget nvram/pram reset

 

[davidg5678]

but how do I try install OpenCore without if I can't see bootpicker to select the new drive to install OpenCore/OSX?

You can create a CD with OpenCore on it and then boot from that CD using the "C" key in order to load into OpenCore. Once you successfully boot, you can install OpenCore directly to the internal drive. Instructions for this are located in the first post.

Alternatively, if you have a USB to SATA adapter, you can temporarily remove all of the internal drives, so that there is not anything for the iMac to boot from. Then you can create and insert an OpenCore USB flash drive, such that it is the only available boot option for the iMac. Once the iMac boots from the USB drive and OpenCore loads, you can plug in the internal drive (externally) using the USB to SATA adapter. Refreshing OpenCore's boot picker will make the drive show up, and you'll be able to boot from it and install OpenCore to the internal drive that way.

 

[Surf2bikes]

is there a way to get the original wifi card to work in iMac mid 2011 27.it was working nice before but after oclp 4.2 update it works but cuts out every couple minutes and you have to reconnect its on and off.

I would then go back to previous version of OCLP. I had graphics acceleration issues with imac from 2013 and the new OCLP 0.42. So i went back to 0.32.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Not sure what I'm doing wrong here - I have installed a WX7100 and it's working at OSX Login and Windows fine as long as I have an external display plugged in.

This is normal with High Sierra, you can also just use a miniDisplay emulator stick. Has been discussed several times and it is surely also listed within the docs. Applies to all AMD Polaris&Ellesmere card and High Sierra.

I however have no bootscreen or bootpicker - this is due to OpenCore not being installed, but how do I try install OpenCore without if I can't see bootpicker to select the new drive to install OpenCore/OSX?

You already wrote how to enable the screen using an external display. Just boot into macOS, download OCLP and let it install OpenCore.

I have GOP's bios on the machine

Any advice where I'm going wrong?

The main advice would be reading the docs, download OCLP and install it. Your (most likely) Bootcamp Windows installation cannot be used with OpenCore, though. Even this is mentioned in the docs. Please give reading a chance

 

[drew0986]

The file was already prepared, the note about the tool MaciAML was just added for others following this thread and using different GCN cards. You can easily change the device-id as needed.

- Find the location of your current OpenCore installation (hint: read OCLP docs uninstall section, it is hidden in the so called EFI partition of your disk).
- Add the unchanged aml file to the ACPI folder
- Edit the config.plist and search for SSDT, there is already another such patch included.
- Copy the complete entry inducing the leading and trailing <dict> </dict> (will be approximately ten lines), change the file name found there and possibly the comment line (just cosmetics) and save the config.plist.

You can use either Apple xcode to edit plist files or the free proper tree application, use the search machine to find it.

Reboot and check what happens….

Sorry:
I like being not too precise, people do not learn the hidden secrets when they just press buttons following a video or a step by step.

Update: I've made progress!!! I was able to make a OCLP install USB that when plugged in and the HD is freshly formatted, boots directly into recovery mode without having to press anything!

(two by two hands of blue)

I promptly formatted my main HD and installed Big Sur onto the HD. When the iMac rebooted to do initial setup... nothing again...

So i then used the working OCLP EFI from the USB I just used as an installer, then made a recovery DVD, and booted the Imac and pressed "C" to boot the DVD first which should mean the only thing on boot picker screen (even with LCD off) should be an icon with the Big Sur installation. (I tested this procedure on my working 2010 Macbook Pro with the settings for an 12,2 iMac and it worked as described).

When I hit "enter" after booting from CD, the computer sounds like its booting (fans turn up slightly and you can hear the CD reading/seeking), then the computer shuts down. I repeated this process with a few different variation (whether on USB stick, dvd, or whatever), all using the "working" OCLP EFI and when I loaded the USB into my Macbook I found this:

Panic-2022-02-12-155037

panic(cpu 2 caller 0xffffff8001b8687f): Kernel trap at 0xffffff7f8543e631, type 14=page fault, registers:
CR0: 0x000000008001003b, CR2: 0xffffff91ee12f000, CR3: 0x0000000005c3c000, CR4: 0x00000000000626e0
RAX: 0xffffff91ee12f000, RBX: 0x0000000000005434, RCX: 0x0000000003000000, RDX: 0xffffff8024b84f50
RSP: 0xffffff81e9de3bf0, RBP: 0xffffff81e9de3c10, RSI: 0x000000000000150d, RDI: 0xffffff8024b84f50
R8: 0x00000000e0100000, R9: 0x0000000000000001, R10: 0x00000000e0000000, R11: 0x0000000000000000
R12: 0xffffff8024a2c840, R13: 0xffffff819e8e4000, R14: 0x0000000000000000, R15: 0xffffff8024a2c840
RFL: 0x0000000000010246, RIP: 0xffffff7f8543e631, CS: 0x0000000000000008, SS: 0x0000000000000010
Fault CR2: 0xffffff91ee12f000, Error code: 0x0000000000000002, Fault CPU: 0x2, PL: 0, VF: 1

Backtrace (CPU 2), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff81e9de36c0 : 0xffffff8001a6ae76 mach_kernel : _handle_debugger_trap + 0x4c6
0xffffff81e9de3710 : 0xffffff8001b94484 mach_kernel : _kdp_i386_trap + 0x114
0xffffff81e9de3750 : 0xffffff8001b86654 mach_kernel : _kernel_trap + 0x4e4
0xffffff81e9de37c0 : 0xffffff8001a1ce60 mach_kernel : _return_from_trap + 0xe0
0xffffff81e9de37e0 : 0xffffff8001a6a8ec mach_kernel : _panic_trap_to_debugger + 0x21c
0xffffff81e9de3910 : 0xffffff8001a6a6ac mach_kernel : _panic + 0x5c
0xffffff81e9de3970 : 0xffffff8001b8687f mach_kernel : _kernel_trap + 0x70f
0xffffff81e9de3ae0 : 0xffffff8001a1ce60 mach_kernel : _return_from_trap + 0xe0
0xffffff81e9de3b00 : 0xffffff7f8543e631 com.apple.kext.AMDRadeonX4000 : __ZN29AMDRadeonX4000_AMDHWRegisters4readEj + 0x77
0xffffff81e9de3c10 : 0xffffff7f8546324d com.apple.kext.AMDRadeonX4000 : __ZN13AMDCIHardware19getRegisterAperSizeEv + 0x23
0xffffff81e9de3c30 : 0xffffff7f8543e51a com.apple.kext.AMDRadeonX4000 : __ZN29AMDRadeonX4000_AMDHWRegisters4initEP11IOPCIDeviceP30AMDRadeonX4000_IAMDHWInterface + 0xee
0xffffff81e9de3c60 : 0xffffff7f8545e4bf com.apple.kext.AMDRadeonX4000 : __ZN26AMDRadeonX4000_AMDHardware4initEP11IOPCIDeviceP28AMDRadeonX4000_IAMDHWHandlerRjP16_GART_PARAMETERSP14_FB_PARAMETERS + 0x1dd
0xffffff81e9de3ca0 : 0xffffff7f853e7266 com.apple.kext.AMDRadeonX4000 : __ZN37AMDRadeonX4000_AMDGraphicsAccelerator17createHWInterfaceEP11IOPCIDevice + 0x80
0xffffff81e9de3d10 : 0xffffff7f853e596f com.apple.kext.AMDRadeonX4000 : __ZN37AMDRadeonX4000_AMDGraphicsAccelerator15configureDeviceEP11IOPCIDevice + 0x119
0xffffff81e9de3da0 : 0xffffff7f84a0bea2 com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily2 : __ZN22IOGraphicsAccelerator25startEP9IOService + 0x262
0xffffff81e9de3e10 : 0xffffff7f853e482b com.apple.kext.AMDRadeonX4000 : __ZN37AMDRadeonX4000_AMDGraphicsAccelerator5startEP9IOService + 0x77
0xffffff81e9de3e40 : 0xffffff80020721ad mach_kernel : __ZN9IOService14startCandidateEPS_ + 0x6d
0xffffff81e9de3e80 : 0xffffff8002071ef1 mach_kernel : __ZN9IOService15probeCandidatesEP12OSOrderedSet + 0x941
0xffffff81e9de3f00 : 0xffffff8002071417 mach_kernel : __ZN9IOService14doServiceMatchEj + 0x2c7
0xffffff81e9de3f50 : 0xffffff8002073076 mach_kernel : __ZN15_IOConfigThread4mainEPvi + 0x1a6
0xffffff81e9de3fa0 : 0xffffff8001a1c557 mach_kernel : _call_continuation + 0x17
Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily2(378.28)[D342FE41-0457-3586-ABB0-38E8E3947C4F]com.apple.0xffffff7f849e0000-com.apple.driver.0xffffff7f84a78fff
dependency: com.apple.driver.AppleMobileFileIntegrity(1.0.5)[A4F333D5-7EC0-332F-A23B-558A0AC169A8]com.apple.0xffffff7f829b5000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOSurface(211.15)[37BCC686-AF99-3381-AC4F-E54A347E0F40]com.apple.0xffffff7f843e8000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[F763C275-306F-358F-B6B0-0FD93486BD5F]com.apple.0xffffff7f82294000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(519.23)[81D774E8-DD11-3866-B90A-E855215EDB60]com.apple.0xffffff7f829f5000
com.apple.kext.AMDRadeonX4000(1.6.8)[9C20D204-D0FC-3A0D-B96E-25FA33F9798F]com.apple.0xffffff7f853e3000-com.apple.driver.0xffffff7f8598cfff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOSurface(211.15)[37BCC686-AF99-3381-AC4F-E54A347E0F40]com.apple.0xffffff7f843e8000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[F763C275-306F-358F-B6B0-0FD93486BD5F]com.apple.0xffffff7f82294000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(519.23)[81D774E8-DD11-3866-B90A-E855215EDB60]com.apple.0xffffff7f829f5000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily2(378.28)[D342FE41-0457-3586-ABB0-38E8E3947C4F]com.apple.0xffffff7f849e0000

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task
Boot args: keepsyms=1 debug=0x100 -disable_sidecar_mac -revasset

Mac OS version:
17G14042

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 17.7.0: Fri Oct 30 13:34:27 PDT 2020; root:xnu-4570.71.82.8~1/RELEASE_X86_64
Kernel UUID: 5E83A13A-32F5-3604-8591-50E2F2F70DC6
Kernel slide: 0x0000000001800000
Kernel text base: 0xffffff8001a00000
__HIB text base: 0xffffff8001900000
System model name: iMac12,2 (Mac-942B59F58194171B)

System uptime in nanoseconds: 9574544500
last loaded kext at 9568298558: com.apple.kext.AMDRadeonX4050HWLibs 1.0 (addr 0xffffff7f8598d000, size 7434240)
loaded kexts:

Any help with deciphering what this means would be appreciated. To me it looks like one or more of the Kexts were incompatible and caused a kernal panic... or maybe they were loaded right...

But at least I found a way to get graphics on the LCD with an AMD M6100!!!!

thanks again for all your help again...

-Nucci

 

[Terros]

This is normal with High Sierra, you can also just use a miniDisplay emulator stick. Has been discussed several times and it is surely also listed within the docs. Applies to all AMD Polaris&Ellesmere card and High Sierra.

You already wrote how to enable the screen using an external display. Just boot into macOS, download OCLP and let it install OpenCore.

The main advice would be reading the docs, download OCLP and install it. Your (most likely) Bootcamp Windows installation cannot be used with OpenCore, though. Even this is mentioned in the docs. Please give reading a chance

Thanks dude, I got it working!

TUI worked better than the GUI mode of OPCL!

 

[Adv34]

Card 6750 6770 (21.5 2011) can be used for a long time, 10-15 hours a day? 4-5 years I read that the 6970 card is on fire. Now I bought 21.5 (2011-6750) and I don’t know when it needs a replacement and whether it’s a good purchase. Thank you