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

[curioussurfer]

both with high sierra and now they managed to install and run catalina with opencore from high sierra as I had previously told me, but thanks to nikkey's rom with that nick did not finish loading. there remains the problem of fps and low score and the quick sync not working

I can only see 1 rom if download Nikeys roms for the k1000m, where did you find

both with high sierra and now they managed to install and run catalina with opencore from high sierra as I had previously told me, but thanks to nikkey's rom with that nick did not finish loading. there remains the problem of fps and low score and the intel quick sync not working, try this but no work
Post in thread '2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade'
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/post-27899047

the 2nd rom you mentioned ?

 

[g4v1n]

Hi all. Thank you so much for this thread.

I had a go at this using my 2011 27" iMac and was aiming to use the USB drive flash method from this post.

I have apparently successfully installed the new GPU (Nvidia K2100m, from ebay) and reassembled.
The machine boots High Sierra and all seems to be working fine. It also drives an external display via the mini displayport socket, as I tested before putting the screen back on.

However, I have not been able to get the USB flash process to work. The problem seems to be that the mac will not boot from the USB drive. (I am testing this by pinging the machine over ethernet, no ping response although the mac is present on the network.)

Any help on this would be hugely appreciated as I'd love to get the functionality working. I have tried:

- Two different USB sticks (both successfully boot to linux on a seperate macbook pro, I also tested one of these boot the imac before I took it apart for the upgrade. I recorded that process - turn on, hold option, wait 15s, press tab to choose the USB drive, wait 60s for boot.)

- With and without the SSD connected (i.e. without holding option) - no improvement.

- I've tried resetting the NVRAM as well (the keyboard is working fine so it's not a general USB issue.)

Does anyone have any hints how I can get this to work? Is it likely I've broken something? Any way to check if the linux boot has worked? (I'm dreading the idea of either disassembling again for seperate flash, or the Windows install... they seem pretty hard work.)

Many thanks for any help with this,
Gavin

Well, I tried a few things:

- I installed the grml from this post on a spare hard drive, opened up the iMac and plugged the HDD into the SATA port instead of my SSD. Then rebooted. No luck, the machine still cannot be pinged.

- Then I put the screen back and tried installing Mac OS High Sierra on that spare hard drive instead (now plugged into the USB). That worked, installed, and booted fine.

So it can boot from the internal SSD, can boot from a USB-connected drive, it just can't boot from the USB created using the method in @The_Croupier's post.

I'm at a bit of a loss, but I guess I will try an alternative linux USB stick next (Ubuntu I guess) - if that works perhaps I'll try building nvflash directly on that stick. (I'm assuming I should really get this fixed / flashed before trying to install OpenCore.)

bw,
Gavin.

 

[Stefanox2410]

I can only see 1 rom if download Nikeys roms for the k1000m, where did you find


the 2nd rom you mentioned ?

This is the 2nd rom i try but not finish opencore osx loading
Post in thread '2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade'
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/post-28046843

 

[curioussurfer]

That's the set of roms I used for a K1100m, working for me. Try to build open core again, accept the defaults offered, no changes and install that OC build. Hope that helps.

 

[Stefanox2410]

That's the set of roms I used for a K1100m, working for me. Try to build open core again, accept the defaults offered, no changes and install that OC build. Hope that helps.

okay thank you so much for helping me and for the time you dedicated thank you very much

 

[splifingate]

Well, I tried a few things:

- I installed the grml from this post on a spare hard drive, opened up the iMac and plugged the HDD into the SATA port instead of my SSD. Then rebooted. No luck, the machine still cannot be pinged.

- Then I put the screen back and tried installing Mac OS High Sierra on that spare hard drive instead (now plugged into the USB). That worked, installed, and booted fine.

So it can boot from the internal SSD, can boot from a USB-connected drive, it just can't boot from the USB created using the method in @The_Croupier's post.

I'm at a bit of a loss, but I guess I will try an alternative linux USB stick next (Ubuntu I guess) - if that works perhaps I'll try building nvflash directly on that stick. (I'm assuming I should really get this fixed / flashed before trying to install OpenCore.)

bw,
Gavin.

I'm in almost the same situation as you, but trying with AMD...

Just can't get grml to blind auto-start with a successful ping/ssh

I *did* dl the most recent grml (it's changed a fair bit since 2018), modified the appropriate .cfg files, copied-over the /flash folder, and made a usb thumb + installed it to a spare ssd

Will test sometime this week if I can find some time to re-perform the gfx card installation

I know I can flash the vBios to thee WX7100 with my rPi4, but it miffs me that I can't get what should be working, er, working <grumble>

Maybe I'll produce some result/s that might help others.

Regards.

 

[curioussurfer]

After a successful installation of Monterey on my 2009 iMac with the m6100, I've decided to upgrade the current 120GB SSD to a 500GB version. I first created a new OpenCore and installed it on the 500GB drive, then installed it in the machine in place of the 120GB version. Used my Monterey bootable USB that I had from my initial OS install. Everything worked fine, but the iMac will only boot from my Recovery CD.

Once the Recovery CD kicks in, I've tried selecting the EFI-Boot drive but the system does not boot up. If I select the 500GB SSD, it boots into Monterey and runs fine. Once it boots up, I tried several times to install a new OC on the SSD, but I end up with the same results - no boot unless the Recovery CD is first booted up.

After my initial steps failed, I tried cloning the 120GB to the 500GB using SuperDuper! and Carbon Copy Cloner. Both failed and from what I've read it might be due to changes Apple made in Big Sur and Monterey.

I'm guessing I've missed an important step and hoping someone here can help. I've been working on this all morning without any progress.

Any help will be much appreciated!

Just copy the EFI Folder from the old ssd to new ssd. This tool helps you mount EFI partitions: https://github.com/headkaze/Hackintool/releases/tag/3.8.7

 

[thainglo]

Just copy the EFI Folder from the old ssd to new ssd. This tool helps you mount EFI partitions: https://github.com/headkaze/Hackintool/releases/tag/3.8.7

Thanks, I will have to check that out. I picked up a pair of 2011 iMacs over the weekend, a 21.5 and 27. Swapped the 27" GPU and managed to get a new boot EFI done. All fixed, but that hackintosh tool would have been a lot easier!

 

[madvinegar]

So, due to the Monterey 12.5 Kepler issue, I have ordered and received my Red Dell m5100.
I installed it in my 2011 21.5" imac.

Flashed the new vBios via the linux usb. I had already prepared the config plist with the necessary CAIL entries.

It is working great. The only problem I have is that some times at cold boot I need to do a pram reset so as the card to be identified correctly.
When it is identified correctly it is shown as "AMD Firepro m5100 2GB". When it is not identified correctly it is shown as "AMD Radeon HD 7xxx 2GB".

Sleep/wake seems to be working correctly (when the GPU is identified correctly).
VDA Decoder is fully supported (so apple TV works just fine).
I did not use a copper sim. I just used 1mm thermal pads on the ram and thermal paste on the gpu processor. Temps are fine and there is only 1-2 degrees difference between gpu die and gpu heatsink, so I believe it is ok.

All in all, apart from the pram issue, I am very satisfied. I updated the system to Monterey 12.5 and OCPL 0.49.

I have the following 3 questions:

1. Can someone please confirm that I have used the correct vBios. My card has the Sk Hynix AFR ram. The post that I got the modded vBios is this one: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread....1596614/page-694?post=30721926#post-30721926
However, when you download the zip file and you open it, there are two roms inside. I used the M5100-DELL-RED-GOP-BLUE_OBJI-VRAM-HYNIX-DVS0.rom (not the 176530-015.036.000.006.044647.rom). Is that OK?

2. Every time I update the OCLP and I have to re-build and install opencore, do I have to select and set the GSN gpu settings (inside of developer settings) on my own? or does the OCLP automatically detect the GSN gpu and prepare the config plist accordingly?

3. Is there any workaround for the cold-boot pram reset issue?


Any help and suggestions would be appreciated. I am attaching a lot of pics for your reference. Thanks!

 

[Antonio Gerson B. da Cruz]

Hi guys,
I've just upgraded my Nvidia GTX765 to an AMD FirePro M5100 2GB. I followed all the steps and when booting from the USB drive it boots very well to macOS and everything works fine. However, when I tried to boot from the SSD after building the OCLP EFI, I got stuck at the apple logo screen.
When in verbose mode, this message appeared. I was able to work it out by disabling the secure boot option in the OCLP GUI. However, my MacOS doesn't get the updates anymore. Have any of you guys experienced something like this?

 

[curioussurfer]

So, due to the Monterey 12.5 issue, I have ordered and received my Red Dell m5100.
I installed it in my 2011 21.5" imac.

Flashed the new vBios via the linux usb. I had already prepared the config plist with the necessary CAIL entries.

It is working great. The only problem I have is that some times at cold boot I need to do a pram reset so as the card to be identified correctly.
When it is identified correctly it is shown as "AMD Firepro m5100 2GB". When it is not identified correctly it is shown as "AMD Radeon HD 7xxx 2GB".

Sleep/wake seems to be working correctly (when the GPU is identified correctly).
VDA Decoder is fully supported (so apple TV works just fine).
I did not use a copper sim. I just used 1mm thermal pads on the ram and thermal paste on the gpu processor. Temps are fine and there is only 1-2 degrees difference between gpu die and gpu heatsink, so I believe it is ok.

All in all, apart from the pram issue, I am very satisfied. I updated the system to Monterey 12.5 and OCPL 0.49.

I have the following 3 questions:

1. Can someone please confirm that I have used the correct vBios. My card has the Sk Hynix AFR ram. The post that I got the ram is this one: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread....1596614/page-694?post=30721926#post-30721926
However, when you download the zip file and you open it, there are two roms inside. I used the M5100-DELL-RED-GOP-BLUE_OBJI-VRAM-HYNIX-DVS0.rom (not the 176530-015.036.000.006.044647.rom). Is that OK?

2. Every time I update the OCLP and I have to re-build and install opencore, do I have to select and set the GSN gpu settings (inside of developer settings) on my own? or does the OCLP automatically detect the GSN gpu and prepare the config plist accordingly?

3. Is there any workaround for the cold-boot pram reset issue?


Any help and suggestions would be appreciated. I am attaching a lot of pics for your reference. Thanks!

I am using the same rom in the same card with AFR memory. The iMac 11.2 is now in for long term sleep with wake up routines. Works like a treat.
(Every time you build open core you will have to choose AMD GCN . I never experienced self detection changing advanced Developer option.) EDIT wrong, just successfully auto detected AMD GCN in a OCLP 0.4.3 build
No cold-boot PRAM reset issues with my 2010 iMac. But you will find references on page 1 for the iMacs 12.xxx.
Think the M5100 works pretty nice.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I am using the same rom in the same card with AFR memory. The iMac 11.2 is now in for long term sleep with wake up routines. Works like a treat.
Every time you build open core you will have to choose AMD GCN . I never experienced self detection changing advanced Developer option.
No cold-boot PRAM reset issues with my 2010 iMac. But you will find references on page 1 for the iMacs 12.xxx.
Think the M5100 works pretty nice.

Try a recent OCLP version (GUI or TUI) again without any manual changes on your iMac and read the screen output line by line....

 

[curioussurfer]

Try a OCLP version (GUI or TUI) again without any manual changes on your iMac and read the screen output line by line....

Yes it does! Another mystery solved. Each OCLP > O.3 build so far had failed on the iMac11.2 with Python error. Had to build OC on another machine.

 

[madvinegar]

Try a OCLP version (GUI or TUI) again without any manual changes on your iMac and read the screen output line by line....

Yes it does! Another mystery solved. Each OCLP > O.3 build so far had failed on the iMac11.2 with Python error. Had to build OC on another machine.

Indeed, I re-built opencore (with OCLP 0.49) and checked the lines, and the GCN card is recognized (and accordingly the CAIL lines are added automaticaly).

Regarding the nvram issue, I decided to leave it show the card as AMD HD 7xxx 2GB. The system works fine and the performance of the card is the same (checked with geekbench). @curioussurfer how is your m5100 shown in system settings?

 

[curioussurfer]

AMD FirePro M5100 2GB

 

[madvinegar]

AMD FirePro M5100 2GBView attachment 2038852

I get this m5100 shown when i do pram reset. If I don't, it is shown as hd 7xxx, but it works fine. 🤷‍♂️
I have also seen the early posts of @Ausdauersportler (when he was trying the m5100) and he has uploaded two pics, one showing the card as 5100 and the other as HD 7xxx. i.e. the same as mine.

 

[Marche90]

Welp. I finally made a breakthrough in the 2011 21.5" that I bought around two months ago. Unfortunately, not everything is good news. The good is that I finally found the culprit of why this thing didn't worked (power supply). The bad is that the GPU I bought to replace the stock one is (most likely) dead. I tried to flash the rom to the M5100 that I bought, but here is where I ran into issues. While I know that only two LEDs turn on without a flashed GPU, I tried SSH'ng to the iMac but my MacBook couldn't find the computer, even after trying a few things (and yes, it was connected to an ethernet cable. It basically went from appearing online on my modem to appearing online after a minute or two and the terminal timing out). Ended up swapping back to the original GPU and whaddaya know, it boots. Also tested the USB with the flash installer and it works, so there was something going on there.

And I had already bought another motherboard, but at least I can sell that one. I guess this is as good excuse as any to buy the WX4150 that I originally wanted, though I will avoid eBay, considering how I can't return anything if it comes broken.

EDIT: Hmm... There might be a few things that I can do after doing a bit of searching in the thread, but that will have to be tomorrow, I'm tired of disassembling this thing for the 7th or 8th time today

EDIT2: Nevermind, the card that I thought was broken worked and vice versa. I managed to flash the card after all. Success!

 

[Ausdauersportler]

OCLP 0.4.10 fixes Kepler patching on Monterey 12.5
(all credits to @khronokernel)

 

[madvinegar]

I changed my Nvidia k2100m and installed an AMD m5100 due to the kepler issue in 12.5. 😁

And now the issue is fixed thanks to the fantastic work of @khronokernel .
I still have my k2100m, I will keep it as a backup.
All in all I think the m5100 is an upgrade compared to k2100m.

Many thanks to all of you who contrinute.

 

[thainglo]

Been enjoying my 2009 27" with the m6100. Noticed something odd when comparing a couple of pictures I have taken of the "About This Mac" screen. Earlier one shows the GPU correctly as "AMD FirePro m6100 2GB" while the later one shows "AMD Radeon HD 8xxx 2GB". Is there something that should be updated? I haven't noticed any performance changes, but have really only been doing very basic computer work on it so far.

 

[madvinegar]

Been enjoying my 2009 27" with the m6100. Noticed something odd when comparing a couple of pictures I have taken of the "About This Mac" screen. Earlier one shows the GPU correctly as "AMD FirePro m6100 2GB" while the later one shows "AMD Radeon HD 8xxx 2GB". Is there something that should be updated? I haven't noticed any performance changes, but have really only been doing very basic computer work on it so far.
View attachment 2039700
View attachment 2039707

Same here with my m5100. If I do a pram reset, it is shown as AMD Firepro m5100 2GB. If i shut down the iMac and turn it on again, it shows as AMD Radeon HD 7xxx 2GB.
I just leave it to be shown as HD 7xxx. It works great, sleep/wake works, performance is great. I don't know what causes it to change name, maybe the vBios needs an update or config.plist needs some amendment. But in any case, it works just fine whatever the naming.

 

[Marche90]

Same here with my m5100. If I do a pram reset, it is shown as AMD Firepro m5100 2GB. If i shut down the iMac and turn it on again, it shows as AMD Radeon HD 7xxx 2GB.
I just leave it to be shown as HD 7xxx. It works great, sleep/wake works, performance is great. I don't know what causes it to change name, maybe the vBios needs an update or config.plist needs some amendment. But in any case, it works just fine whatever the naming.

The issue is only cosmetic, from what I've read.

 

[madvinegar]

The issue is only cosmetic, from what I've read.

The strange thing is that the m5100 is basically a Radeon HD 8870M but it is shown as a 7000 series AMD (7xxx) in the "about mac".
oh well... 🤷‍♂️

 

[passatgt]

I just had time to upgrade my OS with a clean install, everything works perfectly with WX4130. One more year to avoid getting a new iMac I'm going to be really curious to see if i can go 13 years with a new M1 or M2 iMac....

 

[rodolfo.araujo]

OCLP 0.4.10 fixes Kepler patching on Monterey 12.5
(all credits to @khronokernel)

Installed on 2 systems with no problems: first OCLP 0.4.10 then upgraded using the MacOS standard update install, then manually root patched.

On the third system (12,1) did the same steps but was prompted by OVLP, on first boot after 12.5 upgrade, to root patch which I authorized. Now I’m stuck at login screen loop. It seems that this auto patch features works only if the install was done via USB created by OCLP (learned later). Is this the cause of my problem?

Now I’ll create another USB install (via OCLP) and a OCLP USB to boot (is it necessary?) and reinstall the update.

Nevertheless, I would like to thank everyone involved in bringing continued life to our systems.

Insanely great!