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

[BertHiddink]

The pictures show an Nvidia 2000M, while you need the K2000M - easy to confuse those two, but the K means Kepler and is the most important part of the name for us.

Hello,
I have a K3100M card now which I would like to flash with the SSH-method but once I put in the card, the second led only lights up some seconds and then I get a beep and restarts. Can the K3100M not be flashed this way? I have done the K610M with success like this before.

I am on an iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011), 3,4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Thanks and regards,

 

[BertHiddink]

Hello,
I have a K3100M card now which I would like to flash with the SSH-method but once I put in the card, the second led only lights up some seconds and then I get a beep and restarts. Can the K3100M not be flashed this way? I have done the K610M with success like this before.

I am on an iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011), 3,4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Thanks and regards,

Success!

The no-booting issue seemed to be related to a memory problem.

Previously, I had upgraded the memory on this machine from 8 to 16 ram using a baked native card. After that I upgraded to Ventura without any problems.

But when swapping the native card to the K3100M I got this booting/beep issue. I became aware because when placing back the baked card, it still did not boot and beeped. So just after removing the latest banks I had added, it booted as expected. So after swapping the K3100M I could flash the card over SSH and voila, I have it up and running:

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011), 3,4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, 8GB 1333 MHz DDR3 with Ventura

Tomorrow will do some more testing and see if I can add some more compatible memory.

Thanks and regards!

 

[Noot]

From what I read in the first post, the K3000M is compatible with 2010 and 2009 iMacs.
BUT it is unclear whether it is only compatible with the 27" or if it also works with 21" + heatsink mod.
Does anyone have information about this ?

Only 27" due to the power draw of the K3000m (big MXM-B card).

 

[Noot]

Success!

Do you also have working WiFi and bluetooth?

 

[BertHiddink]

Do you also have working WiFi and bluetooth?

Yes, both work as expected!
Let me know if you need anymore info.

 

[BertHiddink]

Hello,

Today I did some further testing:
- Added 2 extra banks of 4GB each, first set was incompatible, second set was accepted
- Running the OPCL patcher, noticed that I had to apply some extra patches...
Rebooted and everything worked fine, patches were applied. Only noticed that 100% Brightness level was very low. So I decided to reboot once more. And after that, the machine seems dead, that is, black screen, no chime no boot, nothing!

What could have been happened here? Any suggestions are highly appreciated!

 

[sashkin_bro]

hello everyone) successfully updated to Ventura 13.2) oc legacy patcher 0.6.1) After installing the patches, everything works perfectly, including Wifi and Bluetooth) temperatures under load, do you think they are normal?) update took 20 minutes) brightness works perfectly as before) run Geekbench 5 tests?

 

[BertHiddink]

Hello,

Today I did some further testing:
- Added 2 extra banks of 4GB each, first set was incompatible, second set was accepted
- Running the OPCL patcher, noticed that I had to apply some extra patches...
Rebooted and everything worked fine, patches were applied. Only noticed that 100% Brightness level was very low. So I decided to reboot once more. And after that, the machine seems dead, that is, black screen, no chime no boot, nothing!

What could have been happened here? Any suggestions are highly appreciated!

Panic to soon: restarting after several minutes was succesfull.

 

[Rick Cruser]

Hello,

Today I did some further testing:
- Added 2 extra banks of 4GB each, first set was incompatible, second set was accepted
- Running the OPCL patcher, noticed that I had to apply some extra patches...
Rebooted and everything worked fine, patches were applied. Only noticed that 100% Brightness level was very low. So I decided to reboot once more. And after that, the machine seems dead, that is, black screen, no chime no boot, nothing!

What could have been happened here? Any suggestions are highly appreciated!

That sounds to me like the PSU is bad. Try this, remove the display, disconnect the HDD and remove the RAM. Then try powering it on. Actually, before you power it on just plug the power in and see if you get the 1 green light. If not then it's likely the PSU is bad.

 

[BertHiddink]

That sounds to me like the PSU is bad. Try this, remove the display, disconnect the HDD and remove the RAM. Then try powering it on. Actually, before you power it on just plug the power in and see if you get the 1 green light. If not then it's likely the PSU is bad.

Thanks for your reply, as said, I panicked to soon: after having disconnected for several minutes, I got the chime back and booted as expected!

 

[BertHiddink]

Panic to soon: restarting after several minutes was succesfull.

I noticed one issue after re-applying root-patches from the OpenCoreLegacyPatcher: I got Brightness Control back but the 100% level is very low. How could this be fixed?

Thanks and regards,

 

[kolkotz]

hello guys) I updated the video card in iMac 21 mid 2011 to Amd Radeon Pro WX3200 4gb bought on Aliexpress for $95, everything works perfectly) I am attaching some tests) View attachment 2149261 View attachment 2149262 View attachment 2149263 View attachment 2149264

hi bro.
the card arrived with right vbios or you flashed it?
can you send me name of seller?
thx

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I noticed one issue after re-applying root-patches from the OpenCoreLegacyPatcher: I got Brightness Control back but the 100% level is very low. How could this be fixed?

Thanks and regards,

I remember there are several posts in this thread about brightness level for Quadro card, just use the search function within the thread to find the correct one.
For me (iMac 2009, K1100m) I just applied the older version of OCLP.

 

[BertHiddink]

I remember there are several posts in this thread about brightness level for Quadro card, just use the search function within the thread to find the correct one.
For me (iMac 2009, K1100m) I just applied the older version of OCLP.

Thanks, yes I found this fix here for the kext, however, could not find out how to apply this in Ventura...
Is this still the way to go:
https://osxdaily.com/2012/01/12/how-to-manually-install-kernel-extensions-in-mac-os-x/

Thanks and regards

 

[sashkin_bro]

hi bro.
the card arrived with right vbios or you flashed it?
can you send me name of seller?
thx

hello) the card was already patched) you just need to install and write the oc legacy patcher

 

[sashkin_bro]

hello everyone) tested Ventura 13.2, ran many benchmarks, worked in it for several hours) everything works great, no problems found) I am attaching the test results) you can install and use)
I use a Samsung EVO 870 256GB SSD

 

[theo-tasi]

Yes, both work as expected!
Let me know if you need anymore info

 

[BertHiddink]

Hello theo-tasi

 

[theo-tasi]

hello everyone) tested Ventura 13.2, ran many benchmarks, worked in it for several hours) everything works great, no problems found) I am attaching the test results) you can install and use)
I use a Samsung EVO 870 256GB SSD

Does the stock WI-FI card really work? I'm asking because on your pictures it seems to be inactive.

 

[BertHiddink]

Does the stock WI-FI card really work? I'm asking because on your pictures it seems to be inactive.

 

[sashkin_bro]

Does the stock WI-FI card really work? I'm asking because on your pictures it seems to be inactive.

works fine) I just don't use Wifi, the old fashioned way via cable😁

 

[forestcomber]

I successfully installed a card from a Dell Precision 7710, flashed an :

AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 8GB 308VY
109-C95847-00D-02
V345 Ver 1.1
Ellesmere

I used the newer WX7100 ROM1 and this great Linux SSH flashing guide.

While still in HighSierra and before taking anything apart, I built an OpenCore Legacy Patcher USB installer for Big Sur and installed this when the machine was reassembled.

In the same operation, installed a new 1TB SSD, and a BCM94360CD kit to upgrade the WiFi and Bluetooth. I did these few upgrades at once, which might not be recommended for tracking down issues that could have arisen.

Reset the PRAM. Everything went really well. Screen was black until I let the Big Sur installer start doing its thing, then got an OpenCore boot picker.

I can say that it is a good idea to take your time with all the screws and connectors. Not something you want to rush and you don't want to start panicking if something doesn't appear to be as expected. Take photos of things before you take them apart to make sure you can put them back the same way.

I stayed with Big Sur for a day and then built an OpenCore USB installer for Ventura. This installation went well and Ventura works better than Big Sur. Smooth graphics and everything I've tried works, although haven't tried everything. I ran Unigine Valley and it looks decent but starts getting low frame rates when the rain starts. Not going to be doing high end gaming but I expect some titles to be playable.

 

[Marche90]

I successfully installed a card from a Dell Precision 7710, flashed an :

AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 8GB 308VY
109-C95847-00D-02
V345 Ver 1.1
Ellesmere

I used the newer WX7100 ROM1 and this great Linux SSH flashing guide.

While still in HighSierra and before taking anything apart, I built an OpenCore Legacy Patcher USB installer for Big Sur and installed this when the machine was reassembled.

In the same operation, installed a new 1TB SSD, and a BCM94360CD kit to upgrade the WiFi and Bluetooth. I did these few upgrades at once, which might not be recommended for tracking down issues that could have arisen.

Reset the PRAM. Everything went really well. Screen was black until I let the Big Sur installer start doing its thing, then got an OpenCore boot picker.

I can say that it is a good idea to take your time with all the screws and connectors. Not something you want to rush and you don't want to start panicking if something doesn't appear to be as expected. Take photos of things before you take them apart to make sure you can put them back the same way.

I stayed with Big Sur for a day and then built an OpenCore USB installer for Ventura. This installation went well and Ventura works better than Big Sur. Smooth graphics and everything I've tried works, although haven't tried everything. I ran Unigine Valley and it looks decent but starts getting low frame rates when the rain starts. Not going to be doing high end gaming but I expect some titles to be playable.

Man, I wish the Wx7100 was cheaper than it currently is. Anyway...
Nice to see you enjoying Ventura.

I ended up downgrading to Big Sur because my wifi was behaving oddly with Monterey, and I'm still waiting until hardware DRM works in Ventura. I could see the networks in Montery but if I pressed on an unknown one the password dialog wouldn't appear. It does work in Big Sur, plus I have the benefit of native wifi.

EDIT: Huh, would you look at that. Prices have gone down quite a bit since the last time I checked. There's even a listing with the heatsink already modified for you on Aliexpress. They charge $50 extra, but if you can't or won't work with a dremel, that's a decent option. I'm also seeing an RX480 MXMB with 4GB that's mighty sus, at around only $95 USD.

 

[desbiensl]

Actually it does chime...before the flash the screen was blank but I could get access remotely with the Xanderon/The_croupier usb stick.

Now it chimes, but I don't have remote access, could it be asking a question or something ? should I press something on the keyboard ? is there an other solution than the CH341A clamp ?

thanks

Hi,

I have received my CH341A programmer and I will attempt to un-brick my newly identified W5170M board.

 

[forestcomber]

Man, I wish the Wx7100 was cheaper than it currently is. Anyway...
Nice to see you enjoying Ventura.

I ended up downgrading to Big Sur because my wifi was behaving oddly with Monterey, and I'm still waiting until hardware DRM works in Ventura. I could see the networks in Montery but if I pressed on an unknown one the password dialog wouldn't appear. It does work in Big Sur, plus I have the benefit of native wifi.

EDIT: Huh, would you look at that. Prices have gone down quite a bit since the last time I checked. There's even a listing with the heatsink already modified for you on Aliexpress. They charge $50 extra, but if you can't or won't work with a dremel, that's a decent option. I'm also seeing an RX480 MXMB with 4GB that's mighty sus, at around only $95 USD.

Yes, it is expensive. I should have waited for it to come down in price. The card costs almost as much as the used iMac itself. Thrilling project, though and I didn't want to take it apart again anytime soon. The RX480 also looks like a good choice and a better bang for your buck.