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

[howardc64]

Hi you all
yesterday i think i killed my install during Sonoma 14.7 update.
I have a XM4130 Graphics Card added to my old iMac 12,1 .
It is a pre-flashed one I ordered through ebay US.

All worked fine using Sonoma 14.6.1 until I tried updating to 14.7

I was not able to login anymore because Systems hangs at login screen.

Then I thought I do I fresh Install and erased die complete SSD .
Starting System and using option Key does not Work. the USB "OCLP EFI Boot picker" can not be accessed.
There is only a normal boot picker to Install from Usb , but after installation is completed I hav e blank Black Screen an can not login.
I guess the complete OCLP Stuff is being ignored.

Is there any Chance to get this System up and running again?

I would really appreciate any help or tipps .

Thanks in advance.

Not sure how you are boot picking. Did this black screen writeup for you and probably many others in the future

iMac+Metal GPU - Black Screen

Ok, you've got a black screen. So what to do? There are many scenarios and I don't know all of them. But here is a list to review

sites.google.com

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Hi you all
yesterday i think i killed my install during Sonoma 14.7 update.
I have a XM4130 Graphics Card added to my old iMac 12,1 .
It is a pre-flashed one I ordered through ebay US.

All worked fine using Sonoma 14.6.1 until I tried updating to 14.7

I was not able to login anymore because Systems hangs at login screen.

Then I thought I do I fresh Install and erased die complete SSD .
Starting System and using option Key does not Work. the USB "OCLP EFI Boot picker" can not be accessed.
There is only a normal boot picker to Install from Usb , but after installation is completed I hav e blank Black Screen an can not login.
I guess the complete OCLP Stuff is being ignored.

Is there any Chance to get this System up and running again?

I would really appreciate any help or tipps .

Thanks in advance.

Try create the OCLP CD and boot from that CD?
(Pressing C at boot will direct the iMac to boot from optical drive)

 

[eoghan!]

Hi everyone
Big shout out to everyone on here for helping us keep our old macs up to date.

Earlier this year I picked up a 12,1 21.5in imac 2011. I transferred all my data from my 2012 mac mini which was running Big Sur using OCLP. Everything was fine and dandy and with the help of this site I upgraded the cpu to an i7 took a Samsung 860 EVO SSD from my old 2009 mac mini and put in an upgrade wifi kit. However the problems started when I changed the graphics card to a WX4150 I got off eBay. No matter what I tried, I could not get the card to be recognised. I changed OCLP settings with SSD in an external case did a clean installation of Ventura but to no avail. The card was still not recognised.

Yesterday I received cheap 1TB drives I got off aliexpress these were supposed to Samsung 870 Evo but were knockoffs i.e. not real ones. Just to test them out I put one in an external case and did a clean installation of Monterey. To my supprise drive is working and graphics card is recognised,
I was wondering if anyone else is having problems with the 860 drives?.
I'm going to use migration assistant to move my data from the old SSD to the new one later on, hopefully card will still be recognised afterwards.

 

[howardc64]

Earlier this year I picked up a 12,1 21.5in imac 2011. I transferred all my data from my 2012 mac mini which was running Big Sur using OCLP. Everything was fine and dandy and with the help of this site I upgraded the cpu to an i7 took a Samsung 860 EVO SSD from my old 2009 mac mini and put in an upgrade wifi kit. However the problems started when I changed the graphics card to a WX4150 I got off eBay. No matter what I tried, I could not get the card to be recognised. I changed OCLP settings with SSD in an external case did a clean installation of Ventura but to no avail. The card was still not recognised.

Yesterday I received cheap 1TB drives I got off aliexpress these were supposed to Samsung 870 Evo but were knockoffs i.e. not real ones. Just to test them out I put one in an external case and did a clean installation of Monterey. To my supprise drive is working and graphics card is recognised,
I was wondering if anyone else is having problems with the 860 drives?.

I have installed 2x 250GB 860 EVO on 12,1 with nVidia k610m without problem. And have 860 EVO in several others. More info here

Macs Stayin Alive - Upgrade Parts

SSD This will be likely be the most expensive part of the upgrade. Largely due to cyclic fluctuating flash memory prices. Do note more poor flash memory makers from China are entering the market and can fail rapidly just outside the return window. Probably the major high quality brands are the msot

sites.google.com

Maybe got one that failed? PCs seems more compatible for nearly all non enterprise SSDs.

 

[prz__ek]

Hello, can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?
I had very good price for wx7100 (~ 100$) it is hardware v1.1. I have iMac 12,2 27 with 3 pipe heat sink.
Using CH341a I put EG vBios into ROM (WX7100-EnableGop.bin - verified, looks that should work).
After boot my Sonoma (with classic Open Core Patcher installed and patched), system boot correctly, display worked, but in some simple settings. I checked and there was information, that no kext is loaded for my GPU, but as I said, display worked in system.
I try to install oclp and install drivers. There was info, that drivers for my computer will be installed (and there was info about AMD Polaris drivers) but after reboot situation was same - no kext loaded. I was not sure which drivers I should chose, so I changed it to AMD GCN (my card is in section GCN v4 on first page), and use checkbox GOP injection. After reboot I loose my screen after system boot (EFI, boot menu from oc and progres bar of system loading still works, but black screen when my desktop should be shown).

So, I made backup to second partition (not APFS container) and on first partition, I reinstalled system from USB (chosed iMac12,2, and AMD Polaris drivers during patching instalation USB). I installed system, two reboots during reinstall and.... Still black screen.

I miss something? What I'm doing wrong?

 

[HuppDiDupp]

Not sure how you are boot picking. Did this black screen writeup for you and probably many others in the future

iMac+Metal GPU - Black Screen

Ok, you've got a black screen. So what to do? There are many scenarios and I don't know all of them. But here is a list to review

sites.google.com

Hi @howardc64 , thanks for your reply.
i don't think this matches my problem.
I tried installing the old , original AMD GPU . I was then able to reinstall Sonoma, update to 14.7 and patch with OCLP 2.0.2 . At this step the iMac 12,1 is working but without metal support.

Then I replaced die GPU to the preflashed XM4130 , that previously worked (with Sonoma 14.6 and OCLP 1.5.0)
When I then reboot the System is starting but System Information shows only GPU with 7mb graphics memory.
OCLP detects the new card as AMD Polaris but I can't just override the installed patches.
Then I used "revert Patches" in OLCP and after reboot the system boots but I guess graphics is not loaded and screen stays blank / black.

I have now clue how to get this working again.
Or should I maybe completely revert GPU and to Sonoma 14.6 with OCLP 1.5.0 and then replace the GPU again.
Could this issue maybe be a combination of Sonoma 14.7 and OCLP 2.0.2 ??

 

[HuppDiDupp]

Try create the OCLP CD and boot from that CD?
(Pressing C at boot will direct the iMac to boot from optical drive)

Hi @Nguyen Duc Hieu , thanks for replying.
never did this before . Is there a guide how to create OCLP CD ?

 

[RaikoBR]

Hey guys, I installed a K3100M on my 27" 2011 iMac. During testing, the card booted up perfectly without any mods. After that, I tested a 780M MXM that I had around, but it didn’t boot. When I reinstalled the K3100M, it also wouldn’t boot.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far: removing the BIOS battery and waiting for capacitor discharge for 24 hours, resetting the PRAM, powering on with only the MXM and fans connected. I even tested the GPU in another 2011 iMac, where I’m receiving the chime, but the GPU still won’t boot. I also have an M1000M on hand, and testing it in both systems shows 2 LEDs.

Attempting to boot with GMRL to flash the VBIOS is also causing trouble, as it isn’t recognizing my network card.

 

[howardc64]

Hi @Nguyen Duc Hieu , thanks for replying.
never did this before . Is there a guide how to create OCLP CD ?

iMac+Metal GPU - vBIOS

vBIOS = Video BIOS. Basically how GPU boots. Since used GPU are sourced from PCs, need to be flashed to match how Mac boot. It is a ROM image and need to be flashed into GPU cards onboard EEPROM (reprogrammable ROM store) Some cards don't have this EEPROM (GPU maker cut cost and put file on PC to

sites.google.com

Hi @howardc64 , thanks for your reply.
i don't think this matches my problem.
I tried installing the old , original AMD GPU . I was then able to reinstall Sonoma, update to 14.7 and patch with OCLP 2.0.2 . At this step the iMac 12,1 is working but without metal support.

Then I replaced die GPU to the preflashed XM4130 , that previously worked (with Sonoma 14.6 and OCLP 1.5.0)
When I then reboot the System is starting but System Information shows only GPU with 7mb graphics memory.
OCLP detects the new card as AMD Polaris but I can't just override the installed patches.
Then I used "revert Patches" in OLCP and after reboot the system boots but I guess graphics is not loaded and screen stays blank / black.

I have now clue how to get this working again.
Or should I maybe completely revert GPU and to Sonoma 14.6 with OCLP 1.5.0 and then replace the GPU again.
Could this issue maybe be a combination of Sonoma 14.7 and OCLP 2.0.2 ??

You may have received an EG2 flashed VBIOS. I previously made a guide for wx4130 and made an error noting EG2 rather than EG1.2. EG2 require logic board bootrom patch+mod+flash. I think this unfortunately caused the problems encountered by @KingCornWallis if you read his recently post.

Not sure where you got your preflashed wx4130. If from aliexpress, I've had one where they flashed the wrong VBIOS (or not at all) I realized they probably don't test after flash. For the the cheaper priced cards from less experienced shops, they also don't have much sales experience yet to know of process is robust. If they blindly followed my prior mistyped guide with EG2, then could be getting the behavior you are seeing. Here are the details on EG/EG2

iMac+Metal GPU - vBIOS

vBIOS = Video BIOS. Basically how GPU boots. Since used GPU are sourced from PCs, need to be flashed to match how Mac boot. It is a ROM image and need to be flashed into GPU cards onboard EEPROM (reprogrammable ROM store) Some cards don't have this EEPROM (GPU maker cut cost and put file on PC to

sites.google.com

To confirm which VBIOS you have, maybe there are shortcuts but I don't know what they are (Maybe there is some signature in System Report ->Graphics?). Only way I know unfortunately requires running GRML and read back the VBIOS image and compare with the EG1.2 EG2 VBIOS files online to see which one you have. Read here for more info

iMac+Metal GPU - flash GPU GRML/CH341A

Overview There are 2 methods to flash the GPU. For 10,x and 11,x, GRML is probably the easiest path as GPU is easy to remove and install. 12,x GPU is difficult to remove/install so CH341A is desirable IF flashrom is not the low profile version. GRML For end users, this is the easiest path to flash

sites.google.com

 

[howardc64]

Hey guys, I installed a K3100M on my 27" 2011 iMac. During testing, the card booted up perfectly without any mods. After that, I tested a 780M MXM that I had around, but it didn’t boot. When I reinstalled the K3100M, it also wouldn’t boot.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far: removing the BIOS battery and waiting for capacitor discharge for 24 hours, resetting the PRAM, powering on with only the MXM and fans connected. I even tested the GPU in another 2011 iMac, where I’m receiving the chime, but the GPU still won’t boot. I also have an M1000M on hand, and testing it in both systems shows 2 LEDs.

You didn't note what is on the internal drive EFI and macOS partition. Changing cards without matching EFI could result in no boot.

First K3100 install, what macOS? OCLP or stock? OC in EFI or no?
780MXM, same questions
2nd K3100 install, same questions

Attempting to boot with GMRL to flash the VBIOS is also causing trouble, as it isn’t recognizing my network card.

iMac+Metal GPU - flash GPU GRML/CH341A

Overview There are 2 methods to flash the GPU. For 10,x and 11,x, GRML is probably the easiest path as GPU is easy to remove and install. 12,x GPU is difficult to remove/install so CH341A is desirable IF flashrom is not the low profile version. GRML For end users, this is the easiest path to flash

sites.google.com

Read red section for workaround. But your problem maybe due to incorrect EFI and macOS rather than vBIOS so carefully check that first.

Can also make a rescue CD to not depend on internal drive EFI

iMac+Metal GPU - vBIOS

vBIOS = Video BIOS. Basically how GPU boots. Since used GPU are sourced from PCs, need to be flashed to match how Mac boot. It is a ROM image and need to be flashed into GPU cards onboard EEPROM (reprogrammable ROM store) Some cards don't have this EEPROM (GPU maker cut cost and put file on PC to

sites.google.com

 

[RaikoBR]

You didn't note what is on the internal drive EFI and macOS partition. Changing cards without matching EFI could result in no boot.

First K3100 install, what macOS? OCLP or stock? OC in EFI or no?
780MXM, same questions
2nd K3100 install, same questions

iMac+Metal GPU - flash GPU GRML/CH341A

Overview There are 2 methods to flash the GPU. For 10,x and 11,x, GRML is probably the easiest path as GPU is easy to remove and install. 12,x GPU is difficult to remove/install so CH341A is desirable IF flashrom is not the low profile version. GRML For end users, this is the easiest path to flash

sites.google.com

Read red section for workaround. But your problem maybe due to incorrect EFI and macOS rather than vBIOS so carefully check that first.

Can also make a rescue CD to not depend on internal drive EFI

iMac+Metal GPU - vBIOS

vBIOS = Video BIOS. Basically how GPU boots. Since used GPU are sourced from PCs, need to be flashed to match how Mac boot. It is a ROM image and need to be flashed into GPU cards onboard EEPROM (reprogrammable ROM store) Some cards don't have this EEPROM (GPU maker cut cost and put file on PC to

sites.google.com

Alright, it was the stock macOS. I tried the solution above, and I got SSH working, but now I'm seeing:

ERROR: No NVIDIA display adapters found.

So, either my GPU is dead or improperly seated. I’ll clean it and try again. Thanks

 

[howardc64]

Alright, it was the stock macOS. I tried the solution above, and I got SSH working, but now I'm seeing:

ERROR: No NVIDIA display adapters found.

So, either my GPU is dead or improperly seated. I’ll clean it and try again. Thanks

ah ok. since you are playing with a few GPUs on a 12,2 (the most difficult one) and perhaps with multiple shim thickness, check heatsink clearance, people have had shorts.

 

[dorninko]

Hi everyone
Big shout out to everyone on here for helping us keep our old macs up to date.

Earlier this year I picked up a 12,1 21.5in imac 2011. I transferred all my data from my 2012 mac mini which was running Big Sur using OCLP. Everything was fine and dandy and with the help of this site I upgraded the cpu to an i7 took a Samsung 860 EVO SSD from my old 2009 mac mini and put in an upgrade wifi kit. However the problems started when I changed the graphics card to a WX4150 I got off eBay. No matter what I tried, I could not get the card to be recognised. I changed OCLP settings with SSD in an external case did a clean installation of Ventura but to no avail. The card was still not recognised.

Yesterday I received cheap 1TB drives I got off aliexpress these were supposed to Samsung 870 Evo but were knockoffs i.e. not real ones. Just to test them out I put one in an external case and did a clean installation of Monterey. To my supprise drive is working and graphics card is recognised,
I was wondering if anyone else is having problems with the 860 drives?.
I'm going to use migration assistant to move my data from the old SSD to the new one later on, hopefully card will still be recognised afterwards.

Just a Moment: I had serious problems with migration assistant, it took forever and crashed my system (I tried that on several iMacs). Much better way is to copy the user directory to the new ssd and then create a new user with exactly the same name as on the old installation. You can also copy most of the apps directly from the old to the new disk, only a few apps need full installation.

 

[howardc64]

I had serious problems with migration assistant

I also tried a couple of times and just errored out. But Mr. Macintosh seems to have a solution. See bottom of OLCP Cons section.

Macs Stayin Alive - OCLP

What is OCLP (OpenCore Legacy Patcher) Basically a tool to install latest macOS to obsoleted (Legacy) Macs. macOS is actually open sourced so a community of quite capable hackers (mostly in EU) rescuing drivers and software components from obsolete Macs into later macOS. They do an amazing job

sites.google.com