MP All Models AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT / 6900 XT for macOS?

[o_kurdi]

Mac OS guests do not support GPUs on Windows hosts. Mac OS guests will only work with GPUs on Mac hosts. ROM file won't fix.

My understanding is this would be the case if I am virtualizing the GPU. But I am using GPU Passthrough which is already a proven setup. The problem is now with GPU compatibility with this setup. Many users succeeded in passing their GPUs through to the virtual machine and booting a fully graphics accelerated MacOS and even playing very demanding games or workloads. But they were using compatible GPUs like RX 6900 or RX 6600 XT or some big RX 6600 that fits in a pcie slot in a normal desktop PC. My problem is that I am using RX 6600 mobile.
I searched and googled a lot but I didn't find a single case with RX 6600 Mobile other than me.
According to the error messages I am getting while booting the virtual MacOS I see the Kext or the graphics driver is complaining about not being able to find an EFI ROM. So that's why I wanted to try to patch the ROM using Syncretic tool; I thought the driver could recognize the ROM this way.

 

[o_kurdi]

I understand. GPU passthrough on Mac guests only works on Mac hosts. It requires the host run special Metal drivers - which Windows does not have.

Actually if I patch the Kext to disable graphics acceleration the GPU will work and the external monitor (connected through the HDMI port) will show the desktop.
The problem is I need the graphics acceleration to work.

And I am using Linux Manjaro and qemu not windows.

 

[diamond.g]

My understanding is this would be the case if I am virtualizing the GPU. But I am using GPU Passthrough which is already a proven setup. The problem is now with GPU compatibility with this setup. Many users succeeded in passing their GPUs through to the virtual machine and booting a fully graphics accelerated MacOS and even playing very demanding games or workloads. But they were using compatible GPUs like RX 6900 or RX 6600 XT or some big RX 6600 that fits in a pcie slot in a normal desktop PC. My problem is that I am using RX 6600 mobile.
I searched and googled a lot but I didn't find a single case with RX 6600 Mobile other than me.
According to the error messages I am getting while booting the virtual MacOS I see the Kext or the graphics driver is complaining about not being able to find an EFI ROM. So that's why I wanted to try to patch the ROM using Syncretic tool; I thought the driver could recognize the ROM this way.

A 6600M is a vanilla 6600 with a slightly lower TDP, so if someone has gotten a vanilla 6600 to work then a 6600M should work.

 

[o_kurdi]

A 6600M is a vanilla 6600 with a slightly lower TDP, so if someone has gotten a vanilla 6600 to work then a 6600M should work.

That's why I didn't lose hope, and I'll keep trying until I make it work.

 

[startergo]

I am using GPU Passthrough to a macos virtual machine. I am not booting MacOS directly.

The problem with 6000 series cards is specific to Mac Pro. 4/5.1 The cards can boot on other hardware perfectly fine so I doubt that is your problem. More likely it is a driver issue. Spoofing the device-id perhaps can give you better results.

 

[dnth8particap8]

Your idea is not possible, with a NAVI2x GPU installed your Mac Pro will not even complete POST (will not boot anything), with or without an additional GPU installed. Confirmed this myself with 6800XT and 6600XT, @Macschrauber also tested it before me.

Again, it's not possible to flash the NAVI2x GPU with the MacPro5,1, only will work with a MacPro7,1. You have to use a UEFI PC to flash the GPU or a external SPI flash programmer, if you don't have access to a PC (you will probably have to disassemble the GPU to do it).

Not true, you can flash it now both the 68 and 6900 and it works with windows as well.

 

[startergo]

Not true, you can flash it now both the 68 and 6900 and it works with windows as well.

You failed to comprehend the answer. It is not possible to boot Navi. 2x GPU to flash it on the same machine (cMP). You have to flash it on a PC.

 

[joseph5609]

By design, the Mac Pro EFI BootROM uses UGA (an older standard) for screen output. Mac-compatible cards provide UGA, which lets you see the native boot picker and the early boot screens (before MacOS loads). Without a UGA-compatible card (i.e. with non-Mac/PC cards), you'll see a black screen until something loads a driver that can speak to your video card - that's typically either OpenCore or MacOS itself. OpenCore loads early enough that the native screens aren't really necessary. As I understand it (I've never looked at an MVC card), MVC patches their cards to include UGA support, so you can use the native boot picker and see the boot screens immediately, without the need for OpenCore. (And, in the case of the RX6x00 cards, they've presumably fixed the same AMD bug that my patch fixes.)



Unfortunately, yes. As @tsialex correctly points out, you can't boot a cMP with an unpatched RX6x00 card in it; the card's initialization code contains a bug that prevents booting (fixing that is the whole point of my patch!). So, if you're using software flashing, you'll need to do that on a non-Mac PC.

To simplify things, I've attached a Windows version of the FixRX6x00 patcher program. It's still a command-line program (no GUI), same instructions as the MacOS version in my previous post. At least this way, there's less shuffling back and forth between systems.



Your Python script has a problem. It complains about the EFI ROM not being the last image, but that's not a requirement for EFI option ROMs. In this case, the x86_64 EFI code appears before the ARM64 EFI code - but in the output from your script, the ARM64 code gets removed. Also, while I don't have an RX6900XT to test with, I can state that GOP is most definitely provided by the card's original ROM.



Correct. As I said in my original post, @caingraywood was using a hardware flasher (I think he said it was an RT809F). I don't know his methodology - he may have been flashing in situ, or he may have been physically replacing the chips. In any case, he wasn't using software flashing. Since a cMP can't even POST with an unpatched RX6x00 card, it's necessary to flash it using either a PC (Windows/Linux) or a hardware flasher (or, I suppose, a MP7,1?).

To help simplify things, I pulled all of the RX6600/6600XT/6800/6800XT/6900XT ROMs from TechPowerup, patched them, and have attached them to this post. However, be advised that patching the ROM that came with your particular card will almost always be the better choice. Use the attached ROM images at your own risk. If you choose to use one of the attached ROM images, verify that the make/model and version number matches your card.

Could someone explain to me how to run syncrectics

 

[Gustav Holdoff]

 

[Gustav Holdoff]

In addition to my post, about patched W6800
I want to show that even 3DMark in Windows does not correctly recognizes patched GPU RadeonPro W6800,

and Luxmark lost 30 compute units (real RadeonPro W6800 has 60)

I did not have time to test the SSDT provided by Startergo, because,
in 3 days, I erased and reinstalled windows three times,
since the combination of my PCI hardware: nvme SSDs, thunderbolt and patched W6800 crashes system

I installed windows using opencore not so long ago, a little more than six months,
and had no problems with updates or installing windows drivers with a non-patched W5700

Now, any installation of radeon pro drivers, or visual c ++ or windows updates leads to the fact that after rebooting, windows start logo freezes, cMP reboots (also the start macos crashes too)
what is being repaired only by resetting smc and nvram-
after it macos is loaded, but windows needs to be reinstalled

although after the third reinstallation, I disconnected the thunderbolt, all hdd, all ssd, left only OC + Windows
- an automatic repair procedure for windows took place and after a second automatic reboot, windows booted
Therefore, what is the difference?
I have the same hardware, the same windows, the same opencore
W5700 does not conflict
but patched W6800 in combination with my hardware leads to failures
My CMP 4.1/5.1 dual cpu xeon 5680, 96gb RAM, radeonpro w6800, nvme crucial 2tb, evo plus 1tb, raid10 HDD, TB3 alpine ridge, OC 0.8.0 and 0.8.3, mac os 12.5.1

 

[tsialex]

In addition to my post, about patched W6800
I want to show that even 3DMark in Windows does not correctly recognizes patched GPU RadeonPro W6800, View attachment 2050937

and Luxmark lost 30 compute units (real RadeonPro W6800 has 60)
View attachment 2050939
I did not have time to test the SSDT provided by Startergo, because,
in 3 days, I erased and reinstalled windows three times,
since the combination of my PCI hardware: nvme SSDs, thunderbolt and patched W6800 crashes system

I installed windows using opencore not so long ago, a little more than six months,
and had no problems with updates or installing windows drivers with a non-patched W5700

Now, any installation of radeon pro drivers, or visual c ++ or windows updates leads to the fact that after rebooting, windows start logo freezes, cMP reboots (also the start macos crashes too)
what is being repaired only by resetting smc and nvram-
after it macos is loaded, but windows needs to be reinstalled

although after the third reinstallation, I disconnected the thunderbolt, all hdd, all ssd, left only OC + Windows
- an automatic repair procedure for windows took place and after a second automatic reboot, windows booted
Therefore, what is the difference?
I have the same hardware, the same windows, the same opencore
W5700 does not conflict
but patched W6800 in combination with my hardware leads to failures
My CMP 4.1/5.1 dual cpu xeon 5680, 96gb RAM, radeonpro w6800, nvme crucial 2tb, evo plus 1tb, raid10 HDD, TB3 alpine ridge, OC 0.8.0 and 0.8.3, mac os 12.5.1

Did you tested if it's reproducible with your second Mac Pro?

 

[Gustav Holdoff]

Did you tested if it's reproducible with your second Mac Pro?

I tested on the second one a week ago, installed the drivers, rebooted several times and worked in twinmotion, blender, archicad and UE5,
the second one does not have a thunderbolt card and it has other PCI-cards for nvme ssd
now i can't test on second cMP, since i prepare it to make clear nvram procedure
next weekend I'll test how the benchmarks recognize the GPU on second cMP

 

[startergo]

In addition to my post, about patched W6800
I want to show that even 3DMark in Windows does not correctly recognizes patched GPU RadeonPro W6800, View attachment 2050937

and Luxmark lost 30 compute units (real RadeonPro W6800 has 60)
View attachment 2050939
I did not have time to test the SSDT provided by Startergo, because,
in 3 days, I erased and reinstalled windows three times,
since the combination of my PCI hardware: nvme SSDs, thunderbolt and patched W6800 crashes system

I installed windows using opencore not so long ago, a little more than six months,
and had no problems with updates or installing windows drivers with a non-patched W5700

Now, any installation of radeon pro drivers, or visual c ++ or windows updates leads to the fact that after rebooting, windows start logo freezes, cMP reboots (also the start macos crashes too)
what is being repaired only by resetting smc and nvram-
after it macos is loaded, but windows needs to be reinstalled

although after the third reinstallation, I disconnected the thunderbolt, all hdd, all ssd, left only OC + Windows
- an automatic repair procedure for windows took place and after a second automatic reboot, windows booted
Therefore, what is the difference?
I have the same hardware, the same windows, the same opencore
W5700 does not conflict
but patched W6800 in combination with my hardware leads to failures
My CMP 4.1/5.1 dual cpu xeon 5680, 96gb RAM, radeonpro w6800, nvme crucial 2tb, evo plus 1tb, raid10 HDD, TB3 alpine ridge, OC 0.8.0 and 0.8.3, mac os 12.5.1

Luxmark in Windows shows the same thing regardless of the vbios. I just tested it myself. It is a luxmark bug.

Spoiler: Luxmark

W6800
6900XT reference
W6600

3dMark Score with the stock vbios:

Spoiler: 3dMark

Graphics driver:

Spoiler: Graphics Driver

 

[maximage77]

Just checking, when we flash, the BIOS Version will remain the same won't it? The patch amends the internal info but not the actual version number of the BIOS?

I've managed to flash my card using Windows 10 on my old i7 MacBook Pro with the card in a thunderbolt enclosure, but but still haven't installed the Pixlas cables into my 5.1 nor set it up with Opencore etc etc. Looks like it all worked OK, but can't check until I've modded the tower.

I downloaded the ROM, patched it, renamed the original ROM and completely moved it off the computer (backed up), then renamed the patched ROM back to Navi21.rom, so it was definitely the patched one that was used below.

 

[Syncretic]

I currently have a reference 6950XT on the side and I was wondering about its status regarding 5.1 Mac Pros compatibility.
Last time I checked, 6750XT and 6950XT use to work in 7.1 Mac Pro using OpenCore, but 5.1 won't accept it as Syncretic's firmware patch work on the initial release of 6x00(XT) variants.

Has there been any improvement or patch update made since ?

I haven't had any time to keep up with the ongoing changes to the AMD RX6* ROMs. However, people keep PM-ing me their ROMs to look at, and the last few NAVI-21 ROMs I saw had the same code signature, so maybe those changes are slowing down. If/when I can find some time, I'll add the newer code changes to the patcher.

That said, I've also created something that obviates the need for patching these GPUs. Stay tuned...

twinmotion and UE5, despite the fact that the GPU in the List of supported and strongly recommended, programs cannot recognize my patched GPU as W6800

As for TM and UE,
programs probably don't recognize my patched GPU as the W6800,
macOS versions of TM and UE are optimized specifically for the W6800

Just checking, when we flash, the BIOS Version will remain the same won't it? The patch amends the internal info but not the actual version number of the BIOS?

I quoted these posts to make a point for anyone else with a patched RX6* card: the patches I have posted do not change the identity, performance, or characteristics of the card. All the 5-byte patch does is circumvent AMD's short-sighted lack of error control. After patching, the PCI Vendor/Device ID remains the same, whatever tweaks the ROM does to your card's hardware are the same, the BIOS version is the same - the card is effectively identical to its previous un-patched self, except that it won't hang when booting in a Mac Pro 4,1/5,1. If you encounter problems with MacOS, Windows, or some application(s) not properly recognizing your patched card, those same problems would have occurred without the patch (assuming you patched your own card's ROM, as opposed to using one of the pre-patched ROMs I've uploaded).

This is one reason why it's best to patch the ROM from your particular card instead of using one of the TechPowerUp versions I posted earlier - unless the TPU version is identical to the one on your card, you may be altering your card's identity, performance, or characteristics, and not necessarily for the better.

I have attached my GPU ROM file. (Because I cannot PM you).
It's RX 6600 Mobile in HP Omen laptop.

I PM'd you a response, but I don't know if you ever saw it. The ROM you posted does not contain any (U)EFI code. It has only one code segment, which is non-(U)EFI. The patches I have posted in this thread apply to the (U)EFI code segment, and they allow the Mac Pro EFI to avoid hanging at boot time. They do not apply to any non-EFI segments, and they will likely not provide any benefit at all on a non-Mac system. In your case, there's no (U)EFI code to patch, and since you're not on a real Mac, it probably wouldn't matter anyway.

 

[-=Lurker=-]

That said, I've also created something that obviates the need for patching these GPUs. Stay tuned...

Any progress on this? Looking to purchase a 6800 but waiting to see what you have cooking.

 

[mode11]

Considering installing a 6600XT or 5700XT (likely the latter). For cards like these that require an OS later than Mojave, what do you do if you need to boot up without OC, to perform system maintenance (e.g. reflash NVRAM)? Replace the GPU with one supported in Mojave (e.g. an RX580)? Use a disk with Dosdude Catalina installed? Boot from the OC recovery CD (though this may have OC installed also)?

 

[Gustav Holdoff]

Considering installing a 6600XT or 5700XT (likely the latter). For cards like these that require an OS later than Mojave, what do you do if you need to boot up without OC, to perform system maintenance (e.g. reflash NVRAM)? Replace the GPU with one supported in Mojave (e.g. an RX580)? Use a disk with Dosdude Catalina installed? Boot from the OC recovery CD (though this may have OC installed also)?

I use RX580 and clear Mojave, because Tsialex insists- (NO OC! NO DOSDUDE)

 

[lilred505]

HELP…!!!
So i purchased a Saphire 11310-04-20G Pulse Radeon RX 6600 “Lite” edition.
I did the bios update on a PC and worked great.. Moved card to Mac.
Booted into my dual X5690 macPro 5,1 running Monterey latest version installed with OpenCore.
I get a boot screen and it boots into Monterey.. Problem is i dont have any video acceleration and under video card in System Profiler, it shows 7 MB graphics.
I just did this 2 nites ago and there were no OS updates available and im on the latest release.
Any suggestions??
would using one of the supplied roms work better than the stock rom? i have it saved so i could go back.

 

[prefuse07]

Considering installing a 6600XT or 5700XT (likely the latter). For cards like these that require an OS later than Mojave, what do you do if you need to boot up without OC, to perform system maintenance (e.g. reflash NVRAM)?

So, for the 5700XT only, you don't need to flash it (as a matter of fact, I used to run one on my cMP before Syncretic released his patch for the 6k series cards). All you need is Catalina 10.15.1 and OpenCore, and it will work fine (oh yeah, also make sure you have performed Pixlas, as the 5700XT DOES spike, and you DON'T want to burn out your [very old] board, they are more of a headache than you'd think to replace).

Replace the GPU with one supported in Mojave (e.g. an RX580)? Use a disk with Dosdude Catalina installed? Boot from the OC recovery CD (though this may have OC installed also)?

Now that we have that out of the way, onto this part of the question -- The answer is YES. Whenever performing maintenance (i.e. BootROM flash every 3 months):
1. Power off machine
2. Disconnect RX-6800XT
3. Connect RX-580
4. Disconnect ALL drives
5. Connect MacOS Maintenance Drive (in caddy #1) -- if you are doing something like BootROM flash
6. Boot into Mojave & follow all remaining steps related to BootROM Flash

Depending on what you intend to do -- you may not have to perform steps 4-6. It all depends on what you intend to do.

I also believe you CAN perform an NVRAM Reset with the most current version of OpenCore without it affecting anything, so long as you don't do a DEEP Nvram reset -- can someone confirm this please?

 

[startergo]

HELP…!!!
So i purchased a Saphire 11310-04-20G Pulse Radeon RX 6600 “Lite” edition.
I did the bios update on a PC and worked great.. Moved card to Mac.
Booted into my dual X5690 macPro 5,1 running Monterey latest version installed with OpenCore.
I get a boot screen and it boots into Monterey.. Problem is i dont have any video acceleration and under video card in System Profiler, it shows 7 MB graphics.
I just did this 2 nites ago and there were no OS updates available and im on the latest release.
Any suggestions??
would using one of the supplied roms work better than the stock rom? i have it saved so i could go back.

Your best bet is to spoof the device-id and fix the bridges with an SSDT.

 

[jonwatso]

Thanks for this great tool Syncretic. Decided to Install a 6600XT (Power Color Fighter to be exact) into my Mac Pro 5,1 and it is working great, so much better than the old 7950 it replaces. Compressor seems much more happy compressing files into newer codecs.

Note: The Pixla Mod was done ages ago when this Mac Pro was rocking a Vega64 and isn't needed for this particular setup.

 

[ssj92]

Has anyone gotten HVEC acceleration to work with a eGPU? I got a RX 6800 in a Razor Core X and HVEC is not available.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/egpu-hvec-acceleration.2362820/

 

[startergo]

Has anyone gotten HVEC acceleration to work with a eGPU? I got a RX 6800 in a Razor Core X and HVEC is not available.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/egpu-hvec-acceleration.2362820/

try this:

Internal video acceleration for games is supported only under macOS 10.14+.

If you are using macOS 10.14.6+, you can accelerate applications and games with the eGPU if they support GPU acceleration...
• Select the app in Finder
• Get Info
• Select Prefer External GPU

To get the maximum game acceleration, connect a game display to external graphics.

Sonnet Support

GitHub - mayankk2308/set-egpu: Display-agnostic acceleration of macOS applications using external GPUs.

Display-agnostic acceleration of macOS applications using external GPUs. - mayankk2308/set-egpu

github.com

[SCRIPT] Accelerate All Applications On eGPU - macOS 10.13.4...

Page shortcut: | set-egpu Note: I will not be responding to questions already addressed in the documentation. Please read through bef...

egpu.io

 

[hwojtek]

Thanks for this great tool Syncretic. Decided to Install a 6600XT (Power Color Fighter to be exact) into my Mac Pro 5,1 and it is working great
(...)
Note: The Pixla Mod was done ages ago when this Mac Pro was rocking a Vega64.

What is the TDP of this card? I am leaning towards buying a RX6x00 (granted, mostly for Windows use in games), but what I have available is an EVGA Powerlink.