Flashing R9 280X for boot screens/PCI System Information

[h9826790]

with one of them using the 6 to 8 pin adapter.

This is the potential problem. However, it should not cause any trouble by just opening a hi res image. Unless the card will draw lots of power via that 8pin line in a very short period of time, which over the limit and cause the freeze.

With running without EFI, you mean set the switch on the card on the bios side? I will try that, and booting to Windows and test it there as well.

Yes, just flip the switch to the other side. You can still boot it into OSX and check if the same thing happen.

 

[gyttja]

This is the potential problem. However, it should not cause any trouble by just opening a hi res image. Unless the card will draw lots of power via that 8pin line in a very short period of time, which over the limit and cause the freeze.



Yes, just flip the switch to the other side. You can still boot it into OSX and check if the same thing happen.

The one on the 6 to 8 pin adapter. The other one with the 6 pin also in the card. This is the only way right? As there is no 8 pin connector in a mac pro.

I swiched to bios, everything seems to be working. I even did a few benchmarks without a problem. So my EFI is faulty? I need a different rom them I guess.
I tool the one from the second post in this topic. I have the MSI R9 280X gaming edition. Any suggestions?

 

[Fl0r!an]

Build your own ROM, as described over at netkas.

 

[h9826790]

IMO, that's the simplest way to connect the 6+8 pin config, but not the correct way.

The 6 pin only rated up to 75W, and the 8 pin can draw up to 150W, how can that be correct?

To address this issue. You may

1) use extra PSU
2) mod your Mac (get power directly from the PSU)
3) other methods like connect both 6pin to the 8pin, and then use another adaptor to supply the 6pin via SATA etc…

Anyway, this usually not a problem unless under full load.

Back to your case. Obviously it's the EFI's problem. May be you should try to create the EFI ROM by yourself, flash the card and try again.

It's easy to create the EFI ROM by the fixrom script. And you know it's fail safe due to the dual ROM design of your card.

 

[gyttja]

IMO, that's the simplest way to connect the 6+8 pin config, but not the correct way.

The 6 pin only rated up to 75W, and the 8 pin can draw up to 150W, how can that be correct?

To address this issue. You may

1) use extra PSU
2) mod your Mac (get power directly from the PSU)
3) other methods like connect both 6pin to the 8pin, and then use another adaptor to supply the 6pin via SATA etc…

Anyway, this usually not a problem unless under full load.

Back to your case. Obviously it's the EFI's problem. May be you should try to create the EFI ROM by yourself, flash the card and try again.

It's easy to create the EFI ROM by the fixrom script. And you know it's fail safe due to the dual ROM design of your card.

I managed to get a copy of the bios from my card in a rom file (myrom.rom I called it).
But the next step I don't understand.
Can someone combine my Rom file with the right EFI for my card?
I attached the file (in a zip file, as .rom is not allowed here).
I know how to flash it back to my card, but just not to do the above. Thank you.
(ps. it would be great if it states R9 280X in the system)

Edit:
To be more clear, I get this error If i try it myself:
dd: bs must be between 1 and 9223372036854775807

Edit:
Ok got past this error, now a new one:
ValueError: chr() arg not in range(256)

 

[h9826790]

That's because your ROM already has the UEFI part, you have to remove that part before adding the Mac EFI in.

Sorry, I can only make the ROM for you if it ident itself as D700.

Anyway, the ROM is here.

 

[gyttja]

That's because your ROM already has the UEFI part, you have to remove that part before adding the Mac EFI in.

Sorry, I can only make the ROM for you if it ident itself as D700.

Anyway, the ROM is here.

Huh, did you make the rom for me, or is this the rom without the EFI part? I don't get is, as you say you can't make the rom for me, and than you provide a rom anyway. Sorry if I'm stupid :S

 

[h9826790]

It's a Mac EFI ROM, but ident itself as D700, not 280X.

 

[gyttja]

It's a Mac EFI ROM, but ident itself as D700, not 280X.

I tried to flash the file you sent, straight to my card. Not working either (does not boot). So I set it back to my original bios. (handy that dual bios switch!)

I know how to change the identified name in a Hex Editor.
But I already had the Mac EFI rom from a 7970 card, wanted to combine that with my original Bios.
How do I remove the EFI part of my original file than, so I can combine it?
I thought it would overwrite the EFI part with a new one.

In the below part EFI.rom is the 7970 EFI rom I got, myrom.rom is the original bios.
I was using the following code to try to combine it, while having the Netkas files in my home folder:
./makerom.sh --efifile=EFI.rom --romfile=efiromheader.rom --originalrom=myrom.rom --devid=6798

I get this:
running on EFI.rom, efiromheader.rom with devid 6798
Patching files EFI.rom, efiromheader.rom for device-id 0x6978
Successfully patched efi file
Successfully patched efi rom file
Orig Size = 131072
Comp Size = 89746
89746+0 records in
89746+0 records out
89746 bytes transferred in 0.215622 secs (416219 bytes/sec)
EFI part is ready at 6798.efipart.rom
orig size - 65536
90098+0 records in
90098+0 records out
90098 bytes transferred in 0.176421 secs (510699 bytes/sec)
Before:
OpRom (size=65536, indicator_offset=0x245, indicator=0x0, checksum=0x0)
OpRom (size=48128, indicator_offset=0x31, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x43)
RawData (size=148480)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "fixrom.py", line 110, in <module>
op_rom.fix()
File "fixrom.py", line 90, in fix
self.data[-1] = chr(0x100 - sum)
ValueError: chr() arg not in range(256)
the rom is ready at myrom.rom.efi.rom

So if all I need to do is remove the EFI part of my original file first (before running the script), how do I do that?
Thanks a lot.

Edit:
If I change the name of the file myron.rom.efi.rom back to myrom.rom, and than run this:
python fixrom.py myrom.rom myrom.rom

Than I get this:
Before:
OpRom (size=65536, indicator_offset=0x245, indicator=0x0, checksum=0x0)
OpRom (size=48128, indicator_offset=0x31, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x43)
RawData (size=148480)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "fixrom.py", line 110, in <module>
op_rom.fix()
File "fixrom.py", line 90, in fix
self.data[-1] = chr(0x100 - sum)
ValueError: chr() arg not in range(256)

So thats not helping either.

I also tried to flash the file you sent, straight to my card. Not working either (does not boot). So I set it back to my original bios. (handy that dual bios switch!)

 

[h9826790]

Here is the no EFI ROM.

I simply use VBE7 to open the UEFI ROM and save it as a new file. Since VBE7 can't handle the EFI part, it will automatically revert it back to a non EFI ROM.

 

[gyttja]

Thanks, I used both the files you sent. The script runs without errors now.
The computer boots fine with it after flashing, but I still have no boot screen

I did get boot screens with the file from the second post in this treat, but with that one I got a hanging system. Off course thats not a file from my card, but at least it kinda worked.

 

[MacVidCards]

I just explained how to make these without using the terminal thingy over at Netkas.

 

[gyttja]

I just explained how to make these without using the terminal thingy over at Netkas.

Are you talking about doing it in a hex editor? I tried that, but my file seems to short.

 

[h9826790]

I managed to get a copy of the bios from my card in a rom file (myrom.rom I called it).

May I know how you get this ROM? Since we use this ROM to work on, and then you said the product can't even boot, I doubt if it's the ROM from your card. If it's not, of course it may not work.

Can you just boot your machine with the working non EFI ROM (2nd switch), and then use GPU-Z to dump that ROM and save it as an image file?

Then we can use that ROM to produce the working Mac EFI ROM for your card. It should be a very simple job if we do everything correctly. As MVC said (many time), you can not have anything easier than this. There is no way we can't get it done, if the card is right, the ROM is right, and we use the correct command to run the script.

 

[gyttja]

The first file I sent (the one you quote) is the original ROM from my card (I thought from the nonEFI side of my card, switch was AWAY from the side of the card where the connection of the monitors are, but you say its with EFI?).
With that file I flashed it back now, so its working again. The file you sent me back, the one you called myrom-noefi.rom does not work by itself.

 

[h9826790]

I see, then it seems we have all the puzzles we need, we just have to put all of them together correctly.

Anyway, if you use a hex editor to open your myrom.rom, then you can see that the EFI is there (start from address 10000). So, it's not the legacy BIOS, most likely it's a UEFI ROM. And in most cases, the Mac Pro will just ignore that UEFI part and boot your machine like by the legacy BIOS.


Update 1:
I am not good at this ROM / EFI / HEX stuff. However, I notice that when I use a hex editor to open all of my working ROM (Mac EFI ROM from the 7950 Mac Edition card, UEFI ROM from the same card, BIOS from a HIS R9 280, the working Mac EFI ROM for that HIS R9 280...) they all end at address 1FFFF (size = 128k). However, your myrom.rom, end at address 3FFFF (size = 256k).

I suddenly remember that when I asked MVC for advice (before I start to make my own Mac EFI ROM) last year. His reply was "make sure the ROM is 128k in size". So, I am very sure this is why we can't make it work. I must admit that I didn't check your ROM size last time when I create that no EFI ROM (and the Mac EFI ROM). It's my fault. Obviously, after he read my detailed procedure, he know that I will miss this key point. And now he proved he is correct

It's really beyond my knowledge on how to fix this issue. Hopefully someone can help you. I only know how to handle the 128k 79xx (R9 28x) series ROM, but not the others.

 

[MacVidCards]

I really can't make this any easier without driving to your house and doing it for you.

Imagine this, you have a text document. It is 128 pages long. The first 64 pages are the Declaration of Independence. The next 64 Pages are the Constitution.

I am telling you to take the Constitution and replace it with the Bill of Rights. No matter how long or short these documents are, keep them at 64 pages. (they are never longer)

It really is this simple.

Declaration of Ind. = PC BIOS (starts with 55aa)
Constitution = UEFI for PC (starts with 55aa, has "AMD and GOP in first 2K in ASCII section)
Bill of Rights = known working Mac EFI for card with your device id (starts with 55aa and has Hamachi in first 2K in ASCII)

Easier for me to view addresses as decimal.
So 64K is 65536
128K is 131072

 

[h9826790]

Thanks MVC for providing the direction. And yes, it couldn't be anything easier to do that with a hex editor. It seems I can get it right this time. However, I don't have the card, can't test it

 

[gyttja]

Thanks MVC for providing the direction. And yes, it couldn't be anything easier to do that with a hex editor. It seems I can get it right this time. However, I don't have the card, can't test it

Thank you!
I will try it tonight when I get home

 

[comset]

Hello,
MSI R9 280X Gaming 3GB was flashed.
I bought a 4K monitor recently.
It is connected is set to DP1.2. But it freezes in the boot screen. (4k60hz)
It is connected is set to DP1.1. 4k30hz was started without any problems.
I put the power of the Macpro (2010), has put the power of the monitor from after.
That way, my 4K monitor to start in 4k60hz of DP1.2.
Further, when the BIOS switch in UEFI mode, start in DP1.2 without problems.

MSI R9 280X Gaming 3GB of ROM is, do not correspond to the connection in DP1.2?

 

[gyttja]

Thanks MVC for providing the direction. And yes, it couldn't be anything easier to do that with a hex editor. It seems I can get it right this time. However, I don't have the card, can't test it

Nope, it does not boot at all with that one
Just black screen.

 

[h9826790]

AFAIK, the Mac EFI for this card (79xx / R9 2xx) only support boot screen in non 4K environment.

I never try a 4K 60Hz monitor (I don't have one yet), but I can boot my Mac with boot screen on my 4K TV (3840x2160 30Hz) via HDMI 1.4

Nope, it does not boot at all with that one
Just black screen.

Is it 256k in size after unzip? (Should be the same size as your original ROM)

 

[gyttja]

AFAIK, the Mac EFI for this card (79xx / R9 2xx) only support boot screen in non 4K environment.

I never try a 4K 60Hz monitor (I don't have one yet), but I can boot my Mac with boot screen on my 4K TV (3840x2160 30Hz) via HDMI 1.4



Is it 256k in size after unzip? (Should be the same size as your original ROM)

262.144 bytes (262 KB on disk)

 

[h9826790]

The size is right. May be I do that once more. Sorry for keep giving you some non-working ROM.

 

[gyttja]

The size is right. May be I do that once more. Sorry for keep giving you some non-working ROM.

I am already happy you are willing to try!
Again I am not home, so will try as soon as I get home.
Thanks again, lets hope it works .