MBP 1,1-10,2 Force 2011 MacBook Pro 8,2 with failed AMD GPU to ALWAYS use Intel integrated GPU (EFI variable fix)

[MikeyN]

But what is the problem with disabling SIP in Recovery Mode (at my Macbook that is still working.)?

Some have reported quite insistently that even graphical RecoveryMode didn't work for them (as if the dGPU would be active in that mode since 10.13.6).
I found that as hard to believe as the Command+R+S option being gone.
But then the option gone was just evidenced by your testing.

If disabling SIP on a defect dGPU MBP on 10.13.6 continues to work:
then that it is still a bummer as SingleUserRecoveryMode was a much faster option to do nothing but disable SIP.
Approximately 5–10 times faster? Not a deal breaker, but quite an inconvenience after you've seen how much time that saved.

 

[Dark()Sun]

I just want to confirm I am now running Sierra successfully with the NVRAM fix. Stable, brightness control, no sleep issues. 10.12.6

Yeah no problem there. That's the other reason I didn't bother to upgrade to HS, all the complaints about losing brightness control and whatnot.

And then came the removal of single-user recovery mode in 10.13.6 or .5 and that was it, that mode is my safety net because 95% of the time screen turns black as soon as laptop boots up so for me it's safe-recovery and nvram command to force the iGPU quickly before it freezes and turns black. Thankfully I don't have to do that anymore unless I change the nvram to dGPU myself or zap it manually or do a cold-smc/pram reset with the battery removed.

 

[nerowolfe19]

I just want to confirm I am now running Sierra successfully with the NVRAM fix. Stable, brightness control, no sleep issues. 10.12.6

Glad your machine is stable now. It's still a very capable laptop.

 

[Dark()Sun]

Glad your machine is stable now. It's still a very capable laptop.

Definitely the corei7 is no slouch! Paired with sSD and 8gb

Thanks for your advice and recommendation

 

[Jester8]

I own a "late" 2011 MBP.

Can someone please explain how to follow MikeyN steps in High Sirra?
Do i have to do first 3 steps in graphical recovery (CMD + R) in terminal and than reboot to Single user mode (CMD+S) and do the rest, or just the first one(sip disable), than reboot and do other in single user mode? command r + s doesnt work for single user recovery mode (opens OS recovery or single user mode (black screen with bios text))

Im afraid if I try to downgrade to capitan, that my screen will tottaly fail! Now sometimes works, sometimes it doesn`t. Dont`t know if new system unistall will try to upgrade drivers and will just mess up computer even more! Im quite new at this sort of things

 

[caincha]

I tried several of the suggestions posted here but what worked for me was much simpler and only required a USB key with a Mac disk installer on it:

– reset SMC and PRAM/NVRAM:
shutdown, unplug everything except power, now with the laptop off hold for at least 5s:
<leftShift>+<Ctrl>+<Opt>+<Power>
Then release at the same time.

– Now power it on and when it chimes hold at the same time until you hear the startup chime one more time:
<Cmd>+<Opt>+<p>+<r>

– when it chimes the second time boot into Single User Mode by holding:
<Cmd>+<s>
It’ll show a black screen with white text like the old DOS.

-now to disable the dedicated GPU type:
nvram fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9:gpu-power-prefs=%01%00%00%00

Then type:
reboot

-when it chimes once again hold the key option and plug a USB with the MacOS installation disk in it - I always recommend OSX Mavericks.

-now boot from the USB reformat the hard drive and reinstall MacOS following the prompts on screen.

After that it should work just fine running with the integrated GPU - it did took me repeated attempts though…
But as were pointed out several times here NEVER EVER reset the PRAM for any reason. Whenever you do reset the PRAM the laptop will be set back to booting from the faulty GPU and you will have to fix it all over again.

 

[Pisquit]

Hello everyone, I wanted to thank all the comunity for all that it does !!
I want to tells you about my experience
Macbook Pro 15 "Early 2011, from January 2018 with the AMD gpu broken ...
from that day I used it following the AppleMacFinder guide, repeating it with every reboot
last week I tried the update with clean installation to macOS Mojave with the method of dosdude1 but unfortunately did not work and my notebook has not restarted ...
in recent days I tried the steps indicated in the procedure of MikeyN Guide # 875, well now I have a Macbook Pro 2011 "15 i7 2.0 / 16Gb Ram / 120Gb SSD snappy and fast and is also updated to the last macOS version

Thank you very much, you are legendary and for those who have like me an MBP 2011 with GPU dead now know that you can make it reborn !!

I hope my experience can help someone! see you soon and greetings from Italy

 

[Jester8]

Macbook pros 2011 dont support MojaveOS..Or do they?

 

[caincha]

Macbook pros 2011 dont support MojaveOS..Or do they?

Well yes:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macos-10-14-mojave-on-unsupported-macs-thread.2121473/

 

[damien_mattei]

note that after, it is better to do this:

the AMD will no more be used (does not appear in About this mac )only in ccomplete system report
brightness slider will works again completely in mac os high sierra , you will have perfect windows graphics ,no more strange effect but still no sleep mode working (disable it!)
under mac os sierra even brightness button works (no need of brigtness slider)

Warning if you update mac os x high sierra it fails again becaus it reinstall a new mac os x kernel and the amd kext and rebuild the kext cache again,
and you have to do the AMD kext remove again under linux (sda2 is here mac os x high sierra):

[root@albedo-2 ~]# fsck.hfsplus -f /dev/sda2
** /dev/sda2
Executing fsck_hfs (version 540.1-Linux).
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
The volume name is High Sierra
** Checking extents overflow file.
** Checking catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking catalog hierarchy.
** Checking extended attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
** Checking volume information.
Volume header needs minor repair
** Repairing volume.
** Rechecking volume.
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
The volume name is High Sierra
** Checking extents overflow file.
** Checking catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking catalog hierarchy.
** Checking extended attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
** Checking volume information.
** The volume High Sierra was repaired successfully.
[root@albedo-2 ~]# mount -t hfsplus -o force,rw /dev/sda2 /high_sierra
[root@albedo-2 ~]# mv /high_sierra/System/Library/Extensions/AMD*.* /root/AMDhighsierra/ # move the AMD kexts
[root@albedo-2 ~]# rm -rf /high_sierra/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/ # remove cache
[root@albedo-2 ~]# mkdir /high_sierra/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.
com.apple.bootstamps/ com.apple.corestorage/ com.apple.coresymbolicationd/
[root@albedo-2 ~]# mkdir /high_sierra/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches
[root@albedo-2 ~]# touch /high_sierra/System/Library/Extensions/
[root@albedo-2 ~]# umount /high_sierra

reboot !!!

yes!

here is below an history of the commands i used to remove the kext:

assuming /media/macosx is the point where your mac os x volume is mounted RW for you it will have to be replaced by:/media/swagatika/Macintosh HD

mkdir /root/AMDhighsierra ; just for backup of kext files in case of need
mv /media/macosx/System/Library/Extensions/AMD*.* /root/AMDhighsierra/ ; move the kexts
rm -rf /media/macosx/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/ ; remove cache
mkdir /media/macosx/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/
touch /media/macosx/System/Library/Extensions/
umount /media/macosx

i suppose after that it will be ok to boot again your Mac OS X
if not we will have to make a few modif in EFI firmware (i had done it prior to remove the kext so i'm not sure if it had to always be done)

 

[damien_mattei]

note that after, it is better to do this:

the AMD will no more be used (does not appear in About this mac )only in ccomplete system report
brightness slider will works again completely in mac os high sierra , you will have perfect windows graphics ,no more strange effect but still no sleep mode working (disable it!)
under mac os sierra even brightness button works (no need of brigtness slider)

Warning if you update mac os x high sierra it fails again becaus it reinstall a new mac os x kernel and the amd kext and rebuild the kext cache again,
and you have to do the AMD kext remove again under linux (sda2 is here mac os x high sierra):

[root@albedo-2 ~]# fsck.hfsplus -f /dev/sda2
** /dev/sda2
Executing fsck_hfs (version 540.1-Linux).
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
The volume name is High Sierra
** Checking extents overflow file.
** Checking catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking catalog hierarchy.
** Checking extended attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
** Checking volume information.
Volume header needs minor repair
** Repairing volume.
** Rechecking volume.
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
The volume name is High Sierra
** Checking extents overflow file.
** Checking catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking catalog hierarchy.
** Checking extended attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
** Checking volume information.
** The volume High Sierra was repaired successfully.
[root@albedo-2 ~]# mount -t hfsplus -o force,rw /dev/sda2 /high_sierra
[root@albedo-2 ~]# mv /high_sierra/System/Library/Extensions/AMD*.* /root/AMDhighsierra/ # move the AMD kexts
[root@albedo-2 ~]# rm -rf /high_sierra/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/ # remove cache
[root@albedo-2 ~]# mkdir /high_sierra/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.
com.apple.bootstamps/ com.apple.corestorage/ com.apple.coresymbolicationd/
[root@albedo-2 ~]# mkdir /high_sierra/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches
[root@albedo-2 ~]# touch /high_sierra/System/Library/Extensions/
[root@albedo-2 ~]# umount /high_sierra

reboot !!!

also the mac os hish sierra update to subversion 6 reset the EFI var about GPU so you have to do:

Boot with linux (Fedora core 28) in troubleshooting mode (basic video)

umount /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/
mount -t efivarfs rw /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/
cd /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
chattr -i gpu-power-prefs-fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9
rm gpu-power-prefs-fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9
printf "\x07\x00\x00\x00\x01\x00\x00\x00" > /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/gpu-power-prefs-fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9
chattr +i gpu-power-prefs-fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9
cd /
umount /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/

 

[wmcran]

ALL WAS GOOD UNTIL...

With the help of the people on this form, my 2011 has been up and running well for a long time. Recently it has been getting hot even though I use MacFanControl. Now I can't get it to boot into the OS. It just will stop at the Apple progress bar and the bar will never load.
This happens when trying to wake from sleep. When opening the top I will just have a black screen and I would have to do a force shutdown.
OS 10.13.5 and I have been using the command to run a script anytime I had to reboot the Mac. It has worked for a long time until now.

I reset the SMC and PRAM then booted into single user mode (Cmd+S)and run the following commands...

/sbin/mount -uw /
sh /force-iGPU-boot.sh

It will get to the screen with the Apple Logo and progress bar but nothing happens. As I said, this has always worked until now.

Any help will be appreciated.

 

[damien_mattei]

ALL WAS GOOD UNTIL...

With the help of the people on this form, my 2011 has been up and running well for a long time. Recently it has been getting hot even though I use MacFanControl. Now I can't get it to boot into the OS. It just will stop at the Apple progress bar and the bar will never load.
This happens when trying to wake from sleep. When opening the top I will just have a black screen and I would have to do a force shutdown.
OS 10.13.5 and I have been using the command to run a script anytime I had to reboot the Mac. It has worked for a long time until now.

I reset the SMC and PRAM then booted into single user mode (Cmd+S)and run the following commands...

/sbin/mount -uw /
sh /force-iGPU-boot.sh

It will get to the screen with the Apple Logo and progress bar but nothing happens. As I said, this has always worked until now.

Any help will be appreciated.

probably a mac os x update from 10.13.5 --> 10.13.6 cause the problem because it reinstall a new mac os x kernel clear the kext cache and re set the AMD kext that use the faulty GPU.

i do not know what is in your script... but it is not necessary to do something at EACH boot ,
if you follow my explanation in the previous post using Linux (Fedora or archlinux will be good) you will probably solve your problem (frozen progress bar and hard shutdown , i had the same problem)
also searching in youtube there is some videos that solve the problem using Linux ,also using time machine and another mac could help but it is not mandatory.
all my command in previous can be done without installing linux using the Live CD boot option.

 

[MarianM]

I decided to pull my failed laptop out of the bag and try to do something with it. I read quite a few comments. It looks like I should start with MikeyN #875. Anybody have a suggestion? It was nice to see a large community of Mac users that help each other, this appears to be the best part of being a Mac owner. Thank you!

 

[pckrullenbol]

It looks like I should start with MikeyN #875. Anybody have a suggestion?

Try to avoid High Sierra (10.13) and stick to 10.12 or even 10.11 if you don't need something special in 10.13...

 

[wmcran]

probably a mac os x update from 10.13.5 --> 10.13.6 cause the problem because it reinstall a new mac os x kernel clear the kext cache and re set the AMD kext that use the faulty GPU.

i do not know what is in your script... but it is not necessary to do something at EACH boot ,
if you follow my explanation in the previous post using Linux (Fedora or archlinux will be good) you will probably solve your problem (frozen progress bar and hard shutdown , i had the same problem)
also searching in youtube there is some videos that solve the problem using Linux ,also using time machine and another mac could help but it is not mandatory.
all my command in previous can be done without installing linux using the Live CD boot option.

Thanks for the reply but as I said I'm running 10.13.5. I knew not to update from reading this form. I used MikeyN #875 including the LoginHook executable sh /force-iGPU-boot.sh
Everything was good then one day it didn't want to wake from sleep and now it won't go pass the progress bar.
Has anyone else had this problem after using MikeyN #875 fix that worked for a long time?

 

[caincha]

ALL WAS GOOD UNTIL...

With the help of the people on this form, my 2011 has been up and running well for a long time. Recently it has been getting hot even though I use MacFanControl. Now I can't get it to boot into the OS. It just will stop at the Apple progress bar and the bar will never load.
This happens when trying to wake from sleep. When opening the top I will just have a black screen and I would have to do a force shutdown.
OS 10.13.5 and I have been using the command to run a script anytime I had to reboot the Mac. It has worked for a long time until now.

I reset the SMC and PRAM then booted into single user mode (Cmd+S)and run the following commands...

/sbin/mount -uw /
sh /force-iGPU-boot.sh

It will get to the screen with the Apple Logo and progress bar but nothing happens. As I said, this has always worked until now.

Any help will be appreciated.

Try this
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...fi-variable-fix.2037591/page-83#post-26590165

 

[firelighter487]

okay, i have succesfully done this to my 15" late 2011, however i have 2 issues.

my Mac won't go to sleep when i close the lid
screen brightness is locked on full

my AMD gpu still works, but i've disabled it just because i don't want to be screwed over if it fails.

also, i can still select discrete only in gfxcardstatus, it just doesn't do anything. have i done something wrong?

i didn't use Linux. i used the macOS only method.

 

[Dark()Sun]

Try to avoid High Sierra (10.13) and stick to 10.12 or even 10.11 if you don't need something special in 10.13...

At least go up to Sierra, 10.12.6, you get Siri functionality
[doublepost=1538420882][/doublepost]

okay, i have succesfully done this to my 15" late 2011, however i have 2 issues.

my Mac won't go to sleep when i close the lid
screen brightness is locked on full

my AMD gpu still works, but i've disabled it just because i don't want to be screwed over if it fails.

also, i can still select discrete only in gfxcardstatus, it just doesn't do anything. have i done something wrong?

i didn't use Linux. i used the macOS only method.

It seems you have tried the fix on High Sierra, many problems with that OS with this fix, please try again with Sierra instead.

 

[JMVB]

El capitan 10.11.6

Anyone knows how to face the following crash?

VLC and other apps crash after 5 minutes

Kernel: The graphics driver has detected a corruption in its command stream
com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (org.videolan.vlc.1624352[1575]) Service exited with abnormal code: 5

 

[firelighter487]

It seems you have tried the fix on High Sierra, many problems with that OS with this fix, please try again with Sierra instead.

i don't want to. i need High Sierra for stuff. i use Pages and other apps that require 10.13. i can live without sleep and screen brightness control, it's just annoying.

but did the fix actually work, because i can still select dedicated only in gfxcardstatus but it will still show the intel gpu as the gpu used, same in about this mac, it will still say intel gpu. the screen also won't flash indicating it's not actually switching.

 

[MikeyN]

El capitan 10.11.6

Anyone knows how to face the following crash?

VLC and other apps crash after 5 minutes

Kernel: The graphics driver has detected a corruption in its command stream
com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (org.videolan.vlc.1624352[1575]) Service exited with abnormal code: 5

Either downgrade to VLC2 or use the very latest VLC3. On Intel3000HD the hardware acceleration is buggy in 3.0.0–3.0.3, leading to a blacklisted HW-accel for Intel3000HD in 3.0.4, thus avoiding the crash by using software decoding.
[doublepost=1538484367][/doublepost]

i don't want to. i need High Sierra for stuff. i use Pages and other apps that require 10.13. i can live without sleep and screen brightness control, it's just annoying.

but did the fix actually work, because i can still select dedicated only in gfxcardstatus but it will still show the intel gpu as the gpu used, same in about this mac, it will still say intel gpu. the screen also won't flash indicating it's not actually switching.

The fix most likely worked. gfxCardStatus becomes meaningless with the fix. To check with the fix: pliugin a second monitor. It that stays dark -> AMD is offline.

 

[Jester8]

So i followed MikeN tutorial with late 2011 mbp.

I had HighSierra as OS but after my problems with black screen on sleep, shutdown, brightness control not working, amd kext missplaced i succsesfully downgrade to ELCAPITAN. And from there everything went smooth! Al the commands work flawessly, loginhook and everything

EXCEPT shutdown, restart black screen but i use log out option. (If anyone has better option please do tell).

I just wanted to ask if I can enable SIP, and can (HOW?) I exit verbose mode? My temperature is around 50celsius, thats is probably ok? In system report I still have amd graphic, but if i want to get rid of it there i must remove something on the logic bord?

Thanks for the info! And all you lovely people to make my "vintage" MBP working again.
Oh and also do photoshop, illustrator work on Intel graphic?

 

[Dark()Sun]

i don't want to. i need High Sierra for stuff. i use Pages and other apps that require 10.13. i can live without sleep and screen brightness control, it's just annoying.

but did the fix actually work, because i can still select dedicated only in gfxcardstatus but it will still show the intel gpu as the gpu used, same in about this mac, it will still say intel gpu. the screen also won't flash indicating it's not actually switching.

Yes, I was getting that too when I tried it with high Sierra. it's working

 

[pinboll]

Warning: this High Sierra update is dangerous if you have a password installed.

For the time being I can't see how to revive my Macbook w/o actually changing the AMD GPU chip.

As far as I see, a sneaky, uncalled for update to 10.13.6 has reversed the UEFI mod.
It will make sure the Radeon GPU is being "activated" again.

My Macbook useless for the time being:
-we can't reset the NVRAM since we can't reset the password protecting it.
-in order to reset the password one needs to access the "utility", but since Internet recovery or the other hard disc or USB based recovery mode will end in a blank screen after a spinning globe or apple progress bar,
-the password is efectively keeping me from resetting and re-applying the mod.

UEFI mod via Linux is impossible as the UEFI partion is no longer mounted (password!)


The issue "highly likely" caused by 10.13.6

-I had the software EFI mod in efect
-High Sierra reported: 3000 HD Intel GPU
-System booted normally, then decided to update.

Suggestions apreciated.