I was using a HD7950 Vapor X in my cMPro 4,1>5,1 some time ago. I recommend you to flash it. It is very easy and safe considering that card has a switch and you can keep your regular firmware and flash the new one MAC compatible without risk as a second option. You will need a windows system to do it using the WinFlash applicaciton. I am not a computer expert and I did it.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Guide to Flash XFX Double D HD 7950 Black Edition Card for Mac Pro
- Thread starter VAGDesign
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Thank you for such a quick answer. Do you still have the rom file? What tools you used to make the rom file?
I used ATI Flash:
AMDVBFlash / ATI ATIFlash 5.0.567 Download
AMD AMDVBFlash is used to flash the graphics card BIOS. The version released by ATI was called ATIFlash or just WinFlash. It supports all AMD Radeo
I think it is safer if you create your custom EFI ROM version (version with Mac Boot) from your precise original ROM version. You know there are a lot of variants for the same GPU model. You just need to follow this video tutorial (read the text below the video in Youtube):
This one is also the same guide:
I attach you my created version but I don't know it will be useful for you
Last edited:
hi there again. I'm getting an error...
Orig Size = 125440
Comp Size = 47591
47591+0 records in
47591+0 records out
47591 bytes transferred in 0.229410 secs (207450 bytes/sec)
EFI part is ready at 697a.efipart.rom
No Java runtime present, requesting install.
orig size -
dd: no value specified for seek
Before:
OpRom (size=65536, indicator_offset=0x245, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x0)
RawData (size=65536)
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 cardname.rom.efi.rom
Orig Size = 125440
Comp Size = 47591
47591+0 records in
47591+0 records out
47591 bytes transferred in 0.229410 secs (207450 bytes/sec)
EFI part is ready at 697a.efipart.rom
No Java runtime present, requesting install.
orig size -
dd: no value specified for seek
Before:
OpRom (size=65536, indicator_offset=0x245, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x0)
RawData (size=65536)
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 cardname.rom.efi.rom
Last edited:
Just follow the OC configuration guide using Mojave, create a new config.plist there and off you go. This card should display OC bootpicker anyway.
I agree he can run Opencore using a non EFI GPU (unflashed card), but I think it is not a bad idea to have an EFI card just in case of a problem with Opencore so you can use the Mac EFI Boot. Some people keep the original GPU (NVIDIA GFORCE GT120) for that.
That model 7950 has a very easy way to flash modifying the ROM just using a simple script in terminal for free.
My current GPU RX 580 is not easily flashable, so I keep my Mojave SSD outside my cMacPro as a safety bootable system.
That model 7950 has a very easy way to flash modifying the ROM just using a simple script in terminal for free.
My current GPU RX 580 is not easily flashable, so I keep my Mojave SSD outside my cMacPro as a safety bootable system.
Last edited:
Yeah, somehow it doesn't work for him. I don't know if this is a dual-bios card, but I agree, having a GPU which displays the factory boot screens comes in handy (I am keeping my reflashed old dual-bios R9 280x in the attic exactly for this purpose).
Since I successfully flashed my R9 with this ancient yet capable script years ago, @leandroguerreiro.pt please: attach your dumped ROM here (zipped, please) and we'll see what we can do.
It is a dual bios card. I'm glad I have my MBP now to work, but I watch both videos, and there was a moment at 5:34 on the second video that it gives an error message about the Java Developer kit missing. I had the same message.
Is there a need to run the script on the root of the thumb drive?
Thank you all again. I'll keep trying...
Is there a need to run the script on the root of the thumb drive?
Thank you all again. I'll keep trying...
For a dual bios, the best way is to have one UEFI bios and one stock bios, obviously. So use one setting for experimenting and the other as a failsafe.
I downloaded the bios for (most probably!) this card from techpowerup: https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/142146/sapphire-hd7950-3072-130524
(I am 99% sure this is the latest bios for your card, but you need to double check) and tried the patching. For me it fails in:
I believe this is due to the fact the script is rather old and most probably EfiCompress.macosx is 32-bit so it fails. Unfortunately I do not have any 32-bit capable system at hand.
BTW, did you install Oracle Java?
I downloaded the bios for (most probably!) this card from techpowerup: https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/142146/sapphire-hd7950-3072-130524
(I am 99% sure this is the latest bios for your card, but you need to double check) and tried the patching. For me it fails in:
Code:
./makerom.sh: line 42: /Users/wojtek/Desktop/test/EfiCompress.macosx: Bad CPU type in executableBTW, did you install Oracle Java?
I tried to flash the card with this latest bios and it gives me a SUBSYTEM MISMATCH ERROR (using both ati flash 3.2 and 2 on windows 10). I tried flashing with Enricote's rom he sent me yesterday and I get THE VERSION OF VBIOS IS ALREADY INSTALLED message. I really want to flash this card, but I'm running out of time and patience.
OK, do you have Oracle Java installed?
If so, it really has to work in Mojave, as it allows 32-bit executables and is fairly recent. Your error comes from Python but I don't think an updated Mojave system should throw Python errors.
Keep in mind the script does not like spaces in folder names.
If so, it really has to work in Mojave, as it allows 32-bit executables and is fairly recent. Your error comes from Python but I don't think an updated Mojave system should throw Python errors.
Keep in mind the script does not like spaces in folder names.
Funny...I just flashed the card with the latest bios from an hd7970 I found on TPU and the card is working flawlessly on windows 10, without a boot screen of course. What if I do all the process again using this rom as base?
I'm now in the process of installing Mojave on the original HDD so I can be 100% sure I'm doing the right thing. Windows runs on an SSD SATA on bay 1. My main OSX (BigSur) runs on an NVMe and I have not touched it since I started this process.
I'm starting to think the previous owner flashed the card with the wrong bios.
TIA
L
I'm now in the process of installing Mojave on the original HDD so I can be 100% sure I'm doing the right thing. Windows runs on an SSD SATA on bay 1. My main OSX (BigSur) runs on an NVMe and I have not touched it since I started this process.
I'm starting to think the previous owner flashed the card with the wrong bios.
TIA
L
Last edited:
It's obviously a great idea to start with the best rom available.
The script cant deal with any spaces in paths and filenames. So the easy way is to run it from the root directory of a thumb drive.
So it doesn't matter if it's from a different model, as long as it's working correctly, I can flash it.
BTW, I just noticed the GPU and Memory clocks are much higher. Would this influence on the card performing correctly?
Last edited:
In a lot of cases various manufacturers use the very same ROM. And sometimes you can even use a ROM from a similar card (like some RX 470s can be flashed with RX 570 rom and will act like a 570). Similar things happened with 7950/7970 situation, however the performance benefits were negligible.
If it is for the same card but different manufacturer, there is a high chance of the rom to work correctly, especially if both products used the same reference design and the number and manufacturer of the memory chips is identical.
With higher clocking the card will be more prone to overheat so perhaps the fans will be more aggressive. On the other hand, it will be faster, that's why these clocks are set to higher values...
Excessive overheating will be clearly visible by showing artifacts on screen or even shutting down the computer entirely.
BTW if you want to play some more, try https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/vbe7-vbios-editor-for-radeon-hd-7000-series-cards.189089/
Just make sure you edit a copy of the original ROM and only then convert it for Mac use.
If it is for the same card but different manufacturer, there is a high chance of the rom to work correctly, especially if both products used the same reference design and the number and manufacturer of the memory chips is identical.
With higher clocking the card will be more prone to overheat so perhaps the fans will be more aggressive. On the other hand, it will be faster, that's why these clocks are set to higher values...
Excessive overheating will be clearly visible by showing artifacts on screen or even shutting down the computer entirely.
BTW if you want to play some more, try https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/vbe7-vbios-editor-for-radeon-hd-7000-series-cards.189089/
Just make sure you edit a copy of the original ROM and only then convert it for Mac use.
Last edited:
I finally ran the script on Mojave and it worked, then flashed using the latest ATIflash 3.2 and now I have to boot screen. It's working great on Mojave and Big Sur (OC 7.3+Surplus) but I have no hardware acceleration (which I think it's normal for this gpu). The performance of this card is not so bad for it's age, and I want to thank you all for this help getting my Classic Mac Pro alive again.
Cheers from Portugal.
L
Cheers from Portugal.
L
Big Sur gets accelerated with this card if I remember correctly, it does Metal. Use lilu and follow this guide to activate as much acceleration you can. You will not get any hardware h264/HEVC encoding acceleration, however the steps also kickstart the Metal acceleration.
I'll read it again, but I believe full hardware acceleleration is only available on Polaris Architecture (RX570+).
I successfully (?) flashed the rom on my AMD Radeon Sapphire HD 7950 Dual-x w Boost and now get the OC Bootpicker. If I run Mojave without OC everything runs fine, but if I boot to Mojave or Big Sur after a while of video/youtube/streaming the display/screen locks up. I'm assuming this is an OC issue, not a flashed rom issue? Any advice would be really appreciated. I'm using 0.75 MartinLo OC set-up.