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.
iMac 2013 (and later) with NVME SSD?
- Thread starter mbosse
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I do Apple service and have repaired many iMacs. The adhesive that OWC is extremely strong and it is a long painful process to remove the display opposed to Apple adhesive. I can see how even an experienced technician could accidentally crack the display when ttempting to remove from an iMac display with OWC adhesive.
Last edited:
How do you flash the Boot ROM on iMac’s to support for the NVME DXE driver? I know on Mac laptops you need a USB programmer but on Mac Pros you don’t. Thanks!
Last edited:
Software flashing procedure for Macs involves the following steps:
1) download Mojave 10.14.3 (the 6GB+ from AppStore or with this)
2) download Pacifist, start it, click "Open Package" and select the Mojave installer. On the context menu click Pacifist->Show Software Update Packages..., wait a few minutes and the installer will be loaded. Inside you will find 5 FirmwareUpdate.pkg dated 8.2.2019. Select them and click Open Selected Packages, after a couple of minutes the archives will be loaded. In each folder locate and compare the corresponding .fd file of your Mac by right click->Show Info (you are going to notice that all of them are the same size and some of them are with a different date). Right click on one of each dated differently and Extract to a Custom Location. If needed, you can rename them after the extraction.
3) download UEFI Tool, open those .fd files and compare the differences regarding their NVMe components. Click File->Search->Text tab, untick "unicode", tick "case sensitive", write "NVMe" in the search field. Click "search" button, a result will appear in the bottom as a text string, click "ASCII text "NVMe" found...". Right click on the entire branch "51116915-..." and select "extract as is", choose a folder to extract it as ".ffs".
Alternative 1: a patched Bottom
4a) reboot your Mac into Recovery Mode by restarting your computer and after the chime holding down Command + R until the progress bar appears under the Apple logo. In the Terminal write -csrutil disable . Restart the iMac.
5a) open RomTool (password rom) and click "Dump System Rom" (note that this does NOT work in newer Macs, e.g. iMac 27" Late 2015, but works in order ones, e.g. iMac 27" Late 2013)
6a) open your dumped ROM and click File->Search->Text tab, untick "unicode", tick "case sensitive", write "NVMe" in the search field. Click "search" button. A result will appear in the bottom as a text string, click "ASCII text "NVMe" found...", right click on the entire branch "51116915-..." and select "replace as is", select your extracted ".ffs" file from above (here for some reason the replacing does not work, if you save the file and then open it, you will see that the branch is NOT replaced, so if you manage to figure that out, there must have been something that I missed, move forward)
7a) if you have managed to replace and verify that the string is infact replaced, go up the list and select the master branch "Intel Image". Click File->Save image file and this will be your patched bootrom for the old iMac containing the NVMe bootrom part of a newer iMac.
8a) here ideally you could flash your iMac's bootrom using RomTool.
Alternative 2: inject the NVMe support directly into the Mojave installer
4b) We have to replace the extracted NVMe part from one of the .fd files to all the others within the Mojave installer. Click File->Search->Text tab, untick "unicode", tick "case sensitive", write "NVMe" in the search field. Click "search" button. A result will appear in the bottom as a text string, click "ASCII text "NVMe" found...", right click on the entire branch "51116915-..." and select "replace as is", select your extracted ".ffs" file from above (I do not know if this replace would work, because above in step 6a) it did NOT, so it may be UEFI Tool issue, or another, someone can continue my research and find out)
5b) if you have managed to replace and verify that the string is infact replaced, run the patched Mojave 10.14.3 installer (chances are there will be checksum protections, but I think it is worth the try, as there is not much else that can be attempted on a software level at this point)
Some more info on the topic and the procedure around >here<
Otherwise, Matt cards are not possible on iMacs, thus hardware flashing is done with this, but it is pricey and only worth it if you are planning to use it for business. There may be a way that a cheap SPI programmer would work, but you have to contact info@cmizapper.com with a detailed photo of how the SPI chip looks like on the iMac's motherboard and ask if any of his MacBook tools would work there (I will take a photo of the motherboard these days when upgrading my iMac 5k Late 2015).
1) download Mojave 10.14.3 (the 6GB+ from AppStore or with this)
2) download Pacifist, start it, click "Open Package" and select the Mojave installer. On the context menu click Pacifist->Show Software Update Packages..., wait a few minutes and the installer will be loaded. Inside you will find 5 FirmwareUpdate.pkg dated 8.2.2019. Select them and click Open Selected Packages, after a couple of minutes the archives will be loaded. In each folder locate and compare the corresponding .fd file of your Mac by right click->Show Info (you are going to notice that all of them are the same size and some of them are with a different date). Right click on one of each dated differently and Extract to a Custom Location. If needed, you can rename them after the extraction.
3) download UEFI Tool, open those .fd files and compare the differences regarding their NVMe components. Click File->Search->Text tab, untick "unicode", tick "case sensitive", write "NVMe" in the search field. Click "search" button, a result will appear in the bottom as a text string, click "ASCII text "NVMe" found...". Right click on the entire branch "51116915-..." and select "extract as is", choose a folder to extract it as ".ffs".
Alternative 1: a patched Bottom
4a) reboot your Mac into Recovery Mode by restarting your computer and after the chime holding down Command + R until the progress bar appears under the Apple logo. In the Terminal write -csrutil disable . Restart the iMac.
5a) open RomTool (password rom) and click "Dump System Rom" (note that this does NOT work in newer Macs, e.g. iMac 27" Late 2015, but works in order ones, e.g. iMac 27" Late 2013)
6a) open your dumped ROM and click File->Search->Text tab, untick "unicode", tick "case sensitive", write "NVMe" in the search field. Click "search" button. A result will appear in the bottom as a text string, click "ASCII text "NVMe" found...", right click on the entire branch "51116915-..." and select "replace as is", select your extracted ".ffs" file from above (here for some reason the replacing does not work, if you save the file and then open it, you will see that the branch is NOT replaced, so if you manage to figure that out, there must have been something that I missed, move forward)
7a) if you have managed to replace and verify that the string is infact replaced, go up the list and select the master branch "Intel Image". Click File->Save image file and this will be your patched bootrom for the old iMac containing the NVMe bootrom part of a newer iMac.
8a) here ideally you could flash your iMac's bootrom using RomTool.
Alternative 2: inject the NVMe support directly into the Mojave installer
4b) We have to replace the extracted NVMe part from one of the .fd files to all the others within the Mojave installer. Click File->Search->Text tab, untick "unicode", tick "case sensitive", write "NVMe" in the search field. Click "search" button. A result will appear in the bottom as a text string, click "ASCII text "NVMe" found...", right click on the entire branch "51116915-..." and select "replace as is", select your extracted ".ffs" file from above (I do not know if this replace would work, because above in step 6a) it did NOT, so it may be UEFI Tool issue, or another, someone can continue my research and find out)
5b) if you have managed to replace and verify that the string is infact replaced, run the patched Mojave 10.14.3 installer (chances are there will be checksum protections, but I think it is worth the try, as there is not much else that can be attempted on a software level at this point)
Some more info on the topic and the procedure around >here<
Otherwise, Matt cards are not possible on iMacs, thus hardware flashing is done with this, but it is pricey and only worth it if you are planning to use it for business. There may be a way that a cheap SPI programmer would work, but you have to contact info@cmizapper.com with a detailed photo of how the SPI chip looks like on the iMac's motherboard and ask if any of his MacBook tools would work there (I will take a photo of the motherboard these days when upgrading my iMac 5k Late 2015).
Last edited:
Yes that's what my Apple store said too. Any ideas where to source the Apple adhesive? Or have an Apple part number? Thanks!
Unfortunately I don’t. You can purchase on Amazon or eBay but they all pretty much look the same so can’t tell if genuine and I know from experience that many sellers note “OEM” when it actually isn’t.
If you have a Authorized Apple Service Provider in your area then you can see if they will sell a set to you. Providers order directly from Apple. Maybe someone a tech at the retail store will just give one if you ask. I still do service but no longer from a provider or I’d try to help you out.
[doublepost=1551208143][/doublepost]Does anyone recommend using a thermal pad or heat sink on an NVME SSD for an iMac because of potential heat issues?
what happens if you stick the m.2 version of a sata3 860 EVO in the iMac 27" 2013 pcie ? will it work? will it boot/sleep regularly? will it reach it's full capabilities unlike the 2.5" ssd slot?
That’s a good question. I imagine it may work for Late 2012/Early 2013 models which used mSATA. Late 2013 iMacs and later use AHCI and NVME but I believe they can’t support mSATA because not tied to the SATA bus like some PC’s M.2. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.
Last edited:
At first I tested my Crucial P1 (single-sided, 1TB) in a PC case using an adapter-card. There I booted Linux and read all the smart values including the three (3!) temp sensors. At full speed (1700MB/s) it was getting quick very hot - over 90°Celsius. So I bought an additional heatsink with an adhesive thermal pad (8$) and rubbery silicon bands. then the temperatures were much better.
This sandwich tightly fits in my 21.5 Late2013 iMac but the lower right corner touches the aluminum case in the area of the sd slot, the other sides have plenty room.
On my mac-system I installed (for command-line tools) homebrew and smartctl to read out the sensors via terminal:
Code:
$ smartctl -a disk0 | grep -i 'Temperature'
Temperature: 33 Celsius
Warning Comp. Temperature Time: 0
Critical Comp. Temperature Time: 0
Temperature Sensor 1: 33 Celsius
Temperature Sensor 2: 34 Celsius
Temperature Sensor 5: 46 Celsius
$ten minutes of copying and benchmarking the disk gets me:
Code:
$ smartctl -a disk0 | grep -i 'Temperature'
Temperature: 39 Celsius
Warning Comp. Temperature Time: 0
Critical Comp. Temperature Time: 0
Temperature Sensor 1: 39 Celsius
Temperature Sensor 2: 39 Celsius
Temperature Sensor 5: 70 Celsius
$Awesome, thanks for sharing! According to this video it’s best to let the flash run hot and if being throttled to just cover the controller chip with a thermal pad:
I believe that people are reporting issues with the plus models with MacBook Pros so probably best not to use. The non plus are OK.
Thanks for this video, never considered that NAND would need the temperature and you should only cool the controller...
Well, at this point I think I will leave it this way (with the thermal pad already applied)
...although I realised, the left speaker is not working since finishing the ssd-replacement so I even have a second reason to reopen it again... And I still haven't put adhesive tape behind the screen. Hmn...
I’m no expert and am just going off that one source. I’m still concerned about the heat in a iMac and would be interesting to see temps both with and without a heat sink. It seems the heat would probably only be an issue if hot enough to throttle.
Last edited:
so correct me if i'm wrong, but 2 people in this thread got the 760p to work on their imac 27 late 2013 with absolutely no issues? if true, i'll go with the 760p then. what adapter should i buy?
Hello woefi,
Curious why you ask this because my 21,5" late 2013 setup with original only SATA does not accept my Crucial P1 in the ST-NGFF2013-C adapter.
I Actually ordered the crucial because I followed your activities. Sintech says I need to create UEFI boot media without explaining why. My Sata runs latest Mojave and "about this Mac->system details" shows NVMe Express....but no attached ssd.
Is this because there is no actual NVMe driver loaded on SATA delivered systems? Do they differ in any way from Fusion delivered systems?
sudo diskutil list shows no SSD but only my original SATA drive.
Help would be appreciated.
One more thing, did the sintech ST-NGFF2013-C adapter fit precisely to the little screw hole in your iMac 21.5? Mine does not. Maybe I have damaged the SSD slot of my iMac
!?!? The adapter is about 1 mm too long and the crucial even 2mm to fit the screw hole. Really tried en googled why this might be. I have put considerable force on the equipment.
Last edited:
My theory is that iMacs with Fusion drives and SSD-only models upon OS X install get their systems updated with the blade drives firmware (AHCI only on older iMac models, AHCI+NVMe on newer 2015+ models).
The HDD-only models do NOT get firmware support updates. Therefore, what I think would work is to purchase a used Apple blade drive and upon installing OS X, the firmware will be flashed to the motherboard’s chip, which will then make your new NVMe function properly. At this point you can sell away the Apple blade you purchased to flash your bootrom's firmware.
I am not knowledged in 21” iMacs, I only have a 27” 2015 hdd-only model, and it does not have the latest bootrom with NVMe support. Thus normal sleep does NOT work, gotta use hibernate instead.
The HDD-only models do NOT get firmware support updates. Therefore, what I think would work is to purchase a used Apple blade drive and upon installing OS X, the firmware will be flashed to the motherboard’s chip, which will then make your new NVMe function properly. At this point you can sell away the Apple blade you purchased to flash your bootrom's firmware.
I am not knowledged in 21” iMacs, I only have a 27” 2015 hdd-only model, and it does not have the latest bootrom with NVMe support. Thus normal sleep does NOT work, gotta use hibernate instead.
Last edited:
Do you think flashing ROMS is an option? Let's say; if I would flash woefi's ROM on my machine... what would happen? They are both late 2013 21,5" , his cam with fusion drive and DXE driver , mine without... just a thought. Any tips on this?
At least I see a lot of ROMTool flashing with MacPro. Just wondering if this would work for iMac too.
Ciao, per favore chiarisci. Ho un imac 27 "5k 2015 solo HDD Quale NVME è compatibile al 100% Chi dice samsung 970 evo che dice di intel chi è Adata ma che non mi dà problemi di ibernazione o altro?
[doublepost=1551899851][/doublepost]Ciao, per favore chiarisci. Ho un imac 27 "5k 2015 solo HDD Quale NVME è compatibile al 100% Chi dice samsung 970 evo che dice di intel chi è Adata ma che non mi dà problemi di ibernazione o altro?
[doublepost=1551900518][/doublepost]Hello, please clarify. I have an imac 27 "5k 2015 only HDD Which NVME is 100% compatible? Who says samsung 970 evo who says intel who Adata but which does not give me problems of hibernation or other?
[doublepost=1551899851][/doublepost]Ciao, per favore chiarisci. Ho un imac 27 "5k 2015 solo HDD Quale NVME è compatibile al 100% Chi dice samsung 970 evo che dice di intel chi è Adata ma che non mi dà problemi di ibernazione o altro?
[doublepost=1551900518][/doublepost]Hello, please clarify. I have an imac 27 "5k 2015 only HDD Which NVME is 100% compatible? Who says samsung 970 evo who says intel who Adata but which does not give me problems of hibernation or other?
Either the presence of an original Apple blade drive, or the iMac's machine model + board-id are defining which firmware the OS X installer is going to assign to your machine. Ask someone who has the same iMac model with Fusion (at least 128GB blade drive), or a SSD-only model to check their stats.
Run in Terminal:
1) model identifier: sysctl hw.model | awk '{ print $2 }'
2) board-id: ioreg -l | awk -F\" '/board-id/ { print $4 }'
3) EFI version: /usr/libexec/firmwarecheckers/eficheck/eficheck --integrity-check
4) Boot ROM Version: system_profiler SPHardwareDataType | grep -i "Version" | awk -F ':' '{print $1 $2}'
My results are the following for iMac 17.1 (27" Late 2015 5k) originally HDD-only and now with ADATA SX8200 Pro 1TB (sleep does not currently work):
1) iMac17,1
2) Mac-65CE76090165799A (while there are two other board models for iMac 17.1, full list here)
3) IM171.88Z.F000.B00.1809251200
4) 161.0.0.0.0 (while there are some iMacs running 162, 163, or 164.0.0.0.0)
I have also been doing some research and there may be a way to create a standalone firmware installer, some info on the subject here.
Last edited:
Hello woefi,
Curious why you ask this because my 21,5" late 2013 setup with original only SATA does not accept my Crucial P1 in the ST-NGFF2013-C adapter.
...
One more thing, did the sintech ST-NGFF2013-C adapter fit precisely to the little screw hole in your iMac 21.5? Mine does not. Maybe I have damaged the SSD slot of my iMac
-> THIS: I think what happened is, it's not too long, it's that you didn't insert it properly, and so it is not recognised.
Of course you have to be very careful but you also need to apply the right amount of force so it snaps in.
I can tell you that my iMac-model originally was hdd-only.
Last edited:
Take advantage of your expertise and I will ask you some questions even if my English is not good Sorry for this. I ask you if I buy a ssd pcie used Apple I still have problems with sleep / hibernation with Imac 27 "late 2015 only hdd version?
other question the ssd Apple have codes like this MZ-JPV512S / 0A2, MZ-JPV512S / 0A4, MZ-JPV512S / 0A6 etc. How do I understand the years of production? which ones are faster and newer? Thank you
other question the ssd Apple have codes like this MZ-JPV512S / 0A2, MZ-JPV512S / 0A4, MZ-JPV512S / 0A6 etc. How do I understand the years of production? which ones are faster and newer? Thank you
Thanks for sharing those pics. I’m thinking a heat sink can’t hurt especially because I noticed that Western Digital is going to be offering heat sinks as an option with their latest “Black” NVME drives. I think I’ll add one when I do my install to be safe.
Last edited: