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MBP 1,1-10,2 Permanently Disable 2011 15"/17" MacBook Pro Dedicated GPU - gMux IC Bypass

prospervic said:
Permanently disabling the dGPU seems like an extreme solution.

I've gotten great results (less heat, far less noise, slightly better battery life) by simply turning off Intel's Turbo Boost with this app: http://tbswitcher.rugarciap.com

Marco Arment offers strong arguments for this: https://marco.org/2020/01/13/macos-low-power-mode-redux
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I'm not sure what you were trying to say, but it didn't work. I think you might've misread the thread!

Also unrelated but I was curious, I know the GPU is faulty but was it ever found out why? What's breaking with these that it's such a widespread problem?
 
protocold said:
sorry to pull this old post up, but I have tried this on a 2010 15, it worked until I cut power to the dedicated GPU. And now it just spin up and down power cycling.. Is there a way to cut dedicated GPU power properly?
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I looked at the schematics for the 2850 (Nvidia 2010) and 2915(AMD 2011) and the power circuit for both GPUs is almost identical.
Are you sure that you followed the mod instructions to the letter? For example it states that after you do the EFI mod, you must not do a normal reboot until R8911 is removed. Is that what you did? Also just in case it is significant, what OSX were you using? I am wondering if different OSX versions have different EFI boot setings.
 
b251 said:
3) As for the battery indicator brightness mod, can someone share me a picture from the exact solder points on a 17" MBP as I don't fully understand the diagrams mentioned in post #628.
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Did you figure it out? I did it to mine and can take a picture.
 
Nar001 said:
Also unrelated but I was curious, I know the GPU is faulty but was it ever found out why? What's breaking with these that it's such a widespread problem?
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The chips are just bad, and they run too hot (thermal stress). Louis Rossmann has a video on YouTube called " Reballing flip chip GPUs is ******** - the truth about dead laptop GPUs & repairing them. ", where he speculates why they fail.
 
Nar001 said:
I'm not sure what you were trying to say, but it didn't work. I think you might've misread the thread!

Also unrelated but I was curious, I know the GPU is faulty but was it ever found out why? What's breaking with these that it's such a widespread problem?
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I think it's mentioned in the interview that Louis Rossman did with DD. I don't remember the terminology, but it's the amd gpu specifically - not the soldering, some other "layer" of the component.
 
dosdude1 said:
The Lattice branded programmer is what you need. The Xlinix ones won't work (however they potentially can be modified to). The jumper wires for the Arduino kit are perfect for connecting the programmer.

The pogo-pin connector link I sent would be for the board itself only. You'd need to buy the pogo pins and pin header, then solder them onto the board. The BOM with part numbers is listed in the Oshpark project.
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Sorry for not being on topic but I am new here did not quite sort out how to post a question, so, I do it here if you do not mind for this single time:
Sillybits

Sillybits ​

1 second ago

Hi, can you tell me if its still possible to use a second monitor after disabling the AMD video card on the mac book pro 17' 2011?
And how about running 3D programs like Rhino? Or do I really need the AMD for that? I am eager to upgrade to Mojave or Catalina but I just cannot find the answers. I am sure you know, many thanks in advance and again apologies for not being right on topic here.
 
dosdude1 said:
Attached are the diagrams for soldering the jumper wire to enable backlight brightness control using the battery status indicator button on both a 15" and 17" board. Also, here's a video showing exactly how backlight control using that button works...
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dosdude1 said:
Using the keyboard keys will require some changes to the DeMux firmware, so I'll let you know when that's available. Soldering jumper wires to different locations will be necessary, as I mentioned before.
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Hi, I made an account just to ask, did the DeMux firmware ever get updated for the keyboard brightness buttons fix?
 
Jlodew0 said:
You just solder An extra wire and you van use the battery indicator button as brightness button
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Thank you, what I meant to ask was whether Dosdude1 had ever updated the firmware to restore the ability to control brightness with the original buttons after soldering a different wire.

But now that you mention it, I do have to ask, what prerequisites are there for using the battery indicator? The shop that fixed mine refused to tell me who’s lattice firmware they used to disable the dGPU, and if it wasn’t dosdude’s, would I still be able to connect that jumper and control brightness using the battery indicator?
 
threewattledbellbird said:
Thank you, what I meant to ask was whether Dosdude1 had ever updated the firmware to restore the ability to control brightness with the original buttons after soldering a different wire.

But now that you mention it, I do have to ask, what prerequisites are there for using the battery indicator? The shop that fixed mine refused to tell me who’s lattice firmware they used to disable the dGPU, and if it wasn’t dosdude’s, would I still be able to connect that jumper and control brightness using the battery indicator?
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if your gmux firmware is recent enough, you can: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...s.2134019/page-26?post=28303473#post-28303473

this wasn't included in the beginning. However, If you have bought the firmware yourself, prior to the modification for the backlight control; you could contact dosdude and get the newer firmware for free.
 
threewattledbellbird said:
Thank you, what I meant to ask was whether Dosdude1 had ever updated the firmware to restore the ability to control brightness with the original buttons after soldering a different wire.

But now that you mention it, I do have to ask, what prerequisites are there for using the battery indicator? The shop that fixed mine refused to tell me who’s lattice firmware they used to disable the dGPU, and if it wasn’t dosdude’s, would I still be able to connect that jumper and control brightness using the battery indicator?
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I have actually, as of a few days ago, finally managed to get full, NATIVE software-controlled backlight brightness working in the DeMux firmware. Expect a release within a few days, if not today.
 
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dosdude1 said:
I have actually, as of a few days ago, finally managed to get full, NATIVE software-controlled backlight brightness working in the DeMux firmware. Expect a release within a few days, if not today.
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My god. That is HUGE. Controlled by the native keys?
 
HUGE UPDATE: My new "DeMux" gMux IC firmware with FULL NATIVE software controlled backlight support has now been RELEASED. Works 100% out of the box on all Mac OS versions 10.12 (Seirra) and older. 10.13 High Sierra and later require a small software patch, which will enable the same native functionality. For all info, please visit the DeMux Webpage. A demo video can be viewed here:


I worked months of tireless hours on this, so I really hope you all enjoy!
 
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dosdude1 said:
HUGE UPDATE: My new "DeMux" gMux IC firmware with FULL NATIVE software controlled backlight support has now been RELEASED. Works 100% out of the box on all Mac OS versions 10.12 (Seirra) and older. 10.13 High Sierra and later require a small software patch, which will enable the same native functionality. For all info, please visit the DeMux Webpage. A demo video can be viewed here:


I worked months of tireless hours on this, so I really hope you all enjoy!
Click to expand...
My god, this is huge. We have a god amongst men here.
 
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dosdude1 said:
HUGE UPDATE: My new "DeMux" gMux IC firmware with FULL NATIVE software controlled backlight support has now been RELEASED. Works 100% out of the box on all Mac OS versions 10.12 (Seirra) and older. 10.13 High Sierra and later require a small software patch, which will enable the same native functionality. For all info, please visit the DeMux Webpage. A demo video can be viewed here:


I worked months of tireless hours on this, so I really hope you all enjoy!
Click to expand...

Running your patched catalina on a 17” mbp 2011 demuxed about 2h ago. However, I cannot find “backlight control patch “ in the patch updater
 
Jlodew0 said:
Running your patched catalina on a 17” mbp 2011 demuxed about 2h ago. However, I cannot find “backlight control patch “ in the patch updater
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It should now be available on both Mojave and Catalina patchers, via Patch Updater.
 
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