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Nickademus

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 22, 2015
10
2
Hi, Please help me...and thank you in advance..

I have an EVGA GTX 680 2Gb EVGA 02G-P4-2680-KR and I tried to flash it 3 times without any luck.
I did the flash by bootcamp windows 7 32 bit.. all done as the instructions.
1. back up my rom
2. flashed the proper rom with -4 -5 -6 parameter got it from here.. https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-680-mac-edition.1565735/page-5#post-17132316
..tried also only with -5 -6
3. hit the "y" twice and all completed succefully
4. reboot to normal Os x El Capitan
5. BLACK SCREEN.. nothing...not even boot..was flashed in slot 1..tried to place it to slot 2...also nothing


Then i place the card to a PC and reflash it again with the back up rom and seems ok without of course the gray bootscreen.

Please help me what I did wrong?
The version of the NVFlash was the V.5.134.0.1...and also i tried the newest one...

I have a macpro 3.1 with El Capitan..
 

AphoticD

macrumors 68020
Feb 17, 2017
2,283
3,467
Hi, Please help me...and thank you in advance..

I have an EVGA GTX 680 2Gb EVGA 02G-P4-2680-KR and I tried to flash it 3 times without any luck.
I did the flash by bootcamp windows 7 32 bit.. all done as the instructions.
1. back up my rom
2. flashed the proper rom with -4 -5 -6 parameter got it from here.. https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-680-mac-edition.1565735/page-5#post-17132316
..tried also only with -5 -6
3. hit the "y" twice and all completed succefully
4. reboot to normal Os x El Capitan
5. BLACK SCREEN.. nothing...not even boot..was flashed in slot 1..tried to place it to slot 2...also nothing


Then i place the card to a PC and reflash it again with the back up rom and seems ok without of course the gray bootscreen.

Please help me what I did wrong?
The version of the NVFlash was the V.5.134.0.1...and also i tried the newest one...

I have a macpro 3.1 with El Capitan..

Here were my notes I copied down from the threads when I did this with a Gigabyte GTX 680 OC (2GB) - Slot 1, cMP 3,1 (El Cap 10.11.6)
  • To flash the card in windows\bootcamp;
  • Download EVGA Mac Bios: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/17132316/
  • Rename the file to: gtx680mac.rom, put it in the same directory you unzipped nvflash to (nvflash folder)
  • Download the Windows version of nvflash (works with 32 bit and 64 bit): http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2231/nvflash-5-134-0-1-for-windows/
  • Open a command prompt within Windows (right click on command prompt, run as admin)
  • Change to the directory to nvflash
  • Backup your original Bios: nvflash -b my680.rom
  • Flash the mac bios: nvflash -5 -6 gtx680mac.rom
  • It'll ask you two questions, hit "y" for both.
  • Reboot
  • Make sure the GTX 680 is the only card installed when you do this.
The only difference that stands out here is that I flashed mine in Windows 10 (64bit) via Bootcamp on the same Mac and only used the -5 -6 parameters.
 

Nickademus

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 22, 2015
10
2
Could this be related to the problem I had here?
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-gtx-680-models.1578255/page-11#post-22663894
Directly afterwards user nigelbb provided a link and suggested to try an older version of nvflash and this worked for me.

Yes..i tried also with this version...and also some other versions...still nothing...black screen after restart in Os X
[doublepost=1506343521][/doublepost]
Here were my notes I copied down from the threads when I did this with a Gigabyte GTX 680 OC (2GB) - Slot 1, cMP 3,1 (El Cap 10.11.6)
  • To flash the card in windows\bootcamp;
  • Download EVGA Mac Bios: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/17132316/
  • Rename the file to: gtx680mac.rom, put it in the same directory you unzipped nvflash to (nvflash folder)
  • Download the Windows version of nvflash (works with 32 bit and 64 bit): http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2231/nvflash-5-134-0-1-for-windows/
  • Open a command prompt within Windows (right click on command prompt, run as admin)
  • Change to the directory to nvflash
  • Backup your original Bios: nvflash -b my680.rom
  • Flash the mac bios: nvflash -5 -6 gtx680mac.rom
  • It'll ask you two questions, hit "y" for both.
  • Reboot
  • Make sure the GTX 680 is the only card installed when you do this.
The only difference that stands out here is that I flashed mine in Windows 10 (64bit) via Bootcamp on the same Mac and only used the -5 -6 parameters.

I have done all of these but ...still nothing...
 

CapnDavey

macrumors 6502
Apr 11, 2015
345
87
Tip down load the older Nvidia flasher from 2013 or before the new one doesn't work for flashing 680's at all trust me. I went thru this for 2 weeks until I found the answer! good luck
 

Nickademus

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 22, 2015
10
2
Tip down load the older Nvidia flasher from 2013 or before the new one doesn't work for flashing 680's at all trust me. I went thru this for 2 weeks until I found the answer! good luck

Thank you...so please which version of NVFlash should I use... because even the V.5.134.0.1 from 2013...didnt work for me either...
 

AphoticD

macrumors 68020
Feb 17, 2017
2,283
3,467
Thank you...so please which version of NVFlash should I use... because even the V.5.134.0.1 from 2013...didnt work for me either...

I can confirm that was the same version I used. By all accounts, the flashing steps you've taken *should* work, so to confirm your sanity, it might be best to buy a different card and try again. Sell off your current card with its original (known working) ROM and be done with it. In theory you shouldn't be out of pocket any more than the cost of shipping ( you may even come out on top if you strike the right deal!)
 

owbp

macrumors 6502a
Jan 28, 2016
719
245
Belgrade, Serbia
To add to the confusion, I have tried flashing Zotac GTX680 (reference board/cooler) for a day or two with 5.134.0.1.
Always had some kind of error and not a successful flash. I then downloaded newest nvflash and succeeded right away.
I was at Windows 7 Pro IIRC and I bought the card during July, so it was either 5.370.0 or 5.398.0 version of nvflash.

P.S. I've tried it in despair before returning the GPU because I also read many times that you should use nvflash from the time the card was released.
 

AphoticD

macrumors 68020
Feb 17, 2017
2,283
3,467
The OP stated you were using 32-bit Windows 7. Can you try running nvflash v5.134.0.1 on a 64-bit System?
 

Nickademus

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 22, 2015
10
2
To add to the confusion, I have tried flashing Zotac GTX680 (reference board/cooler) for a day or two with 5.134.0.1.
Always had some kind of error and not a successful flash. I then downloaded newest nvflash and succeeded right away.
I was at Windows 7 Pro IIRC and I bought the card during July, so it was either 5.370.0 or 5.398.0 version of nvflash.

P.S. I've tried it in despair before returning the GPU because I also read many times that you should use nvflash from the time the card was released.


Hi... I tried both versions of NVflash...5.370.0 and 5.398.0...but nothing...no boot at all...
i used the command nvflash -6 gtx680mac.rom
update succesfully ....place it on my mac...and ..just nothing again :(

any other idea? please help me
 
Last edited:

ActionableMango

macrumors G3
Sep 21, 2010
9,613
6,909
Hi, Please help me...and thank you in advance.

It sounds like you did everything correctly and you have a card that is known to work with the flash. The only thing I can think of is the older 32-bit Windows or there may be something strange about the PC you are using for flashing, such as some sort of BIOS setting that affects flashing.

At this point all I can recommend is to try flashing on the Mac Pro itself with Windows 64-bit. That will eliminate any potential problems caused by the PC or Windows.

If you cannot get 64-bit Windows, then try the flash on the Mac Pro using FreeDOS.
 

Nickademus

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 22, 2015
10
2
Thanks
It sounds like you did everything correctly and you have a card that is known to work with the flash. The only thing I can think of is the older 32-bit Windows or there may be something strange about the PC you are using for flashing, such as some sort of BIOS setting that affects flashing.

At this point all I can recommend is to try flashing on the Mac Pro itself with Windows 64-bit. That will eliminate any potential problems caused by the PC or Windows.

If you cannot get 64-bit Windows, then try the flash on the Mac Pro using FreeDOS.
Thanks for the help...I will try windows 10... 64 bit...but i have read that it can be done by 32 bit ...and i have tried both in bootcamp windows 7 and also windows 10 32bit on a Pc..
 

ActionableMango

macrumors G3
Sep 21, 2010
9,613
6,909
Thanks

Thanks for the help...I will try windows 10... 64 bit...but i have read that it can be done by 32 bit ...and i have tried both in bootcamp windows 7 and also windows 10 32bit on a Pc..

I think you are correct in that 32-bit should have worked. I am admittedly grasping at straws here. I have flashed a few 680 cards myself, both 2GB and 4GB, always EVGA, and it has just worked for me but I've always used 64-bit Windows and always in my Mac Pro.

You can look through the step-by-step instructions in my signature and double-check to see if you missed anything, but I don't think you did. It appears that you really did your homework, that you did everything right, and that you even tried many alternatives already.

In the end, @AphoticD might be right and maybe you just need to try a different card. I'm sorry I don't know what else to say.
 
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jhowarth

macrumors 65816
Jan 13, 2017
1,122
1,500
I think you are correct in that 32-bit should have worked. I am admittedly grasping at straws here. I have flashed a few 680 cards myself, both 2GB and 4GB, always EVGA, and it has just worked for me but I've always used 64-bit Windows and always in my Mac Pro.

You can look through the step-by-step instructions in my signature and double-check to see if you missed anything, but I don't think you did. It appears that you really did your homework, that you did everything right, and that you even tried many alternatives already.

In the end, @AphoticD might be right and maybe you just need to try a different card. I'm sorry I don't know what else to say.

One issue that I haven't seen mentioned here, but is discussed in at least one YouTube video on using nvflash, is the active video driver for the 680 card should be disabled within the Device Manager under Windows prior to attempting the flash.
 
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jhowarth

macrumors 65816
Jan 13, 2017
1,122
1,500
I flash my cards with freedos, either on Mac or PC. AMD and NVidia with ancient CLI Tools.

Are you running FreeDOS from a CD? On my MacPro 3,1, I have been unable to find any permutation of USB key which will boot Windows or DOS which is a PITA.
 

Macschrauber

macrumors 68030
Dec 27, 2015
2,987
1,494
Germany
I have a spare small HDD that I throw in both PC or Mac 1.1 to 3.1

Dont remember if I tried it with 4.1/5.1 but I bet it works.

To my knowledge CMP dont boots legacy Filesystems on USB. Tried that several times, even with boot managers like refit or grub.
 

thornslack

macrumors 6502
Nov 16, 2013
410
165
Are you using the DVI output? Do you have the nvidia web driver installed on the Mac side?
 
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