Pro 1.1 EFI vs FCP7 vs FCPX and BMD card

[basilt]

No, I just said it's rare. Still, it's a 7850, so I'd rather try to find a 7950, as it is really easily flashable.

thanks again. still bidding on these 79xx. and 270x, 280x, one day luck will shine for me as well

 

[basilt]

I edit as i bought a
Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7970 (3072 MB) (GV-R797OC-3GD) Graphics Card

Until it arrives, any help on what flashing will i need or other things to make the card
ready on the mac is appreciated. Firmware etc... It will have a cd i was told as well,
not sure whats included

By the way, i saw that the card has 1x6 and 1x8 pins power connectors. To connect to the
macpro, do i need 1x8 pin to MINI 6pin or standard 6pin size cable ? I am not sure if the
connectors on motherboard are Mini type or standard.

 

[hwojtek]

You need exactly the set I laid out before. Two Mac-specific motherboard-to-6-pin cables and one additional 6-to-8 conversion.

 

[basilt]

ok, i will try to see where i can find this adaptor.

do i have to use both connectors for power (a must?)

 

[hwojtek]

Both. They're there for a reason

 

[basilt]

Ordered the cables and also got a 8-to-6pin converter described as
MSI PCI-Express 6-pin female to 8-pin male cable adapter K1G-3006010-E06

Item arrived first, and i noticed that one of the 8-pin holes is empty (no cable inside)/ see through !
Can anyone confirm this card might work with my
Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7970 (3072 MB) (GV-R797OC-3GD) Graphics Card
on the 8-pin power socket on the card or it does not work please ?

the 6=to=6pin mini cable for mac is ok.

 

[hwojtek]

Item arrived first, and i noticed that one of the 8-pin holes is empty (no cable inside)/ see through !
Can anyone confirm this card might work with my
Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7970 (3072 MB) (GV-R797OC-3GD) Graphics Card
on the 8-pin power socket on the card or it does not work please ?

I believe it just lacks the signal it can not provide anyway (sense B):

No need to worry, though.

 

[basilt]

I believe it just lacks the signal it can not provide anyway (sense B): No need to worry, though.

thanks again for the very useful chart -reply !
I observed the cable today, and one end is ok (8pins) but the other end does not fit the 6-pin mac cable.
In the mean time, another cable 8->6 pin arrived and is ok, so i will return the msi one...

Card is still travelling....
Until then...
i am Still with 8GB Ram.
-How am i going to flash the card ? Any driver links to download and have ready on time please?
Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB (GV-R797OC-3GD) rev 2.1, pcie, EAN 0818313014306.

-what OSX do i have to have to be able to install from scratch/ clean and be able to upgrade to the latest ?

 

[hwojtek]

1. Use Freedos or Windows and (respectively) atiflash or atiwinflash to dump the ORIGINAL firmware from the card. Save it for later. Restart to OS X.
2. Get http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,5619.msg19874.html#msg19874 the file on the bottom (MAC7970.ROM)
3. Get https://cloud.mail.ru/public/8c978735fc99/bundle.tar.bz2 and double-click to uncompress to a folder.
4. Put the original firmware from (1.) into this folder.
5. Click on Apple → About this Mac → System profiler → Graphics/Displays. Look for "Vendor" and "Device" in the right pane. Note down the DEVICE number (will be something like 0x6789). Actually 0x is redunant, you need 4 last digits.
6. Open terminal and navigate to your folder (use cd /Users/... etc)
7. In terminal, issue the following command, assuming:
a) your original firmware has been saved with name "cardname.rom"
b) your Device ID is 6789 (it WILL not be 6789 BTW)

./makerom.sh --efifile=7950mac.efi --romfile=efiromheader.rom --originalrom=cardname.rom --devid=6789

8. If there are no Java and Python errors in the output, you will have a new proper EFI firmware file sized 128k. However if there ARE any errors, this file is useless, remove it. Reinstall Java from java.com, restart the computer, check for any updates in App Store. Go to 6.
9. Save the new firmware to an USB stick and back to Windows (strongly recommended).
10. Use WinAtiFlash to upload the new firmware to the card. Once done, shut down and reboot to Windows.
11. If everything worked OK, you can see the Apple logo on boot.

12. If the above doesn't work and you have the original firmware from the card dumped, just send it over to me, I will do the terminal stuff.

References:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-boot-screens-pci-system-information.1808938/
http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,5619.0.html

 

[basilt]

hwojtek

thanks for all the help insofar ! Card arrived 2 days ago, and got it cleaned and some new paste and silicon pads replaced ok, i will see now how to do the rest steps.

Where can i download atiflash or atiwinflash ?
The card arrived with a CD 'gigabyte amd graphics accelerator driver cd' code 12dc1-r00003-00ar
also states win xp/vista/7/8 display drivers, directx 9 runtime libraries, user manual, gigabyte OC Guru II.

anything useful here as well ? Do i have to do the installation from this CD first, then your steps ?

By the way. I am still in Leopard version. Did not install any osx yet to be sure i will work with card first. is it ok to do the steps under leopard ?

 

[hwojtek]

You may put the CD right into the trashcan. No use in OS X and for Windows you'll find fresh drivers on ATI website http://support.amd.com/en-us/download
ATI Winflash is here: https://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2311/ati-winflash-2-6-7
Sure enough the Mac part of the steps should work on Leopard, however I am not sure if Leopard has drivers for the 7950 so while the card will work (bootscreens) it may not be accelerated properly.

 

[basilt]

hi again.

I installed card ok, made a freedos bootable. copied ROM file inside second 'bundle' folder. they were two, one inside another under same name. then moved the subfolder and replaced the empty one, and now i have 1 folder 'bundle' with all files inside.

I have atiflash on root.

i downloaded 1) amd radeon-driver autodetect-16.12.1-minimalsetup-161208_web.exe
and this needs internet. Not sure if i have to download the non-internet file as will run from
freedos and is about 500MB. What should i do ?

Which to run first the ATIflash then the radeon driver ?

I restarted mac, and the 'expansion slot utility' opened up automatically.
it shows numbered 1-2-3-4 slots icons and in
1- i have geforce 7300gt card === running at maximum
2- 'x1 blue color, x16 yellow bar'- 'ATI VGA-compatible controller card' ===running below optimal speed.
3,4 empty.

I also hear a interminent buzz like a power noise, very close to the power button. Not sure if its from the card 2 GPU plugs on motherboard. and have problems.

I guess might be from the fact card is not flashed yet?

Please look if i am at the right folder as i am not sure to which folder i should be and if command line is correct (cmd begins with ./makerom ….) I executed it and does not work. I get Not such file or directory.

Also, what i dont get is what version of drivers to download, win32 or 64bit and whats the point, as i have only freedos disk ?

thanks

 

[casperes1996]

i downloaded 1) amd radeon-driver autodetect-16.12.1-minimalsetup-161208_web.exe
and this needs internet. Not sure if i have to download the non-internet file as will run from
freedos and is about 500MB. What should i do ?

Never done this myself, but I recommend just getting the not-internet version.

 

[hwojtek]

You don't need ANY driver for freedos. The drivers are for Windows. You boot to rudimental command line OS, so just use the atiflash (DOS version, obviously, https://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2728/atiflash-2-74) no drivers needed ever in this environment.

Please switch the cards so the ATI sits in the bottom (#1) slot and the GT7300 in the top (right below the hard disks).

You are quite surely not in the right folder. You need to navigate towards it (assuming it is a folder called "Flash" that sits on your Desktop) using "cd". Once you open the Terminal, it should open in your home folder, so you need to go a bit deeper, issue:

cd /Desktop/Flash [enter]

And you're in the right place.

 

[casperes1996]

You don't need ANY driver for freedos. The drivers are for Windows. You boot to rudimental command line OS, so just use the atiflash (DOS version, obviously, https://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2728/atiflash-2-74) no drivers needed ever in this environment.

I originally thought it was a bit weird that a driver would be involved too, but I assumed maybe the flashing utility needed it to speak to the card or something

 

[basilt]

H: i reply back to you again. i do something wrong...
Please switch the cards so the ATI sits in the bottom (#1) slot and the GT7300 in the top (right below the hard disks).

** I did and noise is gone, although i broke one plastic safety plastic notch. I will see what causes this noise again.

You are quite surely not in the right folder. You need to navigate towards it (assuming it is a folder called "Flash" that sits on your Desktop) using "cd". Once you open the Terminal, it should open in your home folder, so you need to go a bit deeper, issue:

** Ok, i tried again, no success. Can you guide me in this example with CD cmd ?

1. My folder is on desktop callec '2kng-dtp'
2. Inside i have copied all files, driver ati etc.
3. The 7950mac.efi and mac7970.rom file is inside a subfolder (of 2kng-dtp) folder named 'bundle'
with other files, as downloaded from your link.
4. found my id is 6798
so, from root at terminal i go and type
1. cd /desktop/2kng-dtp/bundle
2. i run the ./makerom command as below
3. (i am inside bundle folder, i use capitals for any file i see has capitals as well)
./makerom.sh --efifile=7950mac.efi --romfile=mac7970.ROM --originalrom=myold-macpro-rom.rom --devid=6798

4. correct ?

5. I tried to make a freedos usb using rufus, did it but at startup i press Option key and does not list none
of my 2 usb drives to boot. Any solution here, should i try boot from cd rufus ? Then after cd boot, i will try
to insert my usb drive and possibly make it work ?

 

[casperes1996]

5. I tried to make a freedos usb using rufus, did it but at startup i press Option key and does not list none
of my 2 usb drives to boot. Any solution here, should i try boot from cd rufus ? Then after cd boot, i will try
to insert my usb drive and possibly make it work ?

I'm not the expert here, and have never flashed a card myself, so for full on confirmation, wait for someone else. What I can say though is you did the cd command right, haha. It looks like everything else has been done correctly too.

The USB sticks not showing up for boot could mean several things. One possibility is that the USBs just don't support the necessary interface for booting. Sometimes, getting USBs bootable can just be a bit of an odd one. I once created a Mint boot USB, and my Mac wouldn't boot from it. Then I plugged it into a Windows laptop, installed Mint just fine, and when I tried with my Mac again, it worked perfectly. No clue what went on there.

If you can't get it on the bootscreen, run the following commands

First, mount your USB on OS X

then

sudo bless /Volumes/usb-name --setBoot

It may be a single dash instead of two there at the end, and you may need to have -mount (or --mount) right after bless. I can never remember that stuff...

 

[hwojtek]

OK, just a quick thought... where do you have the myold-macpro-rom.rom file from?

 

[basilt]

OK, just a quick thought... where do you have the myold-macpro-rom.rom file from?

-----
I think i screw it up with this command....

i paid attention to the files inside 'bundle' subfolder. Using your syntax,
the 7950mac.efi, and the efiromheader.rom and the makerom.sh, exist in this subfolder.

Q: Why i copied the MAC7970.ROM file in this subfolder if it has no usage in the command line ?

From what you wrote, i supposed that the 'cardname.rom' is a generic example for a filename, to be saved after running the ATI program to dump it. and this is the reason i substituted it with 'myold-macpro.....rom' filename

BUT the usb did not boot, i realise now, so the ati was not run, therefore, i have NO dump rom !
Gee, that sucks !

I downloaded UNebootin app, and run it to create a freedos USB, i will test tommorrow and see if it boots, or hell will take over this planet....

Furthermore, the romfile=efiromheader.rom parameter, is being replaced with the rom filename i downloaded from your link. Is it correct ? i.e. the --romfile=efiromheader.rom
to be replaced with --romfile=MAC7970.rom ???

thats all

 

[hwojtek]

I have no idea why you did this, but the one and ONLY file that needs to be added to this folder is the ORIGINAL ROM dumped in FreeDOS.
OK, it's like that: Mac OS X currently can not dump the contains of the ROM and can not write new firware to the card. This is why we need to use FreeDOS and atiflash that runs within FreeDOS.
1 - we boot in FreeDOS, use atiflash to save the data from the card (using: atiflash -s 0 original.rom) - which means save from adapter 0 to a file called original.rom. If you have only one ATI/AMD adapter in the computer, it will always be "0".
2 - now that the file original.rom sits on your usb stick right beside atiflash.exe, you boot to OS X.
3 - put the USB stick into the computer, copy the original.rom to your script directory (in your current case: /Desktop/2kng-dtp/bundle)
4 - remember: we need ALL the files that were originally in the script directory. That's crucial.
5 - Open up About this Mac → System report → Graphics/Displays → on the right you'll see the ATI 7xxx card. Look up the
Device ID of this card.
6 - now run the script with the command. Remember, there is ONLY ONE thing that needs to be changed in the script command line, the Device ID you have looked up in 5. Checklist: [ ] your ROM from FreeDOS sits in the script folder? [ ] is it named "original.rom"? So no need to change anything else. Go ahead with:

./makerom.sh --efifile=7950mac.efi --romfile=efiromheader.rom --originalrom=original.rom --devid=6???

And after a few seconds a new file called original.efirom.rom (or VERY similar) will be created in the script folder.

7 - copy this file to the exactly same location on your USB stick where you took the original.rom from
8 - RENAME the file to new.rom
9 - shut down the computer, reboot to FreeDOS (as in 1)
10 - atiflash -p 0 new.rom
11 - Done. Reboot to OS X, if everything went fine, you can see your bootscreens on ATI alone.

 

[basilt]

I made a trial with unetbootin, and on pc boots ok, but does not boot on mac.

Not sure if it has to do with Leopard…

Alternatively any other OS to install and be able to run ATI files, and see them using DIR cmd etc.

thanks again

 

[basilt]

The only problem i cannot solve insofar, is that i cannot boot with usb at all. rufus or netbootin. with freedos

any suggestions and exact steps how to make a CD bootable and then how to run / what to choose if it is recognised and run ati etc, if the bootable steps
will not allow me to add files in the bootable CD ?

what programs to use etc ? i use win 7- 64b gen2

Or maybe if anyone can make an image of a working bootable usb and pass it to me to burn it with disk utility
or win32image writer free program or whatever other alternative ?

OR is it time to install i.e bootcamp and boot from there and how to do it ?

 

[casperes1996]

The only problem i cannot solve insofar, is that i cannot boot with usb at all. rufus or netbootin. with freedos

Did you try blessing it from OS X/macOS? I posted above how to.

 

[basilt]

does not work with blessing, dont know the command does not execute properly... anyway thanks for help.

 

[casperes1996]

does not work with blessing, dont know the command does not execute properly... anyway thanks for help.

What does it output if it doesn't execute properly?