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Race to dump the 4870 ROM, Who's first?

tjlazer said:
I was wondering if one flashes the reference cards with OEM apple 4870.rom will the card run at 5.0 GT/s? Also has there been any progress to getting the flashed cards running at full PCI speed?
Click to expand...

Yes, I figure out how to modify flashed 4870 running at full PCI speed.
But, it is just little (really little) difference on performance.
Don't listen to others' rumor about how 5.0GT/s being more fast.
Both are almost same in ATI card.
Please read what netkas said:http://netkas.org/?p=115
 
Could some efi pro take a look at this

I used pipomolo42's fixrom.py script to build an efi rom for a Sapphire 4870 (512 MB with black PC board) after downloading the original pc4870.rom file from the card and using his provided script and 4870.rom file. The script seems to run in terminal and generates an efi.part file as well as new pc4870.rom file with the right creation date and bit size but when I flash that to the card using atiflash.exe in Windows although the flash completes fine the card does not display the Apple boot screen but does reach a usable desktop (in 10.8.3).
If someone could look at the enclosed zipped folder of the source rom, efi.part file and final pc4870.rom used for the flash and tell me what I am doing wrong, I would be very thankful. (The file names have been edited for clarity—originalpc4870.rom is the original PC rom file from the PC card, and pc4870.rom is created rom used to flash the card to Mac efi rom that is not working. efi.part is the file created by the fixrom.py script.
I am sure it must be me doing something dumb but I cannot see what.
 

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  • romefi.zip
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nekton1, basically you've used wrong values in script, which does extract efi part. Efi in your pc4870.rom is incomplete.
I attached correct ROM built from your original4870pc.rom. It will work now.
 

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  • nekton4870.ROM.zip
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Hi 666blacksheep,

I got some access time and flashed the ROM you sent me and it is 98% OK. The oddity is that after the Apple spinner, it displays a black screen for about 1 second before going to the log-in desktop.
It is not a big problem but if there is an "easy" tweak that could be made to fix the flash, it would be nice.
I attach a zip of the short mkv file showing the black flash.
Thanks.
 

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  • blackscreenflash.mkv.zip
    1.7 MB · Views: 156
Weird... Is this "original4870PC.ROM" direct dump off the card or you DL'd it from techpowerup?
Do you have any other OS to test it? it looks more like a driver thing TBH (I could be wrong OFC). Is it Lion or ML? Try PRAM reset too, if it won't help, won't hurt.
 
Thanks 666blacksheep.
The originalpc4870.rom is the dump from the original rom of the PC card made using atiflash.exe.
I tried the PRAM reset and it makes no difference. I will try it in another machine and see what happens. This is a MacPro 5,1 running 10.8.3.
 
Hmm... I still bet on driver. Unfortunately I don't have any 4870 to test it out. Maybe someone with flashed 4870 could confirm/deny this issue in ML? I'm 99.99% sure that ROM is not a cause. OFC I can make another one.
What card it exactly is? Reference one?

Edit: OK, I'll make another ROM in a few minutes. I've noticed that 4870.ROM you attached has different modification date than one I have in my archive (mine has earlier one).
 
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nekton1 said:
Thanks 666blacksheep.
The originalpc4870.rom is the dump from the original rom of the PC card made using atiflash.exe.
I tried the PRAM reset and it makes no difference. I will try it in another machine and see what happens. This is a MacPro 5,1 running 10.8.3.
Click to expand...

Here is new ROM for you made from Apple 4870 ROM I had on my HDD.
 

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  • nekton4870_2.ROM.zip
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Hi, I am trying to add EFI to a sapphire 4870 using Zeus but I get an error.
I was advised to use an older version of zeus but I cant find one.
I also tried to use Pipomolo42 instructions but I cant find anywhere the file "4870.ROM".
I have already saved the firmware using gpuz.
Can someone add efi to it or give me instructions on how to do it?
I have a sapphire 4870 1GB
p/n:102-b50702-10-at
sku: 21133-04

I have attached the original firmware (without EFI)
thanks
 

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  • RV770.zip
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many thanks, I really appreciate it but unfortunately it did not work.
Zeus refused to add efi and to flash the firmware so I went the easy way and update it with ATIWinFlash but after restart nothing appeared on both display ports, either in windows or osx.
I used the ATIwinflash to recover to factory firmware and I am back to normal.
Actually I am using 10.7.5 , the 4870 card is recognized without flashing but i can only view the extended desktop of the secondary display which contains no controls (menu bar/dock etc)
Do u think that I have an incompatible card or is a tweak in the rom needed?
Any ideas ?
many thanks

EDIT: I tried flashing the firmware using Ubcd and atiflash via Dos command prompt and the same thing happened, no video from the 4870. reflashed it with the original firmware and I am back where i started from.
Now I am sure that the efi added firmware that u have provided is not working.
Also I have downloaded & flashed this efi modified rom:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/8723534/
which has exactly the same p/n and slightly different sku but still no joy!

Any ideas on what can i do next?
thanks
 
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many thanks I really appreciate it.
I cant find anywhere the 4870.rom file that pipomolo42 mentioned, the link is outdated.
can someone share it ?
thanks
.
 
many thanks for the reply.
I am using a dvi to vga adapter to connect my monitors, since I have no dvi inputs, the resolution i am using is 1024X768 :D
With the original factory firmware , the dvi to vga adapter works without issues in both display ports on Mac(10.7.5) & PC(winXP) so I thought that they should work too when flashed.
Also i get no video in windows , does the efi added firmware affects windows operation too ?
Unfortunately i dont have a dvi compatible monitor, I should try to find one and check it out.
Any chance of sharing the original 4870.rom that pipomolo42 is talking about , so that i can try adding the efi by myself?
Many thanks for all the help :D

Update: Sorry for the trouble guys and thanks for your support. I removed the 7300gt and after flashing again, I do get the apple logo at startup on the upper dvi port by using a dvi to vga adapter.when it boots to OSX I get no video, which I think is normal since I use VGA. The strange thing is that after booting with the secondary display port if I connect the vga cable to the primary port then I have video without probs!
But if I have the primary display port connected during post , then no video is available.
Anyways , I ll find a DVI to HDMI adapter and I ll connect it to my TV, to check if both ports are worikng.
many thanks
 
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Can these cards be flashed ?

i-powercolor-radeon-hd4870-1gb-ddr5-256bit-pci-e-ax4870-1gbd5-h.jpg
 
khatz said:
many thanks for the reply.
I am using a dvi to vga adapter to connect my monitors, since I have no dvi inputs, the resolution i am using is 1024X768 :D
With the original factory firmware , the dvi to vga adapter works without issues in both display ports on Mac(10.7.5) & PC(winXP) so I thought that they should work too when flashed.
Also i get no video in windows , does the efi added firmware affects windows operation too ?
Unfortunately i dont have a dvi compatible monitor, I should try to find one and check it out.
Any chance of sharing the original 4870.rom that pipomolo42 is talking about , so that i can try adding the efi by myself?
Many thanks for all the help :D

Update: Sorry for the trouble guys and thanks for your support. I removed the 7300gt and after flashing again, I do get the apple logo at startup on the upper dvi port by using a dvi to vga adapter.when it boots to OSX I get no video, which I think is normal since I use VGA. The strange thing is that after booting with the secondary display port if I connect the vga cable to the primary port then I have video without probs!
But if I have the primary display port connected during post , then no video is available.
Anyways , I ll find a DVI to HDMI adapter and I ll connect it to my TV, to check if both ports are worikng.
many thanks
Click to expand...

It has to be mentioned at least 20 times here, no useable VGA from flashed 4870s

It was true when this thread was active, and still true today .
 
I cannot find a working BIOS for XFX HD4870 1 GB ZWFL VA.0. I'm attaching original one for analysis.

Tried all known roms, and only some booted with grey screen, but as Software Render. Something is really messed up with this model.
 

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  • RV770.zip
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You should attach the one you made already.

If there are no mistakes in it you may be out of luck.

Buried somewhere in this thread are warnings to avoid ZWFC cards. They were produced later in production and natural progression is to use cheaper components since GPUs sell for less $$$ as they age.

If ZWFC was troublesome, stands to reason ZWFL would be too.
 
MacVidCards said:
You should attach the one you made already.

If there are no mistakes in it you may be out of luck.

Buried somewhere in this thread are warnings to avoid ZWFC cards. They were produced later in production and natural progression is to use cheaper components since GPUs sell for less $$$ as they age.

If ZWFC was troublesome, stands to reason ZWFL would be too.
Click to expand...

These two worked with gray screen, but without acceleration. One is even exactly the same as my revision 478AZWF0.BIN. The other is 478AZWF2.BIN but result is just the same. I think we are very close to get these cards up and running.

Tested on OS X 10.8.5 + complimentary update.
 

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  • XFX_EMOD.zip
    189.3 KB · Views: 118
Working without acceleration is in fact NOT working

Please read through and perhaps do a search for "ZWFC" as I think the fix will be the same.

I seem to recall that Cindori used to do a little patch that made some of these work in 10.6. It probably isn't a rom issue so much as the card is just too different from Reference 4870 that Mac card was based on.

But do a read on ZWFC cards and see what fix was, will be same for you.

If you got grey boot screen, rom was probably fine, it is a driver patch that is needed.

EDIT: I had a look at your rom, it looks fine. The checksums are good, there are 2 MCUC instances, the first one has correct offset for 2nd one. Last rom indicators are correct.

I think rom is fine, it is a driver fix you need, and I don't know if anybody ever bothered to keep those updated. These are such old cards now, and buying a good one would be cheap enough that there is little reason to muck about with a bad one.

Good luck.
 
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