Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

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

tobyg said:
Ok, well I went to Tiger to return the board I bought and was told I couldn't return it. They've changed their policies and all I can do is exchange it for a different card or get store credit.

I exchanged it, for this card:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3949855&CatId=3670

Opened the card when I got in my car and ... aw crap, blue board. Looks reference of course, but its blue and its not the same as the pictures on the website. Close, but blue.

Anyway, I got home and tried to flash it. Flash took.
Rebooted and expected the PC to hang again. This time it didn't hang, but instead it beeped. No video though, but possibly because I was using analog on that system.

Put it in the Mac Pro and... success! (I had already installed the drivers)

Same issues as everyone else. Bottom port is dual link, top is not. Both work with DVI, neither work with analog.

Either way, I'm happy.

Going to test bootcamp and check out speeds in native Windows.
Click to expand...
That is a good news, but could you tell me your card SN ? Because I can find HIS in Hong Kong too.
 
Another success

Hi all,

pipomolo42 was kind enough to send me a modified hybrid ROM. I sent him the original ROM from my Sapphire HD 4870 card (the one that I previously reported did not work with the ROM image from this thread.)

This time, it worked! I popped it into my 2006 Mac Pro and was greeted with the familiar light gray screen. I held down the option key and was able to select OS X/Windows.

I booted into OS X first. Like tobyg I had already installed the 4870 drivers from nekas (thanks nekas!) No hiccups at all and the card is recognized as a 4870. I used a DVI cable plugged into the lower port and a DVI-VGA adapter plugged into the upper port (without anything else plugged in.)

I then rebooted into Vista, and it's all working great on this side as well.

So... assuming that pipomolo42 is willing to allow others to use this BIOS, there is at least one more known good flash now.

:edit:

So that it is easy to find, here's the card info:
Sapphire HD4870 512M GDDR5
PCI-E DUAL DVI-I/TVO
PN 288-XXXXX-XXXXX
SKU# 11133-03-20R
Purchased from Newegg about two weeks ago. Here's the link.
 
vicentk said:
That is a good news, but could you tell me your card SN ? Because I can find HIS in Hong Kong too.
Click to expand...

Here is the info on this card - This card worked fine with the stock 4870 Apple ROM:

HIS S/N: H081230050
Part # seems to be H487F512P, same as the Tiger Direct link I pasted above.
UPC is 4895139000740

I don't guarantee any card you buy would work though. It seems they sometimes change cards without any way to really tell.

But if it helps anyone, that's the info from the box for my card.
 
Phydoux said:
Hi all,

pipomolo42 was kind enough to send me a modified hybrid ROM. I sent him the original ROM from my Sapphire HD 4870 card (the one that I previously reported did not work with the ROM image from this thread.)

This time, it worked! I popped it into my 2006 Mac Pro and was greeted with the familiar light gray screen. I held down the option key and was able to select OS X/Windows.

I booted into OS X first. Like tobyg I had already installed the 4870 drivers from nekas (thanks nekas!) No hiccups at all and the card is recognized as a 4870. I used a DVI cable plugged into the lower port and a DVI-VGA adapter plugged into the upper port (without anything else plugged in.)

I then rebooted into Vista, and it's all working great on this side as well.

So... assuming that pipomolo42 is willing to allow others to use this BIOS, there is at least one more known good flash now.

:edit:

So that it is easy to find, here's the card info:
Sapphire HD4870 512M GDDR5
PCI-E DUAL DVI-I/TVO
PN 288-XXXXX-XXXXX
SKU# 11133-03-20R
Purchased from Newegg about two weeks ago. Here's the link.
Click to expand...

Now I'm wondering, if I had kept that Sapphire card and waited a day, if this ROM you had would work.

Have you tested analog? I'm very curious if Analog works on yours.

I wonder if some sort of modding can be done for each of these cards, to get the DVI ports to work properly, having both be dual link DVI as they physically are and also work with analog signals.
 
tobyg said:
Now I'm wondering, if I had kept that Sapphire card and waited a day, if this ROM you had would work.
Click to expand...

Well, I didn't do any black magic : I just took his PC bios, and appended the EFI firmware, then the GDDR5 table from his PC bios. The same can probably be done with any 4870, maybe even 1GB and X2 variants, or at least we won't know until someone tries.

For this GDDR5 table, I relocated it at 0x1b800, which is the offset it has in the Mac 4870 rom. On most PC bioses, it sits at 0x1c000, and at around 0xba00 in the PC bios is this address (a few bytes before the string "MCuC", which is the signature of the table), which I modified also to 0x1b800.

Probably relocating the GDDR5 table isn't necessary, but I thought that if its address is in the EFI firmware as well, it might not work if it can't find it. An as the EFI firmware is compressed, it's a bit more complex to edit.

Then I fixed the last rom indicator of this PC bios, and finally fixed its checksum.

Have you tested analog? I'm very curious if Analog works on yours.
Click to expand...

both Analog Output and Dual Screen work only in BootCamp, just like any 4870 in a Hackintosh.

I wonder if some sort of modding can be done for each of these cards, to get the DVI ports to work properly, having both be dual link DVI as they physically are and also work with analog signals.
Click to expand...

Well, ATI bioses use ATOMbios, which is, if I understood correctly, a set of scripts which acts as a glue between the hardware and the drivers. And they have released a parser for it, so if we are lucky enough, the differences between the apple card and pc cards will appear quite easily. Then, we'll have to see if it's possible to build one that has no restriction ...
 
Excellent!

So if pipomolo42's method works, we may have great success with old and new 4870 cards! Just need to post a tutorial for modifying the ROM. ;)

Didn't netkas come with a trick to make both ports work on hachintoshes?
 
pipomolo42 said:
Well, I didn't do any black magic : I just took his PC bios, and appended the EFI firmware, then the GDDR5 table from his PC bios. The same can probably be done with any 4870, maybe even 1GB and X2 variants, or at least we won't know until someone tries.

For this GDDR5 table, I relocated it at 0x1b800, which is the offset it has in the Mac 4870 rom. On most PC bioses, it sits at 0x1c000, and at around 0xba00 in the PC bios is this address (a few bytes before the string "MCuC", which is the signature of the table), which I modified also to 0x1b800.

Probably relocating the GDDR5 table isn't necessary, but I thought that if its address is in the EFI firmware as well, it might not work if it can't find it. An as the EFI firmware is compressed, it's a bit more complex to edit.

Then I fixed the last rom indicator of this PC bios, and finally fixed its checksum.



both Analog Output and Dual Screen work only in BootCamp, just like any 4870 in a Hackintosh.



Well, ATI bioses use ATOMbios, which is, if I understood correctly, a set of scripts which acts as a glue between the hardware and the drivers. And they have released a parser for it, so if we are lucky enough, the differences between the apple card and pc cards will appear quite easily. Then, we'll have to see if it's possible to build one that has no restriction ...
Click to expand...

Hey, did u try Natit i posted for u on 12th page ?

it's to test dual screen in macosx.

BTW, i think gddr5 table doesnt need to be relocated, the offset to it is set in bios, and efi rom seems to parse atombios for any info it needs.
 
pipomolo42 - could you email me that modded Sapphire bios for RV770XT (I just restored my card to normal with help of PCI card this morning)? v0nreagan at gmail.com (there is zero in v0n, rather than capital O)
 
v0n said:
pipomolo42 - could you email me that modded Sapphire bios for RV770XT (I just restored my card to normal with help of PCI card this morning)? v0nreagan at gmail.com (there is zero in v0n, rather than capital O)
Click to expand...

Same for me, got my Sapphire card today, but it was not he orderd one build by ATI, it's the new design (like the one on the pictures, left).

Sapphire HD4870 512M GDDR5
PCI-E DUAL DVI-I/TVO
PN 288-10EXX-XXXXX
SKU# 11133-03-20R

@pipomolo42: Coul you please PM or share the special bios ?

Thank you, jaberwocky

P.S. Still waiting for the internal power cables, two of them costs 60 € her in germany from Apple Dealer (as spare part)
 
netkas said:
Hey, did u try Natit i posted for u on 12th page ?

it's to test dual screen in macosx.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I don't have multiple digital screens close to my Mac Pro, the only other one I have it my TV.

BTW, i think gddr5 table doesnt need to be relocated, the offset to it is set in bios, and efi rom seems to parse atombios for any info it needs.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've figured this after seeing that the 4850 rom you made uses the same EFI rom, which still seems to work, even though the 4850 doesn't use gddr5 at all.

v0n said:
pipomolo42 - could you email me that modded Sapphire bios for RV770XT (I just restored my card to normal with help of PCI card this morning)? v0nreagan at gmail.com (there is zero in v0n, rather than capital O)
Click to expand...

Here it is : http://dl.free.fr/rIzbfl2JF

If it doesn't work for you, just wait a few hours, I'll write a quick howto to make one based on your card's bios this evening.

Also, it would be nice if Phydoux or you could try the Natit kext that netkas posted.
 
Solution: 6-pin power cable

jaberwocky said:
I know, but there are sold out :mad: and i don't want to wait. I expect the cables on thursday, many thanks for the BIOS.

Bye, jaberwocky
Click to expand...

Hello jaberwocky,

I voted for all of us found a solution :). After a long search, I am on
the cable from Enermax Liberty pushed. The cable is EMC004 and costs
€ 4 :). I have bought 2. Yesterday I offered to Arlt
Card purchase, I expect on Wednesday . I am very curious whether they are flashing can. I am very interested in your results.

Many thanks for the BIOS too

bye jj
 
pipomolo42 said:
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=7271637#post7271637
Click to expand...

johnjobs said:
Hello jaberwocky,

I voted for all of us found a solution :). After a long search, I am on
the cable from Enermax Liberty pushed. The cable is EMC004 and costs
€ 4 :).

bye jj
Click to expand...

Hi, did you have a link or Arlt-Number for the cable ? Can't find it there, think it's to old.
Also, if both sides of the cable has the same connector, it's wrong. Mac pro needs Molex micro fit, grahic card is Molex mini fit.

Tanks
 
johnjobs said:
Hello jaberwocky,

I voted for all of us found a solution :). After a long search, I am on
the cable from Enermax Liberty pushed. The cable is EMC004 and costs
€ 4 :). I have bought 2. Yesterday I offered to Arlt
Card purchase, I expect on Wednesday . I am very curious whether they are flashing can. I am very interested in your results.

Many thanks for the BIOS too

bye jj
Click to expand...

Are you sure about this? Looks like a wrong cable, from what I garther it's just regular PCI-e 6 pin to 6-Pin for modular PSUs, whereas what we need is Molex Micro-fit 3.0 male (motherboard side) to PCI-E 1.0 6 Pin.
 
jaberwocky said:
Hi, did you have a link or Arlt-Number for the cable ? Can't find it there, think it's to old.
Also, if both sides of the cable has the same connector, it's wrong. Mac pro needs Molex micro fit, grahic card is Molex mini fit.

Tanks
Click to expand...

I purchased here: www.bee.de

Oh no:mad:I thought it would be the same 6-pin connectors
 
johnjobs said:
Oh no:mad:I thought it would be the same 6-pin connectors
Click to expand...

Unfortunately no, motherboard connector is much smaller, in the pic below, the left is mac motherboard plug, to the right, PCIe 1.0 6 pin. :

pcie.jpg


It was one of those situations - team at Apple working on standards, let's get some regular motherboards from Foxcon, chips from Intel, cards from ATI, and then some old time bozo woke up at the back of the meeting - you know the kind - the ex-SGI/ex-Sun/old Apple Manager For Proprietary Development, some dude who twiddled his thumbs for the past few years, pushed out of main lab into mop closet in basement. And he probably said "and let's make connectors on motherboard in this fantastic tiny format I saw at Taiwanese Space Agency last year, as used in their spy camera kite craft".
I found connectors, but can't find matching 3mm pitch pins in small quantity retail anywhere. I don't want to buy few thousands of them, just want to roll two cables. :)
I'm actually peed off with cables situation to the point I'm trying to find how much it would cost to get some cable manufacturer to make few hundred of those. Surely with such short supply of original cards and lack of european stock of cables for third party solution the situation is going to get out of hand in few weeks.
 
v0n said:
Unfortunately no, motherboard connector is much smaller, in the pic below, the left is mac motherboard plug, to the right, PCIe 1.0 6 pin. :

pcie.jpg


It was one of those situations - team at Apple working on standards, let's get some regular motherboards from Foxcon, chips from Intel, cards from ATI, and then some old time bozo woke up at the back of the meeting - you know the kind - the ex-SGI/ex-Sun/old Apple Manager For Proprietary Development, some dude who twiddled his thumbs for the past few years, pushed out of main lab into mop closet in basement. And he probably said "and let's make connectors on motherboard in this fantastic tiny format I saw at Taiwanese Space Agency last year, as used in their spy camera kite craft".
I found connectors, but can't find matching 3mm pitch pins in small quantity retail anywhere. I don't want to buy few thousands of them, just want to roll two cables. :)
I'm actually peed off with cables situation to the point I'm trying to find how much it would cost to get some cable manufacturer to make few hundred of those. Surely with such short supply of original cards and lack of european stock of cables for third party solution the situation is going to get out of hand in few weeks.
Click to expand...
It seem after solve the rom, one more question is here - the cable.
 
Mouser sells them here....they are inexpensive...and you can buy them in a variety of finishes, etc.

They sell internationally, I believe...they actually have all the pieces you need.

Here is the pin number:

538-43030-0001

The Micro Socket is:

43025-0600

I can find the other pieces too if you want.

But I think that should work for you.
 
DIY PCIe Powercable for all MAC PROs

you need 12-15 $ US Total for ONE Cable
JUST Google for a Dealer !

here are the PART Numbers for the Original MOLEX connector Parts ( that apple uses )

Molex Mini-Fit Junior with 4,3mm (P/N #39-01-2060 or #39-01-2065 )
6 PIN Female for the CARD http://docs-europe.electrocomponents.com/webdocs/0021/0900766b8002166a.pdf
-----
Molex Micro-Fit 3.0 with 3mm (P/N #43025-0600 )
6 PIN Female for the MacPro Logicboard http://docs-europe.electrocomponents.com/webdocs/00c8/0900766b800c8543.pdf
-----
Molex PITCH MICRO-FIT 3.0mm ( P/N 43030-0007 )
Female http://docs-europe.electrocomponents.com/webdocs/0027/0900766b80027344.pdf
 
39-01-2060 100% doesn't fit. I'm holding pack of 10 in my hand and middle upper pin won't fit PCIe socket on cards. Socket on card is rounded in bottom part, plastic around pin in plug is square. 39-01-2065 looks identical in catalogues.

I think correct one is PCIe specific Molex 0455590002 - Mouse part number 538-45559-0002
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back