try this - http://rapidshare.de/files/47239217/Natit.kext.tar.bz2.html
unpack and install with kexthelper
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Race to dump the 4870 ROM, Who's first?
- Thread starter MacVidCards
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try this - http://rapidshare.de/files/47239217/Natit.kext.tar.bz2.html
unpack and install with kexthelper
Is this natit just for 4870 cards as I have installed it and it does not recognise my unsupported card 3870x2. If it needs to be tested with 4870 I can probably buy one for testing.
Edit: I see from the natit plist that it is only for 4870. Ok sorry about this.
PS I don't know why my system profiler on the external firewire drive thinks my Mac Pro is a G5
Interesting, I'm having the EXACT same issue, except I have the OFFICIAL radeon 4870 from Apple.
The only weird thing I did that I can think of, was that I used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone my main system disk to a new hard drive and have been booting from that. Have you done anything similar? I was thinking that may be the issue (if it's not a driver thing), but if you haven't done any disk cloning the issue may be something to do with the drivers or who knows what. Hopefully it's not a hardware issue.
Another thing I have noticed is that I have a weird black horizontal line about 1" below the bottom of some application windows. Quitting and restarting the applications does not remove the line. Haven't rebooted in a while so not sure if that'll clear it up, but definitely not cool, especially after paying the $349 for the 'official' card, kind of wishing I'd just saved myself the money at this point if there are going to be issues even with the Apple ones. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!
No, it started happening literally right after I updated to 10.5.7. At first re-boot, I opened Streamclip, went to brew some coffee, returned to screen on stand by, moved the mouse, bang - an error. Odd, I thought, later on the same happened with iTunes and then with Quicktime. Took me 10 minutes to find out what it was. Swapped the 11133-00-20R Sapphire ATI for 21133-00-XX I prepped for Crossfire - tried the 1 minute power setting trick - does the same. Puzzling really.
I installed the kext and rebooted and tested with opengl and performance was cut by half. Tried twice and same result, uninstalled and went back to normal. - compare to result post 1336 - XFX 4870 1g flashed
Attachments
My experience with first gen mac pro and flashed 4870.
Hey gang,
Just wanted to share my success story. I recently flashed my Sapphire 1gb Ati HD 4870. I followed the instructions, "rolled my own" molex connectors - everything went according to plan. Works great in both MacOS and Windows booted on the first try. Thank you to everyone on this forum. You have helped breathe new life into my mac!
OVERALL:
If I were to do it again. I think I would opt for 2 ATI reference cards instead of the 1GB Sapphire card. Mostly because I think it would raise less eyebrows at resale. (looks more like the apple brand cards) Secondly the Sapphire's cooling solution while it photographs well - in person it strikes me as cheap looking and relatively ineffective airflow. However the card is a beast and takes the extra heat in stride. I will hate buying the matching second card for Crossfire in the future.
Also, rolling your own molex cables - filled me with an immense felling of pride. However if I were to do it again I would simply have ordered the $12 cables online. BTW - don't let these guys BS you - the power cables that come in the box will totally work from your spare super-drive power connectors if only as a temporary solution.
Don't get me wrong - I love the card and its a HUGE improvement from my x1900xt.
SIDENOTE:
Has anyone with a Sapphire card been able to do dual DVI monitors? Seems strange that it works on the XTX brand. What is so different about the hacked firmware between the two?
Hey gang,
Just wanted to share my success story. I recently flashed my Sapphire 1gb Ati HD 4870. I followed the instructions, "rolled my own" molex connectors - everything went according to plan. Works great in both MacOS and Windows booted on the first try. Thank you to everyone on this forum. You have helped breathe new life into my mac!
OVERALL:
If I were to do it again. I think I would opt for 2 ATI reference cards instead of the 1GB Sapphire card. Mostly because I think it would raise less eyebrows at resale. (looks more like the apple brand cards) Secondly the Sapphire's cooling solution while it photographs well - in person it strikes me as cheap looking and relatively ineffective airflow. However the card is a beast and takes the extra heat in stride. I will hate buying the matching second card for Crossfire in the future.
Also, rolling your own molex cables - filled me with an immense felling of pride. However if I were to do it again I would simply have ordered the $12 cables online.
BTW - don't let these guys BS you - the power cables that come in the box will totally work from your spare super-drive power connectors if only as a temporary solution.Don't get me wrong - I love the card and its a HUGE improvement from my x1900xt.
SIDENOTE:
Has anyone with a Sapphire card been able to do dual DVI monitors? Seems strange that it works on the XTX brand. What is so different about the hacked firmware between the two?
Has anyone tried other XFX-cards? I only found information about the 1GB version in this thread, will other cards like the 512MB oder the 1GB XXX one work as well?
I understand that, apart from the XFX cards, only one dvi-port will work. Could I use my old Geforce-Card with one monitor and the ATI with my main monitor?
I understand that, apart from the XFX cards, only one dvi-port will work. Could I use my old Geforce-Card with one monitor and the ATI with my main monitor?
lol, such comments always make fun, nobody asked to measure performance with very cpu dependent test. the test was to get dual dvi.
This will work. But yes, I'm interested in seeing if the kext did enable the use of both ports, even if speed was drastically reduced...any word?
4870x2 ....maybe a chance?
During my extensive Crossfire testing in the last day, I had occasion to run the 4870x2 again. Now with Netkas 4890/exotic cards magic the card works in OSX. As I reported before, it is MUCH slower than even a regular 4870 at this time.
But I think maybe we need to have another look at it. I have attached a couple screenshots. It turns out that in Windows the card is designed to work as a single card, with a PCIE bridge chip combining the work of two separate GPUs. As you can see, the Expansion Slot Utility sees it as just this...a bridge chip. While the 9800GX2 requires working Sli via software, the 4870x2 is supposed to "just work"....if the bridge chip is supposed to be invisible, well, all beyond me.
At the very least, it would be good to figure out how to get it to function fully as a single 4870 in OSX...then it could blossom into an X2 in Windows at will.
For advanced 4870x2 info:
http://gpucafe.com/2008/08/4870x2-review-roundup/
(painfully slow load)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_4870_X2/4.html
(info on bridge chip)
During my extensive Crossfire testing in the last day, I had occasion to run the 4870x2 again. Now with Netkas 4890/exotic cards magic the card works in OSX. As I reported before, it is MUCH slower than even a regular 4870 at this time.
But I think maybe we need to have another look at it. I have attached a couple screenshots. It turns out that in Windows the card is designed to work as a single card, with a PCIE bridge chip combining the work of two separate GPUs. As you can see, the Expansion Slot Utility sees it as just this...a bridge chip. While the 9800GX2 requires working Sli via software, the 4870x2 is supposed to "just work"....if the bridge chip is supposed to be invisible, well, all beyond me.
At the very least, it would be good to figure out how to get it to function fully as a single 4870 in OSX...then it could blossom into an X2 in Windows at will.
For advanced 4870x2 info:
http://gpucafe.com/2008/08/4870x2-review-roundup/
(painfully slow load)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_4870_X2/4.html
(info on bridge chip)
Attachments
4870x2 rv770 chips has three interconnect ways(for crossfire):
1) sidebus (or whatever it called) - arent used at all atm on windows
2) crossfire interconnect - same as crossfire bridge on two radeon cards
3) pci-bridge - it's job is to provide system an access to both rv770 chips/cards, and allow cards to interconnect (just like NB works on intel mobos (P45/X48/X58))
u cant change anything in those interconnects
catching up
This is a very good thread but a bit confusing for newbies due to the many details. So I could use some advise on my project to flash a HIS HD4870 for my 1st Gen. Mac Pro.
I mainly use a 46" Samsung HDTV and strangely it loves 1920x1080@59,9 Hz in VGA. Currently I run a patched HIS x1900XT IceQ3 which I pachted with the usual ROM file from the Mac Elite Wiki with AtiFlash in DOS.
It does all HDTV with EyeTV nicely like German Discovery HD and also Blu-Ray with Bootcamp which I run in AHCI from the Mac ODD-SATA ports in the rear of the logic board.
I am very happy with the IceQ heat sink because it is completely inaudible so far for any of my applications. The Mac is the perfect HTPC for me after some years of trying with Shuttles. It may use more power but it is very quiet.
One issue I have is the relatively high CPU usage in H.264 and I believe that a HD 4870 would probably be perfect for all H.264 decoding and encoding due to the ATI VIVO HD technology.
Having had this positive experience with the IceQ coolers I would love to patch a HIS HD4870 turbo+ with ICeQ4. It features the usual 1 GB of DDR5 and should have a 128kB serial Flash EEPROM which seems to be the requirement. I know from reviews that the card uses the ATI reference layout except for the much improved cooler which vents out of the rear and seems to keep the voltage regulators nicely cooled.
I have not been able to find a reference to a successfull use of that card in the thread. So I would appreciate any advice how to get this card to work with VGA in my Mac Pro.
This is a very good thread but a bit confusing for newbies due to the many details. So I could use some advise on my project to flash a HIS HD4870 for my 1st Gen. Mac Pro.
I mainly use a 46" Samsung HDTV and strangely it loves 1920x1080@59,9 Hz in VGA. Currently I run a patched HIS x1900XT IceQ3 which I pachted with the usual ROM file from the Mac Elite Wiki with AtiFlash in DOS.
It does all HDTV with EyeTV nicely like German Discovery HD and also Blu-Ray with Bootcamp which I run in AHCI from the Mac ODD-SATA ports in the rear of the logic board.
I am very happy with the IceQ heat sink because it is completely inaudible so far for any of my applications. The Mac is the perfect HTPC for me after some years of trying with Shuttles. It may use more power but it is very quiet.
One issue I have is the relatively high CPU usage in H.264 and I believe that a HD 4870 would probably be perfect for all H.264 decoding and encoding due to the ATI VIVO HD technology.
Having had this positive experience with the IceQ coolers I would love to patch a HIS HD4870 turbo+ with ICeQ4. It features the usual 1 GB of DDR5 and should have a 128kB serial Flash EEPROM which seems to be the requirement. I know from reviews that the card uses the ATI reference layout except for the much improved cooler which vents out of the rear and seems to keep the voltage regulators nicely cooled.
I have not been able to find a reference to a successfull use of that card in the thread. So I would appreciate any advice how to get this card to work with VGA in my Mac Pro.
It is LIKELY but not guaranteed that you can get this to work.
If it runs as a OEM card using OEM ROM, I think you can get VGA by placing DVI to VGA adapters on both outputs, the signal will be present in one of them, most likely the lower port.
However, the EDID won't work, so you may need to use SwitchresX to force the res you need.
If it runs as a OEM card using OEM ROM, I think you can get VGA by placing DVI to VGA adapters on both outputs, the signal will be present in one of them, most likely the lower port.
However, the EDID won't work, so you may need to use SwitchresX to force the res you need.
Which one of the posted ROMs is the OEM ROM? Is there a reference post # to find it? I assume you are talking about the ROM which is used in the original Apple HD4870 with 512 MB. I know that this card is capable of VGA so the plan sounds feasible.
I frequently had problems to set resolution to the odd frequency the Sammy requires so usually I just fit a basic 2. monitor and force the card to detect all monitors. Then I set the resolution and frequency manually. So that process should not hold me back.
I would probably need only the reference to the proper ROM file for a trial.
One more thing though. Could someone explain the requirement for the 1GB of DDR5, please. I appears to me that the 1 Gig cards for some reason use the 128 kB serial flash EEPROM that is also required for the Apple Firmware. Is that correct? In that case the additional RAM is probably not even used? It is a bit inefficient to run it that way because the bigger RAM forces you to connect dual PCIe cables. In this case would it not be more efficient to use a 512 MB card and replace the 64 kB EEPROM chip with a 128 kB chip? I'm asking this question because I investigated a ROM refitter who does this job to run PC HD3870s with the ATI Mac & PC EDition ROM. The EEPROM refit is cheaper than the price increase from 512 MB to 1GB cards.
I wasn't aware of this. I thought the 128K chips were connected to the bigger memory.
So with regard to the OEM ROM does it make a difference if the card has 512 or 1024 MB of memory?
There is also the HIS HD4870 with 512 MB of DDR3 memory. Or would that memory config make it unusable for the OEM ROM file?
One quick question
Ok, you have confirmed that Apple's version of the 4870 works on 1st gen mac pros, can you also confirm that the MINI-DISPLAY PORT also works? If this is the case, I might get one as I would like to get a mini-display port monitor.
Nadav
Ok, you have confirmed that Apple's version of the 4870 works on 1st gen mac pros, can you also confirm that the MINI-DISPLAY PORT also works? If this is the case, I might get one as I would like to get a mini-display port monitor.
Nadav
Another success story!
Ordered the XFX 1GB from http://web.me.com/jacobcroft/4870Flash/4870Flash.html and it flashed the first time, no problems at all. Dual DVI monitors work.
I don't have the power cables for the card yet, so I used one of the molex connectors in the optical bay to get power. Used a female-to-male molex extender to route the wire into the PCI-e area, works great with the connectors included in the 4870 kit. early 2008 mac pro. 2.5GT/s issue remains, but who cares, 1GB card! Turned up COD 4 all the way, pretty darn smooth.
Ordered the XFX 1GB from http://web.me.com/jacobcroft/4870Flash/4870Flash.html and it flashed the first time, no problems at all. Dual DVI monitors work.
I don't have the power cables for the card yet, so I used one of the molex connectors in the optical bay to get power. Used a female-to-male molex extender to route the wire into the PCI-e area, works great with the connectors included in the 4870 kit. early 2008 mac pro. 2.5GT/s issue remains, but who cares, 1GB card! Turned up COD 4 all the way, pretty darn smooth.
so, noone wanna try to get dual-dvi on non-xfx card with this https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/7643911/ ?
I'm waiting on my sapphire 4870, which should arrive in a couple of days. Then I will give it a try. You say that more hackintoshes get dual DVI. Do you know if dual DVI works for sapphire 4870s on hacks?
I suppose I need ATY_Init.kext. But do I need to edit a plist with my own BIOS? Or does your kext read the BIOS directly from the card's ROM?
I know that sapphire 4870s won't work with the Apple BIOS in the plist.
Also, I recall that natit will ignore cards with EFI, right? So you may want to modify it for testing purpose (if not done), or specify that the test is useless on flashed cards.
it works there iirc, u can use either latest aty_init , or flashed card with that natit (it only replaces bin_image in ioreg with one from plist)
Thank you very much! This Natit package works perfectly on my Sapphire 4870 512M card with a 1920x1080 display and a 1680x1050 display.