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

Thank you to all the folks that took the time to research and post tutorials. After reading the entire thread, I ordered my molex connectors and XFX 4870 HD-487A-ZHFC card.

Made my own power cables. I guess I ordered the exact one because they fit perfectly without modification.

The flashing was a breeze and the performance jump is FANTASTIC. Now I'm able to crank up all sorts of options in X-Plane and not loose a beat.
 
Asus 4870 Dark Knight 1GB

Hello,
is it possible to flash my Asus 4870 Dark Knight 1GB to work on a Mac Pro1,1 ?
If yes what rom shut i use?
And what is the wright way to flash?

Any help will be much appreciated !
 
fstutter said:
Hello,
is it possible to flash my Asus 4870 Dark Knight 1GB to work on a Mac Pro1,1 ?
If yes what rom shut i use?
And what is the wright way to flash?

Any help will be much appreciated !
Click to expand...

I know it's long and will take some time, but read this entire thread carefully (at least up to page 60 or so). It will answer all your questions.
 
Just installed the latest SL seed on my Mac Pro. Flashed 4870 works very well. No more Natit trick is needed for Dual-DVI. No mouse pointer flicking. Will try sleep and hibernate later.
 
gzfelix said:
Just installed the latest SL seed on my Mac Pro. Flashed 4870 works very well. No more Natit trick is needed for Dual-DVI. No mouse pointer flicking. Will try sleep and hibernate later.
Click to expand...

Definitely want to hear more on this.

Are you on 432?

And in 10.5.7/8 you had the "crash and reboot" when using Dual DVI?

Which 4870 are you running?

Have you checked for analog? (VGA)
 
The Rominator said:
Definitely want to hear more on this.

Are you on 432?

And in 10.5.7/8 you had the "crash and reboot" when using Dual DVI?

Which 4870 are you running?

Have you checked for analog? (VGA)
Click to expand...

My 4870 is Sapphire 4870 512M that needs a customized ROM. As you said, while it crashes and reboots in 10.5.7/8 using Dual DVI, it works out-of-the-box in SL 10a432 build. I have no DVI-VGA cable so I am not able to check it. Hopefully it will work given the good result I have seen.
 
This makes Snow Leopard even more of a must-buy than I already considered it to be. And makes me hopeful that graphics card flashing and wider compatibility are forthcoming. Thanks for the news.

Maybe other flashing attempts such as Ajacocks's will be more fruitful with SL as well...very hopeful now.
 
Sleep and hibernate also work very well. I also tried a small OpenCL test program and it worked. But OpenCL reports that I have only 128M RAM and 4 compute units on 4870 and no extension is supported. Curious why.

$ ./oclinfo
1 OpenCL platform found!

[Platform 0]
Name: Apple
Vendor: Apple
Version: OpenCL 1.0 (Jul 15 2009 23:07:32)
Profile: FULL_PROFILE


3 OpenCL devices found!

[Device 0]
Name: Radeon HD 4870
Vendor: AMD
Type: GPU
Device Version: OpenCL 1.0
Driver Version: 1.0
Compute Units: 4
Work Group Size: 1024
Clock: 750 MHz
Global Memory: 128 MB
Local Memory: 16 KB
Cache Size: 0 KB
Cache Line Size: 128 Bytes
Available: Yes
Double-Precision: No
Extensions:

[Device 1]
Name: GeForce GT 120
Vendor: NVIDIA
Type: GPU
Device Version: OpenCL 1.0
Driver Version: CLH 1.0
Compute Units: 32
Work Group Size: 512
Clock: 1400 MHz
Global Memory: 512 MB
Local Memory: 16 KB
Cache Size: 0 KB
Cache Line Size: 0 Bytes
Available: Yes
Double-Precision: No
Extensions:
cl_khr_byte_addressable_store
cl_khr_global_int32_base_atomics
cl_khr_global_int32_extended_atomics
cl_APPLE_gl_sharing
cl_APPLE_SetMemObjectDestructor
cl_APPLE_ContextLoggingFunctions

[Device 2]
Name: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU W3520 @ 2.67GHz
Vendor: Intel
Type: CPU
Device Version: OpenCL 1.0
Driver Version: 1.0
Compute Units: 8
Work Group Size: 1
Clock: 2659 MHz
Global Memory (Total): 7424 MB
Global Memory (Host): 6144 MB
Global Memory (PCIe): 1280 MB
Local Memory: 16 KB
Cache Size: 256 KB
Cache Line Size: 64 Bytes
Available: Yes
Double-Precision: Yes
Extensions:
cl_khr_fp64
cl_khr_global_int32_base_atomics
cl_khr_global_int32_extended_atomics
cl_khr_local_int32_base_atomics
cl_khr_local_int32_extended_atomics
cl_khr_byte_addressable_store
cl_APPLE_gl_sharing
cl_APPLE_SetMemObjectDestructor
cl_APPLE_ContextLoggingFunctions
Click to expand...
 
Dual-Link *and* Dual DVI

I know the knowledgeable folks in this forum get sick of questions but I'm gone thru pages and pages and pages of this thread - I've learned nearly everything I think I need to know in order to make an informed purchase and do the whole 4870-flash thing but I've got just a couple of remaining things to clarify: :)

1. I realize that the "XFX HD-487A-ZHFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB" is *the* card to get and flash if you want dual dvi and you actually want them to work. However, what about both of them working and one of them running in dual-link mode as well - does that work ok? (I want to drive a dual-link 30" monitor on one and a 24" monitor on the other if it's possible) If not, does dual-link driven 30" monitors work at all on any of the reflashed 4870s?

** I see that this particular tutorial essentially answers #1: http://web.me.com/jacobcroft/4870Flash/4870Flash.html **

2. On apple's discussion forums, a user in a similar thread posted that their reflashed 4870 worked great, but couldn't play and HD content from itunes do the HDCP issues that were a problem on the reflashed cards but not on the real Apple 4870 - anybody know any more on that?

Thanks - just want to make sure I'm ordering the right thing here!
 
matthewtoney said:
2. On apple's discussion forums, a user in a similar thread posted that their reflashed 4870 worked great, but couldn't play and HD content from itunes do the HDCP issues that were a problem on the reflashed cards but not on the real Apple 4870 - anybody know any more on that?
Click to expand...

I second that question (HDCP,) and I'll add one of my own...

3. Any luck getting these guys to 5 GT/s in Snow Leopard? Is that ever going to happen?
 
matthewtoney said:
2. On apple's discussion forums, a user in a similar thread posted that their reflashed 4870 worked great, but couldn't play and HD content from itunes do the HDCP issues that were a problem on the reflashed cards but not on the real Apple 4870 - anybody know any more on that?
Click to expand...

Could they have been using the HD-487A-ZWFC version? According to the XFX website, that one doesn't support HDCP...

Jim
 
I've searched all over, and can't find any reports of anyone trying the HD-487A-ZWFL version. This one seems to be cheapest in the UK (that claims to support HDCP...) at the moment (£114 from scan).

Anyone tried one yet?

Jim
 
Another success story. Flashed my XFX 4870 (model HD487AYHFC), and works like a charm ... booted straight into OSX after rebooting.

One note - my bootcamp installation is Windows 7. The burning cd step in Jacob Croft's instructions did not work for me. Instead:

- I added the "Mac" folder to the ISO using Magic ISO, and saved the file.
- Quit Magic ISO.
- Right click the ISO, and choose to burn the disk using Windows Image Burner (or something like that, not exactly sure the name).

Also, to fellow Canadians -- ATI no longer has a Canada store. You can either build the cables yourself, or if you're like me and don't trust your cable building skills, you can order the cables from svideo.com. Shipping to Montreal was like $4 using first class shipping. This is the product, make sure you buy 2!: http://www.svideo.com/x1900.html
 
Radeon 4870 XFX ZWFC

Hi, i`m having a strange problem with my newly flashed Radeon 4870 XFX ZWFC. It boots up fine, but when im the login screen apears i get this strange message from OSX as you can see below. I have checkt both powercables and every thing, thats not the problem. I can use both DVI but the preformance sucks no quartz extreme and i cant even load a game for playing.

I used the rom from this page: http://web.me.com/jacobcroft/4870Flash/4870Flash.html




Anyone know what to do?
 
fanuelsen said:
Hi, i`m having a strange problem with my newly flashed Radeon 4870 XFX ZWFC. It boots up fine, but when im the login screen apears i get this strange message from OSX as you can see below. I have checkt both powercables and every thing, thats not the problem. I can use both DVI but the preformance sucks no quartz extreme and i cant even load a game for playing.

I used the rom from this page: http://web.me.com/jacobcroft/4870Flash/4870Flash.html




Anyone know what to do?
Click to expand...

Oh weird...that's the same warning message I've been running into with flashing my XFX 4890 ZDFC. Since it's occurring on the new 4870 model, perhaps there is something that changed with the newer version 4800's in general...:(
 
noiceT said:
Oh weird...that's the same warning message I've been running into with flashing my XFX 4890 ZDFC. Since it's occurring on the new 4870 model, perhaps there is something that changed with the newer version 4800's in general...:(
Click to expand...

I have the same issue with my XFX 4890 card. The problem for me is that I flashed it in a PC and it´s impossible to boot Freedos to reflash since I get the warning message almost right away.

Is there any solution/way to revert to my backup of the stock ROM. I have a backup of course!
 
Screwpull said:
I have the same issue with my XFX 4890 card. The problem for me is that I flashed it in a PC and it´s impossible to boot Freedos to reflash since I get the warning message almost right away.

Is there any solution/way to revert to my backup of the stock ROM. I have a backup of course!
Click to expand...

Go Old Skool

Whilst you push the "power" button, have the FreeDOS CD in and hold the "C" key.

Sounds like we need to write a new XFX ROM...they've moved the power circuitry around.
 
Rominator can you make working BIOS for my card ?

Look at the beginning:

113-SBSJG210-00R-00 RV770 PCI_EXPRESS GDDR5 RV770XT PCIE 512M/256B GGDR5 DVI-I/VO/DVI-I 900M/750E

Also the BIOS is really new: 03/02/09
 

Attachments

  • HIS_HD4870_512MB_RV770.zip
    44.5 KB · Views: 86
The Rominator said:
Go Old Skool

Whilst you push the "power" button, have the FreeDOS CD in and hold the "C" key.

Sounds like we need to write a new XFX ROM...they've moved the power circuitry around.
Click to expand...

Is there anything i can do to help? If i upload my original bios ROM? Would that help any? I would really appreciate all the help I can get :)

Sorry for my bad english.
 
fanuelsen said:
Is there anything i can do to help? If i upload my original bios ROM? Would that help any? I would really appreciate all the help I can get :)

Sorry for my bad english.
Click to expand...

Yes. Flash it again with default BIOS to make it work and just wait until Rominator make a new ROM.
 
The Rominator said:
Go Old Skool

Whilst you push the "power" button, have the FreeDOS CD in and hold the "C" key.

Sounds like we need to write a new XFX ROM...they've moved the power circuitry around.
Click to expand...

Well, You are right I have done that but it doesn´t help. You don´t get past the red flashing warning message that you have not enough power. I´ll try to boot with the Radeon 3870 card and se if I can reflash the 4890 card with both inside.
 
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