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

ok here goes


PEOPLE WITH SECONDARY ATI CARDS

The flash application will try to flash any ATI card in your computer.
If you are flashing with a Apple x1900, 3870 or 2600 running your display, you might brick the cards.


Workaround is this:

Download Natit PKG

It contains these files:

natit.png





Steps:

- Install Natit.pkg
- Shut down Mac
- Remove all ATI cards but leave your 4890/4870
- Boot Mac
- Proceed with the normal flashing instruction
- Run Natit remover
- Reboot

Done!


Natit will give you display without flashing the card, but you will miss out on things like the apple boot screen, perhaps quartz extreme or things like that.
It is however enough for us to be able to flash the card without any other Apple-card in computer.

Note this only applies to people with secondary ATI cards, if you are running Nvidia cards this step is probably not necessary (at least no problems reported yet)


Natit is a extension made by netkas.
 
once you do this will you then, if possible be able to use the quartz extreme and get the normal apple boot screen back?

thanks
 
will try the app when i get home, mine is an xfx. however last time it was not letting the computer boot, hopefully it will boot so i can run the flash app and have a working 4870!
 
knowhate said:
Thank you for answering..

SO what does knowing that allow you to do in the end? What are your guys' end goal in all this?
Thank you.
Click to expand...

do you refer to the thread title / first pages? That's old.
Think like this: There are Mac Roms and there are PC Roms. You boot a Mac in OSX only if the graphic card is flashed with a Mac Rom.
So when the 4870 released for Mac, it obviously carried a Mac Rom, but it was overpriced and still is. So the beginning of this thread was dedicated to finding someone that had purchased the new Apple 4870, have them dump the rom and upload it, so we could flash a PC card with it and thus saving like 150$.

Now however, different versions of ROMs are floating the web, and I recently made a application that automatically flashes your card using the most common Rom.


kushari said:
will try the app when i get home, mine is an xfx. however last time it was not letting the computer boot, hopefully it will boot so i can run the flash app and have a working 4870!
Click to expand...

you can't boot when having it in slot 1
 
Cindori said:
you can't boot when having it in slot 1
Click to expand...
Hey thanks for the quick reply, well this is confusing me a bit. as of now, i flashed it to the original pc rom and have it in the second pcie slot and my gt120 in the first slot. os x boots fine, i tried your program and i guess the rom doesnt work for me because my screen just goes into standby mode. the most success i got (weird colors on the screen) was by trying to make my own mac rom from my pc rom. i bet i did it wrong, can anyone help me? my card is the XFX HD 4870 ZWFC
Model N: HD-487A-ZW
Part N: HD-487A-ZWFC
Here is the orignal pc rom if someone could convert it to a working mac rom for me. Link
 
Doesn't seem like there are any of the original cars available now. The only one I can find is HD-487A-ZWFL.

I guess seeing as the 4970 (and now 5000s) is out there wont likely be anyone that will write a ROM for the ZWFL 4870 now anyway.

Does anyone know if there are any current readily available cards that people are still successfully flashing?
 
Does anyone know why ZWFC doesn't work well with our MP's?

I'm tempted to go the Sapphire 4890 route and sell my new ZWFC. Maybe I'll hold out for a 5870 when a flash is available and the prices come down.

On a bright note, but nothing earthshattering for you guys, my ZWFC card works on Windows 7 boot.

I'm crossing my fingers for a Mac flash solution for the ZWFC card, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
freeman727 said:
Does anyone know why ZWFC doesn't work well with our MP's?

I'm crossing my fingers for a Mac flash solution for the ZWFC card, but I'm not holding my breath.
Click to expand...

The best advice I can give you is to flash your ZWFC card back to it's original state and sell it on ebay. It's a decent card for a PC, although the design is cheaper than the ZD** models. The fan isn't housed properly and just fires the heat away from the GPU in any old direction, whereas the ZD** models have housing that funnels the heat away from the GPU and out the back.

The ZWFC card doesn't work with the ROM available because too much has changed in it's design. Therefore the ROM doesn't work properly with the card as the code doesn't "fit" with the hardware so to speak.

I would also recommend buying the correct model from here:

http://www.videocardshop.co.uk/prod...03-0UTCQS@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@&prodid=HD-487A-ZDFC

They have 9 in stock at the moment. This is the model I bought for my Mac and it works perfectly. Delivery was quick as well.

The ZWFC cards aren't worth the time.....I wasted way too much trying to get it to work...Best advice is just to reflash back to original, stick it on ebay and cut your losses.
 
Thanks to everyone who's made this as easy as possible to flash an ATI 4870.

Thanks to Cindori for all your hard work.

I followed the following steps to successfully flash the following card:

XFX HD-487A-ZDFC

System: MacPro 2008
GFX: Nvidia 8800GT

Steps:

Moved Nvidia 8800GT to 3rd PCIe slot

Installed ATI 4870 in 1st PCIe slot

Connected 1 power cable each

Follow steps Cindori posted on page 76 post #1881

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/8586494/

Download it here:

http://krull.se/macpro/4870Flash.zip

Instructions:

Unzip your package so you have your contents on your boot drive like this:

tut1.png



Now open the 4870Flash.app

It will run for 20 seconds and will pop up in the dock and vanish when it's done.

Now restart your computer

Done! you can now remove all the files from the boot drive!
Click to expand...

Shutdown Macpro

Remove Nvidia 8800GT

Plug monitors into ATI 4870

:D

Now the only thing i'm a bit worried about is the fan control temps...

What temps/fan control did you use for this ROM Cindori?
 
Little problem, we removed the card from my system and put it in my friends 1 gen macpro 2006. (which it was first intended for)

Card started up but can't seem to run in dual link mode running his 30" Apple LCD, also comes up in system as 512Mb RAM not 1Gb RAM.

Are there some extra files copied into the system from the installer? Or does the installer just inject the ROM file into the card?

I think he'll post some more info in this thread

Edit: After reading the link you posted Cindori, only one DVI is Dual Link the other is Single link, does anyone know the reason for this, and possibly a way to fix?
 
Anyone checked with 30" apple cinema display?

Hi Guys.

Thank you cindori seems to work fine in some circumstances.
We flashed the XFX HD-487A-ZDFC rom on a friends macpro and it works fine running 2 x 24" screens there. However tried running it on a 2006 macpro on a 30" cinema display & it would only do 1280x720 (which is what happens when you only use a single link DVI graphics card). I'm told it is a dual link card. Also the system profiler shows it as a 512mb graphics card, not a 1gb.

Has anyone tried a XFX HD-487A-ZDFC flashed on a 30" apple cinema display? Also should it be working with a DVI to VGA adapter? My vga monitor isn't workng at all.

Any suggestions welcome.

thanks.

Hey! wer're overlapping posts!
 
nope you get only one dual link, same on the 4890 flashed. no idea on how to fix. about system profiler and memory, clueless about that :confused:
 
mherrick said:
Hi Guys.

Thank you cindori seems to work fine in some circumstances.
We flashed the XFX HD-487A-ZDFC rom on a friends macpro and it works fine running 2 x 24" screens there. However tried running it on a 2006 macpro on a 30" cinema display & it would only do 1280x720 (which is what happens when you only use a single link DVI graphics card). I'm told it is a dual link card. Also the system profiler shows it as a 512mb graphics card, not a 1gb.

Has anyone tried a XFX HD-487A-ZDFC flashed on a 30" apple cinema display? Also should it be working with a DVI to VGA adapter? My vga monitor isn't workng at all.

Any suggestions welcome.

thanks.

Hey! wer're overlapping posts!
Click to expand...

Flashed 4870s don't work with VGA, and there isn't a fix for this currently.

Have you tried plugging the Cinema display in both DVI Sockets? You will only get full resolution on one of them (the one on the right as you look at it from the back).

I have a flashed 4870 working fine on a 30" cinema display using the card you have so as long as it's flashed properly, it should work. Mine is a 2008 Mac Pro but AFAIK this shouldn't make a difference...Plenty of folks have the same setup as you and don't have problems.
 
Hi Guys

Sorry for the stupid question, but when I unzip that 4870Flash.zip file I don't see the QE_CI_Exotic_cards_10.6.1.pkg file. Is it supposed to be present in order to do the flash?

Also, will this also work on a 4890 assuming I got the right version of the card?
 
Caterham said:
Hi Guys

Sorry for the stupid question, but when I unzip that 4870Flash.zip file I don't see the QE_CI_Exotic_cards_10.6.1.pkg file. Is it supposed to be present in order to do the flash?

Also, will this also work on a 4890 assuming I got the right version of the card?
Click to expand...

The 4870 does not need CE_QE since it's automatically built into OSX, you know, Apple's 4870 kinda needs to work. It has nothing to do with flash, just a plist with some added device-ids.

Ofc, the 4890 thread is here
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/713428/
 
Interesting issue with 1GB ZDFC

I have a 23-inch Apple Cinema Display & a 46-inch 1080p Panasonic Plasma connected to my flashed XFX 478A-ZDFC card.

Problem arises when I attempt to restart / turn on the machine with both monitors plugged in. I get a chime & a black screen & thats it. In order to get it to boot properly, I need to remove the DVI to HDMI cable to the TV.

No other issues in XP SP3 nor OS 10.5.8. I will erase-install 10.6 when a combo update to 10.6.2 comes out.

Any suggestions?

F
 
OK took the plunge and ordered a ZDFC. Looks like the Apple 8800s are making good money on ebay so I can get some dosh back that way. Gomff what method did you use to do the flash mate?
 
Caterham said:
OK took the plunge and ordered a ZDFC. Looks like the Apple 8800s are making good money on ebay so I can get some dosh back that way. Gomff what method did you use to do the flash mate?
Click to expand...

I used this method:

http://web.me.com/jacobcroft/4870Flash/4870Flash.html

Only I didn't have 2 cards in when I flashed the 4870. I prepped everything first (ie, dumped the original 4870 ROM and then made the bootable CDROM with all the bits on the tutorial recommends). I then set my machine to boot to windows XP in the system preferences. When I was in XP, I put the bootable disk in and set the machine to boot from that in the boot camp settings in the control panel.

I think you may be able to set the machine to boot off the CDROM from OSX as well but I was ultra methodical as I didn't want to mess anything up.

Personally, I'd keep the 8800GT as a backup, just in case you need it. I imagine the 4870 is more reliable, but there may be a time when you want/need to use VGA or 2 30" DVI-D monitors. May also be handy to keep in case you have to send your machine in for repair and you don't want to give the Apple Bods an excuse to not cover you (if it's still under warranty).

Also, don't forget you'll need another cable to power the 4870 as it requires 2.

Good luck! It's pretty easy really....There's just that one time when you type in the DOS command to flash the ROM that feels a bit hairy but it's fine as long as you don't have a power cut midway through the process :D

Edit: Or you can just use Cindori's method which has less hoops to jump through....I've never used it though so can't advise.
 
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