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

yes thats the rom, I have no idea how it will react with a 512mb ram card

what makes a card overclocked is the rom it carries
basically same hardware in "OC" cards, they are just factory clocked more

sapphire 4890s for example, they come in a normal version, and "OC" version, its the same card, just a couple of bytes different in the firmware.
and they charge more for it.

I don't think that ROM my app uses is overclocked.
 
Okay sorry then. But what means "that goes away by itself" ? After 5 boots it is gone or what? ;) Thanks


ps: dual-link is only under SL working, when I boot there is a fat bootloader sceen because it is a low resolution, then it is changing to high resolution. No way to solve this miss?
 
rasmusonline said:
Isn't it possible to work on a better ROM? Dual-DVI is important for me and this error su***, too.
Click to expand...


It absolutely is possible to work on a better ROM. Feel free.

I have no educational background in computers. I am an Art Director in Hollywood, making pretty sets out of Luan and paint. (My avatar is me on a famous set) My schooling was all Liberal Arts nonsense. If I could figure out how to write ROMs, anyone can.

Yourself included.
 
The Rominator said:
It absolutely is possible to work on a better ROM. Feel free.

I have no educational background in computers. I am an Art Director in Hollywood, making pretty sets out of Luan and paint. (My avatar is me on a famous set) My schooling was all Liberal Arts nonsense. If I could figure out how to write ROMs, anyone can.

Yourself included.
Click to expand...

btw, how come you seem to have infinite access to graphic cards, and rom chips?:)
 
I'm trying to digest the new info from the thread since I last posted, however there have been a few threads in this thread it seems and I'm having a hard time seeing if the responses are in relation to this particular problem that 3 of us are having. I'm nervous to re-flash it due to my limited equipment at home in order to salvage a bad flash.

From what I've seen Cindori and the rominator have been fabulous resources for this project, I am willing to compensate for help on this issue.

Please help us :)




blunderbus said:
I too ran into the same issue that d1sahib and zvon hit. Flashed using elvisizer's rom and show same symptoms.

The Card I used:
Sapphire 4870 1GB GDDR5
SKU# 11133-19-20R

Elvisizer's rom was shown to be for SKU#11133-04-20r

I originally backed up the ROM using GPU Z via windows. Next, I stripped out the ATI flashing utility from the iMac update as outlined by pipomolo42. I then put elvisizer's rom in the flashing utility and flashed away. After the flash and observing the same issues of the above mentioned posters, I attempted making my own ROM via the python script. It seemed to work after flashing when i used a secondary display, no artifacts on the first restart and showed up in the profiler as a 4870. But on second restart and an attempt to use the sapphire exclusively, black screen while using either DVI ports. I could then no longer get a display to show on the mac pro or PC while the card was plugged in, using a secondary card for the main display. Neither would boot after many swaps and restarts. I was able to salvage it and reflash to the original by moving it to the 3rd PCI slot in the Mac Pro and using the x1900 to drive the display in slot 1, holding option and choosing os x instead of letting it boot straight. This seemed to allow the Boot volume screen to show and Os X to finish booting with the card installed though it took a very long time. Luckily i was able to flash it back. Im curious to hear if anyone has any tips or help to offer in getting a solidly working ROM for this SKU of the Sapphire. It seems to be the new one they are sending out. Thanks for the detailed thread all. Its been a great read and exciting to see people meet success after their many experiments.

Ill be happy to elaborate, build another rom, and clean up my post so it is more helpful to others. Thanks again everyone.
Click to expand...
 
Cindori said:
btw, how come you seem to have infinite access to graphic cards, and rom chips?:)
Click to expand...

Call me a GPU enthusiast.

ZVON, can you post the ROM you made?

The error I keep finding is that the PC BIOS is longer than original ones, so the Mac EFI ends up running over the first few lines of GDDR5 lookup table.

WOuld be great if you could post the original ROM for your card as well for comparison sake.
 
GDDR5 table ROM check

If you create a ROM for your 4870 or 4890 from it's original PC BIOS, here is a piece of advice that can save you some frustrating hours.

Use "hexedit" to do a search. Look for the characters "MCUC". Be sure to click the "ASCII" button.

The string should show up twice, first time in the PC BIOS, just a few bytes after address for GDDR5 table.

The second time is the open for the GDDR5 table. If "MCUC" only shows up once, you have overwritten the begining of GDDR5 table and are doomed for failure.....DON'T FLASH IT.

Post here and I can help if I have time. Or maybe someone else will come by.
 
The Rominator said:
It absolutely is possible to work on a better ROM. Feel free.

I have no educational background in computers. I am an Art Director in Hollywood, making pretty sets out of Luan and paint. (My avatar is me on a famous set) My schooling was all Liberal Arts nonsense. If I could figure out how to write ROMs, anyone can.

Yourself included.
Click to expand...


Shure. I have no plan about creating Roms. And why do you think I am able to find the error in your Rom about the cable error? :confused:

Tell me how to solve that problem, and I'll do it myself. :p
 
The Card:
Sapphire 4870 1GB GDDR5
SKU# 11133-19-20R

it should be the same card d1sahib and zvon have. I attached the Rom I made with the python script. If you need anymore info, just let me know.
 

Attachments

  • attempted new4870.ROM.zip
    93.7 KB · Views: 117
blunderbus said:
The Card:
Sapphire 4870 1GB GDDR5
SKU# 11133-19-20R

it should be the same card d1sahib and zvon have. I attached the Rom I made with the python script. If you need anymore info, just let me know.
Click to expand...

Indeed, if you do the little test I mentioned just a few posts up, you will see that this ROM contains the error I spoke of.

The GDDR5 table at end of ROM has been buggered up.

Please post the original ROM and I will see about finding a little time this afternoon to do a better one for you.

Or perhaps Cindori can fix it for you.
 
The Card:
Sapphire 4870 1GB GDDR5
SKU# 11133-19-20R

Heres the original rom.
 

Attachments

  • original pc4870.bin.zip
    45.9 KB · Views: 110
original rom is attached to this post just as an incase if its different from the one posted right above this post.
 

Attachments

  • pc1xfx.zip
    45.9 KB · Views: 99
I opened up hex edit on the file i used to flash the card and found two instances of the MCUC which hopefully is good news :)






The Rominator said:
If you create a ROM for your 4870 or 4890 from it's original PC BIOS, here is a piece of advice that can save you some frustrating hours.

Use "hexedit" to do a search. Look for the characters "MCUC". Be sure to click the "ASCII" button.

The string should show up twice, first time in the PC BIOS, just a few bytes after address for GDDR5 table.

The second time is the open for the GDDR5 table. If "MCUC" only shows up once, you have overwritten the begining of GDDR5 table and are doomed for failure.....DON'T FLASH IT.

Post here and I can help if I have time. Or maybe someone else will come by.
Click to expand...
 
Cindori said:
yes thats the rom, I have no idea how it will react with a 512mb ram card

what makes a card overclocked is the rom it carries
basically same hardware in "OC" cards, they are just factory clocked more

sapphire 4890s for example, they come in a normal version, and "OC" version, its the same card, just a couple of bytes different in the firmware.
and they charge more for it.

I don't think that ROM my app uses is overclocked.
Click to expand...

Thanks Cindori!

Crap... I thought it was already widely confirmed the same ROM would work with both 1GB and 512MB VRAM cards (of the same manufacturer). On page #71, message #178 (August 20), ManiG writes:

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).
Click to expand...

That model number (HD487AYHFC) is exactly the card I ordered. It's a 512MB card. It is also listed in this thread and mentioned that it is a 512MB card.

I've sent a PM to ManiG to ask for some clarification on which ROM he used. Since he refers to Jacob Croft's instructions, I immediately assumed he used the ROM linked there (the same ROM you sent me in the 4870.app). I sure hope that's what he did. Otherwise, I might end up with a brick.

I know everyone is more interested in the 1GB cards these days, but are there any other folks that have used a ROM on their 512MB 4870s knowing the same ROM is also used for 1GB cards?

Thanks!

Mark
 
The Rominator said:
Try this.
Click to expand...

THANK YOU! it's working great, the power cables message does come on but you click ok and everything works as should.

I have not tried dual DVI or anything fancy but for one monitor and all that it's working great.

Please send me a PM or something as I cannot send you one and I'll send what I promised :)
 
Should I upgrade my ROM?

Wow looks like Cindori has really done some nice work on packaging up that ROM. I originally purchased an patched my 4870 using this link from this macrumors forum back in May of 09 http://web.me.com/jacobcroft/4870Flash/4870Flash.html Everything works great...I have never had any issues (2006 Mac Pro - dual dual-core 2.66GHz, 8GB RAM, running 2560x1600 on a Dell 3008WFP). I was able to remove my original GeForce 7300 and I have no problems booting into Snow Leopard or Windows 7 Pro 64bit...but I am wondering if I should use this ROM to "upgrade" my ROM (assuming there would be some performance improvements)? Let me know if anyone has any thoughts...thanks for all of your hard work and research.

PCI Cards in System Profiler:

:
ATI Radeon HD4870 ATY,MotmotParent No PCI Slot-1
ATI Radeon HD4870 display No PCI Slot-1


ATI Radeon HD 4870:

Name: ATY, MotmotParent
Type: ATY, MotmotParent
Driver Installed: No
Bus: PCI
Slot: Slot-1
Vendor ID: 0x1002
Device ID: 0xaa30
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x1682
Subsystem ID: 0xaa30
Revision ID: 0x0000
Link Width: x16
Link Speed: 2.5GT/s
 
no need to "upgrade" rom, my app is using the same as in that guide

that motmot thing is the sound device on the 4890, dunno why it shows for some.
 
Thanks much Rominator. Worked like a charm. There is a power cable warning like was stated earlier, but so far working with dual link on a 30 inch ACD.

To rehash:

Sapphire HD4870 1 GB GDDR5
PN 100259-1GL
SKU# 11133-19-20R

Working Rom for this card is attached.

Issues: When booting with 30 inch ACD connected, the monitor will not turn on when attempting to display the desktop. The DVI on the display needs to be unplugged and plugged back in to be detected and become the primary display. There is also a power cable warning on boot up, but does not seem to affect anything.
 

Attachments

  • saph487X.ROM.zip
    93.9 KB · Views: 128
Glad to hear it worked.

Makes me wonder if any of the cards that "failed" to get a working ROM had this same length issue.

If anyone has a ROM they made that didn't work, they should check for both instances of "MCUC" in the rom, as I detailed a few posts up.

If you only find it once, the ROM is flawed.

Can someone with this card I wrote the ROM for post some actual pix of it?

Specifically, I am interested in the layout of the power plugs.....are they right next to each other or separated by a cm or so?

Links to good HiRes pix would be ideal.

I am thinking that this Power Cable message may have to do with changed layout of card and power circuit. If the Power Query isn't in the EFI part of these ROMs it is going to be a bugger to get rid of message.

Good news is that it doesn't disable any part of the card. Could someone with one of these saphires try NOT clicking on the power plug notice "OK" button?

If it behaves as latest XFX 4870 ZWFL/FC boards, the message will go away all by itself, no clicking needed. It seems as if it queries power later or again, and dismisses the warning and suspension of QE/CI.

With the 4850, the power mixup caused QE/CI to not be enabled, ran under software renderer.

But I am glad that I was able to use the work of Pipolomo42 and rihldinger to write these working ROMs.

I think we could revisit some of past failures and maybe fix them too.
 
I can certainly supply this when I get home later on tonight if someone doesn't get it done before me.



The Rominator said:
Glad to hear it worked.

Makes me wonder if any of the cards that "failed" to get a working ROM had this same length issue.

If anyone has a ROM they made that didn't work, they should check for both instances of "MCUC" in the rom, as I detailed a few posts up.

If you only find it once, the ROM is flawed.

Can someone with this card I wrote the ROM for post some actual pix of it?

Specifically, I am interested in the layout of the power plugs.....are they right next to each other or separated by a cm or so?

Links to good HiRes pix would be ideal.

I am thinking that this Power Cable message may have to do with changed layout of card and power circuit. If the Power Query isn't in the EFI part of these ROMs it is going to be a bugger to get rid of message.

Good news is that it doesn't disable any part of the card. Could someone with one of these saphires try NOT clicking on the power plug notice "OK" button?

If it behaves as latest XFX 4870 ZWFL/FC boards, the message will go away all by itself, no clicking needed. It seems as if it queries power later or again, and dismisses the warning and suspension of QE/CI.

With the 4850, the power mixup caused QE/CI to not be enabled, ran under software renderer.

But I am glad that I was able to use the work of Pipolomo42 and rihldinger to write these working ROMs.

I think we could revisit some of past failures and maybe fix them too.
Click to expand...
 
vestigefilm said:
I noticed in another thread that the XFX supports dual DVI under both leopard and snow leopard. https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=8681042#post8681042

Consumer Depot lists the HD487AZDFC as a vendor drop ship item. http://www.consumerdepot.com/productstd.asp?id=10504466

Will this card support dual DVI in OSX (specifically snow leopard) after flashing?

Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...
YES!
That is the exact card I picked up in April 09, and it supports dual DVI output in Leopard and SL. No VGA signal though. And yes, mine is flashed, not using "injectors".

Get it if at all possible. It's the better double-height card with the heat exhaust instead of the scatter-shot fan.
 
Sapphire ROM

Thank you Rominator. That worked very well. :)

To answer one of your questions in Post #2000, I rebooted and the power message went away by itself within a minute.

For others who may want to try this, here is the procedure I followed (thanks to Alexandre Boeglin for providing an easy way to flash the card from within OS X):

- Downloaded and extracted the firmware file by Rominator (Post #1995)

- Downloaded the two files (iMac Graphics Update and Pacifist) as detailed in the Boeglin method (http://boeglin.org/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=09&entry=entry090918-031702).

- Using Pacifist, extracted the two files (ATIROMFlasher.kext and ATIFacelessFlash.app) to my home folder (~).

- Fixed the authentication errors.

- Erased the old iMac firmware as suggested in Boeglin's notes.

- Copied the firmware file (saph487X.ROM) to the flash utility.

- Installed the card in slot 1, moved the existing GT120 to slot 3.

- Connected the power cables (bought from the ATI store).

- Booted and ran the flash utilities.

- Connected a monitor (Dell 2405FPW) to the 4870 and rebooted.

As mentioned in other posts also, a warning pops up every time your Mac is rebooted, but is goes away if you do nothing.

Many thanks to all; this would not been possible without your dedication and perseverance.
 
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