This X1950XT just won't work. Please help!

[MacPig]

Hi all, I'm having some trouble flashing a Sapphire X1950XT with the X1900 ROM for G5 and could use some guidance to prevent me from pulling my hair out.

I've successfully "flashed" the card in FreeDOS, MS-DOS and multiple versions of ATIflash. I used the file package from this thread originally. Every time I flash the card with the ROM it "works" but then will not boot in the G5. The machine just sits there with the "OF GOOD" LED unlit until the fans spin up.

I've tried every version of the ROM that's immediately available online and nothing works. I've tried flashing in both Intel and AMD systems, always using PCI graphics as recommended. I have triple-checked that I have the correct card (Sapphire robot girl) yet still somehow have been unable to flash correctly. If I reflash the original ROM I get an error but the card works perfectly on reboot.

At this point I'm not sure what to do. Could it be that the computers I'm trying to flash in are too new? I'm using a Phenom II system and a 3rd gen i5. Would trying to flash the card in a Mac Pro 2,1 be foolish? I've read some comments suggesting it can be done. Is there some obscure BIOS setting I'm missing? DIP switches‽

I've attached some pictures of the flashing process and advanced info once the card is "flashed".

Any help, tips or guidance would be hugely appreciated.

All the best, P

 

[z970]

What versions of ATIFlash did you use? I've had success using ATIFlash 4.07 to flash two X1900 GTs for use in a PCIe G5.

On the G5, have you reset the PRAM and ensured that the X1950 XT's power cable is connected? And have you tried both of its DVI ports?

And is the card the 256 MB or 512 MB version, as only the 256 MB version will work with the modified ROM.

 

[MacPig]

What versions of ATIFlash did you use? I've had success using ATIFlash 4.07 to flash two X1900 GTs for use in a PCIe G5.

On the G5, have you reset the PRAM and ensured that the X1950 XT's power cable is connected? And have you tried both of its DVI ports?

And is the card the 256 MB or 512 MB version, as only the 256 MB version will work with the modified ROM.

Thanks for the reply!

I just tried flashing with 4.07 and still had the same results. I am definitely using the 256MB Sapphire X1950 XT, identical to the one pictured in the thread I linked in the OP. I've been resetting PRAM every time I flash.

What's really baffling me is that I can reflash the backed up ROM and that works fine. Flashing an OEM ROM from techpowerup works too. Oh a whim I tried flashing an Intel X1900GT ROM and even that worked! This card just seems to hate Open Firmware...

Are there any variants of the customised X1900 GT ROM floating around or is there only one reliable one? When comparing my backed-up ROM to the OEM one there are some differences. Should this concern me?

Many thanks again.

 

[MacPig]

Forgot to mention: have been using atifliash 3.89 mostly but have tried a few other versions now. 4.07 was the only one to identify the ROM as "legacy"

 

[z970]

@MacPig I don't have any experience with the X1950 XT, but I have successfully flashed several X1900 GTs, in addition to other cards. Unfortunately, I can't give you any useful information about the modified ROM in question, or precisely how the process is supposed to go.

A random idea however; look around the surface of the card if there are any jumpers that may be in the wrong position, or that may otherwise be inhibiting anything.

It is also not necessarily unlikely that the problem may not be with the card, but with your G5, if a certain configuration within it is perhaps causing a conflict of some kind. RAM, maybe?

I've seen stranger things cause stranger results with these machines, so I wouldn't rule it out.

 

[weckart]

I have the same X1950XT and I think I used one of the ROMs in this thread

Flashing a Fx4500 for a G5

Hi I'm new to the forum but not to Mac's although this is my first time flashing a graphics card to work in a Mac. I recently upgraded to a Late 2005 G5 Dual Core 2.3Ghz (Quad's in the UK are still Mac Pro '06 money). Anyways I found the GeForce 6600 currently in the machine underwhelming so I...

forums.macrumors.com

but it was years ago so I can't rightly remember. Never had an issue, which makes me think it may be your G5. The only way to find out is to try your flashed X1950XT in another G5.

 

[Shadow9x99]

In case you haven't figured this out yet, here's my $0.02:

I had this same issue when I tried flashing my x1950 XT last year. What I discovered is that ATIFlash is very version sensitive. What I had to do:

"I used Rufus to make a FreeDOS USB, put a Radeon 7000 in the PCI slot, set the graphics to PCI in the BIOS of my old Athlon 64 based HP Pavilion, and used ATIFlash 3.89 to flash the ROM from MacRumors to the card."

While tedious, I would advise starting at the latest version of ATIFlash and working your way backwards trying every single version. This is what I did, and while it was an absolute nightmare, it was the only way to find the version of ATIFlash that would work for the system I was flashing it it.

As long as your motherboard has an option to specifically use PCI (not PCIe) graphics, I don't think the age of the system would matter. I only used an old Athlon 64 machine because it's the only thing I have with the ability to force PCI graphics. I've also had no luck whatsoever using systems with integrated graphics. For whatever reason, it must be PCI.

Also, here's a link to my thread on this topic if you haven't already seen it: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/need-help-flashing-a-radeon-x1950-xt.2192094/?post=27615229