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Ultimate Thread: 4890 in Mac Pro
- Thread starter Cindori
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Another 'will it work'
I hate to do another one of those "will this card work" posts but my concern lies mostly in the outputs on this card.
The card in question is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102852&cm_re=sapphire_4890-_-14-102-852-_-Product.
I know from reading in the forum here this should work since it's a normal spec'ed 4890 but I was wondering if anybody has used this card or knows if the HDMI out would cause any problems. I don't care if the HDMI output works or not and I don't need a 2nd DVI out so that doesn't matter, just need to know if the card itself will work for the one DVI. (Also it's a pretty good deal right now on NewEgg) Thanks
I hate to do another one of those "will this card work" posts but my concern lies mostly in the outputs on this card.
The card in question is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102852&cm_re=sapphire_4890-_-14-102-852-_-Product.
I know from reading in the forum here this should work since it's a normal spec'ed 4890 but I was wondering if anybody has used this card or knows if the HDMI out would cause any problems. I don't care if the HDMI output works or not and I don't need a 2nd DVI out so that doesn't matter, just need to know if the card itself will work for the one DVI. (Also it's a pretty good deal right now on NewEgg) Thanks
im sure it will however my problem is not hardware related. Its simply software. Im not sure how to remove the injector and re-flash the card (if necessary) albeit ive deleted natit.kext aty_init.kext and ***2000.kext
not sure if that was necessary however no change in noise level, always in high mode. When playing a game: WOOO....!!!! going on like crazy.
any ideas on why this might happen? :S
I would say the ROM does not match your card but since you seem to use the same as me idk..
still advice a fresh SL install on just a small partition.. you can remove it after... it would rule out alot of things..
and try the non-oc rom ofc...
still advice a fresh SL install on just a small partition.. you can remove it after... it would rule out alot of things..
and try the non-oc rom ofc...
Flashed XFX 4890, still working in Bootcamp?
I'm getting my XFX 4890 tomorrow, and was going to simply use it via. the "injector" method. Obviously that method is now outdated so I'll probably try the "flashing" method. My only question is: Does the flashed card still work (properly) in Windows XP (bootcamp)? I've looked but I can't find it clearly stated if the card will then work in both Mac and Windows, or if this creates a Mac-only card.
Thanks!
I'm getting my XFX 4890 tomorrow, and was going to simply use it via. the "injector" method. Obviously that method is now outdated so I'll probably try the "flashing" method. My only question is: Does the flashed card still work (properly) in Windows XP (bootcamp)? I've looked but I can't find it clearly stated if the card will then work in both Mac and Windows, or if this creates a Mac-only card.
Thanks!
Okay so heres what ive done so far:
- ive made another Snow Leopard partition.
- In the partition ive flashed the card again according to the tutorial (this time with 1900X on the first slot and 4890 on the second slot rather than just the 4890 on the frist slot)
- re-checked the power cables ( since if one of them was connected instead of 2 the fans go full blast)
- no change so far. the fans dont seem to go down below %50-60 blast ( i take the initial startup boot fan blast as %100 )
its so eerie, could this be a problem with my card? I hope not since when i was using it when it was injected it was on %20-30 tops while on desktop and %50-60 when i was playing 3d intense games ( heroes of newerth, Neverwinter Nights 2, Crysis etc.)
!!!!!!!!!!!HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- I dont think this solved it but ive changed the permissions of the ATIROMFlasher.kext to 755 rather than 655 and re-flashed the card with both the OC and NON-OC ROMS and after that the card was as it was before.
and now everything A-ok. I'm still wondering if this was the issue though... or maybe me flashing it with 2 GC's in did it and all it needed wasa couple o' reboots? meh.
Thanks so much cindori.
- ive made another Snow Leopard partition.
- In the partition ive flashed the card again according to the tutorial (this time with 1900X on the first slot and 4890 on the second slot rather than just the 4890 on the frist slot)
- re-checked the power cables ( since if one of them was connected instead of 2 the fans go full blast)
- no change so far. the fans dont seem to go down below %50-60 blast ( i take the initial startup boot fan blast as %100 )
its so eerie, could this be a problem with my card? I hope not since when i was using it when it was injected it was on %20-30 tops while on desktop and %50-60 when i was playing 3d intense games ( heroes of newerth, Neverwinter Nights 2, Crysis etc.)
!!!!!!!!!!!HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- I dont think this solved it but ive changed the permissions of the ATIROMFlasher.kext to 755 rather than 655 and re-flashed the card with both the OC and NON-OC ROMS and after that the card was as it was before.
and now everything A-ok. I'm still wondering if this was the issue though... or maybe me flashing it with 2 GC's in did it and all it needed wasa couple o' reboots? meh.
Thanks so much cindori.
Aaaand checking if the 5870 size could be a problem :
Could it even fit in all the MP models,especially the older where the 16x pci slot is at the bottom??
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the 16x slot is at the bottom in all the models. It just so happens that 08 and 09 Mac Pros have another one right above it. But it'd be foolish to use that slot instead of the double-wide slot made to accommodate such large, often dual-slot cooled graphics cards.
I would say the 2 ati cards was the cause. I don't know why. But it is the only thing that differs our setups and procedures. glad you got it working.
I don't think size is an issue.
Seen here is my 4890 in my Mac Pro 1,1:
There is still ~10cm to spare, and looking at this picture:
The 5870 is actually not that much longer.
One arctic cooling in the 4890 it will make your 4890 much more quiterlike mine.
After I flashed my XFX 4890 (latest version, if that matters) and installed Snow Leopard the fan speed and noise were very low compared to the older version XFX 4890 that I bought before I destroyed it by messing up the installation of the Arctic Cooling unit which was previous version.
I would say the 2 ati cards was the cause. I don't know why. But it is the only thing that differs our setups and procedures. glad you got it working.
I don't think size is an issue.
Seen here is my 4890 in my Mac Pro 1,1:
There is still ~10cm to spare, and looking at this picture:
The 5870 is actually not that much longer.
I wouldn't worry since the Mac compatible Geforce GTX 285 fits.
Thanks! Now I have to track any progress with the 5000 series of cards, to see if I need to send my 4890 back within the grace period. I'm guessing the 5000 series won't be working for a while though...
I really can't see why people are going crazy about switching to the 5000 series.
Even if Apple themselves gave us a EFI rom to flash with, we still would not have any drivers. Modifying a PC 5000 series card will not mean anything until Apple, ATI, Sapphire or whomever releases a Mac compatible card anyway. So far, nothing like this has happened within 6 months of the cards release.
And even then we are talking about weeks of researching, roms, chip size, reference models, injectors etc...
Even if Apple themselves gave us a EFI rom to flash with, we still would not have any drivers. Modifying a PC 5000 series card will not mean anything until Apple, ATI, Sapphire or whomever releases a Mac compatible card anyway. So far, nothing like this has happened within 6 months of the cards release.
And even then we are talking about weeks of researching, roms, chip size, reference models, injectors etc...
i used to like 2 girls 1 cup, now im going to love it.
/end.gross
That aside, the 5xxx are only going to be any good in a pc for any user... I would like just once that mac releases a driver/hardware in sync with pc
edit:
wait macinosh you have ati 5870x2 ? are you...from the future?
Believe it or not, I seem to recall that the GeForce 3 came out for Macs either a day before or on same day as PC one. I also recall speculation that Apple paid extra for that little feat.
No joy here
Well, no Joy here unfortunately. I snagged one of the XFX 4890s, which others in this thread appear to have working via. the new rom-flashing method. Everything seems to go well, but all I get is a completely garbage display from the moment I power-on. This could be something as simple as my card being a different revision, and could be very had to track down, so if I don't get it working by tomorrow I'll probably just bail and exchange it for an "Apple" 4870 (my time is worth a lot more than the money saved). It seemed like such a nice idea though! I can, if I squint really hard, sometimes make out the Apple symbol on the boot screen amid the chaos and snow. I guess that's something
Has anyone else run into any major problems with the flashing? I used both the regular and the overclocked version of the roms with no luck (same symptoms). As far as I can tell I've followed the directions to the letter. Are there any obvious things a long-time computer (but not unix) guy might have missed due to gaps in the instructions? For example, does either the app or the kext need to be in a specific directory? I created a new directory for them and worked from it since the instructions didn't specify. I also had to set permissions to the 755 as suggested by another poster. When set to the permission specified in the original article the flasher app would just launch and immediately quit.
Even when it appears to be flashing my card properly the flasher app would only run for about 10 seconds. Does this sound about right to you? It seems a bit quick to me.
Thanks!
Well, no Joy here unfortunately. I snagged one of the XFX 4890s, which others in this thread appear to have working via. the new rom-flashing method. Everything seems to go well, but all I get is a completely garbage display from the moment I power-on. This could be something as simple as my card being a different revision, and could be very had to track down, so if I don't get it working by tomorrow I'll probably just bail and exchange it for an "Apple" 4870 (my time is worth a lot more than the money saved). It seemed like such a nice idea though! I can, if I squint really hard, sometimes make out the Apple symbol on the boot screen amid the chaos and snow. I guess that's something
Has anyone else run into any major problems with the flashing? I used both the regular and the overclocked version of the roms with no luck (same symptoms). As far as I can tell I've followed the directions to the letter. Are there any obvious things a long-time computer (but not unix) guy might have missed due to gaps in the instructions? For example, does either the app or the kext need to be in a specific directory? I created a new directory for them and worked from it since the instructions didn't specify. I also had to set permissions to the 755 as suggested by another poster. When set to the permission specified in the original article the flasher app would just launch and immediately quit.
Even when it appears to be flashing my card properly the flasher app would only run for about 10 seconds. Does this sound about right to you? It seems a bit quick to me.
Thanks!
panja did you flash the card using only the XFX 4890 on slot 1 or the old card u had on slot 1 and the xfx 4890 on another slot?
afaict the reason why it did not work on mine is simply because the main graphics card that was being used to display the system/screen had to be a card which is not being flashed.
In other words if you have a 4890 rom you have to have a card which isnt 4890 in slot 1 being used as the primary G.C.
I went out as a wisea*s thinking i could do it without the help of ol' 1900.
the permission change is unnecessary on retrospect. It just made me feel "safer" (i <3 777 )
PS: what do you mean by the phrase "garbage display" ??? elaborate; if possible screenshot.
PSS: its supposed to run for 10 seconds or so. Its just loading a 131kb data into you graphics card. think of it as if youre uploading a 131kb picture to your flash memory card. (which by the way is slower than your G.C.) OFC BACK IN 1984 loading 131 kb was kinda a big deal but you get the point.
afaict the reason why it did not work on mine is simply because the main graphics card that was being used to display the system/screen had to be a card which is not being flashed.
In other words if you have a 4890 rom you have to have a card which isnt 4890 in slot 1 being used as the primary G.C.
I went out as a wisea*s thinking i could do it without the help of ol' 1900.
the permission change is unnecessary on retrospect. It just made me feel "safer" (i <3 777 )
PS: what do you mean by the phrase "garbage display" ??? elaborate; if possible screenshot.
PSS: its supposed to run for 10 seconds or so. Its just loading a 131kb data into you graphics card. think of it as if youre uploading a 131kb picture to your flash memory card. (which by the way is slower than your G.C.) OFC BACK IN 1984 loading 131 kb was kinda a big deal but you get the point.
Fast reply! I was running my "old" 3870 in slot 4 as my primary display and my 4890 in slot 1. I'll try switching some cards around and trying it one last time. I'll work on adding a screen shot-also.
Well, no Joy here unfortunately. I snagged one of the XFX 4890s, which others in this thread appear to have working via. the new rom-flashing method. Everything seems to go well, but all I get is a completely garbage display from the moment I power-on. This could be something as simple as my card being a different revision, and could be very had to track down, so if I don't get it working by tomorrow I'll probably just bail and exchange it for an "Apple" 4870 (my time is worth a lot more than the money saved). It seemed like such a nice idea though! I can, if I squint really hard, sometimes make out the Apple symbol on the boot screen amid the chaos and snow. I guess that's something
Has anyone else run into any major problems with the flashing? I used both the regular and the overclocked version of the roms with no luck (same symptoms). As far as I can tell I've followed the directions to the letter. Are there any obvious things a long-time computer (but not unix) guy might have missed due to gaps in the instructions? For example, does either the app or the kext need to be in a specific directory? I created a new directory for them and worked from it since the instructions didn't specify. I also had to set permissions to the 755 as suggested by another poster. When set to the permission specified in the original article the flasher app would just launch and immediately quit.
Even when it appears to be flashing my card properly the flasher app would only run for about 10 seconds. Does this sound about right to you? It seems a bit quick to me.
Thanks!
My XFX 4890 HD-489A-ZDFC ver 5.4 just arrived today. I am having the same exact problems as you (artifacts, etc) Also when the card is flashed with any of the roms neither of my displays work in windows. I do have the 4890 in the #1 slot and I flashed using the old method. I have flashed 4 xfx 4870's the same way with no issues. I will try moving my other card (7300gt) to the first slot and see what happens.
Still no joy
Still no joy here. I swapped the 4890 into a different slot, but no luck. My theory is that it has flashed, but that the rom file is not compatible with my particular card revision. If it didn't flash I shouldn't get any display at all, right? Anyway, it once again appeared to flash properly, but upon powering-on this is what I get (see the Apple? It is there!):
Still no joy here. I swapped the 4890 into a different slot, but no luck. My theory is that it has flashed, but that the rom file is not compatible with my particular card revision. If it didn't flash I shouldn't get any display at all, right? Anyway, it once again appeared to flash properly, but upon powering-on this is what I get (see the Apple? It is there!):
Attachments
My non-working card is a "HD-489A-ZDFC V5.2". If you have a backup of the original (windows) ROM file for your card would you mind posting it here? I hate to admit this, but I did this on kind of a lark, at least half expecting to return the card, so I didn't bother to boot into windows and figure out how to backup the original ROM. If you have a copy I'll re-flash my card with it.