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

[Ferrari904]

Hi its me again. I've been trying to figure this out on my own and from pictures but just can't seem to connect the dots. How do you power dual 4870s? I've read through the "Running Dual 4870s" thread and there isn't a very clear solution. What I do know is that I can power a card from one of the SATA connections and have that split to two 4 Pin PSU connectors, but from there I don't know what else to do? Anyone have a few suggestions for me? Thanks!;)

[dusanv]

Is this XFX 1GB (http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=36843&vpn=HD487AZDFC&manufacture=XFX) card going to work for flashing? Anyone know? I like the fan design (exhausts at the back).

[Rankrotten]

Rankrotten, you will have to manualy add ATY,binimage to natit, with content of 3870x2 master chip bios(up to 64kb)

Thanks netkas I'll get right on it as soon as I figure out the procedure.

[Ferrari904]

Is this XFX 1GB (http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=36843&vpn=HD487AZDFC&manufacture=XFX) card going to work for flashing? Anyone know? I like the fan design (exhausts at the back).

As far as I know it does. If you go to the "Running Dual 4870s" thread (just search for it) go to page 4 and look for post #95. It is a pretty good confirmation that the XFX card works very well.

[The Rominator]

I did boot in single user mode and delete netkas's files (Natit and ATY_Init) per his how to post in this thread. However I just checked to makes sure they were gone and they were still there so obviously it didn't work - permissions or something probably. .

If you can safe boot or use another card to boot, just follow the listed path and manually chuck the files.

It is the ATI.init one that kills the XFX.

Rihldinger wrote and posted a perfectly good ROM for XFX 4870 1 Gig. (IIRC...there may be "Mouse jump" issues with XFX and certain LCD panels)

[Ferrari904]

I know I'm sounding annoying at this point but can any tell me what is the best way to power two 4870s without having to change the power supply unit or by purchasing a booster that would go in the superdrive bay.

[jberzins]

Hey Folks!

Could you post a link or give a short explanation how Natit.kext fools the original driver on a hackintosh? I looked into plist bios images, does not make sense for me to put only first 64k of 4870 bios there - what it is used for? And what is the role of ATY_init?

Lot of questions I have, but I did not find any website clarifying it, just "put in this mambo jambo and it will work stuff".

Thanks!
jb

[netkas]

Hey Folks!

Could you post a link or give a short explanation how Natit.kext fools the original driver on a hackintosh? I looked into plist bios images, does not make sense for me to put only first 64k of 4870 bios there - what it is used for? And what is the role of ATY_init?

Lot of questions I have, but I did not find any website clarifying it, just "put in this mambo jambo and it will work stuff".

Thanks!
jb

in Macs, efi drivers passes keys for gfx device to system, so, your video card have those keys, on hacks or on macpro with pc card, nothing passes keys for card, so, natit sets them, you can see keys in natit's plist. ATY_init just calls asic_init function of atombios.

[aconu]

I just patched MOtmot a bit, and now it detects both monitor on both my dvi heads just fine, without any dvi2vga trick, but, when i conenct both dvi - kernel panic :D

here it is - http://rapidshare.de/files/46870770/ATY_Motmot.kext.zip.html

dont bother to try if everything works fine for u

With your patched MotMot, i don't need anymore the "HDMI terminator" hack to enable the DVI-D port of my Gainward GS 1GB. But still no secondary output on VGA, Display Port or HDMI (but no kp, the secondary display is just undetected).

[netkas]

about vga:
for me, on dvi port 1, ith dvi-vga, display detected but no real output
on dvi port 2, output present, but drivers failed to read edid, so it has 4:3 resolutions list.

[aconu]

about vga:
for me, on dvi port 1, ith dvi-vga, display detected but no real output
on dvi port 2, output present, but drivers failed to read edid, so it has 4:3 resolutions list.

I've done more testing :
- DVI-D only : OK
- VGA only : OK, but with strange resolutions list (not only 4:3, for example 1920x1080@60Hz, or 1920x1200@76Hz, or even above)
- HDMI or Display Port only, no output
- DVI-D+VGA : no output on VGA
- DVI-D+HDMI or VGA+HDMI : the main screen flash (like a normal display detection), but no output on HDMI, and no secondary monitor detected in system information (and no kp).
- DVI-D+DP or VGA+DP : nothing happen

I think on the Gainward GS and these unusuals outputs, maybe the VGA port is hard linked with the analog output of the DVI-D port, so if DVI-D is used, no VGA (i try this under Vista).

And the HDMI port seems to be linked like the secondary DVI-D of the others cards.

[VirtualRain]

I know I'm sounding annoying at this point but can any tell me what is the best way to power two 4870s without having to change the power supply unit or by purchasing a booster that would go in the superdrive bay.

Here's how I would do it...

From the spare SATA connector to one of these...

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=89&products_id=24160

to these...

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=186&products_id=24423

Split this across both cards (one connector to each card) and use one of each stock power cables to each card as well.

[netkas]

Guys, who got 4870x2 working with aty_init, could u test this new version of pkg ?
http://rapidshare.de/files/46886252/ATI_Init_new.pkg.html

[macest]

Guys, who got 4870x2 working with aty_init, could u test this new version of pkg ?
http://rapidshare.de/files/46886252/ATI_Init_new.pkg.html

Seems to work ok. What changed exactly?

[netkas]

Seems to work ok. What changed exactly?

Natit now detects if card was initiated by efi driver (have efi rom), and if so, it doesnt set any keys for it, and tells aty_init to do not do anything, (previously it was done by making natit & aty_init attach only to 48x0 cards).
Now peoples can start adding support for any other ati cards which supported by osx (aka works on hackintoshes), for example 3850/3870x2, etc. just need to add proper binimage to corresponding section of Natit's plist (for example there is already section for 4890, insert binimage to it and try:) )

[macest]

I presume when 10.5.7 comes out, the finalised Radeon driver will need to be patched before aty_init and natit will work?

[netkas]

I presume when 10.5.7 comes out, the finalised Radeon driver will need to be patched before aty_init and natit will work?

depends on card model, 4870x2 4830 and maybe 4890 - will need patched x2000.kext to get qe/ci

4850/4830 and some models of 4870 will need patched Motmot(or quail) to work without dvi2vga dongle (or hdmi2dvi + dvi2vga).

patches isnt hard, watch my blog after 10.5.7 released.

[Topper]

4870 x2

Is the 4870 X2 EFI 64 and EFI 32?
I know it will work on my Mac Pro but I would like to know if it will work on my friend's first generation Mac Pro.

[The Rominator]

Currently ALL ATI cards are fine (100 % functional) in ANY Mac Pro.

Simple statement...due to EBC EFI versus being one or other. (32 or 64)

But it should be noted...currently the 4870x2 is certainly no FASTER than a 4870 in a Mac Pro (slower in mine). Only advantage to 4870x2 is when you boot into Windows.

[BugLamp]

is there a way to use natit to tell the ati driver the proper outputs settings? Or perhaps edit the EFI to pass the proper strings for a given cards outputs. Can someone shed some light on how this process works? I remember from my experiences from hackintosh that it was possible to change this type of configuration.

[Topper]

But it should be noted...currently the 4870x2 is certainly no FASTER than a 4870 in a Mac Pro

Why is that?

[The Rominator]

When Crossfire works in Windows...it is actuated through ATI Catalyst Software.

There is no Mac equivalent...so when a 4870 x2 runs on a Mac, it runs as a single core 4870.

In my informal testing, it was significantly SLOWER than any other 4870 I have tried. likely due to driver not lining up properly, or something.

Same problem exists for 9800GX2...can run as a 8800GT single, again due to lack of software to "link" the two cores.

[netkas]

Why is that?

Maybe because 4870X2 has RV770 prototype opengl engine, unlike 4870/4850 with Radeon 4850/4870 opengl engine (you can check it with glview)

[Whiteyez]

Is there any way to lower the speed fan of the 4870 or 4890 (not flashed)?? i have a 4890 and in MAC osx the fan is sound like hovercraft, in windows its ok, i suppose this happens because mac osx doesn't recognize the card.

[macest]

Maybe because 4870X2 has RV770 prototype opengl engine, unlike 4870/4850 with Radeon 4850/4870 opengl engine (you can check it with glview)

Is this actually on the card or software based?

[Dredog]

Can some one send me the modified rom for the Sapphire HD4870 512mb card (PN 288-10E85030SA, SKU 11133-03-20r)?

Thanks, I'm having trouble flashing this...

[Amethyst]

netkas

can i use ATY_init method to use NVIDIA card (9600GT , 9800 GX2).

Or the future GTX200 Series

[netkas]

netkas

can i use ATY_init method to use NVIDIA card (9600GT , 9800 GX2).

Or the future GTX200 Series

lol, if nvidia would have atombios

for nvidia u can use just natit-like kext, nvkush for example, there was some post on my blog about getting 9800GTX working in macpro

[somorastik]

Hi, sorry for being a bit off topic. How is the future for Ati Mobility 34xx series looking?

Thanks

[swissmann]

I'd like to report another success story. Thanks to everyone especially Rominator, rew, rhildinger, netkas, pipomolo42!

I still had some troubles in the process and documented all that I did.

I have created a tutorial with lots of pictures and instructions. I hope this helps people:

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

Thanks again.

[wfj5444]

Nice tutorial! :)

[netkas]

4890 will work, it will need updated natit with 4890 bios inside, aty_init, new patched x2000.kext

http://netkas.org/?p=99

[Pressure]

4890 will work, it will need updated natit with 4890 bios inside, aty_init, new patched x2000.kext

http://netkas.org/?p=99

Great! I expect delivery tomorrow :D

[netkas]

btw, in snow leo they complely reworked ati framebuffer drivers, looks like it will not need aty_init .

and, this drivers fails to work with powerplay on my 4850, Seems because of downclocking memory, i guess imacs with 4850 fails to run snow leo normaly too, PP is easy to disable tho.

[BEIGE]

interesting - what do you think was the motivation for reworking the driver? does it give a significant speed increase?

[medsource]

btw, in snow leo they complely reworked ati framebuffer drivers, looks like it will not need aty_init .

and, this drivers fails to work with powerplay on my 4850, Seems because of downclocking memory, i guess imacs with 4850 fails to run snow leo normaly too, PP is easy to disable tho.

Is this a newer version of the driver or the same ones we've been using for the past few weeks? I'm obviously curious as newer drivers might solve the mouse jump issue that was plaguing my monitors and might mean that I take the plunge on a card again.

[TheStrudel]

btw, in snow leo they complely reworked ati framebuffer drivers, looks like it will not need aty_init .

Any other results of the reworking of the drivers - does that change anything else, or just remove the need for aty_init?

[PatrikL]

@netkas

So in other words a 4870x2 will work in my mac pro 2008 with the package you have on your website netkas?

Do i have to have a "working" gfx card to like 2600xt (mac version)

//BR
Patrik

[Pressure]

So in other words a 4870x2 will work in my mac pro 2008 with the package you have on your website netkas?

Do i have to have a "working" gfx card to like 2600xt (mac version)

//BR
Patrik

You will need some card with an EFI part to initialize Mac OS X if I understand it correctly.

[netkas]

Is this a newer version of the driver or the same ones we've been using for the past few weeks? I'm obviously curious as newer drivers might solve the mouse jump issue that was plaguing my monitors and might mean that I take the plunge on a card again.


new drivers cant solve anything fr you because they doesnt work in leopard.

[erteclas]

I have a MacPro. I managed to flash a ati 4870, but only one DVI output works.
I like to use the two DVI outputs?

[erteclas]

i have a ati radeon 4870 1gb sapphire...
and my mac pro is 2.8 octocore , i buy it three months ago..
what is the correct rom for flashing?

[erteclas]

this file is ok for my ati 4870?
macxfx4870rom.zip
thanks

[PatrikL]

this file is ok for my ati 4870?
macxfx4870rom.zip
thanks

Dude! Read the thread instead of spaming it!

[lannister80]

I'd like to report another success story. Thanks to everyone especially Rominator, rew, rhildinger, netkas, pipomolo42!

I still had some troubles in the process and documented all that I did.

I have created a tutorial with lots of pictures and instructions. I hope this helps people:

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

THANK YOU so much for the tutorial. I'm very interested in the XFX card since it works with 2 DVI monitors (unlike the Sapphire cards).

[erteclas]

I read the whole thread and it is not clear in what is the rom that I use

[lannister80]

I read the whole thread and it is not clear in what is the rom that I use
It depends entirely on what card you have. Without that info we can't help.

[erteclas]

i have this card..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
and i use this rom file macxfx4870rom.zip

the problem is that the mac pro no start.
when I turn on the MacPro, the sound of the gong ago, once, and another and another. and goes on ........ I have to shut it down

[dudeguy87]

I'd like to report another success story. Thanks to everyone especially Rominator, rew, rhildinger, netkas, pipomolo42!

I still had some troubles in the process and documented all that I did.

I have created a tutorial with lots of pictures and instructions. I hope this helps people:

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

Thanks again.

Because of you my friend I will finally be able to stop complaining about my mac pro 1.1. Thank you! I do have a quick question... when i boot through the cd... can i use the 4870 as the monitor out? My other card is 1900xt which requires a power cable. As you can see this causes a problem. Also have you tested any of the adobe or final cut apps with this card?

[erteclas]

please help....i can´t start my macpro......

[ghislain]

i have this card..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
and i use this rom file macxfx4870rom.zip

the problem is that the mac pro no start.
when I turn on the MacPro, the sound of the gong ago, once, and another and another. and goes on ........ I have to shut it down

It happened to me also the first time I tried to flash my HD 4870, probably because something went wrong during flashing under Windows (not a good idea!). Unfortunatly, at this point, it seems impossible to reflash the card with the Mac, even when putting back the ATI 7300 since the mac pro refuse to start (gong, gong etc...). So, the only solution for me was to bring back the card to the store for an exchange. Alternatively, re-flash the card in a real PC might still be possible...

[swissmann]

i have this card..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
and i use this rom file macxfx4870rom.zip

the problem is that the mac pro no start.
when I turn on the MacPro, the sound of the gong ago, once, and another and another. and goes on ........ I have to shut it down

Your Sapphire card will not work with the XFX rom. You need to use a ROM that works with your card or make one that does. I tried to stress in my tutorial that the EXACT card was needed. You need to flash back to your original ROM and start over.

[swissmann]

Because of you my friend I will finally be able to stop complaining about my mac pro 1.1. Thank you! I do have a quick question... when i boot through the cd... can i use the 4870 as the monitor out? My other card is 1900xt which requires a power cable. As you can see this causes a problem. Also have you tested any of the adobe or final cut apps with this card?

I see your problem - not enough power cables to go around. I don't know an answer to your question - but I guess that you could boot into windows with it when the proper drivers are installed. So maybe you want to install the drivers and get as much setup as you can before you put in the new card then go from there. Also, booting into DOS might work I kind of think no specific drivers are needed for the card for DOS (total guess) - although I THINK in my trials I at one point did boot into DOS with just my 4870 in. Just try things out and hope you get a picture enough to do the job.

Edit - I forgot to mention that I have used Photoshop, Aperture, and Final Cut Pro already. My use has been light so I didn't see any change except in Aperture where it seems way faster. I've yet to use Motion or any other Adobe apps but am confident all will be much improved over my 2600 card.

[erteclas]

if I put the card in a PC, i can flash it?

[swissmann]

It happened to me also the first time I tried to flash my HD 4870, probably because something went wrong during flashing under Windows (not a good idea!). Unfortunatly, at this point, it seems impossible to reflash the card with the Mac, even when putting back the ATI 7300 since the mac pro refuse to start (gong, gong etc...). So, the only solution for me was to bring back the card to the store for an exchange. Alternatively, re-flash the card in a real PC might still be possible...

I bricked my card a couple of times but somehow I was still able to boot with it in as long as I had my 7300gt card in as well (with my monitor attached to it) and held down the option key on booting to go into DOS to reflash. Sometimes it took a couple of tries at booting but it eventually worked. I had read comments about bricking a card and needing to get a PC so I was totally depressed but I fought through it with my Mac Pro as my only tool and it worked in the end. Not to say this is the case with everyone and every card but it worked with me.

[swissmann]

if I put the card in a PC, i can flash it?

Probably, if your PC can take the card (empty PCI Express slot and enough power).

[erteclas]

ok, I'm going to call a friend who has a pc, a octocore to see if it may be possible, and I leave it ... but now a question.
what is the correct rom for my card, and if it is possible to use the two DVI outputs

[lannister80]

ok, I'm going to call a friend who has a pc, a octocore to see if it may be possible, and I leave it ... but now a question.
what is the correct rom for my card, and if it is possible to use the two DVI outputs
The only card (so far) that works with dual DVI output is the XFX card. The Sapphire ones do NOT work with dual DVI output.

[dudeguy87]

I see your problem - not enough power cables to go around. I don't know an answer to your question - but I guess that you could boot into windows with it when the proper drivers are installed. So maybe you want to install the drivers and get as much setup as you can before you put in the new card then go from there. Also, booting into DOS might work I kind of think no specific drivers are needed for the card for DOS (total guess) - although I THINK in my trials I at one point did boot into DOS with just my 4870 in. Just try things out and hope you get a picture enough to do the job.

Edit - I forgot to mention that I have used Photoshop, Aperture, and Final Cut Pro already. My use has been light so I didn't see any change except in Aperture where it seems way faster. I've yet to use Motion or any other Adobe apps but am confident all will be much improved over my 2600 card.

Thank you again, my card is coming friday....As i was researching some of this, is there a good chance that this will break my motherboard or the videocard? I still have 1 year left on my apple protection plan and was thinking would there be any problems if they saw that there was a rom change. Is there anyway to reset anything that im changing if all else fails so that my computer will be back to its previous state? Thats my main question.

[swissmann]

Thank you again, my card is coming friday....As i was researching some of this, is there a good chance that this will break my motherboard or the videocard? I still have 1 year left on my apple protection plan and was thinking would there be any problems if they saw that there was a rom change. Is there anyway to reset anything that im changing if all else fails so that my computer will be back to its previous state? Thats my main question.

This is a risky thing no doubt. I can't say what the risk factor is. I know that I thought I had totally killed my 4870 about 4 times in my trials and each time I was able to get it back to normal to try again and finally success. If your machine does die I would suggest that you take out the 4870 and any other non stock things before you take it to Apple for service just to simplify things. As far as I know the only hardware change that takes place is on the 4870 card (don't hold me to it though.) Good luck.

[netkas]

guys, I saw some have 2600xt cards in macpro, can you make some dump ?

ioreg -l -w0 -p IODeviceTree > ~/Desktop/dump.txt

plz pm me it if you can

[erteclas]

Well, it has been possible to flash the card with the pc4870 rom and now it works, but only one DVI output.
I have read previously, which currently only works with 1 dvi output, but if I have also installed the 2600hd can use the dvi outputs gives the 2600? and one from 4870?
can I use two cards?

[lannister80]

Well, it has been possible to flash the card with the pc4870 rom and now it works, but only one DVI output.
I have read previously, which currently only works with 1 dvi output, but if I have also installed the 2600hd can use the dvi outputs gives the 2600? and one from 4870?
can I use two cards?
That's a good point. Since most people already have one graphics card and they'd be adding another, that could be the dual-monitor solution people with Sapphire cards are looking for. Of course, I don't know the answer. :(

[frayedends]

Well, I'm gonna pose a few questions I can't find an answer to.

I have a Sapphire 4870 1gb PC version, and I don't have bootcamp, or a PC. So flashing the card isn't easy for me. I do have VMware, but it doesn't recognize the card in GPUZ. This is all in a mac pro 1,1 - yeah, it's the older one.

Tried installing the 10.5.6 drivers, and netkas' updated package, but I'm unable to boot, as Natit is hanging somewhere.

So I want to get the card to work solo, but there's some confusing posts in this thread since it's been about everything under the sun. So here we go:

1. The method using Natit and Netkas' new package does or does not require my specific card EFI string to be inserted into natit?

2. The above method should or should not allow the card to boot into osx without any other cards installed?

3. Flashing is the only option if above does not work?

4. Anyone know a way to get it to flash in VMware?

5. Might a hackintosh work to flash it? I have one of those :)

[swissmann]

Well, I'm gonna pose a few questions I can't find an answer to.

I have a Sapphire 4870 1gb PC version, and I don't have bootcamp, or a PC. So flashing the card isn't easy for me. I do have VMware, but it doesn't recognize the card in GPUZ. This is all in a mac pro 1,1 - yeah, it's the older one.

Tried installing the 10.5.6 drivers, and netkas' updated package, but I'm unable to boot, as Natit is hanging somewhere.

So I want to get the card to work solo, but there's some confusing posts in this thread since it's been about everything under the sun. So here we go:

1. The method using Natit and Netkas' new package does or does not require my specific card EFI string to be inserted into natit?

2. The above method should or should not allow the card to boot into osx without any other cards installed?

3. Flashing is the only option if above does not work?

4. Anyone know a way to get it to flash in VMware?

5. Might a hackintosh work to flash it? I have one of those :)

I'll answer the best I can. I tried to use Netkas method so as not to flash and my XFX card went all crazy so I had to manually delete the files installed.

I ended up flashing the card in the end and I think backing up the ROM would be your only step that you couldn't complete using only VMWare (unless not installing bootcamp prohibits the DOS boot CD to boot). In VMWare you should be able to create a bootdisk with all the pieces you need on it and then you will boot from the CD in DOS to flash.

I'm not entirely sure this would work but if it were me I would think it was worth a try. A big problem is that you won't have the original rom backed up to restore to if you mess up - which I highly discourage. Also, like I said maybe the mac pro won't boot from the boot CD. Someone earlier mentioned you might need to go through the bootcamp setup even if you don't install a windows OS through it. I really don't know. Hope this offers some guidance. Check out my tutorial earlier for more help.

[frayedends]

Yeah, but I think the card you used was the XFX, right? I had heard some ppl had probs getting that one to work, but I saw a few posts about someone using the sapphire that DID work - so it only added to the confusion lol.

I'm not going to flash without a backup, that wouldn't be smart, in case it didn't work. Creating the boot CD I'm gonna try anyway to see if I can boot from it - I think it will work, even without bootcamp.

If not, I'll run the setup, but not actually install windows.

Anyone who HAS gotten a single Sapphire 4870 1g to run solo - post it up, let's see what exactly you had to do for that specific card.

[erteclas]

but one question.
the problem that with the sapphire can not use the dual link is the rom, right?

or is osx problem.
10.5.7 where the exit might be solved ...?

can be used in the MacPro two ati cards?. the 2600hd and the 4870?
need to install anything?

[TheStrudel]

Yes, you can use two cards. I'm doing that right now myself - Radeon 2600XT sitting on top of my flashed Sapphire (same as yours), one DVI output from there, one from the 4870. The only real issue I can find with this is that it appears to result in the expansion slot being much hotter. Then again, ambient temperatures picked up around me recently, and it could be that the 4870 normally runs in the 34-40°C range. Anybody doing something similar, or running just a 4870 want to confirm/deny that?

[frayedends]

but one question.
the problem that with the sapphire can not use the dual link is the rom, right?

or is osx problem.
10.5.7 where the exit might be solved ...?

can be used in the MacPro two ati cards?. the 2600hd and the 4870?
need to install anything?

That is correct as I understand it.

By the way, you have exactly same card I have. Did you make backup of your rom? If so, can you post the file or save it because I cannot save mine. I would like to have backup from same card, then I can flash new card.

[erteclas]

I did not have a backup of the rom of my card. what I have done is that a friend of mine has a pc with two PCIe ports, and is in the pc, where it could flash the card with another rom .. specifically listed on page 36 post 886

[erteclas]

strudel, which is your 4870 card?, because I with mine, the sapphire, if I connect a monitor on the 2600hd, and the ati 4870 the other, leaving only the image of the 2600, but if I disconnect the card 2600, the monitor, then the image output from the 4870

[medsource]

new drivers cant solve anything fr you because they doesnt work in leopard.

Alas, I must wait...

[bb8882]

I was thinking if it's possible to flash a XFX 4890 with both DVI working since I use 2 23 Apple Monitors.
4890 is faster than 4870 and us less power idling and much cooler which makes it a perfect card for Mac Pro. I suggest people focus more on flashing the 4890.


Early 2008 Mac Pro, 8x2.8GHz, 2.5TB, 10GB RAM, 2 23" Apple Monitor

[TheStrudel]

I have the same card as you. I plugged in my main monitor to the 4870 first, then after I booted, I plugged the second monitor into the 2600. Worked. As soon as I plug anything into the second DVI port on the 4870, I get a crash.

[erteclas]

dear thestrudel, did you use these files. ATY_Motmot.kext, ATI_Init.pkg, Natit.kext.tar.bz2?.
the truth that I have read the entire thread, and I am quite confused.
could be explained step by step what you have done?

[erteclas]

Well, I'm going to sleep, here in Spain is 2:16 in the morning ..
a hug to everyone and thanks for everything ...

[frayedends]

I have the .app package that updates the 1900XT firmware, and I was looking through it and note there's a pkg that has the ATIFacelessFlash binary, and in the resources section of the package there is a rom file (R580Alopias_1.202_EBC.ROM) for flashing the 1900.

So. If we change a few strings in the main info.plist file, I wonder if it's possible to flash a different card this way, using the same flasher ATI made?

[bb8882]

4890 will work, it will need updated natit with 4890 bios inside, aty_init, new patched x2000.kext

http://netkas.org/?p=99

Will XFX 4890 work with 2 monitors? Seems like XFX 4870 works with both DVIs. I will get one and try to flash it if I can use it for 2 monitors.

[PatrikL]

@netkas

So in other words a 4870x2 will work in my mac pro 2008 with the package you have on your website netkas?

Do i have to have a "working" gfx card to like 2600xt (mac version)

//BR
Patrik

[Concorde Rules]

Is it possible to flash the 4890 with a edited firmware and thus work in OS X and windows without messing around with edited kexts?

Or do I need to do 4870 so I dont mess around?

Im thinking of sending this MP back and swapping for a GT120 until this stupid pause is fixed.

I don't want to be messing around with drivers in OS X :)

[lannister80]

@netkas

So in other words a 4870x2 will work in my mac pro 2008 with the package you have on your website netkas?

Do i have to have a "working" gfx card to like 2600xt (mac version)

//BR
Patrik
Unless you flash one or both of the 4870s, you'll need a Mac-compatible graphics card (stock card, flashed card, etc) to boot the Mac. Once it's booted you don't have to use that card until it's time to reboot again.

[PatrikL]

Unless you flash one or both of the 4870s, you'll need a Mac-compatible graphics card (stock card, flashed card, etc) to boot the Mac. Once it's booted you don't have to use that card until it's time to reboot again.

ok I see! but do i need to have the screen connected to that mac card when i boot the computer or does it just have to be there under the boot.
//BR
Patrik

[troc]

Well, my Sapphire 1Gig 4870 arrived last night and all went perfectly.

I don't have a PC or a windows partition, so I had to skip the copying of the original ROM part of the procedure but after that it was a piece of cake.

First I knocked up a copy of the ultimate boot CD with the required files (ATIflash, the new ROM etc).

Then came the "er now what" bit. My Rev. 1 Mac Pro had an 1900XT (i.e. with a power cable so I'd ordered another from ebay) and there was no way I could run both cards at the same time.....

I hedged my bets, removed the old card, installed the new one, connected my monitor to the first port and booted with the "c" key - the dos cd booted fine and Iproceeded with the flashing. Then just rebooted from my Raid 0 boot disks as usual, installed the drivers and rebooted again and all was well.

So, it seems that whilst people have had problems getting a picture with just the unflashed 4870 installed (both in windows and osx), it seems to be fine in DOS.

Anyway, thanks for the work you all put in, thanks for the great walkthroughs people have posted and roll on 10.5.7 :)

[frayedends]

I had the same issue with needing 3 power cables, since the 4870 needs 2, and the 1900 needs one. I made one of my own, and connected it to the 2nd power slot off the superdrive power cable. But that only left me with 2, my 3rd cable hasn't arrived yet.

As I noted a few posts above, I couldn't get the card to work on it's own, so I installed bootcamp, and flashed the card after backing up the rom.

If anyone needs it, here's the original rom attached. It's for this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 4870
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 1024 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x9440
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-B7710C-176
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.318


Flashing worked fine, however when I did it, I was unable to boot into bootcamp windows without a power cable attached to the 1900. So I did the flashing of the 4870 with ONE CABLE attached.

I was able to read it with GPUZ, save the original rom, and flash on one cable. No problem. Afterwards, I rebooted with just the 4870 installed, and have had no issues at all. Link speed is 2.5, just as everyone else has, but it's way leaps and bounds better than what I had.

[erteclas]

I have flashed the card ati 4870. Also, I have connected ati2600hd in slot 2.
How do the 4870 card is the default, which is to boot the operating system and the secondary card is the ATI 2600hd,

[erteclas]

a question.
I got the rom from the original 4870 Apple ati.
is valid, this rom for a ati 4870, specifically this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
thanks ..
frayedends the file you post, this is the original card, or is already modified for use in a MacPro.
frayedends, one last question.
could you send me your modified rom from your card,
because I see that you have the same card that I, or not?. if you have the same card. Would you send the rom by mail please?
thanks

[frviana]

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 285 coming to Macs in June.
Info from http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/nvidias-geforce-gtx-285-coming-to-macs-in-june/

I hope we will now be able to have the PC version working a Mac without having to pay the Apple premium price for a Mac version.

[JollyRogers]

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 285 coming to Macs in June.
Info from http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/nvidias-geforce-gtx-285-coming-to-macs-in-june/

I hope we will now be able to have the PC version working a Mac without having to pay the Apple premium price for a Mac version.

Sort of off subject, but I ran a flashed 8800GT and have been following this thread close. I was going to get a PC version 4870 and flash it, but.........

I bought the Apple 4870 because when I had a flashed 8800GT, 6 months later its vram went bad and I had to purchase another via ebay and to flash again. My wife convinced me to buy the Apple 4870 this time vice going the flashed route because it would have a 1 year apple warranty, no flashing etc.... I just got it today and installed it, and it came with no driver from apple (I know I can download it as it's the driver package used here, but thought apple would supply something when they delivered the card). I called Apple care, and got treated very rudely. I have never been treated like this from any customer support anywhere. I deal with Dell daily because of IT work (honestly why I run Macs at home now, used to run Linux... and probably will now go back to that in the future) and they have been nothing but great to me.

After that experience, I will flash all future cards as long as I have this MP, and go back to using hackintoshs or my trusty Linux boxes for my next upgrade. I dont need to pay to have people be rude to me and can build my own stuff to run Linux/win/and hackintosh for a lot less money. Can't believe Apple has an 80% customer service rating...

On subject: the Link Speed for the official Apple 4870 with NO drivers installed is 5.0GT. I thought you guys would want to know this. I am running it in a 08MP.

[frviana]

Sorry to hear your bad experience with Applecare. They have always been ultra polite and helpful to me even when they don't have the information to help. I called another day about the power cable for the video card and they went an extra mile to get the information.

Try again to see if you get a better experience, you probably got a wrong person at a wrong time.

Sort of off subject, but I ran a flashed 8800GT and have been following this thread close. I was going to get a PC version 4870 and flash it, but.........

I bought the Apple 4870 because when I had a flashed 8800GT, 6 months later its vram went bad and I had to purchase another via ebay and to flash again. My wife convinced me to buy the Apple 4870 this time vice going the flashed route because it would have a 1 year apple warranty, no flashing etc.... I just got it today and installed it, and it came with no driver from apple (I know I can download it as it's the driver package used here, but thought apple would supply something when they delivered the card). I called Apple care, and got treated very rudely. I have never been treated like this from any customer support anywhere. I deal with Dell daily because of IT work (honestly why I run Macs at home now, used to run Linux... and probably will now go back to that in the future) and they have been nothing but great to me.

After that experience, I will flash all future cards as long as I have this MP, and go back to using hackintoshs or my trusty Linux boxes for my next upgrade. I dont need to pay to have people be rude to me and can build my own stuff to run Linux/win/and hackintosh for a lot less money. Can't believe Apple has an 80% customer service rating...

On subject: the Link Speed for the official Apple 4870 with NO drivers installed is 5.0GT. I thought you guys would want to know this. I am running it in a 08MP.

[JollyRogers]

Sorry to hear your bad experience with Applecare. They have always been ultra polite and helpful to me even when they don't have the information to help. I called another day about the power cable for the video card and they went an extra mile to get the information.

Try again to see if you get a better experience, you probably got a wrong person at a wrong time.

I am flawed like that... I probably will never call them again. I ended up d/ling the unofficial drivers and installing, then removing natit.kext. Shame apple can't deliver. But I learned a lesson about purchasing ANYTHING from apple for my machine.

[netkas]

@netkas

So in other words a 4870x2 will work in my mac pro 2008 with the package you have on your website netkas?

Do i have to have a "working" gfx card to like 2600xt (mac version)

//BR
Patrik

this mess with driver's versions and etc....

I'll post pkg on my site after 10.5.7 will be released, for macpro too.

you have to have some mac edition card to make macpro boot.

btw, if u have 2600xt_mac, make a dump plz, ioreg -l -w0 -p IODeviceTree > ./dump.txt

[PatrikL]

this mess with driver's versions and etc....

I'll post pkg on my site after 10.5.7 will be released, for macpro too.

you have to have some mac edition card to make macpro boot.

btw, if u have 2600xt_mac, make a dump plz, ioreg -l -w0 -p IODeviceTree > ./dump.txt



Right now I'm running dual 4870's but i'm thinking of selling those and get a 4870x2 because the dual 4870's getting hot and makes alot of noise.

But I have a 2600xt for the mac pro (original card)

Do I need to have my screen connected to that card(2600xt) when i boot the mac pro or does it just have to be there so I can allways use the screen with the 4870x2 card without changing place of the cable.



BTW: 10.5.7 is released to the staff at apple today so probably we will see it in a very very very near future.

[Pressure]

this mess with driver's versions and etc....

I'll post pkg on my site after 10.5.7 will be released, for macpro too.

you have to have some mac edition card to make macpro boot.

btw, if u have 2600xt_mac, make a dump plz, ioreg -l -w0 -p IODeviceTree > ./dump.txt

Here is the ioreg dump (http://home20.inet.tele.dk/pressure/dump.txt) of the Radeon HD 2600 XT mac edition.

I received my ATI Radeon HD 4890 and installed it in my Mac Pro.

Do you need the BIOS?

[erteclas]

frayedens,c ould you send me your modified rom please.....
thanks.
my mail is jdavid@imlspain.com

[frayedends]

a question.
I got the rom from the original 4870 Apple ati.
is valid, this rom for a ati 4870, specifically this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
thanks ..
frayedends the file you post, this is the original card, or is already modified for use in a MacPro.
frayedends, one last question.
could you send me your modified rom from your card,
because I see that you have the same card that I, or not?. if you have the same card. Would you send the rom by mail please?
thanks

The card I bought from Newegg also, was PC version. After flash it works in my mac pro. If you bought your card from Newegg also, then this is the rom you need to flash to the card.


Here is MODIFIED rom file I used to flash my card.

[chas0001]

Just flashed a SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB as per REW's instructions on page 23 and it worked great :D Using it in a Mac Pro Rev 1,1.

Cheers Rew!

[frviana]

4890 will work, it will need updated natit with 4890 bios inside, aty_init, new patched x2000.kext

http://netkas.org/?p=99

Would it also work on MP 1,1 ?
I was thinking in buying a 4870 PC to flash but the 4890 are only $40 more. Can you provide the ROM you used to flash your 4890?

Cheers

[bb8882]

Would it also work on MP 1,1 ?
I was thinking in buying a 4870 PC to flash but the 4890 are only $40 more. Can you provide the ROM you used to flash your 4890?

Cheers

I also was thinking about flashing the XFX 4890 since others had success with XFX 4870 with both DVI working with 2 monitors.

XFX HD-489A-ZDEC Radeon HD 4890 Xtreme 1GB $229 after 20 rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150360

[Pressure]

Would it also work on MP 1,1 ?
I was thinking in buying a 4870 PC to flash but the 4890 are only $40 more. Can you provide the ROM you used to flash your 4890?

Cheers

He didn't flash the Radeon HD 4890.

That's the whole point about using ATY_init / Natit :)

[jaberwocky]

Hi there,

accrording to some user reports on xlr8yourmac the currently shipped 4870 Apple cards are using a newer ROM (113-B7710F-176) - no new EFi version.

Maybe the new ROM will help us with dual dvi-monitors ?

Bye, jaberwocky

[JollyRogers]

ATI Radeon HD 4870:

Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 4870
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x9440
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-B7710F-176
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.318
Displays:
SyncMaster:
Resolution: 2048 x 1152 @ 60 Hz
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Rotation: Supported
Display Connector:
Status: No display connected

Don't have time now, but can dump it this evening...

[netkas]

Presure, i had it somewhere, 4890 rom, will try to make pkg asap.

[chas0001]

Having both DVI outputs working on the ATI Sapphire HD 4870 is not really that much of a problem as I can plug second monitor into the old Nvidia Geforce 7300 GT that I have in slot 4. Both cards work fine together.

[netkas]

new aty_init pkg, added 4890 support, which needs testing.

http://rapidshare.de/files/46979280/ATI_Init.pkg.html

[Whiteyez]

i will try it in a few minutes..thanks netkas

[Pressure]

new aty_init pkg, added 4890 support, which needs testing.

http://rapidshare.de/files/46979280/ATI_Init.pkg.html

Great, will test it out immediately :)

[Whiteyez]

its working netkas!!! O MY GOD ITS WORKING!!! I will post screenshots right now. Moving windows its a bit laggy i think..and movies not playing :P

[lannister80]

its working netkas!!! O MY GOD ITS WORKING!!! I will post screenshots right now. Moving windows its a bit laggy i think..and movies not playing :P
Quartz Extreme and Core Image aren't working, hence the GUI lag.

[Whiteyez]

[edit] i put in the plist the 0x94601002 and lag is not gone.

[lannister80]

Having both DVI outputs working on the ATI Sapphire HD 4870 is not really that much of a problem as I can plug second monitor into the old Nvidia Geforce 7300 GT that I have in slot 4. Both cards work fine together.
True, but some folks may only want to run a single card due to heat issues.

[swissmann]

I thought I'd post again so to make sure that everyone knows.

My flashed 4870 supports TWO MONITORS AT THE SAME TIME.

There are many cards out there that end up with only one DVI port working. If you get the right card and use the right rom you will get two simultaneously working DVI ports. I'm running a 30" Apple display on one along with a dell 20".

(The second DVI port isn't dual link meaning that you can't run a 30" on it so you can't have two 30" at the same time.)

To make sure you get the right card and flash it correctly I put together an extensive tutorial with many pictures and instructions.

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

Hope this helps.

[Pressure]

[edit] i put in the plist the 0x94601002 and lag is not gone.

Did you just install the ATY_init or?

[tobyg]

ATI Radeon HD 4870:

Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 4870
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x9440
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-B7710F-176
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.318
Displays:
SyncMaster:
Resolution: 2048 x 1152 @ 60 Hz
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Rotation: Supported
Display Connector:
Status: No display connected

Don't have time now, but can dump it this evening...

Yes, please dump this rom. Mine is 113-B7710C-176

My card is running the Apple rom, no merging of two roms... so I should be able to reflash with this newer rom without issue. Currently I do have 2 DVI ports working, but only one dual link and no analog. I'd love to try this rom to see what it does.

[Whiteyez]

Did you just install the ATY_init or?

Yesterday i have installed the 10.5.7 drivers package that i found somewhere here, i dont know if this helped.

[Pressure]

Yesterday i have installed the 10.5.7 drivers package that i found somewhere here, i dont know if this helped.

I suppose you are refering to MacOSX_10.5.6_radeon_hd_48x0_drivers.pkg? :)

[Whiteyez]

I suppose you are refering to MacOSX_10.5.6_radeon_hd_48x0_drivers.pkg? :)

Yes this one..

[Pressure]

Yes this one..

Ok got it all working but still need to enable Quartz Extreme :)

Not sure how though.

[Whiteyez]

Yeah, maybe wait netkas help..

[netkas]

Quartz Extreme and Core Image aren't working, hence the GUI lag.

Sure, 4890 needs patched x2000.kext, you guys can get it here - http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=160253&view=findpost&p=1142196

and install with kexthelper (only kext, bundle/plugin arent needed)

seems like i made typo in natit and 4890 has name 480, will fix in a bit.

[rhildinger]

Yes, please dump this rom. Mine is 113-B7710C-176

My card is running the Apple rom, no merging of two roms... so I should be able to reflash with this newer rom without issue. Currently I do have 2 DVI ports working, but only one dual link and no analog. I'd love to try this rom to see what it does.

I second that request for dumping the new ROM. Even though the EFI rom has the same version number, I'd still like to do a binary comparison and see if there's any actual difference.

[Whiteyez]

Sure, 4890 needs patched x2000.kext, you guys can get it here - http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=160253&view=findpost&p=1142196

and install with kexthelper (only kext, bundle/plugin arent needed)

seems like i made typo in natit and 4890 has name 480, will fix in a bit.

Every time i trying to put the x2000.kext im getting an error message that its not installed properly. Any chances to make this a good install package with everything 4890 needs to work?

Thanks netkas for your support.

[netkas]

Every time i trying to put the x2000.kext im getting an error message that its not installed properly. Any chances to make this a good install package with everything 4890 needs to work?

Thanks netkas for your support.

use kexthelper.

[Pressure]

Sure, 4890 needs patched x2000.kext, you guys can get it here - http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=160253&view=findpost&p=1142196

and install with kexthelper (only kext, bundle/plugin arent needed)

seems like i made typo in natit and 4890 has name 480, will fix in a bit.

Thanks :D

Works great now.

http://home20.inet.tele.dk/pressure/Radeon4890.png

[netkas]

fixed typo in 4890 name, http://rapidshare.de/files/46982841/ATI_Init.pkg.html

[erteclas]

a question ...
I have this model of card, as I think many already know .. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
If you connect two monitors dvi, it will work ...
because with the dvi-vga adapters, only works one ouput.
That is because of the rom, or the fault of drivers mac osx 10.5.6
has to wait for the 10.5.7 version, or snow leopard ...

[Whiteyez]

Thank you netkas i also confirm that its working fine.

[shallmar]

I everybody,
I have buy a Sapphire ATI RADEON HD 4870 512Gb.
PN 288-10E**-***** SKU#11133-03
I have ATIFLASH360
I have 4870.rom of this page : http://netkas.org/?p=90%20target=
But after my ATI was flashed with this firmeware, i have this problem :
I have no signal on may screen, and it is the same thing with an another graphic card (ATI HD2600:apple:) if my 4870 is in my macpro.
I have tried to put the 4870 in slot1 and 2600 in slot2 or the 2600 in the slot 1 and the 4870 in the slot 2, it is the same thing : no signal, like my screen is power off :mad:
This is my screen during my flashing card.
There is an other rom for this card?
thanks a lot.
Shallmar...

[lannister80]

Thank you netkas i also confirm that its working fine.
Can you look at the PCI Card section of System Profiler and see if the link speed for the 4890 is 2.5GT/s or 5.0GT/s? Just curious if it's different than the 2.5GT/s we see on all the flashed 4870s.

Also, question about using a non-flashed (kext method) card. If you have one non-flashed card and a stock card, you can only boot with the stock card. Let's assume you only have one monitor: If you leave your monitor cable connected to the non-flashed card, how do you get the system to boot using the stock card and then transfer control of your screen to the non-flashed card?

I have 2 monitors so I could use connect one monitor to each card (non-flashed 4890 and stock card), but for those that don't...

[frviana]

Thanks :D

Works great now.

http://home20.inet.tele.dk/pressure/Radeon4890.png

Can you post the ROM you used to flash it?
How is it working compared to the 4870 ?

Cheers

[chas0001]

Sort of off subject, but I ran a flashed 8800GT and have been following this thread close. I was going to get a PC version 4870 and flash it, but.........

I bought the Apple 4870 because when I had a flashed 8800GT, 6 months later its vram went bad and I had to purchase another via ebay and to flash again. My wife convinced me to buy the Apple 4870 this time vice going the flashed route because it would have a 1 year apple warranty, no flashing etc.... I just got it today and installed it, and it came with no driver from apple (I know I can download it as it's the driver package used here, but thought apple would supply something when they delivered the card). I called Apple care, and got treated very rudely. I have never been treated like this from any customer support anywhere. I deal with Dell daily because of IT work (honestly why I run Macs at home now, used to run Linux... and probably will now go back to that in the future) and they have been nothing but great to me.

After that experience, I will flash all future cards as long as I have this MP, and go back to using hackintoshs or my trusty Linux boxes for my next upgrade. I dont need to pay to have people be rude to me and can build my own stuff to run Linux/win/and hackintosh for a lot less money. Can't believe Apple has an 80% customer service rating...

On subject: the Link Speed for the official Apple 4870 with NO drivers installed is 5.0GT. I thought you guys would want to know this. I am running it in a 08MP.

It seems that the Apple 4870's we released too soon as they require 10.5.7 to work properly (http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/). I am surprised that you had a poor experience with AppleCare. Perhaps the person you spoke to did not know that the cards were released prematurely and was confused. Give them a call again. Hopefully 10.5.7 will be released next week.

I have to call them next week regarding an Nvidia 8800GT. The card gets so hot and causes artifacts to appear on the screen. Its only 9 months old and cost a bomb. I wish I had known about flashing PC cards last year.

[netkas]

Can you post the ROM you used to flash it?
How is it working compared to the 4870 ?

Cheers

he didnt flash the card. read previous page of this thread.

[frviana]

he didnt flash the card. read previous page of this thread.

Thanks :-)

Question: With your ATI_Init.pkg do I still need to patch x2000.kext with kexthelper?

I am just waiting for my power cables from ATI (Arriving on Tuesday) and I will be buying the 4890 instead of the 4870. Price at NCIX is pretty much the same now for either one.

Would the XFX XXX 4890 be a better choice then the ATI Radeon 4890 ?

[Whiteyez]

Can you look at the PCI Card section of System Profiler and see if the link speed for the 4890 is 2.5GT/s or 5.0GT/s? Just curious if it's different than the 2.5GT/s we see on all the flashed 4870s.


Im getting this error.

[netkas]

Thanks :-)

Question: With your ATI_Init.pkg do I still need to patch x2000.kext with kexthelper?

I am just waiting for my power cables from ATI (Arriving on Tuesday) and I will be buying the 4890 instead of the 4870. Price at NCIX is pretty much the same now for either one.

Would the XFX XXX 4890 be a better choice then the ATI Radeon 4890 ?

aty_init and x2000 kext is two different stories.

[larapumkin]

Make It Work1!!!!

[bb8882]

Having both DVI outputs working on the ATI Sapphire HD 4870 is not really that much of a problem as I can plug second monitor into the old Nvidia Geforce 7300 GT that I have in slot 4. Both cards work fine together.

It'll use more power

[Topper]

http://homepage.mac.com/ctopper/.Pictures/SP.jpg

[chas0001]

It'll use more power

Yes. But the good thing is that the 7300 does not need a power connector. This means that when I boot into Vista for gaming I can automatically disable the 7300 and use the 4870 as the dedicated graphics card.

[Cindori]

So you are getting the 4890 working without flashing it? :S

how is that possible? don't you need EFI on the card?

[The Rominator]

So you are getting the 4890 working without flashing it? :S

how is that possible? don't you need EFI on the card?

feel free to read the last 3 pages of thread rather than expect a spoon-feeding

[netkas]

EFI on bootrom side replaced by natit and aty_init on osx side :D

Snow leo works better, dual dvi works there on 4850

[Whiteyez]

Netkas, Is there anyway to make the logon screen appears? because now i get a black screen and i can't see the apple logo.

[JollyRogers]

ROM Revision: 113-B7710F-176
Hopefully this uploads. I had a heck of a time getting this. Ended up putting my 4870 in my sons PC. Also, my USB stick would not format as a DOS bootable. Ended up using his memory stick instead. REgardless, here it is.

[netkas]

Netkas, Is there anyway to make the logon screen appears? because now i get a black screen and i can't see the apple logo.

what u did to get that ?

[fjleon]

Did you just install the ATY_init or?

please can someone explain how to install this driver from single user mode? Since i get a black screen with my 4850 card. /usr/sbin installer -pkg -target / says something about wrong UUID.

I am using 10.5.5 (iatkos)

[Whiteyez]

what u did to get that ?

Nothing unusual, from the beginning of installation of your pkg the logon screen with the apple logo did not appear, just only the sound.

[netkas]

Nothing unusual, from the beginning of installation of your pkg the logon screen with the apple logo did not appear, just only the sound.

O.o

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7552360&postcount=1134

[Whiteyez]

O.o

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7552360&postcount=1134

Yes thats true, i was getting this error even with my GT120 installed with 4890, if i removed the 4890 the pci information was not giving any error so it must be from 4890, i don't know why. :P

[jeanlain]

ROM Revision: 113-B7710F-176
Hopefully this uploads. I had a heck of a time getting this. Ended up putting my 4870 in my sons PC. Also, my USB stick would not format as a DOS bootable. Ended up using his memory stick instead. REgardless, here it is.

Thanks a lot. I did a quick comparison in Hexedit and it seems that both the BIOS part and EFI part have had some modifications in this new ROM. The EFI part still starts at position 0000F800. I wonder of Pipomolo's script could be applied to this ROM to create a hybrid ROM for flashing or if it needs modifications. I cannot try since I don't have a 4870.

Note: the EFI parts look very different. Maybe this new EFI is more suited for recent PC cards.

[Rankrotten]

Yes thats true, i was getting this error even with my GT120 installed with 4890, if i removed the 4890 the pci information was not giving any error so it must be from 4890, i don't know why. :P

I get the same error message There was an error while gathering PCI card information. after I installed a PCI-e soundblaster card not supported by OS X

[TheStrudel]

Thanks a lot. I did a quick comparison in Hexedit and it seems that both the BIOS part and EFI part have had some modifications in this new ROM. The EFI part still starts at position 0000F800. I wonder of Pipomolo's script could be applied to this ROM to create a hybrid ROM for flashing or if it needs modifications. I cannot try since I don't have a 4870.

Note: the EFI parts look very different. Maybe this new EFI is more suited for recent PC cards.

Interesting. It looks like this would be worth trying out to see if it fixes any number of the issues we've encountered, to wit: 2.5 GT/s link speed (unlikely), use of only one DVI port on Sapphire cards, enabling dual-link on both ports, and analog support. While we're on the subject, JollyRogers, have you tried connecting any monitors to your card going VGA (DVI -> VGA adapter or something similar)?

Anybody interested in trying Pipomolo's script on this to produce a custom ROM again?

[shallmar]

Hi everybody,
I'd be the invisible-man, because I have posted a question and nobody reply me.
What is the rom for my SAPPHIRE ATI HD 4870 512M
PN 288-10E**-***** & SKU#1113-03-20R
My Mac : MACPRO 2008 2X3Ghtz
Thanks again

[erteclas]

please, this is my card
pn/288-20E85-130SA...SKU # 11133-04-20R
is a sapphire 4870 1gb ram

What is the rom for my SAPPHIRE

[jeanlain]

Interesting. It looks like this would be worth trying out to see if it fixes any number of the issues we've encountered, to wit: 2.5 GT/s link speed (unlikely), use of only one DVI port on Sapphire cards, enabling dual-link on both ports, and analog support.

I think that some of these problems have a common cause. The card is seen as two separate devices in OS X.

@Shallmar and erteclas: just follow the procedure that have been explained in this thread. You must create you own custom ROM.

Here are the instructions: http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7297669&postcount=344

If you feel lucky (and have a PC ready to rescue your card if it has not been flashed with a proper ROM), you could try the new Mac 4870 ROM that has been posted on page 46, to do your custom hybrid ROM.
Use it at you own risk. Never flash you card with a ROM that is not 128 kB.

[Whiteyez]

Btw i forgot to say that in 4890 both DVI's works great :D

[JollyRogers]

Interesting. It looks like this would be worth trying out to see if it fixes any number of the issues we've encountered, to wit: 2.5 GT/s link speed (unlikely), use of only one DVI port on Sapphire cards, enabling dual-link on both ports, and analog support. While we're on the subject, JollyRogers, have you tried connecting any monitors to your card going VGA (DVI -> VGA adapter or something similar)?

Anybody interested in trying Pipomolo's script on this to produce a custom ROM again?

Just tried DVI-VGA-monitor VGA input and had no analog signal on stock :apple: HD4870

[netkas]

Just tried DVI-VGA-monitor VGA input and had no analog signal on stock :apple: HD4870

interesting, so, it's stock apple's 4870 ?

if so, can you post about it here - http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1325

dont mention you have 2008 macpro, write there you have early 2009 MP, so, you will not get bashed about drivers version and etc.

macpro model doesnt matter in this case anyway.

lets see what they will answer.

[FRKT]

How'd you get an HD4890 to work with OS X? Did you program the ROM yourself, or is it simply using a slightly altered version of the HD4870 ROM - in which case the performance of the HD4890 would match the HD4870... right?

[Whiteyez]

How'd you get an HD4890 to work with OS X? Did you program the ROM yourself, or is it simply using a slightly altered version of the HD4870 ROM - in which case the performance of the HD4890 would match the HD4870... right?

Read the last 2-3 pages here.

[dudeguy87]

I thought I'd post again so to make sure that everyone knows.

My flashed 4870 supports TWO MONITORS AT THE SAME TIME.

There are many cards out there that end up with only one DVI port working. If you get the right card and use the right rom you will get two simultaneously working DVI ports. I'm running a 30" Apple display on one along with a dell 20".

(The second DVI port isn't dual link meaning that you can't run a 30" on it so you can't have two 30" at the same time.)

To make sure you get the right card and flash it correctly I put together an extensive tutorial with many pictures and instructions.

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

Hope this helps.

seriously i dont understand why everyones going insane when the issue is already solved by you and the other programmers... By the way im still waiting on my ati cable to do this thing already.

[JollyRogers]

Netkas, before I do that, I need to revisit. I tried it with my Samsung monitor and just turned it off unplugged the DVI and plugged in the VGA. I didn't reboot or anything. Let me try again. And yes Stock HD4870 from :apple:

EDIT: OK. I actually disconnected my DVI from both comp & display. Hooked up the DVI->VGA->Monitor Analog and rebooted and all is good. Was even able to get 2048x1152 default resolution on my monitor. Sorry I was so lazy before.

[Dredog]

Anyone have a rom for the Sapphire 4870 (11133-03-20r) that enables both DVI ports to work at the same time?

My computer freezes when I put the second monitor into the card.

Thanks,

[bb8882]

As per multiple forum requests, I am posting the custom ROM file that I made using pipomolo42 instructions (with slight adjustments for the original bios size). As I indicated earlier, this ROM was built for a XFX Radeon HD4870 XXX Edition 1GB PCI-Express Video Card purchased from a local Fry's, model number HD-487A-ZD. So far this ROM seems to be working great - the card is fully functional in both OS X and Windows, though it does have the same issue everyone else is getting where the secondary DVI port will only function in single-link mode.

Obligatory CMA: I am no way responsible if this ROM bricks your card. Use it entirely at your own risk.

Is it possible for you to make a custom ROM for XFX 4870 using the new Apple 4870 rom

[TheStrudel]

seriously i dont understand why everyones going insane when the issue is already solved by you and the other programmers... By the way im still waiting on my ati cable to do this thing already.

Because that method works with the XFX card - not the sapphire card that many of us here have bought. We're interested in sorting out a method for other cards in addition to just the one. I'm not aware of anybody with the popular sapphire card getting two DVI outputs on it with any method.

[TheStrudel]

Just tried DVI-VGA-monitor VGA input and had no analog signal on stock :apple: HD4870

Hmm. That is interesting. I'd have to guess that analog capability will be coming in a driver update, or it's been hardwired to only come out of the mini display port. Thanks for checking that for us. Very interesting...

[JollyRogers]

EDIT: OK. I actually disconnected my DVI from both comp & display. Hooked up the DVI->VGA->Monitor Analog and rebooted and all is good. Was even able to get 2048x1152 default resolution on my monitor. Sorry I was so lazy before.

You did read my edit? It works fine...

[shallmar]

As per multiple forum requests, I am posting the custom ROM file that I made using pipomolo42 instructions (with slight adjustments for the original bios size). As I indicated earlier, this ROM was built for a XFX Radeon HD4870 XXX Edition 1GB PCI-Express Video Card purchased from a local Fry's, model number HD-487A-ZD. So far this ROM seems to be working great - the card is fully functional in both OS X and Windows, though it does have the same issue everyone else is getting where the secondary DVI port will only function in single-link mode.

Obligatory CMA: I am no way responsible if this ROM bricks your card. Use it entirely at your own risk.

Hi,
Where do you find the MAC 4870.ROM to make your custom ROM?:confused:
Thanks.
Shallmar...

[jeanlain]

Hi,
Where do you find the MAC 4870.ROM to make your custom ROM?:confused:
Thanks.
Shallmar...

OK, this file is not so easy to find. Here you go http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7271105&postcount=128

This is the original apple ROM for the OEM 4870 that shipped with 2009 Mac Pros.

OR you can try this newer version of ROM ("rev F") : http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7555591&postcount=1144

Either should be named "4870.ROM" (not 4780, there is a typo in the second file name).

No one has tried the "rev F" ROM yet. It may solve some problems of dual screen, VGA and the likes. I tried Pipomolo's script with that ROM and it seems to work fine. Anyway, it just copies its EFI part onto the PC ROM and fixes the checksum and last bit indicators. I am not an expert, but I don't see why it should not produce a proper hybrid ROM with Apple's newer ROM.
But use it at your own risk. You may ask Pipomolo42 first.

[shallmar]

Ok, thanks jeanlain.;)


So,

Pipomolo42, what do you think about the "rev F" ROM????:confused:

[netkas]

macosx itself doesnt care about EFI part of rom, only bootrom (EFI) cares about it.

All atombios calls/tables/commands are located in bios part of rom.

so, for hybrid roms updating to new rom with new efi part, will change nothing in OSX.

[shallmar]

macosx itself doesnt care about EFI part of rom, only bootrom (EFI) cares about it.

All atombios calls/tables/commands are located in bios part of rom.

so, for hybrid roms updating to new rom with new efi part, will change nothing in OSX.


You answer is too technic for me, I dont understand if this rom is good or not good , or if anybody try it?:confused:

thanks

Shallmar...

[erteclas]

can someone make a custom rom for those who have a sapphire 1gb. pn/288-20E85-130SA...SKU model # 11133-04-20R
thanks, I have tried many a times and I'm not capable, it would be interesting to do with the new version of the rom mac ...


mac rom link.... http://rapidshare.com/files/228623753/4780REVF.ROM.htm
and sapphire link, http://rapidshare.com/files/228624275/4870pc.bin.html is in .bin mode..
thanks

[jeanlain]

macosx itself doesnt care about EFI part of rom, only bootrom (EFI) cares about it.

All atombios calls/tables/commands are located in bios part of rom.

so, for hybrid roms updating to new rom with new efi part, will change nothing in OSX.

Good to know. So could hacked drivers solve the problems (no dual screen or analog video)?
The BIOS part also has minor changes in the new apple ROM, but it may not work in recent PC cards.

Note that the X1900 for Mac Pros doesn't have a BIOS, only EBC, AFAIK (the ROM is less than 64 kB). It still works under OS X in 2008+ Mac Pros (but not under bootcamp, because only 2006 Mac Pros have the X1900 BIOS in their firmware). So it seems that al least one ATi card does not use BIOS in OS X.

[jeanlain]

You answer is too technic for me, I dont understand if this rom is good or not good , or if anybody try it?:confused:

thanks

Shallmar...
"this rom"? Which one?
You should probably use the "old" apple ROM to make your custom ROM, since it has been shown to work. If you don't mess with pipomolo's script, it will be ok. But likely, you will not have dual screen or VGA.

[jeanlain]

can someone make a custom rom for those who have a sapphire 1gb. pn/288-20E85-130SA...SKU model # 11133-04-20R
thanks, I have tried many a times and I'm not capable, it would be interesting to do with the new version of the rom mac ...


mac rom link.... http://rapidshare.com/files/228623753/4780REVF.ROM.htm
and sapphire link, http://rapidshare.com/files/228624275/4870pc.bin.html is in .bin mode..
thanks

It seems you have named the file 4870pc.ROM instead of pc4870.ROM. Anyway, here is the file. Good luck. I am not responsible for any trouble.

[shallmar]

"this rom"? Which one?
You should probably use the "old" apple ROM to make your custom ROM, since it has been shown to work. If you don't mess with pipomolo's script, it will be ok. But likely, you will not have dual screen or VGA.

I'm OK for the "old" apple rom, I'd just want to know if anybody have tested the new apple rom : revF, and if this rom solve the dual screen error, because I need the dual screen.
Thanks
Shallmar...

[jeanlain]

I'm OK for the "old" apple rom, I'd just want to know if anybody have tested the new apple rom : revF, and if this rom solve the dual screen error, because I need the dual screen.
Thanks
Shallmar...
No one has tested this new ROM.
But according to the experts here, this will not change anything. You could still give it a try. At worst, the card won't work in OS X but you'll be able to flash it again with the "old" ROM. It should still work under windows/DOS, since it will still have its BIOS (assuming you flash it with a proper hybrid ROM).

Anyway, dual screen is unlikely to work on your sapphire, given the last reports. But maybe 10.5.7 will solve this, or netkas' magic. :)

[netkas]

Good to know. So could hacked drivers solve the problems (no dual screen or analog video)?
The BIOS part also has minor changes in the new apple ROM, but it may not work in recent PC cards.

Note that the X1900 for Mac Pros doesn't have a BIOS, only EBC, AFAIK (the ROM is less than 64 kB). It still works under OS X in 2008+ Mac Pros (but not under bootcamp, because only 2006 Mac Pros have the X1900 BIOS in their firmware). So it seems that al least one ATi card does not use BIOS in OS X.

X1000 and HD 2/3/4000 differs a lot, and have different drivers.

its interesting to know what was changed in bios part of rom.

Anyway, dual screen is unlikely to work on your sapphire, given the last reports. But maybe 10.5.7 will solve this, or netkas' magic.

he need to try snow leopard beta 10a334 :D

[rhildinger]

As per multiple forum requests, I am posting the custom ROM file that I made using pipomolo42 instructions (with slight adjustments for the original bios size). As I indicated earlier, this ROM was built for a XFX Radeon HD4870 XXX Edition 1GB PCI-Express Video Card purchased from a local Fry's, model number HD-487A-ZD. So far this ROM seems to be working great - the card is fully functional in both OS X and Windows, though it does have the same issue everyone else is getting where the secondary DVI port will only function in single-link mode.

Obligatory CMA: I am no way responsible if this ROM bricks your card. Use it entirely at your own risk.

I created a new custom ROM file for XFX XXX Edition card listed above with the revision F EFI rom from the latest shipping Apple 4870 cards. While it works just as well as the old ROM, it doesn't appear to fix the 2.5 GT/s link speed issue, nor the 2nd DVI port is only single-link issue. I've attached the ROM file should you be interested in trying for yourself. Again, I am no way responsible if this ROM bricks your card. Use it entirely at your own risk.

[shallmar]

Hi everybody,
I have just custom my ROM with the 4870.ROM & my rom of my ATI (HD4870 512M SAPPHIRE) and flash it.
I have the monitor HANNSG HG281D, but my 4870 not detect this monitor but just "unknow monitor" and not détect its frequency.
So I have less frequency on this monitor than an other monitor on the ATI HD2600

But If I plug my HANNSG on the HD2600, my monitor is detected.

So, I'd like to know if anybody even meet this problem ?
And I would like tested the perf of my installation so anybody know a graphic benchmark for MacOSX?

Thanks

[jeanlain]

Hi everybody,
I have just custom my ROM with the 4870.ROM & my rom of my ATI (HD4870 512M SAPPHIRE) and flash it.
I have the monitor HANNSG HG281D, but my 4870 not detect this monitor but just "unknow monitor" and not détect its frequency.
So I have less frequency on this monitor than an other monitor on the ATI HD2600

But If I plug my HANNSG on the HD2600, my monitor is detected.

So, I'd like to know if anybody even meet this problem ?
And I would like tested the perf of my installation so anybody know a graphic benchmark for MacOSX?

Thanks
That you lost your monitor's name and its refresh rate does not seem a big deal, as long as it woks at its native resolution and refresh rate (right?). I suppose it is an LCD (since the flashed card will not output analog video), so you don't want to change its res or refresh rate. It could be problematic in games, though.
You may try several tricks: connect you monitor on the other DVI port, add a DVI to VGA converter on the upper DVI port (but no display connected on it), remove the HD2600... and see what it does.

For benchmarks: try cinebench and glview.

[2002cbr600f4i]

Ok, since you guys seem to be making good progress on getting 3rd party 4870's working....

Is there any way to make something in the Radeon 46xx series to work? I have a new Mac Pro coming with the Mac Radeon 4870, but I need something to drive my 2nd+3rd monitors with DVI ports on it... I could go for a 2600XT, but they seem very overpriced for a 2 generation old card... The newer 46xx series seems to not require the additional power plugs and they come in dual DVI out...

Just wondering if it's possible to use a flashing setup similar to what you guys are doing here on the 46xx series as well and if it'll work under OSX...

Thanks!

--Mike

[shallmar]

That you lost your monitor's name and its refresh rate does not seem a big deal, as long as it woks at its native resolution and refresh rate (right?). I suppose it is an LCD (since the flashed card will not output analog video), so you don't want to change its res or refresh rate. It could be problematic in games, though.
You may try several tricks: connect you monitor on the other DVI port, add a DVI to VGA converter on the upper DVI port (but no display connected on it), remove the HD2600... and see what it does.

For benchmarks: try cinebench and glview.

Ok , I'll try that tomorow,
But instead, I have installed the pilote : MacOSX_10.5.6_radeon_hd_48x0_drivers.pkg
And when I reboot my three screens are blue with black lines !!!!!!:mad:
Is it normal that my 4870 works without driver and dont works with driver?!:confused:

Thanks

[netkas]

Hi everybody,
I have just custom my ROM with the 4870.ROM & my rom of my ATI (HD4870 512M SAPPHIRE) and flash it.
I have the monitor HANNSG HG281D, but my 4870 not detect this monitor but just "unknow monitor" and not détect its frequency.
So I have less frequency on this monitor than an other monitor on the ATI HD2600

But If I plug my HANNSG on the HD2600, my monitor is detected.

So, I'd like to know if anybody even meet this problem ?
And I would like tested the perf of my installation so anybody know a graphic benchmark for MacOSX?

Thanks

try switchresx to create modes u need.

------

46xx arent currently working,

framebuffer drivers (Motmot/Quail) works only with 48x0 series

[jeanlain]

Ok , I'll try that tomorow,
But instead, I have installed the pilote : MacOSX_10.5.6_radeon_hd_48x0_drivers.pkg
And when I reboot my three screens are blue with black lines !!!!!!:mad:
Is it normal that my 4870 works without driver and dont works with driver?!:confused:

Thanks

The unrecognized display and refresh rate may be due to the lack of drivers. Try reinstalling them, repair permissions... or alternatively wait for 10.5.7, which should be around the corner.

[medsource]

Ok , I'll try that tomorow,
But instead, I have installed the pilote : MacOSX_10.5.6_radeon_hd_48x0_drivers.pkg
And when I reboot my three screens are blue with black lines !!!!!!:mad:
Is it normal that my 4870 works without driver and dont works with driver?!:confused:

Thanks

Are you running on a hackintosh or a macpro? I was under the impression that on true blue macpro's that the initial package supplied here of the drivers had a natit.kext that barfed when the 2600 was present (thus you wer instructed to not install on macpros). In short macpro did not need the natit.kext and in this instance was detrimental. This was in prior early instructions if I recall.

So... try removing natit.kext and see if that helps (if you are on a macpro).

[shallmar]

Are you running on a hackintosh or a macpro? I was under the impression that on true blue macpro's that the initial package supplied here of the drivers had a natit.kext that barfed when the 2600 was present (thus you wer instructed to not install on macpros). In short macpro did not need the natit.kext and in this instance was detrimental. This was in prior early instructions if I recall.

So... try removing natit.kext and see if that helps (if you are on a macpro).

Ok,
I'm on MacPro 2008 2X3ghz MacOS X.5.6
HD 4870 on slot1
HD 2600:apple: on slot3 (for a beter ventilation)

Yesterday I have installed the driver, and befor the reboot, I removed the natit.kext, and after the reboot : Bleu screen+black lines

After :
Format DD
Reinstall MacOs10.5.6 = OK
Install driver without remov natit.kext = Bleu screen+black lines
Remov the 2 VGA screens on HD 2600 = Bleu screen+black lines
Remov the 2 adaptators on HD 2600 = Bleu screen+black lines
Remove the HD 2600 = Bleu screen+black lines

:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

Perhaps a bad driver? It come from this tuto : http://web.me.com/jacobcroft/4870Flash/4870Flash.html

Is it normal that my 4870 work without driver but no with driver?

Thanks

[netkas]

Natit.kext in drivers pkg will not do anything on macpro, so leaving it or removing will change nothing

[Glen Quagmire]

I'm tempted to upgrade the video card in my '06 Mac Pro to a 4870. How does the noise level of the 1GB XFX card (which seems the easiest to get running, thanks to the excellent tutorial posted earlier) compare to the rather noisy ATI 1900 card?

shallmar: are you sure you've got the correct ROM file? Does the card still output correctly if you boot into Windows?

[The Rominator]

Shallmar...are you using the correct ROM?

BTW...the XFX 1 Gb card is one of the ones known to suffer from the "Mouse jump" issue with certain displays....I would read up on it.

[bb8882]

I'm tempted to upgrade the video card in my '06 Mac Pro to a 4870. How does the noise level of the 1GB XFX card (which seems the easiest to get running, thanks to the excellent tutorial posted earlier) compare to the rather noisy ATI 1900 card?

shallmar: are you sure you've got the correct ROM file? Does the card still output correctly if you boot into Windows?

It should be a lot better than the 1900. I recommend upgrade to the Accelero S1 Rev. 2 which fits the Mac Pro.

[TheStrudel]

Anybody tried the newer ROM with the Sapphire 4870 1GB card? Just curious if anybody has and whether or not it has fixed any issues or introduced new ones.

[swissmann]

I'm tempted to upgrade the video card in my '06 Mac Pro to a 4870. How does the noise level of the 1GB XFX card (which seems the easiest to get running, thanks to the excellent tutorial posted earlier) compare to the rather noisy ATI 1900 card?

shallmar: are you sure you've got the correct ROM file? Does the card still output correctly if you boot into Windows?

I should have mentioned that in my tutorial. I am super impressed with how quiet the card is. I don't hear it anymore than my 7300 or the 2600 I also had. My Mac Pro is next to me under my desk and I don't hear anymore noise now that the XFX card is in it. The DVD burner is way louder.

[Spanky Deluxe]

I should have mentioned that in my tutorial. I am super impressed with how quiet the card is. I don't hear it anymore than my 7300 or the 2600 I also had. My Mac Pro is next to me under my desk and I don't hear anymore noise now that the XFX card is in it. The DVD burner is way louder.

Does the fan spin up when you do things like move windows around? I just installed the 10.5.7 ATI drivers and my 3870 card's now far noisier than it was before. If all windows are stationary and I'm typing etc then its no louder. As soon as I drag windows around or do anything even remotely using any form of 2D acceleration then the fan on my 3870 spins up considerably. Odd.

[swissmann]

Does the fan spin up when you do things like move windows around? I just installed the 10.5.7 ATI drivers and my 3870 card's now far noisier than it was before. If all windows are stationary and I'm typing etc then its no louder. As soon as I drag windows around or do anything even remotely using any form of 2D acceleration then the fan on my 3870 spins up considerably. Odd.

Nope. When I'm stressing the card big time gaming or lots with Aperture and Motion and such it gets a tiny bit louder but not nearly as loud as it could be - in my failed flashing attempts I heard how loud it can get. I think I remember reading somewhere that the users with both the 3870 and 4870 said the 4870 was much quieter. I never had a 3870 so can't say myself.

[gpzjock]

Anybody tried the newer ROM with the Sapphire 4870 1GB card? Just curious if anybody has and whether or not it has fixed any issues or introduced new ones.

I have a 1 GB Sapphire HD 4870 PN 288-20E85-130SA running fine in my Mac Pro using the method shown in this thread: http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7473867&postcount=886
I'm not sure if this is the newer ROM or not. I've copied the System Profiler info so you can check. It boots fine in a PC tower too.
It's slightly noisier than the 8800 GT it replaced but still hardly noticable. I haven't tried to connect a 2nd monitor not having a spare one to try with.

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro3,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per processor): 12 MB
Memory: 16 GB
Bus Speed: 1.6 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MP31.006C.B05
SMC Version: 1.25f4

ATI Radeon HD 4870:

Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 4870
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 1024 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x9440
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-B7710C-176
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.318

It rocks my WoW. :cool:

[Spanky Deluxe]

Nope. When I'm stressing the card big time gaming or lots with Aperture and Motion and such it gets a tiny bit louder but not nearly as loud as it could be - in my failed flashing attempts I heard how loud it can get. I think I remember reading somewhere that the users with both the 3870 and 4870 said the 4870 was much quieter. I never had a 3870 so can't say myself.

I think I may have jumped to conclusions there. I noticed the fans spinning up after putting the new drivers in but then after posting I realised that my office had got pretty hot. I've since had the window ajar and now no more fan spin ups.

[The Rominator]

So I tried the new "F" revision ROM on a standard reference 512 Meg board and got a grey screen with apple smeared across center section.

Evidently for different RAM.

Put the "C" ROM back on and all OK.

Has anyone else tried "F" ROM on a standard 512 Meg 4870?

[iphong]

Hello Mac fellows!

I followed this tutorial to flash my card:
http://web.me.com/jacobcroft/4870Flash/4870Flash.html

Everything went perfectly, only the last part, when I shut down and plug my monitor to the new card and restart, The startup screen shows up with the Apple logo and the loading spinner. After that the monitor went black and my Mac pro continued to load into Mac OS X with completely no signal to my monitor. I plug out and connect my monitor to the old card and everything went normal, the display worked just fine. I tried connecting different ports on the new card but nothing happened.

I looked into System Profiler and saw that Mac OS X recognized my 4870, is just that it doesn't have any signal to the monitor.

I plugged my monitor into the new card and load up Boot Camp. everything went smoothly. Windows recognized my card, drivers installed and everything looked perfect, games ran fast. So I think my card is working fine.

Any help to get it working, thanks.

Phong Vu

www.iphong.com (http://www.iphong.com)

[shallmar]

Hi everybody,
I have found the solution of my problem.
That was that my original DVD:apple: of MacOSX was 10.5.4 and not a 10.5.6
So I have formated my HD, installed MacOSX with the DVD:apple: and updated MacOSX10.5.4 to 10.5.6.
After, I have installed the driver and all is right.
All screens, all résolutions and all frequencies are detected.:)
My benchmark are ok too.:)

Thanks everybody

Just a last question : Why, two 4870 cards are detected? 1 ATY, Motmot and 1 ATY, MotmotParent?:confused:

[jeanlain]

Why are two cards detected? I am not sure, but this does not happen on the original 4870s, only on newer cards which apparently have a different design. I suppose this has something to do with the absence of signal from the upper DVI port, no VGA output, lower link speed, etc... as we could only get one half of the card to work.

Interestingly, it seems that the 4890 cards than can be made to work without flashing, but with ATI_init and modified kext's do not suffer these problems.
As reported on Macbidouille, they work correctly, except for the upper DVI port, which is single-link only (but this may have something to do with the fact that the apple card has a mini displayport).
How could un-flashed 4890's work better than flashed 4870's, with should be more similar to apple cards? :confused:

Phong: be sure that you flashed the exact same card as the one in the tutorial. If not, I would suggest that you flash it with a custom ROM.
However, since you see the gray apple logo, I guess that the flash went OK, but that you have driver problems. Be sure to install drivers on OS X 10.5.6, repair permissions, or wait for 10.5.7.

[iphong]

Yes, i bought the exact same card. Ans mine is 10.5.6; and what do you mean by repair permission? You meant repair permission in Disk Utility?

[netkas]

some sites reported about 4890 success and wrote this about pkg - " extensions include part of the EFI code required for the card to be recognized by the Mac and to have them active in Mac OS X."

those extensions doesnt include part of efi code at all, it sets the keys for display device in ioreg(which is inserted normaly by efi rom) and initializes (POSTs) the card.

[iphong]

OMG! I found out my problem. Mine display is VGA and I used DVI-VGA adapter, that's why it didn't work. Luckily, my display has a HDMI port and I have a DVI-HDMI cable handy so I tried it on. It WORKED.

But only one problem, the same game I ran on PC and Mac OS X. The PC version seems to run a lot faster, and the Mac version has some texture error and much lower frame rate. Maybe because of the speed being 2.5 GT/s ??? But who cares, I'm not playing game in Mac OS X anyway so it doesn't matter much to me.

Thank all you guys for this great thread.

[Cindori]

I don't get why people are scared of the 2.5 speed.

I have a 8800GT from Apple in my 2006 mac pro and it is working awesome on gaming, both on OSX and Win

[frviana]

some sites reported about 4890 success and wrote this about pkg - " extensions include part of the EFI code required for the card to be recognized by the Mac and to have them active in Mac OS X."

those extensions doesnt include part of efi code at all, it sets the keys for display device in ioreg(which is inserted normaly by efi rom) and initializes (POSTs) the card.

Netkas, have you tried flashing the 4890? I don't like the idea of not been able to get image during the boot process. I would much rather flash the 4890 if I could.

If flashing a 4890 has been done already, can we get a post on the forum with a ROM that works and the card model used?

You guys are awesome

[Spanky Deluxe]

OMG! I found out my problem. Mine display is VGA and I used DVI-VGA adapter, that's why it didn't work. Luckily, my display has a HDMI port and I have a DVI-HDMI cable handy so I tried it on. It WORKED.

But only one problem, the same game I ran on PC and Mac OS X. The PC version seems to run a lot faster, and the Mac version has some texture error and much lower frame rate. Maybe because of the speed being 2.5 GT/s ??? But who cares, I'm not playing game in Mac OS X anyway so it doesn't matter much to me.

Thank all you guys for this great thread.

Which game? Most games (apart from WoW) run a fair bit slower in OS X than in Windows. Basically all games that use Transgaming Cider technology (pretty much all Intel only Mac games) will run slower than in Windows because they have to wrap all of the DirectX and Windows library calls into something that's useable in OS X. The first thing to try to do when trying to speed things up in OS X under such games is to reduce the game's settings for shader detail.

I don't get why people are scared of the 2.5 speed.

I have a 8800GT from Apple in my 2006 mac pro and it is working awesome on gaming, both on OSX and Win

Yeah it is being hyped a bit. I think people just want to get their cards to have exactly the same functionality as the official Apple card even if that functionality is basically useless.

2.5 GT/s speed is PCIe 1.x. 5.0 GT/s is PCIe 2.0. Basically PCIe 2.0 gives double the bandwidth per PCIe lane. So a 16x PCIe 2.0 slot has the equivalent bandwidth to a 32x PCIe 1.x slot.

However, 16x PCIe 1.x is more than enough for pretty much all current graphics cards on the market. Hell, even using 8x PCIe 1.x only usually gives a ~5-10% penalty over 16x PCIe 1.x. There should be no penalty for 5 GT/s vs 2.5 GT/s because at the end of the day, these 4870s cannot saturate a 16x PCie 1.x slot's bandwidth.

Also, the less a graphics card has to access the main system memory then the less of an impact the PCIe speed has. A 1GB 4870 card, for example, would likely be less handicapped by an old 8x PCIe 1.x slot than a 512MB 4870 card would be.

[Spanky Deluxe]

Another success here. I just flashed two 4870 XFX 1GB cards using swissman's guide (http://web.me.com/jacobcroft/4870Flash/4870Flash.html). All seems to be working well so far. I haven't run any games yet but hopefully it'll be ok. I just installed Crysis but I need to get some work done before I test it out.

This is on a 2006 2.66GHz Quad core Mac Pro. Two 4870 1GB cards with Crossfire mode enabled in Windows.

I can't test the second video port or VGA since I only have one display. The second ports on both cards can only drive 1080p as mentioned before but this doesn't bother me. :)

Also, these cards do seem to be ever so slightly quieter than the two 3870s I had in there before. Although, they do sound like a jet plane for a few seconds on boot unlike the 3870s. :p

[frviana]

Has anyone here flashed a 4890? I know about the no flashing method but I don't like the idea of not been able to see the screen until its fully booted on OS X. I rather flash the card.

I am buying today a XFX 1GB 4890 and would like to flash it.

[Spanky Deluxe]

Has anyone here flashed a 4890? I know about the no flashing method but I don't like the idea of not been able to see the screen until its fully booted on OS X. I rather flash the card.

I am buying today a XFX 1GB 4890 and would like to flash it.

No one's tried it yet. You could maybe give the 4870 original method a try since the 4890 is nothing more than a 4870 with higher clocks. Don't expect many people to be trying this out though since the general consensus is that 4890s just aren't worth the money for the small gains in performance over a 4870.

[jeanlain]

Has anyone here flashed a 4890? I know about the no flashing method but I don't like the idea of not been able to see the screen until its fully booted on OS X. I rather flash the card.

I am buying today a XFX 1GB 4890 and would like to flash it.

If you have that card, I thought you might try making a custom ROM = PC BIOS of the 4890 + Mac EFI of the 4870. You'll probably still need the tweaked radeon kext. I am not sure if it is risky, but at worst, the card will only work under windows (I think) and you may be able to reflash it anyway.

[The Rominator]

Tricky part is device id.

The 4870 is 9440 and the 4890 is 9460.

Don't think the needed digit can be changed by software (from ROM) so you will have to pick a device id and use in both EFI and BIOS.

I did this for Whiteyez but I don't think he ever flashed it right.

[frviana]

Got the card, plugged it into slot 1 and moved my 7300 to Slot 4. Booted with my monitor on my 7300, installed the Radeon HD 48x0 drivers shipping with Mac Pro 2009 and the ATI_Init.pkg and rebooted. Changed the monitor to the 4890 and everything works like a charm. No need to install accel.tar.bz2.

Booted into Vista 64 but noticed that Vista detects the card as Standard VGA Graphic Adapter. Now what to do to get it working into bootcamp Vista?

[nuvolino]

I don't get why people are scared of the 2.5 speed.

I have a 8800GT from Apple in my 2006 mac pro and it is working awesome on gaming, both on OSX and Win

the reason why they are worried is that it will mean it runs slower then it should

also just so you know the 8800GT runs at link speed of 5.0GT
that could be why it keeps up so well

i hope someone sorts out the 2.5 speed issue soon

[nuvolino]

By the way has anyone tested the link speed on the 4890 yet??

[frviana]

Yes. But the good thing is that the 7300 does not need a power connector. This means that when I boot into Vista for gaming I can automatically disable the 7300 and use the 4870 as the dedicated graphics card.


Hola... How do you disable the 7300 inside Vista? I am in the same situation with a 7300 and a 4890. When I boot into Vista it disables the 4890 for some reason.

[mflender]

Hola... How do you disable the 7300 inside Vista? I am in the same situation with a 7300 and a 4890. When I boot into Vista it disables the 4890 for some reason.

Vista doesn't support both Nvidia and ATI at once. XP did sort of. Install ATI drivers for Vista and shut down. Remove 7300 and boot. Should now use ATI. You could likely get a Mac native ATI 2600 from ebay if you really need to run two cards. Heck, I have one laying around if you can't find one.

[frviana]

Vista doesn't support both Nvidia and ATI at once. XP did sort of. Install ATI drivers for Vista and shut down. Remove 7300 and boot. Should now use ATI. You could likely get a Mac native ATI 2600 from ebay if you really need to run two cards. Heck, I have one laying around if you can't find one.

I am installing Windows 7 now. Many articles says that Windows 7 supports heterogeneous graphic cards. If that doesn't work I will be looking forward in trying flashing my 4890.

[frviana]

I am installing Windows 7 now. Many articles says that Windows 7 supports heterogeneous graphic cards. If that doesn't work I will be looking forward in trying flashing my 4890.

In order to work with heterogenous graphic cards in Windows 7 both cards drivers needs to be WWDM 1.1 and neither nVIDIA 7300GT and XFX 4890 are.

XP 64 here we go... I am up to try flashing it if someone got a good ROM.

[Spanky Deluxe]

the reason why they are worried is that it will mean it runs slower then it should

also just so you know the 8800GT runs at link speed of 5.0GT
that could be why it keeps up so well

i hope someone sorts out the 2.5 speed issue soon

Read my post. 5.0 GT speed means nothing if no more is used than 2.5 GT. Think of it as if you were putting a one port gigabit ethernet card into a PCIe slot. Gigabit ethernet supports a maximum bandwidth of 1 GT or 125MB/s. A 1x PCIe slot with 2.5 GT bandwidth is more than enough to satisfy this. Plug the same card into a 2x PCIe slot with 5 GT bandwidth (I'm talking PCIe 1.x here btw) then while the card might recognise that it could use "up to 5 GT", the gigabit standard means that anything above 125MB/s throughput will not be needed.

[BugLamp]

Read my post. 5.0 GT speed means nothing if no more is used than 2.5 GT. Think of it as if you were putting a one port gigabit ethernet card into a PCIe slot. Gigabit ethernet supports a maximum bandwidth of 1 GT or 125MB/s. A 1x PCIe slot with 2.5 GT bandwidth is more than enough to satisfy this. Plug the same card into a 2x PCIe slot with 5 GT bandwidth (I'm talking PCIe 1.x here btw) then while the card might recognise that it could use "up to 5 GT", the gigabit standard means that anything above 125MB/s throughput will not be needed.


What?

High end graphics cards benefit from extra bandwidth. Especially when doing things like stream processing.

[pcb355]

I'm looking at jumping in and getting one of the XFX cards to flash and use in my second generation Mac Pro. My understanding is that under OS X, if the stock Apple EFI ROM portion is used, then even if the card is overclocked, OS X will not see this speed increase. I haven't seen much in this thread that addresses this. If this is so, how are these guys offering these cards on eBay that they claim are overclocked? Does anyone know what cards these guys are using, and if their claims of custom EFI ROM development are valid?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%252BP%252BS%252BIA%26itu%3DFICS%252BUFI%252BUA%252BIA%252BUCI%2 6otn%3D4%26ps%3D10&item=270386283542&refwidgettype=osi_widget&itemcount=4&sspagename=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refitem=270379884471&viewitem=&salenotsupported

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%252BP%252BS%252BIA%26itu%3DFICS%252BUFI%252BUA%252BIA%252BUCI%2 6otn%3D4%26ps%3D10&item=260405198679&refwidgettype=osi_widget&itemcount=4&sspagename=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refitem=270379884471&viewitem=&salenotsupported

[frviana]

I would like to hear from the people that is running the 4890 your experience with bootcamp.

What Windows version you are running?

Are you running a single card or multiple cards?


My current situation: 7300GT and XFX 4890. Everything works fine on OS X. VISTA and Windows 7 doesn't accept the 4890 because the 7300 is from different vendor. I will be installing XP 64 tonight.

[Whiteyez]

I would like to hear from the people that is running the 4890 your experience with bootcamp.

What Windows version you are running?

Are you running a single card or multiple cards?


My current situation: 7300GT and XFX 4890. Everything works fine on OS X. VISTA and Windows 7 doesn't accept the 4890 because the 7300 is from different vendor. I will be installing XP 64 tonight.

Im running 4890 in OSX and in bootcamp Windows XP SP3. I had also the GT120 with 4890 before i do 4890 run in osx everything worked fine.

[netkas]

I'm looking at jumping in and getting one of the XFX cards to flash and use in my second generation Mac Pro. My understanding is that under OS X, if the stock Apple EFI ROM portion is used, then even if the card is overclocked, OS X will not see this speed increase. I haven't seen much in this thread that addresses this. If this is so, how are these guys offering these cards on eBay that they claim are overclocked? Does anyone know what cards these guys are using, and if their claims of custom EFI ROM development are valid?


bull$h1t, as i already said, all tables/settings/etc located in atombios, which is part of pc bios part.

U can edit custom rom with EFI part in RBE just fine, to increase clocks, tune cooler/voltage.

[netkas]

What?

High end graphics cards benefit from extra bandwidth. Especially when doing things like stream processing.

not in this case, pcie x16 @ 1.1(aka 2.5 GT/s) is enough for this card.

[Spanky Deluxe]

What?

High end graphics cards benefit from extra bandwidth. Especially when doing things like stream processing.

Most of the time you won't notice that extra bandwidth. Its used when the graphics card's memory is unable to fully store all of graphics data needed - it then has to use the PCIe link to access the stuff needed, which is where bandwidth comes into play. A 1GB graphics card is unlikely to need to do this that much right now thus for most people a 1GB 4870 running on 16x PCIe 1.x will be just as good or better than a 512MB 4870 running on 16x PCIe 2.0.

As far as stream processing goes, well any memory access outside a card's memory will want to be avoided as much as possible anyway. For stuff like that, as mentioned above, having more VRAM is usually better than having a slightly faster bus connection.

[sneffets]

OMG! I found out my problem. Mine display is VGA and I used DVI-VGA adapter, that's why it didn't work. Luckily, my display has a HDMI port and I have a DVI-HDMI cable handy so I tried it on. It WORKED.

But only one problem, the same game I ran on PC and Mac OS X. The PC version seems to run a lot faster, and the Mac version has some texture error and much lower frame rate. Maybe because of the speed being 2.5 GT/s ??? But who cares, I'm not playing game in Mac OS X anyway so it doesn't matter much to me.

Thank all you guys for this great thread.

Hello iphong, I am having the same issue as you were with your ATI 4870. Followed the same tutorial and when I boot, it boot all the way in but no picture. I am using MacPro 1,1 OSx 10.5.6, on a Dell 3008 via DVI...my card shows up but no picture. The odd thing is, when I flashed the card using the rom from that site...when it compared the two roms prior to flashing, it showed that they were the same roms? I just ordered that same card from tigerdirect...followed everything to the letter from his site...let me know if you have any thoughts.

[iphong]

your monitor is 30" 2560x1600 right? the flashed card only support one dual-link at 2560 and one single link at 1920. Make sure you plug into the right port.

[frviana]

Great, will test it out immediately :)

Hi, I tested your m4890.rom on my XFX 4890. It didn't work :-(... I had to re-flash back with the original backup rom.

I noticed when I was flashing back, where it says:

OLD ... BOARD 850E ... (ROM you provided).
NEW ... BOARD 875E ... (this is the original version).

I am willing to try again and do other tests... do you want to work to get this rom good for the 4890?

[BEIGE]

Most of the time you won't notice that extra bandwidth. Its used when the graphics card's memory is unable to fully store all of graphics data needed

like I posted before, I notice it (I have a retail 4870 Apple card and a Sapphire Radeon 4870 that's unused because it's slower in Mudbox). Sure, it's not most people that need the bandwidth but it does affect this program to the point where I get 80 FPS vs 105 FPS on the same model and since Mudbox does sculpting ON the GPU (unlike something like modo or ZBrush), it affects sculpting speed. when you're working on a 12-million polygon model like I am right now, you care about this bandwidth. I check this thread daily to see if the 5.0 GT/s thing is fixed so I can sell this 512 MB card.

[makoffee]

Hey gang!

First of all I just want to thank everyone on this thread for offering up so much information and support. This is EXACTLY what I've been waiting for! :D I've been watching this thread develop and have decided to 'take the plunge' with a the 1GB Sapphire 4870 (100259-1GL). Ordered mine from ebay here...

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-SAPPHIRE-100259-1GL-Radeon-HD-4870-1GB-GDDR5-HD4870_W0QQitemZ120416584980QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Video_TV_Cards?hash=item1c09634514&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50

I also ordered the appropriate Molex parts to 'roll-my-own' power cables. As I am both frugal and handy. (cost for 2 cables ~$11) With any luck I should be receiving everything I need in a few days.

I've had a chance to read over Rew's excellent step-by-step post: http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7473867&postcount=886 However it seems a lot has been developing on this forum as far as what firmware image people are using. And I would like to know exactly what firmware image I should be using to flash my 100259-1GL Shappire.

Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse, but as this thread get's longer it seems be getting less clear to me. :confused:

[bb8882]

Another success flashing the XFX 1G 4870 ZDFC, $175 at tigerdirect after rebate.
I followed swissmann's tutorial and flashed my card with ROM included in the tutorial and in just a few minutes I had myself a 1G MacVersion 4870, many thanks.
As with everyone else I am getting the same 2.5gt/s link speed, both DVI ports working fine in OSX and Windows. I am using two 23" Apple Monitors and everything working beautifully, no mouse issue or flickers. 16000 3dmark06
The XFX 4870 ZDFC I bought was a non overclock version, 750mhz and memory at 900mhz, after flash it runs at 775mhz and 950mhz since the custom ROM was made from a XfX XXX version which was overclocked. It's nice to have a little boost on the speed but the con is the heat issue since this card is idling at around :eek:70C!!! - 15% fan. I will get an ACCELERO TWIN TURBO cooler for it since I am sure it's an awesome GPU cooler and will fit the Mac Pro just fine. (many aftermarket cooler won't fit because of their big size bottom screws)

Early 08 MacPro, 8 core 2.8ghz, 10g ram, 2.5t, XFX 4870 1G, two 23" Apple monitor

Anyone has information about installing ATI Catalyst Control Center in Windows XP Pro? I received error messages when trying to install it.

[Pressure]

Hi, I tested your m4890.rom on my XFX 4890. It didn't work :-(... I had to re-flash back with the original backup rom.

I noticed when I was flashing back, where it says:

OLD ... BOARD 850E ... (ROM you provided).
NEW ... BOARD 875E ... (this is the original version).

I am willing to try again and do other tests... do you want to work to get this rom good for the 4890?

That's simply because that ROM is nothing more than a dump of the original the card came with.

I didn't flash my card to get it working in Mac OSX. I used ATY_init.

[BugLamp]

Most of the time you won't notice that extra bandwidth. Its used when the graphics card's memory is unable to fully store all of graphics data needed - it then has to use the PCIe link to access the stuff needed, which is where bandwidth comes into play. A 1GB graphics card is unlikely to need to do this that much right now thus for most people a 1GB 4870 running on 16x PCIe 1.x will be just as good or better than a 512MB 4870 running on 16x PCIe 2.0.

As far as stream processing goes, well any memory access outside a card's memory will want to be avoided as much as possible anyway. For stuff like that, as mentioned above, having more VRAM is usually better than having a slightly faster bus connection.


One of the only practical uses of GPGPU for the average user right now is video transcoding. If one was to transcode say a 1080p60 uncompressed video stream I am sure the extra bandwidth of another 2.5GT/sec would be useful. Even more so with uncompressed video sources from things like Digital Transfer from 35mm Film or 4K and beyond from say the Red One. These types of applications are really the only reason Apple even makes an 8core and are bound to be of the few that see major benefit from massively symmetric multiprocessing provided by the videocard. I remember reading somewhere that most applications cannot benefit from more the 8 cores/threads anyway, but I digress.

[frviana]

That's simply because that ROM is nothing more than a dump of the original the card came with.

I didn't flash my card to get it working in Mac OSX. I used ATY_init.

Gave up on flashing for now... using the ATY_init + Kext to enable QE for OS X and Windows XP 32 (it supports multiple graphic vendors). Running with 2 monitors (one in each card).

[jeanlain]

This is partly off topic, but I have found this rather old report :
Our back room gurus tested the NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 and the ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics cards from the early 2009 Mac Pro in the 800MHz and 667MHz Mac Pro models with varying success. The quick results are: GT120 functions, in both ports, in 800MHz Mac Pro.

Mac Pro ‘800MHz Memory Bus Models:
———-
4870 - Works A-OK via its DVI port. No-go via the miniDisplay Port.

GT120 - Works like a champ with both DisplayPort and DVI Port.

Mac Pro ‘667MHZ Memory Bus Models:
————
No go with either of Video Cards from the new Mac Pros.
http://blog.macsales.com/tag/ati-radeon-hd-4870

What? The apple 4870 does not work in 667MHz Mac Pros? (I suppose they correspond to Mac Pro 1.1).
I suppose this is not a driver issue, since the card worked in Mac Pros from 2008, and those do not ship with the drivers.
Interesting also: no video from the displayport, but this is probably due to the lack of drivers, unless the card from the 2009 Mac Pros slightly differs from the OEM card, which is given as compatible by the Applestore.

This got me thinking: is there any reliable report of an *Apple* 4870 working on a Mac Pro 1.1? All I remember is reports on *Flashed* 4870 and some insinuations by Barefeats.com, without direct confirmation.

EDIT: well, Rominator and Rob-art were already onto it and the report is quite lacunary. Not sure if it is reliable, but the fact that they couldn't get the card to work on the 2006 Mac Pros, while getting one port working in the 2008 Mac Pros is intriguing.

[The Rominator]

I have an OEM Apple 4870 and it works A-OK in my first gen, just like the flashed ones.

[jeanlain]

I have an OEM Apple 4870 and it works A-OK in my first gen, just like the flashed ones.
Good. :)
I hope that some new drivers (10.5.7) will solve some of the issues people have with flashed cards. I am still surprised that non-flashed 4890's have both ports working while most 4870s do not (except the reference design).

Netkas suggested that Snow Leopard could fix some problems. Let's hope that a fix will come sooner.

[Spanky Deluxe]

This is partly off topic, but I have found this rather old report :

http://blog.macsales.com/tag/ati-radeon-hd-4870

What? The apple 4870 does not work in 667MHz Mac Pros? (I suppose they correspond to Mac Pro 1.1).
I suppose this is not a driver issue, since the card worked in Mac Pros from 2008, and those do not ship with the drivers.
Interesting also: no video from the displayport, but this is probably due to the lack of drivers, unless the card from the 2009 Mac Pros slightly differs from the OEM card, which is given as compatible by the Applestore.

This got me thinking: is there any reliable report of an *Apple* 4870 working on a Mac Pro 1.1? All I remember is reports on *Flashed* 4870 and some insinuations by Barefeats.com, without direct confirmation.

EDIT: well, Rominator and Rob-art were already onto it and the report is quite lacunary. Not sure if it is reliable, but the fact that they couldn't get the card to work on the 2006 Mac Pros, while getting one port working in the 2008 Mac Pros is intriguing.

I'm guessing that the reason they didn't work was that they were using Mac OS 10.5.6 and not 10.5.7 with the newer drivers or at least not with the early release drivers in the custom 10.5.6 found in the new Mac Pros. Several people have got Apple's cards working in both the 800 and 667 MHz Mac Pros and a lot of people are using flashed 4870s in their 800 and 667 MHz Mac Pros. I'm using two 4870 flashed cards in my 667 MHz Mac Pro right now.

[swissmann]

So has anyone upgraded to 10.5.7? Any news on the results with flashed 4870s?

[medsource]

So has anyone upgraded to 10.5.7? Any news on the results with flashed 4870s?

I'm particularly interested in the mouse jump issue... mostly if it went away after the update. the 5.0 link speed would be nice too. If the mouse thing is fixed then I'll probably try again with the flashing.

[netkas]

4890/4870x2 users - dont update to 10.5.7 just yet, you will loose qe/ci (atiradeonx2000.kext will be replaced with unpatched one)

I'll make new patched kext tomorrow morning.

[Whiteyez]

4890/4870x2 users - dont update to 10.5.7 just yet, you will loose qe/ci (atiradeonx2000.kext will be replaced with unpatched one)

I'll make new patched kext tomorrow morning.

We will wait.. :D Thanks once again.

[macz1]

I just installed the update and I didn't notice any differences from 10.5.6. for VGA the adapter trick is still needed, still 2.5 GT/s and everything seems to work (or not) as before

[pastrychef]

I just installed the update and I didn't notice any differences from 10.5.6. for VGA the adapter trick is still needed, still 2.5 GT/s and everything seems to work (or not) as before

Did you have to uninstall the kexts that were installed with "MacOSX_10.5.6_radeon_hd_48x0_drivers.pkg"?

Thanks.

[swissmann]

I updated to 10.5.7 and no problems. I had the Expansion Slot Utility open up which I had never seen before and I realized with my 2 cards my personal best configuration would be to put the 7300 card in slot 4 instead of slot 2 so I did so. I've added a screenshot and some more details at the top of my flashing tutorial (link below). Two monitors on the 4870 and a third on the 7300 still working great - didn't test any changes.

Link to my tutorial:
http://web.me.com/jacobcroft/4870Flash/4870Flash.html

[macaddictg4]

I can confirm the Sapphire 1GB card (per Rew's condensed instructions) continues to function under 10.5.7. I have not yet tested speed/reliability in any way other than using the system to type this, but it is still 2.5GT/s and not 5... (See attached pic)

[The Rominator]

Justupdated to 10.5.7 and a 4870 1 Gig XFX works EXACTLY the same so far.

OpenGl View scores were within 1%-2%

Haven't tested everything yet though

[macz1]

Did you have to uninstall the kexts that were installed with "MacOSX_10.5.6_radeon_hd_48x0_drivers.pkg"?

Thanks.

I simply run the update, I think the previous files have been simply overvritten. The Motmot kext however did not load (error message at startup) and I removed it from the extensions folder after the update.