Ultimate Thread: 4890 in Mac Pro

[Cindori]

The old post is still viewable below in red.



Instructions for flashing ATI 4890 with ATI Flashing Tool

1. read http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=811768
2. download zip, unzip it
3. launch tool
4. browse for rom (ROM folder is included in zip)
5. click flash
6. install qe_ci pkg for your OS
7. reboot
8. done.

IF YOU ALREADY HAVE ATI CARDS IN MAC PRO:

1. read http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=811768
2. download zip, unzip it
3. launch tool
4. go to injector and install Natit
5. shut down mac pro
6. remove all ati cards, put only your 4890 inside
7. boot again
8. launch tool
9. browse for rom (ROM folder is included in zip)
10. click flash
11. go to injector again, now Remove Natit
12. install qe_ci pkg for your OS
13. reboot
17. done.



Questions:


Why do I need to remove my ATI cards?
Because the app will try to flash all ATI cards it finds.

Why do I need Natit?
Natit enables you to boot and use 4890 for display without flashing it.

Why can't I just use Natit then?
You can, but you won't get Apple's grey bootloader screen. You also can't boot OSX dvd's, or use the card in another computer / OS disk without first installing Natit on it. With flashing, your card can do all these things. So now we only use Natit to be able to remove ATI cards and still boot, or to run cards that not yet have a modified ROM that is working.

Can I donate to you?
Yes, and it makes me very happy.
http://www.groths.se/atiflashingtool/donate.html
















THIS IS OLD POST
OUTDATED INSTRUCTIONS. USE ABOVE INSTEAD


Using EFI rom created by netkas and a flashing utility discovered by pipmolo, I present:



This simple but effective app will flash your 4890 card for you.
This is all still on your own risk.

FOR PEOPLE RUNNING SECONDARY ATI CARDS:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost...&postcount=702

This is how you do it:

Download one of these packages:

Overclock Package

Normal Package

The difference between them is that the Overclock one is using a rom with 950 clock, and the Normal one is using a rom with 880 clock.

Ok, now unzip your package so you have your contents on your boot drive like this:



You can start by installing the QE_CI package. Remember it is for the 10.6.1 update.

Once you're done, make sure you have your 4890 inside your Mac Pro.

Now open the 4890Flash.app
It will run for 20 seconds and will pop up in the dock and vanish when it's done.

Now restart your computer

Done! you can now remove all the files from the boot drive!

This will work for any Mac Pro that exists
For Leopard 10.5.7 or newer Only one DVI output at a time
For Snow Leopard Dual DVI working


Older QE_CI pkgs:

Pkgs for 10.5.7, 10.5.8 and 10.6.0 in this zip:
Old QE_CI pkgs


Have fun!







EVEN OLDER POST


How to get Radeon 4890 working in Mac Pro


The amounts of graphic cards for the Mac Pro has always been very low.

Not only are there only old cards to buy, they are damn expensive too.

This guide is for getting a Radeon HD 4890 1GB working in your Mac Pro.
Win&OSX


AKA: The most powerful graphic card solution available today.

About 15% faster then the Apple 4870 and only 50% the price.


But how are you going to use this card in a Mac? Well, PC cards require
BIOS and that is why there are so few graphic cards for Mac.

You can flash a PC card with the Mac-cards firmware. But this require the
card to be of the same model as the Mac card and does not allow you to
have new PC cards.


So what are we going to use?

Well, the last months the development of so called Graphic Injectors have
exploded. A really cool guy called Netkas have coded together a very
stable graphic injector for ATI-cards, which basically enables PC cards
to boot OSX.

But how are we going to get full support in OSX for this card? Well, 4890
is almost the same as 4870, which means that the drivers for the Mac Card
are compatible! Since drivers for 4870 came out with 10.5.7, the only
thing we need is the graphic injector called Natit.

Natit initializes our 4890, and the OSX drivers runs the card. Beautiful!


But here comes the bad part. Natit runs when OSX starts, so before
that, that is the grey screen, will not be visible. This may sound
problematic if you wanna boot different operative systems, but since
settings in OSX and Windows Boot camp software allows us to select boot
disk, this really is not a problem.

Also this method does not support two DVI outputs. Only one, from either port. This problem is possibly because the Apple card uses one displayport instead of DVI.



Ok, so what do we need to get this working?

First we need a 4890-card that is very similar to the original model.

So I took a shot, and bought the same card, a Sapphire
Radeon 1GB (normal model, not overclock or such).

Pics of my card:







I tried running it in my Mac Pro 06 and took power from second superdrive
slot, using only a shop-bough molex extension

and the molex-to-6pin power
cables that came with the card.

Booted up all right in Windows, but black
screen in OSX.



Time to get Natit.

I downloaded these:
http://rapidshare.de/files/46982841/ATI_Init.pkg.html

Installed

And this: http://rapidshare.de/files/46893369/accel.tar.bz2.html

Which I installed with kexthelper
(@ http://cheetha.net/)

Of course doing this with my Mac card in the comp.

Rebooted with 4890 in slot 1, but still no picture. Scratched my head for
a while, and remembered I had only 10.5.6 of OSX. Dont miss that! So I
updated and then the card ran.

However I did not have Quartz extreme enabled and no video in VLC player.
So I installed this too:
http://rapidshare.de/files/47140484/...cards.pkg.html

and then everything worked!

Using together with my 7300 in 4th slot (for dual displays).
No problems with mouse pointer, no problems with video or 3d, no problems with fan running
in 100%, no problems with high resolutions. Just working!










So the card works perfect, and I decided to mount a new cooler
Using Accelero Twin Turbo and guide by Hardmac:
http://www.hardmac.com/articles/265/page1


I quickly ran into some problems with the parts




Fixed it with a saw




There we go




Perfect




Done





IT. IS. SILENT.

Seriously, during Crysis gaming this cooler runs 35%. I can not hear it at all.
When putting the fan to 100% it is still only half the noise of my 8800. I am completely satisfied.


Now running Crysis Warhead @ 1900x1200, Enthusiast (Very high) No AA (like you need aa on that res anyway)

WoW in OSX all Ultra, shadows on, 1900x1200, full Multisample. 20-60 fps all the time.

BTW: The development of graphic injectors is still going on, and now
supports Nvidia 2xx cards. Unfortunately no dual dvi yet. Mac GTX 285 is
around the corner but for 436$, when a overclocked 4890 has the same
performance and with this cooler a LOT quieter then the 285 for still
200$ less, and with nvidia cards having a history of bad drivers and not
working in old Mac Pros, is it really worth it?


BTW All my credit to netkas and hardmac. Pushing the limit for Mac Pro performance!

[snouter]

Great write-up.

As an aside, the 4890 also uses less power and runs cooler at idle than the 4870 as well... for the slight price difference, I would think that the 4890 is the way to go at this point if you are going to flash your own card...

[mac88]

Very interesting. Thanks for the post.

[Sumimasen]

Nice thread!

Would this be the cable that I need?:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...tid=48&subcat=

[slicecom]

Great write up!

I'm curious, would this work with a Rev. A Mac Pro too?

[Cindori]

Originally Posted by Sumimasen

Nice thread!

Would this be the cable that I need?:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...tid=48&subcat=

Yes. You might need two, depending on how long it is.

The cabling will go like this:

Originally Posted by slicecom

Great write up!

I'm curious, would this work with a Rev. A Mac Pro too?

Im guessing you mean the first model aka 1,1 aka 2006. If so, that is the one I am using. Anyway, this will work on any Mac Pro ever made.

[slicecom]

Originally Posted by Cindori

Im guessing you mean the first model aka 1,1 aka 2006. If so, that is the one I am using. Anyway, this will work on any Mac Pro ever made.

Awesome! Thanks for the quick response.

[netkas]

the insruction is good for 4870x2 too, to get one core working in osx.

[mmulin]

Originally Posted by Sumimasen

Nice thread!

Would this be the cable that I need?:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...tid=48&subcat=

Uneducated curiosity, why is the regular GPU power cable provided in the MP not suitable?

[Cindori]

Because those cables come with Apple Cards and this is a PC card.


You can buy them separately on ATI but they are way more expensive.

[Sumimasen]

So, there's no way to hook up the GPU to the existing power socket that my (now dead) 8800GT was connected to?

Bit of a shame, as I was planning on buying a BD drive at some point to go in the second bay...

Also, I can't really see what's going on in that wiring pic. Any chance I could be a pain and request something a bit more obvious? I do tend to need things spelling out for me...

I'm gonna defo do this upgrade next month. This time I will keep a spare card in case of emergencies though... We live and learn I suppose...

[Cindori]

Originally Posted by Sumimasen

So, there's no way to hook up the GPU to the existing power socket that my (now dead) 8800GT was connected to?

Originally Posted by Cindori

You can buy those cables separately on ATI but they are way more expensive.

And 4890 requires two.

Originally Posted by Sumimasen

Also, I can't really see what's going on in that wiring pic. Any chance I could be a pain and request something a bit more obvious? I do tend to need things spelling out for me...

In this?
http://www.krull.se/DSC02196.jpg


Basically I have dragged out the superdrive unit, and first connected one of these

https://www.linuxappliance.net/catal...x_splitter.jpg

To the second part of the Superdrive power cable. Then connected a second one to the first, dragged trough the hole in the lower left. This is simply because they were too short. After doing that I basically had 2x of these female molex coming out next to the PCI slots.

These are then converted by the two Molex>6pin cables (included with graphic card) and connected to the 4890.

[Sumimasen]

I guess it will be pretty obvious when I actually get in there and remove the superdrive.

Have you noticed any drawbacks with using this card, or do you get full functionality?

My temporary card (ATI HD2600 XT) will hopefully be delivered today. Once I am finally 100% sure that the graphics card was the only reason for my mac failure, I will get one of these ordered.

I was planning on getting the XFX version - would this be ok, or would I need to get the same version as you? The XFX card is cheaper...

Also, there are overclocked versions available too. Would these run ok if I decided to spend a little extra?

Thanks again for all your help with this! I wouldn't know where to start if I had to do this alone. Once again, top thread!

[Pressure]

Originally Posted by Sumimasen

I guess it will be pretty obvious when I actually get in there and remove the superdrive.

Have you noticed any drawbacks with using this card, or do you get full functionality?

My temporary card (ATI HD2600 XT) will hopefully be delivered today. Once I am finally 100% sure that the graphics card was the only reason for my mac failure, I will get one of these ordered.

I was planning on getting the XFX version - would this be ok, or would I need to get the same version as you? The XFX card is cheaper...

Also, there are overclocked versions available too. Would these run ok if I decided to spend a little extra?

Thanks again for all your help with this! I wouldn't know where to start if I had to do this alone. Once again, top thread!

I have been using the Radeon HD 4890 in my Mac Pro for the last two months with no major issues. For all intents and purposes it functions just as the Apple supplied Radeon HD 4870, only with twice the framebuffer.

[Sumimasen]

Sorry for all the questions - it's just a bit daunting for someone with little experience with stuff like this. (Don't know why - I flashed an old 3DFX Voodoo 3 pc card to use in my old G3 desktop, and that worked like a charm!)

Last one (for now ) - Am I right in thinking that I'd need to disable the password login for this to work, as the screen will stay black until after OSX has started up properly?

[Pressure]

Originally Posted by Sumimasen

Sorry for all the questions - it's just a bit daunting for someone with little experience with stuff like this. (Don't know why - I flashed an old 3DFX Voodoo 3 pc card to use in my old G3 desktop, and that worked like a charm!)

Last one (for now ) - Am I right in thinking that I'd need to disable the password login for this to work, as the screen will stay black until after OSX has started up properly?

Firmware password or the login screen?

[Sumimasen]

User login.

[ThrillSeeker81]

Hi,

My 8800gt stopped working.
So i bought a Sapphire 4890 mentioned in this thread.

Currently i have no means of booting in to OSX, nor windows as i have no working Mac card in my posession.

Since the card is supposed to work with windows, and i have a bootcamp setup, i thought i would be able to hold the option button, choose my boot disk (even if i do not have any image on screen), and hope to boot windows like this.

but i can only hear a repeating chime sound (it stutters).

so i was wondering if there is any other way for me to boot either windows or osx?


In the weekend i'll head over to a friend, who has a Macpro like mine, and we can swap harddrives so i can patch my osx, and install the necessary drivers in both osx and windows.


btw thx for this thread, and let's hope i can get mine working too.


Cheers,
TS

[bozz2006]

I'm very interested in doing this, as I have only the 7300 nvidia card in my mac pro classic. I too am a bit wary of this. I did a cpu upgrade in my mac pro so it's not like I don't know how to do anything, but i've never flashed a card before. Do I need bootcamp set up for this, or can i do all of this in OSX? I have a parallels XP VM set up, but don't have a bootcamp partition. Any help (encouragement) you could offer would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[Sumimasen]

I think the attraction of this card is that it doesn't need to be flashed - you just install some extensions in OSX to bypass the need for an EFI.

With regard to not being able to boot, I think you may need another card handy so you can install the required extensions and be able to actually see what you are doing. Until then you will get a black screen in OSX, and no way to specify windows as a boot disk. well, as far as I know anyway.

I could be wrong.

I just got a cheap ATI HD2600 off eBay so I can get up and running again, and I'll be keeping this card as a spare from now on, just in case I get any other GPU related failures!

I'm quite shocked at the amount of 8800GT's that I have discovered to have failed since I started looking into this. It's getting into Xbox 360 RROD territory!

[bozz2006]

Originally Posted by Sumimasen

I think the attraction of this card is that it doesn't need to be flashed - you just install some extensions in OSX to bypass the need for an EFI.

With regard to not being able to boot, I think you may need another card handy so you can install the required extensions and be able to actually see what you are doing. Until then you will get a black screen in OSX, and no way to specify windows as a boot disk. well, as far as I know anyway.

I could be wrong.

I just got a cheap ATI HD2600 off eBay so I can get up and running again, and I'll be keeping this card as a spare from now on, just in case I get any other GPU related failures!

I'm quite shocked at the amount of 8800GT's that I have discovered to have failed since I started looking into this. It's getting into Xbox 360 RROD territory!

My current card is working, so I could set up all the extensions, etc. before installing the 4890, is that right?

[Sumimasen]

Yeah, in fact you'll NEED to do it with another card in, otherwise you'll have the same problem as the guy above.

This is what I have gathered while researching it anyway. I have yet to do it myself, but will be getting the card very soon.

[bozz2006]

Does anyone with knowledge of Snow Leopard's Open CL know if this card will be able to utilize this technology?

And I've heard that the Sapphire Radeon 4890 Vapor-X is a more "pimped out" version of the card. Does this work? Would it be beneficial to me? It's only like $20 more than the regular version on newegg. If i can get more card for only $20, seems worth it.

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by Cindori

Yes. You might need two, depending on how long it is.

The cabling will go like this:







Im guessing you mean the first model aka 1,1 aka 2006. If so, that is the one I am using. Anyway, this will work on any Mac Pro ever made.

can i use this route with mac pro 3,1

[bozz2006]

Originally Posted by Sumimasen

I think the attraction of this card is that it doesn't need to be flashed - you just install some extensions in OSX to bypass the need for an EFI.

With regard to not being able to boot, I think you may need another card handy so you can install the required extensions and be able to actually see what you are doing. Until then you will get a black screen in OSX, and no way to specify windows as a boot disk. well, as far as I know anyway.

I could be wrong.

I just got a cheap ATI HD2600 off eBay so I can get up and running again, and I'll be keeping this card as a spare from now on, just in case I get any other GPU related failures!

I'm quite shocked at the amount of 8800GT's that I have discovered to have failed since I started looking into this. It's getting into Xbox 360 RROD territory!

Do you have any resources that may help me understand how it can be that the EFI can be bypassed? It just doesn't make sense to me at all. I mean is it some kind of emulator, like how with Rosetta you can run PowerPC software on an Intel Mac? If so, is there any kind of lag while using a graphics card with BIOS on a mac?