iM 4,1-14,4 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

[FlorisVN]

Has anyone here updated to 10.14.1? If so how did you do it? Full reinstall using Dosdude’s updated patcher or did you just run the MacOS Software Update?

I see the 10.14.1 listed in Software Update, but I’m hesitant to pull the trigger. Running a 2010 iMac with a GTX 765 if that matters.

I dont know, but I would advise you to keep an eye on this topic here on MR :
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ed-macs-thread.2121473/page-391#post-26731132

Post your question there, I think you will get the best help for Mojave on Unsupported Macs..

As far for me, I always wait for the last update, and then I upgrade an Unsupported Mac.
This way there is little to no problems with updates.
So I will upgrade Unsupported iMac to Mojave, when the latest point release is out, yes i know i always am 1 year behind, but I dont mind at all.
Since MacOS has lot of bugs, anyway the first few months, they will be patched in the future...

 

[Polydactyl]

I dont know, but I would advise you to keep an eye on this topic here on MR :
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ed-macs-thread.2121473/page-391#post-26731132

Post your question there, I think you will get the best help for Mojave on Unsupported Macs..

As far for me, I always wait for the last update, and then I upgrade an Unsupported Mac.
This way there is little to no problems with updates.
So I will upgrade Unsupported iMac to Mojave, when the latest point release is out, yes i know i always am 1 year behind, but I dont mind at all.
Since MacOS has lot of bugs, anyway the first few months, they will be patched in the future...

Thanks. I have been watching that thread, but posted here because the boot screen issue most of us have with our alienware cards adds another dimension to this.

My biggest fear is getting my computer into an unbootable state with no boot screen. The last time that happened, I had to reinstall my old video card temporarily to sort things out so I could reinstall Mojave. I tried to force a boot to USB using startup shortcuts while I was “blind” but couldn’t get it to work until the old card was installed.

Anyway, the update to 10.14.1 is not a pressing issue for me, so I may wait.

 

[imacdontkonw]

hi I have a imac 21.5 2011

I just did the 770m install in my 2011 21.5 iMac, I have noticed a few things. Sleep in broken in Mojave and the internal display wasn't turning on in Mojave. Installing "whatevergreen.kext and lilu.kext" fixed the internal display not turning on and improved performance (which i'll talk about more in the Windows part of this post) but it is still a bit laggy when scrolling through files.

To see what was going on with the card in terms of thermals and GPU core clock speeds, I made an EFI install of Windows 10, placed it into a 2012 MBP with 650m to install real Nvidia drivers, then installed it into the iMac. Doing this was needed to have an image in Windows. From what I can tell the card only hits a Maximum of 405 MHz when running valley benchmark, This was confirmed in GPU-Z. Its only hitting 43C in Windows with the optical drive fan at 2600RPM. The interesting thing in Windows was after i reinstalled Nvidia graphics drivers (but didn't reboot yet) I had display brightness functionality! This was incredibly strange that there was communication with the backlight at all. After I rebooted unfortunately the slider went away. I think the card is only hitting 405MHz because it is not receiving enough power from the PSU. Unless someone else has another explanation.

hi my imac has a same problem like your imac. IMAC 2011 21.5 with 770m and working at 405mhz and i tried to flash bios in windows but still like this .. clevo and dell bios are same ..but i don't think the problem is the power . Is sth with bios I think .Now I'm trying to use KeplerBiostweaker to fix it . But I'm not sure it works

 

[highvoltage12v]

hi I have a imac 21.5 2011

hi my imac has a same problem like your imac. IMAC 2011 21.5 with 770m and working at 405mhz and i tried to flash bios in windows but still like this .. clevo and dell bios are same ..but i don't think the problem is the power . Is sth with bios I think .Now I'm trying to use KeplerBiostweaker to fix that it . But I'm not sure it works

Wow I'm not the only one. Keep me updated on this if you find a solution. As for everyone else I did the 10.14.1 update on my 2 machines (I have high Sierra in partiton 1 so I can risk it) and the update did not replace the platformsupport.plist. Meaning it will boot up fine. But you will loose Audio and wifi.

 

[FlorisVN]

I cannot remember the GTX765m has this 405mhz underclocked problem..
The GTX780m also does not have this problem.. ??

It appears only the GTX770m , as far as we know... ?

 

[imacdontkonw]

Wow I'm not the only one. Keep me updated on this if you find a solution. As for everyone else I did the 10.14.1 update on my 2 machines (I have high Sierra in partiton 1 so I can risk it) and the update did not replace the platformsupport.plist. Meaning it will boot up fine. But you will loose Audio and wifi.

hi BIOS it work!
before:https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/compute/3134361

now: https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/compute/3139162

I don't know how to Upload the BIOS to here....

 

[highvoltage12v]

hi BIOS it work!
before:https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/compute/3134361

now: https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/compute/3139162

I don't know how to Upload the BIOS to here....

I was doing my own mods too! I still cant get it above 405MHz. What you need to do is ZIP your file before posting, then MR will let you post.

 

[imacdontkonw]

I was doing my own mods too! I still cant get it above 405MHz. What you need to do is ZIP your file before posting, then MR will let you post.

here you are！

 

[highvoltage12v]

here you are！

Thanks, this is where I stand now with me card. It will take me 20 min to take the LCD off back off and unplug the Mac OS SSD. Have to do this because EFI install.
[doublepost=1541097847][/doublepost]

here you are！

Wow you're using a different rom altogether '80.06.51.00.0C' A Clevo one as you stated earlier. Your card is/once a Dell MXM card? I will proceed to flash I have an SOIC 8 pin clip if something goes wrong.

 

[imacdontkonw]

Thanks, this is where I stand now with me card. It will take me 20 min to take the LCD off back off and unplug the Mac OS SSD. Have to do this because EFI install.
[doublepost=1541097847][/doublepost]
Wow you're using a different rom altogether '80.06.51.00.0C' A Clevo one as you stated earlier. Your card is/once a Dell MXM card? I will proceed to flash I have an SOIC 8 pin clip if something goes wrong.

you need windows and use nvflash to flash that

 

[highvoltage12v]

you need windows and use nvflash to flash that

I did, it resulted in a soft brick, I had to reflash to my own rom using team viewer. Are you using a Clevo branded card? Most of us here are using Dell cards. It's interesting if you are, maybe an eBay link?

 

[imacdontkonw]

I did, it resulted in a soft brick, I had to reflash to my own rom using team viewer. Are you using a Clevo branded card? Most of us here are using Dell cards. It's interesting if you are, maybe an eBay link?

yeah I'm using Clevo card. It from my friend's old Clevo laptop. I have one mod dell bios too. but on my card not work to good if you want you can try this

and one problem if use web driver will get a black screen ..

 

[Reactorvisual]

Has anyone here updated to 10.14.1? If so how did you do it? Full reinstall using Dosdude’s updated patcher or did you just run the MacOS Software Update?

I see the 10.14.1 listed in Software Update, but I’m hesitant to pull the trigger. Running a 2010 iMac with a GTX 765 if that matters.

what is your concern about what could go wrong if I may ask?

 

[highvoltage12v]

what is your concern about what could go wrong if I may ask?

If platformsupport.plist is altered removing our board ID. It won't boot, If you had working EFI you would see the "no smoking sign" and it would shut down 15 seconds later. If you didn't have a functional os in partition 1 you would have to take it apart. Connect the drive to another Mac and remodify platformsupport.plist. Again I highly recommend everyone to have High Sierra in partition 1 so you can pram reset and it will boot to that OS.

 

[Polydactyl]

what is your concern about what could go wrong if I may ask?

My concern is having to disassemble my iMac and refit the old video card to get it to boot in the event of a bad install. This happened the first time I installed Mohave. I let the install run unattended, and it automatically rebooted. Since I didn’t run the patcher in the 10 seconds between install and auto reboot, my iMac was rendered unbootable. Try as I might, without the benefit of a boot screen, I could not force the system to boot from a USB drive. It seems the startup shortcut keys won’t work without a boot screen. (Maybe I screwed this part up, or was unlucky...)

@highvoltage12v, That sounds like sage advice. I have 2 ssd’s in my iMac, so a HS partition is doable. Is there a way to tell which drive a pram reset will default to?

 

[Reactorvisual]

My concern is having to disassemble my iMac and refit the old video card to get it to boot in the event of a bad install. This happened the first time I installed Mohave. I let the install run unattended, and it automatically rebooted. Since I didn’t run the patcher in the 10 seconds between install and auto reboot, my iMac was rendered unbootable. Try as I might, without the benefit of a boot screen, I could not force the system to boot from a USB drive. It seems the startup shortcut keys won’t work without a boot screen. (Maybe I screwed this part up, or was unlucky...)

@highvoltage12v, That sounds like sage advice. I have 2 ssd’s in my iMac, so a HS partition is doable. Is there a way to tell which drive a pram reset will default to?

I understand that installing a new OS something can go wrong easier than an update over a running system, hope someone can confirm if this is possible, my mohave partition is useles to me while no drivers are included to accelerate the gpu.

 

[highvoltage12v]

My concern is having to disassemble my iMac and refit the old video card to get it to boot in the event of a bad install. This happened the first time I installed Mohave. I let the install run unattended, and it automatically rebooted. Since I didn’t run the patcher in the 10 seconds between install and auto reboot, my iMac was rendered unbootable. Try as I might, without the benefit of a boot screen, I could not force the system to boot from a USB drive. It seems the startup shortcut keys won’t work without a boot screen. (Maybe I screwed this part up, or was unlucky...)

@highvoltage12v, That sounds like sage advice. I have 2 ssd’s in my iMac, so a HS partition is doable. Is there a way to tell which drive a pram reset will default to?

It's always the first partition the iMac will choose when a pram reset is done, even on APFS. Also install SIPManager.kext (you can extract it from the Dosdude1 Mojave patcher) and install it to the High Sierra partition so it's not affected by a pram reset.

 

[oscarodas]

@Reactorvisual, hi, I did notice that you have two SSD's, how did you connect the cables? (i.e from where are the sources on the iMac, thanks).

 

[Polydactyl]

@Reactorvisual, hi, I did notice that you have two SSD's, how did you connect the cables? (i.e from where are the sources on the iMac, thanks).

It’s been years since I did this. The 2010 27 iMacs had an extra SATA connector on the motherboard. I had to order a second SATA cable, and a replacement power cable that could connect two drives. I ordered the cables (and an SSD bracketmount) from AppleComponents.com. Years later I replaced the failing 1TB Seagate drive with another SSD. I did the first mod in 2011, so my memory is a little fuzzy. Hower HDD + SSD was a BTO option at the time, so the parts were readily available.

 

[man1sshhh]

Updated my dead iMac with Dell Alienware GTX 765m today. Everything works fine with known issues. My existing X-clamp from 6770m series was a perfect fit with no modification required.

Soon I’ll be making some update to the airflow and the heatsink in the iMac. How much according to you guys should be idle temp for the GPU heatsink? Also Max brightness is indeed creating a lot of heat. Sure, brightness slider helps but it doesn't solve excess heating problem from the backlight.

 

[Bacci]

It's always the first partition the iMac will choose when a pram reset is done, even on APFS. Also install SIPManager.kext (you can extract it from the Dosdude1 Mojave patcher) and install it to the High Sierra partition so it's not affected by a pram reset.

By first partition, do you mean disk1s1 or the top partition listed in Disk Utility (which is not necessarily the same)?

I wonder if by creating a small partition in that top (after PRAM reset) booting order spot with Dosdude's image, even the folks here with 1 disk could create a last resort emergency solution for the black screen of dread?

 

[Polydactyl]

By first partition, do you mean disk1s1 or the top partition listed in Disk Utility (which is not necessarily the same)?

I wonder if by creating a small partition in that top (after PRAM reset) booting order spot with Dosdude's image, even the folks here with 1 disk could create a last resort emergency solution for the black screen of dread?

Installed High Sierra on my second drive. Verified that I could boot back and forth between the Mojave and the High Sierra installs, and then I did a PRAM reset. After the reset my iMac booted to the Mojave parition, which is on the disk labelled disk1 in Drive Manager. High Sierra is on Disk0. I don’t have any other partitions or drives installed.

For reference from Disk Manager:

disk0:
Container disk 3 (physical store disk0s2; device disk 3)
High Sierra Volume (device disk3s1)

disk1:
Container disk 2 (physical store disk1s2; device disk2)
Mojave Volume (device disk2s1)

So bottom line, I’m not sure if I default to Mojave because of which SATA connector my drives are connected to, or based on Container disk 2, or based on Volume disk2s1. But I do know that it defaults to Mojave. I’d rather it default to High Sierra, as a failsafe. To do this would I need to switch the SATA connectors, or could I make this change through diskmanager?

 

[imacdontkonw]

I was doing my own mods too! I still cant get it above 405MHz. What you need to do is ZIP your file before posting, then MR will let you post.

hi can you help me with inf? I try to install driver in win10 but it not work .. my card ID 11E0 1008 10DE THANK YOU SO MUCH

 

[romac90]

Hi im happy to find a thread like this.
I have read a lot about this topic and decided to buy a GTX 770m pulled from MSI for try, i also got my eyes on a GTX 880m.

Im stuck on black screen and only 2 of 4 control LEDs without LCD and loud fan speed. With LCD i got black screen but fan speed is okay.

Before installing the GTX 770m i preinstalled the nVidia Drivers.

Saddly i got no possibilty to flash the card myself, because i got no notebook, i have to send it to a friend.
So any confirm that the posted bios is working 100%?

Do i have to delete/deactivate nVidia Drivers to get picture?

Anyone got the same BIOS like me on his GTX 770m?
Any confirm about the BIOS which ist posted for GTX 770m?
Anyone can confirm the BIOS of GTX 880m in second picture is working?


After i put it inside my iMac 27" 2011, i hear the start sound and the iMac restarts and i hear the start sound again, this happens everytime i reassembly the card to logicboard.
Every restart after this is normal.

 

[highvoltage12v]

By first partition, do you mean disk1s1 or the top partition listed in Disk Utility (which is not necessarily the same)?

I wonder if by creating a small partition in that top (after PRAM reset) booting order spot with Dosdude's image, even the folks here with 1 disk could create a last resort emergency solution for the black screen of dread?

With APFS it's more difficult to determine which disk for sure is your first partition. Here is a screenshot of mine, you have to be sure 'disk1' is your High Sierra Partition and 'disk2' is your Mojave Partition. You could make your High Sierra Partition as small as 20-32GB, but I like to keep mine around because its the last version of Mac App Store that allows you to download older versions of Mac OS.
[doublepost=1541260754][/doublepost]

hi can you help me with inf? I try to install driver in win10 but it not work .. my card ID 11E0 1008 10DE THANK YOU SO MUCH

Like the Nvidia installer wont run (no device found) or you have an '!' next to your device in device manager? I looked at your rom, it's clocked way too high (1650MHz) When flashed to my card the 770m wouldn't load at all.