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

[spyrant]

The GPU die temperature sensor problem!
​

You all know that none of the modifies BIOS versions for the Metal GPUs listed in the table on page #1 is able to provide the internal GPU temperature back correctly to by used by the iMacs internal Apple SMC software to control the (ODD) fan according to the GPU internal temperature.

To address this issue we recommended strongly to use a free software called Macs Fan Control.

A different solution has been described several times now and last week and was in the mood to reopen my iMacs again and did this simple mod.

I (carefully) separated the ODD temp sensor using my finger nails and placed it on the back side off the GPU sink (side by side with the sink temperature sensor). Then I used a simple and cheap two component epoxy alike glue and fixed the little sensor. During the first experimental phase I used just a 3M or Tesa strip to hold the sensor in place.

Spoiler: There may be a more simplistic approach:

Just cut off the two cables in the near the sensor and exchange the cable ends with the plugs connecting the same colors simply together (grey to grey and black to black). So you can easily connect the original heat sink sensor to the ODD connector in the logic board and vice versa.

Doing this you have a working fan control again even when doing system upgrades or during the start phase. As you may have noticed the Macs Fan Control used before is a user land application and it is only working after primary login to your account.

I attached some pictures showing the Macs Fan Control in automatic (i.e. SMC) mode under full Valley load (WX4170) and the hardware mod.

Notes:
Please use Macs Fan Control (or a similar software) in any case as a fall back if the replaced internal sensor fails of the glue does not hold it properly. It is a nice tool to monitor what is going on internally. HW Monitor using the FakeSMC extensions gives you graphs and

The SCM comes in at nearly 55 C of the ODD sensor. This is late compared to my former settings starting at 40 C. There are some websites writing about normal GPU temps, so everything below 70 is perfect, everything below 80 tolerable. But keep in your mind that endless gaming is burning Rom your CPU ....

Having a powerful GPU (780M, K4100M, WX4170 etc) will burn 70-75W and cause this amount of heat.

Thanks for the detailed guide!

As for the spoiler on the simpler approach, wouldn't that actually be more troublesome? Since we have to cut the wires and then solder the ends to join them, if I'm understanding that approach correctly.

 

[herrdude]

Hey anybody,

first of all! thank you all for this remarkable thread. Got my iMac 09 running for about a year with my 765m and its great. at least sometimes... there is an issue I can't find when I google after it. and it seams that even in this tread nobody got something equal. so here is my issue...

the Mac works great until it suddenly got a black screen und fall off. after reboot I got my error report saying cpu panic nvda:setpowerstate... See error massage in the end.

i have everything off. sleep stays at "never" all checkmarks are deselected. Temps are okay (about 50°C gpu heatsink and 45°C average CPU Core). 765m got the bios from nick. I'm running Catalina but the issue comes with HS also.

Catalina is freshly installed without the Patches for Metal.

Did I miss installing a Kext? Did I get a Bad Graphic card?

any ideas? somebody?

Did you look at the first post? Especially the section on installing Catalina?

 

[Miku39]

Did you look at the first post? Especially the section on installing Catalina?

I did take a look at the first post but I am struggling to understand everything since I don‘t have much knowledge about these things. I took the Bios file from the first post for my 870M flashed it with the clevo bios since my card has only 3gb over linux and terminal commands. Installed high sierra fresh and windows 10 in efi boot nothing else

 

[spacebiscuit]

Does the K2100M require modification to the heatsink. Page 1 says not but I have read conflicting advice - hopefully someone who has successfully fitted this card can confirm.

Also are there different variants of this card, some appear to be square, where as others have more of a rectangular form?

Thanks.

 

[herrdude]

I did take a look at the first post but I am struggling to understand everything since I don‘t have much knowledge about these things. I took the Bios file from the first post for my 870M flashed it with the clevo bios since my card has only 3gb over linux and terminal commands. Installed high sierra fresh and windows 10 in efi boot nothing else

My message was for @FlUnKy who can find a solution in the first post. As for your problem, I haven't worked with Windows 10 on Mac a lot. Hopefully, someone else will chime in.

Does the K2100M require modification to the heatsink. Page 1 says not but I have read conflicting advice - hopefully someone who has successfully fitted this card can confirm.

Also are there different variants of this card, some appear to be square, where as others have more of a rectangular form?

Thanks.

Where have you read conflicting advice? I installed 2 K2100m and no heat pipe modifications were necessary.

 

[spacebiscuit]

Where have you read conflicting advice?

It was a different card - not the K2100M, apologies. Are there different sizes/version of this card?

 

[BadBiscuit]

It was a different card - not the K2100M, apologies. Are there different sizes/version of this card?

Post #1 is fairly clear, but since you are a fellow "biscuit" ... the K2100M cards are all MXM-A boards; so all are the same size/dimensions. The only difference is the memory brand they can be populated with. Based on that you'll need to select the proper ROM to flash with.

 

[Reno12]

Bonjour à tous, Dear all,

I would like to thank all the contributors of this great thread !
I could successfully upgrade a 21,5 Imac 2011 with k2100m + BT4.0/Wifi BCM94360 + SSD. It is now running Big Sur after having successfully used the MicropatcherAutomator
Now I'm focusing on my 21,5 Imac 2010 +Xeon L3426+ BT4.2/Wifi BCM943602 + SSD and would appreciate any hint how to solve/understand my current issue
I first used a k2100m and could install High Sierra and Catalina (with Dosdude patcher tool). I didn't use the OpenCore feature and therefore no brightness control. Both systems are on the SSD. It was running ok but I wanted to test an AMD card.
I have now replaced the k2100m and installed a WX4150 labelled 109-C98581-00_02 V343 VER1.1.
I could flash it with Dell RX560.ROM found on post #7644 using xanderon usb stick
Now the imac chimes and I get 3 leds on but only a white screen : no Apple logo, no progression bar. I am wondering if this could come from the missing opencore feature on the SSD
If I unplug the SSD and put a usb stick with a patched BigSur installer, than I see one hedgehog logo

I'm not expert enough to conclude if the card has an hardware problem or if I face a software issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards from France

 

[BadBiscuit]

Bonjour à tous, Dear all,

I would like to thank all the contributors of this great thread !
I could successfully upgrade a 21,5 Imac 2011 with k2100m + BT4.0/Wifi BCM94360 + SSD. It is now running Big Sur after having successfully used the MicropatcherAutomator
Now I'm focusing on my 21,5 Imac 2010 +Xeon L3426+ BT4.2/Wifi BCM943602 + SSD and would appreciate any hint how to solve/understand my current issue
I first used a k2100m and could install High Sierra and Catalina (with Dosdude patcher tool). I didn't use the OpenCore feature and therefore no brightness control. Both systems are on the SSD. It was running ok but I wanted to test an AMD card.
I have now replaced the k2100m and installed a WX4150 labelled 109-C98581-00_02 V343 VER1.1.
I could flash it with Dell RX560.ROM found on post #7644 using xanderon usb stick
Now the imac chimes and I get 3 leds on but only a white screen : no Apple logo, no progression bar. I am wondering if this could come from the missing opencore feature on the SSD
If I unplug the SSD and put a usb stick with a patched BigSur installer, than I see one hedgehog logo

I'm not expert enough to conclude if the card has an hardware problem or if I face a software issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards from France

OpenCore can be installed on an SD card so no need to place it on the SSD (actually not recommended). I'd suggest trying that with the latest OC (v0.6.6) and use the config.plist for a BigSur installation. You won't see a boot menu without OC with the AMD card, but a backlight on and 3 leds it sounds promising. Good luck.

 

[Reno12]

OpenCore can be installed on an SD card so no need to place it on the SSD (actually not recommended). I'd suggest trying that with the latest OC (v0.6.6) and use the config.plist for a BigSur installation. You won't see a boot menu without OC with the AMD card, but a backlight on and 3 leds it sounds promising. Good luck.

Ok thank you for your reply BadBiscuit. I will have to reread post #1 to understand how to install OC on SD card and try to boot from it.

 

[spacebiscuit]

Post #1 is fairly clear, but since you are a fellow "biscuit" ...

Thanks bro, we biscuits need to stick together 😘

 

[OnawaAfrica]

this might sound stupid but I can't figure out how to get the "New dark boot screen" on my imac2011 with OpenCore. the bootpicker with open canopy has white background which I also tried to get black but it doesn't work. can anyone help me pls?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Ok thank you for your reply BadBiscuit. I will have to reread post #1 to understand how to install OC on SD card and try to boot from it.

The MicropatcherAutomator linked on post #1 brings an OpenCore 0.6.6 included on the installer USB. You need to boot this USB each time before booting the Big Sur on disk with your machine. I am pretty sure there is a line in the really short docs on Github explaining this!
Basically I decided it would be more easy than fording the people to first prepare manually the Catalina Loader and than later the USB Big Sur installer if you can have both in one solution.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

this might sound stupid but I can't figure out how to get the "New dark boot screen" on my imac2011 with OpenCore. the bootpicker with open canopy has white background which I also tried to get black but it doesn't work. can anyone help me pls?

Check the OCLP patcher configs and compare or read the Dortainia OpenCore guides on Github. I will modify the versions posted here in the same style with upcoming 0.6.7.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I have now replaced the k2100m and installed a WX4150 labelled 109-C98581-00_02 V343 VER1.1.
I could flash it with Dell RX560.ROM found on post #7644 using xanderon usb stick
Now the imac chimes and I get 3 leds on but only a white screen : no Apple logo, no progression bar. I am wondering if this could come from the missing opencore feature on the SSD
If I unplug the SSD and put a usb stick with a patched BigSur installer, than I see one hedgehog logo

I'm not expert enough to conclude if the card has an hardware problem or if I face a software issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards from France

You need OpenCore to see the internal screen working properly on boot. Otherwise you need a working installation on your internal disk and have to wait until booting has finished. Then the macOS drivers will kick in and the internal screen comes up.

This is always the same with the internal screen and new AMD cards unless you use OpenCore - which has been clearly stated on the first post.

Please revisit it and read carefully. You will find everything you need there.

P.S.:
You surely do not have three LED in a row working, you have the 2+1+1, ie. the left two are green, the third remains dark, the fourth comes up if the internal screen is switched on.

 

[Reno12]

You need OpenCore to see the internal screen working properly on boot. Otherwise you need a working installation on your internal disk and have to wait until booting has finished. Then the macOS drivers will kick in and the internal screen comes up.

This is always the same with the internal screen and new AMD cards unless you use OpenCore - which has been clearly stated on the first post.

Please revisit it and read carefully. You will find everything you need there.

P.S.:
You surely do not have three LED in a row working, you have the 2+1+1, ie. the left two are green, the third remains dark, the fourth comes up if the internal screen is switched on.

Thank you for your hints. You must be right with the leds. I will check when I’m back at home.
Now the plan is to prepare a SD card with adequate OC and boot from it. I will post the result.

 

[Arthur1330]

I have recently upgraded from a 6970m to a 780m - Everything seems to be working fine after installing the patches/black screen fix, so kudos to everyone who has contributed to this!

However the quality of the shadows (window shadow) and fading gradients seem to be of a low quality. Is there a fix for this? Running High Sierra, late 2009 iMac

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I have recently upgraded from a 6970m to a 780m - Everything seems to be working fine after installing the patches/black screen fix, so kudos to everyone who has contributed to this!

However the quality of the shadows (window shadow) and fading gradients seem to be of a low quality. Is there a fix for this? Running High Sierra, late 2009 iMac

Yes, using one of the AMD cards...a similar (if not the very same) problem is still visible with Big Sur on 2012/2013 iMacs. So I guess it can be an Apple issue, too.

 

[Reno12]

Thank you for your hints. You must be right with the leds. I will check when I’m back at home.
Now the plan is to prepare a SD card with adequate OC and boot from it. I will post the result.

Hi,
Using Disk Utility I managed to have a working OC on a SD card and put it in the SD reader
Having the SSD plugged I couldn't reach the OC boot menu (alt opt key at boot was useless to choose SD card as boot volume)
So to boot onto the SD card I had first to unplug the SSD and pulled it out of the iMac
I than reached the OC boot menu, plugged the SSD with an usb to sata cable on an external USB port. Click on "refresh" and voilà : the volumes from the SSD appeared
The WX4150 is recognized as a Radeon RX 460 4GB.
I'm writing from this machine currently with MacOS on SSD outside. Now I am wondering how the next boot sequence will be. Can I put the SSD back in the iMac with internal sata cable or is additional work required ? Would appreciate your hints...

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi,
Using Disk Utility I managed to have a working OC on a SD card and put it in the SD reader
Having the SSD plugged I couldn't reach the OC boot menu (alt opt key at boot was useless to choose SD card as boot volume)
So to boot onto the SD card I had first to unplug the SSD and pulled it out of the iMac
I than reached the OC boot menu, plugged the SSD with an usb to sata cable on an external USB port. Click on "refresh" and voilà : the volumes from the SSD appeared
The WX4150 is recognized as a Radeon RX 460 4GB.
I'm writing from this machine currently with MacOS on SSD outside. Now I am wondering how the next boot sequence will be. Can I put the SSD back in the iMac with internal sata cable or is additional work required ? Would appreciate your hints...

Use systems preferences -> start object to choose the Catalina Loader on your SD card as the standard boot object. Everything else has been written down several times before either on the first post or in the linked posts from there.

This is no EFI Boot screen and alt/option on boot will not work!!

 

[doscore]

ok so ive soldered on my new windbound chips to the k3100m! worked a treat flashing them!! (linux method)

note for other users using the k3100m series card if you are using a iMac 2011 after changing the bios chip be warned that you might not be able to flash them in this particular machine. I had all sorts of problems while the chips had no bios on them the machine wouldn't post and the gpu "3" led would stay off so I chucked it into a 2010 model and it flashed fine using the linux method.

upon first boot in the 2011 everything was working fine and I powered the machine down and the next Time I booted I got all glitches and it would no longer boot. I tried pram reset etc.. aka the usuals and nothing.

so I tried another k3100m and it booted fine but I needed this card for the 2010 machine so I rebooted once just to see if it worked and I had the same problem so I put it back in the 2010 machine and rebooted ten times and it works fine in Catalina etc..

so I put the other 3100m back in and it worked fine again... but then on reboot I had the same issue.

now I know the cards work fine as I have done about 10 of these now without any dramas but.. that 2011 iMac just doesn't like these k3100m cards I have. any other k3100 users on 2011 models had any similar symptoms?

Edit 27" imacs

 

[OnawaAfrica]

ok so ive soldered on my new windbound chips to the k3100m! worked a treat flashing them!! (linux method)

note for other users using the k3100m series card if you are using a iMac 2011 after changing the bios chip be warned that you might not be able to flash them in this particular machine. I had all sorts of problems while the chips had no bios on them the machine wouldn't post and the gpu "3" led would stay off so I chucked it into a 2010 model and it flashed fine using the linux method.

upon first boot in the 2011 everything was working fine and I powered the machine down and the next Time I booted I got all glitches and it would no longer boot. I tried pram reset etc.. aka the usuals and nothing.

so I tried another k3100m and it booted fine but I needed this card for the 2010 machine so I rebooted once just to see if it worked and I had the same problem so I put it back in the 2010 machine and rebooted ten times and it works fine in Catalina etc..

so I put the other 3100m back in and it worked fine again... but then on reboot I had the same issue.

now I know the cards work fine as I have done about 10 of these now without any dramas but.. that 2011 iMac just doesn't like these k3100m cards I have. any other k3100 users on 2011 models had any similar symptoms?

are the iMacs 21.5" or 27"

 

[Ausdauersportler]

are the iMacs 21.5" or 27"

No MXM-B will really fit into the 21.5 systems as explained on post #1.

 

[dannyp881]

buongiorno, ho un imac 21.5 del 2011 e ho acquistato una k610m. Volevo sapere se una volta installato posso tranquillamente utilizzarla senza fare nessun procedimento. Nei vari video e nella discussione ho visto che bisogna flashare la scheda video. Non sono molto pratico in questo. Perderei solo la schermata di avvio e il controllo della luminosita?

 

[Miou09]

Hello everybody,

I’am french, sorry for my very bad english

I have an late 2009 iMac
I put on this Mac a Quadro K4100M
I boot without flashing, no boot menu but Work perfectly
I flash nick22s firmware with windows and the imac won´t start on hight Sierra but work on window.
I have a black screen but when I plug in an external screen I have a boot menu and I can’t have a desktop (see pictures 2,3)
I Also tried uga firmware but it si the same
I am lost
thank you