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Flashing R9 280X for boot screens/PCI System Information

LucMac said:
@h9826790 helped me out a bit and I was successful.

Full 5 GT/s with my 280X! 🙂

Maybe this is helpfull for someone:

PowerColor Radeon R9 280X

R17.jpeg
Click to expand...

Does any one has the R17 image of Power Color R9 280X, it is not available anymore in the original post? Thanks.
 
DavNeil said:
Does any one has the R17 image of Power Color R9 280X, it is not available anymore in the original post? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Do a google search of “hd7950 r17” and click on images. 🙂
It’s next to the one of the heat sink screws.
 
owbp said:
Do a google search of “hd7950 r17” and click on images. 🙂
It’s next to the one of the heat sink screws.
Click to expand...
I was hoping for exact image like the Power Color board. Here is my picture if someone can confirm that I am pointing at the right one, that will be awesome.
s!AtHNUGlSEE8PgYRT6LjPuHAdEm-mRA
IMG_1595.JPG
 
That's the one.
In some cases those rows of resistors are staggered which means that you'll lose HDMI output after flashing.
In this case it's all ok.
 
h9826790 said:
Study this thread (ignore the over clocking part).

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/help-overclocking-12-core-mac-pro.1762165/#post-19497121
Click to expand...

I followed your steps and was able to patch/flash my Sapphire R9 280X Dual X 3GB. Now I'm getting just a black screen. I'm attaching my patched ROM and Terminal message for you guys to help out. Please.



t- EFI bash — 80x37



Last login: Mon 3un 25 13:05:43 on ttys000
[TNMP51:- tnS cd /Volumes/EFI

[TNVP51:EFI tnS ./makerom.sh —ofifilc=7950mac.ofi —romfilc=cfiromhcadcr.rom —o]
riginalrom=r9280x.rom —dcvid=6798

running on 7950mac.cfi, cfiromhoador.rom with dovid 6798
Patching files 7950mac.efi, cfiromhoador.rom for dcvicc-id 0x6798
Successfully patched ofi file
Successfully patched ofi rom file

Orig Size = 125440
Comp Size = 47591
47591+0 records in
47591+0 records out

47591 bytes transferred in 0.128095 sees (371529 bytes/sec)

EFI part is ready at 6798.efipart.rom
orig size - 65536
65536+0 records in
65536+0 records out

65536 bytes transferred in 0.178013 secs (368153 bytes/sec)

Before:

OpRom (sizc=65536, indicator_offset=0x255, indicator=0x0, checksum=0x0)

OpRom (sizc=48128, indicator_offset=0x31, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x0)

RawData (sizc=17408)

Traccback (most recent call last):

File "fixrom.py", line 110, in <modulc>
op_rom.fix()

File "fixrom.py", line 90, in fix
self.data[-l] = chr(0xl00 - sum)

ValucError: chr() arg not in rangc(256)
the rom is ready at r9280x.rom.efi.rom
TNMP51:EFI tnS j
 

Attachments

theone29 said:
I followed your steps and was able to patch/flash my Sapphire R9 280X Dual X 3GB. Now I'm getting just a black screen. I'm attaching my patched ROM and Terminal message for you guys to help out. Please.



t- EFI bash — 80x37



Last login: Mon 3un 25 13:05:43 on ttys000
[TNMP51:- tnS cd /Volumes/EFI

[TNVP51:EFI tnS ./makerom.sh —ofifilc=7950mac.ofi —romfilc=cfiromhcadcr.rom —o]
riginalrom=r9280x.rom —dcvid=6798

running on 7950mac.cfi, cfiromhoador.rom with dovid 6798
Patching files 7950mac.efi, cfiromhoador.rom for dcvicc-id 0x6798
Successfully patched ofi file
Successfully patched ofi rom file

Orig Size = 125440
Comp Size = 47591
47591+0 records in
47591+0 records out

47591 bytes transferred in 0.128095 sees (371529 bytes/sec)

EFI part is ready at 6798.efipart.rom
orig size - 65536
65536+0 records in
65536+0 records out

65536 bytes transferred in 0.178013 secs (368153 bytes/sec)

Before:

OpRom (sizc=65536, indicator_offset=0x255, indicator=0x0, checksum=0x0)

OpRom (sizc=48128, indicator_offset=0x31, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x0)

RawData (sizc=17408)

Traccback (most recent call last):

File "fixrom.py", line 110, in <modulc>
op_rom.fix()

File "fixrom.py", line 90, in fix
self.data[-l] = chr(0xl00 - sum)

ValucError: chr() arg not in rangc(256)
the rom is ready at r9280x.rom.efi.rom
TNMP51:EFI tnS j
Click to expand...

There should a switch on the card, boot from that. Once reach desktop, switch it back to the "bad ROM", flash the original ROM back in first (rescue that ROM). Do no do any other Mac EFI flash before you know what's wrong.

Anyway, what monitor you are using now? The flashed 7950 can only work with DP 1.1 connection, if you boot it with DP 1.2, it will hang.

Also, did you check if the original ROM size is 128k?

Is that a legacy ROM or UEFI ROM?

Did you use the ROM that dump from your own card?
 
I backed up the original ROM in Windows using ATIflash, I patched the original ROM on my cMP5,1 then back to the 3,1 in Windows to flash it with ATIFlash on switch 1. The original ROM size is 131KB. Its connecting via HDMI, my monitor only has a DP1.2. What am I missing or doing wrong?
 
theone29 said:
I backed up the original ROM in Windows using ATIflash, I patched the original ROM on my cMP5,1 then back to the 3,1 in Windows to flash it with ATIFlash on switch 1. The original ROM size is 131KB. Its connecting via HDMI, my monitor only has a DP1.2. What am I missing or doing wrong?
Click to expand...

DP 1.2 is the issue, most of the monitor can set to DP 1.1. Check the manual or google may help.

If you have no time to check that yet. You may switch OFF the monitor. Boot from the flashed ROM, wait for a few seconds, once you have confidence the initial boot screen should be passed, power up the monitor.

This will also bypassed the Mac EFI "incompatibility hang".
[doublepost=1529973631][/doublepost]
DavNeil said:
I was hoping for exact image like the Power Color board. Here is my picture if someone can confirm that I am pointing at the right one, that will be awesome.
s!AtHNUGlSEE8PgYRT6LjPuHAdEm-mRA
View attachment 767709
Click to expand...

Loos good to me.
 
This is so frustrating. I changed the monitor's DP setting to 1.1. It came to a white screen and hang. I also turn the monitor off and waited and a black screen. So, my Sapphire R9 280X Dual X 3GB is flashable, i'm doing all the steps correctly and the flash is good then what the heck is going on? btw, thanks for your help.
 
theone29 said:
This is so frustrating. I changed the monitor's DP setting to 1.1. It came to a white screen and hang. I also turn the monitor off and waited and a black screen. So, my Sapphire R9 280X Dual X 3GB is flashable, i'm doing all the steps correctly and the flash is good then what the heck is going on? btw, thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

I recommend you download a software call VBE7 (Video BIOS Editor for Radeon 7000).

Use it to open the ORIGINAL ROM image, and then save as new file to try again.

Just in case your ROM is the UEFI ROM and that cause the issue, this step will make your image downgrade back to Legacy ROM.
[doublepost=1529975989][/doublepost]Anyway, your post #580 also shows that there may be some error at the end. Not really identical outcome to my screen capture.
 
I forgot to mention that the original ROM was UEFI. I saw that with GPU-Z. So just open the original ROM with VBE7 and save it as a Legacy ROM and go through the patching process again right?
 
theone29 said:
I forgot to mention that the original ROM was UEFI. I saw that with GPU-Z. So just open the original ROM with VBE7 and save it as a Legacy ROM and go through the patching process again right?
Click to expand...

Yes, worth to try.
[doublepost=1529976898][/doublepost]Since you said that the card can show a white screen if you set the DP1.1. Then I expect that port can work after flash.

If your card is not 100% reference PCB. Some of the port may be disabled after flashing.
 
h9826790 said:
Yes, worth to try.
[doublepost=1529976898][/doublepost]Since you said that the card can show a white screen if you set the DP1.1. Then I expect that port can work after flash.

If your card is not 100% reference PCB. Some of the port may be disabled after flashing.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by reference PCB? There are 2 DVI, a DP and an HDMI.
 
theone29 said:
What do you mean by reference PCB? There are 2 DVI, a DP and an HDMI.
Click to expand...

That's not reference card.

The reference card will has identical PCB and ports layout as per the AMD card's. e.g. for 7970, you should have 2x mDP, 1x HDMI, and 1x DVI.

image.png
 
Which ports won’t work? Seems like it’s not even worth it flashed. I appreciate all your help. Thank you.
 
h9826790 said:
Yes, worth to try.
[doublepost=1529976898][/doublepost]Since you said that the card can show a white screen if you set the DP1.1. Then I expect that port can work after flash.

If your card is not 100% reference PCB. Some of the port may be disabled after flashing.
Click to expand...

h9826790 said:
I recommend you download a software call VBE7 (Video BIOS Editor for Radeon 7000).

Use it to open the ORIGINAL ROM image, and then save as new file to try again.

Just in case your ROM is the UEFI ROM and that cause the issue, this step will make your image downgrade back to Legacy ROM.
[doublepost=1529975989][/doublepost]Anyway, your post #580 also shows that there may be some error at the end. Not really identical outcome to my screen capture.
Click to expand...

😡😡😡😡😡😡🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁 Again, I'm stuck at a white screen. I used VBE7, save the original ROM as a Legacy, patched it with your direction, flashed it back with ATIFlash. WTF... Should I give up now? lol.

Here's the Term's log.

TNMP51:~ tn$ cd /Volumes/EFI

TNMP51:EFI tn$ ./makerom.sh --efifile=7950mac.efi --romfile=efiromheader.rom --originalrom=card1.r9280x.s1.legacy.rom --devid=6798

running on 7950mac.efi, efiromheader.rom with devid 6798

Patching files 7950mac.efi, efiromheader.rom for device-id 0x6798

Successfully patched efi file

Successfully patched efi rom file


Orig Size = 125440

Comp Size = 47591

47591+0 records in

47591+0 records out

47591 bytes transferred in 0.126929 secs (374942 bytes/sec)

EFI part is ready at 6798.efipart.rom

orig size - 65536

65536+0 records in

65536+0 records out

65536 bytes transferred in 0.172807 secs (379244 bytes/sec)

Before:

OpRom (size=65536, indicator_offset=0x255, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x0)

OpRom (size=48128, indicator_offset=0x31, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x0)

RawData (size=17408)


After:

OpRom (size=65536, indicator_offset=0x255, indicator=0x0, checksum=0x80)

OpRom (size=48128, indicator_offset=0x31, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x36)

RawData (size=17408)

the rom is ready at card1.r9280x.s1.legacy.rom.efi.rom
 
theone29 said:
😡😡😡😡😡😡🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁 Again, I'm stuck at a white screen. I used VBE7, save the original ROM as a Legacy, patched it with your direction, flashed it back with ATIFlash. WTF... Should I give up now? lol.

Here's the Term's log.

TNMP51:~ tn$ cd /Volumes/EFI

TNMP51:EFI tn$ ./makerom.sh --efifile=7950mac.efi --romfile=efiromheader.rom --originalrom=card1.r9280x.s1.legacy.rom --devid=6798

running on 7950mac.efi, efiromheader.rom with devid 6798

Patching files 7950mac.efi, efiromheader.rom for device-id 0x6798

Successfully patched efi file

Successfully patched efi rom file


Orig Size = 125440

Comp Size = 47591

47591+0 records in

47591+0 records out

47591 bytes transferred in 0.126929 secs (374942 bytes/sec)

EFI part is ready at 6798.efipart.rom

orig size - 65536

65536+0 records in

65536+0 records out

65536 bytes transferred in 0.172807 secs (379244 bytes/sec)

Before:

OpRom (size=65536, indicator_offset=0x255, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x0)

OpRom (size=48128, indicator_offset=0x31, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x0)

RawData (size=17408)


After:

OpRom (size=65536, indicator_offset=0x255, indicator=0x0, checksum=0x80)

OpRom (size=48128, indicator_offset=0x31, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x36)

RawData (size=17408)

the rom is ready at card1.r9280x.s1.legacy.rom.efi.rom
Click to expand...

Your ROM may be fine. Here is my card's behavior. It boots fine with boot screen on DVI and showing connected to DVI, mDP and HDMI. Resolution or stability on HDMI is wonky (monitor is 4K, it tries to go to mirror monitors setup). If I shutdown from here or restart the machine then it does not boot or there is no picture after the bong. My mDP monitor is Dell Professional 4K. I am thinking I am also hitting DP 1.2 issue. If I boot just using my DVI monitor it all boots fine with boot screen and restarts without problem. Card works fine with Heaven Benchmark and Open CL with scores slightly higher than its class (mine is Power Color R9 280X). This is just my experience I don't know more than this. I am going to cut the resistor and see if that changes something for me. Someone noted that it helps in initializing and someone had a hint that connect the monitor (4K or supposedly DP 1.2) after the bong so it makes sense to make the R17 mod, after all.

Later Update my Port is DP 1.2 on Dell P2715Q.
 
Last edited:
theone29 said:
😡😡😡😡😡😡🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁 Again, I'm stuck at a white screen. I used VBE7, save the original ROM as a Legacy, patched it with your direction, flashed it back with ATIFlash. WTF... Should I give up now? lol.

Here's the Term's log.

TNMP51:~ tn$ cd /Volumes/EFI

TNMP51:EFI tn$ ./makerom.sh --efifile=7950mac.efi --romfile=efiromheader.rom --originalrom=card1.r9280x.s1.legacy.rom --devid=6798

running on 7950mac.efi, efiromheader.rom with devid 6798

Patching files 7950mac.efi, efiromheader.rom for device-id 0x6798

Successfully patched efi file

Successfully patched efi rom file


Orig Size = 125440

Comp Size = 47591

47591+0 records in

47591+0 records out

47591 bytes transferred in 0.126929 secs (374942 bytes/sec)

EFI part is ready at 6798.efipart.rom

orig size - 65536

65536+0 records in

65536+0 records out

65536 bytes transferred in 0.172807 secs (379244 bytes/sec)

Before:

OpRom (size=65536, indicator_offset=0x255, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x0)

OpRom (size=48128, indicator_offset=0x31, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x0)

RawData (size=17408)


After:

OpRom (size=65536, indicator_offset=0x255, indicator=0x0, checksum=0x80)

OpRom (size=48128, indicator_offset=0x31, indicator=0x80, checksum=0x36)

RawData (size=17408)

the rom is ready at card1.r9280x.s1.legacy.rom.efi.rom
Click to expand...

Everything looks correct to me. Did you set the monitor to DP 1.1?
 
yes the monitor is set to DP1.1. I even patched the original legacy rom from the switch 2 on the bios and it would boot/hang at a white screen.
 
theone29 said:
yes the monitor is set to DP1.1. I even patched the original legacy rom from the switch 2 on the bios and it would boot/hang at a white screen.
Click to expand...

But if you completely shutdown the monitor, you Mac will able to boot to desktop? (of course, you can turn the monitor back once booted)
 
I’m about to buy a used MSI R9 280X. I’ve read a lot on the internet that some of these cards have graphic artifacts.

Can someone say how well the cards works, that the thread starter uses, when it is flashed with the Mac EFI?
MSI RADEON R9 280X GAMING 3G (TWIN FROZR IV, OC EDITION)
part number 912-V277-067 (on box)
EAN 4 719072 314026 (sticker on card)
UPC-A 8 24142 01599 5 (sticker on card)

Another question: when booting in Bootcamp, I have to switch the bios switch, haven’t I?
 
Last edited:
On my HIS HD 7950 and a Sapphire HD 7970 ROM switch position 2 ( on the right side ) is the one to flash. You should label the right one "MAC" & the left one "WIN".

Both of the above cards show EFI boot screens on my cMP 4,1>5,1

The HD 7970 uses basically the same ROM as the R9 280X.

Star again from scratch if you haven't already done so.
 
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