MBP 1,1-10,2 Force 2011 MacBook Pro 8,2 with failed AMD GPU to ALWAYS use Intel integrated GPU (EFI variable fix)

[pckrullenbol]

Will the software fix not be undone during the install process and the computer crash during install as it tries to switch to the GPU? Worries about getting stuck with a half installed OS ...

Keep the shift key pressed when restarting. Then computer goes into 'safe mode' and doesn't load the AMD-kexts.

 

[Spectrum]

My screen is now completely black, but does chime, and HDD and DVD does make sound. Any solution for this?

 

[Ken DL]

Any display issues after installing the Jcreate Mac drivers? I see some posts from other users that experienced bricking on their OS...they have to fix the display again.

No bricking on mine. But one of the 2 TVs in my house shows the display in the wrong colors, a green tint overall. Not good for me as I'm a photographer.

 

[Ken DL]

Hello to all:

After fail my Discrete GPU, I force to eliminate at all startup procedure and solve completely the trouble.

But not all is OK.

If I use applications the need the use of a Graphic Acceleration, for example Edit a Photo with Photos.app, then the stitches in the screen appears and must quit the application.

I have tried with two settings using GFX Card Status.... Internal Only or Dynamic.

If you observe the GFX status: The icon "I" in the menu do not change even in Discrete mode.

That happens because AMD GPU is not part of the system now. And if you see in the About this Mac screenshot appears only the Internal GPU but with an addition of VRAM to 1536 Mb

That let me operate with a relative good response in some applications do not work with the original 516 Mb shared VRAM.

I use for example VectorWorks. But can't Render in other settings than OpenGL.

I need to know, if there someone know if I Upgrade my RAM to 16 GB will work better?

Regards

I use my late-2011 MacBook Pro 15" with 16GB RAM to edit photos with Adobe Lightroom. These are large RAW files, not .jpgs. It works fine, even with the GPU chip disabled.

 

[pastran]

I use my late-2011 MacBook Pro 15" with 16GB RAM to edit photos with Adobe Lightroom. These are large RAW files, not .jpgs. It works fine, even with the GPU chip disabled.

Wow, and no problems to load, for example, Davinci resolve? In my Macbook not starts.
The OpenCl doesn't works. How to repair or "bypass" this problem? Thanks!

 

[Ken DL]

Wow, and no problems to load, for example, Davinci resolve? In my Macbook not starts.
The OpenCl doesn't works. How to repair or "bypass" this problem? Thanks!

I'm not familiar with Davinci resolve. I followed the procedure in MikeyN's entry #875 in this thread for this Mac. My wife's Mac, same vintage required a different procedure, see my entry #2339.

 

[JMVB]

Just remove the R8911

 

[damien_mattei]

seems the security update pf january 2019 in high sierra (at least) crash the system definitely...
even removing the AMD kext and disabling AMD gpu in firmware never help me to make the system booting again.

I had to restore from time machine.

i'm making test to confirm this behavior with this security update...
Damien

 

[damien_mattei]

in fact it can be rapaired always with the same method....
it did not workded the first time because i probably not mounted the firmware partition under linux in rw mode.
all is ok now.

 

[zaros]

Hello there!
I need your help 🙁
I have a macbook pro 15 inch early 2011. It had been logicboard replacement by apple few years ago and it worked really great after this.
But till yesterday my macbook got crash and I tried to reset it but nothing happen. It jus showed black on screen, no sound of chime, no sound from opical driver. It just show the lid lamp and fan is running.
I tried to reset SMC and NVRAM but no luck.
Someone here maybe can help me with this problem?

 

[pshufd]

Hello there!
I need your help 🙁
I have a macbook pro 15 inch early 2011. It had been logicboard replacement by apple few years ago and it worked really great after this.
But till yesterday my macbook got crash and I tried to reset it but nothing happen. It jus showed black on screen, no sound of chime, no sound from opical driver. It just show the lid lamp and fan is running.
I tried to reset SMC and NVRAM but no luck.
Someone here maybe can help me with this problem?

It's likely the discrete graphics and it may not be worth fixing. The 2011s are notorious for this. You could get it fixed again but it would likely die in a few more years (or even less). I would recommend an upgrade to a 2014 or 2015 15 inch model. They are far more reliable. BTW, I feel your pain. I have a 17 inch paperweight.

 

[Spectrum]

I know I keep asking, but I don't think I've had a response.

My 2011 15" MBPro chimes, both DVD and HDD start up, as do the fans (slowly), the light comes on at the front, and the charger works fine. But screen is black, and Caps Lock key, or keyboard backlight doesn't come on. PRAM reset doesn't work. NVRAM does.

Is this terminal and does it signify a different defect than the GPU failure? Or is there a way to make a fix under these symptoms?

 

[nick-mac]

Hi, I have 2011 15" MB Pro. In the past, I had no issue to reset NVRAM. But now I am not able to reset it any more. SMC resetting seems fine though. Tried many many times with NVRAM, no luck. Is there any alternative way to do that?

Thanks!

 

[pastran]

Just remove the R8911

Only this?? Wow i try tomorrow. Thanks!!

 

[pastran]

Just remove the R8911

I already tried it, it did not do anything, in fact I lost the brightness going up and down .. I'll solve it again.
It does not work.
The mac works with the tutorial, but, despite the graphic, even if it is integrated, the system marks that it does not have one to be able to use it in some programs, it is what I understand.

 

[nsgr]

I already tried it, it did not do anything, in fact I lost the brightness going up and down .. I'll solve it again.
It does not work.
The mac works with the tutorial, but, despite the graphic, even if it is integrated, the system marks that it does not have one to be able to use it in some programs, it is what I understand.

Macbook Pro 2011 does not support OpenCL - Intel HD 3000 GPU.

Only the AMD GPU has OpenCL support in Macbook Pro 2011.


Mac computers that use OpenCL and OpenGL graphics
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202823


Update:

I "guess" that the problem is that Intel and Apple have no interest in putting OpenCL support for Intel HD 3000 GPU.

Intel HD 3000 driver (i7-2640m) no OpenGL 3.3 and OpenCL 1.2 CPU runtime support
https://forums.intel.com/s/question...-opencl-12-cpu-runtime-support?language=en_US


Supported APIs for Intel® Graphics Controllers

Intel® Core™ Processors

Intel® HD Graphics 2000/3000 -> No OpenCL

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005524/graphics-drivers.html

 

[Charbelbodo]

Hi,

I m having a problem with my macbook pro 15 2011 with faulty gpu, i tried to set the nvram variable and delete the AMDRadeaonX3000.kext file, the procedure worked well on my early 2011 macbook pro but it did not work well on the late 2011 ? When i set the nvram variable the late 2011 screen go black and stays black until i reset the pram settings (ctrl+cmd+p+r), so cannot disable the dgpu.

btw i have disabled the gpu of many macs 2011 model as described in above and the procedure worked flawlesly. However with this particular mac the screen goes black when i enter the single user mode and set the ram variable:

nvram fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9:gpu-power-prefs=%01%00%00%00

Do you know where the problem can come from? Why my screen goes black when i set the ram variable to igpu (%01%00%00%00) ? Can anyone help me with that? I did not find anything about on the net

Thanks

 

[yukari]

seems the security update pf january 2019 in high sierra (at least) crash the system definitely...
even removing the AMD kext and disabling AMD gpu in firmware never help me to make the system booting again.

I had to restore from time machine.

i'm making test to confirm this behavior with this security update...
Damien

Since disabling dGPU, I refuse to update anything on my 2011 MBP 15" precisely for this reason.
Never know what update can break the dGPU disablement.

 

[1p9xpaniva]

Hi all,

I've been using the nvram fix for a while now, but after the latest January update my Mac has completely failed and I'm out of options.

I have stupidly formatted the HDD (no OS X installed), and now when I boot from ArchLinux USB, there is no gpu-power-prefs file (or any file related to the gpu) in the /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/ directory. Can anyone please help? Why is there no gpu-power-prefs in that folder, and how can I reinstall OS X with a failed GPU? Thank you.

 

[nsgr]

Hi all,

I've been using the nvram fix for a while now, but after the latest January update my Mac has completely failed and I'm out of options.

I have stupidly formatted the HDD (no OS X installed), and now when I boot from ArchLinux USB, there is no gpu-power-prefs file (or any file related to the gpu) in the /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/ directory. Can anyone please help? Why is there no gpu-power-prefs in that folder, and how can I reinstall OS X with a failed GPU? Thank you.

You need a USB Stick with the Mac OS installer.
Inside this installer is Recovery Mode in text mode.

1 - Insert the USB Stick with the Mac OS installer on your Macbook Pro.

2 - Power On Macbook Pro and press Option key to show the boot manager.

3 - Select the Mac OS installer with the left or right directional arrows: <-- or -->. Do not press ENTER yet.

4 - Press the Command + S keys and keep these keys pressed. Now press ENTER and hold the Command + S keys until you load the Recovery Mode text mode.

5 - Now you can enter the command nvram gpu-power-prefs:

nvram fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9:gpu-power-prefs=%01%00%00%00

6 - Reboot system and start Mac OS installer by USB Stick in Graphical Mode.

reboot now

In this Recovery Mode text mode you can also enable or disable SIP.

csrutil disable

or

csrutil enable

Update:

Updating the High Sierra 10.13.6 - 2019-001 has to be done with the SIP disabled.

My Macbook Pro 2011 did not want to rebuild kextcache with SIP enabled and always rebooted because Mac OS could not find the Prelinkedkernel file.


Update 2:

See posts - #2255 and #2257 - Page 91

 

[constm]

I know I keep asking, but I don't think I've had a response.

My 2011 15" MBPro chimes, both DVD and HDD start up, as do the fans (slowly), the light comes on at the front, and the charger works fine. But screen is black, and Caps Lock key, or keyboard backlight doesn't come on. PRAM reset doesn't work. NVRAM does.

Is this terminal and does it signify a different defect than the GPU failure? Or is there a way to make a fix under these symptoms?

Similar symptoms here (except for keyboard backlit - on), but after hardware "fix" - removing the resistor...

 

[nsgr]

Hi,

I m having a problem with my macbook pro 15 2011 with faulty gpu, i tried to set the nvram variable and delete the AMDRadeaonX3000.kext file, the procedure worked well on my early 2011 macbook pro but it did not work well on the late 2011 ? When i set the nvram variable the late 2011 screen go black and stays black until i reset the pram settings (ctrl+cmd+p+r), so cannot disable the dgpu.

btw i have disabled the gpu of many macs 2011 model as described in above and the procedure worked flawlesly. However with this particular mac the screen goes black when i enter the single user mode and set the ram variable:

nvram fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9:gpu-power-prefs=%01%00%00%00

Do you know where the problem can come from? Why my screen goes black when i set the ram variable to igpu (%01%00%00%00) ? Can anyone help me with that? I did not find anything about on the net

Thanks

Try (only %01):

nvram fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9:gpu-power-prefs=%01

There is a possibility that your Intel GPU is in trouble.
[doublepost=1550368477][/doublepost]

Similar symptoms here (except for keyboard backlit - on), but after hardware "fix" - removing the resistor...

The Macbook Pro 2011 is designed to start with the AMD GPU (gpu-power-prefs=%00).

When you reset the NVRAM / PRAM, then the Macbook Pro 2011 returns to the AMD GPU (Factory). If you removed the resistor, then you may have problems.

If there was an automatic selection, then it would be easier. Like when starting the Macbook Pro 2011 and not finding the AMD GPU (remove resistor), it automatically switches to the Intel GPU. But I do not think it works this way.

 

[Charbelbodo]

Try (only %01):

nvram fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9:gpu-power-prefs=%01

There is a possibility that your Intel GPU is in trouble.
[doublepost=1550368477][/doublepost]

The Macbook Pro 2011 is designed to start with the AMD GPU (gpu-power-prefs=%00).

When you reset the NVRAM / PRAM, then the Macbook Pro 2011 returns to the AMD GPU (Factory). If you removed the resistor, then you may have problems.

If there was an automatic selection, then it would be easier. Like when starting the Macbook Pro 2011 and not finding the AMD GPU (remove resistor), it automatically switches to the Intel GPU. But I do not think it works this way.

Try (only %01):

nvram fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9:gpu-power-prefs=%01

There is a possibility that your Intel GPU is in trouble.
[doublepost=1550368477][/doublepost]

The Macbook Pro 2011 is designed to start with the AMD GPU (gpu-power-prefs=%00).

When you reset the NVRAM / PRAM, then the Macbook Pro 2011 returns to the AMD GPU (Factory). If you removed the resistor, then you may have problems.

If there was an automatic selection, then it would be easier. Like when starting the Macbook Pro 2011 and not finding the AMD GPU (remove resistor), it automatically switches to the Intel GPU. But I do not think it works this way.

I did not remove anything, the weird thing that on dgpu i get white screen whereas when resetting the nvram on igpu i get black screen.
Installing windows 10 works and it boots fine to windows (but still did not check the performance)
[doublepost=1550390062][/doublepost]

OK, so I'm going to try and downgrade from High Sierra to El Capitan to try and get the sleep and brightness control back.

Will the software fix not be undone during the install process and the computer crash during install as it tries to switch to the GPU? Worries about getting stuck with a half installed OS ...

Removing the AMDRadeonX3000.kext only will remove the sleep/brightness issue. Don’t remove all AMD files (AMD*.*)

 

[pastran]

Macbook Pro 2011 does not support OpenCL - Intel HD 3000 GPU.

Only the AMD GPU has OpenCL support in Macbook Pro 2011.


Mac computers that use OpenCL and OpenGL graphics
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202823


Update:

I "guess" that the problem is that Intel and Apple have no interest in putting OpenCL support for Intel HD 3000 GPU.

Intel HD 3000 driver (i7-2640m) no OpenGL 3.3 and OpenCL 1.2 CPU runtime support
https://forums.intel.com/s/question...-opencl-12-cpu-runtime-support?language=en_US


Supported APIs for Intel® Graphics Controllers

Intel® Core™ Processors

Intel® HD Graphics 2000/3000 -> No OpenCL

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005524/graphics-drivers.html

Many thanks for this info!!
then we can not use anything that OpenCl requires

What I notice most is the temperature, and that has new thermal paste The Intel GPU should not be designed for a use other than the desktop only, that is, video etc. it overheats

 

[Flexter]

Firstly, huge thanks to AppleMacFinder for posting the original solution.

I've got a 2011 MBP running Sierra (and repowered with new Samsung SSD and 16GB RAM) and have been using the software solution (CMD+S...nvram fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9:gpu-power-prefs=%01%00%00%00...nvram boot-args="-v"...reboot) with absolute success. However, a recent system update from Apple has created a problem. I can still get to the main login screen with my login and guest login, but only the guest login works. That is, when attempting to login to my profile it stalls and then eventually crashes and restarts back to the main login screen. The guest login however works perfectly fine. I've reset SMC and PRAM and am at loss now as to how to fix this. I had the same issue after a previous system update, but the SMC and PRAM resets seemed to do the trick. Not this time however. Has anyone encountered this and can advise on a simple solution? It's very odd that the guest login works fine, but my login doesn't. Many thanks in advance!