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Release: ATI Flashing Tool

Cindori

Cindori

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jan 17, 2008
3,528
378
Sweden
THIS TOOL HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED

PLEASE USE THIS:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/877437/








I proudly present:

logo.jpg




What is ATI Flashing Tool?

AFT is the first GUI-oriented GPU flashing tool for Intel Macs.


What can ATI Flashing Tool do for me?

Besides flashing ATI Graphic Cards, you can install / remove Natit, install Quartz Extreme / Core Image patches and check for Quartz Extreme support on your card.


Screenshots:

atiprev.png




screen1.png



screen2.png



Where can I get it?

The latest version is uploaded on this link:




I have tested ATI Flashing Tool on 10.5.8 and 10.6.1 with no problems. But as always, I am not responsible for any bugs, faulty roms or other things that can damage your card.

You can still only flash with one ATI card inside the computer. More info on this is included in the app.


Known bugs:

VRAM in Video Hardware Info is incorrect.
Apps should close when window is closed.
Alex's button is kinda crappy.
The logo is a button.


Where can I get ROMs?

Here: http://groths.se/atiflashingtool/ROMS.zip

A flashing tool is useless with no ROMs to flash with. So I included a bunch of ROMs in the zip. They are categorized and marked with notes and pictures, so there is no mistaking. Also, one of the biggest flaws with the app is that you can not take backup of your current ROM. So I included also original ROMs for the cards.

If there are any ROMs not included, feel free to contribute by posting them in this thread.

If you have any suggestions for the app, bug reports, grammar errors, please post them in this thread.


FAQ
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 4890/4870 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.

Is there a guide for this tool?
There is a guide here for the 4890:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/713428/
It is the same for 4870 just forget about the QE_CI steps



Do you accept donations?

This gpu-project has already set me back 480$ due to an accident where my motherboard broke.
Alot of time has gone into creating this app, and I would gladly accept any donations for my work. Just 5$ would make me very happy.






Update 21/11

ATI Flashing Tool 1.2 Released


NEW FEATURES:


Added ROMs for new cards:

4890:
HIS
Powercolor without cover
Powercolor with cover
Sapphire New Edition
Sapphire Vapor-X

4870:
XFX ZDFC
Sapphire 512 MB


Complete with the original roms and pictures of card.
The rom package is now separate from the tool.





Custom Natits
Since Natit is based on rom image data, it's not compatible with all cards.
This was something that many problem have had problems with, after installing Natit
they would just get a black screen.

So I took time to rewrite Natit with rom images of ALL the roms in the Rom package.
When you install Natit now, you will be able to choose your card, and then a
custom Natit is automatically installed for you.


Safer Flashing
Flashing is now a bit safer (less chance of failure)
I have not heard yet of a flash failure but I made this change anyway.


Built-in Software Update
Searching the forum for new versions of the tool, or more importantly, QE_CI updates,
was a tedious thing and not really something I liked.
So I went all the way and built in the Sparkle framework into the app.

sparkle.png


Getting the QE_CI patch has never been so easy.
Updates are done automatically, or manually from the button under QE_CI
or from the toolbar dropdown ATI Flashing Tool-->Check for updates...
Updating will also download new custom injectors if available.

updatescreen.png


I'm publishing updates with the app Feeder, which was payed for with your donations.



Small changes
The About section is redesigned a bit
Some new icons here and there
Card Table

Same download link as before.
 
Congrats mate! Looks sexy!

Now you have time to make ROM for
Sapphire New Edition. :D
 
Nice work, so do i need now ROM for
XFX Radeon 4890 1.0 GB DDR5 XXX (HD-489A-ZDDC) ??
And how can i do that, or is there ROM for it?
 
if your rom is not in the ROM folder
you can

a. Search this forum for a compatible ROM
b. Try ROMs for other models (I believe there is a XFX ZDF7 rom included)
c. Try to make your own rom
d. Beg for someone like The Rominator to make your ROM
(you should not do the last thing before really trying hard on the first 3)
 
Cindori,

GREAT JOB! Very cool app!!

I ran the app and did the Test feature in the QE_CI section. The information showed that my 4870 card only had 256MB of VRAM. It's a 512MB card. It shows as a 512MB card in System Profiler. And, I noticed that your sample image in your first posts shows a 4890 with only 256MB of VRAM too.

Is it a bug in your program or simply a weird way the OS is reporting the VRAM? I seem to remember some mention of the VRAM not getting reported correctly. Just curious as to what is going on.

Since you've made this so easy, I am VERY tempted to go ahead and flash my 4870 with the custom ROM that Chaos made for me. Not really sure it would make anything better or different than I'm getting using the straight 4870.ROM though. Can you think of any advantages to trying the custom ROM? Would I possibly get a bit more speed? Possible that VGA might work? And, of course, it would be easy to flash back, right?!

Thanks for all your hard work on this project!

Mark
 
Cindori, this app is a fantastic achievement. We're all extremely impressed and appreciative of what you've done. Not just putting together the app, but collecting and organizing a bunch of ROMs. Few have the wherewithal for that.

Apple and/or ATI ought to be paying you for your hard work.

Thank you.
 
Mark Booth said:
Cindori,
I ran the app and did the Test feature in the QE_CI section. The information showed that my 4870 card only had 256MB of VRAM. It's a 512MB card. It shows as a 512MB card in System Profiler. And, I noticed that your sample image in your first posts shows a 4890 with only 256MB of VRAM too.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's listed in "known bugs" in main post. Mostly that test feature is to show if Quartz extreme is enabled. The code to show vram is actually not made by me, it is "test" code from apple themselves :rolleyes:. I will look into it at a later time.
[/QUOTE]


Mark Booth said:
Since you've made this so easy, I am VERY tempted to go ahead and flash my 4870 with the custom ROM that Chaos made for me. Not really sure it would make anything better or different than I'm getting using the straight 4870.ROM though. Can you think of any advantages to trying the custom ROM? Would I possibly get a bit more speed? Possible that VGA might work? And, of course, it would be easy to flash back, right?!
Click to expand...

I don't know any details about that rom, but VGA has not been confirmed for anyone yet.


TheStrudel said:
Cindori, this app is a fantastic achievement. We're all extremely impressed and appreciative of what you've done. Not just putting together the app, but collecting and organizing a bunch of ROMs. Few have the wherewithal for that.
Click to expand...

thank you :):):)
 
Just wanted to post a thank you for all your hard work. I have been following with interest for some time. Hoping to pick up a 4890 during black friday :)
 
Nice Job !!!

Great work, Cindori !!!

You just got yourself some major Karma heading your way.

Up until a couple years ago, Thomas Perrier wrote and maintained "ATIcellerator" and "Graphicellerator" which took care of many PPC flash functions. He quit updating his stuff in 2006 and we have been missing this sort of thing.

Hopefully some folks will drop a little $$$ in the tip jar, especially if you save them $200 by not having to buy the Apple version.

As far as writing ROMs for these cards....people should read Pipomolo42s instructions. It is very important to follow them. The big thing missing now is a concise set of directions for 4890. Basically, you need to use Netkas ROM #2 from his "EFI for 4890" thread as if it were the original Mac ROM, that way the device id gag Netkas did in EFI part of Mac 4890 ROM gets used. And you can't just copy-and-paste yours in. It needs to be done via pipomolo42's instructions so that block count is right.

BTW...it is possible that a 4890 that resembles my original MSI 4890 will work with the first working 4890 ROM that Netkas did. And people need to know that it IS POSSIBLE to end up with a card that will require a PC to rescue. Sometimes a bad ROM will put Mac Pro into a "boot boing" doughnut, only way out is a PC & DOS.

You need to look for MCuC to be in finished ROM TWICE. If it is only there once, your PC BIOS was MUCH longer than Pipomolo42 planned on, and your GDDR5 table has been over-run. I have already elaborated on the fix needed if this happens. (comparing the Saphire ROMs I did recently can illustrate this perfectly when compared to the ones done by ZVON or someone else, I don't remember....RESEARCH)

You need to run his fixrom python script, it sets "last rom" indicator to correct "00" for first ROM and "80" for last. It also correctly sets the checksum.

While I may occasionally turn out a ROM here and there, I certainly can't be counted on to do so. Would be great if someone who understands these 4870/90 ROMs took the torch and ran with it. I know there is a lurker out there who "gets it" and could become a regular ROM writer.

Cindori, you may want to have a look at Thomas Perrier's stuff...he had a ROM dumper as part of his package...would be great if you could adapt one into yours. This great effort on your part would be completed by a dumper.

Then, someone could write a GUI for the "Rom writing scripts". Fully automated ROM creation....something to dream about I suppose.

Meanwhile, thank goodness for Cindori and his fine app.
 
thank's rommy. I really think more people should look into writing their roms and not sitting and waiting for some "super tech" to come along and do everything for them. When I started this app I had never programmed in OSX before. people should step up.


I did have a look at Thomas apps. no source code though and ppc architecture :(



during last 6 hours I have been scavenging updates from Apple. I made a discovery in this:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120168

I found inside, a flash tool. This tool was, to say the least, neat. Just look at features below:

IMG_0601.JPG

(lol taking pictures with iphone, but when loaded this disables somehow effects in OSX, including image capture)

however, sad part comes here.

running the program gives error, Unable to connect to resource manager
there was a kext included in this pkg, so I tried running it
it's a no go, kext requires PPC architecture.

sadly I don't see it running on our mac pros unless we find a way to fix that kext.


EDIT:
haaaah lol you already knew this
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/727027/
 
hm the 7300 link in that thread is interesting

in that .app, the kext runs

also there is updated romflashing tool
for intel architecture
however getting errors when running it:

IOServiceOpen failed with 0xe0002c7
IOServiceOpen failed with 0xe0002c7

ERROR: No NVIDIA display adapters found
exit code:2


wierd cause I happen to have a 7300gt inside.

this will need deeper looking, but, going to bed for now.
 
Help Needed please!

I have been trying to flash my XFX 4870 ZWFK unsuccesfully for 2 days.
I have not done this stuff before and am just learning as I go.
I have a Mac Pro (early 2008)
with a xt2600 in slot 2, running 10.8

As a last resort I used your flashing program Cindori to install injectors and here is what happened next:

#My screen went black a few seconds after I installed Injectors. (it seemed I had lost my DVI connection to the XT2600.
# I tried to boot via safe mode and it would just keep re-booting automaticlly.
# I then took out the XT2600 like you explain in your tutorial. It would boot but there is no picture for coming from the XFX 4870.
I would appreciate some feedback on how I could solce this as I have searched the web to no avail.

THanks
Tim
 
Flaz said:
Help Needed please!

I have been trying to flash my XFX 4870 ZWFK unsuccesfully for 2 days.
I have not done this stuff before and am just learning as I go.
I have a Mac Pro (early 2008)
with a xt2600 in slot 2, running 10.8

As a last resort I used your flashing program Cindori to install injectors and here is what happened next:

#My screen went black a few seconds after I installed Injectors. (it seemed I had lost my DVI connection to the XT2600.
# I tried to boot via safe mode and it would just keep re-booting automaticlly.
# I then took out the XT2600 like you explain in your tutorial. It would boot but there is no picture for coming from the XFX 4870.
I would appreciate some feedback on how I could solce this as I have searched the web to no avail.

THanks
Tim
Click to expand...

UPdate: I have got OS X back........

Because Natit did not like my version of card (ZWFK) I needed to flash it with another ROM in DOS for Natit to be able to see it, then I removed Natit with your removal program.

I mentioned before in my previous post that I had been unsuccessful in finding a ROM for my card. All the ZWFL & ZWFC Roms made my OS crash,
So I tried the Saphire one and wolla!! The OS seems stable, but I still don't have Quartz Extreme working (and yes I did download the patch in your program). If you can help me get Quartz Extreme going I will donate $50 to your cause.

Let me know if your up for it or you know someone who does.

Great work with the App.

CHeers
Tim
 
use Test in Flashing Tool and tell me device & vendor id of the card, probably they are not included in QE_CI pkg.
if they are not, I can create a custom qe_ci for your model.

also try reinstalling qe_ci, sometimes that works.
 
hey actually managed to get that nvcmdflasher to run:

error.png


getting that error though when trying to dump rom. might be cause I have a 4890 in slot 1, dunno. need to break from this for a while, got a pile of homework to do :eek:
 
Flaz said:
UPdate: I have got OS X back........

Because Natit did not like my version of card (ZWFK) I needed to flash it with another ROM in DOS for Natit to be able to see it, then I removed Natit with your removal program.

I mentioned before in my previous post that I had been unsuccessful in finding a ROM for my card. All the ZWFL & ZWFC Roms made my OS crash,
So I tried the Saphire one and wolla!! The OS seems stable, but I still don't have Quartz Extreme working (and yes I did download the patch in your program). If you can help me get Quartz Extreme going I will donate $50 to your cause.

Let me know if your up for it or you know someone who does.

Great work with the App.

CHeers
Tim
Click to expand...

Hey, are you absolutely certain this is a 4870?

There should be no trouble with QE/CI with a real 4870. Although, I found the ZWFL to work MUCH better in SL than in regular Leopard.

Def need to see what the device id is.

Also, how did you discover the "no QE" thing?
 
syton-rdz


Cindori said:
also try reinstalling qe_ci, sometimes that works.
Click to expand...
Tried that, no good.

I booted up this morning and I decided not to click OK on the Power cable msg and the OS froze. So I rebooted, and in order to make the card run in software mode I need to click the warning MSG when it loads. There is also no dual link DVI which I expected and it is not a problem because I run my second monitor off the HD2600.

My HD2600 is also now not running in QE
sytou-kbk


Rominator: I bought it brand new, it says XFX HD4870 ZWFK on the box, and it looks like one. That's all I know.
 
sounds like Natit is messing things up for you.

what os do you have?
did you try QE by my app or by testing effects in OSX?

again, use Test in Flashing Tool and tell me device & vendor id of the card.


if the ID exists in the qe_ci pkg, then you should write your own rom using pipmolo's script. Cause obviously natit is not helping you out.
 
Cindori said:
sounds like Natit is messing things up for you.

what os do you have?
did you try QE by my app or by testing effects in OSX?

again, use Test in Flashing Tool and tell me device & vendor id of the card.


if the ID exists in the qe_ci pkg, then you should write your own rom using pipmolo's script. Cause obviously natit is not helping you out.
Click to expand...

I am running 10.8 (Leopard)

I cannot open FCP and other programs that rely on QE.

I don't think Natit is still on my machine. I removed it with your App.
And when I did have it I could only boot in safe mode.

I actually recall getting my card to this stage a 2 days ago where there is no QE support and I hadn't installed Natit, So I don't believe that is the problem.

I have screen grabs of the Device & Vendor ID in my previous post.

I am happy to have a go in writing a ROM for it. But as I mentioned earlier I am new at this so any help on how I get started doing that would be appreciated. I have spent a deal of time on researching that subject but found it hard to follow.

Rominator, I will go out tomorrow and buy snow. Report back tomorrow..:)
 
snow fixes alot of problems,


i cant see any device IDs in any of your posts but 95% that snow fixes your issues.

dont forget to update qe_ci after snow, or, if you download 10.6.1 update, update again.
 
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