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XFX 4890, Mac Pro 1,1--Possibly Dumb Question

L

lurkingbf

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 13, 2010
102
0
(Beware: possibly inane question forthcoming.)

Does the 4890 need to be installed in the Mac Pro when you use the ATI Flashing Tool to inject Natit? (In other words, does the tool make a modification to the card, only the OS, or both when it installs Natit?)

I ask because I don't have enough power connectors at the moment to have both the 4890 and the x1900 installed simultaneously (I have only the original x1900 6 pin "proper" connector, and one 4-pin Molex Y splitter.)

Oddly, I couldn't find a specific answer to this after reading about 30 pages of the main 4890 thread.

Many thanks.
 
lurkingbf said:
(Beware: possibly inane question forthcoming.)

Does the 4890 need to be installed in the Mac Pro when you use the ATI Flashing Tool to inject Natit? (In other words, does the tool make a modification to the card, only the OS, or both when it installs Natit?)

I ask because I don't have enough power connectors at the moment to have both the 4890 and the x1900 installed simultaneously (I have only the original x1900 6 pin "proper" connector, and one 4-pin Molex Y splitter.)

Oddly, I couldn't find a specific answer to this after reading about 30 pages of the main 4890 thread.

Many thanks.
Click to expand...


1) with your X1900 installed run the Natit injector (makes it so that the OS will boot with PC card)

2) power down and remove X1900 and install your HD 4890

3) restart the Mac, then flash the bios of your HD 4890 then remove the Natit from OS using the ATI flashing tool

4) restart, and if your flash was successful with the correct ROM enjoy your new card!
 
Aha!

So it's OK to use the x1900's 6-pin motherboard cable on one power port of the 4890, and then attach the Molex power connector from the optical bay to the other? (This is temporary until I can get my hands on the right wire...)

Thanks for the quick response.
 
lurkingbf said:
Aha!

So it's OK to use the x1900's 6-pin motherboard cable on one power port of the 4890, and then attach the Molex power connector from the optical bay to the other? (This is temporary until I can get my hands on the right wire...)

Thanks for the quick response.
Click to expand...

Should be fine powered up that way, a lot of folks run theirs that way.
 
Fantastic.

I just confirmed that the crappy Molex Y splitter that I salvaged from a 10 year old PC works fine, as I am now powering the X1900 with it on the optical bay as I type.

I guess it's time to install Natit, throw in the card, and see what happens. Stay tuned...

Thanks once again for the reply.
 
So...round 1 was a failure.

I did everything as above. When i rebooted, I was met with only a blank screen. The system chimed, and the hard drives whirred as usual, but nothing on the screen. I waited a good long time to ensure it wasn't still in the boot process.

I also tried both DVI ports, and I also tried both a 30" dual link dvi Dell, and a 22" single link dvi Dell. The 22" monitor was kind enough to tell me, "There is no signal coming from the computer."

Any ideas on where to go from here? Thanks.
 
So you have power on both of the 6pin molex to the HD 4890?

Did you put the 4890 in the lowest PCIe?
 
GMink said:
So you have power on both of the 6pin molex to the HD 4890?

Did you put the 4890 in the lowest PCIe?
Click to expand...

I put the 4890 in the same spot the X1900 was in, slot #1.

Seems to have power, yes. The X1900 runs fine either way connected, so all the wires are working OK. The fan on the 4890 was quietly spinning, as well (not that I believe that is proof of much).
 
The Rominator said:
If you have another Mac around, you might try "Screen Sharing"
Click to expand...

Not an option, unfortunately. Lots of monitors, but only 1 mac!

If it's of any help, the sticker on the bottom of the 4890 reads:

HD-489X-ZS HD-489X-ZSFC V2.0

Perhaps Natit does not jive with this model?
 
lurkingbf said:
Not an option, unfortunately. Lots of monitors, but only 1 mac!

If it's of any help, the sticker on the bottom of the 4890 reads:

HD-489X-ZS HD-489X-ZSFC V2.0

Perhaps Natit does not jive with this model?
Click to expand...

That could be the case, did you try the new Zeus utility?? or the older ATI flash?

I think the new Zeus utility downloads the correct Natit based on your card.
 
I used the older ATI Flash tool. I guess next step would be to try Zeus. Just downloaded it.

Can't hurt to try...
 
GMink said:
That could be the case, did you try the new Zeus utility?? or the older ATI flash?

I think the new Zeus utility downloads the correct Natit based on your card.
Click to expand...

So I downloaded Zeus and installed Natit from there. Same result: chime, whirring hard drives, and blank screen forever.

What to do, what to do...
 
Do you have Windows on that machine?

You should probably use DOS or Windows to dump your current ROM in case it is different from the ones we have written so far. This would also be a good place to flash it.

Failing that you could get/borrow an Nvidia 7300 or GT120 or ATI 2600. None of those use external power. You could also try using both cards but with just one cable connected to 4890...should still flash.
 
The Rominator said:
Do you have Windows on that machine?

You should probably use DOS or Windows to dump your current ROM in case it is different from the ones we have written so far. This would also be a good place to flash it.

Failing that you could get/borrow an Nvidia 7300 or GT120 or ATI 2600. None of those use external power. You could also try using both cards but with just one cable connected to 4890...should still flash.
Click to expand...

Yes, I do indeed have Windows XP on this machine. I'm going to see if I can successfully boot into it with the new 4890. May have to flash and such from there (which means more reading sheesh).
 
You are lucky.

Download GPU-Z and dump a copy of your ROM. There have been MANY people who were sorry when they didn't do this and we hadn't already written the EXACT ROM their card needed.

You can then use HexEdit to look at the ROM and compare to whichever one you were going to flash with. Opening for first 60,000 bytes or so should be identical, you'll be able to see right away if not as Version Number appears in top of page.

I think there is even a Windows flashing utility for ATI cards but I have never used it myself. DOS is my preferred flashing zone, easy to use once you know how.
 
The Rominator said:
You are lucky.

Download GPU-Z and dump a copy of your ROM. There have been MANY people who were sorry when they didn't do this and we hadn't already written the EXACT ROM their card needed.

You can then use HexEdit to look at the ROM and compare to whichever one you were going to flash with. Opening for first 60,000 bytes or so should be identical, you'll be able to see right away if not as Version Number appears in top of page.

I think there is even a Windows flashing utility for ATI cards but I have never used it myself. DOS is my preferred flashing zone, easy to use once you know how.
Click to expand...

I booted into Windows with the 4890, but the image was unusable--to the point of not really being able to successfully navigate to try to fix it. I took a photo and attached.

It's been a LONG while since I've used Windows, but perhaps I should be booting into safe mode? Is this possible in boot camp?

Could this be a dirty power issue, and perhaps I should wait until I get the proper cable?
 

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lurkingbf said:
Except that I haven't got around to flashing anything yet...
Click to expand...

Oh, I thought you had flashed it using the ATI tool in OSX?

If you have not flashed it yet then the card has a problem. Was this a new card?
 
GMink said:
Oh, I thought you had flashed it using the ATI tool in OSX?

If you have not flashed it yet then the card has a problem. Was this a new card?
Click to expand...

No, I had only loaded Natit with the 4890 out. I could never get the machine to boot past a blank screen with it in; consequently, I have not yet been able to try flashing it.

Yes, it is brand spanking new from Tiger Direct today. I always seem to have trouble with items bought from there.

I have this nagging feeling it may be an issue either with boot camp or with the way I'm powering the card. Those on this board seem to think otherwise, though.

Hey, I wonder if it's a refurb without my knowing it and some other would be flasher pooched the card? :)

I should probably try it in a straight-out windows machine, but I can't think of a friend who has one off the top of my head...
 
Just for kicks put the card in a differnt PCIe slot and try booting. Try both windows and OSX
 
GMink said:
Just for kicks put the card in a differnt PCIe slot and try booting. Try both windows and OSX
Click to expand...

Even though the X1900 works flawlessly in the same slot #1?

I suppose it can't hurt anything. I'll give it a shot tomorrow morning in windows.

Thanks to everyone for their help. Great board.
 
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