How To Flash A Video Card For Mac Pro

Updates!

Boot the computer with the monitor connected to your old video card. Load the kernel extension for the flashing (sudo kextload ATIROMFlasher.kext), then run the flash utility: sudo open ATIFacelessFlash.app. Shut down your computer, pull the old card, and boot up with the monitor connected to the new one.

  • Specifically, the card I'm talking about is from an early 2008 Mac Pro, a Radeon X2600. A friend of mine who owns the Mac (dual quad-core cpu's, the smarmy git) is looking to upgrade, and I thought that the card might be a good temporary solution until I can get a better card (it's going to my brother's pc).
  • I think the flash SHOULD work with new 8800GTS or GTX cards relying on G92 chip but I can only guarantee that if you follow my tutorial up there you will get fully working cards on your Mac Pro.
  • Compact Flash CF Card Reader, WEme Aluminum USB 3.0 Micro SD Card Converter with OTG Adapter for Extreme Pro Professional Sandisk, Lexar SDHC Memory Card and Samsung Galaxy, Mac Mini, Windows, Linux 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,138.

I recently got an Intel-based Mac Pro (MacPro2,1). This is one of the systems that Apple abandoned way too soon. It came with an ATI Radeon X1900 card, and I was able to flash one of my old AMD Radeon HD5870 cards for use in it.

My model of Radeon HD5870 is the 'Built by AMD' reference design.

Stay tuned for firmware updates.

Note that much of this page is for older video cards: AGP-based for PowerPC systems.

There have been several things that have bothered me when trying to upgrade Mac systems:

- Apple seems to hate supporting old hardware.
- Devices made for Apple computers seem to cost up to ten times what they do for PC, even if they use identical hardware or even slower components.
- Third party support usually comes from un-reliable sources. People that can't keep a website up, people that lose interest in helping the community, and those who are greedy that try to keep the money-saving (or potentially money-making) information to themselves.

I will be putting some ROMs/firmware on my site to help others with flashing video cards for Macs.

I have flashed a few PC video cards for use in Apple Macintosh systems.

Success:

XFX 'WANG' GeForce 6200, 256 Megs RAM, $49 from Newegg.
- Requires 10.4.3 or higher. You will get a Kernel Panic if used in an older version.
- Uses a Temp Sensor that can cause long boot times under Mac OS X 10.5.x if you use it on a G4.
- There is a special firmware that disables the temp sensor.
- Supports Quartz Extreme and Core Image

VisionTek 5564 GeForce 2 MX 400 64MB SDRAM AGP DualHead/TwinView, $5-$20 from eBay.
- Works great in Mac OS 9 and all Mac OS X versions.
- Supports Quartz Extreme

This worked in my G4 Mac with the original PC/Windows firmware, however:
- The mouse cursor was a solid 'box' when using Thousands/Millions of colors (it looked fine in 256-color mode).
- The system couldn't detect my monitor or its timings, so resolutions and refresh rates were a bit off.
- Things worked perfectly after flashing with the '1075 TwinView' ROM.

* Update, August 2008: I noticed in World of Warcraft that the sky looked like it was filled with artifacts - like the card has bad memory. After staring at the messed up looking sky, the system had a kernel panic and locked. :(
* Double update. It turns out the wrong timings were in the firmware. Default MX400 timings are 200/183, default MX200 timings are 175/166. The VisionTek card uses 200/166 timings. I modified the firmware and re-flashed, and everything is good now. :)

Elsa GeForce 2 MX 400, 32 Megs, $5-$20 from eBay
- So far has worked great.
- No issues in any games.
- No artifact/memory issues.
- Flashed the NV1100 firmware, 200/183mhz timings.

Card

ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, OEM, 128 Megs DDR. $30 from eBay.
- Quarts Extreme and Core Image support.

Fail:

Inno3D GeForce 2 MX 200, 32 Megs, 64-bit SDR, AGP - 'Tornado GeForce 2 MX-200', purchased for $45 brand new back in 2001.
* NVFlash said the EEPROM wasn't flashable.

How To Flash A Video Card For Mac Pro 3 1

* Some random GeForce 2 MX 400, 64 Megs, PCI - Unknown brand, NVFlash can't identify the EEPROM.
The EEPROM wasn't the 'non flashable' kind on the Inno3D GF2MX200, it just wasn't listed as a supported EEPROM by the version of NVFlash I was using.
Recently, I haven't been able to get the card at work at all (PC or Mac). I think I killed it with static or something. :(

GeForce 2 MX firmware:

nv1027f.rom
nv1028f.rom
nv1055.rom
nv1057.rom
nv1075(twin).rom (what I originally flashed on my VisionTek 5564 TwinView, but has the wrong timings for that card)
nv1100.rom
VisionTek 5564 ROM (200/166 timings, TwinView support, based on NV1100 ROM)

GeForce 6 firmware:

xfx_6200.rom - Original 350/266 MHz. (what I flashed on my 6200)
xfx_cube.rom - Cooler running 300/250 MHz.
MLP256XFX2_NoSensor.rom - 350/266 speeds, but with temp sensor disabled (for Mac OS X 10.5 compatibility).

Radeon 9700 Pro:
ati_oem_9700pro_124_agp_full.zip

Misc:

visiontek_5564_original.rom - My original VisionTek 5564 TwinView firmware for PC.

xfx_6200_original.zip - My original XFX 'WANG' GeForce 6200 firmware for PC.

PC Tools:

nv312.zip - NVFlash 3.12
nv513.zip - NVFlash 5.13
nv563.zip - NVFlash 5.63
cwsdpmi.zip - DOS Extender (if needed)

For my TwinView:
nv312.exe -f 1075.rom -m

For my Elsa:
nv312.exe -f 1100.rom -m

For my 6200:
nv513 -4 -5 -6 -j 6200.rom

Links:

http://www.cybercoment.com/macgeforce.htm
http://themacelite.wikidot.com/
http://www.eden.net.nz/7/20011005geforce2mx.html

Hi urbanexus,


It sounds like if it boots to a pixelated screen you need to reboot to make it normal again. As screen settings are held it PRAM, try resetting that.



Reset the system

You can reset the Mac's parameter RAM and SMC.

Reset the resolution

How To Flash Graphics Card For Mac Pro

Start by resetting the Mac's parameter RAM. If the display does not come up, was previously set to an unsupported resolution, and still results in no video:

  1. Start up in Safe Mode.
  2. From the Apple () menu, choose System Preferences.
  3. Choose Displays
    from the View menu to open the preferences pane.
  4. Select any resolution and refresh rate that your display supports.
  5. Restart your computer.

How To Flash A Video Card For Mac Pro With Metal Support

  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Option, Command (), P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
  3. Turn on your Mac.
  4. Immediately press and hold the Option-Command-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
    Continue holding the keys down until your Mac restarts, and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
  5. Release the keys.

How To Flash A Video Card For Mac Pro 2019


Resetting PRAM may change some system settings and preferences. Use System Preferences to restore your settings.

Best regards,

How To Flash A Video Card For Mac Pro 2012

Nubz

How To Flash A Video Card For Mac Pro 3 1

Oct 11, 2014 6:14 AM