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I have an older Intel Mac that I want to run Catalina on. It currently has an nVidia GTX680 video card, which won't do the job.
If I get a replacement video card, does it need to be Mac specific, or will a PC card work just as well?
I do have an AMD HD5830 card that should do the job, but I get no display when installed in the Mac. I have no way to test it on a PC, so I don't even know if it works.
"I don't see anything online called Maqc ROM."
I think that was a typo. A PC graphics card can be converted to function in a Mac, after flashing its EEPROM chip with the specific Mac ROM code extracted from the Mac version of the card having the same GPU. It's not a one-size-fits-all situation. Ideally, the appropriate code needed for your (PC) Radeon HD5830 would need to have been extracted from a Mac Radeon HD5830, if one was ever produced. A modified, compatible code may have been created by the experts who routinely flash graphics cards.
Complicating matters, AMD licenses its technology to other electronics manufacturers to produce graphics cards with their GPU chipset. When I flashed ATI (acquired by AMD) Radeon graphics cards about 15 years ago, I used ATI's retail card. Some of the licensed, third-party manufacturers, like Sapphire, VisionTek, Diamond, etc., used a smaller capacity ROM chip that was adequate for the PC code, but wasn't capable of accommodating the larger Mac code. Again and in some cases, the flashing gurus were able to create a truncated Mac code to fit, but that's a task beyond the capability of the average user. I flashed my cards in a PC using DOS commands. The first part of the procedure was to extract and save the existing PC code, before proceeding to overwrite it with the Mac code. That was a safeguard in case something went wrong with the flashing. If you make a mistake in the flashing process, you could render the card useless.
I can understand your desire to use a card that you have, so if it's a suitable candidate to flash for use in your Intel-based Mac, you might consider paying for the flashing service that's found on the website that BDAqua provided. If you contact them, at least you can be advised of the expense and whether it's worth it.
"I don't see anything online called Maqc ROM."
I think that was a typo. A PC graphics card can be converted to function in a Mac, after flashing its EEPROM chip with the specific Mac ROM code extracted from the Mac version of the card having the same GPU. It's not a one-size-fits-all situation. Ideally, the appropriate code needed for your (PC) Radeon HD5830 would need to have been extracted from a Mac Radeon HD5830, if one was ever produced. A modified, compatible code may have been created by the experts who routinely flash graphics cards.
Complicating matters, AMD licenses its technology to other electronics manufacturers to produce graphics cards with their GPU chipset. When I flashed ATI (acquired by AMD) Radeon graphics cards about 15 years ago, I used ATI's retail card. Some of the licensed, third-party manufacturers, like Sapphire, VisionTek, Diamond, etc., used a smaller capacity ROM chip that was adequate for the PC code, but wasn't capable of accommodating the larger Mac code. Again and in some cases, the flashing gurus were able to create a truncated Mac code to fit, but that's a task beyond the capability of the average user. I flashed my cards in a PC using DOS commands. The first part of the procedure was to extract and save the existing PC code, before proceeding to overwrite it with the Mac code. That was a safeguard in case something went wrong with the flashing. If you make a mistake in the flashing process, you could render the card useless.
I can understand your desire to use a card that you have, so if it's a suitable candidate to flash for use in your Intel-based Mac, you might consider paying for the flashing service that's found on the website that BDAqua provided. If you contact them, at least you can be advised of the expense and whether it's worth it.
He indicated that his Intel-based Mac currently has a GTX 680 (PCIe) graphics card, a high-end/expensive option for Mac Pro users that was marketed by EVGA. Support for nVidia cards effectively ended with Mojave, so I assume that's why he wants to know how to make his "PC" version of the HD5830 compatible with Catalina. He installed the HD5830 but it wasn't recognized.
Allan Jones wrote:
🛑 Whoa!!! Specifically what Mac model?
It's a Mac Pro 5,1 machine.
I was able to source a "fix" by updating my Mac's firmware so that PC cards would also work.
I have an older Intel Mac that I want to run Catalina on. It currently has an nVidia GTX680 video card, which won't do the job.
If I get a replacement video card, does it need to be Mac specific, or will a PC card work just as well?
🛑 Whoa!!! Specifically what Mac model?
That's important because the only Mac I see that shipped with the nVidea GTX680 chipset was the 27-inch Late 2012 iMac. Two big issues there:
1—2012 Macs already support macOS 10.15 "Catalina"
2—starting with 2012 models, iMac video hardware went "cardless." It is soldered to and integral with the logic board and cannot be upgraded or replaced after the computer goes on the assembly line. As the GTX680 was the "hottest" chipset used on that logic board, even a new logic board won't help.
So all this flashing stuff is moot unless you have a very different model such as a Mac Pro whose card has already been replaced.
Jeff wrote:
I think that was a typo. A PC graphics card can be converted to function in a Mac, after flashing its EEPROM chip with the specific Mac ROM code extracted from the Mac version of the card having the same GPU. It's not a one-size-fits-all situation. Ideally, the appropriate code needed for your (PC) Radeon HD5830 would need to have been extracted from a Mac Radeon HD5830, if one was ever produced. A modified, compatible code may have been created by the experts who routinely flash graphics cards.
I was actually able to modify the Mac firmware to allow PC cards to be used in the machine. My HD5830 is working now, and I plan on putting something a bit more modern in soon.
Yes I did. So far there have been no issues. I'm dual booting between MacOS and Linux using rEFInd.
My only complaint now is that the HD5830 card that I'm using doesn't support 4K over HDMI. I've got an RX570 to install once I have a 2x6 pin GPU to 1x8 pin GPU power adapter.
If not Mac specific or flashed with Maqc ROM, then it will likely work, but be cripled by no startup screen.
Looks like I will have to do a flash as I need the screen for dual booting. I don't see anything online called Maqc ROM. Any idea where I could find it and instructions?
Thanks!
Yes a typo.:(
Did you run the "EnableGOP" firmware update?
Does a PCIe video card need to be Mac specific?
