March 14, 2009
Flashing 4870 to work in MacPro
If you dont like minidisplay port or dont want to pay 3 times more for a card from apple, here is directions for how to get 4870 card working in macpro.
1) go to here and download 4870.ROM.zip file, and unpack it
2) backup rom of 4870 card, you can use latest gpu-z utiliy for it
3) flash you 4870 card using dos usb stick and atiflash
atiflash.exe -p -fs -fp 0 4870.rom
I’m not going to explain how to do it, all info is available over net, use google.
4) install drivers pkg for 4800 from #radeonhd channel on irc.osx86.hu (first link in topic)
after installing pkg remove /System/Library/Extensions/Natit.kext
5) reboot, should work just fine
both dvi ports works.
it was tested with standart card (2dvi and 1 svideo ports), nobody tested with nonstandart cards (with vga/hdmi/DP ports)
known problems : vga (with dvi2vga) doesnt work.
WARNING: I’m not responsable for any damage you can do to your system, Do it all at your own risk.
P.S. once you update to 10.5.7+ u can forget forever about step 4
Comments(105)
Does this work on the 4850, or do we need to wait some more…
I’m guessing no because the rom file is specifically a 4870.
maybe u wanna try to flash bios from any 4870 card to any 4850 card, find out what will happen and tell us ?
Would this work on a 1gb 4870? Would you simply lose the functionality of the extra 512mb, or would it not work at all?
Brad, try and tell us
Which Mac Por was this tried on? I have a 667 Mac Pro from late 2007.
just wondering what specific card you used netkas?
it works even on macpro 1,1
Does this also work on a normal hackintosh (PC) or does it only work in a mac pro… Because i tried the drivers pkg to let my 4870 card work, but it didn’t work (No QE/CI, it did recognise my card but that’s about it).
I was wondering if any1 already tried to flash the 4870 X2 with this Rom? I’m being a bit of caution because of the two gpu’s/two roms that I need to flash…
Timo this how is only for macpro, for PC u can find info on other pages of this site.
Korny, 4870×2 has different device-id and doesnt supported by apple drivers at all(and doesnt work on hackintoshes)
But, flashing it with 4870macpro firmware will change its devices id, and card will never works as 4870×2 until reflashed with original bios.
Netkas, I would like to thank you for you explanation. Only solution for this would be to buy a second Ati card, say 4870 and put it in the second PCI-E slot.
While keeping the 4870X2 in the first PCI-E slot and putting a flashed 4870 in the second PCI-E slot, do I have to change the BIOS setting from PEG to PEG2 just as I did when I had my nVidia 6600GT in the second slot? Or does OSX init the flashed 4870 automatically?
Hi Netkas, thank you very much for all your work. HD4870 with 1024MB VRAM works without flashing rom – just installed the drivers. Dual-DVI, CI and QE is also working…I was waiting for month for this moment!
Will it be possible to use 2 of them in crossfire mode…?
Just finished to install a flashed ATI 4870 512MB in my Mac Pro 8 Core (early 2008)…
I’m testing and making my personal benchmarks against my previous 8800GT 512MB.
Results… AWESOME!!!! Thanks Netkas!!!
DON’T TRY THIS ON A (OSX86) PC !!!
I did, and now my pc won’t boot anymore…
(Club3D HD4870 OC)
Korny, inital graphics port has to be set to 4870 card.
And, this flashing is only for macpros, its not for pc.
for pc, this bios can only help to get dual dvi(possible, but not granted), and seems reflashing works only for reference ati cards
Mitch, what brand of 4870 card worked in what model of Mac Pro without flashing ROM?
Hope 1st dvi port(close to mobo) can have VGA output in final 10.5.7 release….because my powercolor HD4850 only have 1 DVI port and my screen is VGA only.
Is there any other way to get those driver/ kext packages?
Hello,
first, thanks for the info
Has this been tried on an MacPro 2006 (1,1)…
I thought because of 32bit EFI in there, the HD 4870 wouldn’t work.
Michael, yes it works on 1,1 MP.
its not 32 neither 64 bit rom, it’s EBC there (efi byte code), so arch independent.
Mitch, is only faking around….
If it would be so easy, why should netkas do so much work for project?
Which cards use the reference 4870 designs? What about the SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5
it works with Gigabyte ATI Radeon 4870 on macpro 2008 (3.1). but Call of Duty crashes, it doesnt start, could it have anything to do with the drivers? thanks!
I too am looking for a suggestion or two on the actual cards to buy. I live right by a Fry’s so I am hopeful of having a good local selection.
today in apple support page i see this:
“Mini DisplayPort to VGA Firmware Update
This firmware update addresses intermittent flickering and compatibility issues such as no video on some external displays when using the Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter on your Mini DisplayPort enabled Mac.”
I remember in 48XX mac edition ,the mini-dp port in same positon like dvi1 port in most standard 48XX cards and in many cases, dvi1 always lost vga signal….
how to create custom efi rom – http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7297669&postcount=344
For NETKAS…
Then this work in a 2006 original MACPRO?
Sure?
have you tried?
thanks!
Can anyone else please chime in on what cards work or didn’t work for them? I have a 2007 and 2008 I’d like to upgrade.
Thx!
Apple’s card appears to be a Reference 4870 Card, 512MB from AMD. Cards from HIS and PowerColor also use AMD reference designs. So those cards should be safe to use.
POWERCOLOR AX4870 1GBD5-PPH Radeon HD 4870 1024MB and
HIS Hightech H487F512P Radeon HD 4870 512MB
Both are around $220.
I tried this on a SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5. Now when I reboot all I get is the start up chime and a few seconds later another chime and it just keeps looping like this.
Any thoughts on how to at least re-flash the card back to the original ROM so I can return it? I saved the stock ROM before I flashed it with the Mac ROM.
U need – pc , and second video card, pci-e or pci, depends on how much pcie pors motherboard has, then use second card as inital booting card and flash ur 4870 using atiflash
Has anyone tried dual-booting into Windows using this? At the moment I have my PC version Radeon 4870 booting Windows and my original graphics card booting Mac OS X – not very streamlined!
A BIG thank you for this! I’ve now got a AMD/ATI reference 4870 running in my MacPro1,1 with dual DVI support to my 30″ @ 2560×1600 and 17″ @ 1024×1280 (90 deg rotated).
This, along with my newly installed Clovertowns, has breathed new life into this old Mac Pro that started life as a 2.0GHz machine!
[...] Someone has figured out how to flash a “PC” Radeon 4870 to work in a Mac Pro, so you don’t need to buy the more expensive Mac version. I wouldn’t recommend it to those who aren’t hardcore geeks and like having a warranty, but if you’re keen to save a bit of cash and can figure out how to do it from the sparse instructions, good luck to ya! In the same vein, you can overclock the GMA950 video card in your MacBook for a little bit more oomph in exchange for less battery life and more fan noise. [...]
Hi Patrick,
Can you tell us the exact model of ATI 4870 you flashed?
I have also a mac pro 1,1 and two 24″ screen with an ATI XT1900, and it would be great if i can change my graphic card… Indeed I’m using a lot cinema 4d and after effects.
Thx & Regards
-Zapp
@Dan: you could use sapphire.rom from http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7288415&postcount=315 if you got SKU 11133-03-20R the way netkas suggested “U need – pc , and second video card…”
So do you have to flash the graphics card on a PC? I cant get my 4870 to show any video on my Mac Pro. So I cant even flash it.
Mac Pro 1,1
HIS 4870 1GIG
OOps my bad, needed 2 power cables not one. Now gotta find power cable.
I returned the Sapphire card and bought an HIS H487FN512P 512 MB card. This card has heat sink mounting screws that are too long to fit in the bottom slot of my Mac Pro 1.1
I flashed it in the second slot from the bottom rebooted and it worked.
It was running WoW at only 5 fps. I checked the speed of the slot I had it in and saw it was set to only 1x. I reset it to 8x, the max speed for that slot, with the Expansion slot utility (System/library/Coreservices/Expansion Slot Utility.app)restarted and got 50 to 60 fps in Wow.
I then went down to my local hobby shop got ten dollars worth of little bolts washers and nuts, Disassembled the card, removed all the mounting pins from the heat sinks, drilled out the holes in the heat sinks to fit the new bolts, cleaned off the GPU, applied some new thermal paste and reassembled it all with the mounting nuts on top now instead of the bottom of the card.
The card now fits in the bottom 16x PCIe slot and runs WoW at 100 plus FPS.
Does anyone have the part number of an ATI reference board that works in the Mac Pro 1.1 that does not need to have the heat sinks mount re-engineered to fit in the bottom slot?
I have another machine and would rather not spend the time remounting the heat sinks again.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Netkas,
What is the difference between the method that you explain in this post and the second method that you said in post number 27 with custom bios?
Thank you
Sorry for posting this here but did not know where. DOES ANYONE HAS HAD ANY SUCCESS INSTALLING ANY WORKING KTEXT THAT WORK WITH ATI HD 3670? or 3650 for THE DELL MOBILE LAPTOPS like XPS STUDIO 13 & 16 or the STUDIO 17?
Please let me know. I have these laps and I cant get them to work using any osx86 distro> HELP PLEASE.
@OB1 – perhaps if you would follow links/search/read that this is not meant for Hackintoshes, it is meant for those who have a real Mac Pro and want HD4850/70 graphics, and if you could NOT YELL AT US BY TYPING YOUR ENTIRE POST IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, then one of us just might feel inclined to point you in the direction of INSANELYMAC FORUMS – GRAPHICS SUPPORT, or maybe even goodle. So, yeah, there’s your answer. THANKS FOR NOT YELLING. AND DEM THERE DELLS FOR THE pPWNNNN!!!111!!
I think we all owe Netkas a debt of gratitude (and some donations, if I knew he was accepting them and / or the Paypal account to send it to, I’d definitely get the man some beer money!) for his ongoing work, for which no one compensates him for, and yet he still spends countless hours picking apart drivers, BIOS’s, all for little to no money. At least give him the respect he deserves by not crapping on his blog post comments.
Patrick / Mitch,
A lot of us would love to know which cards you used (exact model IDs and brand)!!! We all want to jump on the “no ROM flash” needed wagon if thats what worked for you guys!
Well it seems that I was foiled again.I have a HIS 4870 1GIG. I cant get any video, from the bottom slot (slot1). Ill try the others after reading the above posts. Anyone have an idea why I would get any video? Ive tried both DVIs and alternated with the adapters plugged in or unplugged. I cant get anything.
thanks for any help,
s
@Zapp: Sorry, been away. The card I used was an ATI branded card. It looks exactly like the one in the image referenced below including having an identical part number.
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/Additional/45840A_ATrHD4870-DSboard_3-4.jpg
Patrick,
Thanks for the link to the pic. Do you have a link or description from the retailer? This would help us all!
I searched for a while and couldn’t pull up anything. Googled the p/n and didn’t find much . . .
btw, how do I check if the 10.5.7 beta drivers are installed correctly?
All ATIRadeon related files in my /System/Library/Extensions are dated Dec 2007…
Hi Ptrick,
Thx a lot for the input.
Thanks & Regards
@Spencer: I tried to google for info on the P/N as well and didn’t come up with much either. In fact, that image from the ATI/AMD website was the closest thing to real info on the card I’ve been able to find.
I bought the card at my local Fry’s shortly after the introduction of the 4870 for use in my Win box–so it’s not recent manufacture. It is my recollection that the card is actually an ATI/AMD manufactured card.
Sorry I can’t be more helpful.
Looks like the HIS iceq looks like the reference board. They seem to say on their website that it provides more cooling than the reference though, but it looks exactly the same.
Mitch you said you got a 1024 version of the 4870 working, could you tell me what model you used? I would be grateful.
I’m thinking of the Sapphire ATI HD 4870 Toxic 1GB, would just like to know if it works.
[...] Originally Posted by MacJunky They see it but then people would just buy that instead of the Mac Pro. Apple had workstation GFX card for the last Mac Pro but I guess they axed it or something, probably due to not many people buying it. They covered that in the Anand article. Apparently Apple rights the Nvidia drivers and there wasn’t a clear benefit in OS X to having an expensive work station card that was based off a consumer gaming card. The only benefit was more memory in OS X. I’m glad that the 4870 is supported now anyhow. I’ve got my hack running with full 3D accleration in OS X with my 4870 as of last month. You can flash a PC 4870 to work in a Mac Pro now it’ll save you a couple hundred dollars. [...]
Mitch I am also curious. I am thinking about getting a 4870 to flash and I am torn between the 512mb and the 1gb versions. since the Apple one is 512mb my first thought was to just get that, but the sapphire 1GB is only $30 more and is supposed to have better high rez performance.
Are there any compatibility issues or crashes you have experienced? I have a Mac Pro but I am unwilling to put up with instability or crashes as this is my main production rig. Thanks!
Hi,
this really sounds very promising.
I just got myself a MP09 with the standard GT120 and since I am coming from the Win side I figured I just use a off-the-shelf 4850 to upgrade my new MAC but apparently I need to flash it first.
So did anyone successfully flash a 4850? If so which bootrom file did you use?
Also – where do I get the 6pin pci-e power connector?
I saw a cable on svideo.com but apparently they are out of stock.
The answer to my own question is a gigantic YES!! The Sapphire ATI HD 4870 Toxic 1GB, works great under mac os and windows, plus its quiet, fantastic change to having the 3870 in there. I did the flashing differently from what is said above though:
I first of all set my mac pro to boot up in windows, and installed the drivers, then shutdown.
Plugged the card in, 2 power cables!! and restarted into windows sorted out the card installed driver and everything there.
I then used GPU-Z to copy the ROM of the card, make sure that you get the full 128kb!! Thats why i used GPU-Z. I use Winflash to flash the ROM later on.
I then took the card out and booted into mac os off the stock card that came with the early 2008 macpro (HD 2600).
Using the commands and script from “pipomolo42″ http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=7297669#post7297669 i made a dual boot ROM. Found a Bash shell worked best in terminal.
Put 4870 back in, booted into windows and flashed the card using Winflash.
Restarted and works great!!!
You can get everything you need from: from:http://www.digiplankton.com/webboard/index.php?showtopic=7663
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/152
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=7297669#post7297669
After being flashed will a 4870 work in Windows (Boot Camp)? And if it does, will two flashed 4870 be able to crossfire?
If you make a dual boot ROM, as i said in my previous post, you will definitely be able to use it in boot camp. But the main reason is to preserve any modifications that have been made to the card ROM, overclocking, fan speeds etc.
Im sure windows can use EFI on hardware as well as bios, so you should be fine if you just flash it with the mac ROM as well.
Crossfire, you need to have a compatible motherboard, but i think the Mac Pro’s is so you should have no problem. You may just have a problem with power since the card uses two PCIe power cables, but i think you can get away with only one. Each card uses 300 watts, so you obviously need 600 for crossfire.
Hello, can this works with ATI 4890?
So I bought this card – ‘SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5′ from Newegg.com, which people are having success with (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801)
It comes with two power cables, but I’ve been reading I need to buy two “ATI x1900 for PowerMac G5 power cables” in order to use it. I ordered just one power cable, as I only noticed the x1900 part, and I already have an x1900 in my Mac Pro. Does anyone know if I really need the two G5 power cables? Can I mix the two x1900 cables I have? Is anyone using the power cables that came with it?
4890 will not work
Hello, first of all great work. But i have a question. I have a 4870X2. When using the script pipomolo wrote in this http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=661681&page=14 topic, is it possible to get the 4870X2 work in a MacPro. I know i have to flash both BIOS which are on the card. Maybe there will be a problem with OSX, but will i be able to see Refit at startup ?
@Frostbite
Thanks for the info man. I’ve been debating doing this but I think I may take the plunge now. I was trying to figure out how to flash and swap cards and whatnot and your winflash strategy seems to be the easiest way to go. One more thing though: I am thinking of getting the Vapor-X sapphire card as its only ~$10 more and I would spend 30 on a new, quieter cooler for the stock one anyway. Given that the Bios controls the fan speeds at least under windows, if I modify the stock PC bios to be dual boot, it should keep the fan speed parameters, correct? Anyway thanks everyone for the help and thanks netkas for your hard work in figuring this out!
I have been looking all over the internet and cannot find out why, when booting off the FreeDOS CD, it cannot see my Flash Drive, so I can actually flash the 4870. I’m completely stuck here – I also cannot find a way to put the ROM and ATI flasher onto the bootable FreeDOS ISO, I also haven’t been able to boot of the USB stick – any one of these three things, and I can flash it myself. I don’t understand why it works so easily for everyone else. Can someone help me? Thanks.
derblubb, 4870×2 will not work in osx with qe/ci/ogl
Craig, try to create bootable usb stick with HP usb disk storage tool, http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/downloads/index.cfm?categoryid=1504&itemId=64963
Craig, I had the same prob, couldn’t see the thumb drive from freedos. Not sure why the usb drive didn’t work, but I ended up putting the atiflash util and roms on a fat32 formatted drive in the mac (I have all four drive bays filled), which was then available as c: after booting off the freedos cd (option 1, then 4).
Optimus,
No problem. Yeah if you make the dual boot ROM out of the pc bios and mac efi your fan speeds should be maintained. So i think if your going to edit the bios to change fan speeds, do the edit then make the dual boot and flash it back on. My card remains cool and its quiet with the dual boot ROM.
The only problems i have had is the second DVI port not working, but this hopefully should be fixed in 10.5.7. My next job is doing it to a 2GB Vapour X, but not for a couple of weeks.
Shout if you have a problem.
This is awsome. I flashed my 11133-04-20R Sapphire 4870 1GB with a dual boot bios made using the script linked to earlier in this thread. Does anyone have any ideas on how to alter the EFI info to make vga / s-video / second dvi work? For now I am using my old 2600xt to drive extra monitors/tvs/projectors but would rather use one card and a Triple Head 2 Go. I know that on Hackintosh there is a utility to convert plist info into hex for the pcEFI bootloader. Could that be used backwards so that we can edit the EFI data in the cards bios?
Buglamp, heh, on hackintoshes we have bootloader which bypasses device-properties string to kernel, on macs it’s impossible, on macs , boot.efi creates device-properties and passes to kernel, and it will not help for dvi
Is there much hope for working out some of the compatibility issues? Maybe with a version of Natit?
Hi Frostbite and Buglamp, I thought that the modified card, works with both dvi’s but the second one, only in single? Do you refer that or does not work at all?
Thank you.
When I plug a second DVI monitor into the card i get a kernel panic. I can boot with one monitor on either of the ports, when i plug in a second the detection fails and hangs the system.
Also the system seams to boot fine with two displays until it reaches the window manager at which point it hangs at the blue screen. Could this be because of the framebuffer driver?
I get the same problem that Buglamp has already stated. The most likely explanation is the drivers, but i don’t have any specifics. When 10.5.7 comes out hopefully it should be fixed, and it shouldn’t be too long now.
Buglamp, you refer in windows only? or with leopard?
On ebay you can see a graphic card that works perfect with two dvi (one dual and one single).
url:”cgi.ebay.es/ATI-Radeon-HD-4870-1GB-Video-Card-Mac-Pro-Graphics_W0QQitemZ270375058338QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item270375058338&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1315|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318″
Greetings.
What’s the reason do you use (buglump, frostbite) to use the dual boot method, if this method does not work two dvi’s? The netkas method works… why didn’t you use this?
Thank you and sorry for my English.
My card was already overclocked and I wanted to retain that, plus I wanted the cooling to work properly, so I made a dual boot ROM. It works with 2 DVI and VGA in windows fine, its just in OSX, so is a driver thing. The difference may just be due to different card models or the drivers I used may be slightly different, since I couldn’t find them at the place netkas specified. Another factor may be the Mac Pro model, mine is an Early 2008.
Is there a list of cards that work with this technique? I have a 1900XT that needs to be replaced.
I think it has more to do with the EFI information in the vBios we are using. Is there any way to decompile the EFI segment of the bios, edit it, recompile and reflash our cards?
Where are you guys getting the Mac cables to power the card? been googling all day.
I had an apple reseller order me my cables. Cost me $100 for two cables! Think of it now i should have just paid apple the 420 for their 4870. but then again they can ….
Can you you just use the unused Molex cable from your optical drive bay? I would think that this would be the easiest solution right?
@Puma: MacPro mobo power to molex cables can be had here: http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=3280778
Big THANK YOU to netkas and the rest of you guys. I got a reference card for 130 and ordered the cables (next day delivery) made a small dos partition where I placed all the necessary files. Booted with a FreeDos CD and flashed as described. I actually installed the 4870 drivers before I did the flash. Did a reboot and Viola! All is good, saved a couple hundred bucks on the card and I am now setting up vista so I can do an occasional game
Thanks again everyone!
Puma
Hi, i’m about to buy a XFX ATI Radeon HD4870 (PCIe, 1GB GDDR5, DVI;HDMI, 1 GPU) and i got 2 questions:
1. Will OS X be able to use the full 1Gb of Vram or will it only use 512MB?
2. Will the 2nd DVI-Port be enabled? DVI->VGA doesn’t work… i figured that out already but what about Dual-Head with 2 DVI-Displays?
[...] einem Mac Pro nutzen zu k
[...] Apple neuere Grafikkarten von ATI. W
yo netkas,
I had a already flashed 4870 sapphire but wanted to try your method. After following your instruction I’ve ended up with a card that wont make it past the post. Just a black screen.
Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to remedy it? Is there any way to reflash. I’ve already tried in a PC with no luck.
Mac Pro 1,1 – 10.5.7 – Sapphire HD 4870 1GB
////if it works fine – dont touch it, golden rule of IT
Hi all,
Having read everyone’s posts I’m still a little confused. Hope you can help clarify. There seems to be two ways of doing things. a) buy a PC 4870 and flash it or b) just put it straight in the MacPro and it works (if you’re running 10.5.7 … but the second seems to negate the first. Hence the confusion.
Simple clarification needed
XFX 48701GB succesfully flashed in my old 2006 Mac Pro.
Thanks!
Thanks Netkas you rock!!! I’ve been wondering about the 2GB model of Radeon 4870, will it work for OSX? Has anyone tried it? If not, any tips on getting one to work? I might have to pick one up. Has anyone seen a speed difference in Apple Motion with the 1GB model? I’m a video guy and want a speed boost, but don’t want to pay $3000 for it.
I don’t know if anyone is still reading/responding to all this, but can I use BOTH DVI ports on a 4870 AND the S-Video port at the same time? I am interested, because I would like to drive two monitors and a projector with my Mac Pro, but I don’t want to buy 2 new cards…
Thanks in advance for the reply!
////the card cant [hysicaly run 3 monitors at time
///and anyway, svideo doesnt work in osx
[...] can use this flashing instruction – http://netkas.org/?p=90 [...]
Mh, my XFX 4870 worked fine under 10.5.6, even under 10.5.7 – now all of sudden stopped working, I reinstalled 10.5.6 from DVD, card working even w/o extra drivers. Hardware tells:
ROM 113-B7710C-176
EFI-driver 01.00.318
wich should be fine both.
After installin 10.5.7 update I can´t get a login screen after boot. With old HD2600 I get a login Screen, wtf?!? Installing the HD4870 drivers from netkas don´t work either – anyone a clue?
Mhh tbh – that was the 10.5.8 update I received. Won´t work under 10.5.7 now though
Hi Netkas.
I bought a Sapphire card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102850) and first tried ATY_init. No dice unfortunately.
Then, I tried to flash it with the second ROM from the forum post you linked to. The flashing process seemed successful, however it didn’t work Instead, whenever the card is plugged into my Mac Pro, it continuously makes the “bahh” boot chime every second or so.
How do I fix this? Did I break my card?
I have the same problem as Peter. My card is not usable anymore – whenever plugged into the PCIe connector and powered, it simply restarts the machine every second (even with the DVI connector connected to my other card, a GT7300).
Has anyone a solution to this problem?
Thank you,
Christoph
Hi Netkas,
I posted a few posts back when I had bought a cheapo Sapphire 512MB 4870. It didn’t work when flashed or ATY_init’d or BOTH (kept repeating startup chime over and over and over) so I returned it after reflashing it to stock with my PC.
I just bought the Sapphire 100259 1GB 4870 mentioned in this post:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost…&postcount=886
I downloaded the ROM linked to by netkas here:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost…&postcount=128
and followed the flashing instructions that netkas posted here:
http://netkas.org/?p=90
Now, I have the Sapphire 100259. I have ATY_init installed, so I first tried to just boot with the stock card firmware. As I suspected, no dice. The card was not recognized in OS X, but it was in Windows XP. I booted into XP, and took a backup of the card using GPU-Z. Then, I booted into my DOS bootdisk and ran the flashing commands (listed above) with the ROM (also listed above) netkas posted. I rebooted after doing this, and bam. I now have the SAME looping startup chime. I leave for college in a week and a day, and I’m really worried I won’t have this card to use for more workspace (which I desperately require at college.)
Please, netkas or anyone else. Can you please help me solve my problem? All I want is Dual-DVI (not even DVI -> VGA) to work on my card so that I can use it with my Mac Pro in OS X.
Thanks so much in advance!
//u better go to macrumors forum with this Q, to proper section
I only have a MacPro, is it possible to upgrade the firmware in the Sapphire HD 4870 to work with my MacPro? Or do I need a PC to do this task?
Hi Netkas,
I seem to be experiencing the same problem as Peter. I bought an ATI Sapphire 512MB 4870. Installed using instructions provided. Flashed in DOS using mac Rom. Now Mac continuously chimes.
Is there a solution? Have I done something wrong?
I have a Mac pro 1,1. 14GB RAM.
Thanks you.
[...] has terse but understandable instructions for it: netkas.org Flashing 4870 to work in MacPro God bless him and his os x [...]
I need help. I flashed HD4780 now I can not reflash it back to original bios. I get a flashing red sign complaining about power. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
I have the same problem as Peter and Christoph. My card is not usable anymore – whenever plugged into the PCIe connector and powered, it simply restarts the machine every second (even with the DVI connector connected to my other card, a GT7300).
Can anybody help?
Do i need a PC to reflash the card? Is there a way to do on my mac 1.1
Thank you,
Filipe
Same problem here: 4870 w/ 512MB RAM, once flashed I’m stuck in an infinite chime loop.
FYI: the comment in this post, “I’m not going to explain how to do it, all info is available over net, use google” is counterproductive. This post rates highly on Google, therefore it has become one of the first links people see. If you’re not going to write something useful, don’t bother posting at all; you’re polluting the search results with worthless noise. Try linking to some useful information instead if you don’t feel like copying and pasting.