Flash Gtx 550 Ti For Mac Fix
And finally, for Mac OS 9 veterans, thanks to Endymion, Voodoo 4 4500 flash kit & voodoo 4/5 latest drivers for Mac OS 9 (Mac ROM can be obtained directly from within the 3dfx control panel, using ResEdit): Download (ZIP)
Flash Gtx 550 Ti For Mac
99% it's the gf116 processor, GF106B board (10600050).I used the CH341A programmer to load the original gtx960 bios, booted up the pc using another card as primary and the fake960 as secondary. Windows didn't start properly the device but this allowed me to test many bios files with nvflash.I just wish i could edit the bios myself and make the correct adjustments!
You can find out a Mac Pro's version by going to "About this Mac" under the Apple menu. All classic Mac Pros share a base level of specifications: Four full-length PCIe Slots, 1 mini PCIe slot for an Airport/Bluetooth card, four SATA2 3.5 drive bays, two 5.25 inch Optical drive bays (ATA on 3,1 and lower Mac Pros, SATA2 on Mac Pro 4.1+) dual Gigabit Ethernet, five USB 2.0 ports, two Firewire 400 ports, two Firewire 800 ports, and optical digital audio in/out. The differences pertain to the bus/RAM/CPUs and tray designs for RAM and CPUs. Visually from the exterior, these computers are the same and difficult to identify from each other without opening them up. Internally the 1,1/2,1s, and 4,1/5,1s are nearly identical. A 1,1 Mac Pro can be firmware flashed to a 2,1 Mac Pro, and a 4,1 can be flashed to a 5,1 Mac Pro. The best way to verify the original computer's version is via its model number (or serial number). For more info, see EveryMac's Mac Pro specification section and EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup.
From the Apple menu, select About this Mac and click System report. Under the Hardware Overview, you should see a Boot ROM version, which is your current Mac's firmware version. This is not to be confused with "About this Mac." For example, A 2009 Mac Pro will still be reported as a 2009 Mac Pro in the "About this Mac" tab even after a firmware flash.
The Mac Pro 2006s (1,1) and 2009s (4.1) occupy a special place as both can be updated to enable a wider range of CPU configurations with a software update. The Mac Pro 1,1 to 2,1 enables later CPU (Clovertown) support. The 4,1 gets the bigger boost. The firmware update enables Westmere Xeon CPUs and faster bus/RAM. Once a 4,1 is flashed to the 5,1 firmware, it can then use all the 5,1 firmware updates, which enable quite a few goodies like APFS booting, native NVMe support, and such. This is one of those times when a software upgrade makes all the difference. See the CPU upgrades section for more details on CPU configurations. There is no performance difference between a flashed firmware Mac Pro vs. a Mac Pro that shipped with later firmware assuming the hardware configurations are the same.
The Mac Pro 1,1 flash allows for later CPU models to be used. Currently, there is a firmware hack to allow for Mac Pro flashing script (github.com) to boot alt OSes. Also, there's research being done on firmware hack to enable Harpertown CPU support.
Mac Pro 4.1s are flashable to the Mac Pro 5,1 firmware. Once flashed, they are a Mac Pro 5,1 and thus can use all Mac Pro 5,1 firmware updates. Below is a collection of links, all demonstrating how to upgrade a Mac Pro 4,1 -> 5.1. There are multiple guides on how to flash the Mac Pro 4,1 -> a 5,1. You will need the MacProFirmwareToolUpdate utility.
You'll need a 16 GB+ drive or USB flash that can be wiped clean. Most will do, although some USB Flash drives can cause issues with the installer. For instance, a Lexar MicroSD card in a USB adapter and an old USB Flash drive caused the installer to crash when trying to boot off the installer volume. I used an old Firewire HDD to upgrade to High Sierra on my Mac Pro 3.1.
Generally, anyone running a non-EFI-compatible boot screen will want to keep an EFI compatible card around (even if not installed) for OS upgrades or emergencies. OS updates (including security updates) can stop aftermarket NVidia cards from displaying video until the proper drivers are installed. I've been in all camps: originally using a GeForce GTX 8800, flashing an ATI Radeon HD 6870 to Mac Native EFI, and then landing on the GeForce 760 and 1060, and finally an AMD Vega 56 over the decade-plus of owning a Mac Pro.
The most commonly flashable video cards have a Mac equivalent sold by Apple as OEM or aftermarket Mac version. Users transferred the GPU's ROMs and then distributed them via the internet. A user can then download utilities to flash the ROM onto the card. A few cards require physical modification. The advantage is once the ROM is installed, the card acts/behaves like a native card. Still, with a few cards, some functionality might be lost (generally losing a video port functionality as the Mac version did not have the same ports). Below are software-only flashable cards.
Macs today can use off-the-shelf GPUs. I've attempted to list all the GPUs going back to 10.8.x, although this list is growing. Metal support is required for 10.14. A few select GPUs can be flashed to show pre-boot bios, which are listed as Mac EFI compatible. Lastly, some GPUs require more power than the default Mac Pro power taps can provide, requiring an additional Power Supply or a modification known as the Pixlas mod. Please note that this entire list includes many GPUs, broken down into two main categories: AMD GPUs and NVidia GPUs.
AMD's Navi 21 GPUs (the 6600, 6600 XT, 6800, 6800 XT, and 6900 XT) are officially supported in macOS 12.1+, but due to a firmware bug, it would interrupt the boot process in the classic Mac Pros. The original speculation was the ROM used AVX calls (see macrumors), but after a deeper look, it was due to poorly written code. After this discovery, MacVidCards (EURO) started selling flashed 6800, and they can be flashed (Without a native boot screen) using Sychretic's ROM.
The process is straightforward, simply load the correct ROM to your card using the utility, but if you prefer a video how-to, see: Mac Sound Solutions inc: How to flash an RX6600XT RX6800XT RX6900XT for Mac Pro 5,1
** Dumped MacVidCards ROMs for these cards are floating around on the internet, making these particular cards flashable by users, but the modified ROMs only exist due to MVC putting in the effort to hack together Mac EFI compatible ROMs. MVC has yet to give out its modified ROMs for free.
Some of the Vega GPUs suffer loud idling speeds under older OSX/ Mac OS versions, although that may not resolve it. Many of the cards can be flashed to different bios. See the first post in the thread (down towards the bottom) MacRumors: AMD Polaris & Vega GPU macOS Support.
For a long time, the Vega 56s have been one of the best value GPUs for the Mac as they can grow with your setup. They can be flashed to use the Vega 64 firmware to increase performance. It isn't quite as fast as running a Vega 64, but it is close. That said, without a power supply modification, many users (self-included) experienced crashing when the GPU hit intensive loads and required reflashing it to Vega 56 Firmware. If you intend to mod your PSU, you can always flash a Vega 56 to a Vega 64 for a nice speed boost after you modify it.
Several MacRumors forum members have found that Mac Pro 3.1s cannot use the AMD RX580 due to the drivers requiring SSE4.2 instruction set requirements for Mojave and above. However, and this is a big one, Netkas has been able to get the RX560 working in a Mac Pro 3.1 by adding inline emulation for the SSE4.2 instruction for the drivers. Any of the AMD Polaris cards now are Mac Pro 3,1 compatible. See the full list here. More recently, the 3.1s occupy an interesting niche. They can display a bootscreen without flashing. Both Catalina and Mojave are supported.
Custom Flashed Cards: Depending on how much time you've spent researching upgrades, you may have read about the website/business, MacVidCards. MacVidCards sells custom flashed EFI NVidia and AMD cards. Initially, when I wrote this section, I hesitated to link directly to their site as several FaceBook (requires membership to MacProUpgrade) / MacRumors posts have been lukewarm. I worried readers might think I was endorsing a service they may not like. The cards do work, but the turn-around times are long, communication infrequent (although since writing that, MacVidcards now boasts improved communication and turn arounds). Is that true? I don't know, FaceBook (requires membership to MacProUpgrade) really runs the gamut. The prices are high, but they are legitimate, with many testimonials floating around message boards from longtime members that they do indeed work as promised. Just be prepared to wait and any issues to be sorted out in a time frame that may not be acceptable. MacVidCards claims to have written custom EFI ROMs for both NVidia and now AMD cards. Rather than explain how said hack was done (Unlike previous releases TonyMacX86 / MacRumors / Netkas), MacVidCards chooses to be a monopoly. (Note: Dave of MacVidCards notes he did contribute to previous AMD card hacks and did not get paid for his work on this). I'd rather not weigh too much on the ethics of it, but software developers do deserve compensation, and depending on the actual work performed on the EFI ROM, it may very well be truly custom. As of writing this, they are the only game in town when it comes to making the custom GPU cards Mac EFI compatible.
The era of firmware flashing GPUs for Macs is at an end as 2019 Mac Pro uses modified UEFIl thus, now, off-the-shelf GPUs provide bootscreens, and OpenCore provides a pre-bootscreen for users who require one.