How to Atiflash on a Mac Pro without Windows or boot screen

Things you need:

  • Mac Pro with PC graphics card installed
  • Live Linux installation DVD
  • USB dongle with Atiflash for Linux

There is a version of Atiflash available for Linux (now renamed amdvbflash). The flash tool will not see the PCIe graphics cards if it is run on Linux in EFI mode. To force Linux on a Mac Pro to boot in legacy BIOS mode, start it from a live DVD.

Before you start, make sure your Mac Pro reliably boots to your macOS partition without a need to use the boot screen. You can then install your new PC graphics card in the Mac Pro. There is no need to remove it at any point.  Download and copy the amdvbflash file to a folder on a USB flash drive or other removable media. Connect it to your Mac Pro.

  1. Boot to live Linux by pressing "C" at startup.
  2. Copy amdvbflash to the RAM disc by dragging your working folder to the Downloads folder.
  3. Open terminal and cd to ./Downloads/<your_folder>/ Make amdvbflash executable using the graphic interface or with the chmod 777 ./amdvbflash command.
  4. List your AMD graphics cards with the command sudo ./amdvbflash -ai. Save your PC BIOS to your working directory with the command sudo ./amdvbflash -s 0 AMD_7XXX_PC.rom (or whatever you want to call your original ROM file).
  5. Create your Mac EFI rom using Netkas' tool or whatever tool you want to use for editing. Boot the Mac Pro into macOS, or move the USB drive to another workstation.
  6. Reboot into live Linux, or reinsert the USB drive.
  7. Flash your graphics card with the command sudo ./amdvbflash -p 0 AMD_7XXX_Mac EFI.rom. Do not force flash with the -f option. If you created your own EFI rom as advised, instead of using something you found online, there should be no need to force flash.
  8. STOP! Do not restart your Mac although the instructions on the screen say so. Think! Did you use -f to force flash. If so, make sure that the card you thought you were flashing is actually inside the Mac Pro and not on your desk or the table in the other room. If not, you can still flash the original rom back into the card you just bricked.
  9. Reboot into macOS with boot screen.

Screenshot of my Ubuntu desktop after flashing a Radeon HD 7770 card. I named my working directory on the USB drive Linux and copied it into the Downloads folder on the Linux RAM disk. I used 64-bit Ubuntu 14.04 DVD on my Mac Pro 3,1.

Update December 27, 2020: The title is a reference to a thread on How to Boot Camp without a Boot Screen. The purpose of flashing a video card with new firmware is to show the "boot screen" and enable the Mac Pro user to select the operating system to boot into. Most PC graphics cards work on a Mac Pro and produce video once the operating system has loaded the appropriate drivers. Without drivers the cards will only produce output if they have specific EFI firmware.

Originally posted to MacRumors forum on August 31, 2020. Posted here and backdated on December 27, 2020.

Comments

  1. Jason GormanMay 31, 2023 at 4:38 PM

    This article is great, but I really could use a link to an appropriate legacy boot "Live Linux installation DVD" for my mac pro 5,1.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jason GormanMay 31, 2023 at 4:52 PM

      Maybe this: https://old-releases.ubuntu.com/releases/dapper/ubuntu-6.06.1-dvd-powerpc.iso

      Delete

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