MP 1,1-5,1 Is my GTX 680 Classified flashed?!

[thenoobiestnoob]

Hey, very new to this forum, but it's been extremely helpful for my MP 3,1 & 5,1 builds. I'm hoping I can get an answer to my current confusion, as I haven't been able to find anything searching online so far.

Right now I have 2 GTX 680 4GB Classified cards. I've been trying to flash them, but to no avail. However there has been what I think is a silver lining? I installed Win 10 on a Windows partition by using a boot DVD. It installs, and then restarts and boots into Mojave.. I am also then able to boot into Win by changing the boot drive, but then I can't find a way to boot back into OS X unless I restart the Windows install again.... I am very confused. Does this mean the cards are already flashed? How am I able to boot into OS X? I thought they needed to be flashed. I'm also unsure of what the official boot screen is... does it mean I can boot into recovery mode? I get black screen and then a quick shot of the loading Apple logo and then I'm at the OS X login screen. I need to be able to explain the state of the cards so I can sell them to upgrade to the Vega 64 in my MP 5,1 and sell the 3,1 possibly with a 680 in it.

Sorry if this has been covered somewhere...Cheers!

 

[KeesMacPro]

I'm also unsure of what the official boot screen is...

Bootscreen= immediately after the chime you see the Apple logo and a progress bar of the system loading.
With a compatible PC Card (=unflashed) , you'll see nothing until the OS loaded the graphics drivers(=login screen).

 

[macguru9999]

That card is hard to flash. Its covered here somewhere, but you are better off with the 2gb reference cards, they flash ok.

 

[minifridge1138]

Easy test for a boot screen: press the power button to turn it on and then hold the option key. If you see a list of bootable drives, your card is flashed. If you see a black screen, your card is not flashed.

 

[Taylor Walraven]

I don’t have experience with the classified version but I flashed an Evga gtx 680 4GB with the ROM available on this forum. Search gtx680-4GB-dvi.zip and you should find it. I followed this YouTube video:

Be sure to download the same version of the flashing software that he does.

 

[thenoobiestnoob]

I don’t have experience with the classified version but I flashed an Evga gtx 680 4GB with the ROM available on this forum. Search gtx680-4GB-dvi.zip and you should find it. I followed this YouTube video:

Be sure to download the same version of the flashing software that he does.

OK thank you. I have followed his video, but ended up trying the method and BIOS that was provided in another thread specifically for 4gb cards, but it didn't work. NVFlash gives me a message that it's mismatched firmware. The msg is very quick so it's hard to read, but it just shuts down and does nothing. So ultimately I have the ROM but I haven't tried the method of burning it onto disk as in the link above. I'll try that now. I just hope I have a DVD with enough space.
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And thank you everyone else who clarified the boot screen. These cards are indeed not flashed. I'll update following this next attempt.

 

[thenoobiestnoob]

Here is a step-by-step version for flashing a GTX680 card in Windows. There is also a FreeDOS method, but I don't know anything about that.

Do this at your own risk. Some exotic GTX680s cannot be flashed successfully (some can). Nearly all plain ones can. If you are concerned about it, pick one that's already been verified by someone else in this 4GB thread you're in right now, or this other thread for 2GB models: Confirmed and Possible Flashable GTX680 Models.

Notes:

• You have to boot Windows natively on your Mac Pro or on a PC (do not do this in a virtual machine like VMWare or Parallels).
• The GTX680 card must be installed in the computer. Don't have any other video cards installed at the same time.
• There is no point in flashing a GTX 680 for a Mac Pro 1,1 or 2,1. You will not gain boot screens.

1) Obtain these files:

• An older version of NVflash (5.134) that works with GTX 680 cards, from here.
• If you have a 2GB card, get the ROM for it here. This is from EVGA.
• If you have a 4GB card, get the ROM for it here. This is from Fl0r!an.

2) Unzip NVflash.zip.

3) Unzip the ROM file. For 2GB cards, the 2GB ROM filename ends in .BIN; rename it to end in .ROM. The 4GB ROM is fine.

4) Copy the above files to a single folder that is easily accessible from the command prompt. I suggest you make a new folder C:\mango. If you come up with your own folder name, don't use spaces in it. The folder should include the following files:

nvflash.exe (and related files from the ZIP)​

gtx680mac.rom (for 2GB cards)​

GTX680-4GB-ROM.rom (for 4GB cards)​

5) Open a command line window:

Click Start button, type CMD, and press Enter. (A command line window will open.)​

6) In the command line window, navigate to the folder with the files. To use my example, the command would be:

cd c:\mango

7) Save your existing firmware to a file for backup in case you want to flash the original back in. I recommend you don't use spaces in the filename.

nvflash -b Backup.rom

8) Flash in the new firmware. The following example shows the 4GB ROM file, but substitute the proper filename for your card:

nvflash -4 -5 -6 GTX680-4GB-ROM.rom

9) If it asks for confirmation, press yes. When it says to wait, wait.

10) After it is successful, reboot and you will see boot screens.

11) Celebrate.

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If you want to flash your old ROM back in, use step 8 but replace the filename with your backup ROM filename (Backup.rom from the example) from step 7.
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Note For Windows 10 EFI Users: In a couple of cases a GTX680 flashed with EFI ROM installed into a Mac Pro running Windows 10 installed in EFI mode may have very long boot times or may boot to a black screen. This does not happen if Windows 10 is installed in CSM/BIOS mode.

THIS POST SOLVED EVERYTHING!! I was using a dated ROM to flash with and it wasn't going through until 1) I got the updated ROM 2) Completed the whole process through CMD .... sigh... wow what an adventure. Thank you everyone for the nudge in the right direction. The answer I needed was 26 pages into a thread that I had begun the process reading, but didn't get far enough to see the updated answer.

 

[Grindhouse]

Error: 'please power down and connect the PCIe power cable(s).

I also got myself the EVGA GEFORCE GTX 680 CLASSIFIED but I get this error on my 5.1 Mac Pro.
I use 2 original Apple Dual Mini PCIE 6 Pins to Standard PCIE 6 pins cables. The card has 8 pin connectors.
Should I get a set of the Apple Dual Mini PCIE 6 Pin to Standard PCIE 8 cables instead?
I read that it could damage the MOB cause I may draw to much power. Should I get an external power supply?
I'm stuck here :-/ Thanks for reading!

 

[thenoobiestnoob]

Error: 'please power down and connect the PCIe power cable(s).

I also got myself the EVGA GEFORCE GTX 680 CLASSIFIED but I get this error on my 5.1 Mac Pro.
I use 2 original Apple Dual Mini PCIE 6 Pins to Standard PCIE 6 pins cables. The card has 8 pin connectors.
Should I get a set of the Apple Dual Mini PCIE 6 Pin to Standard PCIE 8 cables instead?
I read that it could damage the MOB cause I may draw to much power. Should I get an external power supply?
I'm stuck here :-/ Thanks for reading!

You should do the pixlas mod. That's what I did for my 2 cards and it's glorious. If you don't feel inclined to undertake the task then yes I would get an external PSU. There are other ways to use adapter cables from PCIe or molex connectors but it's not recommended. The pcu in the tower is plenty powerful enough to drive your card once properly tapped into.

Here is a link to the pixlas mod instructions. Take your time and double check everything and it will be fine. https://thehouseofmoth.com/mac-pro-pixlas-mod/