MP All Models Turn a "new" Sapphire RX580 PULSE into the "Mac Edition" card

[h9826790]

Whoa! This thread has gotten me concerned. Before this thing about the part # came up, I bought a Sapphire RX 580 Pulse 8GB card not thinking that a part # would mean anything. Looking at my card now, I see the part # is 299-1E387-000SA. Is Apple somehow cuing on part #s? If so, did I just shoot myself in the foot?

That's the manufacture part number, not the same part number we were talking about.

I think you have to dump the ROM to check that part number. And no matter what's on the box, label, card. Only the part number inside the VBIOS does matter anyway, better to check it.

 

[TheStork]

That's the manufacture part number, not the same part number we were talking about.

I think you have to dump the ROM to check that part number. And no matter what's on the box, label, card. Only the part number inside the VBIOS does matter anyway, better to check it.

Screwed again...I don't have/use Windows. Isn't there Mac apps that allow dumping the VBIOS?

 

[owbp]

Isn't there Mac apps that allow dumping the VBIOS?

There was one many years ago, but i don't think that it can work with anything after HD6xxx series...

http://netkas.org/?p=943

 

[h9826790]

Screwed again...I don't have/use Windows. Isn't there Mac apps that allow dumping the VBIOS?

ATIflash (NOT ATIWinFlash) can be used in DOS. And it should be very easy to create a bootable DOS USB drive.

But you may need to co-install a Mac EFI GPU (e.g. GT120), otherwise until this thread has break through

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/boot-menus-for-graphics-output-protocol.2089181/

You may not able to see anything with non Mac EFI GPU.

 

[pastrychef]

Screwed again...I don't have/use Windows. Isn't there Mac apps that allow dumping the VBIOS?

You can try DPCIManager.

Note that when downloading, SourceForge incorrectly identifies it as malware.

 

[MIKX]

This is for future RX580 EFI rom development discussions.

The HD 7950 & 7970 both have bios switches : I discovered that looking at the switches the right switch is EFI and I labelled it as such.

If I tried to flash either the LEFT bios ( factory default ) the flash failed. It worked OK with the RIGHT ( efi ) bios switch.

Assuming that ref RX580's also have the dual bios switch may make the bios switch choice relevant.

We need h9826790 & Fior1an's talents on this one.

Surely Apple will not leave us without the ability to have a pre-boot boot disk choice ( I hope ).

 

[h9826790]

This is for future RX580 EFI rom development discussions.

The HD 7950 & 7970 both have bios switches : I discovered that looking at the switches the right switch is EFI and I labelled it as such.

If I tried to flash either the LEFT bios ( factory default ) the flash failed. It worked OK with the RIGHT ( efi ) bios switch.

Assuming that ref RX580's also have the dual bios switch may make the bios switch choice relevant.

We need h9826790 & Fior1an's talents on this one.

Surely Apple will not leave us without the ability to have a pre-boot boot disk choice ( I hope ).

In Apple's point of view, I think make a BootROM for cMP that can activate the Sapphire PULSE RX580's UEFI GOP is easier.

 

[TheStork]

You can try DPCIManager.

Note that when downloading, SourceForge incorrectly identifies it as malware.

Thanks, @pastrychef. Unfortunately, it's not intuitively obvious on how to use it as it has no guide or wiki. I'm almost afraid to try anything. Have you used it?

Update: tried to read the ROM to see what ROM is asks for. I get a "not compatible with this OS". I tried on both HS and Mojave. I'll get with you on chat to figure this out rather than here as I think I'm OT.

 

[h9826790]

Case closed. Apple determined only that to two part numbers Sapphire PULSE RX580 will get Orinoco FrameBuffer natively.

If we can't get that two. VBIOS mod is the way to make it happen.

On the other hand, my "No boot screen" bug report still open, and they actually said it's a duplicated report. So, may be really working on it.

 

[tsialex]

Case closed. Apple determined only that to two part numbers Sapphire PULSE RX580 will get Orinoco FrameBuffer natively.

View attachment 779621

If we can't get that two. VBIOS mod is the way to make it happen.

On the other hand, my "No boot screen" bug report still open, and they actually said it's a duplicated report. So, may be really working on it.

I can workaround not having bootscreens/selector, but not having HEVC encoding will be a really big deception for me.

I want to buy a RX580 just for encoding.

 

[h9826790]

I can workaround not having bootscreens/selector, but not having HEVC encoding will be a really big deception for me.

I want to buy a RX580 just for encoding.

The "GPU hardware encoding bug" is still in progress. They ask me for some extra info. I gave them already.

They then said they are now working on it.

Hopefully they won't "downgrade" it back to software encoding, and then consider that's a "fix".

 

[bookemdano]

Case closed. Apple determined only that to two part numbers Sapphire PULSE RX580 will get Orinoco FrameBuffer natively.

View attachment 779621

If we can't get that two. VBIOS mod is the way to make it happen.

On the other hand, my "No boot screen" bug report still open, and they actually said it's a duplicated report. So, may be really working on it.

I hope so. I couldn't care less about having an Apple logo, but cMPs will be crippled in several important ways--not the least of which is inability to boot in verbose or single user mode for troubleshooting purposes. It would be surprising that Apple would actually recommend that kind of neutered setup.

 

[MisterAndrew]

This is what the Orinoco FrameBuffer gives you. Without Orinoco, PP_EnableLoadFalconSmcFirmware and PP_Falcon_QuickTransition_Enable are both disabled.

 

[orph]

are the only cards (we know of) supported by the Orinoco FrameBuffer the RX 580 pulse + MSI RX 560 ?

been looking at RX 480's on ebay as there getting close to £120, sounds like this may not be a good idea now if the Orinoco FrameBuffer thing will not work on the older RX 480 cards

 

[MisterAndrew]

are the only cards (we know of) supported by the Orinoco FrameBuffer the RX 580 pulse + MSI RX 560 ?

been looking at RX 480's on ebay as there getting close to £120, sounds like this may not be a good idea now if the Orinoco FrameBuffer thing will not work on the older RX 480 cards

Only 2 particular models of the Pulse RX 580, but you can edit the rom of a different Pulse 580 as this thread instructs. RX 560 cannot use the Orinoco framebuffer.

 

[eksu]

Do we know what PP_EnableLoadFalconSmcFirmware & PP_Falcon_QuickTransition_Enable do?

Are these not available for any Vega cards either?

 

[MisterAndrew]

Do we know what PP_EnableLoadFalconSmcFirmware & PP_Falcon_QuickTransition_Enable do?

Are these not available for any Vega cards either?

I don't know what those features do. PP_Falcon_QuickTransition_Enable is enabled by default on Vega cards, but PP_EnableLoadFalconSmcFirmware is not listed in the driver.

 

[RamMac]

I don't know what those features do. PP_Falcon_QuickTransition_Enable is enabled by default on Vega cards, but PP_EnableLoadFalconSmcFirmware is not listed in the driver.

View attachment 779681

Hmm, what about Sapphire Radeon RX580 Nitro+ card? Is that included? I also need HEVC encoding support from Apple, I have made a few bug reports.

Also I have issues with Apple photos up to Mojave PB8. (have not yet downloaded the PB9). Photos taken with my iPhone 7 plus (original image files uploaded through iCloud to Photos app) in HEIC format, especially with Live photos on, editing those in Photos App turns images completely white and images disappear. When I choose reset image, then image comes back seen but not possible to edit. Also videos shot with my phone can not be played inside photos app. Warning message window appears saying application unable to show video and recommends using QuickTime app instead.

How about other users with similar setup? @tsialex ?

 

[h9826790]

I can workaround not having bootscreens/selector, but not having HEVC encoding will be a really big deception for me.

I want to buy a RX580 just for encoding.

Just installed and tested 10.14 PB9, no joy on hardware encoding yet.

Apple fixed the QuickTime Player export error. However, not the way we want. No matter H264 or H265, only use software encoder.

The decoding obviously using hardware decoder, which looks like this.

But I found an interesting thing is that now we have the "Faster Encode" option in FCPX (in both 10.13 and 10.14). From memory, it's not there for cMP. And this option suppose to be used to select QuickSync as encoder for the newer Mac.

The CPU / GPU usage is similar for both Faster Encode or Better Quality option. But Faster Encode is really much faster for the same 4K video export.

I double check it with BruceX, export as 4K video, 28s for Faster Encoded, and 86s for Better Quality. And both video output has very similar bitrate and parameters. Of course, looks identical on the monitor.

 

[fhturner]

But I found an interesting thing is that now we have the "Faster Encode" option in FCPX (in both 10.13 and 10.14). From memory, it's not there for cMP. And this option suppose to be used to select QuickSync as encoder for the newer Mac.

This got me all excited, and I kinda lost my head for a bit. Looked at a couple of my systems, one w/ an RX 580 and one with 5770. All combinations of hardware + macOS 10.13/10.14 + FCPX 10.3.x/10.4.x had the "Faster" and "Better" options. Then I remembered what that selector was for, independent of QuickSync: a one-pass encode vs. a two-pass encode. So that's all you're seeing. The Faster is just making a single pass, whereas Better is first inspecting the content to know best how to allocate the bitrate when it encodes on the 2nd pass. Nothing to do w/ hardware acceleration in this case, I'm afraid...

 

[crjackson2134]

@h9826790

I will set out to use this full thread either tonight or tomorrow night, but in the mean time, can you tell me is there a particular advantage to having this Orinoco frame buffer, as opposed to the one provided on my stock card as seen below?

 

[h9826790]

@h9826790

I will set out to use this full thread either tonight or tomorrow night, but in the mean time, can you tell me is there a particular advantage to having this Orinoco frame buffer, as opposed to the one provided on my stock card as seen below?

View attachment 779862

If your system is working perfectly now, AFAIK, NO.

I still have no idea what PP_Falcon_QuickTransition_Enable and PP_EnableLoadFalconSmcFirmware functions are.

However, have correct framebuffer may able to fix some annoying issues (e.g. sleep wake problem).

In the hackintosh forum. Some users also reported that they can only get 5k display working with the correct framebuffer selected. No sure if this is the same on cMP.

 

[crjackson2134]

If your system is working perfectly now, AFAIK, NO.

I still have no idea what PP_Falcon_QuickTransition_Enable and PP_EnableLoadFalconSmcFirmware functions are.

However, have correct framebuffer may able to fix some annoying issues (e.g. sleep wake problem).

In the hackintosh forum. Some users also reported that they can only get 5k display working with the correct framebuffer selected. No sure if this is the same on cMP.

Okay, thanks. May be a moot point for me then. Sleep and everything is working perfectly here. I just wondered if there might be a performance advantage. I'll leave as is unless some gremlin rears it's ugly head. Thanks for the quick response as usual.

 

[h9826790]

This got me all excited, and I kinda lost my head for a bit. Looked at a couple of my systems, one w/ an RX 580 and one with 5770. All combinations of hardware + macOS 10.13/10.14 + FCPX 10.3.x/10.4.x had the "Faster" and "Better" options. Then I remembered what that selector was for, independent of QuickSync: a one-pass encode vs. a two-pass encode. So that's all you're seeing. The Faster is just making a single pass, whereas Better is first inspecting the content to know best how to allocate the bitrate when it encodes on the 2nd pass. Nothing to do w/ hardware acceleration in this case, I'm afraid...

I believe that you are right (especially the case on the cMP), thanks for all these info. I also don't think there is any hardware encoding involved. But just share what I've found (even they are not new at all). However, we still have no idea how much FCPX use OpenCL / METAL to assist the encoding. It's a known fact that OpenCL can be used to assist H264 encoding (e.g. use it to speed up the "Lookahead" operation. So, we still not sure how much (and how) Apple use the GPU during video exporting.

AFAIK, that "faster encode" is the "selector" to use QuickSync on the newer Mac. However, most likely exactly because QuickSync can only do single pass. This is why that faster encode option become the selector of using QuickSync.

So, nothing is changed, that is still single pass vs multi pass. But if the hardware can do hardware encoding, then the single pass option will become hardware encoding. I believe this is also true on the iMac Pro which has no QuickSync but use Vega for hardware encoding.

30Mbps is quite high bitrate for such simple video, as long as use the correct parameters to encode, the video should looks very similar regardless single pass or multi pass. Most likely that's why I can't see the difference.

Anyway, there is absolutely no hardware encoding yet. However, having some sort of hardware acceleration assist from the GPU is still possible.

 

[orph]

thanks MisterAndrew, had hope that the bios mod may also work on a RX 480 (as i have no clue about bios mods past the real basics) shame.

in the UK vaga 56 on ebay is only £10 more than a RX 580 8gb pulse new on amazon but a GTX1070 on ebay uk is cheaper than both while a RX480 is close to £120 used (which is why im just confused at what to do)