iM 4,1-14,4 USB 3 + Wifi ac + BT4.2 for iMac 27" mid 2010

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Interesting modifications.For me personally would be of most use if I could connect an NVME (a real one, not M.2 interfaced SATA) stick to the miniPCI-e. Would this make sense speedwise or it is not much to gain over installing a 2.5" SATA-SSD?

Supposed that you did that successfully.
The existing mini PCIe slot at that era can only support bandwith at x1, PCIe gen 1 (or probably gen 2) protocol.
Maximum speed is about 800~1000MBps.
Not much gain comparing with the SATA 3 SSD read/writing speed (500~550MBps)
Furthermore, the advantage of SSD over HDD is lying on their random read/writing speed.
So, in conclusion:
Moving from HDD to SSD will have huge gain in speed.
Moving from SATA SSD to nVME SSD first generation won't give you that fast and furious feeling on speed.

 

[HoreaG]

Never got 500 MBps on SSD attached to SATA3. More like 300-315 MBps. 1000 MBps would sure make a difference.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Never got 500 MBps on SSD attached to SATA3. More like 300-315 MBps. 1000 MBps would sure make a difference.

Maybe somebody with heavy video editing works can feel the different.
I can't feel any difference between a SATA SSD(550MB/s) and a gen 4 nVME blade (6000MB/s)

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hello!

Probably you all can get native USB3 boot support with a firmware modification that worked fine on iMac12,2. It is worth a try. before doing this I had punched a hole into the firmware to enable software flashing using this method developed by @m0bil. Should or can work on 2009 and 2010 iMacs, too.

 

[HoreaG]

Hello!

Probably you all can get native USB3 boot support with a firmware modification that worked fine on iMac12,2. It is worth a try. before doing this I had punched a hole into the firmware to enable software flashing using this method developed by @m0bil. Should or can work on 2009 and 2010 iMacs, too.

Doubt you can get USB3 support on 2009 and 2010 iMacs, as the hardware is not there.

As for booting from USB on those models is already possible, you just have to comment out the restrictions the iMacs with DVD-ROM have.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Doubt you can get USB3 support on 2009 and 2010 iMacs, as the hardware is not there.

As for booting from USB on those models is already possible, you just have to comment out the restrictions the iMacs with DVD-ROM have.

Would you please read title and the complete first post of this particular thread - doubt you did this before posting! There is even another thread for the iMac11,1 late 2009 with similar instruction (and very likely this may even work with the 27" iMac10,1).

Long story short: I used the same hardware (PCI FL1100 based USB3 card) before in my iMac11,1 and iMac11,3 with OpenCore injection and achieved additionally native EFI boot support with injecting the same drivers (DXE modules) into the iMac12,2 firmware.

There is absolutely no doubt USB3 boot is working with all this systems using OpenCore, it is only about doing the last step and changing the iMac firmware.

 

[HoreaG]

I did read the title and know what the thread is about. But native means as the iMac was delivered, not after you upgraded half of its hardware.
Also you can boot and even install the OS from USB without Opencore, you just have to delete or comment out the restrictions Apple put in for the iMacs delivered with a Superdrive.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I did read the title and know what the thread is about. But native means as the iMac was delivered, not after you upgraded half of its hardware.
Also you can boot and even install the OS from USB without Opencore, you just have to delete or comment out the restrictions Apple put in for the iMacs delivered with a Superdrive.

These iMacs 2009-2011 are known to be the last modular iMac systems. I will not explain what modular means. For more than a decade owners/users tried more or less successfully to expand functionality of these iMacs by adding or changing hardware using the standard interfaces like mPCI, MXM, SATA, etc. - one of the latest developments is about enabling a native EFI boot picker on non Apple standard PCI or MXM graphics cards.

I am pretty sure the wording is correct since "non native but works like natively" sound complex and everyone but you knows what I am writing about. There is always loss in communication, in this case on the receivers side.

 

[StefanAM]

Part 4/4: System report and Benchmark

The old Wifi & BT module continues to function on the new PCIe to mPCIe adapter board:
View attachment 1671876

View attachment 1671877

Updated 8 Dec 2020: This showed the upgraded new Wifi ac/BT 4.2 module (BCM943602CDP) in function:
View attachment 1688597

View attachment 1688598


The registry of the USB 3 in System Report:
View attachment 1688599


Speed test of the Samsung T7 USB external 2GB SSD via the onboard USB 2.
View attachment 1671882

Speed test of the Samsung T7 USB external 2GB SSD via the USB 3 port WITH the middle PCIe relay.
View attachment 1671983
{Ref: The mPCIe slot is of PCIe x1, max. ~250MB/s. USB2 has max speed ~60MB/s, while USB3 ~625MB/s.}

Speed test of the Samsung T7 USB external 2GB SSD via the USB 3 port WITHOUT the intervening PCIe relay - minimal speed gain. (My prior test of higher speed used wrongly the internal SSD for testing.)
View attachment 1688600

The USB drive connected to the ports of the USB 3 PCIe card DID disconnected upon prolonged sleep with waking or restart. Currently all PCIe USB cards exhibit the same behaviour.

View attachment 1779157

Updated 22 May 2021: The USB 3 modification works in Big Sur 11.2.3 with iMac MicroPatcher 0.5.5.
Updated 7 June 2021: The USB 3 hack still functions in Big Sur 11.4 with OCLP v0.1.5.
Updated 4 Aug 2021: Works in Catalina 10.15 to Big Sur 11.5.1 to Monterey 12 b4 with OCLP 0.2.4
Updated 17 Oct 2021: Function well in Monterey 12 beta10 with OCLP 0.3.0
Updated 23 Feb 2022: Continue to work in Monterey 12.2.1 with OCLP 0.4.2
Updated 12 Nov 2022: Work in Monterey 12.6.1 with OCLP 0.5.1
Updated 11 Jul 2023: no issue in Ventura 13.4.1 with OCLP 0.6.7 (and BootCamp Windows 10/11 22H2)

T7 to onboard USB 2: ================> T7 to PCIe USB3:
View attachment 1873529 View attachment 1873531

I want to thank you for this tutorial!