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10.10.3 breaks support for ATI video cards

The 10.10.3 update has broken support for a bunch of ATI video cards that worked just fine under 10.10.2. This is for my Mac Pro 5,1. Some folks also reported issues with breaking support for Nvidia cards, but have mentioned that the latest Nvidia beta drivers might work.


There is a thread that may be found here that has some details:

OS X 10.10.3 Update

and here (reverting back to 10.10.2 fixes things):

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1864352


Specifically, my Visiontek Eyefinity 6 7750 stopped working, and another users Radeon 7770 stopped working. Yet, the 7970 continues to work. Reverting to the old ATI 5770 that came with the machine renders it usable. This is a problem as the 7750 only took a single slot, and the two 5770s eat up 3 slots so I can't use my USB 3 card, etc.


I remember this once happened before. I think it was with the 10.9.2 update which borked a bunch of video cards that worked fine under 10.9.1, and then were again made to work just fine with the 10.9.3 update.


All the 'standard' fixes have been attempted. Clean installs. Fix permissions. Etc.


Not sure why apple would seemingly disable support for these cards, other than by accident, I assume, much like happened with the 10.9.2 update.


Also not sure if just copying the correct driver from 10.10.2 might solve the problem until Apple get's around to fixing the issue. Has anyone tried? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Posted on Apr 9, 2015 11:45 PM

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17 replies

Apr 12, 2015 4:57 AM in response to jkheit

Hi, i am using dual Cinema Display 30 and 23 with a HIS ATI 7750 1 GB on a Mac Pro 3.1. Post upgrade from 10.10.2 to 10.10.3 my display eded unusable blurry. Therefore I have tried to replace the 10.10.3 kext with the previous 10.10.2. But it did not work out as expected. I managed to get some video output but no acceleration at all. Therefore the system is unusable. Therefore i full downgraded to 10.10.2 now.


Never the less it might be a good starting point for someone to get acceleration running. This is what I did:


I have to set the nvram variable kext-dev-mode=1, but be warned this will allow any unsigned > .kext to load, including rootlets, malware, etc.

I did this in order to allow me to modify the kext if necessary and to ensure that if 10.10.2 kext might be locked that they still be loaded and the computer will not be prevented from boot.


sudo nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1"

sudo shutdown -r now


Post this i copied from my other Mac running 10.10.2 the file /System/Library/Extensions/AMDRadeonX4000.kext to my Mac Pro 3.1 running 10.10.3 with no proper video output. Basically i copied all ATI related kext from one mac to the other.

copied [MAC10.10.2]/System/Library/Extensions/ATI* ----> [MAC10.10.3]/System/Library/Extensions/ATI*

copied [MAC10.10.2]/System/Library/Extensions/AMD* ----> [MAC10.10.3]/System/Library/Extensions/AMD*

someone needs to do a diff here to identify the file with is necessary the only one i found with a significant change seems to beAMDRadeonX4000.kext


I forced to rebuild kext cache manually

sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions

sudo kextcache -m /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/Extensions.mkext /System/Library/Extensions


And reboot!

sudo shutdown -r now


After the reboot I had display output but no acceleration at all. Seeing the video out put made me happy but the system is unusable to to the lack of acceleration of the display. I am really looking forward for Apple to fix the update and to reapply support for the ATI GPUs hence it allows to save environmental resources to keep good products like the Mac Pro 3.1 running...

Apr 18, 2015 1:05 PM in response to jkheit

I am running an ATI on my Mac Pro as well with three monitors and they stopped working after this update. The problem is I can't really attempt a repair as the signal to all three just turns off after about 3 minutes of run time. The update in 10.9.2 messed me up as well. I lost the right monitor first then the left went dead. I thought the card was going out and even bought new cabling to ensure it wasn't a bad connector. Apple is starting to lose my support because of this. I am an IT professional and editor. Through these errors they are hurting my business drastically and their cavalier attitude to repairing this known issue is unacceptable. I can't wait 1-2 months for a correction while my $5,000 computer is a paperweight. This is the second time and I will be forced to switch away from Mac perminantly if this continues and there is not a swift resolution this time. I can't afford the loss of profit because of failed programming.

Apr 19, 2015 10:49 PM in response to Epoch Dream Productions

Hi, I do not know wether your Mac Pro is a 'black' or a classic Mac Pro with may disks. However I would assume to utilize a second Mac and target disk mode to get access to the non proper working one. For the 'black' Mac Pro this is thunderbolt target mode, so you would need a second mac supporting thunderbolt. For all other Pro's this should be firewire 400 or 800. Follow on: 'target disk mode' ; for my Mac Pro, I can invoke it via pressing t on a wired keyboard during boot up (starting prior first boot sound). You may utilize a tool like Apple Disk Utility to recover a backup or Carbon Copy Cloner, which I prefer. I utilize the later to create a full disk backup from time to time and prior major updates like 10.10.2 -> 10.10.3.

If you have had ssh support or Remote Desktop enabled; and assuming it is still up and running, you might be able to get access via network to your Mac Pro. In this case you may try to utilize a Terminal fix your issue.

Please note that some users have posted that hdmi output on 'black' Mac Pros seems to be working post 10.10.3 update on their systems.

Apr 20, 2015 4:19 PM in response to jkheit

Apple doesn’t routinely monitor the discussions. These are mostly user to user discussions.


Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.


Feedback


Or you can use your Apple ID to register with this site and go the Apple BugReporter. Supposedly you will get an answer if you submit feedback.


Feedback via Apple Developer

Apr 22, 2015 2:25 PM in response to jkheit

Had the same issue with my HD7770 on my Mac Pro 1,1 - followed the guide in the link and I have my Mac back - ironically I appear to have a better refresh rate on my cinema display too which had developed a flicker on Yosemite. Had to make changes using a 2nd mac with the drive in target disk mode. Hope this helps somebody. http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/161511-radeon-hd-7750-xfx-glitchy-after-10-10 -3-update.html

Apr 30, 2015 12:56 AM in response to jkheit

I have the same issue with my mid-2010 iMac with ATI Radeon HD5670. For years I've used a HDMI cable and a Mini Displayport to HDMI adapter to connect my iMac to my Sony LCD-TV to get extended desktop. After the 10.10.3 update and its supplemental video driver update, the iMac stopped detecting the Sony. I did everything possible from resets to checking cables but nothing helped. Luckily I found a few threads about the issue and slowly it started to become clear that the 10.10.3 update did not play well together with my iMac and its ATI video card.

Right now I'm trying to survive with Airparrot to Chromecast connection to my Sony but it's a significant drop in quality and performance compared to a wired connection. I could do a clean install with my USB Yosemite installer and then combo update to 10.10.2 but I've spend so many hours getting my app settings and desktop to perfection that I'd hate to spend more hours to fix what Migration Assistant cannot do with my SuperDuper backup. I guess I will wait a few months for a possible official or unofficial fix and then, if there is nothing to be done, bite the bullet and go back to 10.10.2.

Btw, a possible solution was suggested to me where covering (thin electric tape) the 19th pin of the HDMI male connector going into the Sony could fix it. This didn't work but, on my first try, I accidentally covered the 2nd pin and my iMac started to detect the Sony even though I wasn't able to get an actual picture. I cannot help but think that someone with knowledge about these things how to temporarily modify the HDMI cable so that OS X 10.10.3 with an ATI video card. can detect external displays.

Aug 11, 2015 5:15 AM in response to Nicholas Woodhams

I use both Blender and the Reality plug-in for LuxRender. The dev for Reality was the first report I saw on this and the Blender devs mentioned it right after. There was a decent sized thread on the Blender forums but it devolved into a OS X vs. Windows whizzing contest in a very short time.

http://www.cgchannel.com/2015/05/open-source-3d-devs-criticise-apples-opencl-sup port/

10.10.3 breaks support for ATI video cards

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