[SOLVED] XFX R9 280X It Simply Won't Work

mrcobra92 · Jun 20, 2015

So, I have had a Yosemite machine working now for about 6 months with no issues. It originally featured a GTX 760. I have since switched to an XFX R9 280X. I can't get it to boot with this card. it will go through all of the motions as usual, but it just won't work no matter what I do unless I use safe mode. I have switched to the EFI partition for booting as some said to do which fixed nothing, I have tried every boot flag I can find. Still, it hangs at the exact same place. Specs in bio (mother board is ga-b85m-d3h), picture attached. Could really use some help! This is my main work machine.

P1LGRIM · Jun 20, 2015

XFX R9 280X It Simply Won't Work

mrcobra92 said:
So, I have had a Yosemite machine working now for about 6 months with no issues. It originally featured a GTX 760. I have since switched to an XFX R9 280X. I can't get it to boot with this card. it will go through all of the motions as usual, but it just won't work no matter what I do unless I use safe mode. I have switched to the EFI partition for booting as some said to do which fixed nothing, I have tried every boot flag I can find. Still, it hangs at the exact same place. Specs in bio (mother board is ga-b85m-d3h), picture attached. Could really use some help! This is my main work machine.

Please read the Rules :

Please use the search function before creating a new topic. The question that you ask may have already been answered

There are many threads concerning your issue : Search

Profiles need to contain at least your primary system to assist others with helping you

mrcobra92 · Jun 20, 2015

XFX R9 280X It Simply Won't Work

P1LGRIM said:
Please read the Rules :

I have, and I thought what I had edited was my profile. I was wrong. It's now fixed. My bad.

P1LGRIM said:
There are many threads concerning your issue : Search

No there are not. None of the threads I found outline my issue The issues I found when reading those threads had to do with not starting up at all, or going to a grey screen. None of them had the issue where it almost gets past the startup and only works in same mode.

P1LGRIM · Jun 20, 2015

XFX R9 280X It Simply Won't Work

mrcobra92 said:
It's now fixed

Unfortunately it's not :

Under System: (where you have 10.10.3) enter details of your motherboard
Under CPU: (where you have 1150 i7 3.6 ghz) enter details of your processor model number (i.e. i7 4790K)
There is no need to enter the socket type or frequency.

mrcobra92 · Jun 20, 2015

XFX R9 280X It Simply Won't Work

P1LGRIM said:
Unfortunately it's not :

Under System: (where you have 10.10.3) enter details of your motherboard
Under CPU: (where you have 1150 i7 3.6 ghz) enter details of your processor model number (i.e. i7 4790K)
There is no need to enter the socket type or frequency.

My bad. I'm rushing, sorry. I thought the build signature thing was where it needed to go. All should be fixed now.

Anyway.

Anyone know what should be done? I have just installed a clean instal of 10.10.3 on another hard drive, and right after the install, I get stuck at the same place on the first boot. I can't find anyone else on any website with the same problem. Some help would be much appreciated.

EDIT:
I should note it boots perfectly with no boot flags at all with the internal graphics.

P1LGRIM · Jun 21, 2015

XFX R9 280X It Simply Won't Work

mrcobra92 said:
My bad. I'm rushing, sorry. I thought the build signature thing was where it needed to go. All should be fixed now.

Anyway.

Anyone know what should be done? I have just installed a clean instal of 10.10.3 on another hard drive, and right after the install, I get stuck at the same place on the first boot. I can't find anyone else on any website with the same problem. Some help would be much appreciated.

EDIT:
I should note it boots perfectly with no boot flags at all with the internal graphics.

You may find that this procedure helps :

http://www.tonymacx86.com/general-help/115818-install-bootloader-extra-efi-partition.html

mrcobra92 · Jun 21, 2015

XFX R9 280X It Simply Won't Work

P1LGRIM said:
You may find that this procedure helps :

http://www.tonymacx86.com/general-help/115818-install-bootloader-extra-efi-partition.html

Ah ha! That along with flashing the bios on my card worked! https://www.******.com/r/hackintosh/comments/2sl5vd/xfx_r9_280x_cannot_boot_into_mavericks_without/

I never thought to look up my specific BRAND graphics card (I'm such an idiot, i just figured all r9 280x's were the same). Though once I did that and actually chose the EFI partition, not the hard drive to boot from (I have my mother board set for UEFI and Legacy and kept selecting the legacy drive), IT'S FINALLY WORKING!!! Thanks again for your help with this and my account, sorry if I came across as a bit gruff, it was 2 am when I was tying those things and I had been working for hours all day to get it to work.

Anyway.

If anyone else has this problem, check your brand! XFX cards require you flash the bios with this http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/149113/xfx-r9280x-3072-131017.html. Just make sure you backup your original bios first. Hope this helps anyone else in pain over this stuff!

Stork · Jun 21, 2015

The biggest thing to know about PC graphics cards and Apple's OS X is that Apple uses the AMD/ATI and nVidia Reference Design cards for their Macs. Thus, the drivers are "built" around the Ref. Design ports (simplified explanation). So, use a graphics card that has the Ref Design port layout which in this case is 1xDVI, 1xHDMI and 2xmDP.

Since the 280x is a rebadged 7950/7970, Apple's drivers should work on the Ref. Design 280x with the monitor port layout as I described above. However, some manufacturers of the the 280x have deviated from the port layout; e.g., 2xDVI, 1xHDMI and 1xmDP. Depending upon the modified layout, the framebuffer designation might have changed (see the sticky thread in the Forum's Graphics forum section).

Consequently, you best approach to see what brand of 280x works is to look at the User Builds and Yosemite Desktop Guides forum sections. :thumbup:

References:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviewdb/Graphics-Cards/AMD/R9-280X/
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7400/the-radeon-r9-280x-review-feat-asus-xfx
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/R9_280X_Gaming_6_GB/

mrcobra92 · Jun 23, 2015

Stork said:
The biggest thing to know about PC graphics cards and Apple's OS X is that Apple uses the AMD/ATI and nVidia Reference Design cards for their Macs. Thus, the drivers are "built" around the Ref. Design ports (simplified explanation). So, use a graphics card that has the Ref Design port layout which in this case is 1xDVI, 1xHDMI and 2xmDP.

Since the 280x is a rebadged 7950/7970, Apple's drivers should work on the Ref. Design 280x with the monitor port layout as I described above. However, some manufacturers of the the 280x have deviated from the port layout; e.g., 2xDVI, 1xHDMI and 1xmDP. Depending upon the modified layout, the framebuffer designation might have changed (see the sticky thread in the Forum's Graphics forum section).

Consequently, you best approach to see what brand of 280x works is to look at the User Builds and Yosemite Desktop Guides forum sections.

References:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviewdb/Graphics-Cards/AMD/R9-280X/
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7400/the-radeon-r9-280x-review-feat-asus-xfx
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/R9_280X_Gaming_6_GB/

Thank you so much! You helped me solve the final problem. The V-Bios flash did work for mac, but blue screened my Windows install. So after much digging and research, I found the v-bios files to be editable. So I found a v-bios of the same card meant for Asus (which works perfectly for mac and windows) and I edited the file to trick the flashing tool into thinking it was this brand. The cards hardware and clock speeds are identical, just different coolers so I knew it would do no harm. Once flashed with my edited v-bios, all was good and it worked perfectly on mac and Windows! I will be posting these here to help anyone else out with this card. Is there anywhere I can host this where it will be easily accessible by people with the same problem? Thanks again!

Stork · Jun 24, 2015

Yes, the Graphics forum section > http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/

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[SOLVED] XFX R9 280X It Simply Won't Work

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