<< Solved >> Unable to remove/disable Nvidia graphics card in Big Sur custom built Mac

[FormerUser-400995]

Yes, figured out the hard way. If you could please help me figure out resolution, it will be highly appreciated. 1600x900 is not worth it to remove the graphics card. I have posted my config file in just previous message file as you requested.

Have you tried using the "AAPL,ig-platform-id" value of "02001619" that you mistakenly entered earlier to see if it still gives the desired resolution? If it does, then perhaps recommended alternative values exist that further research may reveal.

Though, I suggest only trying that after removing the frame-buffer and other entries as indicated by Feartech; and only if those edits don't produce results you hope for.

 

[PrasadK]

if DVMT is set to 64MB or 128MB

then remove:

<key>framebuffer-patch-enable    </key>
                <data>AQAAAA==</data>
                <key>framebuffer-stolenmem    </key>
                <data>AAAwAQ==</data>

also, not sure what this is for:

<key>PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1C,0x4)/Pci(0x0,0x0)</key>
            <dict>
                <key>name</key>
                <data>I2Rpc3BsYXk=</data>
                <key>IOName</key>
                <string>#display</string>
                <key>class-code</key>
                <string>FFFFFFFF</string>
            </dict>

also remove the device-id:

<key>device-id</key>
                <data>EhkAAA==</data>

"PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1C,0x4)/Pci(0x0,0x0)" section was for disabling the PCIe dGPU card. With iMac27,1 I don't need to have this section as I am able to physically remove the card. DVMT is set to 512MB (even 256MB works fine but I have 32GB RAM - so I thought I will it to the max allowed.).
Thank you. I removed the framebuffer sections and device-id and magic happened! Getting 3840x2160. So, it boiled down to combination of not using correct SMBIOS and once I corrected I had to drop Framebuffer patches.

MacBookPro13,1 was loading the com.apple.nvidia.NVDAStartup from Apple and I wonder if there is support for NVIDIA in Big Sur though it is widely published that it is not.

I have to do few more tests and then I will mark this as solved. Thank you both for guiding me. I learned quite a bit in the process.

 

[PrasadK]

@Feartech @macntosh I am almost there in getting to a perfect installation. Only annoying issue now is not able to awake from a hibernation. After display turns off, for a while (probably an hour or two) I can use keyboard or mouse to awake screen again (it started working like this after passing igfxonln=1 in boot args). At this point, it seems that only display is off and I have LEDs on the computer ON. If I miss this time window and when the LEDs on computer turn off then pressing keyboards wakes up the computer, however, the display doesn't turn on. I went through this section to tweak it: https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Post-Install/universal/sleep.html#preparations

I have attached my config.plist, energy saver settings, and the log from pmset. I am sure I missed a step somewhere display settings. Any help you can provide is much appreciated.

 

[FormerUser-400995]

@Feartech @macntosh I am almost there in getting to a perfect installation. Only annoying issue now is not able to awake from a hibernation. After display turns off, for a while (probably an hour or two) I can use keyboard or mouse to awake screen again (it started working like this after passing igfxonln=1 in boot args). At this point, it seems that only display is off and I have LEDs on the computer ON. If I miss this time window and when the LEDs on computer turn off then pressing keyboards wakes up the computer, however, the display doesn't turn on. I went through this section to tweak it: https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Post-Install/universal/sleep.html#preparations

I have attached my config.plist, energy saver settings, and the log from pmset. I am sure I missed a step somewhere display settings. Any help you can provide is much appreciated.

Is it a Bluetooth keyboard?

It seems like its not waking from hibernation, rather than sleep. If I'm right (and if you can do without hibernation), maybe you could just turn it off completely:

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0

...and see if that makes a difference. Update: Try the boot argument (below) first.

I see HibernateMode is set to 'None' in your config.plist, however, I'm uncertain whether that means it's actually off, or if it's indeterminate.

Update: I just had a 'Hail Mary' moment in another forum when @miliuco mentioned that using 'agdpmod=pikera' in boot-args apparently solved an issue he had waking from sleep. See if that helps.

 

[PrasadK]

Thank you.
They USB keyboard and mouse.
I will try these but wait time is at least 2+ hours to see if it worked.

 

[FormerUser-400995]

Thank you.
They USB keyboard and mouse.
I will try these but wait time is at least 2+ hours to see if it worked.

Understood. Will check later to see your progress. Cheers.

 

[PrasadK]

Is it a Bluetooth keyboard?

It seems like its not waking from hibernation, rather than sleep. If I'm right (and if you can do without hibernation), maybe you could just turn it off completely:

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0

...and see if that makes a difference. Update: Try the boot argument (below) first.

I see HibernateMode is set to 'None' in your config.plist, however, I'm uncertain whether that means it's actually off, or if it's indeterminate.

Update: I just had a 'Hail Mary' moment in another forum when @miliuco mentioned that using 'agdpmod=pikera' in boot-args apparently solved an issue he had waking from sleep. See if that helps.

I am able to reproduce same problem by clicking Mac -> Sleep.
I also ran following command if that is helpful to identify the problem. As you can see hibernatemode is already set to 0. agdpmod=pikera didn't work. Perhaps I should try setting hibernatemode to 3?
% pmset -g
System-wide power settings:
Currently in use:
standby 0
Sleep On Power Button 1
womp 0
autorestart 0
hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage
proximitywake 0
powernap 0
gpuswitch 2
networkoversleep 0
disksleep 0
standbydelayhigh 86400
sleep 2 (sleep prevented by mds_stores, mds)
autopoweroffdelay 259200
hibernatemode 0
autopoweroff 0
ttyskeepawake 1
displaysleep 2
highstandbythreshold 50
standbydelaylow 86400

 

[PrasadK]

hibernatemode 3 also produces same results. BTW, caps lock also doesn't work when machine wakes up - it detects keypress and something funky happens. I have done the USBMap correctly per guide.

 

[FormerUser-400995]

hibernatemode 3 also produces same results. BTW, caps lock also doesn't work when machine wakes up - it detects keypress and something funky happens. I have done the USBMap correctly per guide.

Try these changes (disksleep is optional):

sudo pmset -a standby 1
sudo pmset -a womp 1
sudo pmset -a proximitywake 1
sudo pmset -a disksleep 10
sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 3 (or 25)
sudo pmset -a sleep 0

 

[FormerUser-400995]

I am able to reproduce same problem by clicking Mac -> Sleep.

In Terminal, 'pmset sleepnow' achieves the same.