Topic: flashing a 6950 with 1GB using the 6970 with 2GB BIOS - page 2. (Read 18890 times)

I have a 6950 that can't flash... it says "cannot erase rom" when I try to flash it using winflash.  So this mod would fix that issue?

They fail differently depending on how I try to flash. With atiflash theres just an error message. When I tried winflash my PC locked up.

If you are flashing fine and the shaders are just not unlocked, then thats bad luck. If you are having an error with the flashing itself, then this trick will overcome it.

Very interesting guide, thanks for posting!

How do these cards fail when you try to flash them unmodded?

I have an HIS card that will not flash and I am wondering if I can use a similar trick to unlock it

Asher’s chewing gum 6950 mod.

What is this?

This is a hardware mod that allows you to flash your 6950 BIOS. 6950s can be thought of as coming in 3 flavours; those with a BIOS switch, those without a BIOS switch that allow flashing, and those without a BIOS switch that don’t allow flashing. This guide is for the last group. Always try just flashing first to see if it works. I STRONGLY recommend using atiflash for this, not winflash. This is because you may cause problems if you try with winflash and fail, but atiflash will generally just deny the flash and leave the card unchanged. This happened to me.

If you don’t know how to back up your BIOS and make a modified version, go find that out first!

So, whats the mod all about?

This mod is simply shorting some pins on an IC that allows you to flash your BIOS. This mod is temporary – you can remove it once you have successfully flashed your BIOS. I am going to go into detail for every step for those that are nervous about doing it. You can skip towards the end if you know what you’re doing.

What do I need?

Your 6950, a screwdriver, a small piece of wire, and some chewing gum.

Chewing Gum?

The credit for this mod goes to SlaveOnDope here. When I tried this mod, I had a lot of trouble looping the wire through the legs of the IC and stopping them touching the adjoining legs. Admittedly, it was in the wee hours of the morning and I was very tired. I came up with an easier method that gets the job done quickly and allows you to remove the mod easily even after you have replaced your cooler on your card.

Here is how it’s done...

This was done with a Sapphire series 6950. The procedure will be the same for all cards as far as I know.


http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/4293/dscn2656o.jpg
Here’s what the Sapphire card looks like, get a nice soft work surface to prevent damage.

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/9822/dscn2657h.jpg
Unplug the fan.

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/5749/dscn2658y.jpg
Flip the card over and remove the 4 cooler screws.

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/4061/dscn2659mz.jpg
Separate the cooler from the GPU and locate the IC as indicated.

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/3618/dscn2661j.jpg
These are the two pins that will be bridged across.

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9257/dscn2667a.jpg
Notice two things in this image. The first is that a tiny ball of chewing gum has been put on top of the IC – this is where the name ‘chewing gum mod’ comes from. Also notice that there is a small piece of wire below the card. This is about 1cm long with the plastic removed from each end and the ends bent at right angles. This is what we are going to use to bridge the legs of the IC.

http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/1033/dscn2654p.jpg
Stick the wire to the gum so that the bent ends touch the legs of the IC. It may take a tiny bit of fiddling to make sure the wire is in contact on both sides. I used tweezers as I was too clumsy with my hands.

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/9081/dscn2676h.jpg
Put the cooler back on and flash your BIOS! Remember to plug the fan back in! You can see here that the mod is visible when the cooler is on. When you are done, just pull the mod off with tweezers or whatever without needing to remove the cooler again.

Good luck, have fun!

I have soldered a wire onto the BIOS chip to enable flashing and have flashed with a RBE modified BIOS. it has however made no difference to the performance of my sapphire 1G HD 6950 as I believe the extra shaders have been disabled when the chip was made.

The odds of getting a 1gb card that will unlock shaders when flashed is like winning the lottery. Even if you can flash it from modding it, it doesn't guarantee that you will be able to unlock the shaders. Most of the 1gb cards out there have the shaders laser cut (this is often referred to as hard locked) so they can't be unlocked no matter what you do.

now that would be very cool! thx in advance!

I'm going to write up a guide soon.

Can I ask what that was? I have a couple of these cards and was resigned to the fact that they would not be able to be flashed.

Theres a lot of nonsense being spoken about in the thread (not all of it is, of course)

I have 5 of these Sapphire 1GB 6950s

The first two I got flashed to the modded bios fine first time.

The next three I got were actually OLDER than the first two (by serial numbers) and they would not flash. I did a hard mod (no soldering required) and was able to successfully flash them.

Try just flashing first and see what happens.

I'll probably do a pictorial guide of the hard mod later.

GL.

In case it does not work you going to need to put another VGA card or a onboard video as primary in order to boot up and re-flash it.

The odds are against you in this one, i dont think it can unlock at all, you tryied to seach the product serial in google to see if someone has sucessfully able to unlock it?

If you're unlucky, you will permanently brick it (thats where the bios switch saves the day). But since it won't work, there's no point trying. Most of the time though, you will be able to reflash it.

ok thanks for the info!

let's say i would try it nonetheless. will my card get broken?
or will i always be able to reflash to the original bios?

well, the fa is in the midle, here no AMD logo on the pci-e  and you said there is no bios switch either.

The card dont have to be reference to unlock, but i think that Sapphires non-reference does not unlock.

thanks for the info! how can you tell it is a non-reference one?

No, what you need to do is to save to file you vga bios using gpu-z, then load it with RBE, go to the addicional tab and select 6970 shader count.

Save bios and flash the card, keep a backup and have another card on hand in case the card dont boot up and you need another one to re-flash it.

But you have a non-reference Sapphire one, i think those dont unlock at all. I have 2 XFX 6950 1GB ZNFC and those does unlock, and have bios switch.

Hmm, I have a no-switch XFX 6950 1GB that can't be reflashed with a shaders-unlocked BIOS.. d you think a soldered connection can make it flashable? Very interested in pointer if possible.

Hmm you will need to do some soldering to unlock that card
I have created an image with the info but can't upload a photo PM me and I'll send you it if you like

no i cant find a BIOS switch on it.
so this is the card: