Tales of the MacBook Pro Firmware Update

[Published Monday, July 16th]

The MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.3, which was released on Friday, is causing trouble for some users. Many of these problems, and their solutions, appear to be similar to the previous MBP EFI Firmware Update, so please consult that if you're having trouble.

For one reader, whom we'll call R., things started on Friday, when R. found that he couldn't get the Firmware Update to install. Nor was he alone; while he was at the Apple Store trying to get some advice, another customer arrived with the very same problem:

I have a 2.4 GHz MBPro with all the latest updates including the MacBook PRo Software Update 1.0. I applied the update last night, restarted, and the firmware update proceeded initially, but then aborted after about 10%. The MBPro spontaneously restarted with the EFI Firmware Update software opening and indicating the same installation window. No window indicating successful firmware upgrade appeared. The MBPro works fine, but restarting over and over again failed to get the firmware to properly update. I took it to the local Apple Genius bar and they could not get it to work either. The Firmware Restoration CD 1.3 would not work for me or for them. Significantly, a second customer at the Genius Bar this morning had the identical problem, and the Genius guys could not fix his either. Their advice: Wait until Apple issues a new EFI Firmware update.

Meanwhile, a report of an even more severe setback arrived from reader T., who attempted to install the Firmware Update and then couldn't reboot his computer:

I haved tried and failed to apply the Firmware update 1.3 to my new MBP 2.4 which has the prerequisite Software update installed. After the usual Power button press and hold, the power light flashes, there is a long beep and the computer restarts with the gray Apple logo, not the update progress bar. Repeated attempts failed the same way.

A little later, T. reported that he'd solved the problem, by installing the Firmware Update from a system running 10.4.9, rather than 10.4.10:

When I installed 10.4.9 on an external FW drive and ran the updater from it, it updated fine. I got the idea when I tried to do the update on another brand new MBP that was running 10.4.9 right out of the box.

But that solution apparently didn't help our first reader, R.:

I just now tried the suggestion to boot the MBP from an external drive with 10.4.9 and I tried to apply the EFI Firmware Update 1.3. It was unsuccessful as well.

Then, however, R. was able to get the Firmware Update to install, through a different procedure:

I deleted the following OLD firmware updates:

• MacBook Pro Firmware Updater v1.0.1 (4/2006)
• MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update v1.0 (5/2006)
• as well as athe current MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.3 (7/2007)

from my Utilities folder and emptied the trash.

I re-downloaded the MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.3 via software update, which re-installed the updater application in the Utilities folder and bought up the firmware update instructions. I shut down, held the power button until the flashing power lights and the MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.3 firmware installed properly.

The idea to delete the old firmware updates came from a thread on Apple Discussions, containing reports various other problems with the update.

• More than one user's screen had faint wavy lines after the update. They went away when these users reset the PRAM (always worth a try when the computer seems to need a metaphorical slap upside the head).

• Some users were not able to install the update. Deleting the update and re-downloading it, and logging in as root in order to perform the install, were reported as helpful by some. Others found they had to go further, deleting the firmware updates from the Utilities folder, and deleting the receipts (in /Library/Receipts) for those firmware updates as well, before they could get this update to install.

• Another user had a more technical problem: he had replaced his internal drive previously, and when he formatted it, he had used the Apple Partition Scheme instead of GUID. He installed the system onto an external FireWire drive formatted as GUID, started up from it, and was able to install the Firmware Update.

We are left with the impression that there may still be some users unable to install the update.

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