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jlamarp

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 13, 2009
30
15
Anybody having overall performance issues after applying this firmware update?

After the update, my MacBook Pro is extermely sluggish. Prior to the update, I was zipping along like most happy MacBook Pro owners. After the update, I constantly see the dreaded beach ball when doing almost anything with the laptop, Safari pages take longer to load, etc.

It's almost as if the udpate had the opposite effect and actually throttled down my WD 500GB HDD performance to a large degree.

Like I said, prior to the update all was good. I've been searching to see if there is a way to revert back to the previous firmware to validate that the update caused the problem but I haven't been successfull in finding anything yet.

Any thoughts?
 

Dwalls90

macrumors 603
Feb 5, 2009
5,426
4,391
Have you tested benchmarks? Repair disk permissions, make sure you're software is up to date and restart.

If that doesn't work let the forum know .. no one else seems to have this problem yet.
 

whatisid-terry

macrumors newbie
Jun 23, 2009
1
0
My WD 320GB 5400rpm drive isn't working.

After firmware 1.7 updated, My 13" MacBook Pro isn't working with Western Digital 320GB 5400rpm hdd which I bought and replaced after buying MacBook Pro. Booting was failed and just showed white screen without any apple logo or spining circle.
I replaced its hdd with original 250GB hdd which is included in original apple package. then booting is successful.

WD 320GB 5400rpm hdd is not compatible with firmware 1.7? Is there anyone who has same problem?
 

cababah

macrumors 68000
Jun 11, 2009
1,891
504
SF Bay Area, CA
The people that are having issues seem to be ones who swapped out their HDDs for aftermarket ones. I guess Apple was not lying in their last statement about not supporting other HDD/SSDs?
 

vanc

macrumors 6502
Nov 21, 2007
458
131
The people that are having issues seem to be ones who swapped out their HDDs for aftermarket ones. I guess Apple was not lying in their last statement about not supporting other HDD/SSDs?

If that's true, Apple was too stupid to do that. Swapping HDD has been a very common practice and it never caused a issue before.
 

jlamarp

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 13, 2009
30
15
I just spent over an hour on the phone with Apple support and they cound not resolve my problem.

It appears that there is no way to revert back to the original factory shipped firmware after a firmware upgrade has been successfully completed.

I'm starting to believe that there is an issue with the latest firmware update and aftermarket HDDs.

Looks like I'll have to put the original 250GB drive back in the Macbook and restore from a Time Machine backup until this issue is resoved one way or the other. I'd hate to have to chuck my WD 500GB HDD, I liked having all the extra storage space.
 

Kobra

macrumors regular
Jun 17, 2009
225
104
I've installed the 1.7 EFI without any problems and I did it AFTER I'd already installed my WD ScorpioBlue.
 

zsnow

macrumors regular
Mar 15, 2009
133
0
try reformat your disk and re install macos
My SSD is blazing fast after the update.
more than 40% increase than before.
 

icetyu

macrumors newbie
Jul 4, 2007
23
0
I had the same slow response problem after the firmware update. I have a Seagate 500g HD installed in my new 13 inch MacBook Pro. After resetting the PRAM, it was back to normal. Everything was running smooth and fast.
 

thejadedmonkey

macrumors G3
May 28, 2005
9,155
3,265
Pennsylvania
If you read there statement it says there are no way obligated to support any other hdd or sdd that is not theres

yeah, but considering a HDD is a user-serviceable part, and if you have an issue, the first thing Apple will do is tell you to update your computer using software update... Apple will be telling you to brick your computer. That's on them, and something they should fix.

/end fanboy rant
 

bcaslis

macrumors 68020
Mar 11, 2008
2,184
237
I just spent over an hour on the phone with Apple support and they cound not resolve my problem.

It appears that there is no way to revert back to the original factory shipped firmware after a firmware upgrade has been successfully completed.

I'm starting to believe that there is an issue with the latest firmware update and aftermarket HDDs.

Looks like I'll have to put the original 250GB drive back in the Macbook and restore from a Time Machine backup until this issue is resoved one way or the other. I'd hate to have to chuck my WD 500GB HDD, I liked having all the extra storage space.

No, the firmware update works fine with an Intel X25M. The problem is likely your SSD (it's an OCZ, right). You will likely need to talk to the SSD vendor.
 

zsnow

macrumors regular
Mar 15, 2009
133
0
No, the firmware update works fine with an Intel X25M. The problem is likely your SSD (it's an OCZ, right). You will likely need to talk to the SSD vendor.

I think he is talking about HDD not SSD.
SSD should get improvement after the update. HDD performance should be same as before.
 

LowMach

macrumors member
May 7, 2008
89
0
sorry to here about your troubles. did the pram reset help like the other user suggested?

i wasn't planning on getting the firmware since i have no SSD drive. there is no reason for me to need this with my sata drive is there?

sure does seem to be lots of complaints about apple products here lately. i also assume its more likely for an unhappy customer to post then a happy one though. it seems like apple handles the problems very well for the most part of what i read.

hope everything turns out A ok for you guys!
 

daver.cl

macrumors member
Jun 10, 2009
70
0
i can confirm this behavior... i too have been experiencing beachballs all day. it's not like one application locks up -- i start beachballing and then every app i have running beachballs for a good 30-45 seconds or so. this uMBP 15" was blazing fast before the firmware update... now it's fast with a few hiccups every 30 minutes or so.

i'm running a 2.66ghz 4gb mid-2009 uMBP with the stock 320gb hdd.
 

5DollaFootlong

macrumors 6502
Apr 26, 2009
291
1
I just spent over an hour on the phone with Apple support and they cound not resolve my problem.

It appears that there is no way to revert back to the original factory shipped firmware after a firmware upgrade has been successfully completed.

I'm starting to believe that there is an issue with the latest firmware update and aftermarket HDDs.

Looks like I'll have to put the original 250GB drive back in the Macbook and restore from a Time Machine backup until this issue is resoved one way or the other. I'd hate to have to chuck my WD 500GB HDD, I liked having all the extra storage space.
i'll take it if you don't want it. i have a late 2008 2.4 macbook unibody.
 

Diode

macrumors 68020
Apr 15, 2004
2,443
124
Washington DC
I've noticed excessive beachballs on my macbook as well since the update.

I've got the basic 250GB HD that apple gives too.
 

MM07

macrumors 6502a
Feb 10, 2008
653
62
Has anyone updated the firmware while running a stock HDD and THEN installed an aftermarket HDD/SSD?

Just curious..

I plan on doing this tomorrow, so I guess we'll see what happens.

I am now worried that I'll have issues installing my new 500g WD Blue HD.
 

natho

macrumors newbie
Apr 28, 2009
5
0
same problem with mine, and a fair few others it seems. my seagate 7200.4 500gb works great in my old macbook pro (core duo) but is completely unusable in my new macbook pro (2.53/4gb/250gb). i only got it yesterday, everything was fine until i did the firmware update.

i noticed it was a lot better when i limited the drive to 1.5gbps using the jumper but it still gave me issues eventually.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9699710#9699710
 

jlamarp

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 13, 2009
30
15
Well,

After dealing with this issue ALL DAY, I am finally back up and running.

I ended up having to re-install my original 250GB HDD that came with my MacBook Pro. After a clean installation of OS X 10.5.7, I then restored my data from a Time Machine backup and it looks as if all is well, so far at least.

Just for kicks, I put the WD 500GB HDD back into the MacBook Pro, and confirmed that the same performance issues still existed. So, it appears as if the EFI 1.7 firmware update has a problem with the WD 500GB HDD, at least in my case it does.
 
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