iMac Firmware Update 1.4 Addresses ATI 4850 Freezing Issues

[MacRumors]

Over the weekend, Apple issued an iMac EFI Firmware Update 1.4 which specifically addresses an intermittent system freeze that was occuring in iMacs with the ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics card.

Once you download the software update, you must launch it manually it will not be installed automatically.

To complete the firmware update process, please follow the instructions in the updater application (/Applications/Utilities/iMac EFI Firmware Update.app). The updater will launch automatically when the Installer closes.

An informal survey in our forums found that the majority of those who had problems found relief with the firmware update. The issue had generated a lengthy discussion on our forums as well as Apple's support forums.

The update also fixes wake-from-sleep issues in Boot Camp.

Article Link: iMac Firmware Update 1.4 Addresses ATI 4850 Freezing Issues

[pellets007]

Freezing?

[Ov3rlord Falc0r]

Anybody have first hand knowledge of this? I ordered an iMac over the weekend and it *should* be here tomorrow afternoon. I went with the ATI despite the freezing and I'm curious to see if it is truly fixed!

[arn]

Originally Posted by Ov3rlord Falc0r

Anybody have first hand knowledge of this? I ordered an iMac over the weekend and it *should* be here tomorrow afternoon. I went with the ATI despite the freezing and I'm curious to see if it is truly fixed!

Did you see the poll results?

http://forums.macrumors.com/poll.php...ts&pollid=4257

arn

[Ross123]

Its nice to see that Apple took fairly quick action against this problem! Any one with first hand knowledge notice a before and after difference when installing the update?

[BadBiker]

Speaking as one affected by the dreaded freezing I can say that thus far I've had not a single freeze since installing the upgrade, despite re-enabling airport. OK, it hasn't been long but I've thrashed my iMac within an inch of its life.

I haven't noticed any degradation in performance as a result of the upgrade and the fans appear to be functioning identically so things look good...so far

BB

[mactarkus]

There was nothing intermittent about my freezes with my 4850 iMac. I could reproduce it with a simple test of streaming internet radio over Airport in iTunes and running a full-screen visualizer. After the patch, no freezes! Yippee!

[daneoni]

What exactly did they fix?...it seems they didn't update the drivers

[Darkroom]

nothing is showing up for software updates on my iMac 8,1

[EDIT] oh, nevermind. this 2008 iMac uses ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro

[DELLsFan]

Glad they got this fixed. It seemed like a real thorn in the backside.

[twoodcc]

glad to hear that they are addressing the issues, and that it's actually working for people

[Montserrat]

I've got the iMac with the Nvidia GT120, but software update is offering me the firmware update. I've had no problems with the machine. Has anyone else with non-ATI hardware run the update? Any problems?

[gmcalpin]

Originally Posted by daneoni

What exactly did they fix?...it seems they didn't update the drivers

I believe that they updated the EFI firmware, not any drivers. Because that's what the article says.

[JayLenochiniMac]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

An informal survey in our forums found that the majority of those who had problems found relief with the firmware update.

It's probably 100%. The no voters were either ignorant or too lazy to click on "view poll results" instead of taking a no vote in order to view the poll results, or they have a grudge and are returning their freezing iMac and getting a Dell.

[W1LLk]

I don't have this model mac or graphics card, so it doesn't apply to me, but I always hang back with GPU firmware. I know it was along time ago and on the wrong side of the force (PC), but an update like this once killed my old school Nvidia card.

[robco]

Originally Posted by Montserrat

I've got the iMac with the Nvidia GT120, but software update is offering me the firmware update. I've had no problems with the machine. Has anyone else with non-ATI hardware run the update? Any problems?

No problems here after the update for me. I have the 3.06 GHz iMac with the GT 130 on board and haven't noticed anything different good or bad. I don't use boot camp so can't test the other fix besides the one for the ATI (which, obviously, doesn't apply to me).

[bobr1952]

Originally Posted by W1LLk

I don't have this model mac or graphics card, so it doesn't apply to me, but I always hang back with GPU firmware. I know it was along time ago and on the wrong side of the force (PC), but an update like this once killed my old school Nvidia card.

I too am a bit timid when it comes to firmware updates. I never had a big problem with my current iMac freezing even though a firmware update was issued about a year ago--I am still holding back on that since any overheating of my graphics card seems to be resolved with SMC fan control.

[Hard-Hat-Mac]

Funny thing is i took my ATI iMac in to the Apple store they said they found a third party program causing the freezes, so maybe it was that coupled with the hardware issue. I will be really happy with the machine now since they also replaced the LCD screen due to dead pixels!

I am picking it up today and will install this and see what happens.

[flopticalcube]

Originally Posted by Hard-Hat-Mac

Funny thing is i took my ATI iMac in to the Apple store they said they found a third party program causing the freezes

Sounds like an Apple Store response. Did they happen to explain how this 3rd party program causes freezes in both OSX and Windows?

[DuFFy]

my iMac was delivered the day they released the firmware update been running like a champ, no freezing!!

i was very happy they fixed it relatively quick

[Bad Paper]

My iMac w/ 4850 has never frozen. Should I install this?

[zorinlynx]

I hear a collective sigh of relief that this was a software issue and not hardware related.

The fact that it happened in both OS X and Windows suggested it might be hardware, but it must have been a problem with code common to drivers in both operating systems.

At least Apple was quick to fix!

[Hard-Hat-Mac]

Okay, so i got my imac back from the apple store. The same one that said it was a third party software.

I go to install this EFI Firmware update, but before I do I check my Boot ROM to see what it was to make sure I can see the change.

It already has the "new" Boot ROM that Apple says it will after the update. Should I still install or should I assume that they installed it and just neglected to tell me.

Does anyone know what the old Boot ROM was? Was it always the same for some people?

HHM

[s1m]

Interesting. I have been experiencing freezing with my new iMac when running Vuze in the background and playing CivIV in full screen mode (with all the graphics tweaks on high - well there was a reason I bought a new iMac with the upgraded graphics card ).

I was finding it froze when I left it running with CivIV running full screen but with no activity for a while. I will test the firmware upgrade this evening.

[brettryan]

I know this is supposed to be part of a software update, I just picked up my new iMac today with the ATI 4850, once setup the updater kicked in and prepared to install this update.

It restarted, installed the new boot ROM and that's the only update I've seen, it's been running fine since then, though I did see some strange behavior while using front row, it didn't crash but I got some odd large green triangular shapes appearing.