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Apple Releases EFI Firmware Updates
- Thread starter MacRumors
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*Wipes the sweat from his brow*
Dodged a bullet there. Rebooted for a clean install. Ran the update. Rebooted. All went well. Is it just me or is bootup faster? I have my system set to verbose so I'm watching OS X do its stuff. I swear that bootup and pretty much everything being processed was faster.
I've noticed for quite some time that during idle time my hard drives stop. Then about two seconds later they start back up again. I don't think this is a Firmware issue...something in my powersaving settings I think..
If this annoys you, download Cocktail which allows you to easily set the "put the hard disk(s) to sleep after" value. It could be anything between 1 minute to 1 hour, or "never" if you like it that way.
Setting that value to "never" is easiest by simply unchecking "put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible" from the system preferences / energy saver settings. For some reason Apple has disabled the time setting, only letting the user specify whether one wants it or not.
Download and install on my iMac went smoothly. (How will the aluminum iMac owners ever get along without a rapidly blinking sleep light letting them know that the firmware update is underway and they can let go of the power switch? )
I notice that the EFI updater remains installed in the Utilities directory, and the info says that the file was created on August 14. Looks like the Leopard release is imminent.
) I notice that the EFI updater remains installed in the Utilities directory, and the info says that the file was created on August 14. Looks like the Leopard release is imminent.
Download and install on my iMac went smoothly. (How will the aluminum iMac owners ever get along without a rapidly blinking sleep light letting them know that the firmware update is underway and they can let go of the power switch?
I notice that the EFI updater remains installed in the Utilities directory, and the info says that the file was created on August 14. Looks like the Leopard release is imminent.
They'll hold the power button pressed for 10 seconds.....?
Usually the sleep light starts blinking in just 3-4 secs.
All well
Installed all the Life, iWork and EFI upgrades on my 17" C2D MBP and all seems well. No time to notice differences yet, iPhoto seems snappier (not to mention Safari).
Model Name: MacBook Pro 17"
Model Identifier: MacBookPro2,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.33 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP21.00A5.B07
Installed all the Life, iWork and EFI upgrades on my 17" C2D MBP and all seems well. No time to notice differences yet, iPhoto seems snappier (not to mention Safari
).Model Name: MacBook Pro 17"
Model Identifier: MacBookPro2,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.33 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP21.00A5.B07
You've really gotta be careful when putting a Macbook or MBP to sleep. As soon as you close the lid, it starts dumping all your RAM to the HD, which means your HD is spinning like crazy. It is very sensitive during this time! ie. if you move/shake your macbook much, you might cause the HD to skip and instead of falling asleep, the machine will reboot.
This is probably what's happening, since it's fairly common occurance for macbook users like me who are constantly on-the-go. That is, I often close macbook, drop it in bag, go somewhere else. Also, the more RAM you have the longer it will take to dump to HD, I presume. I'm now in the habit of watching the macbook's light to make sure it's sleeping before I move it much after closing the lid.
Alternatively, you might grab/code some app to flip between "deep sleep" vs. a faster sleep that just powers down without dumping all your RAM.
Hope this helps...
My start-up is lot faster. I timed it on my 2.0GHz C2D MacBook and my computer starts up 4 seconds quicker after the update and shuts down 3 seconds quicker too. I am pretty impressed.
Right. Because it's important that I update my iMac in order for someone else to get a new MacPro...
Installed all the Life, iWork and EFI upgrades on my 17" C2D MBP and all seems well. No time to notice differences yet, iPhoto seems snappier (not to mention Safari
I thought you were joking about iPhoto, but NOT. Holy cow - does app ever SCREAM now. The performance difference is totally apparent.
I wonder what an EFI update could do to speed up iPhoto?
Aha - I've also noticed that my external Firewire drive doesn't spin down and spin up as often as it used to. Maybe that's the reason - better external drive performance?
The Boot up on the Mac Pro was extremely quick. before it loaed the desktop and icons fairly slow... now, its there as soon as the login screen goes.
Just wish my macbook would update!!
You know that bit in the firmware updater instructions where it said "Your computer's power cord must be connected and plugged into a working power source"? I'd guess that's TF.
this update is causing problems with bootcamp on MBP 2.16 15inch
Installed this update and os x works fine but when i go to boot into windows via bootcamp it takes a long while.
When I boot into windows it gets stuck for a couple of minutes on a flashing bar in the top left corner of my screen and with the rest of the screen black. Then after a while it takes me to a black (bios looking) menu asking me what operating system i want to boot into.. the only choice is vista home pro (the only other operating system on my machine). I click to select vista in a couple of minutes later windows will begin the start up process.
Bootcamp was working great right before the update.. it is the update that hosed things.
... hoping for a patch
Installed this update and os x works fine but when i go to boot into windows via bootcamp it takes a long while.
When I boot into windows it gets stuck for a couple of minutes on a flashing bar in the top left corner of my screen and with the rest of the screen black. Then after a while it takes me to a black (bios looking) menu asking me what operating system i want to boot into.. the only choice is vista home pro (the only other operating system on my machine). I click to select vista in a couple of minutes later windows will begin the start up process.
Bootcamp was working great right before the update.. it is the update that hosed things.
... hoping for a patch
Wow, I just had a scare here at work. I downloaded the update via Software Update and selected the option to Shut Down. It shut down and I held the power button down until the light on the front started blinking fast...then there was this loud beep that sounded like an alarm and it shut back down. I then just tried to boot up normally and it restarted once and then came back fine. The update didn't install correctly obviously.
Anyone ever have this happen to them? I think I'll wait until I'm home to try this again.
Anyone ever have this happen to them? I think I'll wait until I'm home to try this again.
Dude, you might do well to be a little more careful about reading instructions. The window that popped up after you downloaded the update tells you to expect the loud tone.
Why some may be voting negatively
Because it's not for the new Aluminum iMacs and those users are experiencing freeze problems. They hoped to see this resolved.
Because it's not for the new Aluminum iMacs and those users are experiencing freeze problems. They hoped to see this resolved.
Thanks for the recommendation. I haven't had a chance to test out if this firmware changed anything, but will know soon enough.
The annoying part is the restarting just immediately after it stopped, but I'll checkout this Cocktail app.
Yes, I did see that yet after the tone, the screen just went black and I didn't see any progress bar about the firmware being loaded. The screen was just black, so I don't know what went wrong
I read the instructions carefully, and was expecting the loud tone, but it still scared the bejeezus out of me! I was all happy like, "Yay! Flashing li...BONNNNGGGGGG!"