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early 2015 base MBA firmware issue?

C

cognus

macrumors member
Original poster
May 1, 2012
75
2
Texas
I have posted before on "my problem MBA", and have sorta limped since then but now have a better handle on what may be plaguing it.
This is an unmodifed base model 4GB early-2015 MBA A1466. I'm attaching system info. The 'symptom set' is that either under Catalina, or under Boot Camp, Windows 10 Home x64, the behavior is about the same. On a fresh COLD start [being certain that power was actually cut, all devices dead], performance is about what one would expect, for a short period of time. Pretty snappy with Windows 10, WITH mods.... i'll explain... and about what others experience with Catalina, with all.. ALL accessible background apps OFF...ruthlessly. Because of its issue I only use this MBA for troubleshooting other Macs, referencing, etc, not for everyday work. No important files stashed on it, and as said, everything that I know how to access turned off.
I have a few hardware and software checks stored - none of them turned up "errors" that the particular test app is made for.

At minimum I would like to overwrite the current firmware if such is allowed. First problem is, this model isn't even listed [unbelievably] at https://support.apple.com/downloads/macnotebooks
Only one vintage 2015 model even showing. Where do I find the appropriate BOOT ROM and SMC files?

Any/all advice you can provide is greatly appreciated. This is solvable.
Screen Shot 2022-06-22 at 9.37.07 AM.png
 
I don't exact understand.

You Mac has a firmware issue? The downloads on Apple's website are for Macs that needed the update, not all get them. Have you tried reinstalling OSX?
 
cognus said:
I have posted before on "my problem MBA", and have sorta limped since then but now have a better handle on what may be plaguing it.
This is an unmodifed base model 4GB early-2015 MBA A1466. I'm attaching system info. The 'symptom set' is that either under Catalina, or under Boot Camp, Windows 10 Home x64, the behavior is about the same. On a fresh COLD start [being certain that power was actually cut, all devices dead], performance is about what one would expect, for a short period of time. Pretty snappy with Windows 10, WITH mods.... i'll explain... and about what others experience with Catalina, with all.. ALL accessible background apps OFF...ruthlessly. Because of its issue I only use this MBA for troubleshooting other Macs, referencing, etc, not for everyday work. No important files stashed on it, and as said, everything that I know how to access turned off.
I have a few hardware and software checks stored - none of them turned up "errors" that the particular test app is made for.

At minimum I would like to overwrite the current firmware if such is allowed. First problem is, this model isn't even listed [unbelievably] at https://support.apple.com/downloads/macnotebooks
Only one vintage 2015 model even showing. Where do I find the appropriate BOOT ROM and SMC files?

Any/all advice you can provide is greatly appreciated. This is solvable.
View attachment 2022606
Click to expand...
Firmware is updated automatically when system updates are installed; you cannot manually install any firmware updates on Macs otherwise. It's also unlikely that firmware is the root of whatever problem you're having. Performance just isn't going to be good on this Mac due to the lack of RAM.
It does appear that your firmware isn't up to date so there is likely an outstanding security update to be installed.
 
chrfr said:
Firmware is updated automatically when system updates are installed; you cannot manually install any firmware updates on Macs otherwise. It's also unlikely that firmware is the root of whatever problem you're having. Performance just isn't going to be good on this Mac due to the lack of RAM.
It does appear that your firmware isn't up to date so there is likely an outstanding security update to be installed.
Click to expand...
Thanks for responding
Apple does in fact post some EFI, SMC, and a few disk-firmware updates, but no UEFI - I think that's what you may have had in mind. https://support.apple.com/downloads/macnotebooks

As I had said - I've done all the usual 'problem checks' and everything shows 'healthy', but those checks aren't extensive as you may know. Re RAM - The work I do on this MBA never even uses the 4GB RAM that's present - I've monitored it at length. If I were running multiple apps and complex graphics simultaneously, yes it would hit the limit, but the symptoms I describe are manifesting while the system is 'loafing'. Disk performance, measured with benchmarking tools, is pretty good for the default - its higher on many tests than my daily driver, which is about 10x the speed of the MBA while manifesting its 'issue'. As said, on a cold boot, the MBA has pretty decent performance under Catalina, but after a sleep/wake cycle or three, it is cut to about 25% of that 'speed' - with everything lagging, even one keystroke. Power-off [completely], restart, it performs acceptably until after being left dormant for awhile. All of this is exaggerated running bc/windows - It is faster vs. Catalina when 'freshened', but after a sleep cycle, it becomes so degraded, and throws significant errors.
Any clues? Maybe I should turn off all power management functions available?
 
jav6454 said:
I don't exact understand.

You Mac has a firmware issue? The downloads on Apple's website are for Macs that needed the update, not all get them. Have you tried reinstalling OSX?
Click to expand...
OSX yes. I've been through all of them except Monterey. I always nuke the drive, use an installer disk on each - no baggage carryover. But, to your point perhaps I should go ahead and install Monterey if there are necessary firmware updates embedded. How could I look that up? Not sure Apple always makes EVERYthing in the update known to the general public. Like Microsoft, most updates are "security", even when they're not. Less resistance :) Occasionally known bugs are addressed in the notes
 
cognus said:
Thanks for responding
Apple does in fact post some EFI, SMC, and a few disk-firmware updates, but no UEFI - I think that's what you may have had in mind. https://support.apple.com/downloads/macnotebooks

As I had said - I've done all the usual 'problem checks' and everything shows 'healthy', but those checks aren't extensive as you may know. Re RAM - The work I do on this MBA never even uses the 4GB RAM that's present - I've monitored it at length. If I were running multiple apps and complex graphics simultaneously, yes it would hit the limit, but the symptoms I describe are manifesting while the system is 'loafing'. Disk performance, measured with benchmarking tools, is pretty good for the default - its higher on many tests than my daily driver, which is about 10x the speed of the MBA while manifesting its 'issue'. As said, on a cold boot, the MBA has pretty decent performance under Catalina, but after a sleep/wake cycle or three, it is cut to about 25% of that 'speed' - with everything lagging, even one keystroke. Power-off [completely], restart, it performs acceptably until after being left dormant for awhile. All of this is exaggerated running bc/windows - It is faster vs. Catalina when 'freshened', but after a sleep cycle, it becomes so degraded, and throws significant errors.
Any clues? Maybe I should turn off all power management functions available?
Click to expand...
Those standalone updates are long since superseded by the updates built in to system software installers. I am confident that having more RAM would make the computer work better, but of course it's not upgradable. 4GB Macs just don't have enough RAM.
Does the computer have a functional battery?
 
chrfr said:
Those standalone updates are long since superseded by the updates built in to system software installers. I am confident that having more RAM would make the computer work better, but of course it's not upgradable. 4GB Macs just don't have enough RAM.
Does the computer have a functional battery?
Click to expand...
yes battery is great. SSD can be upgraded. As said elsewhere, I have monitored RAM quite a lot, and for what I do, it almost never hits the ceiling under Catalina. If I can find ways to turn off a few more processes it would help, but I'm not observing a RAM issue.
 
chrfr said:
Those standalone updates are long since superseded by the updates built in to system software installers. I am confident that having more RAM would make the computer work better, but of course it's not upgradable. 4GB Macs just don't have enough RAM.
Does the computer have a functional battery?
Click to expand...
I have an 11-inch Early 2015 MBA i5/4GB running MacOS 12 Monterey and it is quite responsive. Of course if I start running intense applications or multiple applications then I'm sure performance will severely suffer due to the amount of memory installed. If you're using the laptop for light applications such as checking email or web surfing it should run fine with minimum issues.
 
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Macdctr said:
I have an 11-inch Early 2015 MBA i5/4GB running MacOS 12 Monterey and it is quite responsive. Of course if I start running intense applications or multiple applications then I'm sure performance will severely suffer due to the amount of memory installed. If you're using the laptop for light applications such as checking email or web surfing it should run fine with minimum issues.
Click to expand...
IN fact...I need to post this in several places but miraculously, the current edition of 12.4 Monterey FIXED the issue. I had no hope whatsoever that I would get that flat lucky but it appears so. I wiped the drive totally and used Recovery to install over internet Saturday night. No hitches in install. So far, the creeping lagginess appears gone. Sleeps well, wakes well, no diff in performance after sleep cycle [before, the wakeup performance was unusable so always had to power off and MAKE SURE it was really powered off]. So what is now called System Firmware [the right way to categorize] is 430.120.6.0.0 - a big leap from 427.....
I'm also pleasantly surprised there is not a lot of 'built in clutter' that I need to deal with. Running very lean.
The only thing that has been a problem so far is Safari, attempting to use good extensions. Sent CPU soaring - but for now I don't need Safari or any extensions thereof - another issue for another day. Brave Browser works excellently right out of the box so made it default for now.
Memory has not been a problem. I'm monitoring everything fulltime and see no issues.
Another 'bonus' is the WIFI driver is far better. Previously, on my 5G band, sitting in the same spot where my iPhone would pull 125mbps, the MBA could barely muster 40. A few minutes ago I tested and pulled 160.

On this MBA, i previously ran High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur... none were very useful, with Big Sur being utterly unusable. So I put up with Catalina when I was just forced to use the MBA - otherwise I use my Windows ultrabook [Asus zenbook].

Macdctr - I do have one irritating issue that I posted separately on that you may have seen: Disk Utility does not work correctly with normal bootup/run. I first noticed it while trying to format a USB device to use as an installer - Basically all the typical functions one would use Disk Utility for are non-functioning. It will read the devices correctly and mount them [I guess... I didn't use Term to try to verify the USB device was actually mounted right...]. Even on the main SSD - I can pull info, but no other 'buttons' are responded to whatsoever. Have to restart in Recovery to use functioning Disk Utliity.
Either as the cause, or just a coincidental problem, the USB recognition and function is not consistent. Both ports will manifest the problem seemingly simultaneously. I've only tried storage devices, haven't tried mice or other yet.
 
Last edited:
jav6454 said:
Try with Monterrey, hopefully it'll clear it up. If not, perhaps a diagnosis visit to the Apple store might be in order.
Click to expand...
sure did. Very surprising. I hope other people plagued with FW issues on this particular platform see my notes, or others who have suffered through the same. Here's hoping updates to Monterey don't mess it up!!
Thanks for your participation jav..
 
cognus said:
sure did. Very surprising. I hope other people plagued with FW issues on this particular platform see my notes, or others who have suffered through the same. Here's hoping updates to Monterey don't mess it up!!
Thanks for your participation jav..
Click to expand...
Another thing to try is to do the PRAM reset to clear everything on the computer then allowing it to boot up. Whenever I do a PRAM reset I allow my computer to cycle 4 times before allowing it to boot up all the way thru.

Glad to see it all worked out for you :apple:
 
jav6454 said:
I am assuming everything worked out?
Click to expand...
in terms of consistency of performance - yes. There is a problem with Disk Utility app itself, but it doesn't pull down the system - just the app is flaked. I'll work more with that when I have time. Posted separately.
 
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