Firmware update and SATA II hard drive

Hi all,
I have a Macbook Pro 15" that came initially with a 250 MB HDD which I replaced with the Seagate 500 GB/7200 rpm and run into all the horrible problems that has been discussed so extensively.

Obviously I had to downgrade to EFI 1.6 (SATA 1.5 Gbps) and since then the laptop has been working flawlessly and I was able to install via Boot Camp Windows 7, 64 bit edition, which is my main working OS.

After reading some posts here that, after installing the Performance Update, users were able to upgrade again to EFI 1.7 without any issues, I decided to try it.

Unfortunately no luck... As soon as EFI 1.7 was installed and the system restarted, problems started. Twice Windows or even OS X were not found and I was suggested to boot from a CD ⚠ In another case Windows Blue-screened during the start-up, and, if I could login to OS X, I was getting all those horrible freezes.

I reverted immediately back to EFI 1.6, and, that is the only way my system will work.

So sad, as this is my second Macbook Pro and I run into all sorts of freezing problems with the 1st generation of the unibody 15", due to the known nVidia 9600m problems.

It seems Apple cannot make a problem-free laptop since they moved to the unibody architecture and/or nvidia chipset platform...

the problems seem to be improved but not gone in my case. I applied the patch and re-upgraded to 1.7 a few days ago, so far I had one beachball about 10s while I was typing in Word and 1 more CRC error. I tried AJA (4GB) with 5 downloading connections, playing mkv file and playing a song in Itunes without any pause with AJA result write: 110mb, read: 205mb.

I'm having the same problem with my mid 2008 MacBook Pro. Apple in its divinity left us out. Grrr...

has anyone tried the Erase&Install SL before you have updated the Firmware to EFI 1.7? some says it does resolve the problem of beachballing...

kalvinhui wrote:
has anyone tried the Erase&Install SL before you have updated the Firmware to EFI 1.7? some says it does resolve the problem of beachballing...

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10433389#10433389

Until Apple comes out with a fix that allows me to boot off my Restore disks that came with my machine or a retail SL install DVD and install to my "3rd party" 500GB drive without issue, I will not consider this issue fixed. Same goes for my boot camp install. Everything works fine with 1.6 but if I update to 1.7 the performance update is not going to do me any good unless I can do what I mentioned above.

My two cents.

Cheers.

PU1.0 correlatively applied in all of the hardware including nVidia GeForce 9400M. Dose the Beachballing is a problem of nvidia chipsets?

Hello for everybody!

Like a lot of people around the world, my MacBook Pro (late 2009) after *firmware update 1.7* with 3rth partie drive, just stop to work like a charm. Until the update, the firmware 1.6 works perfect!

The effects after the update is the same of everyone: +can't boot, can't install the software e etc...+

There is anybody out there, who knows if the *"performance Update 1.0"* solve this problem??? Or we have to wait a little longer???

Thanks people!
Regards.

Fishbert, not to sound like a troll, but could you please help me understand WHY you would kep a laptop PAST the 14 day return period, when it was not performing as expected. I respect you very much and your technical abilities, but I just don't get it. I've never been brand loyal I suppose, so PLEAS enlighten me accordingly...

Thank-you

osxtasy wrote:
Fishbert, not to sound like a troll, but could you please help me understand WHY you would kep a laptop PAST the 14 day return period, when it was not performing as expected. I respect you very much and your technical abilities, but I just don't get it. I've never been brand loyal I suppose, so PLEAS enlighten me accordingly...

Thank-you

Sure.

I bought a mid-2009 15" MacBook Pro soon after they were released (maybe even the same day) on June 8th. The problematic EFI 1.7 firmware update didn't come out until June 22nd. I didn't bother installing it (as I don't have a SSD) until sometime in early July, then it took a while for me to narrow down what the problem was (at first thought it was bad RAM or something) and to find this thread... my first post here being on July 11th (about how a jumper on the drive helped mitigate the problem for me -- this was pre-rollback tool).

So, it was far too late for the 14 day return period... but even if it wasn't, I had hope at that time that Apple would release a fix in short order, so I probably would've held on to it anyway.

Now, though, I wish I still had my 2008 unibody instead. I "upgraded" to this one due to the 8GB of RAM support... thought it would give a further obsolescence horizon. Silly me.

theologos:

I had the same issues as you did initially with the EFI 1.7 Firmware Update. I had to removed the Segae drive and reinstall the factory supplied 250 Hitachi HD.

I was able to "Roll Back" fromEFI 1.7 to Firmware EFI 1.6. I installed the Seagate 3rd party drive 500 GB HD and it worked with EFI 1.6, and so did the Mac Book Pro.

I the installed the "Performance Upgrade" 1.0. Then I installed the EFI 1.7 agin and now I am OK.

Suggest you boot in Safe Mode first. Then run Repair Permission from Disk Utility. I Zaped the P-Ram as well.

All work OK now.

See my previous posts on this issue.

bobg

Mellto:

See my post above.

I did some house keeping first. I booted into "Safe Mode". Then ran Disk Utilities and "Repaired permissions". Then I Zapped the "PRAM".

I installed the Perfromance Upgrade 1.0 and afterward installed the EFI 1.7 and the Mac Book Pro booted up properly for the first time with the larger Seagate 500 HD.

All is OK for now!

bobg

I have a macbook pro 5,5 13 , this is my first mac and im very disappointed , the beachball appears every second , is very unusable .

a13xmh wrote:
I have a macbook pro 5,5 13 , this is my first mac and im very disappointed , the beachball appears every second , is very unusable .

Make an appointment with an Apple Store's Genius Bar, or call Apple phone support. They can usually help you find out what's wrong.

Hi Bob,
I don't think that booting into Safe mode / resetting the permitions will help, because the EFI 1.7 problem appears at the very early system boot stages, before any OS is loaded.

That's why, when the system boots with EFI 1.7, OS X won't even start many times ( a couple of times I got a message that there is no operating system installed at all!) and Windows in Boot Camp, has also big issues with Blue Screens during the start-up phase or (again) missing operating system warnings.

As soon as you revert back to EFI 1.6, everything works fine.

It is obvious that the computer cannot handle the SATA 3.0 Gbps timings but I really don't (and nobody can tell for sure) if this is a hardware limitation or if it will ever be fixed with a new EFI udpate.

I will try resetting the PRAM/NVRAM as you suggest, but I am not optimistic...