Q: Firmware update and SATA II hard drive

kaikou wrote:
I own the 5k500.b Hitachi drive and was wondering if I do choose to set the transfer maximum to 1.5Gb/s, if there will be any chance at all that I would be able to tell the difference between if I had it set to 3.0Gb/s?

I'm considering not even trying to install it with the 3.0Gb/s enabled.

For me, limiting a drive to SATA I speeds or replacing the logic board with one that has the 1.6 version firmware is an acceptable workaround for the time being, but it is not acceptable as a permanent fix.

Sure, you won't see much of a performance difference with your current HDD... but I intend to upgrade to a much faster SSD within a year, and that's generally where the market is headed anyway. Apple does need to release a proper fix for these issues.

I just spoke with someone at my local Apple Store, who informed me that Apple has released to them a tool to roll back the firmware from 1.7 to 1.6. I'd suggest anyone who is interested call their local Apple Store and ask if they are aware of this, and perhaps schedule an appointment.

Again, as far as I am concerned, this is a temporary workaround until Apple releases SATA II capable firmware that doesn't break things... but this is certainly a step forward (by allowing us to step backward) and it's the best we have so far.

As a bonus, it's a clear sign of recognition from Apple that a number of people are having serious problems with this firmware, so maybe we will get a permanent solution after all.

I read through all 44 pages of this thread.

I purchased my first mac (macbook pro 13") from BestBuy in Cleveland Ohio on Aug 1st 2009.

This is the first time I've ever touched a mac and when I brought it home it helped me through the initial setup and the wep key to my access point, which I provided to it.

Instantly when I logged in the computer prompted me to update software which I allowed it to do, so I have no idea if my pc came with 1.7 or 1.6 and was updated.

However, that same day I ordered a WD 320gb Black hard drive and 4gb of Mushkin memory for it.

About 5 days later the items arrived ( today ) from newegg which earlier in the day I stumbled into this long thread and was nervous that something could go wrong with the mac.

I decided I would just try it, I changed the ram/hard drive turned it on and it works the same as it did prior to me changing anything, the reinstall of the o/s worked without any errors although I don't know how long it usually takes to install the o/s it seemed to take 20-30 minutes to install.

I then re-updated everything and I also installed Parallels and Windows Vista, I haven't experienced even 1 single beach ball thing that others are reporting here.

I saw the video of what another users computer was doing and mine is doing nothing close to that.

That leads me to think that it is possible that having a computer that was recently built ( my stock hard drive was mfg july 9th 2009 ) and flashed at the factory to 1.7 might prevented any issues coming up for me with my new hardware installed.

I'm at a total loss reading through all of these posts but I don't recall reading even one time where a user whom got the item with 1.7 ran into issues installing new hard drive.

fishbert- thanks for that info. I will call asap when they open... Hopefully they will email me the tool, as I am roughly an hour away form the closest store in Toronto. Agreed this is only a hackjob workaround until they provide us with real 3Gb/s capabilities.

Rsheppick wrote:
I'm at a total loss reading through all of these posts but I don't recall reading even one time where a user whom got the item with 1.7 ran into issues installing new hard drive.

I do... http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9944783#9944783

Message was edited by: katmeef

Rsheppick wrote:

I saw the video of what another users computer was doing and mine is doing nothing close to that.

Where can I find the video? Would love to see what people are talking about in action..

My MBP seems to be working fine... no beachballs or glitches at all ... except a slow start up (probably caused by me messing up the user a/c's when I migrated stuff over from my iMac)

I just want to know that my machine is "okay".

Anyway I know Apple WILL fix this eventually... they always do!

Congrads on your new Mac and Welcome to the forum.

There have been several people in this forum and in MacRumors forum that have purchased the MBP, with 1.7 preinstalled, some of those have had problems and some have not. Some have reported the stock drive giving them problems after they updated to 1.7.

Apple if very hush hush about every thing, which a lot of times make things worse fro the conscious consumer. In this case for example it is very possible that Apple has fixed the problem somehow on new books going out and the ones already purchased may be getting a fix right now as we speak with the 10.5.8 software update. There have been several reporting that after the 10.5.8 update the problem went away, even though it was not one of the solutions mentioned in the update product info.

Again glad to hear you joined the Mac community, you'll absolutely love your new Mac! Be sure to post here for any questions you might have. There are many great posters here waiting to lend you a hand.

katmeef wrote:
fishbert- thanks for that info. I will call asap when they open... Hopefully they will email me the tool, as I am roughly an hour away form the closest store in Toronto. Agreed this is only a hackjob workaround until they provide us with real 3Gb/s capabilities.

It sounded to me like this was an in-store only thing (they probably don't want the unclean masses who are already having problems to go and screw up the downgrade), but it's worth asking, I guess. Then again, it is the weekend and I hear Toronto's nice...

Wan Chai Man wrote:
Where can I find the video? Would love to see what people are talking about in action..

I put a video up at http://vimeo.com/5854152 that shows what the issue can look like.
In the video, I start a playing a clip in Quicktime, then I start AJA System Test (which does a hard disk read/write speed test). The machine grinds to a halt in terms of disk activity, which is evident by the video freezing and the system test measurement stalling, before recovering after a few moments... then grinding to a halt again (repeat).

To reproduce this, you don't need AJA System Test. As I had suggested to someone earlier, I got a similar effect by playing the video in Quicktime, then just copying another file of a few hundred megabytes in size. If the video hangs, you may have this issue. If it doesn't, then you may not have anything to worry about.

iyacyas wrote:
... In this case for example it is very possible that Apple has fixed the problem somehow on new books going out and the ones already purchased may be getting a fix right now as we speak with the 10.5.8 software update. There have been several reporting that after the 10.5.8 update the problem went away, even though it was not one of the solutions mentioned in the update product info.

An update to the OS will not fix a firmware issue -- completely different body of code.
Those who report their issue resolved with 10.5.8 likely had experienced a different issue.

Just an update regarding my predicament...I was about to RMA my Seagate 500Gb HD when the external case I ordered arrived in the mail. I decided to try the HD in the case since I could not install OSX Leopard when installed internally. The first thing I tried after installing it in the case was to install OSX onto the questionable and now USB drive (which easily formatted correctly). OSX installed like a charm! I then tried installing the HD into my MBP and it recognized the drive partition but would not boot to it. It was a long shot to try that method in any case. I then put my stock drive back into the case (the stock HD works fine) and put the Seagate back into the HD enclosure. I reformatted the Seagate and it works perfectly as an external USB drive. It simply cannot be used internally in my MBP. That means this is definitely a firmware issue.

I have already gotten the go-ahead from Seagate to return the drive for replacement but I am now unsure if I should. It does work but not as I wanted it to work (as an internal HD). Since there is no Apple Store here in Stockholm, I would have to bring the drive and MBP to a Apple Authorized repair depot and there is no guarantee that they will replace the logic board or have the firmware downgrading tool Fishbert mentioned is now available. I may try giving them a call today. has anyone confirmed that this tool exists at their local Apple Store or repair depot?

fishbert wrote:

katmeef wrote:
fishbert- thanks for that info. I will call asap when they open... Hopefully they will email me the tool, as I am roughly an hour away form the closest store in Toronto. Agreed this is only a hackjob workaround until they provide us with real 3Gb/s capabilities.

It sounded to me like this was an in-store only thing (they probably don't want the unclean masses who are already having problems to go and screw up the downgrade), but it's worth asking, I guess. Then again, it is the weekend and I hear Toronto's nice...

Yup.. just got off phone from applecare and was advised I'll have to go to Toronto. I asked if the fact a tool exists to downgrade from 1.7 is an official admission of fault with 1.7 and he chuckled a bit and said he does not know why this tool exists
the denial is almost comical now..

fishbert wrote:

I put a video up at http://vimeo.com/5854152 that shows what the issue can look like.
In the video, I start a playing a clip in Quicktime, then I start AJA System Test (which does a hard disk read/write speed test). The machine grinds to a halt in terms of disk activity, which is evident by the video freezing and the system test measurement stalling, before recovering after a few moments... then grinding to a halt again (repeat).

Thanks for reposting the link.

I tried it (with a 6 min Kylie video and had no problems with a 4gb file read and write.

Guess I must be one of the lucky ones - though mine is just the entry level model with the stock 160gb HDD.

Glad I didnt fork out for the Applecare ... yet! (Will buy it at the 11th month)

Rsheppick wrote:

I'm at a total loss reading through all of these posts but I don't recall reading even one time where a user whom got the item with 1.7 ran into issues installing new hard drive.

I think some people with new MBPs with 1.7 preinstalled are having problems. See this earlier post:

justinkallas1980 wrote:
I just purchased my 15" MBP a week ago yesterday and when I popped in my 500 GB Seagate that was working just fine on an older MBP, I was unable to boot. So I tried reinstalling OS X and it was about 10% of the way through after 30 minutes. So I picked up a WD Scorpio Blue 500 GB to see if that would work, and no dice. After reading a prior suggestion on here I picked up a Hitachi 500 GB and used a Windows machine to run the SATA Utility that is available from Hitachi's website to configure the SATA interface on the drive itself for 1.5 Gbps instead of 3, and also disabled Spread Spectrum. After doing so, I reloaded OS X from restore CD and it took all of 20 minutes to load. I then restored 60 GB of data from a time machine backup, this took maybe 40 minutes. I am in the process now of copying my Parallels VM's back onto my machine and the thing is running flawlessly. So, in summary, forcing the Hitachi drive to 1.5Gbps and disabling spread spectrum did the charm for me. And for the record, I have seen some people speculate that if you got a machine from the factory with EFI 1.7 Firmware update that the problem would not occur........this is not true (at least not in my case). Mine had 1.7 from the factory and until I popped in this Hitachi drive I had been second guessing my purchase ever since. Now I'm a happy camper again, although Apple should fix this so I can actually utilize SATA II speeds. But hey, at least I have my 500 GB back!!!!

Just at the Apple store now. Going for my appointment in 5 mins to see what they have to say about the problem. I tried wiping the HD and reinstall Mac OS X 10.5.7 but unfortunately it even crashes when trying to install it! Hopefully they can rollback the firmware or at least give me a replacement!

I have this exact same problem with that Seagate drive. I haven't looked, but can we just downgrade the Firmware?

we need updates on the firmware roll back tool, truth or fiction works or not?