Henry Rexroad
Level 1 (88 points)
Notebooks

Q: El Cap firmware update broke 2011 MBP

Hello,

 

Ive recently upgraded my 2011 i5 MBP to El Capitan and its turned into a nightmare. Going from Yosemite to 10.11.5, with the combo update there was a firmware update applied, as evidenced by the typical long "BEEEEEEP" on restart. Since this update, the machine has basically been bricked. we're talking exceptionally slow, taking about 10 minutes just to get to the desktop... neverending spinning wheels, slow redraws, glitches in graphics... I spent 3 hours on the phone with support, going through deleting preferences, resetting SMC and PRAM, all of the usual things which went nowhere, albeit extremely slowly as this machine is about the same speed as a turtle right now.

The guy on the phone said I should take it to the store, which ended up being possibly the worst Apple support experience ive ever received and basically was given the option of buy a new machine, or take your broken laptop and get out of our store (North & Clybourne, Chicago)... at one point the guy disappeared into the back, came back out with my OWC ram in a static bag, and claimed that my RAM, from an ASP, was incompatible with my machine, and keeping it installed was going to "fry my motherboard" -  Our only options was a $280 motherboard replacement for our "fried" motherboard, or, in his words "well with how much that costs, you should probably just get a new one..." and this was a "Genius!" At this point I simply walked away from this upselling simpleton as this machine has been working perfectly with this "incompatible ram" from a well-known Apple Service Provider for over two years and only failed after this update.

 

Anyway, enough ranting. Since this firmware update:

1. Original Hynix Black-Label Apple Ram - no change

2. OWC 16gb ram upgrade - no change

3. g-skill 16gb ram upgrade - no change

4. original apple HD - no change

5. Samsung Evo 850 SSD - no change

6. Seagate aftermarket HD - no change

7. booted off external HD - no change

8. booted from another working macbook in target disk mode - no change

9. ram from items 1, 2, and 3 tested in another 2011 macbook still on mavericks - all work perfectly.

10. items from 4, 5, and 6 tested in another 2011 macbook still on mavericks - all work perfectly.

 

Im going to try booting another machine off this one via target disk mode and see how that behaves. I would think the firmware and SMC would not affect its ability to work as a target disk, so we'll see how that goes.

 

In System Profiler, both the Firmware and the SMC versions are *newer* than what is listed on the Apple page for latest revisions.

About EFI and SMC firmware updates for Intel-based Mac computers - Apple Support

shows this as the latest versions for this macbook:

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)MacBookPro8,1MBP81.0047.2AB (2015-001)1.68f98 (SMC 1.5)

 

My El Capitan 2011 Macbook is showing

MBP81.0047.B2C   1.68f99



is there any way I can downgrade and/or reflash my current SMC version? are there any alternatives? I basically consider the "geniuses" usesless at this point and really do not want to set foot in the North/Clybourne store again for as long as I live.

Posted on May 31, 2016 11:32 AM

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Henry Rexroad

Q: El Cap firmware update broke 2011 MBP

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  • by Henry Rexroad,

    Henry Rexroad Henry Rexroad May 31, 2016 11:51 AM in response to Henry Rexroad
    Level 1 (88 points)
    Notebooks
    May 31, 2016 11:51 AM in response to Henry Rexroad

    followup - tested with machine as a target disk connected to another 2011 Macbook Pro which is still on Mavericks and has 1.68f98 as listed on the Firmware page. Works perfectly fine in this configuration.

     

    Im really left with no other conclusion than the El Cap-applied firmware and/or SMC updates as the culprit.

  • by Henry Rexroad,

    Henry Rexroad Henry Rexroad Jul 4, 2016 11:14 AM in response to Henry Rexroad
    Level 1 (88 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 4, 2016 11:14 AM in response to Henry Rexroad

    Just an update on this issue --

     

    While working on a friend's laptop, I noticed he had some 2gb PC3 1600 Apple-labled ram out of a 2012 macbook. You know, the type of RAM the genius said would break my machine if it stayed installed and refused to help me anymore.

     

    Anyway, I put the "non-compatible" Apple RAM into the laptop and somehow that magically fixed it. The machine returned to normal, the slowdowns went away, everything was working exactly as it should. I put back in my third-party 16GB RAM, and it continued to work, and continues to work, perfectly fine now, weeks later. Had the "genius" tried that instead of simply trying to upsell me on a $1500 laptop vs a $300 "repair" (which now has been shown to be completely unnecessary) or even done basic troubleshooting, this all would have been avoided.

     

    Stuff like this is why I dont recommend your products to people anymore after doing so for 20+ years. At least with it being a pre-retina laptop I had the option to swap things out until I found the culprit. Now you're just expected to fork out for a new one if something breaks. no thanks.

     

     

    also, not 100% sure but Im pretty confident after doing a lot of research that the undocumented SMC and firmware updates in El Capitan, due to known security issues, have initiated lockdowns which will prevent you from downgrading SMC and firmwares in the future. I could force the machine to load the downgrade but it would never stick and put the machine into reboot loops, so I gave up on that route.