Macbook Pro Graphics Firmware Update 1.0 For Mac
Argimiro Krishnamoorthy
Hello, I have been having graphics firmware failures for the last couple of months when the computer just starts restarting by itself (during Zoom calls, especially annoying and crucial to my work). I have MBP 2017 15".
Normally I would suggest running EtreCheck and posting the report to look for possible third party software causing a problem instead of a clean install, but I doubt that third party software is the issue for a GPU firmware issue. Typical software culprits are anti-virus apps, cleaning/optimizer apps, and third party security software...none of which are needed on a Mac and usually causes more problems than they solve.
This update is for specific iMac computers with an ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics card installed, running Mac OS X 10.5.2 or later.
It updates the ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics card firmware in the iMac to improve system stability.
This update is applicable for ATI Radeon equipped iMacs that have a graphics ROM revision number of 113-B2250H-249 or 113-B2250L-249. To determine a graphics ROM revision number, perform the following steps:
1) From the Apple menu in the upper left hand corner of the screen, select About this Mac.
2) In the About This Mac dialog, Click on More Info.
3) In the Hardware portion System Profiler dialog, click Graphics/Displays.
Locate the ROM revision field and examine the number to the right to determine your graphics ROM revision number.
To complete the firmware update process, please follow the instructions in the updater application (/Applications/Utilities/iMac ATI Radeon HD Graphics Firmware Update.app).
The updater will launch automatically when the Installer closes.
After this update has been successfully completed, your graphics ROM version will be: 113-B2250L-259 or 113-B2250H-259 depending on your iMac.
Important: If you run the update and receive the message: "Your computer does not need this update" then your iMac does not need this update.
The term firmware refers to computer chips that have data or programs recorded on them. When your computer is manufactured, its firmware is specifically programmed to tell your computer how to perform tasks. However, the type of firmware installed in your computer can be updated later if your computer requires a change.
Searching around, it appears that High Sierra included a firmware update that let machines boot from APFS volumes, which would explain why my machine would no longer boot after updating the boot volume.
Apple has released a new graphics firmware update for its new MacBook Pro 17-inch laptops, addressing the issue of vertical lines appearing on the display. A percentage of MacBook Pro 17-inch users were affected by this problem shortly after the laptop became available.
Apple has also been scarce on details regarding how it fixed this problem. Several users claimed an overheating of the laptop caused the green lines to appear while for others the problem occurred even when the notebook was running cool. Reports now show that this issue is solved and the green lines on the display disappeared after the firmware update.
I am having minor, but annoying, problems with the recently released ON1 Photo RAW 2020.5. Some of the image previews do not show up in the Browse mode. On its website, ON1 suggests that this is because the graphics card driver is out of date and requires updating.
I am using a MacPro (late 2013) running OS Mojave. The graphics card is an AMD D700. I downloaded what is supposedly the latest driver for my Mac from the AMD site. Unfortunately, I am completely at a loss as to how to install it. It seems to be a Windows design, and no installation instructions are provided.
You can now update the firmware without having to go to Catalina. I believe this came in on the latest Security Update for Mojave. I did it for mine (without switching the SSD back to the Apple one) a few months back, and is now on v.136. No idea whether it updated the D700 firmware or not.
Well, I took the plunge and installed Catalina. So far, so good. I am not seeing lost previews and thumbnail images in the ON1 browser, as I did with Mojave. Perhaps OS 10.15.5 has an upgraded graphics card driver or something else that fixed the problem. I just hope that it lasts.
I have the same problem, (using M1 Mac on Ventura). Download does not appear to be compressed, system only offers 'compression' and not "uncompress". Download copies onto SD card (formatted in camera) but when trying to update camera just keeps saying "Memory Card containing firmware is required to update". The camera will use the card to record images so the card is being recognised but it will not see the firmware, never had this before and have tried about 5 different cards. Have tried going back to successive updates but still won't work. Currently on 1.5.2 originally trying to load 1.8.1 but also tried 1.6.0 and 1.7.0 as well.
"Locations" isn't a folder, it's just one of the categories you should see on the left side of the Finder window (like "Favorites", "iCloud" etc.). The firmware file may be listed there, or you may need to go into the item that corresponds to your computer name.
These have to be closely matched. Try running a newer kernel and extensions on old firmware, and you can encounter problems, including kernel panics, in which everything has packed up and gone home, and your Mac needs to restart and try again. The kernel and extensions are supplied and installed in macOS updates, but updating firmware is more tricky, and these days is only performed as an operation within a macOS update.
Firmware is also more complex on Macs with T1 or T2 chips: they have their own firmware, which is downloaded securely during the update, and installed then. Some Macs have had more serious problems with T1/T2 firmware, and Apple provides a special mechanism for restoring their firmware in the event of problems. However, this is a serious undertaking, and if it goes wrong the T2 chip can brick that Mac. This is most likely when you run pre-release versions of macOS on your Mac. If you stick to normal release versions, the chances of that happening should be extremely low.
Until the summer of 2019, Apple had brought all recent versions of macOS, from Sierra to Mojave, up to the same firmware versions, which differ between different models. Provided that you kept your Mac up to date with updates and security updates for the given major version of macOS it was running, each model should have been running the same version of firmware appropriate to that specific model. For example, an iMac Retina 5K 27-inch Late 2015, with the model ID iMac17,1, should have been running EFI firmware version 170.0.0.0.0.
Macs running older versions of macOS, El Capitan and before, use firmware which has a different numbering system. Under that, the same iMac should have been running firmware version 0157 B00. So before the release of Catalina, an iMac17,1 should have been running firmware version 0157 B00 for El Capitan, or 170.0.0.0.0 for Sierra, High Sierra or Mojave.
Good news, Howard! While reviewing your numerous articles on the subject of EFI firmware, I came across your suggestion in a comment that booting into Recovery, and reinstalling the OS from there, might do the trick. I tried that, then booted normally into the refreshed OS, then used SilentKnight to run through two rounds of updates requiring restarts. After all that, my Macmini5,1 now has EFI version 135! It appears to have been installed as part of the High Sierra Security Update 2019-006. I had, in fact, installed that same update at least twice before on the same volume, but with no effect on the EFI. Reinstalling the OS from within Recovery seems to have been the key to success. Thank you for your help, good sir!
After converting my 2017 Macbook air to Ubuntu 22.04, I was able to install the driver using sudo apt install isight-firmware-tools, and I correctly entered the path to the AppleUSBVideoSupport path. I was able to follow the "new" instructions suggested here on this post, but only in combination with other older instructions as posted by the original person who asked the question. I'm not sure how it worked, but it did somehow. But it would be good to have a definitive and comprehensive procedure.
Before proceeding with the installation of Arch Linux, it is important to ensure that the latest firmware updates for you MacBook are installed. This procedure requires OS X.In OS X, open the App Store and check for updates. If your Mac finds and installs any updates, make sure to reboot your computer, and then check again for updates to make sure that you installed everything.
It is advisable to keep OS X installed, because MacBook firmware updates can only be installed using OS X. However, if you plan to remove OS X completely, make backups of these files, which you will need in Linux for adjusting the color profile:
Other BCM43XX chipsets may only be supported by a proprietary driver such as b43 or wl. The broadcom-wl package is included in the Arch installer media, but may need to be manually enabled before the chipset will function correctly. The b43 driver is also built-in to the kernel and included in the installation media, but it requires external proprietary firmware from the b43-firmwareAUR package which will need to be downloaded from another machine connected to the internet.
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