EFI updates how critical

Hi,
I have a Macbook Pro 15" 5,5 turning up this week and I will be wiping the drive completly and installing Ubuntu instead.
What are the implications of this with regards to future EFI updates? As I won't be able to boot into Snow Leopard as it won't exist to be able to run future updates.
Would the best course of action be to dual boot the MBP with Snow and Ubuntu?
Thanks

to be honest I have had enough of Microsoft and their failings
Ah, the reason why many of us use Macs as well. Although, I've never actually owned a PC running Windows. Always been Macs in this household, and would never use Windows if you paid me!
I have just done a quick search on all the apps I currently use on Ubuntu and yes you are correct they are available for OSX!
Most apps on Ubuntu are open source, and since there are many similarities between Linux and OS X apps are very easy to port from Ubuntu to OS X. So most developers will do it. Some don't, but the majority of the well-used Linux apps also run under OS X either natively or under X11.
Whats the situation with most apps for the Mac? Are they free like Linux or do you have to pay?
What I really like about OS X is that there is a very solid foundation of open source or free applications because it is Unix-based. You can often find free apps to do what you need, but sometimes there are commercially-available apps for the same purpose as well. So you often get to choose between the best of both worlds: free (but maybe not as intuitive or compatible) or paid (perhaps of slightly better quality).
For example, you can choose to buy something like iWork from Apple or Office from Microsoft, or you can go free (open source) and use OpenOffice, NeoOffice, StarOffice or any combination of any of them. OS X is often commercially developed for by leading software vendors, but sometimes open source software is available too.
I think just getting the feel of SL is a good idea, especially if you're purchasing a MBP. If you have questions, we'll be here to answer them. And if you really don't like it and want to go to Ubuntu we can help with that too.
--Travis

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Performance reduced under Bootcamp after EFI update on Macbook Pro Retina

after i upgraded EFI on my retina macbook pro the proformence reduced to unusable. under heavy load under bootcamp windows7. the cpu clock drops and as well as cpu clock. this is the screen shot of gpu clock monitoring from windows u can see the gpu clock is running at 270Mhz at most of the time and trying to be back to 725Mhz(yea, not 900Mhz!) when im running a graphic benchmark at same time cpu will run about 1.1Ghz as well. i noticed that it will run 10-20sec normally then CPU and GPU clock will start dropping. It's almost like speedstep is programmed backwards. My CPU is constantly running at 3.1-3.2GHz, and then as soon as a game loads, it drops to 1.2GHz. I've lost track of how many times I reset the SMC reseting SMC PRAM, reinstalling windows using Bootcamp or even erease the entire drive and start over from network recovery MacOS did not solve this problem. so all the recent games like COD MW3, Starcraft II, BF3,or D3 will only run about about 10 fps as i was playing them with no ploblem before the EFI update.
this is killing me! please help.
im in NY, in this season i dont think is the overheating problem. when i check the temperature, it stays about 80C (fans will run about 4k rpm). but some time heavy loaded Mac OS cpu is about 90 degree but only with 3k rpm fan kicked in.
i did search online, seems that some other people have the same problem with rMBP or MBA 2012.
anyone knows if i take my macbook pro to the store, will those people work at genuines bar help me with this "windows" problem?
thanks!

Hey Shadowyani, please take a time and fill a bug report at http://developer.apple.com/bugreporter/ . The machine is useless for me as it is now because I develop and use very GPU/CPU demanding scientific applications, after the update my realtime applications are completely useless as they drop from something like 25fps to 9 fps even on Mac OS X (no SMC reset fixed the issue). In bootcamp the situation is worse, my software runs at 4 fps and gaming turns to be impossible to play as well.
Please let Apple know about the problem, fill a bug report, even if SMC reset once in a while fixed the issue for you (this is not a common behaviour and must be fixed). We paid the price for cutting edge technology.
Apple shall not do a downgrade of the system after few weeks, remember that most of reviews and benchmarks were done BEFORE the EFI Update, so people are being fooled by Apple in this sense.

EFI update 1.8 and the wakeup noise is back

I have applied EFI update 1.8 but replaced my drive (the drive was bad) a couple of months ago.
The drive is making again the wakeup noise! (EFI 1.8 was supposed to fix that)
I am not certain that the return of the noise is related to the drive change but it looks so.
Any way to remove the noise. Does the superdrive need a firmware update? If yes how do you do it (as the EFI change is not accepted anymore)?

Same here actually. It worked for a bit though.

IMac EFI update problems

My Mid 2011 iMac 27" i7 will no longer start after the latest EFI update.
I decided to perform some system updated on my iMac and after installing 10.7.3, I rechecked and it found the EFI update and one other update. They were both pretty small (the largest was 3.6MB), so I decided to proceed prior to getting back to business with my system.
After downloading the updates (took about 5 seconds), the machine proceeded to restart. There was a loud beep prior to the system restart chime after which it went to the grey-white apple startup screen with the spinning wheel.
And it stayed there.
After 35 minutes with no discernable progress, I decided something must be wrong. This system normally takes about 30 seconds to boot from a cold state (it's running on an OWC SSD) or maybe a minute after updates. So I held the power button to reboot. But it keeps going to the same state. I tried to reboot to a different internal drive holding the option key, but the same thing happens.
System Specs:
iMac 27" i7 3.4 Ghz (mid 2011) 12G Ram
Internal 1TB Apple HD
Internal OWC SSD 240G (main startup drive)
Here are my questions:
1. How do I recover from this?
2. Is anyone else running into this problem?
3. How long do the EFI updates normally take?
4. Shouldn't there be some sort of "progress bar" to indicate something is going on during this process? Or, if not, then perhaps a "WARNING!! This process will take up to two hours, during which you will receive no discernable feedback. Do not interrupt the process until more than 24 hours have passed with the spinning ball."
Thanks for your help.
Jason Cox
P.S. I think this is my last iMac EFI update. After my last iMac received an EFI update (2009 model 24" iMac), it became ultra-flakey and started corrupting HD's. It never worked the same after that. This machine was working PERFECTLY before the update.

I don't have the link to that thread, but here is how to do it:
To reset the SMC:
Shut down your system.
Unplug all the accessories from the system
Unplug the power cord from the iMac and leave it unplugged for at least 15 seconds.
Reconnect the power cord. Wait another fifteen seconds and restart the computer.
To Reset the PRAM:
On startup, hold down these keys at the same time (must start before the grey screen comes up): command option p r
Hope that helps.

Efi update via usb flash drive?

I would like to know if there is a way to perform an efi update via a usb flash drive?

tried the latest 2010 build, got the same problem: 'missing operating system' and again in ubuntu the flash drive is an unknown filesystem.
tried again on a different computer and got the same error.. how frustrating!
edit: just to clarify i used the following command 'sudo dd if=path/to/image.img of=/path/to/device' i also changed directory to where the image file is and tried again without absolute referencing the path for 'if=' both of which returned that the command had been completed successfully in terminal.
edit: tried using again with a different USB stick (Maxell 4GB), again terminal returned 'x amount of files successfully copied to sdc1'.
.. something different happened this time, i didn't get the same error as before, instead the text 'grub' appears with a blinking cursor. nothing else.
Last edited by muckymouse (2010-05-07 23:54:10)

EFI-Update MBP Late 2008

Hi everybody,
I'm experiencing problems with the EFI-Update for MBP, late 2008. It does not work at all, I've retried this several times and my Laptop just gets a grey Background, the bar at the top stays, I can move the mouse and click on the "apple" - but that's it.
To get my Laptop back to life I had to hold the powerbutton and restart. The same happens now when I just want to shutdown my Laptop, grey background etc.
Does anybody else experience the same? How will this be fixed?
Thanks,
Wayne

Ok.. I figured it out! Last night I made many discoveries about my MacBook pro 15" late 2008 model. First off I thought the sucker died with the 3 bad tone beeps. However this turned out to be a bad memory dimm (modual) which I learned on another thread. By proccess of elmination I figured out which dim this was. So this more than likley than anything else has to do with my Kernel panics in the past (Not Lion and Not EFI).
Secondly I looked around more threads because I was supiscous the EFi update was failing because I had my setup with a Master Boot Record partitioning scheme. As it turns out the EFI updates can only be applied if you have a GPT partitioning scheme. Therefore I had to erase / format and lose my Windows partition just for an update (This is not ideal at all).
So first I backed up to TimeMachine then I erased and then reloaded LION on the newley formated GPT drive via TimeMachine. Once back up I applied the EFI 2.8 Firmware update and it installed perfectly.
This definatley needs to be documented better than having to search discussions thread. Secondly the only reason I was using MBR in the first place was because it was difficult to setup the Windows 7 install on the GPT partition. One Windows 7 doesnt like and 2 Mac OSX with disk util can easily mess it up. If you make any change renaming drives... anything in Windows 7 on in Computer Management / Disk management you will hose your Windows machine. This is because the pointer to the Windows 7 OS gets lost in the GPT as it gets modified incorrectly.
So in my mind Apple is poorly supporting dual booting (Boot Camp). This is unsat as it was originally heavily advertised with bootcamp.
Oh well I guess I will hit virtual box and get more memory via this new EFI update.

EFI Update broke my Retina Macbook Pro performance

Ever since I applied the last EFI Update that was released with 10.8.2 my retina macbook pro has been working awfully.
To begin with xcode, I don't know if it's the version 4.5 or what but switching from one plain file to another takes up to 1 minute and if I switching to a Storyboard it takes way longer. Right now all processes are taking up to 130% on activity monitor and it's impossible to work on it.
After waking up from sleep it's taking years before I can start typing, it takes up to 20-25 seconds, on 10.8.1 it took around 10-15 seconds and on OS X Lion it was instantaneous, What happened?
This is really affecting me, how can I fix this or roll back this EFI update or 10.8.2 all along?

This didn't solved my issue, Apps are still using a lot of resources.
I'm attaching a screenshot of xcode using 114% of the processor, no compiling is being done, just editing.
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Lion won't start after EFI update

I installed the new EFI update for my MBA Mid 2011 (the software updater said it is recomended). The update went fine and restarted the mac afterwards.
Then while booting the apple logo turns to a grey forbidden sign and nothing happens from there. I turned the mac off and tried again. Same thing.
Then I booted the recovery partition and tried to repair my disk. It says that it can't repair the disk because it is corrupted.
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Interruppting EFI Update

What happens when you interrupt the EFI update?
I was in the middle of running my EFI update. Now I can't seem to get my Mac running. I tried all the troubleshooting tips that was in the manual. I also refered to the update instructions again to try and restart the update. Now my LED light blinks from dim to bright.
Is there something that I can do or would have to return my laptop?

Welcome to Apple Discussions, Shugah Shane.
EFI updates should not be interrupted. But you know that now
Did you read this support topic also? You may be able to create a restore disk w/o bringing your Mac in for repair.
-mj
[email protected]

EFI update 2.1 for lion recovery in Mountain lion

When the EFI update 2.1 for lion recovery in Mountain lion is done and when i restart my Macbook, the sleep indicator flashes and the machine makes a beeping sound for about 3 seconds and the machine starts up. Any thing to be worried about..? I beleive the the update is not installed bcoz it still shows in the App Store as update available. Pls advise.

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EFI Update Causes Time Machine Problems

After the EFI update today (10/12) Time Machine will no longer mount its disk image on an external network drive via AFP wireless connection. The external drive is presented through Ubuntu 8.10 with Netatalk 2.03. Anyone else having this problem yet, or better yet have a solution?

Fixed it! Mounting it in Disk Utility and repairing the file system worked. It should be noted however that I can't confirm the update was the cause of of this problem but, its some kawinky-**** huh?

EFI Update 2.9 other issue

After EFI update 2.9 Wifi no longer automatically connects to remembered networks on wake. I was having the highly delayed wake issue on occasion that this update was said to fix. Now even time I open the lid (100% of the time so far) i must manually connect to my home network it will not automatically connect. any ideas?

I had this same issue. On an uneducated whim, I totally Shut Down my Computer, waited about 5 minutes, then pressed the Power Button and
it has been 2 days and No More Problem with the WiFi issue.
I might be speaking too soon, but, so far in the past 2 days it seems to connect!
You can also try to delete the Network you use in System Preferences Network Advanced and then Add it back then go up to the WiFi Icon and turn it off, Then turn it back on and check Remember this Network. Someone suggested that, but so far just Turning Off My Air and waiting 5 minutes, the turn it back on solved my problem.

EFI Update v2.6 breaks Windows dual boot

The EFI Update MBA51.00EF.B02 has broken WIndows on my MacBook Air 2012
Bootcamp Dual boot using OSX Lion & WIndows 7 was working fine prior to the EFI update.
Since then, the WIndows initial boot screen displays, but as soon as the GUI starts there is a blank notebook screen.
Using an external monitor connected via Thunderbolt > VGA adapter, the Windows GUI Logon & desktop shows on the external monitor, but Control Panel display manager cannot see the MBA own lcd screen as a display option.
This makes it unusable as a portable WIndows M/C, as instead of fixing WIndows it has broken it.
Can I regress ?
Is there a fix to this issue ?
Please Help

vintherine wrote:
the.ridikulus.rat wrote:
@vintherine: Everything you mentioned in the 1st post is correct. In your case the correct commands should be:
grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=arch_grub --recheck
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Thanks. I've tried that, get now a single line with Windows, which does not work
EDIT: Are you able to boot Windows independent of GRUB, ie. directly from the firmware boot menu?
I've tried F12 key, found a menu, started on the HD, found a new menu corresponding with the EFI directories (arch_grub, Microsoft....). Microsoft entry sent me on... grub menu
EDIT: Can you try (note the extra line : "set gfxpayload=keep")
It's time for diner (i'm in France). I'll see this in the next hour.
Many thanks
Seems like the actual Windows bootmgfw.efi was overwritten by grubx64.efi or something else. In the boot menu Windows's entry (created by Windows installer) is usually titled "Windows Boot Manager".
EDIT:
Try this. Copy the files from Windows's C:\Windows\Boot\EFI to <EFISYS>/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/ . Overwrite any exisitng files, and make sure <EFISYS>/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/BCD file exists. That is the Windows equivalent of grub.cfg (although BCD cannot be read easily since it is not a text file). Try your menuentry again.
Last edited by the.ridikulus.rat (2013-09-27 18:29:09)

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Boom
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EFI updates how critical

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