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iMac 17,1 (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) EFI firmware update failures
- Thread starter zorinlynx
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OK, I got nowhere again on the Firmware Upgrade issue. The final Senior Advisor (love the titles) said that Apple knows about the Internet Recovery issue and will fix it in the next release (I'm guessing 11.1) and that it was related to caching. I did get a sympathetic ear when I basically told her "Apple needs to come clean on this iMac firmware issue". The call ended with "If the new update doesn't fix your Internet Recovery problem, we will escalate to engineering". My guess is to address the Firmware....
Thank you, and that is super good news that they know about the recovery partition thing and are working on including it in an update. That is great! I am guessing that it might happen via firmware, too. Caching, they think. Interesting. Would caching explain the recovery partition being present, yet inaccessible?
Either way, they are now committed to fixing it, whatever form that may take. Which is a good start!
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I've also been interacting with Apple Support on the Recovery partition and firmware issues this week. 'Engineering' want me to take the iMac into an Apple Store for diagnosis, which will not be practical for me until the New Year at least.
I have also shared this thread and articles from eclecticlight.co on the firmware issue with Apple Support, but there has been no recognition from the support tech that the firmware issue is widespread. I've pushed hard and made it clear that everything I've read online indicates it to be very common; as has been said, they need to 'come clean'
(Cynically, it feels like Apple may be trying to dodge a situation in which they have to replace motherboards or hard drives in a large number of middle-aged iMacs under some sort of free product recall?).
Interesting.
Has anyone tried to install the new Developer Beta for 11.1 to see if it makes any difference on the Recovery Partition issue?
An interesting titbit from Reddit: .
See the first comment in that thread, from two months ago.
I agree. What’s the chance that a Senior Advisor has this exact machine next to her to verify the firmware? They have been told not to escalate this. When I asked how Apple has managed to upgrade the firmware on every other machine many times since this 170 release - she had no answer.
It’s probably going to take a petition for them to move on it.
If Apple know about the recovery partition/internet recovery issue and have said that an update is coming to resolve this - and it is related to firmware - then aren't these issues one and the same?
I find it odd that they are happy to acknowledge the problem with internet recovery, but are completely mum about the firmware issue.
I doubt they need to see a physical example of any customer's 17,1 system. They have plenty on hand and they know about the issue. I think it comes down to communication: the folks up top know, but the support folk do not.
I find it odd that they are happy to acknowledge the problem with internet recovery, but are completely mum about the firmware issue.
I doubt they need to see a physical example of any customer's 17,1 system. They have plenty on hand and they know about the issue. I think it comes down to communication: the folks up top know, but the support folk do not.
It's a great question. I've found that information on the topic of internet recovery is scant indeed.
It's going to be interesting to report this back (since they promised that the update fixes recovery!).
I am also stuck on 170.0.0.0.0.0 and have been living with it in the hope that a fix would arrive sometime/somehow/somewhere.
However, the latest update of GarageBand is giving a stupid message about requiring macOS 11/Big Sur (I'm stallion macOS 10.15.7). Could this problem is due to firmware 170.0... rather than macOS? Could it be that GarageBand installer is getting spooked by this 'ancient' firmware?
p.s. I am reticent about upgrading to Big Sur until this firmware issue is sorted.
However, the latest update of GarageBand is giving a stupid message about requiring macOS 11/Big Sur (I'm stallion macOS 10.15.7). Could this problem is due to firmware 170.0... rather than macOS? Could it be that GarageBand installer is getting spooked by this 'ancient' firmware?
p.s. I am reticent about upgrading to Big Sur until this firmware issue is sorted.
I doubt it has to do with the firmware but you can call support. The more people that complain the better chance we have that Apple will address the firmware issue.
Yes, that won't be firmware related. You just need to be on Big Sur to get the GarageBand update. The old firmware is highly unlikely to affect 'app' installs. It's much more likely to affect low level stuff - boot up processes (hence the possible link to the Recovery partition issue), interacting with WiFi chips, Bluetooth, display and SSD. Also, it is a big potential security issue.
For me (firmware 170.0.0.0.0, with Big Sur installed) I'm not seeing any system instability issues, but am unable to access the Recovery partition.
Apple just added the iMac 17.1 to the vintage list:
www.macrumors.com
support.apple.com
Maybe, complaining to Apple was successful!
Edit: As @micbarry pointed out below, I was mistaken.
But, the only 2015 Mac on the vintage list was the iMac 27!
Apple Adds First iMac Models With Retina 5K Display to Vintage Products List
The first iMac with a Retina 5K display is one of several iMac models that have been added to Apple's vintage products list this week. In the...
www.macrumors.com
Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty - Apple Support
Learn about your options for getting service and parts for Apple devices that are past their warranty period.
Edit: As @micbarry pointed out below, I was mistaken.
But, the only 2015 Mac on the vintage list was the iMac 27!
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I believe 17,1 is late 2015, whereas the vintage models referred to here are mid-2015. So I think it is one before ours.Apple just added the iMac 17.1 to the vintage list:
Apple Adds First iMac Models With Retina 5K Display to Vintage Products List
The first iMac with a Retina 5K display is one of several iMac models that have been added to Apple's vintage products list this week. In the...Maybe, complaining to Apple was successful!Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty - Apple Support
Learn about your options for getting service and parts for Apple devices that are past their warranty period.
Hi all, I'm new to the forum but have been using Macs since 2005. I also have the same issue with my Late 2015 iMac. I opted to go for the i7 processor when I bought it and upgraded to a 500GB SSD. Everything had been working fine until the Big Sur update when after updating I experienced 2 random shutdown events. I also noticed that my iMac was running hotter than before, even when idling or browsing a single webpage on safari for example.
I used Mac Fans Control to monitor the temperature and ever since the upgrade in OS it was running 6-10 degrees hotter on even the most basic of tasks. It went up from 37 degrees Celsius (previously) to around 47-50. I called Apple support and went through a lot of the motions many of you seem to have already gone through. I started with phone support, took it to store and not once did they acknowledge the firmware being stuck on 170.00000 - except one Mac genius guy who said "so we have a clear miss-match between software and firmware". I immediately thought yes! This guy gets it! When I got home the email for the apple store work authorisation came through and to my surprise there was no mention of the firmware issue (which I understand is causing all my woes).
I fought it out with them over the phone (2-3 times) when they said it was ready and in the end they admitted that the iMac would not boo into the latest OS when doing an internet recovery and also was still on firmware 170.00000
I explained that is not good enough and they promised me that they would escalate it to a specialist team for review. They also advised me that the boot issue would be sorted by a further software update and advised me to pick up my iMac promising to pursue this further for me.
To be fair they have been pursuing a solution and I soon got a call from a member of the team asking what my RAM configuration is and whether or not it was all Apple original. I explained that I had bought 16gb Off crucial.co.uk RAM and added it to the 8GB already on board from Apple. They thanked me and said they would report back.
Sure enough, 2 days later I got a call from the Apple store and they have asked me to remove the extra, non-apple branded RAM and try to update the computer again, as they feel that may be the issue.
Unfortunately, I have since left home to visit family and do not/will not have access to the machine for a couple of months.
Is there anyone here that has tried the update with only original RAM installed and has that solved the issue, or is there anyone willing to try that and update the rest of us? This may be a solution!
Thanks for having a read
I used Mac Fans Control to monitor the temperature and ever since the upgrade in OS it was running 6-10 degrees hotter on even the most basic of tasks. It went up from 37 degrees Celsius (previously) to around 47-50. I called Apple support and went through a lot of the motions many of you seem to have already gone through. I started with phone support, took it to store and not once did they acknowledge the firmware being stuck on 170.00000 - except one Mac genius guy who said "so we have a clear miss-match between software and firmware". I immediately thought yes! This guy gets it! When I got home the email for the apple store work authorisation came through and to my surprise there was no mention of the firmware issue (which I understand is causing all my woes).
I fought it out with them over the phone (2-3 times) when they said it was ready and in the end they admitted that the iMac would not boo into the latest OS when doing an internet recovery and also was still on firmware 170.00000
I explained that is not good enough and they promised me that they would escalate it to a specialist team for review. They also advised me that the boot issue would be sorted by a further software update and advised me to pick up my iMac promising to pursue this further for me.
To be fair they have been pursuing a solution and I soon got a call from a member of the team asking what my RAM configuration is and whether or not it was all Apple original. I explained that I had bought 16gb Off crucial.co.uk RAM and added it to the 8GB already on board from Apple. They thanked me and said they would report back.
Sure enough, 2 days later I got a call from the Apple store and they have asked me to remove the extra, non-apple branded RAM and try to update the computer again, as they feel that may be the issue.
Unfortunately, I have since left home to visit family and do not/will not have access to the machine for a couple of months.
Is there anyone here that has tried the update with only original RAM installed and has that solved the issue, or is there anyone willing to try that and update the rest of us? This may be a solution!
Thanks for having a read
I have roughly the same configuration and have heard the "Not Apple memory" suggestion too. I didn't keep my old RAM so I can't verify it. I will say that I really doubt if it's the memory. If it was then why did Apple argue with me on several occasions that the 170 firmware was correct for my machine? I was even told that one of the machines they were using had the same firmware. Apple wouldn't use third-party memory so I believe the culprit lies elsewhere.
Many have suggested a fault with the HD. Mine is a 1TB SSD that works so I'm not ready to test that theory. Others have looked into the motherboard. This model has three. Unfortunately, there seems to be no clear correlation other than now our stuck machines aren't "fine" (Apple's term). The Internet Recovery problems haven't been reported on other models (to my knowledge) so it makes sense that the firmware is the culprit.
Many have suggested a fault with the HD. Mine is a 1TB SSD that works so I'm not ready to test that theory. Others have looked into the motherboard. This model has three. Unfortunately, there seems to be no clear correlation other than now our stuck machines aren't "fine" (Apple's term). The Internet Recovery problems haven't been reported on other models (to my knowledge) so it makes sense that the firmware is the culprit.
I also have the same i7/500GB model and upgraded to 32GB of Crucial RAM. Following suggestions I removed this and reinstalled the original Apple RAM before updating OS. I tried from High Sierra to Mojave then High Sierra to Catalina but the firmware stuck at 170.0000. I even took it all the way back to 10.11 and tried updating from there with no luck. Sorry to say it didn't work for me.Hi all, I'm new to the forum but have been using Macs since 2005. I also have the same issue with my Late 2015 iMac. I opted to go for the i7 processor when I bought it and upgraded to a 500GB SSD. Everything had been working fine until the Big Sur update when after updating I experienced 2 random shutdown events. I also noticed that my iMac was running hotter than before, even when idling or browsing a single webpage on safari for example.
I used Mac Fans Control to monitor the temperature and ever since the upgrade in OS it was running 6-10 degrees hotter on even the most basic of tasks. It went up from 37 degrees Celsius (previously) to around 47-50. I called Apple support and went through a lot of the motions many of you seem to have already gone through. I started with phone support, took it to store and not once did they acknowledge the firmware being stuck on 170.00000 - except one Mac genius guy who said "so we have a clear miss-match between software and firmware". I immediately thought yes! This guy gets it! When I got home the email for the apple store work authorisation came through and to my surprise there was no mention of the firmware issue (which I understand is causing all my woes).
I fought it out with them over the phone (2-3 times) when they said it was ready and in the end they admitted that the iMac would not boo into the latest OS when doing an internet recovery and also was still on firmware 170.00000
I explained that is not good enough and they promised me that they would escalate it to a specialist team for review. They also advised me that the boot issue would be sorted by a further software update and advised me to pick up my iMac promising to pursue this further for me.
To be fair they have been pursuing a solution and I soon got a call from a member of the team asking what my RAM configuration is and whether or not it was all Apple original. I explained that I had bought 16gb Off crucial.co.uk RAM and added it to the 8GB already on board from Apple. They thanked me and said they would report back.
Sure enough, 2 days later I got a call from the Apple store and they have asked me to remove the extra, non-apple branded RAM and try to update the computer again, as they feel that may be the issue.
Unfortunately, I have since left home to visit family and do not/will not have access to the machine for a couple of months.
Is there anyone here that has tried the update with only original RAM installed and has that solved the issue, or is there anyone willing to try that and update the rest of us? This may be a solution!
Thanks for having a read
Thank you for sharing. I will get back to the tech team at Apple and explain that removing second party RAM and re-trying does not solve the issue. Based on what others have said, I'm pretty sure this has something to do with the hard drives; not that the hard drives are faulty or anything, but rather they are partitioned in a way or have some sort of code in them in a partition that doesn't permit the firmware update to take place - or the partition is faulty in some way. I honestly refuse to believe a machine that cost over 2K GBP in 2015 is basically obsolete because Apple want to ignore the issue. I will let you know what they say as soon as I hear back. Thanks!
If you can get them to acknowledge the issue, it the first step towards a fix. I have tried four times only to be frustrated in the end.
They have even changed the record in the allowlist database that "eficheck" uses to determine the correct firmware for this model.
/usr/libexec/firmwarecheckers/eficheck/eficheck --integrity-check
EFI Version: IM171.88Z.F000.B00.1906171551 (Boot ROM Version: 170.0.0.0.0)
Matching allowlist not found in EFIAllowListShipping. Searching in EFIAllowListAll.
Fetching allowlist data update.
Waiting for allowlist data download to complete.
Downloadable allowlist data update is already present on system or cannot be found on server.
Primary allowlist version match not found for version IM171.88Z.F000.B00.1906171551 (Boot ROM Version: 170.0.0.0.0).
My guess is if they have fixed this issue individually, they've been able to keep the customers from relaying that message.
Good luck!
They have even changed the record in the allowlist database that "eficheck" uses to determine the correct firmware for this model.
/usr/libexec/firmwarecheckers/eficheck/eficheck --integrity-check
EFI Version: IM171.88Z.F000.B00.1906171551 (Boot ROM Version: 170.0.0.0.0)
Matching allowlist not found in EFIAllowListShipping. Searching in EFIAllowListAll.
Fetching allowlist data update.
Waiting for allowlist data download to complete.
Downloadable allowlist data update is already present on system or cannot be found on server.
Primary allowlist version match not found for version IM171.88Z.F000.B00.1906171551 (Boot ROM Version: 170.0.0.0.0).
My guess is if they have fixed this issue individually, they've been able to keep the customers from relaying that message.
Good luck!
Well I've got an update. The Apple store tech team have asked me to take the computer in for a repair! That basically means they must have some sort of idea of how to fix this and want to try it. Unfortunately, I can't take it to them as I'll be away for around a month and a half...FML...
I guess the lesson here is we need to persist and persist and persist. Apple make amazing computers that last a long time and we should be able to reap that benefit. My advice is just keep pestering them and they'll do something about it!
I guess the lesson here is we need to persist and persist and persist. Apple make amazing computers that last a long time and we should be able to reap that benefit. My advice is just keep pestering them and they'll do something about it!