Unable To Get Apple Pro XDR Display to Update to the New 2.2.2 Firmware

[Bengaldad]

I have shut down my 2020 Mac Pro and then restarted. I have disconnected and reconnected the Thunderbolt cable to the rear of the Apple Pro XDR display. Still not being offered a firmware update to version 2.2.2 firmware. Has anyone with the Apple Pro XDR display gotten this to work. If so, what did you do to be offered the firmware upgrade?

Tom

 

[satcomer]

According to the What’s new in firmware updates for Apple Pro Display XDR


Display Firmware 2.2.2

• Adds support for customized Pro Display XDR reference modes that you can tailor to specific workflow needs by setting color gamut, white point, luminance, and transfer function options. Learn more
• Minor stability improvements.

Requires macOS 10.15.4 or later.

 

[Bengaldad]

According to the What’s new in firmware updates for Apple Pro Display XDR


Display Firmware 2.2.2

• Adds support for customized Pro Display XDR reference modes that you can tailor to specific workflow needs by setting color gamut, white point, luminance, and transfer function options. Learn more
• Minor stability improvements.

Requires macOS 10.15.4 or later.

I have OS 10.15.4 installed on this Mac Pro. Still cannot get the firmware update to be offered.

 

[satcomer]

I have OS 10.15.4 installed on this Mac Pro. Still cannot get the firmware update to be offered.

Then I’m out of ideas!

 

[Adult80HD]

Have you tried resetting the PRAM on the Mac Pro?

 

[Bengaldad]

Yes, just did a reset of the SMC and PRAM. Still nothing but the firmware version that the Pro XDR Display came with. Perhaps one day Apple will surprise me and offer to update the firmware on why Pro XDR because I am fish out of anything to try.

 

[Adult80HD]

Yes, just did a reset of the SMC and PRAM. Still nothing but the firmware version that the Pro XDR Display came with. Perhaps one day Apple will surprise me and offer to update the firmware on why Pro XDR because I am fish out of anything to try.

Have you tried attaching the XDR to different TB3 ports on the MacPro?

 

[Bengaldad]

Have you tried attaching the XDR to different TB3 ports on the MacPro?

The Pro XDR display is working fine on the Thunderbolt port that I currently have it attached to so I don’t see how attaching it to a different Thunderbolt port is going to enable the firmware update. Nonetheless, I’ll give it a try and report back if that enables the firmware update.
[automerge]1585360083[/automerge]

Have you tried attaching the XDR to different TB3 ports on the MacPro?

I just moved the Pro XDR thunderbolt connection from the Vega II graphics card to one of the Thunderbolt ports on the Apple I/O card on the Mac Pro. Still shows the older firmware and does not offer the new firmware. I have not yet heard from anyone who actually has gotten this firmware update to be offered and installed on their Pro XDR display.

 

[Adult80HD]

The Pro XDR display is working fine on the Thunderbolt port that I currently have it attached to so I don’t see how attaching it to a different Thunderbolt port is going to enable the firmware update. Nonetheless, I’ll give it a try and report back if that enables the firmware update.
[automerge]1585360083[/automerge]

I just moved the Pro XDR thunderbolt connection from the Vega II graphics card to one of the Thunderbolt ports on the Apple I/O card on the Mac Pro. Still shows the older firmware and does not offer the new firmware. I have not yet heard from anyone who actually has gotten this firmware update to be offered and installed on their Pro XDR display.

Very strange. Mine updated when I unplugged my screens and plugged them back in; I have two XDR's. They are both on the Radeon Pro Vega II.

One last thing to try....turn off the Mac Pro. Unplug it for at least 30 seconds. Do the same with your XDR, both unplug the power and the TB cable. Then plug them all back in and power them up. Worth a try!

 

[Bengaldad]

Very strange. Mine updated when I unplugged my screens and plugged them back in; I have two XDR's. They are both on the Radeon Pro Vega II.

One last thing to try....turn off the Mac Pro. Unplug it for at least 30 seconds. Do the same with your XDR, both unplug the power and the TB cable. Then plug them all back in and power them up. Worth a try!

I followed the following steps: (1) Shut down the Mac Pro; (2) Unplugged the power cord from the Mac Pro; (2) Unplugged the power cable from the Pro XDR display; (3) Unplugged the Thunderbolt cable from the rear of the Pro XDR display; (4) Waited a full 2 minutes. (5) Plugged back in all cables that had been disconnected; (6) restarted the Mac Pro.

There was no sign of the Pro XDR having its firmware updated. I checked the System Report>Graphics cards/display and it still shows version 1.22.26 firmware.

I then, with the Mac Pro running and all cables connected disconnected the power cable form the rear of the Pro XDR display for 1 minute and then plugged it back in. The display came on but showed no sign of a firmware update and System Report confirmed the old firmware still present.

Thank you for at least letting me know that your Pro XDR displays did update when you unplugged them and then plugged them back in. Did you unplug the power from the rear of the Pro XDR display and then plug it back in after a short time period? What did you see on the display that indicated your firmware was updating? Thank you very much for responding and trying to help. I truly appreciate it.

 

[Adult80HD]

I followed the following steps: (1) Shut down the Mac Pro; (2) Unplugged the power cord from the Mac Pro; (2) Unplugged the power cable from the Pro XDR display; (3) Unplugged the Thunderbolt cable from the rear of the Pro XDR display; (4) Waited a full 2 minutes. (5) Plugged back in all cables that had been disconnected; (6) restarted the Mac Pro.

There was no sign of the Pro XDR having its firmware updated. I checked the System Report>Graphics cards/display and it still shows version 1.22.26 firmware.

I then, with the Mac Pro running and all cables connected disconnected the power cable form the rear of the Pro XDR display for 1 minute and then plugged it back in. The display came on but showed no sign of a firmware update and System Report confirmed the old firmware still present.

Thank you for at least letting me know that your Pro XDR displays did update when you unplugged them and then plugged them back in. Did you unplug the power from the rear of the Pro XDR display and then plug it back in after a short time period? What did you see on the display that indicated your firmware was updating? Thank you very much for responding and trying to help. I truly appreciate it.

Mine updated when I unplugged them and plugged them back in; I didn't have to do anything else. The System Report confirms that they are both updated. There was a very brief flash of a gray bar and text in the upper right of the screen saying it was going to update, then both screens flashed black for a while, flicked on and off, and then it was all done. Not sure why yours are not behaving!

 

[DeltaMac]

Perhaps this is like some updates, which might be phased-in/delayed for certain regions during a world-wide release.
(I wouldn't think it would be a large download, requiring a delay, but that might be an answer - wait a few days.)
Are you in USA?

 

[Bengaldad]

Mine updated when I unplugged them and plugged them back in; I didn't have to do anything else. The System Report confirms that they are both updated. There was a very brief flash of a gray bar and text in the upper right of the screen saying it was going to update, then both screens flashed black for a while, flicked on and off, and then it was all done. Not sure why yours are not behaving!

Thanks for the prompt response and additional info. I have concluded that I should just not worry about this firmware update as the display is working fine and I am not sure the firmware update offers much. Eventually I may contact Apple Support about this issue as I purchased Apple Care on my Pro CDR display, but consider the crisis we are in this is not worth pursuing now.
[automerge]1585413165[/automerge]

Perhaps this is like some updates, which might be phased-in/delayed for certain regions during a world-wide release.
(I wouldn't think it would be a large download, requiring a delay, but that might be an answer - wait a few days.)
Are you in USA?

Yes, I am in the USA. I am going to live with this issue. Perhaps in time it will update if it is a phased update.

 

[Bengaldad]

Thanks for the prompt response and additional info. I have concluded that I should just not worry about this firmware update as the display is working fine and I am not sure the firmware update offers much. Eventually I may contact Apple Support about this issue as I purchased Apple Care on my Pro CDR display, but consider the crisis we are in this is not worth pursuing now.
[automerge]1585413165[/automerge]

Yes, I am in the USA. I am going to live with this issue. Perhaps in time it will update if it is a phased update.

This afternoon as a result of posting on the Apple Pro XDR Display Forum the problem of my Apple Pro XDR display not updating to the new firmware (2.2.2) an Apple Support Agent reached out to me by phone. She carefully took down everything that I had done, collected a variety of system reports including one specific to the Pro XDR display, and promised to escalate the case to a Senior Support Specialist. She also ask me to click on the Apple>About this Mac>Software Update>Advanced and check Install System Data Files and Security Updates (which had not been checked).

Tonight I sat down to do some image editing in Lightroom. I woke my Mac Pro from sleep and tried to connect to my QNAP NAS server where all of my image files are saved. I found that I could not connect to the NAS. This has happened occasionally in the past and I have always solved it by restarting the Mac Pro and then connecting to the NAS. However, before I could restart the Mac Pro I had a fleeting glimpse of a message in the top right of the Pro XDR display that disappeared before I could read it. When I restarted the Mac Pro the display remained dark and did not turn on. After over 1 minute of waiting, I did a power button forced reboot of the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro booted and the display was very slow (ca. 1 minute) to turn on, but when it did appear all seemed normal. I went to Apple > About This Mac>System Report>Graphics/Display and saw that my display was now on firmware version 2.2.2 so somehow during all of this the firmware update had finally been accomplished. And, yes, I could readily connect to my NAS after this reboot.

I would suggest checking Install System Data Files and Security Updates as described above to anyone having a problem getting their Pro XDR display to update its firmware.

 

[Adult80HD]

This afternoon as a result of posting on the Apple Pro XDR Display Forum the problem of my Apple Pro XDR display not updating to the new firmware (2.2.2) an Apple Support Agent reached out to me by phone. She carefully took down everything that I had done, collected a variety of system reports including one specific to the Pro XDR display, and promised to escalate the case to a Senior Support Specialist. She also ask me to click on the Apple>About this Mac>Software Update>Advanced and check Install System Data Files and Security Updates (which had not been checked).

Tonight I sat down to do some image editing in Lightroom. I woke my Mac Pro from sleep and tried to connect to my QNAP NAS server where all of my image files are saved. I found that I could not connect to the NAS. This has happened occasionally in the past and I have always solved it by restarting the Mac Pro and then connecting to the NAS. However, before I could restart the Mac Pro I had a fleeting glimpse of a message in the top right of the Pro XDR display that disappeared before I could read it. When I restarted the Mac Pro the display remained dark and did not turn on. After over 1 minute of waiting, I did a power button forced reboot of the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro booted and the display was very slow (ca. 1 minute) to turn on, but when it did appear all seemed normal. I went to Apple > About This Mac>System Report>Graphics/Display and saw that my display was now on firmware version 2.2.2 so somehow during all of this the firmware update had finally been accomplished. And, yes, I could readily connect to my NAS after this reboot.

I would suggest checking Install System Data Files and Security Updates as described above to anyone having a problem getting their Pro XDR display to update its firmware.

Sounds like that did the trick--that brief flash is what I saw as well when mine updated. Pretty amazing that Apple reached out to you.

 

[Bengaldad]

Sounds like that did the trick--that brief flash is what I saw as well when mine updated. Pretty amazing that Apple reached out to you.

I was very surprised when Tonya from Apple Support called. She was very professional and made it clear that she was a "gatherer", i.e. that she was not an engineer, but would make certain that she would pass everything along to a Senior Support person who would call me and if he cold not resolve the issue then he would escalate the issue to Apple Engineering who would get in touch with me. She actually took a screen shot of the dialog box where she ask me to check the "Install System and security updates".

One of the reasons that I remain a loyal and good customer of Apple is this kind of concern and support for their customers. Apple has never hesitated to replace any piece of Apple hardware that failed during the coverage period of my Apple Care. I find this kind of support unique amounts electronics companies and I am willing to pay a premium price for this kind of support.

 

[ShortArc]

Unfortunately enabling "Install system data files and security updates" did not work for me.

I started a support ticket but so far the only feed back from engineering via "ent_helpdesk@apple.com" was to unplug TB3 and power from the Mac Pro and XDR display for approx 2 min. That did not work. So hopefully they will come back with some other suggestions...

 

[724699]

I'm having this issue now - one of my 2 displays won't update to 2.2.2 (granted, I bought the 2nd one later ... the 1st display had no issue updating)

Got it to update. Only plug one monitor in at a time, and run the 15.4.4 supplemental update (download the package directly from Apple if needed and re-install) and then a notification came up saying "Accessories update available ... reboot to install?" or whatever the exact wording. That did it.

 

[ShortArc]

Finally my update worked by following these instructions by Apple:
"For the firmware update to download, make sure “Install system data files and security updates” and “Install macOS updates” are selected in the Advanced window of Software Update preferences."
I had not seen the “Install macOS updates” selection requirement before. May have been added later.
Here is the link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211081

 

[dengkai]

I just got a new XDR Pro Display and it's still on 1.22.26. I've tried everything in this thread with my 2018 MBP running 10.15.6 and the firmware still won't update. Any ideas on what else I can do?

 

[DeltaMac]

I would probably try booting to the Catalina installer, leave the XDR attached while re-installing the latest Catalina version. If that doesn't do the trick, call AppleCare support.

 

[dwhittington]

I just got a new XDR Pro Display and it's still on 1.22.26. I've tried everything in this thread with my 2018 MBP running 10.15.6 and the firmware still won't update. Any ideas on what else I can do?

Exact same scenario here. Following. Thank you for reporting.

 

[Chaos215bar2]

Unfortunately, the answer is here https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211081:

For the firmware update to download, make sure “Install system data files and security updates” and “Install macOS updates” are selected in the Advanced window of Software Update preferences.

In other words, the only way to install an update to the Pro Display XDR firmware is to fully enable automatic macOS updates, and wait. At some point, you should get a notification prompt asking whether you want to update the display firmware (and you better press "Restart" right then and there, or you'll have to go through a dance of disconnecting your Pro Display from power, waiting, and praying that you see another update prompt).

I think it's especially worth highlighting that being an actual pro frequently means that you're waiting to install a macOS update until multiple software vendors have okayed their product to run on that version of macOS. Yet, the only way to update the firmware of a Pro display here is to give macOS free reign to install any and all updates it pleases, wait (potentially a day or more), and hope for the best.

 

[chrfr]

Unfortunately, the answer is here https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211081:


In other words, the only way to install an update to the Pro Display XDR firmware is to fully enable automatic macOS updates, and wait.

The setting to enable system data files and security updates doesn't constitute enabling fully automatic system updates. This will install things like the XProtect malware protection updates, but isn't going to install, for instance, the macOS 11.1 update or Security Update 2020-001 for 10.15.7. It's a poorly worded setting, unfortunately.

 

[Adult80HD]

The setting to enable system data files and security updates doesn't constitute enabling fully automatic system updates. This will install things like the XProtect malware protection updates, but isn't going to install, for instance, the macOS 11.1 update or Security Update 2020-001 for 10.15.7. It's a poorly worded setting, unfortunately.

Correct, BUT, it seems like some of the XDR updates are also baked into the MacOS versions, and are not available independently.