Flash EFI firmware update manually on a Mac(Book 5,1)
So, you find yourself in the need to flash an EFI update by hand on a mac?? That’s awesome, I was in the same situation! My story is quite funny, it all started….nah, just kidding! First things first, I’ll tell you my story afterwards. 😉
On word of WARNING in the beginning: Don’t do anything described here if you don’t know what you’re doing. I’m not responsible for anything that may happen if you continue reading and apply the next paragraph. It worked for me, it might work for you as well. But it also might not and break something! If you’re unsure, go seek competent help at an Apple Store, from a Certified Apple Technician or some other professional!
Download the EFI Firmware update from Apple, unpack the package (e.g. with unpkg) and locate the Firmware in the correspoding app. Or you use the existing app in /Applications/Utilities if you happen to have it already. As I needed to reflash a Unibody MacBook 5,1 (Late ’08), I downloaded the package for it (MB51.007D.003 (EFI 1.3)), unpkged it and located my firmware in the app (MacBook EFI Firmware Update.app/Contents/MB51_007D_03B_LOCKED.scap). This is very important!! One needs to make sure to flash the correct version!!! Else bad things WILL happen! Then open a terminal and use bless (That command is one line and yes, -firmware is an undocumented feature):
user@mac:~$ sudo bless -mount / -firmware /Applications/Utilities/MacBook EFI Firmware Update.app/Contents/MB51_007D_03B_LOCKED.scap |
Again: BE VERY CAREFUL TO USE THE RIGHT VERSION!!! THIS CAN BRICK YOUR DEVICE!!!
Then shutdown and continue with the default firmware flash procedure for your device (e.g.: Unibody MacBook 5,1 – 1.3 EFI Firmware).
And that’s all folks. The Mac should reboot, flash the firmware and everybody’s happy again. It worked for me like a charm, but ymmv. 😉
And now my story: what happened to me was the following. The Ubuntu 11.04 beta was released on April 1st, I had a spare external harddrive, some free time, so i had to try it out. I knew there were macbook specifc live cds (with grub-efi) out there from the alpha releases but I couldn’t find them on the beta download page. So i went on and downloaded the daily version assuming it would be the same. Oh boy, what a mistake.
I don’t know exactly what happened and why, but the installation from that daily disk didn’t finish on the one hand and didn’t let me specify the location where to install grub (i did find it out later on using the right disc). What i know for sure is, that my macbook wanted to flash a firmware afterwards. But there was none. And as a result, every boot followed the firmware flash procedure because apparently, the flash flag (wherever that might be) stayed set: Long wait with a black screen -> Power light starts flashing -> A horrible beep -> Wait some more -> Start the boot process
The MacBook isn’t booted that often (sleep ftw!), but it was quite annoying to know that something was kaputt. Well, and after a long weekend searching and trying different solutions (even bless), a friend of mine who knows a lot about Apple stuff mentioned the undocumented -firmware flag for bless. And that fixed everything. 😉
Public Memory 
WOW thx!!!
It happend a lot of people with ubuntu. Too bad you didn’t file a bug report.
Look here for the current situtation:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/774089
Hey there,
I just wanted to let you know that I was able to recover thanks to your post from the same issue that you described.
There is a bug report (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/774089) going with a number of people having the same issue and most of them were able to recover, mostly thanks to this post! So this is a very big thank you for saving our macbooks. Before that turning them in to the apple store seemed like the best bet, so this has been a pretty big life saver!
Keep up the good work 😉
Paul
Hey,
you’re welcome! Good to know that it worked for someone else as well! 😉
And thx for the information about the bug report, didn’t know about that.
bye
Hi — thanks for this post — I’m one of the people from the bug report, although I haven’t been able to use your solution, yet, as there don’t appear to be any firmware upgrades for my model of MBP (5,4) in the link you provide.
I guess I need to ask someone at Apple which one would be safe for me, but I thought I’d post the question here, in case anyone moseying through saw & knew the answer.
Cheers,
Doug.
Hey,
that’s a pitty.
Don’t know if that works, but maybe someone with the same model could extract the firmware file (should be located in the EFI partition which is mountable (as msdos) from the terminal at the APPLE/EXTENSIONS path) and you flash that one.
You could even try and extract your own firmware and flash that, as I think that’s only a backup location for the firmware (but i’m not 100%) so it shouldn’t be broken.
But that may also kill some kittens…
Good luck
I’ve just been doing a little research, and by going to “About This Mac” I’ve seen that the last installed EFI Firmware was indeed the package shown there for the 5,3, so I reckon I should be good to install that one.
Cheers again for this article — I’ll let you know how I get on (once my courage has picked up enough to to start ‘fixing and improving’ things again!).
Doug.
Hey pubmem,
I just want to thank you for your post.
I was affected by this too and went to the apple store today where they suggested to replace the mainboard for 400€.
Now I have it working again and saved the money thank to our post and the instructions in Comment #30 on the bugreport.
Cheers
jakommo
Hey thnx million times. I really appreciate that. thnx thnx thnx
It worked!
Thankyou very, *very* much!
Am now picking up the courage to attempt to try to install Ubuntu dual-boot, again.
Wish me luck! 🙂
I ave done this on my 5.5 it works better now, it did the update, and restarts normally
but every restart i get a message firmware update completed successfully, i click ok and everything is ok
is there a way to disable this message? i doesn’t actually do an upgrade every reboot just the message.
Hi there guys,
I’m having a problem with the bless command, maybe you can help me.
The errors:
No appropriate ESP for /
Failed to determine auxiliary partition mountpoint for /
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
Dunno what I’m doing wrong. Thanks guys.
Hi,
I have the same issue apart from that my macbook (5,1) never boot, it just has black screen.
Somebody else is experiencing this?
Bye,
I’ve been bitten by the same Ubuntu 11.04 issue. I’ve been running Ubuntu on my MacBook exclusively without a separate OS X partition.
Do you know if it’s possible to reflash the firmware from an OS X installed on an external USB hard drive? When I tried to do so I got an error:
sudo bless -mount / -firmware MBP53_00AC_03B_LOCKED.scap
WARNING: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss
or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your
typing when using sudo. Type “man sudo” for more information.
To proceed, enter your password, or type Ctrl-C to abort.
Password:
Error while writing to /Volumes/bless.gS66//EFI/APPLE/FIRMWARE/MBP53_00AC_03B_LOCKED.scap: No space left on device
-1 bytes written
Could not create /Volumes/bless.gS66//EFI/APPLE/FIRMWARE/MBP53_00AC_03B_LOCKED.scap
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
Thanks.
In theory it should work without a problem if you booted from the external drive.
Your output makes me assume that either
* you mounted it from your internal hard drive OS X installation
* you mounted the device read only
* that there’s not enough space left 😛
Let me give you more detail about my problem. Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated.
I downloaded the ubuntu-11.04-desktop-amd64.iso (not the special Mac one, which was probably my mistake) image and installed it. No problems during the install. But now my MacBook Pro 5,4 won’t book _at all._ Every fourth or so time I get an “invalid arch independent ELF magic” error.
I’m not sure, but my gut tells me that the Ubuntu install fried the firmware. I’m guessing using bless to reflash the MacBook is the right solution. I’ve tried that from an OS X I installed on an external USB drive with no success.
Is / the right value for -mount in my case? Isn’t that the root of the external USB hard drive file system? Shouldn’t I tell bless to write to the MacBook itself?
I’ve also tried reinstalling OS X on the MacBook itself. But the installer can’t read the internal hard drive. It doesn’t show up in Disk Utility.
_And_ I’ve also tried a firmware recovery CD. That hasn’t worked either. 😦
Took me a while to find this, but others might find it helpful – a link to a list of model identifiers and which firmware update goes with each, to help you determine the correct one to download:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1237
It’s the first link in the third paragraph. 😛
Hi all,
Just wanted to let you know this worked for me, but in a different way. I have a MacBook Pro 5.5 with OS X 10.6 This it what made it work for me:
Downloaded the the EFI update (1.7) from the apple website and unpacked it with unpkg.
Blessing the .scap file while it was still in the contents of the MacBook EFI Firmware update.app did not work for me. I copied the .scap file (located in Contents/Resources) to my home directory. After I used this command:
sudo bless -mount / -firmware MBP55_00AC_03B_LOCKED.scap
The terminal didn’t give any output info and returned to my home directory. After I copied the .scap file back into the Contents/Resources directory, From there on I followed the rest of this guide.
I was so happy after days of trying that I did not pay attention any more to what happened after the bless command worked, but when I tried to do the update again it still said that my macbook was up to date with the latest firmware. So, did it do the firmware update anyway or was using the bless command actually flashing the EFI??? I wonder…..
Anyway…. Many thanks to pubmem!!!
Hi,
I have exactly the same problem but with a Macbook 6.1 Apple hasn’t released a firmware update for this model. There is a Firmware.scap on the Mac OS X installation disk under /usr/standalone/i386, I suppose it’s a backup of the original firmware. I tried to replace MB51_007D_03B_LOCKED.scap by the original one. But the EFI Firmware.app seems to check the version and says that it’s not for my model. Do you if there is procedure to lauch the installation ?
Thanks !
Hey,
you shouldn’t need to run any *.app as you invoke the upgrade process with the bless command and point via the -firmware parameter to the location of the firmware you would like to flash, in your case the one from the os x installation disk.
But I really don’t know if the firmware on the disk is the firmware you need to flash. If in doubt reflash your current firmware, located in the same directory as on the installation disk. Because it’s not the firmware that’s broken (at least not in my case), it’s only some EFI flag that is wrongly set from the ubuntu installation (as far as my understanding goes).
Good luck.
Hey
I own a macbook6,1 and I’m suffering from this problem. The firmware.scap didn’t work for me, it simply asks me to enter my password after the following command and then thats it.
sudo bless -mount / -firmware /Users/jackbramhall1/Desktop/Firmware.scap
After shutting down then turning the power back on, my macbook does the same thing and it takes 5 goes to get my mac booted up.
It’s probably because the USB is not formatted as a GUID filesystem (Mac), but likely FAT32 or other. The Apple support instructions explicitly say you must apply the update to a GUID partition on your OS, no other. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201860
Woah! Thanks. I’ve been stuck with this issue for over a year since I tried to install Ubuntu Server and killed my EFI partition. This finally fixed it!
Do you have anyway of making a donation for your awesome instruction?
Hello!
Thank you!
I can confirm this also works with an MacBook Air, Mid 2009 (MacBook Air2,1)!
It fixed the problem! Now it boots faster also 😀
THANKS A BILION!
Thanks for the help! I had the same issue from the same computer and it has taken me months to find a solution.
Thank you very much!
Thanks a lot man! 😀 Helped me out with my Macbook 5,2.
@pubmen & jurry
Hey Guys,
I have a MBP 5.5 with OSX 10.7 (Lion). I did everything you guys did but everytime I launch the firmware update, it says my EFI is already up to date. So, nothing happens at the next shutdown/boot and I’m still stuck with the POST problem. Is there any other way to force the EFI update besides the bless command ?
Never mind my previous question: I just needed to wait for the flash to take hold (20 seconds after the long beep). Thank you both for your help, now my precious MBP works damn fine (and Lion rocks, too).
Luc
Hey, I’m also having this problem and was glad I found this site.
Unfortunately I can’t seem to get this to work. Every time I put this in Terminal I get this:
Can’t load /Applications/Utilities/MacBook
Could not load data from /Applications/Utilities/MacBook
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
Any idea what I’m doing wrong? I really need to get this fixed!
* Wrap the path in quotes
* Be sure that the file exists
A mi tambien me ha dado error de firmware al instalar ubuntu 64, tengo un macbook pro 5,4 y no he encontrado el firmware en la web de apple para mi mac, y he actualizo manualmente con el firmware 5,5 tengo que arrancar haciendo un reset a la PRAM, seguire investigando.
Pues yo no se si es una buena idea de instalar un firmware de otro MacBook.
Lo que podrias intentar es installar el firmware que tienes en la partition EFI, pero si ya has installado el firmware del MB 5,5…pues yo no se…
I dont know if I misunderstood something, but after I enter the bless command, I already tried to shutdown -h now and reboot in terminal and always my macbook pro boots normally, without flashing the EFI.
Also, when I extract the MacbookProEFIUpdate.pkg, I have a folder with some subfolders until I got the .scap file (EFI 2.1 macbook pro 8,1 2011), and not the .app….
What does your bless command look like? And in the *.pkg there should be the app as well containing the scap file (in the Applications/Utilities folder).
The bless command: sudo bless -mount / -firmware /Users/Administrator/Desktop/MacBookProEFIUpdate/System/Library/CoreServices/Firmware\ Updates/MacBookProEFIUpdate-2.1/MBP81_0047_0EB_LOCKED.scap
It don’t give any error, and if I mount the EFI partition the .scap file is in EFI/FIRMWARE
I used unpkg and got only the subfolders you can see in the bless command and the scap file, nothing else. And I don’t have any app related to Firmware in App/Utilities folder.
I tried to use the Firmware.scap that is in the Install DVD that came with my MBP, but no luck with that too.
I have a bootcamp partition, the mod partition table because of that is a problem?
Yeah, just downloaded the EFI Update myself, it seems to be distributed differently. I don’t know, maybe it’s a wrong version and you need another one. Some people had problems with that update [1].
Is your Boot-ROM-Version (System-Profiler -> Hardware) MBP81.0047.B0E? Because according to [2] there was no EFI Update released for the MacBook Pro 8,1…
[1] https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3040699?start=0&tstart=0
[2] http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1237
I downloaded yours efi update too and saw the .app.
My Boot ROM Version: MBP81.0047.B0E
I tried to run the pkg and it says that my system is not compatible, and with the 1.3 it says that I don’t need the update.
I’m downloading the Software Update 1.4 (130mb), let’s see if that will install.
The problem is that when I’ve tested the Lock my Mac in iCloud, something happened that I enter the right code, for icloud.com my mac gets unlocked but it says wrong code here O.O, and I’m talking to the Support for 2 weeks now ;/
* I’ve already re installed OSX to take out the bootcamp.
Hi! I have the same problem… as you, I have a MacBook 5,1 I tried to follow all the steps above, but in terminal I’ve got the next lines:
mount_msdos: Unsupported sector size (0)
/sbin/mount returned non-0 exit status
Failed to determine auxiliary partition mountpoint for /
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
Please, help!!!
Your error seems to be an indication that your HDD has the wrong disk partitioning format, it should be GPT. [1]
[1] https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1153560?start=15&tstart=0
I have the same MacBook 5,1. But I always got this on terminal:
Can’t load /Applications/Utilities/MacBook EFI Firmware Update.app/Contents/MB51_007D_03B_LOCKED.scap
Could not load data from /Applications/Utilities/MacBook EFI Firmware Update.app/Contents/MB51_007D_03B_LOCKED.scap
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
The annoying sound still there… :S
What command did you enter?
I ready solve it… thanks…
Where do I find the .scap file? I’ve downloaded and used unpkg, but still am unable to locate the .scap file Also does the Mac need to be remotely booted?
It’s in the app… (assuming you downloaded the file I referred to in the original post)
My Mac was a different version so I downloaded this file MBP55.00AC.B03 (EFI 1.7) but once unpacked I still can’t see a .scap file. Any thoughts?
under utilities folder, there is only “MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update”. can’t locate .scap file
How? Please share your solution with us…
Well… it’s a funny mistake… as you see, the path of the file, in the command line is:
/Applications/Utilities/MacBook EFI Firmware Update.app/Contents/MB51_007D_03B_LOCKED.scap
And I didn’t realize that the file is in the folder Contents/Resources/… I just change it, and… bam! the annoying sound go away… 😀
(I really don’t know why I get the first error, but… it doesn’t matter any more…)
PS: if you have problems with the path, just pick the archive and put it on over the Terminal.
Thanks a lot…
That’s it… (following right now on Twitter)
🙂
Worked great! Thanks! But…
I had to (completely) format my disk because (after installing ubuntu 11.04…) it was marked to be a disk with a MBR (Master Boot Record) instead having a GUID Partition Table. So bless could not do its work. After reinstalling OSX the command described above worked instantly.
Hi Simon,
I have a similar issue that you have. Installed ubuntu as a single boot and now I can’t even boot from another drive. How did you manage to boot from a different drive? (holding down the alt key is not giving me any options). And how did you get to the terminal
It worked ! It was cheaper than the motherboard replacement 🙂
thanks this is great, however when i executed the command, nothing is shown(good so far), but when i reboot the system just booted and there’s no progress bar whatsoever.
i’m using Lion and MBP 5.4. any help?
Sorry for my impatience!
It shows us after a long wait. Thanks! Your post really helped many ppl!
Good to know it works under Lion as well. 😉
Hi Guys,
I have the same problem. I own a Macbook 6,1 (late 2009 Model) and i am unable to find efi update for my model. Is there any other way around I can flash my efi.
Please suggest.. I have been trying to get rid of this problem from past 3 months.. In dire need of help
I have a Macbook Air 2,1 (MBA21.0075.B05) and Apple doesn’t have this firmware available either. Were you ever able to track yours down?
No same for me they don’t have it for my model as well.
Hi
I’ve been battling with this for a few months now. But I can’t get past the black screen in order to enter commands. Any advice?
Here you are the solution for MacBook 6,1 (late 2009). Be aware that your MB will be a 5,5 MBP for the “system informations”
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=11354204&postcount=62
Adding my thanks to the list. Worked perfectly with my Macbook Pro 5,5. Life saver 🙂
Thanks for sharing this fix – recovered my Mid 2009 5,4 Macbook Pro to one-power-cycle goodness.
It’s _in_ the app. (Look at the path in the original post. For more information regarding OS X apps please google or read e.g. http://www.mactipsandtricks.com/articles/Wiley_HT_appBundles2.lasso)
I don’t tell what to tell you. it works!!!!!! after i Wrap the path in quotes
This will not work on Lion…?
There’s no reason why it shouldn’t work. But on the other hand it’s apple, so who knows for sure? 😉
I’m stuck here:
MacBook-Pro-di-Claudia:~ enrico$ bless -mount / -firmware /Users/enrico/Desktop/MacBookProEFIUpdate/System/Library/CoreServices/Firmware\ Updates/MacBookProEFIUpdate-2.3/MBP81_0047_24B_LOCKED.scap
mount_msdos: /dev/disk0s1: Permission denied
/sbin/mount returned non-0 exit status
Failed to determine auxiliary partition mountpoint for /
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
??
You missed “sudo”. 😉
You need root permissions for that command, simply prepend “sudo” or get a root shell.
That’s an administrator account. I tried sudo-ing as well 😛
What’s the output of “bless –info –getBoot” and “diskutil list”?
My wife took the MBP away for her work, I’ll be back to you in a couple of days. Thanks.
$ bless -info -getBoot
Can’t access “efi-boot-device” NVRAM variable
$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.1 GB disk0
1: EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 499.2 GB disk0s2
3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3
Looks like your nvram’s kinda corrupt, try to repair it (http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379). Then reexecute the “bless -info -getBoot” command and if you get some meaningful output, the original command should work by then.
I contacted Apple Support. They made me reset PRAM, verify and repair disk and other tests.
The problem was my MBP started in Safe mode.
Format & reinstall solved the problem.
Thanks for the info
Help. My mac is doing the same thing! I dont understand this statement
“Download the EFI Firmware update from Apple, unpack the package (e.g. with unpkg) and locate the Firmware in the correspoding app. Or you use the existing app in /Applications/Utilities”
Define corresponding app: I dont understand what to use
In the unpackage *.pkg file there is the “Firmware Upgrade.app” and there you need to locate the firmware.
Okay, still having issues and I am afraid of bricking my machine. Would it be possible to write instructions for newbs like myself. I think I get the jest, but this is not something you want to do and get it wrong.
Would you type the script in from the command line in terminal or command-s when you start up.
Shouldn’t really matter, but I’d use the terminal to avoid $PATH issues…
That fix doesn’t work for me… After the terminalcommand from your article there is no reply from the system or anything else. Then I shut-down and turn my Mac back on. But nothing happens. It starts normal and nothing happens. I’m using a Macbook Pro 5.5 running OS X 10.7.2 on a Samsung SSD instead of the original Apple HDD but I think that will be not the problem. After resetting PRAM I still get a black screen until the loginscreen of Mac OS… Don’t know what else to do… I just want to reflash it! 😉
Sry, I have no idea if it works under lion. You could try to change your harddrive, install SL and then try the flash procedure…
Hi ! please i have the SAME problem. Could you say me how did you fix it? Thanks !
Working on a Macbook 5,2 & firmware MB52.0088.B05.
The command goes well. no errors.
However when I restart, I get the same version of Boot ROM.
What am I missing.
Pubmen… I need to run the EFI update on a mac that has broken HDD> Is it possible to run those commands, and just when ready to reboot and Flash firmware- use this HDD(good one) on the macbook pro with the broken HDD and Flash EFI? Could be possible? Also, when I run bless –info –getBoot… I get “No volume specified”…
When I try the whole line “sudo bless -mount / -firmware /TechnofixCR/Desktop/MacBookProEFIUpdate/System/Library/CoreServices/Firmware\ Updates/MacBookProEFIUpdate/MBP61_0057_0FB_LOCKED.scap ” i get
Password:
Can’t load /USER/Desktop/MacBookProEFIUpdate/System/Library/CoreServices/Firmware Updates/MacBookProEFIUpdate/MBP61_0057_0FB_LOCKED.scap
Could not load data from /USER/Desktop/MacBookProEFIUpdate/System/Library/CoreServices/Firmware Updates/MacBookProEFIUpdate/MBP61_0057_0FB_LOCKED.scap
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
Any advice? Thanks
These are my results from Terminal:
XXXXs-MacBook-Pro:Firmware Updates USER$ sudo bless -mount / -firmware MB61_0057_0FB_LOCKED.scap –verbose
EFI found at IODeviceTree:/efi
GPT detected
No auxiliary booter partition required
System partition found
Returning booter information dictionary:
{type = mutable dict, count = 3,
entries =>
0 : {contents = “System Partitions”} = (
disk0s1
)
1 : {contents = “Data Partitions”} = (
disk0s2
)
2 : {contents = “Auxiliary Partitions”} = (
)
}
Substituting ESP disk0s1
Mounting at /Volumes/bless.mPqE
Executing “/sbin/mount”
Returned 0
Creating /Volumes/bless.mPqE//EFI/APPLE/FIRMWARE if needed
Deleting previous contents of /Volumes/bless.mPqE//EFI/APPLE/FIRMWARE
Can’t load MB61_0057_0FB_LOCKED.scap
Could not load data from MB61_0057_0FB_LOCKED.scap
Executing “/sbin/umount”
Returned 0
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
where could be the problem? Thanks
WOW. This worked perfectly for me, thank you very, very much!
Only tweak I made was placing the .scap file in Applications as the folder route wasn’t recognised.
I don’t have a partitioned drive and have never dabbled with Ubuntu etc. Yet my MacBook Pro (5,3, mid-2009) was consistently restarting with a long beep and black screen, followed by 3 more black screens on forced restarts, followed by a normal startup.
I’d tried every startup option, taken it to the genius bar at the apple store and both they and I were convinced this was a hardware problem (They actually suggested a new motherboard and / or a new top case to fix the problem – both the wrong side of £500).
Thanks again – am delighted 🙂
Chokran Jazilalan !
I know you will don’t understand my 1st sentence cause it’s arabic wroten by latin letters but that means thank you so much.
I’m great to repair my mac and i have honor to read your article.
Hi. I have a little problem. My friend have a broken MacBook Pro 13 Mid 2009 and it have a SOS Boot problem, so i thing that a EFI Restore will fix it. I think that there is a just one way – EFI Firmware restore CD from Apple support. But there is no option for that model of MacBook Pro. So how can i make a ‘my own’ restore CD ? Is there some way to take a last version of official Apple EFI restore CD and exchange just a that file with firmware with a last firmware update ? Because there is no way to boot, so i think that a restore CD is only option. Thank you so much !!
There was a firmware update for that generation [1]. U can try to use it with this article’s guide imho.
[1] http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3561
Hi All, it’s not working for me with MBP54. I moved the app to /Applications/Utilites, found the firmware file, ran bless and entered password but then there is no message about success/fail… just back to command prompt. When I run the EFI Firmware Update app (tried both before and after reboot) it still says EFI Update 1.7 is already installed and refuses to do anything. What step am I missing?
I get the same result with my MB51, nothing happens, just command prompt. I am almost sure that getting this done would fix my booting troubles with my new SSD!
Thanks for the info, when I tried this to get my cloned SSD (Snow Leopard install) to work, I got the following:
/System/Library/Extensions/msdosfs.kext failed to load – (libkern/kext) validation failure (plist/executable); check the system/kernel logs for errors or try kextutil(8).
mount_msdos: msdos filesystem is not available
/sbin/mount returned non-0 exit status
Failed to determine auxiliary partition mountpoint for /
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
Why would it fail like this, do you have an idea?
When I tried to fix my unreliable boot with a cloned SSD (Snow Leopard install) I got the following:
/System/Library/Extensions/msdosfs.kext failed to load – (libkern/kext) validation failure (plist/executable); check the system/kernel logs for errors or try kextutil(8).
mount_msdos: msdos filesystem is not available
/sbin/mount returned non-0 exit status
Failed to determine auxiliary partition mountpoint for /
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
Any idea what could be wrong here?
Scratch that comment – I had safe booted; of course the msdosfs.kext wouldn’t have been loaded…
A lot of apple computers have trouble updating efi when the os is run from a different disk than the main HDD. This seems to happen for people who replaced their dvd drive by a flash drive and installed os x on it, or in my case, who are permanently running os x from an external drive, because i wanted to put a different os on the internal drive.
I can’t update my iMac efi to 1.8; software update keeps bugging me to update, i accept, it updates, reboot, and software update is still unhappy.
I am tempted to you your bless trick, but i am slightly worried i am going to bork a completely working system.
Any reason to believe I would mess something up (assuming that i am using the proper efi for the system)? Is not having the ‘main’ HDD available the source of the issue?
Lots of thanks, it did work great for me
Is it possible to do a raw read of the efi flash? And to flash it back to a device?
With best regards
Chris
If your talking about the EFI itself (not the boot loader this post is about but the BIOS successor) I don’t think it’s possible from OS X directly as I assume the kernel’s missing the appropriate interface/device, but that’s way beyond my skill level to answer accurately. 😉
Maybe this post can get you to the right direction: http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/~pxk/416/notes/02-boot.html
I’m wondering is this an OS level command?
I’ve got the same machine with an EFI problem. Won’t boot can’t run OS X but i can access the drive by mounting it in target mode on my other machine. I’ve booted my imac into my macbook pro’s drive via target disk mode. I’m just worried will this command force my imac to try and install the macbook pro firmware? or will it only create that flag at the os level so when the macbook pro boots it will run the update
It is an “OS level command”, just look at the man page for specifics.
Well, not sure. I’d say it’ll mess around with the iMacs firmware. Did you try and boot with any live CD to your MB (like the OS X install DVD, any linux live CD, …)?
Yea I’ve already got one dead machine i don’t need to make my iMac dead as well….I figured out how to bypass the SMC which allowed me to boot into OS X. Unfortunatly i cannot get the bless command to work. it returns as could not load data from the file and then says error while writing firmware updater for EFI
hi, I accidentally flashed a SMC from a MBA to my MBP7,1.
I can’t flash the EFI 2.5 … there is always an error: “This version is not supported by your mac” …
The EFI 2.5 is different from yours (no update app…)
I tried it like you … everything worked but I can’t still run the update because of the error…
… what should I do?
hi how do i do this on a mac pro 1.1 ?
Thanks
I’m with “incase”; I’ve got a MBP7,1 with corrupt EFI Update 2.5 and there is no app. After running the sudo -bless / -firmware command and rebooting back into OSX, I run the EFI2.5.pkg and get the “This Version is Not Supported By Your Mac” error (presumably because it’s already installed…)
Is there a data base online somewhere with downloads for older EFIs? Could we use this method to re-flash to older EFIs (to fix the corruptness and then re-flash up to the latest version)?
i have a Macbook Pro 8,2 late 2011, i have the east same problem. i flashed the firmware but after i shutdown and reboot, it beeps agin waits a while, no chime or anything and reverts to the 4 boot sequence and then on the 5th, it boots. i don’t get the screen with the firmware being flashed. Help, my mum will kill me if she finds out I’ve “killed” my mac 😦
I give you my Feedback: I also faced the :
/System/Library/Extensions/msdosfs.kext failed to load – (libkern/kext) validation failure (plist/executable); check the system/kernel logs for errors or try kextutil(8).
mount_msdos: msdos filesystem is not available
/sbin/mount returned non-0 exit status
Failed to determine auxiliary partition mountpoint for /
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
The first partition of my drive, before the Mac HD HFS, was empty and in FAT formatted, after wrong removal of previous Ubuntu Instal.
With this system, my MacBook 5.1 Unibody Alu Late 2008, made the long beeeeep at startup, then after a second of that small superdrive sound, booted the way it should.
So, I always managed to boot the MB, but with this chaotic start up process.
To avoid the […] Error while writing firmware updater for EFI, I boot with a Ubuntu Live CD, without installing Ubuntu. I then used Gparted tool to reformat the first 200 MB partition of my SSD into EFI format.
Then it allowed me to successfull run the comandyou (thank you so much). provide us.
Greetings by a Frenchy in Germany
I have tried your fix but I cannot get my MBP (2.4 Ghz Santa Rosa) to cooperate. The firmware file extension is also different ( .fd and not .scap) – could that be the problem? I have tried copying the file to the root directory and adding “” but the MBP does-t flash when I re-boot it.
This is the message I get:
tina-oneill-laurbergs-macbook-pro:~ Lykke$ sudo bless -mount / -firmware “/FWM/MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update.app/Contents/Resources/LOCKED_MBP31_0070_07B.fd”
Password:
Can’t load /FWM/MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update.app/Contents/Resources/LOCKED_MBP31_0070_07B.fd
Could not load data from /FWM/MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update.app/Contents/Resources/LOCKED_MBP31_0070_07B.fd
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
I usually do not create a comment, however after reading a few of the responses on this page Flash
EFI firmware update manually on a Mac(Book 5,1) Public Memory.
I do have 2 questions for you if it’s okay. Is it simply me or do a few of these comments come across like they are left by brain dead people? 😛 And, if you are writing on other sites, I would like to keep up with anything fresh you have to post. Would you make a list of every one of your public pages like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?
Hi,
I have an issue with my Macbook Air 4,1 (Mid 2011).
When it starts up the screen remains off (not video black) until the login window, from there on it works perfectly. I can only think it is an EFI niggle, failing to power the screen on.
I get the following in Terminal – which looks OK:
MacBook-Air:~ Gideon$ sudo bless -mount / -firmware “/Applications/Utilities/MacBookAirEFIUpdate-2.4/MBA41_0077_B0F_LOCKED.scap” -verbose
Password:
EFI found at IODeviceTree:/efi
GPT detected
No auxiliary booter partition required
System partition found
Returning booter information dictionary:
{type = mutable dict, count = 3,
entries =>
0 : {contents = “System Partitions”} = (
disk0s1
)
1 : {contents = “Data Partitions”} = (
disk0s2
)
2 : {contents = “Auxiliary Partitions”} = (
)
}
Substituting ESP disk0s1
Mounting at /Volumes/bless.yPq2
Executing “/sbin/mount”
Returned 0
Deleting contents of EFI cache directory
Creating /Volumes/bless.yPq2/EFI/APPLE/FIRMWARE if needed
Deleting previous contents of /Volumes/bless.yPq2/EFI/APPLE/FIRMWARE
Deleting /Volumes/bless.yPq2/EFI/APPLE/FIRMWARE/MBA41_0077_B0F_LOCKED.scap (8454768 bytes)
Opened dest at /Volumes/bless.yPq2/EFI/APPLE/FIRMWARE//MBA41_0077_B0F_LOCKED.scap for writing
preallocation not supported on this filesystem for /Volumes/bless.yPq2/EFI/APPLE/FIRMWARE//MBA41_0077_B0F_LOCKED.scap
/Volumes/bless.yPq2/EFI/APPLE/FIRMWARE//MBA41_0077_B0F_LOCKED.scap created successfully
Relative path of /Volumes/bless.yPq2/EFI/APPLE/FIRMWARE//MBA41_0077_B0F_LOCKED.scap is \EFI\APPLE\FIRMWARE\MBA41_0077_B0F_LOCKED.scap
IOMedia disk0s1 has UUID CB2F0536-7AE5-4F7F-AEF1-5BCAC8013221
Setting EFI NVRAM:
{type = mutable dict, count = 1,
entries =>
1 : {contents = “efi-boot-next”} = {contents = “IOMatchIOProviderClassIOMediaIOPropertyMatchUUIDCB2F0536-7AE5-4F7F-AEF1-5BCAC8013221BLLastBSDNamedisk0s1IOEFIDevicePathTypeMediaFilePathPath\EFI\APPLE\FIRMWARE\MBA41_0077_B0F_LOCKED.scap”}
}
Executing “/sbin/umount”
Returned 0
MacBook-Air:~ Gideon$
But when I restart the Mac just boots the same as before. If I shut down and power on normally it boots the same as before. If I shut down and hold down the power button, I don’t get any long tones or anything, just the normal boot sequence and I’m back at the login window within 15 seconds or so.
Am I doing something wrong?
Hey Gideon,
I’m stuck with the same issue you had.
I see it’s already been half a year, but did you manage to get it to work and how?
Just in case anyone else runs into this issue. I fixed it by copying the firmware file to /Volumes/Macintosh HD/ (the firmware file was located on a USB stick), then running the bless command, then restarting.
I read just two lines of this and thought “I dig this guy’s style.”
Keep it up.
you are great!
5 days of searching hole day and night. and then your site. 5 mins to work and everything is fine 😀
you are the one!
lovely greetings from vienna
thanks a lot
My Macbook is beeping SOS on startup before booting and I tried to fix it with that manual update but I’m always getting that error:
Could not get information on /Volumes/bless.2cnR/EFI/APPLE/CACHES: 2
Could somebody please help me?
I just recognized that it worked anyway 🙂 After restarting the mac the status bar appeared and know the annoying beeping on startup is gone 🙂 Thank you so much!
Is there any way to downgrade your firmware to use this command? I have an older Macbook Pro 5,4 and it needs different firmware. I used this command to fix a similar problem installing Ubuntu, but now it has the firmware for a Macbook Pro 5,5. I try to use the bless command again, but it doesn’t reflash anything.
I know this Post is more than 3 years but men , his solution worked , I had this problem and its driven me crazzzzy , now everything is fixed and my Mac starts up as it should , a BIG thanks to you pubmem …
!!!!
has anyone had any success doing this on a MBP 13in 2011?
Hey, I’m also trying to do this with macbook 5,1 but without succes. After I type that line to terminal, nothing happens after I boot the machine and also the EFI update says that I dont need this update. What am I doing wrong? I need to use quotes around that Macbook EFI Firmware Update.app part and after terminal asks my password nothing more comes up. Hopefully someone still follows this thread!
Hola. Primero que nada muchas gracias por el post. Tengo una macbook pro 3,1 que al conectarle un magsafe en forma de L dejó de encender al presionar el botón. Ahora para encenderla debo presionar el botón y dejarlo presionado, conectar el magsafe, soltar el botón luego de unos 6 segundos y volver presionarlo. La mac arranca pero los ventiladores siempre giran a la mayor velocidad ya hacen mucho ruido. Tengo entendido que esto se soluciona con un SMC firmware 1.4. Puedo hacer el mismo procedimiento que comentas en este post pero con el SMC en vez de EFI firmware? Podrías ayudarme? Gracias!
Thanks for great post… need “-recovery” and restart.
like ” user@mac:~$
sudo bless -mount /-firmware MB51_007D_03B_LOCKED.scap -recovery -verbose “
What does that flag do?
I kno I’m a bit late but it doesn’t seem to work. After I shutdown or restart, nothing happens….
What am I supposed to enter when in Terminal it asks for password? (Right at the very end of the process) Several of you touch on this but don’t say. My MBP does not have a password and does not have firmware password lock enabled. I’m stuck!
Is there a hardware issue that originally caused this in the first place?
Assuming your user is an admin, then the users password. Otherwise you need to switch to a privileged account (e.g. with su). See https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man8/sudo.8.html
I am having same issues as described in this forum with:
Macbook Pro 5,3 Intel Core 2 Duo (15″ Mid 2009), 2.8 GHz, Boot ROM: MBP53.00AC.B03.
I customized your command to what I had hoped would work as follows:
sudo bless -mount / -firmware /Applications/Utilities/MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update.app/Contents/MBP53_00AC_03B_LOCKED.scap
I traced the path of the firmware update.app and found it to be in the Contents/Resources folder. So I rewrote command with that change.
Both attempts yielded same response from terminal:
Can’t load /Applications/Utilities/MacBook
Could not load data from /Applications/Utilities/MacBook
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
Davids-MacBook-Pro:~ david$
I would love to get my Macbook Pro working again and really appreciate you helping so many of us out here in no man’s land with this problem.
Could you tell me what I am doing wrong?
Thank You!
Hello Pubmem! Hoping you can help me. I tried to manually update my firmware by entering the command you offered into Terminal but it responds:
“-bash: user@mac:~$: command not found
macbook-pro:~”
I traced via “Pacifist” the path of the firmware update and it indicated it was in the Resources folder within the Contents folder so I rewrote the command as follows:
user@mac:~$ sudo bless -mount / -firmware /Applications/Utilities/MacBook EFI Firmware Update.app/Contents/Resources/MBP53_00AC_03B_LOCKED.scap
and got the same message.
I know your method will work if I can figure out how to activate it. What am I doing wrong? Really appreciate your efforts in helping so many of us out here when otherwise we would just be stuck! Thank you!
I realized that in my rush I forgot to include “Pro” after Macbook in command but when I did rewrite command as follows:
sudo bless -mount / -firmware /Applications/Utilities/MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update.app/Contents/MBP53_00AC_03B_LOCKED.scap
(also tried another version that included path: Contents/Resources)
I got this response from Terminal on both attempts:
Can’t load /Applications/Utilities/MacBook
Could not load data from /Applications/Utilities/MacBook
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
any ideas? any input is very much appreciated! Thanks!
I’m possibly being dim but can I run this outside of OSX.
Do I run it from Cmd + S when booting?
My mac runs fine from a USB live Ubantu but crashes when I try to use the installer to rebuild OS X .
How do you run the command if you can’t gain access to the OS, Cmd+s on boot up?
Forgive me if I’m being dim 🙂
I’d say yes, that should be possible. But I’m not sure your problem is even related.
Bought the exact Macbook as OP recently with the same symptoms. Seller said it had a dead board with ram slot issues. When i turned it on I knew that wasn’t the case and it was a firmware issue. Tried flashing with disc with no luck. Was gonna solder a new efi chip on but decided to Google flash mac firmware terminal and this post was the first thing that showed up. Followed instructions and it worked perfectly. Thanks a lot! 2017 and post is still going strong.
Please Mr help me in this. i installed ubuntu 17 on iMac 5k late 2014. Now, when it boot, the keyboard is no longer of any use. The computer only boot to ubuntu. I cannot use alt/option, or recovery command to re-install mac os x. i have fusion drive which i am sure i messed everything in it. i want to make clean install of os x. i do not hear the chime sound. does fixing the firmware is ok for me, if so I do not see my iMac model on the firmware update page link. even if I found it, how I am going to use it from ubuntu. thanks
i’m going make a good guess I bleave Ubuntu wipeout you’re Mac OS install you should boot into Ubuntu again from demo mode and reformed the drive to fat in Ubuntu disk utility and then shut it down and try the Mac install again when you’re in Mac installer go to disks utility and reformat drive to Mac OS X External Journal then go back to Mac install and it should work
Having the same problem with my 15″ late 2013 MacBook Pro. Trying to update the firmware on a bootable usb. Not making the usb stick for starters.
The other problem is when I push the power button, no chime, just grey screen.
Hello Pubmem!
I have a Mac Pro (4,1) that has been giving mystery problems for the better part of 5 years and every time and I had all but given up on fixing it until I found this article. (even the Apple Store told me cooperate had removed the firmware restore utility so they couldn’t help me) and now that I’ve been thrilled to find your article, my Mac still just won’t accept a firmware flash. It’s given me all the different problems listed by those above me. Namely the “Error while writing firmware updater for EFI” variety, I’ve tried booting from an external copy of Mac OS X, having the app on a USB, on the HD, on an external HD, moving the SID file to my desktop, the applications folder, and about everything else recommended here. Any ideas? Thanks so much.
Hi Everyone,
I am trying very hard to fix my brother in laws late 2008 MacBook 5,1 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo) One day the macbook would not boot at all. Pressing the power button didn’t do anything. He gave it to me to check out. I managed to get it to start, but the ONLY way it does is by pressing and holding the power button and plugging in the power cord and then releasing the power button 5 seconds later, waiting a couple more seconds and finally pressing the power button again.
It boots, but the fan appears to be running full tilt all the time. I have tried the usual things like resetting SMC and NVRAM etc. but nothing I have done allows the laptop to boot normally.
I’ve even tried to do a reinstall of MacOS 10.10.5, but that failed and took me back to the currently installed OS.
All of my searches online have yielded only one website where someone described the same issue I am having, but unfortunately gave no fix what so ever.
If anyone has any advice that will allow me to fix the issue without a new logic board being needed, you have my undivided attention!!! 😉
Thanks,
Clayton
Useful information.
Dear Guru,
I recently took a punt on a 2019 27” high spec iMac through an acquaintance who normally sells pc laptops, as he mentioned that one of his regular clients had a ‘beast’ going cheap! As I jumped ship to Mac in 2013 and had been thinking of getting a newer iMac I said I was interested.
I was allowed to take it for a few days to test.
The machine had been reset by the laptop guy as he’s learned how to do this for the odd Mac laptop he gets in.
Upon booting, the eficheck of Mojave sprang into life and told me there was a problem! Great start!
I produced the Apple report but couldn’t find a programme to decipher it! I did understand enough of it to glean that some of my firmware was out of sync with the os. I’d also researched that this can happen if the Mac has been updated using a ‘monolithic’ update rather than through the App Store.
The original owner swore down that he’d never seen the EFIcheck run before! Possibly true?
I installed stress testing software and ran it for hours at 100% without it even warming up. It’s fast and the 5k screen blew my old late 2012 27” out of the water so I wanted to give it the best possible chance.
After trying to figure out what I can do to bring this beauty back to perfection I stumbled across your article.
My main worry is that there’s 60GB of ram installed and I very much doubt it’s all Apple.
Maybe someone has fiddled with the firmware to get ram not on the Allow list to work with this iMac and if I correct it I’ll end up with just the original 8GB!!
However, I am far from a techie when it comes to Mac so I may be worrying unduly? My biggest techie achievement was to repair a corrupted main hard drive and restore from Time Machine, on a friends 2017 iMac. Totally flying by seat of pants as up till then I’d just been a competent front end user.
Oh forgot to mention that I upgraded through the AppStore to Catalina to see if this would reset the firmware. No such luck.
My old Mac is still on high Sierra and has worked without an issue for nearly 8 years. It’s running Time Machine and once I get this new one up and running my plan is to restore TM to it, and then upgrade to a higher OS as I have spent all those years carefully building it into my best mate at work!
Any nuggets of wisdom will be very much appreciated.
Thank you for your attention.