MacBook A1502 EMC 2835 820-4924-A dies when installing firmware update

[brconta]

Hello,
I have a macbook Early 2015 A1502 EMC 2835 820-4924-A.
Whenever I try to update the system the device dies after reboot. It only comes back to life if the battery is disconnected, and then connected again (energy drain). Apparently the firmware update fails.
I can install High Sierra normally, but I can't install a newer one.
I can use a disk with a newer system that was installed on another machine.
I've already tested another chip and another bios file, but no effect.
Boot ROM: MBP121.0177.B00
SMC: 2.28f7
I've tried the procedure to perform the firmware update manually, using the macOS installer .fd file, but the macbook also dies when rebooting.

[reformatt]

Re: MacBook dies when installing firmware update

Are you using original Apple SSD or M2 NVMe with adaptor? I have heard of FW updates failing due to the latter.

In the donor EFI you are using, check that the serial number is correct for your machine, and Fsys checksum is valid in the dump. Note if you are using a donor EFI file, it must be a clean ME and configured for a MAC.

[brconta]

Re: MacBook dies when installing firmware update

Thanks!

I know of this problem with SSD + Adapter. I used genuine Apple SSD in testing.
BIN files were ME Cleaned and FSYS is valid.
Maybe a workaround would be to get a bin already with version 428.40.10.0.0, but I believe that the brick problem would not be solved in a future needed upade.

[brconta]

Re: MacBook dies when installing firmware update

I couldn't find a solution for firmware upgrades crashs. But a workarround is good for me.
I got a bios file from a similar machine with Monterey, clean ME and edit serial number. Then i able to install OS 10.14+, on genuines SSD ou Nvme + Adapter, without issues.
Bios .bin is attached (don't forgot to change serial and validate F-sys to use this).
BootROM Firmware: 428.40.10.0.0.

bios moved to new thread: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=100913

.

[reformatt]

Re: MacBook A1502 EMC 2835 820-4924-A dies when installing firmware update

I bought a Macbook Air off eBay as not working. It actually powered up ok. I noted that they had Big Sur loaded, but the EFI firmware was ancient (182.0.0.0). So I tried reloading MAC OS, and it had the same issue as you. On the first reboot, it would not power back on, and I'd have to remove battery etc to power on again. Then it would say that EFI update had failed.

So I took a look at the board. All of the termination resistors for the SPI ROM measured ok, no corrosion. But I noted that Q8150 was missing on the board. Definitely removed or knocked off. It's part of the ALL_SYS_PWRGD logic, so it's interesting the board powered on at all. The seller said fan was intermittent, so I guess random fan spin fits.

Anyway, installed that, and tried installing High Sierra. This was ok, no FW update. Then tried Mojave, this updated EFI from 182.0.0.0 to 188.0.0.0. Then tried Monterey, and it worked as well. So maybe your issue is elsewhere on your board, not specific to the SPI ROM.

[reformatt]

Re: MacBook A1502 EMC 2835 820-4924-A dies when installing firmware update

Also posting the EFI config for the SPI ROM from my SVOD3 for reference. This is as read from an existing ROM off a 820-00165 MBA board. Quad Enable bit must be set. I'm assuming it's the same for other Quad SPI boards. The 820-4924 board is Quad SPI.