Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205
Thanks, @mon2.
There are no scratches and this MBP is a fully legitimate unit, I don't need to change serial numbers.
However It looks like Apple don't want to waste opportunity of increased Christmas sales. There is rumor that a Big Sur November release is killing many MBP's. I also received notification of a security update to the October version of 10.15.7. I don't know where it came from, as I have all updates and notifications disabled. I denied it of course, but next boot and getting CATERR. Coincidence?...
sajunky
Member
Last Activity: 12-13-2022, 12:01 PM
Joined: 09-18-2014
Location: Johannesburg
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Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205
This is clearly a grounding point of the cable. A metal plate which is a part of the cable provides screening. It is tracing to the other side of cable.
Now I see, there are missing grounding plates all around:
- J4501 tpad
- J4500 keyboard
- J6600 audio
- J4402 touch bar power switch (?)
- J4401 touch bar mpu/display (?)
Is the last connector linking to the embedded OS board (T208 in Apple terminology?) A noise on this cable could be responsive for lot of trouble. There...Last edited by sajunky; 11-28-2020, 11:36 AM.Leave a comment:
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Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205
TL;DR. Question - jump to the bottom.
Looks like Apple is using camera as an ambient sensor, so lack of auto brightness is understood, only a background photo is adjusted according to the daytime.
Some other abnormal behaviour:
- There is no keyboard backlit after boot, but it comes out for a second after waking up (sleep is forced from the menu). After another reset procedure it happens (rarely) that it comes out and stay, but keyboard backlit never turns on immediately after boot....Leave a comment:
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Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205
I noticed that internal cam do not ID on this laptop (there is no trace in any hardware reports) and automatic screen adjustment do not work, but I can't find ambient sensor on the schematics. Can you point me to the right place, please?
Some good news:
I have been reading posts about MBP (2013-2015) common problem with a power chip FDMF6808 and thought that it could be related. I installed Python script that generate some CPU load and -- surprise: no CATERR on the next boot!!!
Booting is now fast:...Last edited by sajunky; 10-28-2020, 12:42 PM.Leave a comment:
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MacBookPro14. with CATERR, it's time to repair.
Thank you for your patience. TL;DR. Clean install didn't change much. Currently have a clean install of OS 10.15.7.
- Now boot or reboot times vary from 30 sec to 3minutes (before LCD get backlit), comes out with CATERR as usual. But the endless loop/overheating is gone. It was a moment with OS 10.15.6 (upgraded from clean install 10.15.4) when everything was perfect, rebooting was fast, no CATERR. It froze and came back to the endless loop immediately after enabling WiFi. When restoring to life, CATERR is back.
...Last edited by sajunky; 10-22-2020, 05:51 PM.Leave a comment:
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Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205
Laptop is running already for more than 24 hours. Assuming it was a software problem (Adobe Creative Cloud most likely), smc/nvram could get corrupt again before the offending software were removed. Is it a wise to do the following commands before restarting? Or count on a good luck? Is it still needed OS in a single user mode to issue these commands?
[code]
pmset -a
nvram -c
reboot[/code]Code:Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205 Laptop is running already for more than 24 hours.
Leave a comment:
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Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205
Some good news, I did Combo 10.15.6 udate, it went very smooth in 30 to 40 minutes. A final restart came up with CATERR (as usual), system was running stable for hours, till I enabled WiFi - then again - freeze and shutdown. This time it took few days attempts of breaking this endless restart loop and now..... it decided to start. Uuuf!
Rom is updated to v428.0.0.0.0, SMC v2.45f4, OS 19G2021 (Aug 12) and now I don't want to re-enable WiFi before creating boot media and doing clean install as @piernov suggested.
...Last edited by sajunky; 10-15-2020, 05:43 PM.Leave a comment:
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Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205
Uff, what mistake! I wrongly assumed that the BIOS in this machine is outdated.
ROM v205.0.0.0 is very much current in the OS v10.15.4. ROM version number jumps to 428 with the v10.15.6 update. In such case downgrading OS doesn't make sense, as Apple do not allow downgrade ROM (if I understand Apple correctly).
In other words, I am following @piernov suggestion and downloading OS v10.15.6 (that seems to be stable), but it is combo upgrade, not a bootable image. If you can point me to the bootable full...Leave a comment:
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Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205
Thank you, I heard that boot ROM was included, it is why I wonder why ROM has never been updated. It was that way for already couple years. It means, that ROM image is already present in the v.10.15.4 Combo update file and is very recent version. Is that correct?
I did run the Combo installer in a normal desktop and in Safe Mode, it doesn't request Internet connection, the same the Supplemental installer. When I boot to the recovery mode, it requests Internet feed which at the moment breaks. Is any way to link...Leave a comment:
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Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205
It seems Catana 10.15.4 is killing many macbooks pro with a touchpad (like this), it is like a covid pandemic and I didn't see any single post showing that upgrading OS is a solution. It is why I am not hurrying with upgrading route, esp. before learning how to create bootable USB stick, rather looking for downgrading. So far all partitions give positive integrity check result, I am lucky.
A reason is that the older OS might be more compatible with the outdated factory version of EFI ROM which fails to be updated...Leave a comment:
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MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205
MacBook Pro 2017, Model A1707, EMC3162
i7-7700HQ, Radeon Pro 555 2GB, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD
MAC OS 10.15.4
Boot ROM 205.0.....
SMC 2.45f3
EFI driver 01.A0.927
Radeon ROM 113-C980AJ-927
VBIOS 113-C9801AP-A02
History: One owner. PSU failed during warranty, replaced with 100W (4.7A). When laptop started randomly shutdowns, it visited 2 private workshops, then the Apple official service declared motherboard fault. When I received it, was stucked on restarting with blank screen and overheating.
I normally don't do... -
Re: Acer X233H - bad CCFL
Did you get replacement lamps working properly?
Please post dimensions of original lamps if you don't mind.Leave a comment:
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