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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 regular repairs, so please forgive my ignoracy, I know very little about Apple ecosystem. I found inside many missing screws, fixed the most important mounting of the heavy radiator. After that laptop behaves as before visiting workshops. After a random shutdown there is a CPU CATERR dump log message: No MCA data found.
    Google search brings no solution to that message.

    It seems it happens because of a BIOS version missmatch. It should be 428, but is 205. When disabling auto OS updates, there is no random shutdowns, I played for few days without any problem, but it hangs & shutdown when enabling critical OS updates.

    I tried to update OS with the same version from the Combo update DMG file, it goes through the multiple restarts, it takes couple hours, firmware version stays the same.

    When updating with the supplemental update file, it is a disaster, it goes to the endless black screen restarts. I have to follow reset SMC and NVRAM procedure to bring it back to life, but system is still unstable. Reinstalling Combo update brings stability back.

    Internet is to unstable to try online update. Downloading DMG file is the only solution I know.

    What I should try? The older version OS and keep updates disabled or the latest version? Thanks for your time and suggestions.

    #2
    Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205

    Did you try doing a fresh install from USB Key created with latest macOS available?
    OpenBoardView — https://github.com/OpenBoardView/OpenBoardView

    Comment


      #3
      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 together with a new OS. I think it is a major problem with this laptop.

      I don't see any reports about this issue. Is it a ROM chip that requires a higher voltage for flashing? And which power voltage line I should measure?

      Comment


        #4
        Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205

        Doing a fresh install of the latest version of macOS on the internal drive should also ensure the BootROM gets upgraded to the latest version (bundled with that macOS installer).
        OpenBoardView — https://github.com/OpenBoardView/OpenBoardView

        Comment


          #5
          Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205

          Originally posted by piernov View Post
          Doing a fresh install of the latest version of macOS on the internal drive should also ensure the BootROM gets upgraded to the latest version (bundled with that macOS installer).
          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 the Recovery Mode installer to the Combo upgrade image? I created virtual drive in Recovery Tools from the Combo dwg file, but installer do not see it.

          Comment


            #6
            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 OS image download I would appreciate very much.

            The only available version I can find is v10.15.3 (used by hackintosh community). I don't have another MAC to download it from the appstore, this laptop is not stable when WiFi is enabled.

            Comment


              #7
              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.

              I would appreciate your help about how to create bootable USB stick (or instalable partition on SSD). I do currently have at my disposal Combo update file which is not bootable image and a full OS 10.15.3 image by Geekrar, but it looks like installer is missing, as sudo return error. Any suggestion? If this is useless, then I will have to wait a month for the owner to come back from vacation and get OS downloaded on another MAC from the app store.

              In mean time I removed lot of rubbish from the system, learning MAC OS a bit on the occasion. Microsoft OneDrive had crash reports and I found that full set of Adobe applications is corrupt. Creative Cloud refused to uninstall, the same with Lightroom. I had to use uninstaller from Adobe website and a cleaner afterwards.

              Mods: Please change subject to "MacBookPro14.3 with CATERR", as referal to the firmware version is incorrect.
              Last edited by sajunky; 10-15-2020, 05:43 PM.

              Comment


                #8
                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

                Comment


                  #9
                  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.

                  - Enabling WiFi freeze computer every time, no change. The only exception is during setup when after few retries it get succesful authorisation with servers. I don't have USB Ethernet dongle, so WiFi is the only option.

                  - Long period of sleep also freeze computer.

                  What to do now?


                  Corrections and a tips:

                  1. Geekrar's DMG image do have an installer, I didn't decompress app from the image. It is not needed anymore, see #3.

                  2. Downloading clean OS installer from the Apple app store do not work anymore. It is not for clean installation!!! There is so many conflicting information about this, even on the Apple support site!

                  3. There is a new feature of Catalina allowing direct downloads from Apple servers. From the terminal:

                  Code:
                  softwareupdate -- fetch-full-installer
                  It brought on this laptop bootable installer for a new beta OS (over 12GB). However with an additional parameter it is possible to get other version, i.e.:

                  Code:
                  softwareupdate -- fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 10.15.7
                  I downloaded from this laptop both images (first unintentionally) using Huawei dongle working as USB WiFi adapter.

                  4. Reseting SMC/NVRAM from keyboard do not work very well, but these commands work perfect:


                  Code:
                  sudo pmset -a restoredefaults
                  sudo nvram -c
                  I don't reboot yet, but go to the Startup Disk and select USB stick as a startup drive. and restart from the menu. It is good to do reset before clean install.
                  Last edited by sajunky; 10-22-2020, 05:51 PM.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    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: 3 second to start fans, 7 seconds to get Apple logo and total 10 seconds to the login screen. No CATERR. No longer problem with waking up from a long (deep sleep). Enabling WiFi, no problem, previously system didn't survive longer than 5 minutes.

                    It was running for few days connected to the home WiFi, no single freeze. Today I took it close to the Apple TV. Once Airplay software is loaded, it froze, CATERR is back on reboot, a standard cleaning SMC/NVRAM was required as it was unstable and overheating, but Python script helps a lot after cleaning.
                    Last edited by sajunky; 10-28-2020, 12:42 PM.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      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.

                      - If capslock is turned on while entering sleep, it stays on for a minute, then goes off.

                      - Boot time is roughly equal about 10 seconds, but a time when display turns on is not constant, progress indicator is also different each time.

                      - Monitoring whether capslock key is responsive during startup brings interesting result. First it turns on for a second and goes off. Is is normal? If there is a booting problem it doesn't come back.

                      I made another fresh installation from USB stick, installing a python script immediately and and worked stable using WiFi, Internet. The only problem was happening when returning from a long sleep. Turning on the option to prevent sleep when display turns off allowed to work for two weeks without a single panic shutdown. Till now, but later about.

                      ----
                      Q. I mentioned on the beginning about missing some screws. A photo attached shows a missing bracket. Is it an extra grounding point or there is perhaps some IC on the display cable (coming out of socket J8500) that require grounding or cooling?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        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 are strange IC's soldered on this cable (below the main board).

                        Shame... the last time a laptop was serviced in the Apple authorised centre. This is South Africa...
                        I can't continue before fixing this, I feel it would be wasting of time. Where I can get these missing plates and screws?
                        Last edited by sajunky; 11-28-2020, 11:36 AM.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: MacBookPro14. with CATERR, firmware stuck@205

                          Screws and other tiny parts for macbook repair are available on AliExpress. Shop around and where required, be sure to ask if the parts are new or pulls from donor boards. Sometimes you may not have a choice so ask the grade level of the used parts.

                          There are sources that will sell you a brand new bottom side lid, in the exact color as the original and can even laser mark the serial number and other text like the original with brand new feet. Just share a quality picture of the bottom market markings with the vendor. You cannot tell the difference between this replacement product and the original. We used this solution for a local client as their macbook bottom case was scratched up pretty good and was missing feet. Very impressive results.

                          Your a1707 screws...one vendor of likely many.

                          US $35.00 | New A1707 internal screw for Macbook Pro Retina 15" Touch Bar A1707 Complete set internal screws Replacement 2016 2017 Year

                          https://a.aliexpress.com/_mPk36wz

                          You can ask the above vendor for the missing a1707 shields as well.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            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? Now it looks unstable, still battling with.... Did Apple manage to update Thunderbolt ROM without permission?
                            Last edited by sajunky; 11-29-2020, 06:45 PM.

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