Update Firmware Before Installing Jaguar!
-----------------------------------------
by Geoff Duncan <
geoff@tidbits.com>
Last week, I began to see credible reports that installing Mac OS
X 10.2 Jaguar on some iMacs was "frying" the motherboards. Users
would run the Jaguar installer, everything would proceed
correctly, and when users tried to restart the screens would
remain black, rendering the machines unusable. Furthermore, the
screens stayed black: restarting the machine from a Mac OS 9 CD or
other bootable volume made no difference. Some users who contacted
their Apple dealers were reportedly told the only solution was
to replace their iMac's motherboard, potentially at a cost of $700
or more.
So, after some investigation, here's the deal:
1) Installing Jaguar on some slot-loading iMacs _can_ render the
machine unusable by blacking out the internal display, even when
trying to start up in Mac OS 9. The bug is apparently in Jaguar,
not the installer.
2) You can avoid the problem altogether by updating your iMac's
firmware _before_ installing Jaguar. The current firmware version
is 4.1.9; it's a 1.2 MB download.
3) If you've already been hit by this problem, no, the iMac's
motherboard is not fried, and replacement is not necessary. See
below for the fix.
4) A reasonable person would think the Jaguar installer would
check for a supported firmware revision before attempting to
install. It does not, though the ReadMe and slim installation
brochure that comes with Jaguar both hint at the possible need
for a firmware update.
**Firmware Versions** -- At this time, it's not entirely clear
which iMacs are vulnerable. The original "slot-loading" iMacs and
iMac DVs introduced in September of 1999 are affected; the problem
may extend to later iMac models with built-in CRTs, which Apple
designates "Summer 2000," "Early 2001," and "Summer 2001." Neither
flat-screen iMacs nor eMacs are affected.
Be sure you read the instructions before attempting to update the
firmware: you'll need to locate and use the programmer's button
on the side of your iMac. Firmware updates can be run only when
launched from a writable disk under Mac OS 9.x (or Mac OS 8.x, if
your computer is old enough). You cannot run a firmware update
from the Classic environment in Mac OS X, nor can you run one when
the computer is started up from a CD-ROM or network disk. Your
PRAM will be reset after installing a firmware update, so you may
need to check some of your system settings. In particular, make
sure the setting in your startup disk control panel is correct
if you have multiple bootable drives or partitions.
If you don't know what firmware version you're currently running
(and who does?), you can find out by using Apple System Profiler;
an entry for "Boot ROM version," "ROM revision," or "Boot ROM
info" appears under the System Profile tab. If you're using
Mac OS 9, the version will appear in an ugly decimal format
like $0004.17f1 - that corresponds to firmware version 4.1.7.
The following Knowledge Base article lists the current firmware
revisions for Macs which support Mac OS X.
**Seeing Black?** If you've already attempted to install Jaguar
and are looking at a black screen, you can recover, but it's not
simple. Essentially, you must find a way to update your iMac's
firmware from a writable drive without having use of the iMac's
screen.
Perhaps the best approach is to open the iMac, remove its hard
drive, and connect the hard drive to a second computer (like a
Power Mac G3 or G4 with an available drive bay). Then copy the
firmware updater to the iMac's drive, install a remote control
program like Timbuktu onto the hard drive and configure it to
allow incoming access, and set the drive to boot in Mac OS 9.
Next, move the hard drive back to your iMac and boot the machine
in Mac OS 9 (the screen will still be black). Then, connect to
the iMac over a network from another Macintosh using the remote
control program and run the firmware updater. Once you've done
that, the iMac's video should be restored. If your iMac is under
warranty, note that opening your iMac to remove the hard drive
may void that warranty.
Obviously, not every iMac owner has a second computer and a remote
control program at their disposal, or the technical acumen to
transplant hard drives between machines. An Apple dealer may be
able to perform these or similar steps for you to recover your
iMac, but they're unlikely to do so for free even if your iMac
is still under warranty: expect to pay at least an hourly rate
for the dealer's time, but that's certainly cheaper than a new
motherboard. A well-versed Mac consultant might be faster and
less expensive. Under _no_ circumstances should you let a dealer
convince you that your iMac's motherboard must be replaced.
Motherboard replacement was initially Apple's official solution
to this problem; however, now that the issue has been more
thoroughly identified, Apple dealers now have access to
information about it how to recover iMacs without replacing
the motherboard. If your dealer isn't yet aware of it, ask
them to look.
**Seeing Red?** This situation is troubling. It's incredible
that Apple would release operating system software dependent
on particular firmware revisions and not check that appropriate
firmware was available before installing. C'mon: that's just
common sense! We're also disturbed Apple would recommend dealers
and service centers replace motherboards on affected machines -
a costly solution, especially for machines out of warranty - when
there's nothing wrong with the motherboards, and Apple's own
software caused the problem. We realize working out solutions for
these problems takes time and dealers need to provide solutions as
quickly as possible, but we certainly hope Apple plans to provide
refunds to affected users who have already paid for motherboard
replacements.