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Lazyass0

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2020
64
32
Both machines were connected to nothing but the original Apple MagSafe power supply at the time of the upgrade, and never used with external displays.

Very disquieting that there seems to be certain “random elements” in all of this.
I would like to know if Startup security utility was set to same settings in both cases .... could be something to do with since I was doing both on 12.6 to 12.7 (Startup security utility changed and ProMotion disabled ... ) .... just saying ....
 

The Wolf

macrumors newbie
Oct 27, 2023
8
2
I would like to know if Startup security utility was set to same settings in both cases .... could be something to do with since I was doing both on 12.6 to 12.7 (Startup security utility changed and ProMotion disabled ... ) .... just saying ....
I did not change Startup security settings on both, but the bricked one had FileVault enabled, the surviving one not.
 

mecloud

macrumors regular
Aug 15, 2019
143
245
I did not change Startup security settings on both, but the bricked one had FileVault enabled, the surviving one not.

As another data point, all four of the MacBook Pros I experienced this issue with had FileVault enabled.
 

mark-in-seattle

macrumors newbie
As I described in my page-2 post earlier: my MBP-m1 bricked during the update from Ventura v13.52(?) to v13.6. Reading more recent posts I will add that FileVault was not enabled, however ProMotion was disabled while using an external display @60hz at home. When I updated I was away on a trip and not connected to an external monitor, using just the internal laptop display. Not sure if ProMotion was still disabled while using the internal display, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was running @60hz.
 

J-Master

macrumors newbie
Nov 2, 2023
9
0
My MBP 16" M1 Max broke from 12.7 (absolutely zero problems) to 12.7.1, the same issues, others have described. Is there any way, i can stay on Monterey (without data loss)?

Luckily i made a new time machine backup just before updating...
 

pacmania1982

macrumors 65816
Nov 19, 2006
1,171
521
Birmingham, UK
There has been talk of this on Twitter if you have changed the refresh rate from ProMotion to 60Hz. They are urging people to set this back to ProMotion before doing an update.
 
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Lazyass0

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2020
64
32
My MBP 16" M1 Max broke from 12.7 (absolutely zero problems) to 12.7.1, the same issues, others have described. Is there any way, i can stay on Monterey (without data loss)?

Luckily i made a new time machine backup just before updating...
To me first time happened from 12.6.x to 12.7 with for sure Promotion disabled. You can download 12.6 or 12.7 (depends on you backup version you would like to restore) IPSW and do restore via DFU and use backup for transfer ....
 

J-Master

macrumors newbie
Nov 2, 2023
9
0
so i got back to 12.7, but after restarting 2-3 times (w/o external Monitor connected), it bricked as soon as i restarted with the monitor connected. Any way we can prevent the bricking, once we are back on 12.7/13.6?
 

Lazyass0

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2020
64
32
so i got back to 12.7, but after restarting 2-3 times (w/o external Monitor connected), it bricked as soon as i restarted with the monitor connected. Any way we can prevent the bricking, once we are back on 12.7/13.6?
12.7 is still affected by this bug ! 12.6.x is not and you need to downgrade via IPSW and Apple configurator !

Another thing is: you had disabled Promotion when you had no external
monitor connected and Promotion enabled while monitor connected… this setting has memory for each setup so this is why you got bricked when there was external monitor and you did restart !
 

J-Master

macrumors newbie
Nov 2, 2023
9
0
Nope, i had ProMotion enabled when i had no external Monitor connected and when i switch to my monitor, it changes to 75 Hz.

In my understanding it bricks, if you have ProMotion disabled (external Monitor or not), right?

12.6.x is not and you need to downgrade via IPSW and Apple configurator !
Problem is: I can only revert to a 12.7. TM Backup and everything before that does not work. Or is there a way to downgrade without any data loss/wiping the system?
 

Lazyass0

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2020
64
32
Nope, i had ProMotion enabled when i had no external Monitor connected and when i switch to my monitor, it changes to 75 Hz.

In my understanding it bricks, if you have ProMotion disabled (external Monitor or not), right?
Yes this is what I am telling you…
Enabled Promotion won’t brick….
You need to have it enabled in both situations with and without external monitor …. Macos remembers setting per situtation not generally …
 
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J-Master

macrumors newbie
Nov 2, 2023
9
0
Yes this is what I am telling you…
Enabled Promotion won’t brick….
You need to have it enabled in both situations with and without external monitor …. Macos remembers setting per situtation not generally …
Oh, then i misunderstood you, thanks for the correction!

So the solution would be to manually also enable ProMotion, while i am connected to my external Monitor?
Will this prevent the brick, even when i restart with the monitor?
 

Lazyass0

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2020
64
32
Oh, then i misunderstood you, thanks for the correction!

So the solution would be to manually also enable ProMotion, while i am connected to my external Monitor?
Will this prevent the brick, even when i restart with the monitor?
Yes, Promotion needs to be enabled both times, with and w/o external monitor connected ! Maybe also if you have different monitors connected with each of them it needs to be enabled to prevent brick !
 
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J-Master

macrumors newbie
Nov 2, 2023
9
0
Yes, Promotion needs to be enabled both times, with and w/o external monitor connected ! Maybe also if you have different monitors connected with each of them it needs to be enabled to prevent brick !
But when i connect to the external Monitor (a 27 inch 2k 75Hz one), i dont see the ProMotion option anywhere in the display settings. What do i do?
 

Lazyass0

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2020
64
32
But when i connect to the external Monitor (a 27 inch 2k 75Hz one), i dont see the ProMotion option anywhere in the display settings. What do i do?
Click on Built-in display on top and change Refresh rate for it to Promotion :)
 

J-Master

macrumors newbie
Nov 2, 2023
9
0
Click on Built-in display on top and change Refresh rate for it to Promotion :)
Thanks for the help! But the thing is, the ProMotion option only appears, when i change my main monitor to my Internal MBP Display (mirrored to the external Monitor). But then the scaling is totally off and the screen sharing introduces latency)

When i have the external monitor set as my main display, the Promotion options vanishes again (on the section for the internal display).

Do you know what i mean?
 

Lazyass0

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2020
64
32
Thanks for the help! But the thing is, the ProMotion option only appears, when i change my main monitor to my Internal MBP Display (mirrored to the external Monitor). But then the scaling is totally off and the screen sharing introduces latency)

When i have the external monitor set as my main display, the Promotion options vanishes again (on the section for the internal display).

Do you know what i mean?
Oh I understand now.... never tried with mirror always using them as separate and had this option .... So it is obvious now that even mirror can't work with Sonoma FW (12.7, 13.6, Sonoma and even earlier versions if they were updated via Terminal command since Sonoma is available ) .... There is a lot configurations what works and what not .... !

They really need to fix this thing and it is very widespread ! !!!!!

Latest findings are collected here: https://github.com/AsahiLinux/docs/wiki/macOS-Sonoma-Boot-Failures
(This is not Asahi-Linux specific but is common MacOS bug that is very wide and affects only MBP 14" and 16" with Apple silicone inside ! )
 
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J-Master

macrumors newbie
Nov 2, 2023
9
0
Ahhh okay, i am beginning to understand.

So you mean, if i use them as separate displays (external as the main one with the dock tho), and have the ProMotion setting enabled in the tab for "Internal XDR Display" (but not on the external), am i safe then?

Then i would just do it like you with seperate ones (but simply just not use Macbook Display and let it be around in the right corner).
 

Lazyass0

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2020
64
32
Ahhh okay, i am beginning to understand.

So you mean, if i use them as separate displays (external as the main one with the dock tho), and have the ProMotion setting enabled in the tab for "Internal XDR Display" (but not on the external), am i safe then?

Then i would just do it like you with seperate ones (but simply just not use Macbook Display and let it be around in the right corner).
Yes, until Built-in one is Promotion it is safe :)

Joke of the day would be: “Until Apple Promotion is ON, promotion of Sonoma is success !” but I believe this is not their intend, but very bad QA ….. :/
 

username101

macrumors newbie
Nov 5, 2023
1
0
Just an FYI, if you are bricked doing the upgrade to 12.7.1 or 13.6.1, the process to recover without losing data is very detailed. (Note: I have not performed this myself, but I have confirmed with out MacAdmins dealing with it)

1) Put the affected computer in to DFU mode.

2) Revive the computer using Apple Configurator and an IPSW for macOS Sonoma. To choose a specific IPSW, drag the IPSW to the DFU icon in Apple Configurator. Do NOT try and use an IPSW earlier than the version you tried to upgrade to.

3) Once the revive is complete the computer will reboot to boot menu. Do NOT select Macintosh HD, instead select Options to boot to recovery

4) Select the option to reinstall macOS Sonoma on your computer. Don't erase the drive first. Reinstall will not wipe user data.

This should work, however, you will be upgraded to macOS Sonoma.

It would be much easier if Apple would release IPSWs for 13.6.1 & 12.7.1. But they don't typically release new IPSWs for older OS.
This also worked for me, thanks! I did not select an ISPW for step 2 (just right clicked on the device and selected "Revive"), and got a popup that "A software update is required for this device." I selected "Quit and Update," then repeated step 2 without a specific ISPW and it worked.
 

julesme

macrumors 6502a
Oct 14, 2016
591
2,079
San Jose
This just happened to me this afternoon, when updating to the latest version of Ventura (I believe I was on 13.5 and trying to install 13.6.1). My 2021 14” M1 Max is completely bricked, with the Apple logo and black screen; it bricked in the middle of the install. I can’t even boot into Recovery mode.

I was connected to an external 27” LG monitor during the failed update. Does anyone know if that matters?

In nearly 9.5 years of owning several MacBook Pros, this is the first time I’ve ever bricked on an update. I had just done a Time Machine a few minutes prior to the attempted update.

Now I’m at the Apple Store, and they are attempting to wipe and install Sonoma.
 
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julesme

macrumors 6502a
Oct 14, 2016
591
2,079
San Jose
I have bricked four MacBook Pros in under two weeks thanks to the 12.7 update (on my M1 16 inch MacBook Pro) and the 13.6 update on three new M2 16 inch MBP’s. On ONLY the most recent one, I was successfully able to do a “revive” in DFU mode, which installed Sonoma but did not erase any of my data. In all cases, ProMotion was disabled and the screens were running at 60Hz.

In over three decades of using Macs for audio production and DJ-ing, I have never experienced anything approaching this level of insanity. Clearly there are very serious QA issues in Apple’s system software testing for something like this to be released to the public. Certainly a big disincentive to install OS updates knowing the computer may be bricked (and maybe or maybe not recoverable with DFU mode).

I could not agree more - I am surprised and disappointed that this happened to my machine today. I’ve never seen anything like this in 9+ years of owning Macs personally, as well as additional time spent working with Macs for an employer. This type of problem would be considered unusual even for a Windows machine in Microsoft’s peak “blue screen of death” era.
 
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mecloud

macrumors regular
Aug 15, 2019
143
245
I could not agree more - I am surprised and disappointed that this happened to my machine today. I’ve never seen anything like this in 9+ years of owning Macs personally, as well as additional time spent working with Macs for an employer. This type of problem would be considered unusual even for a Windows machine in Microsoft’s peak “blue screen of death” era.

I guess in the Windows world, this would be as though a Windows update was somehow over-writing the BIOS with a version containing a bad bug. There does seem to be something to be said for keeping BIOS/firmware revisions “divorced” from operating-system revisions. The Apple approach clearly has some serious land mines built in. Still in shock that these recent serious bugs ever made it out into the hands of the public.
 
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