Wrong SMC firmware loaded on Macbook what to do?

[airborne]

I recently bought a 2hnd Macbook Pro and have been having huge issues with what looks like the cpu being throttled and kernel_task using 95% of the cpu resources. I had replaced the battery as the laptop came with no battery fitted as the old one had swollen but at that point with Yosmite installed with or without the battery plugged in the kernel_task would go to 95%.

Been googling and fiddling my head off for the last week to no avail. Did a fresh install of Snow Leopard, still no luck, also along the way did the reset of SMC & PRAM. Finally I replaced the ram and hdd and clean installed El Capitan and now so far it works perfectly with the battery unplugged but with the battery plugged in and even with no apps open the system starts using 90% cpu and the laptop slows to snail pace again.

Ok so tearing my fudging hair out at this point I find the Apple firmware site and check if the latest firmware is loaded, the EFI Boot rom Version is the latest, the SMC version is the incorrect model, the laptop is a early '11 15 Macbook Pro the SMC version installed is late' 11 15 Macbook Pro.

I'm hoping loading the correct SMC version will sort out the cpu issue, can I just go ahead and load the correct Smc? Any chance it can brick the laptop?
How did the wrong one even get loaded, doesn't OSX verify it's the correct version before allowing installation?

 

[airborne]

Just tried loading the correct Smc and I just get an error "This software is not supported on this system"

 

[airborne]

This can't be the first time this scenario has happened?

 

[GreGorGy]

Where did you buy the MBP from?

 

[airborne]

Where did you buy the MBP from?

If you don't mind me asking, will knowing that help resolve this SMC issue?

 

[GreGorGy]

If you don't mind me asking, will knowing that help resolve this SMC issue?

I suspect it is stolen and yes it will. The only way for novices to disabled software that tracks stolen macs is to mess with low level stuff like this. So, is the source legit or is it stolen?

 

[airborne]

I suspect it is stolen and yes it will. The only way for novices to disabled software that tracks stolen macs is to mess with low level stuff like this. So, is the source legit or is it stolen?

I would say it's100% legit, highly doubt it's stolen, came with the original box all the install OSX install cds etc and the original dead battery that had been removed.

Do Macbooks have the ability to run lojack type tracing services at a firmware level?

 

[GreGorGy]

I would say it's100% legit, highly doubt it's stolen, came with the original box all the install OSX install cds etc and the original dead battery that had been removed.

Do Macbooks have the ability to run lojack type tracing services at a firmware level?

To a degree yes. Find My Mac, Hidden, Digital Sentry and others all use varying forms. OK, so what we need to do is figure out exactly which model it is. If you are sure it is legit, there is a site (http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/) where you can search for the model by serial number. Just make sure that you have the exact correct firmware to restore. Also, check that the reported serial and the one embossed on the bottom are the same.

I then followed instructions pretty similar to this (https://pubmem.wordpress.com/2011/04/09/flash-efi-firmware-update-manually-on-a-macbook-51/) the last time I did it (admittedly a long time ago).

 

[bwana]

I didn't think it was possible to install the wrong firmware. Have you, using the serial number, verified it's the model you believe it is?

Did you replace the battery with a genuine apple part?

 

[airborne]

I didn't think it was possible to install the wrong firmware. Have you, using the serial number, verified it's the model you believe it is?

Did you replace the battery with a genuine apple part?

Spoke to a Mac technican at an authorised Apple repair shop a little bit earlier and he verified the model via the serial number. The replacement battery isn't an original apple but they are widely used and I haven't heard that they give issues anymore than an original. Either way the problem still exhibits even with the battery unplugged, not so far with El Capitan installed but most definitely earlier with Yosmite and SL.

Funny thing is the technician didn't seem bothered by the Firmware miss match he said if it installed then it must be fine but I have no idea how good he is and I still don't see how the SMC firmware version can not match the hardware. There apparently have been bugs previously that allowed update to install incorrect firmwares on some Macbooks.

He said it's probably due to this specific model with switching grfx cards which is renowned for having issues. Apparently the 2011 Macbook Pros are dogs, still haven't heard back from him again after I replied asking for more info.

 

[airborne]

The other point is if I boot into safe mode with the battery plugged in the laptop works perfectly, system cpu useage is normal, I can even open a whole bunch of the stock apps and webbrowser with no issues at all.

 

[itareanlnotani]

The SMC firmware updater will check if the firmware is valid before installing. You really have to go through hoops to ensure that incorrect firmware is installed.

Its more likely that you have a replacement board in there thats a late 2011 board.

Where I write board, I mean = motherboard, or logic board if you speak apple.


I'd suggest check the console logs to see whats happening.
Run console, and see what comes up when you look through it when its slow.

Also - Snow leopard? Why something that old?

 

[airborne]

Snow Leopard is what the Macbook shipped with, I thought taking it back to stock with the factory OSX CD's would perhaps limit the scope of issues that newer OSX versions sometimes introduce.

The EFI matches the model but the SMC not, if it had a replacement late 2011 board both firmwares would match late 2011?
I have been combing the console logs, what should I be looking for?

 

[itareanlnotani]

it works perfectly with the battery unplugged but with the battery plugged in and even with no apps open the system starts using 90% cpu and the laptop slows to snail pace again.

If you say that, then its the battery.
Again, logs will tell you whats up. Copy / Paste in here if you don't know what to look for.

 

[airborne]

If you say that, then its the battery.
Again, logs will tell you whats up. Copy / Paste in here if you don't know what to look for.

What reasoning did you use to ascertain that it is the battery causing the issue?

Will paste the console log here a little later

 

[bwana]

What reasoning did you use to ascertain that it is the battery causing the issue?

Will paste the console log here a little later

Possibly for the same reasons I did. It's a non-apple replacement part, the problem disappears when you remove it, and it's the most commonly cited reason for the problem when you search within your parameters.

 

[airborne]

Possibly for the same reasons I did. It's a non-apple replacement part, the problem disappears when you remove it, and it's the most commonly cited reason for the problem when you search within your parameters.

I couldn't find people complaining about high system cpu after replacing a battery, plenty people moaning about battery not detected or poor battery life or the battery dying completely after a few months but not much other than that relating to replacing a battery, whether original or not.

Do you have any links?

 

[itareanlnotani]

it works perfectly with the battery unplugged but with the battery plugged in and even with no apps open the system starts using 90% cpu and the laptop slows to snail pace again.

If its as easily reproduce-able as that; its the battery. Try another one and see if you get the same result, or if that battery does the same in another machine. You've already stated it isn't an original battery, so its probably not properly compatible, or broken.

Doesn't really need much more troubleshooting than that to be honest.

 

[airborne]

That would be a natural thing to check first but I don't have spare batteries and Macbooks lying around. There a few other things that come into play when running on battery that don't have anything to do with the battery itself rather it's to do with how the Macbook responds to saving battery life.

It seems to be working a bit better now, I have noticed if you close the lid for a short while and then reopen the high cpu useage stops for sometime.

Will post the logs just now

 

[airborne]

Here's the console log file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zyqkonpnogcgd9y/Console Log.txt?dl=0
Tried pasting it into a reply and it crashed my browser.

At virtually the same time the system cpu useage spikes it gets this error:

com.apple.AmbientDisplayAgent[220]: AMBD (pid 220) Warning: assert(-1 != internal) failed in function -[DeviceGammaContext isInternal]:2096 in file /Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/AmbientDisplay/AmbientDisplay-58/Sources/DeviceGammaContext.m