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Apple releases fix for noisy MBP optical drives

By | December 8, 2009, 9:54pm PST

Summary: Apple released an EFI Firmware Update for Late 2008 MacBook Pros which eliminates the noise made by the optical disk drive during startup and wake from sleep.

Download iconApple released MacBook Pro today which eliminates the noise made by the optical disk drive during startup and wake from sleep on certain MacBook Pros.

The update is specifically intended for MacBook Pro models released in “Late 2008″ specifically model identifiers MacBook Pro 5,1 and MacBook Pro 5,2.

According to Everymac the MBP 5,1 and 5,2 identifiers were assigned to four models:

EFI 1.8 requires a subsequent installation of SuperDrive Firmware Update 3.0.

This update eliminates the noise made by the optical disk drive during system startup and wake from sleep on MacBook Pro computers. When installation is complete, please run Software Update again, and install SuperDrive Firmware Update 3.0

To complete the firmware update process, please follow the instructions in the updater application (/Applications/Utilities/MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update.app). The updater will launch automatically when the installation is complete.

Boot ROM or SMC Version Information: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3706.

MacBookPro5,1 will be updated to MBP51.007E.005
MacBookPro5,2 will be updated to MBP52.008E.005

I didn’t get notified about it in Software Update because I’m running a MacBookPro5,3. If you did, tell us about how it’s working in the TalkBack.

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Topics

Optical Drive, Apple MacBook, Apple Inc., Apple MacBook Pro, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Jason D. O'Grady

Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
  • Google Adsense
  • Tekserve

    • Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

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OK, I see where my confusion comes from.
msalzberg Updated - 9th Dec 2009
I wasn't aware that Apple sold macbooks with Windows preinstalled. I was
under the (apparently mistaken) impression that Apple only sold OS X
machines that were capable of running Windows.

Which version of Windows did your Macbook come with, and how much did
they charge for it?
View in thread
0 Votes
+ -
just a quick FYI
Geuseppi 9th Dec 2009
Something odd that happened after I applied the EFI update and then the optical drive firmware update.

Once it had made it's update and reboots, I noticed something odd. The two finger swipe for forward and back on my Magic Mouse was no longer working.

I checked the settings and tried a couple things but no luck.

All is well now, just had to reboot one more time and the functionality returned.

Just wanted to mention that in case some one else experienced the same problem.
0 Votes
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RE: Apple releases fix for noisy MBP optical drives
mlindl 9th Dec 2009
It's all QUANTUM, isn't it? LOL
0 Votes
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That never happened on my 15" MBP, but
HypnoToad72 9th Dec 2009
I do hear the noise on my Mac Pro (early 2009 model).

By and large, Apple does use higher quality components, but the more I read up on these problems the more I worry.

But also consider, Apple sends its designs and schematics to Joe Schmoe Manufacturer -- if they don't know how to read and/or cut corners, NOBODY is immune.

30 years ago, CEOs were paid roughly 40x that their workers. Nowadays it's over 400x and workers' wages are still shrinking. Now they have to cut corners (when not firing staff) to show shareholders they're somehow "making a profit".) Quality goods last longer and don't need replacing nearly as quickly. That's the real issue.
0 Votes
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Is there a Windows version of the update?
NonZealot 9th Dec 2009
For all the fuss that Apple makes about running Windows
on a Mac, they still require you to use OS X to
install this. Come on Apple, I listened to your ads and
gave you my money to buy what I believed to be the best
Windows laptop for me. Now it turns out that you aren't
truly serious about supporting the customers you coveted
in your ads. I'll keep this in mind when I look to
upgrade.
0 Votes
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Come on, seriously?
cambric 9th Dec 2009
There is a REALLY obvious answer to this question. Let me give you a minute
to think about it.

You got it yet?
0 Votes
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Translation:
msalzberg 9th Dec 2009
Apple provided me with software to update my firmware, and I deleted it.

It's all Apple's fault. Apple sux.

ps. My face looks much better without a nose.
0 Votes
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Not at all
NonZealot 9th Dec 2009
Apple sold me on its claims that Macs make
great Windows machines. And so far, my MBP
has made a great Windows machine. I
don't like OS X, I don't use OS X, OS X sucks
big time. It turns out though that now I need
to keep that 20GB partition on my hard drive
with OS X on it just to install firmware
upgrades.

If you bought a Linux PC and later were told
that you needed to install Windows on it to
upgrade the BIOS, you would be choked too.

Apple provided me with software to update my
firmware

I know of no other hardware in the
entire world that requires a 20GB
installer for its firmware upgrades.
0 Votes
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"If you bought a Linux PC..."
msalzberg 9th Dec 2009
But you bought an OS X machine, which came with the firmware
installer. It was your choice to delete it.
0 Votes
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No I didn't
NonZealot 9th Dec 2009
I bought a Windows machine. If it isn't a Windows
machine then Apple lied when they sold it to me as
one.
0 Votes
+ -
OK, I see where my confusion comes from.
msalzberg Updated - 9th Dec 2009
I wasn't aware that Apple sold macbooks with Windows preinstalled. I was
under the (apparently mistaken) impression that Apple only sold OS X
machines that were capable of running Windows.

Which version of Windows did your Macbook come with, and how much did
they charge for it?
0 Votes
+ -
Non-issue
lelandhendrix@... 9th Dec 2009
After being tipped off to the existence of the update by TUAW, I installed it
yesterday. I have to say though, there wasn't any real problem to fix--just a
typical check by the drive to see if you inserted anything while it was sleeping.

It's a non-issue and you people above talking about the lowering quality of
products obviously have no idea what this was even about.

It is a convenience update, nothing more. There was nothing wrong and no
loss of functionality in the first place.

If I could count the number of firmware updates for my windows machines I
would be counting forever.
0 Votes
+ -
exactly...
Samic 9th Dec 2009
and why they bother to report it like some sort of big news while Dell and HP probably did these updates all the time is beyond me.

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