∞ iMac graphics firmware update fixes wake from sleep issue

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Apple has posted a firmware update for the iMac which “fixes an issue that in rare cases may cause an iMac to hang during startup or waking from sleep.”

[ad#Google Adsense 300x250 in story]iMac Graphic FW Update 2.0 is available for download from Apple’s Web site and weighs in at a scant 699KB.

System requirements call for Mac OS X 10.6.7.

Apple does not specify which particular iMac models need this update, but fear not – if you download and run the update and your iMac isn’t affected, the firmware update will not run.


  • ET

    Not a rare problem with the iMac8,1 24″ w/ATI Pro 2600 that I have. 36 pages of complaints about it on Apple community support pages. I was getting a dozen freezes requiring hard restarts every month for many months. Finally a user from Poland discovered a fix, which is to roll back the ATI kext (graphics driver) files to their 10.6.2 versions. Since then, no freezes. This firmware update is not valid for my machine, and it does not seem that Apple cares. Puts an update to Lion into harsh question.

    • Peter Cohen

      Actually, if anything, it would compel me to consider Lion more heavily. Without getting too heavy into how sausages are made, my bet is that if there is a driver bug, AMD/ATI and Apple could get it fixed faster in Lion than they could in 10.6.2.

      Having said that I have no special insight to your problem to know whether it’d be fixed in Lion or not.

    • mufnhd

      @d03fbc972adae5e9f62d44fd99d7330d:disqus  Thanks for posting. I have the exact same machine (iMac 8,1 24″, same GPU). I had no idea other users experienced this. The good news: my issue cleared up a year ago or so. Not sure why. Lucky me, so far. Machine has been super-stable otherwise.

  • Anonymous

    Why do all you “specifications weenies” keep trying to second-guess or “know-best” Apple, thereby sticking yourselves in the past with your silly problems and denying yourselves the benefits of new and improved products? Seems laughingly insane to me.

  • Steven Fisher

    It’s odd not to see Apple’s notes even hint at which systems this applies to. I suppose it’s probably their latest model only, then.