MacBook SSD not recognized after board swap!

I have discovered that when I replace a board with one I have fixed that there must be a bios update present before it reads the new O/S file system.
Is there a place I can just grab these files and update the board without having to play upgrade the O/S from USB and waste all that time?
 

2informaticos

Administrator
Staff member
BIOS of replaced board MUST support APFS.
You can swap BIOS from old board, but need to keep ME region from new board.
In this case you will still maintain serial number of the machine.
 

2informaticos

Administrator
Staff member
You need a BIOS dump with APFS support.
In such case, keep the ME region of actual (new) board.
In case you change the serial number, don't forget to fix the checksum!
I hope you have Medusa programmer...
 
I have a programmer and adapters for the J-TAG. I can read bios and change SN.
I would like to learn more about the ME programming. I have a ME analyzer and I also have the Intel MX/TXE injector utility. I have downloaded all the ME versions and they are loaded into the database. The ME analyzer does not do much good with out the original bios for the board.

I am currently working on a basket case board. It was shipped to me with out many of the parts on it. including the SMC and the Bios chip. I have put a bios chip on it and loaded a bios from the same series board and cpu. I get it in a S0 state but it isn't right and does not turn on screen power or try to talk to the display. It takes a long time to start using the ram. Pulls 0.030 for a second. then 0.330 then finally after about 15-20 seconds pulls 0.550 and the ram lights up in thermal imaging. Other than that it does not do much. Never enables the 3.3V screen power or tries to talk to the screen. It is not loading properly. Not sure what to do. I did try to load a 10.3 clean ME onto the board.

Is there a repository for these bios files/

The information on the web is pretty bad in this area.
 
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2informaticos

Administrator
Staff member
Swapping generic/stock clean ME region is not the correct way!
Is the way (almost) all youtubers show, because they don't have any idea what are doing.

Several threads can be found on the forum, about how to clean ME region.
Searching and reading will help you better than receive the solution in the moment.

As above mentioned, Medusa can clean ME for you, w/o even removing the SPI chip.
 
I don't have a Medusa. I have a bios programmer with J-Tag adapters and ME utilities. I change SN daily but with a utility called LBE.
I am not sure I need a Medusa but am always interested in new devices and how they will help me. My current equipment does not require removal of the chip or power on the board. I am watching videos on Medusa 2 and it looks pretty simple to use.
 
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2informaticos

Administrator
Staff member
LBE just swap ME region with stock one, doesn't configure it for a particular board.
Also LBE doesn't fix checksum after SN is changed, be aware of that.
 
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