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Flashing the efi firmware chip

Prerequisite Only
This guide is only intended to be used as a prerequisite for other guides. It's incomplete by itself.

What you need

  1. Flashing the efi firmware chip, Battery: step 1, image 1 of 1
    • Use a coin or spudger to rotate the battery-locking screw 90 degrees clockwise.

  2. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 2, image 1 of 1
    • Lift the battery out of the computer.

  3. Flashing the efi firmware chip, Memory Cover: step 3, image 1 of 1
    • Unscrew the three evenly-spaced Phillips screws from along the rear wall of the battery compartment.

    • The screws are captive to the metal memory cover so you cannot lose them.

    • Using The Flexible Extension sold by iFixit will help with this step.

  4. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 4, image 1 of 1
    • Grasp the right end of the L-shaped memory cover, then pull it towards you so it clears the battery compartment opening.

    • Lift the memory cover up and out of the computer.

  5. Flashing the efi firmware chip, Upper Case: step 5, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the following 3 screws:

    • One 11 mm Phillips#00 in the middle of the lower case. (Head: 5mm dia. x .75mm thick)

    • Two 14.5 mm Phillips #00 (Head: 5mm dia. x .75mm thick)

    • If the screws stick in the case, you can use a magnetized screwdriver to draw them out.

    • The shorter of the three screws goes in the middle of the lower case.

  6. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 6, image 1 of 1
    • Take extra caution with these screws as they can strip easily!

    • You could use a flexible extension to minimize stripping.

    • Remove the following 3 screws from the rear wall of the battery compartment:

    • One 3 mm Phillips #0. (Head: 2.75 mm. dia.)

    • Two 4 mm Phillips #0 on the either side. (Head: 2.75mm dia.)

  7. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 7, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the two Phillips screws from either side of the right wall of the battery compartment (not the ones closest to the battery connector).

    • Two 6.25 mm Phillips #000. (Head: 4 mm. dia. x .5mm thick)

  8. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 8, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the four indicated Phillips screws from the front wall of the battery compartment. When working from the left, remove the 2nd, 4th, 7th and 9th screws.

    • Four 3.25 mm Phillips #000. (Head: 4 mm. dia. x 4mm thick)

  9. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 9, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the following 4 screws from the back of the computer:

    • Two 11 mm Phillips #00, with Shank (2.2mm dia. x 2 mm len.) (Head: 3.2 mm. dia. x .5mm thick)

    • Two 7.25 mm Phillips #00, with Shank (2mm dia. x 3.75 mm len.) (Head: 3.2 mm. dia. x .5mm thick)

    • During reassembly, the two longer screws go on the inside, and the two shorter screws go on the outside.

  10. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 10, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the two Phillips screws from the optical drive (right) side of the computer:

    • Two 5.2 mm Phillips #00, with shank (2.3mm dia. x 3.25 mm len.) (Head: 3.2 mm. dia. x .5mm thick)

    • It is not necessary to remove the similar screws on the ports (left) side of the computer.

  11. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 11, image 1 of 1
    Tool used on this step:
    Plastic Cards
    $2.99
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    • There's a trackpad and keyboard ribbon cable connecting the upper case to the logic board, so don't pull the upper case off entirely just yet.

    • Use a plastic opening tool, an expired plastic credit, or a similarly-thick card to pry up on the upper case, starting in the upper-left corner and working around to the front of the computer.

    • The upper case is likely to stick at its connection above the front edge of the optical drive. If this happens, first free all other sides, then proceed to pull upward on the upper case from either side of the optical drive opening. Here again, inserting a plastic card, guitar pick, etc. can be useful.

    • If you stand the base of the MacBook on one end to get a better look, you may displace the four grey plastic clips that hold the right side of the upper case in place. Don't panic. They slide into slots at the top rightmost edge of the lower frame, above the front edge of the optical drive.

    • During reassembly, make sure the clips on the right side, above the optical drive, click firmly into place. They're different from the clips on the left side, and so normally they require a little firmer pressure to click into place.

  12. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 12, image 1 of 3 Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 12, image 2 of 3 Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 12, image 3 of 3
    • While holding up the upper case, pull up the black tab on the connector end of the silver ribbon cable away from the connector's socket on the logic board.

    • If there is no black tab, you can also use a spudger to gently pry the connector out of its socket on the logic board. This connector is tall, so be sure to pry straight up.

    • If you happen to break your upper case cable when removing the upper case, we stock the cable individually and we have a guide that makes replacing it easy.

    • While you have the upper case removed, it's a good time to remove dust, hair, etc. It's best to use a can of compressed air, though if you use a brush, make sure that its bristles are made of a material (usually animal hair) that doesn't generate static electricity, which can destroy electronics.

    • Upon reassembly, there are 4 grey plastic clips installed in slots running along the top of the frame in front of the optical drive (refer to second and third pictures). These clips must be installed in their slots for their mating tabs on the underside of the right side of the upper case to snap into them.

  13. Flashing the efi firmware chip, Left I/O Frame: step 13, image 1 of 1
    • Disconnect the MagSafe board cable from the logic board by pulling the snap-in connector out (to the right).

  14. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 14, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the single 9 mm Phillips screw securing the left speaker to the lower case.

    • Lift the left speaker out of its housing and set it to the side.

  15. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 15, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the following 3 screws:

    • Two 7.5 mm Phillips from either end of the left I/O frame.

    • One 9 mm Phillips from the middle of the left I/O frame.

    • In some models, all three of these screws may be 7.5 mm.

    • Remove the small black plastic spacer at the bottom of the left I/O frame.

    • Some models such as the Early 2008 may not have a removable spacer at this location.

  16. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 16, image 1 of 1
    • Lift the left I/O frame up and out of the computer. Pay attention to the thin metal EMI fingers, as they may catch as you remove the left I/O frame.

    • The speaker wire may be hooked onto the I/O frame. Lift it out of the catch and don't forget to put it back when you are reversing the procedure.

    • The part of the shield you are removing is attached to other part by little hooks underneath that are hard to see until you have it apart. They're located over the headphone jack and the firewire port.

  17. Flashing the efi firmware chip, Logic Board: step 17, image 1 of 1
    • Peel up the foil tape between the fan and the optical drive.

  18. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 18, image 1 of 1
    • Use a spudger to move the gray display data and black speaker cables to the right. This will reveal a silver screw securing the fan housing to the lower case.

  19. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 19, image 1 of 1
    • Disconnect the orange optical drive ribbon cable from the logic board.

  20. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 20, image 1 of 1
    • Peel up the small black rubber cover from the right side of the heat sink.

  21. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 21, image 1 of 2 Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 21, image 2 of 2
    • Disconnect the black fan connector and two temperature sensor connectors from the logic board by pulling/prying up.

    • If you have a MacBook Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa/Penryn/Early 2009, there is only one temperature sensor.

    • The heat sink in early 2009 MacBooks may look slightly different.

  22. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 22, image 1 of 2 Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 22, image 2 of 2
    • Remove the following 6 screws:

    • One 3 mm Phillips on the right side of the fan.

    • One 6 mm Phillips on the left side of the fan.

    • Four 9 mm Phillips securing the heat sink to the lower case.

  23. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 23, image 1 of 1
    • Hold the heat sink with one hand and the fan with your other hand, and lift the heat sink and fan assembly out of the computer. The fan is attached to the heat sink only with a strip of black felt tape, so be sure to remove both parts as a unit.

    • If you need to mount the heat sink back into the laptop, we have a thermal paste guide that makes replacing the thermal compound easy.

  24. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 24, image 1 of 3 Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 24, image 2 of 3 Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 24, image 3 of 3
    • Disconnect the three antenna cables from the Airport card, and the black inverter cable from the logic board.

    • If you have a MacBook Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa/Penryn/Early 2009, there are only two antenna cables and the black inverter cable is in a different location.

  25. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 25, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the following 2 screws from the Airport card:

    • One 3 mm Phillips from the left side.

    • One 8 mm (with a large 2 mm head) Phillips from the right side.

  26. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 26, image 1 of 1
    • Grasp the Airport card at its top and slide it toward the screen and out of the computer.

  27. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 27, image 1 of 1
    • Use a spudger to disconnect the left speaker connector from the logic board.

    • Lift the left speaker out of the computer.

  28. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 28, image 1 of 1
    • Disconnect the display data cable by pulling up on the black plastic pull-tab. If there is no pull-tab on the top of the connector, it may be helpful to use a spudger to disconnect this connector.

  29. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 29, image 1 of 1
    • Disconnect the newly-revealed hard drive cable from the logic board.

  30. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 30, image 1 of 3 Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 30, image 2 of 3 Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 30, image 3 of 3
    • Use a spudger to disconnect the speaker connector and bluetooth connector from the logic board.

    • If you have a MacBook Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa/Penryn, disconnect the PRAM battery cable.

  31. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 31, image 1 of 1
    • Use a spudger to carefully disconnect the microphone cable from the logic board. You'll want to work from side to side, and slowly wiggle the connector out of its socket.

  32. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 32, image 1 of 1
    • Deroute the microphone cable from the silver metal clip just above the right RAM slot.

    • This metal clip may not be present on some Santa Rosa/Penryn models.

  33. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 33, image 1 of 1
    • Use a spudger to carefully pry the battery connector up and disconnect it from the logic board.

  34. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 34, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the three 3 mm Phillips screws securing the logic board to the lower case.

  35. Flashing the efi firmware chip: step 35, image 1 of 1
    • Lift the logic board up from the right side, and slide it up and out of the computer.

iRobot

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