Flashing EFI on MacBook Air a1370 EMC 2471


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6 years 1 month ago #9341 by Mastermind37
i am having trouble reading the correct chip on my 2011 MacBook Air a1370 EMC 2471. I already have the clean dump with sn changed that matches the size of original bin efi dump.

I have been unlocking EFI passwords for years but having trouble using the PI to redo efi on this MacBook Air. This is my first time using a PI all together.

Equipment used:

Raspberry pi 3 model b
Macbook PRO to ssh into pI
rebel sim MBA easy clip

i have flash rom installed onto my pi and when i use the correct command to read my efi chip it comes back with "Found generic flash chip" Unknown SPI chip (RDID) (0 kb, SPI).

i have tried using the correct command to read a MX25L6406E and also a MX25L6406 comes back with No EEPROM/Flash device found
Note: Flashrom can never write if this flash chip isn't found automatically .

i am attaching pictures of everything that i have connected and i am pretty sure everything is connected to the right GPIO pins from raspberry pi to rebel sim clip.

Thanks for all assistance!
Attachments:

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6 years 1 month ago #9346 by Mastermind37
$100 to the person who helps me figure out why I can't read this damn EFI chip using the pi 3 model b and the rebel sim adapter. I have already figured out how to read it using a bus pirate 3.6 but it has taking me hours to read the chip so far and I am not sure how long or if it will even work.

I used the -w command so it is in the first stage of reading it.

I originally used the EFIDL tool which has worked great many of times on many of Macs but it blinked green and the lock was still present so I tried it again and switched the dipswitch on the rebel sim adapter while it was reading it and I assume messed up the firmware on the MBA. The fan just spins for 5 secs then stops etc and when you plug up the Mac the fan spins but MBA doesn't boot.

I have all the right tools to getting this MAC back working and the first person who helps me figure out why I can't read the SPI using the raspberry pi, ill PayPal you $100 to teach me. Thanks!

"Btw I know enough that I will not be a headache for you and I have flashed 100's of MacBooks I could of flashed this one very easy by pulling the board and probing the efi power pad and erasing it in 15 secs but I was being lazy and didn't want to pull the board because it was 3am"

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6 years 1 month ago - 6 years 1 month ago #9347 by cyber16
I can't tell from the picture if you have WP = 3.3v
HOLD = 3.3v
VCC= 3.3v
All three of those can be tied together, HOLD + WP MUST have vcc voltage applied
I jumper them together with the VCC

The command lines that I use have never failed me with the pi
Make sure adjust the locations to match ur setup

READ micron + other non-MX chips
flashrom -r /home/pi/Desktop/efi/read1.bin -V -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0

WRITE micron + other non-MX chip
flashrom -w /home/pi/Desktop/efi/clean.bin -V -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0

READ MX chip
flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0 -c "MX25L6406E/MX25L6408E" -r /home/pi/Desktop/efi/read1.bin

Write MX chip
flashrom -w /home/pi/Desktop/efi/clean.bin -V -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0 -c "MX25L6406E/MX25L6408E"
Last edit: 6 years 1 month ago by cyber16.

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6 years 1 month ago - 6 years 1 month ago #9354 by Mastermind37
Thanks for replying but none of that works my pi doesn’t even find the chip. Also with the rebel sim it only has 6 wires you use 17 for vcc you don’t need a hold or wp. So you use Vcc,Gnd,SI,SO,CS,SCLK, etc.

I know what to type and none of it works and i know what each command does such as -p decides which device you’re using to SPI linux_ for pi and Buspirate_ for bp. Here is what I am getting from the bus pirate 3.6

This has been the same for 9 hours
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Last edit: 6 years 1 month ago by Mastermind37.

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6 years 1 month ago - 6 years 1 month ago #9355 by cyber16
I have been using the original easy flash v3 clip & that does have 8 pins on older 1370 & 1466 MBA models without a problem.
The easy flash v4.01 clip also only has 6 pin connection
I gave up long ago on my bus pirate for reading, they are way to slow.

What is the power supply rating in amps or mA you are using with the pi, what type of voltage are you seeing on vcc?
Last edit: 6 years 1 month ago by cyber16.

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6 years 1 month ago #9356 by Mastermind37
I am using the included pi adapter official one it’s 5.1volts 2.5amps. Do you think that is causing my problem with it not seeing the chip?

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6 years 1 month ago - 6 years 1 month ago #9357 by Mastermind37
I wouldn’t be in this situation if I would of got the easy flash 4.0.1 on here but I already had rebels by that time. I did however buy the 4.02 and 4.03 from here and the EFIDl . The reason this EFI is screwed up is because I was using the rebel and the EFIDL tool blinked green like it was unlocked.

I checked Mac and still had the lock so I kept messing around with switching the dipswitch while it was reading the Efi and somehow it damanged or corrupted the Efi

“I just ordered the 4.0.1 off here so now I have all 3 of Ghost”s adapters”
Last edit: 6 years 1 month ago by Mastermind37.

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6 years 1 month ago #9358 by cyber16
That is plenty of power supply.
The rebel sees the chip with the bus pirate which suggest both the rebel & chip appear to be good.
Maybe you can speed up the read with the bus pirate by adjusting the baud rate?

Do you have another mac that you can try to read with the pi + rebel combo?
That would be one way to check functionality further

if it still does not read & you see 3.3v+ on vcc, you may want to recheck the wiring & pinouts
I'm at a loss at this point, maybe it will work out once the 4.0.1 arrives

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6 years 1 month ago #9364 by Mastermind37
Yes I don't know why the pi won't read the chip or even see it. I erased the pi and reinstalled a fresh copy of Rasbian and will see what all that does by redoing Flashrom and following the guide one more time.

Also I can't change the speed of the bus pirate because of the firmware that is on it currently. It states something like 2mhz is max for the firmware that I have and that I should upgrade to 6.2 or higher if I want a faster transfer/flash rate SPI etc.

I am just going to wait for my 4.0.1 clip I got a feeling that will make a diff. I am confused completely. Ghost said he thinks a pin got burned up but. not sure if he means on the Mac or on the pi etc.

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6 years 1 month ago - 6 years 1 month ago #9375 by Mastermind37
I got it working now, i used a tool that let me see all the features of what the EFI was doing and was able to get it working. The reason the EFI chip couldn't be seen was because there was block on the $VSS block and it was preventing the chip from being detected. Basically the entire EFI was messed up including the PCH wasn't handshaking the EFI. i got it working perfect now.

No programmer would of ever seen it such as PI and or Bus Pirate. i had it hooked up the right way and when i used another tool Flashrom instantly seen the EFI that was saved into the tool, so that i could then put the clean dump on the tool and then write it back to the mac.
Last edit: 6 years 1 month ago by Mastermind37.

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6 years 1 month ago #9376 by cyber16

i used a tool that let me see all the features of what the EFI was doing and was able to get it working.


The name of this tool was?
Glad you figured it out

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6 years 1 month ago - 6 years 1 month ago #9378 by Mastermind37
First of all I want to give a lot of credit to Reverendalc on here and also ThaGhost both were of much help.

The tool I used was by Harald of Cmizapper I used the Medusa 2. One thing I have learned is the more tools you have the better off you are. So far I have met most the main game players who build and develop tools and all of them have been very helpful and nice except Kadentech he is an asshole.

Thanks to everyone who helped me!

ThaGhost wants to look over the EFI and see exactly what happened and ill let everyone know.
Last edit: 6 years 1 month ago by Mastermind37.
The following user(s) said Thank You: cyber16

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