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Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

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Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#311

Post by mthoms »

szczepano wrote: post #264

They're earning billions yet can't afford to keep 5 mac books of each type in different configurations in one room and person or computer who will launch update before release and report green light. As always whatever size of company testing is a bottleneck because having roughly 25 computers and testing room is a problem. What a wonderful world.

As I understand it, not all components are sourced from the same manufacturer for the entire run of any one model.

But you're still absolutely right. They should be testing every possible configuration.

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#312

Post by Zenst »

ObsoleteNerd wrote: post #4

It's not "bricked" if you can fix it in Recovery Mode. Still bad that it's happening, but the term "bricked" is thrown around so flippantly these days. If a piece of tech is bricked, it's not recoverable at all.

I classed bricked as something that need hardware intervention to make work again. Bit like having a bad bios flash and the only way to fix is to make a custom JTAG cable and serial transfer...effort. With that mostly bricked is a broken boot bios in many instances, maybe some other definitions, but most blur between bricked and broken and with that I'd class it broken over bricked if it needs hardware replaced.

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#314

Post by edapted »

2018 MBP, Using it on battery, saw I was at 20% plugged it in, noticed it was running like crap so I started closing applications, restarted it. Still running like crap after reboot, also noticed fans were not spinning figured maybe an SMC reset is in order when I realized it was at 2% battery, had not been charging, status said it was plugged in but not charging. Powered it off to do the SMC reset and I can get nothing from it now, not a thing, no sounds, no signs of life, no fans, no apple logo, no clicks from the trackpad. I think this qualifies as a brick.

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#315

Post by laumars »

at_a_remove wrote: post #224
gregmac wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Bricked" is relative, depending on your skill level. For some consumers, if recovery mode doesn't work that might be the end of line. However, there are more advanced users that can access the storage via another system and fix it there, hook up via serial port or JTAG and flash new firmware, or even desolder and replace chips. On the far other end of the spectrum, there's going to be people that consider "doesn't s…

If you go that route, "bricked" is now indistinguishable from "broke," and we already have a word for that. Broke. We would have then gone from a situation where we had two different states and names for each of those states to a situation where we have two words for the very same, very fuzzy state and no way to talk about the other state. It makes a mockery of the idea of advice. Imagine your parents calling you and…

Bricked specifically means it’s unrepairable (ie: it’s now a paperweight, a brick).

It’s fair to say “bricked” is a sub-category of “broke” but if something is software repairable then it isn’t bricked.

Also aspirin and ibuprofen are very different chemicals. I wouldn’t advise conflating the two. The resulting effect could be worse than the brick/broke problem we are discussing ;)

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#316

Post by thawaway1837 »

ObsoleteNerd wrote: post #4

It's not "bricked" if you can fix it in Recovery Mode. Still bad that it's happening, but the term "bricked" is thrown around so flippantly these days. If a piece of tech is bricked, it's not recoverable at all.

This is an unnecessary pedantic argument that is also wrong.

Bricking does not mean unrecoverable. That’s why the term unbricking exists.

It’s absolutely ok to call something that most regular users will be unable to fix on their own and in the meanwhile their device won’t even turn on “bricking”.

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#317

Post by pier25 »

DeathArrow wrote: post #205
sv9 wrote: post #67

I'm consistently amazed by HN's ability to take the most meaningless, inconsequential part of an article (the scroll behavior, the whitespace, the usage of the word "bricked"), and nitpick it to hell and back instead of actually discussing the article. Bravo.

Ask some philosophers "what you need to do to have a good life?". They will start discussing: "What is life?" "What is good?" "What is need?" "What is you?" "What is what?" And those discussions will never end unless the time itself ends.

If you ask Conan he will have a definite answer though:

> Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of the women!

(this is a philosophical joke)

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#319

Post by thawaway1837 »

laumars wrote: post #315
at_a_remove wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you go that route, "bricked" is now indistinguishable from "broke," and we already have a word for that. Broke. We would have then gone from a situation where we had two different states and names for each of those states to a situation where we have two words for the very same, very fuzzy state and no way to talk about the other state. It makes a mockery of the idea of advice. Imagine your parents calling you and…

Bricked specifically means it’s unrepairable (ie: it’s now a paperweight, a brick). It’s fair to say “bricked” is a sub-category of “broke” but if something is software repairable then it isn’t bricked. Also aspirin and ibuprofen are very different chemicals. I wouldn’t advise conflating the two. The resulting effect could be worse than the brick/broke problem we are discussing ;)

No it doesn’t.

The term unbricking also exists, which directly contradicts the idea that a bricked device cannot be recovered.

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#320

Post by FireBeyond »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #294
FireBeyond wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For added irony, my Hackintosh installed the update without missing a beat.

I have been a Hackintosh user since 2010 and I’ve never had a system break in point release. If you set it up right, it’s not that common. Major version upgrades are an entirely different matter, although even they sometimes just work with Clover.

I just moved my system from Clover to OpenCore last week. A couple of hours of paying attention and reading and voila.
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