Investigating "A required firmware update could not be installed" issue.

[Cyberdevs]

Some of us encounter the notorious "A required firmware update could not be installed" error while installing macOS.

@eSaF and me decided to investigate the root cause for this issue and we are trying to conduct more tests on this issue so I decided to create this topic to share our findings, everyone is welcome to join us on this quest.

 

So far we concluded that the run-efi-updater string might have not been working properly so you can find the details of the solution here:

 

After cross examining several config.plist files I realized the key factor that was missing from my configs is the set of string "run-efi-updater=No" which only was present at: 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82 entry under the NVRAM section.

 

Then I realized  the "run-efi-updater=No" string was also available in the NVRAM under "4D1EDE05-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B38C14" and "4D1FDA02-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B30102" entries, so I added these values to my original config which I was using for Monterey and earlier versions of macOS, updated the kexts and OC to latest version (0.8.2) and the installer went smoothly without any issues.

 

I speculated that this might not be the only reason so we decided to conduct more tests and post our findings here.

 

So let the fun begin

[Cyberdevs]

@eSaF

I conducted seven deferent tests with my original EFI folder six of which failed with same error; here are the results:

 

1. I added run-efi-updater string to 4D1FDA02-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B30102 nvram entry which ended with the same issue "A required firmware update could not be installed"

2. I added run-efi-updater string to 4D1EDE05-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B38C14 nvram entry which ended with the same issue "A required firmware update could not be installed"

3.  I added run-efi-updater string to all nvram entries which ended with the same issue "A required firmware update could not be installed"

4. I removed run-efi-updater from 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82 entry and added it agin which ended with the same issue "A required firmware update could not be installed"

5. I updated the SMBIOS setting by using the same OpenCore version (0.8.1) which ended with the same issue "A required firmware update could not be installed"

6. I updated the SMBIOS setting and OpenCore version to 0.8.2 without enabling "AvoidRuntimeDefrag" which ended with the same issue "A required firmware update could not be installed"

 

7. The last test that I've conducted was to enable the "AvoidRuntimeDefrag" which resolved the issue and macOS started the second installation stage.

 

I didn't update the kexts on any test so I can roll out the necessity of the kexts required to be updated to the latest version at the time these test were conducted. They were all updated with preliminary Ventura support  of course!

 

in all the tests "AdviseFeature" and "MaxBIOSVersion" were disabled so they were not required.

 

So in conclusion the crucial part to avoid this issue is the OpenCore and "AvoidRuntimeDefrag" quirk.

[eSaF]

19 minutes ago, Cyberdevs said:

So in conclusion the crucial part to avoid this issue is the OpenCore and "AvoidRuntimeDefrag" quirk.

Great test and great result , so going forward with future Ventura Betas, the onus will be on the OC Devs to facilitate relatively smooth Updates/Installs. Since I removed the two efi-updater entries and Monterey updated EFI, I've been running trouble free. I will keep monitoring the situation throughout the coming Betas.

Thanks for the feedback, I am feeling confident a handle has been put on the situation.

[Sygey02]

Hi! I removed the extra stuff from Config file, and I confirm you are right , it boots fine without changes I made with new OC version and updated kext.

my rig works fine everything, just my Asus USB-BT400  Bluetooth not working.

Sleep works fine, but on wake I must hit a key on keyboard to wake to resume OS, otherwise it remain black screen if I don't heat enter or space, or eny key.

[i0ntempest]

Is there a way to get around this? Currently enabling this quirk will panic Ventura, but disabling it then Ventura will not install (firmware upgrade could to be installed) so I’m stuck.

[Slice]

On 6/14/2022 at 5:39 PM, Cyberdevs said:

@eSaF

I conducted seven deferent tests with my original EFI folder six of which failed with same error; here are the results:

 

1. I added run-efi-updater string to 4D1FDA02-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B30102 nvram entry which ended with the same issue "A required firmware update could not be installed"

2. I added run-efi-updater string to 4D1EDE05-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B38C14 nvram entry which ended with the same issue "A required firmware update could not be installed"

3.  I added run-efi-updater string to all nvram entries which ended with the same issue "A required firmware update could not be installed"

4. I removed run-efi-updater from 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82 entry and added it agin which ended with the same issue "A required firmware update could not be installed"

5. I updated the SMBIOS setting by using the same OpenCore version (0.8.1) which ended with the same issue "A required firmware update could not be installed"

6. I updated the SMBIOS setting and OpenCore version to 0.8.2 without enabling "AvoidRuntimeDefrag" which ended with the same issue "A required firmware update could not be installed"

 

7. The last test that I've conducted was to enable the "AvoidRuntimeDefrag" which resolved the issue and macOS started the second installation stage.

 

I didn't update the kexts on any test so I can roll out the necessity of the kexts required to be updated to the latest version at the time these test were conducted. They were all updated with preliminary Ventura support  of course!

 

in all the tests "AdviseFeature" and "MaxBIOSVersion" were disabled so they were not required.

 

So in conclusion the crucial part to avoid this issue is the OpenCore and "AvoidRuntimeDefrag" quirk.

I always known this. Clover Wiki