Last resort would be to wipe the internal drive and reinstall whatever OS shipped with from a USB stick, then in the App Store download Catalina and install that.
_ Regards Sam Mullen +44 (0)7747778022 <tel://+447747778022> i...@macambulance.com <mailto:i...@macambulance.com> www.macambulance.com <http://www.macambulance.com/> MacAmbulance Ltd. Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration number 8466597 This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and delete the email immediately. > On 8 Sep 2020, at 14:07, Martin <martinbru...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Unfortunately, downloading Catalina and installing it on an external ssd > hasn't worked. Any suggestions welcomed. I'm on the point of just buying a > new iMac. I think a 2020 iMac must be far faster and reliable etc. than my > 2015 model > > Thanks > > Martin > > On Wed, 2 Sep 2020 at 20:29, Sam - MacAmbulance <i...@macambulance.com > <mailto:i...@macambulance.com>> wrote: > Download Catalina from the App Store, then open from the Applications folder > (Install macOS Catalina), then select the blank external drive to install on. > With any luck, the act of installing Catalina onto a drive on that iMac will > register that it needs a firmware update. > _ > Regards > Sam Mullen > > +44 (0)7747778022 <tel://+447747778022> > i...@macambulance.com <mailto:i...@macambulance.com> > www.macambulance.com <http://www.macambulance.com/> > > MacAmbulance Ltd. > Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development > > MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration > number 8466597 > > This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain > privileged or confidential information. > > If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and delete > the email immediately. > > >> On 2 Sep 2020, at 17:32, Martin <martinbru...@gmail.com >> <mailto:martinbru...@gmail.com>> wrote: >> >> Do you mean I can download Catalina to an external ssd drive and then boot >> from that? >> >> On Tuesday, 1 September 2020 at 20:19:23 UTC+1 Sam - MacAmbulance wrote: >> Sorry thought you were on 10.9 for some reason. If you installed on a fresh >> external drive that might force the firmware update and require less wiping >> of your current setup. >> >> _ >> Regards >> Sam Mullen >> >> +44 (0)7747778022 <tel://+447747778022> >> in...@macambulance.com <> >> www.macambulance.com <http://www.macambulance.com/> >> >> MacAmbulance Ltd. >> Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development >> >> MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration >> number 8466597 >> >> This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain >> privileged or confidential information. >> >> If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and delete >> the email immediately. >> >>> On 1 Sep 2020, at 14:40, Martin <martin...@gmail.com <>> wrote: >>> >> >>> Unfortunately not. I have updated to Catalina a while ago. It appears this >>> is a known problem for late 2015 i7 iMacs that they don't update the EFI >>> firmware when upgrading i.e. from Mojave to Catalina and Apple don't issue >>> separate Firmware updates What would happen if I wiped my hard drive and >>> did a complete reinstall of Catalina? >>> >>> Thanks >>> >>> Martin >>> >>> On Tue, 1 Sep 2020 at 14:35, Sam - MacAmbulance <in...@macambulance.com <>> >>> wrote: >>> Should be fine to upgrade to Catalina then, or Mojave if you’re using >>> Office 2011. The Mac’s firmware should be updated as part of the process. >>> _ >>> Regards >>> Sam Mullen >>> >>> +44 (0)7747778022 <tel://+447747778022> >>> in...@macambulance.com <> >>> www.macambulance.com <http://www.macambulance.com/> >>> >>> MacAmbulance Ltd. >>> Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development >>> >>> MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration >>> number 8466597 >>> >>> This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain >>> privileged or confidential information. >>> >>> If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and >>> delete the email immediately. >>> >>> >>>> On 1 Sep 2020, at 14:27, Martin <martin...@gmail.com <>> wrote: >>>> >>>> Thanks for responding Sam, >>>> It has a 1TB ssd flash drive (from manuafacture). >>>> >>>> Martin >>>> >>>> >>>> On Monday, 31 August 2020 at 19:02:01 UTC+1 Sam - MacAmbulance wrote: >>>> Firmware’s updated when you update macOS, for example High Sierra includes >>>> firmware to allow macs to boot up from APFS volumes. >>>> >>>> Does your iMac have a flash drive, fusion drive or SATA disk in Apple menu >>>> > About this Mac > Storage? >>>> >>>> _ >>>> Regards >>>> Sam Mullen >>>> >>>> +44 (0)7747778022 <tel://+447747778022> >>>> in...@ <>macambulance.com <http://macambulance.com/> >>>> www.macambulance.com <http://www.macambulance.com/> >>>> >>>> MacAmbulance Ltd. >>>> Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development >>>> >>>> MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration >>>> number 8466597 >>>> >>>> This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain >>>> privileged or confidential information. >>>> >>>> If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and >>>> delete the email immediately. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>> On 31 Aug 2020, at 14:04, Martin <martin...@ <>gmail.com >>>>> <http://gmail.com/>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> I have a late 2015 i7 iMac which has been causing me problems with >>>>> running slow, the spinning wheel of death etc. I read in MacFormat >>>>> magazine that a possible issue was the updating of firmware for this >>>>> model of iMac. I checked and it is out of date >>>> >>>>> Mac model iMac17,1 >>>>> >>>>> EFI version found 170.0.0.0.0 >>>>> >>>>> ❌ Need to update EFI firmware >>>>> >>>>> MacRumours Forum has a thread >>>>> <https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/imac-17-1-retina-5k-27-inch-late-2015-efi-firmware-update-failures.2228324/> >>>>> on this very problem, but still unresolved. There is an article here >>>>> https://eclecticlight.co/2019/10/08/which-efi-firmware-should-your-mac-be-using-version-4/ >>>>> >>>>> <https://eclecticlight.co/2019/10/08/which-efi-firmware-should-your-mac-be-using-version-4/> >>>>> Unfortunately I don't understand what if anything I can do to update the >>>>> EFI version. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Any advice? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Thanks >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Martin >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>>> "Sussex Mac User Group" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>>>> email to smug+uns...@ <>googlegroups.com <http://googlegroups.com/>. >>>>> To view this discussion on the web, visit >>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/5c98ed9a-a2c9-463c-b7be-514569ec5b62n%40googlegroups.com >>>>> >>>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/5c98ed9a-a2c9-463c-b7be-514569ec5b62n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "Sussex Mac User Group" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>>> email to smug+uns...@googlegroups.com <>. >>>> To view this discussion on the web, visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/f24245b8-9ec2-4007-a1c3-5fe775f744c8n%40googlegroups.com >>>> >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/f24245b8-9ec2-4007-a1c3-5fe775f744c8n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. >>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "Sussex Mac User Group" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to smug+uns...@googlegroups.com <>. >>> To view this discussion on the web, visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/ECE4DB3A-0F18-4CF6-AF63-A813FA488221%40macambulance.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/ECE4DB3A-0F18-4CF6-AF63-A813FA488221%40macambulance.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "Sussex Mac User Group" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to smug+uns...@googlegroups.com <>. >> >>> To view this discussion on the web, visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/CAJLFDM_s6KzOA%3DJWJ7BbYhaxPvOd7MrycOjjJ81PbhD%2BFuWgsg%40mail.gmail.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/CAJLFDM_s6KzOA%3DJWJ7BbYhaxPvOd7MrycOjjJ81PbhD%2BFuWgsg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Sussex Mac User Group" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to smug+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com >> <mailto:smug+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. >> To view this discussion on the web, visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/eaac8992-2803-446f-97c7-aa3932739317n%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/eaac8992-2803-446f-97c7-aa3932739317n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Sussex Mac User Group" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to smug+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > <mailto:smug+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/09E370F0-AAC1-4570-8516-5791321ED309%40macambulance.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/09E370F0-AAC1-4570-8516-5791321ED309%40macambulance.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Sussex Mac User Group" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to smug+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > <mailto:smug+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/CAJLFDM9LTj49Ep8EfMdYApy7K868VXN4JtrSufuwY3fUmN0kJg%40mail.gmail.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/smug/CAJLFDM9LTj49Ep8EfMdYApy7K868VXN4JtrSufuwY3fUmN0kJg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sussex Mac User Group" group. 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