Unstable rPi 4B after rpi-update

Question

My raspberry pi model 4B was having frequent WIFI issues.

I read that a firmware update was made to address this, so I thought I would upgrade the firmware.

After doing sudo rpi-update I now have newer firmware, but unfortunately, the rPi is now very unstable.

Every now and then, the screen will go full black, and the device locks up. This happens, e.g. when watching a youtube video.

Even though my device is cooled with passive heat-sinks, It has never crashed before the rpi-update command.

I know rpi-update is not without risks, but can my rPi be salvaged and returned to its former state?

Answer 1

"In normal circumstances there is NEVER a need to run rpi-update as it always gets you to the leading edge firmware and kernel and because that may be a testing version it could leave your RPi unbootable". https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=916911#p916911 Even the rpi-update documentation now warns "Even on Raspbian you should only use this with a good reason. This gets you the latest bleeding edge kernel/firmware."

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install --reinstall raspberrypi-bootloader raspberrypi-kernel will put it back to the latest supported kernel/bootcode.