[ale] A reason NOT to remove Windows from a laptop

[Ron Frazier]

Hi Brian.  Wow, this is very comprehensive.  I did get the BIOS updated
using the standard Windows tool.  However, I'm soaking up all this other
information like a sponge and saving it for future reference.  You never
know when you'll need this kind of data.  Thanks for posting it.

Sincerely,

Ron

On Sat, 2011-01-08 at 12:23 -0500, Brian Pitts wrote:
> On 01/07/2011 02:12 PM, Ron Frazier wrote:
> > Hi all.  I have a Dell laptop which I dual boot between Windows and
> > Ubuntu.  I do about 95% of my activities in Ubuntu, but have a few that
> > require Windows.  I also support some family and friends which use
> > Windows.
> > 
> > FYI, I just discovered another reason to leave Windows on there.  I
> > decided to update the BIOS on the machine to the latest version.  I
> > discovered that the BIOS flash update program from the Dell website is
> > designed to run under Windows.  So, it's a good thing I hadn't erased
> > Windows or I couldn't update the BIOS.
> 
> Here are my notes from work on the different approaches for updating
> Dell BIOSes. I am not certain how many of them are relevant for laptops
> instead of servers.
> 
> !! Working Approach
> Out of all the different approaches, this is what I cam up with that
> successfully let me install the latest BIOS without taking a trip to the
> data center.
>   # Install smbios-utils from EPEL
>   # Download the BIOS package from the Dell website,
> [here|http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz&releaseid=R281099&SystemID=pwe_r610&servicetag=F1WFVH1&os=WNET&osl=en&deviceid=11809&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=7&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=0&libid=1&typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&source=-1&fileid=415215]
> is an example
>   # Rather than running what you downloaded, just extract the files,
> e.g. <code>./PER610_BIOS_LX_2.1.15.BIN --extract bios_files</code> would
> extract the files to a directory named bios_files
>   # The actual BIOS image is in the subdirectory named payload. Install
> it using the
> [dellBiosUpdate|http://linux.dell.com/libsmbios/main/dellBiosUpdate.html] program,
> e.g. <code>dellBiosUpdate -u R610-020115C.hdr</code>
>   # Reboot
> 
> !! Unified Server Configurator Approach
> A GUI that's a part of the Lifecycle Controller. I think you get to it
> by pressing F10 for System Services during boot.
> * Pros
>   * Able to update all firmware on the system
>   * Fetches the latest version
>   * No dependencies on installed OS
> * Cons
>   * Must go to data center since console redirection does not work with it
>   * Extensive downtime as updates are downloaded
> 
> !! Download Approach
> Dell's [Drivers and
> Downloads|http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&cs=RC956904&l=en&s=hied]
> page has BIN files you can download and run from within linux to update
> the BIOS. These are a combined shell script and archive. In theory, you
> just run them and the new BIOS is installed.
> * Pros
>   * Can always get latest version
> * Cons
>   * Must manually browse site and identify proper download
>   * Only updates the BIOS, not other firmware
>   * In my experience, this does not work. A report of the kind of error
> I ran into and some troubleshooting steps are
> [here|http://lists.us.dell.com/pipermail/linux-poweredge/2010-January/041030.html].
> 
> !! Dell "Hardware" Repository Approach
> Dell officially maintains and supports a [yum
> repository|http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/] with rpms for
> their firmware and some tools for installing it.
> * Pros
>   * Able to update all firmware on the system
> * Cons
>   * Has software that is also packaged in EPEL, meaning you must assign
> a higher priority to this repository in your yum config
>   * The repository is not kept up to date with the latest firmware. It
> seems that it's updated in batches every few months.
>   * In my experience, this does not work. See [these error
> reports|http://www.mail-archive.com/search?q=dell_dup_componentid_00159&l=linux-poweredge@dell.com&o=relevance&start=10]
> over a period of months where the R610 BIOS update fails to install.
> 
> !! Dell "Firmware" Repository Approach
> Matt Domsch from Dell maintains an unsupported [yum
> repository|http://linux.dell.com/repo/firmware/] just with BIOS updates.
> You need to install some other tools from Dell's [community
> repository|http://linux.dell.com/repo/community/] (or maybe smbios-utils
> and firmware-addon-dell from EPEL would be enough, haven't tested this
> yet) to use it.
> * Pros
>   * Should always be latest version
> * Cons
>   * The script that generates the repository is [fragile and frequently
> breaks|http://lists.us.dell.com/pipermail/firmware-tools-devel/2010-December/000549.html]
>   * Doesn't seem to have all the BIOS we want, e.g. it didn't find any
> updates for our R610
> 

-- 

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier

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