Dell Optiplex GX620 hangs after firmware update... help

[Owen Mann]

RBU stands for Remote BIOS Update, which is Dell's method of updating the BIOS, which loads the image into memory and tells the BIOS to update itself upon reboot.
See Documentation/dell_rbu.txt
BMC stands for Baseboard Management Controller, which is a standards-based microcontroller built into servers, which supports IPMI.
See http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/smbmcmu/2.0A01/en/ug/ and http://developer.intel.com/design/servers/ipmi/index.htm

davide rossetti wrote:
>>>> You might also try clearing out the CMOS settings described here:
>>>> http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx620/en/ug/A02/advfeat0.htm#wp1132466
>>> bingo! clearing CMOS was the right winning thing. now it's ok.
>>>
>>> - It booted back in A03 BIOS so in the end my first upgrade was not successful
>> Right. I think I went over it in private email, but for those following
>> along at home:
>>
>> The BIOS update uses the "RBU" feature of the BIOS. We basically leave
>> the BIOS image in RAM, set a bit in CMOS, then warm reboot. The bios
>> notices the CMOS bit on reboot, finds the image and flashes itself.
>>
>> If you power-cycle the box rather than warm-booting, the image is lost
>> from RAM. This normally wont cause a problem. (I do this *all* the time
>> on my laptop when I am testing.) The machine simply boots the next time
>> and says the bios update failed.
>>
>> The RBU method of flashing BIOS is *quite* safe. Since the BIOS does all
>> teh work, there isnt much *I* can screw up in my utilities that will
>> brick a box. (I've not yet done it, and I have upgraded dozens of
>> machines in my lab.) For other things like BMC, it is a different
>> story...
> 
> aside from my problem, is there a doclet explaining these buzz words
> (BMC,RBU,..) ?
> 
>