Updating Dell BIOS - neatest way to do it with Linux

[John_Hull at Dell.com]

You can actually skip the mkpkg part. A `biosdisk install <bios>.exe` will do all of the necessary steps and write it to the GRUB menu. 


-----Original Message-----
From: linux-desktops-bounces at dell.com on behalf of Richard Lloyd
Sent: Thu 3/20/2008 12:32 PM
To: linux-desktops
Subject: Updating Dell BIOS - neatest way to do it with Linux
 
I see the discussion on the list has turned around to the old
chestnut of how you update a Dell BIOS when you only have Linux
installed. I discovered this a while back (note, I assume you're
using an RPM-based distro and use grub for your bootloader):

http://linux.dell.com/biosdisk/

Here's how I used it:

* Download and unpack the .tar.gz (currently 0.75-2).

* I had to hack a line in the spec template in the unpacked
  biosdisk tree for CentOS 5 to be happy (this was for
  biosdisk 0.65 - might be fixed in the 0.75 release):

  biosdisk-mkrpm-redhat-template.spec:
  Change "Copyright: GPL" to "License: GPL"

* Download the BIOS for your Dell desktop/laptop. I find the
  quickest way is to use the service tag
  (as root: "dmidecode | grep 'Serial Number' | head -1") and
  plug in into the Dell Support site (i.e. http://support.dell.com/
  then "Search for Drivers" green button and then select
  "Choose by Service Tag" and then enter your Service Tag).

* Select the Bios item and then download the (usually .exe)
  file. I rename the .exe to something that fits into an 8.3
  filing system and represents the version number some way.
  E.g. for an E521's 1.1.11 BIOS, I called the file 1_1_11.exe
  - I'll call that <version>.exe from now on.

* As root in the unpacked biosdisk tree (where you've also
  put the <version>.exe file):
  ./biosdisk mkpkg $PWD/<version>.exe
  mv /var/lib/biosdisk/rpm/RPMS/noarch/*.rpm /tmp
  rpm -Uvh /tmp/*.rpm
  (Note I've used /tmp to move the rpm to here - if you want
  to keep it, store it somewhere that won't get cleaned out)

* Reboot your machine and you should get a "BIOS <version>"
  option in your grub menu. Select that and you can flash your
  BIOS - no USB keys/CDs/virtual machines needed!

Richard K. Lloyd,           E-mail: rkl at connectinternetsolutions.com
Connect Internet Solutions,    WWW: http://www.connectinternetsolutions.com/
First Floor, Faraday House,
Liverpool Digital, 360 Edge Lane,
Liverpool,
Merseyside, UK. L7 9NJ



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