Update BIOS/firmwares on Linux

linuxdudex10

How do I flash my BIOS using ubuntu 9.10 Linux? I know how to do it in windows but I'm still not sure with Linux. If you could list the steps I would be very grateful.

mfillpot

That is a tough issue, I have been in the same boat and had to revert to using the floppy disk update method since my mobo manufacturer only has update agents for windows and from a floppy boot.

What kind of computer and motherboard do you have?

linuxdudex10

God thats another issue lol, how do I find what type of motherboard I have when using linux? The best I can tell you right now is I have a dell inspiron 1545

mfillpot

If you run the following as root you should get the mobo information:
dmidecode |grep "Base Board" -A 5

And the next command will give the BIOS info:
dmidecode |grep "BIOS Information" -A 5

linuxdudex10

heres my System Board information:

Base Board Information
Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
Product Name: 0G848F
Version:
Serial Number: .{Moderator removed Serial Number}
Heres my BIOS:

BIOS Information
Vendor: Dell Inc.
Version: A13
Release Date: 10/23/2009
Address: 0xF0000
Runtime Size: 64 kB

on a side note, how do you keep track of all those commands mfillpot :S lol

gomer

Dell has supplied tools for flashing the BIOS on their devices using a disk.

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

Firmware tools can also be used.

http://linux.dell.com/wiki/index.php/Oss/Firmware_Tools

Both are made for working with Dell hardware and Linux.

Let me know if you need more help / explanation than what they offer.

mfillpot

Adam,
Thanks for beating me to the punch, it saved me some research.

Jacob,
I prefer command line operations for the massive amount of functionality and information. After writing enough scripts to utilize sepcific command you start to remember them. I recommend checking out the output of "dmidecode|less" you would be amazed by how much your OS knows about your hardware.

linuxdudex10

Thanks guys, I can flash my BIOS now :woohoo:
and ya the command line is more powerful then I can comprehend :cheer:

gomer

want to know more about your hardware than you ever thought was possible?

lsusb (USB bus)
lspci (PCI bus)
lshw (All hardware busses and controllers)
dmidecode (DMI data)
smbios-sys-info (other similar commands, for SMBIOS on some platforms
hwinfo (extremely verbose)

And TONS of goodies in /proc.