[OmniOS-discuss] Supermicro BIOS updates

[Saso Kiselkov]

On 09/07/2013 03:21, Paul B. Henson wrote:
> Sorry for two potentially OT supermicro posts in a row :), I just know
> they are really popular for illumos servers and there's such a wealth of
> knowledge on these mailing lists.
> 
> I usually update firmware/BIOS on a fairly regular basis on my servers,
> but supermicro has a fairly scary warning on their download page:
> 
> ------
> WARNING!
> Please do not download / upgrade the BIOS/Firmware UNLESS your system
> has a BIOS/firmware-related issue. Flashing the wrong BIOS/firmware can
> cause irreparable damage to the system.
> 
> In no event shall Supermicro be liable for direct, indirect, special,
> incidental, or consequential damages arising from a BIOS/firmware update.
> ------
> 
> Where it seems they pretty much do not want you to ever update unless
> you know of a specific issue the update will solve. Of course, they also
> don't post changelogs with their bios updates, so it's kind of hard to
> know 8-/. I can't remember the last time I had a box die due to a
> corrupted bios update (most of the ones I've worked with won't even let
> you try to flash the wrong firmware), I was wondering if that's a
> problem with supermicro boards to the point where they actively
> discourage updates?
> 
> Their technical support sent me a changelog for the motherboard I'm
> working with upon request (seems like it would be a timesaver for them
> to just post it in the first place), and I think I do want to go ahead
> and update the bios. I haven't had to boot DOS for a bios update in a
> *long* time, my workstations for years have supported just sticking in a
> USB flash drive with the image on it and updating from the bios itself,
> and the servers I've been using supported bios updates via the IPMI web
> interface or CLI. What's the preferred way to generate a bootable DOS
> image with the bios update utility and image on it nowadays? I was
> thinking of just downloading a freeDOS floppy image, loopback mounting
> it to copy on the additional files, and then booting it via the IPMI
> remote media option. Is there an easier way?
> 
> Thanks much…

Get something like Boot Flash DOS (BFD.exe) and create a bootable USB
stick in Windows. Then load on it the additional files you need, boot
and execute whatever monkey business you need to. I personally prefer a
simple DOS flashing tool over some super-smart EFI clusterf**k any day
of the week.

Cheers,
-- 
Saso