biosdisk
FreeDOS based BIOS updating utility for Dell machines.
This utility can be used to update the BIOS on a Dell machine running in legacy mode. If your machine is running in UEFI mode, it's recommended that you instead update using UEFI capsule as described at https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/sln171755/updating-the-dell-bios-in-linux-and-ubuntu-environments?lang=en
Installation
- Install syslinux on your system
- Install the package
# make install
Optimally if running on a Debian based distribution you can also generate
packages using dpkg-buildpackage.
Usage
To find what options are available to use when executing the biosdisk script,
#biosdisk --help
Generating an ISO image
# biosdisk mkimage /path/to/exe
Installing an EXE update
# biosdisk install /path/to/exe
This will:
- load the EXE file into an image
- configure GRUB2 boot entry
- Set next boot flag to run the image
- Prompt for installation
Automatically installing without prompting
# biosdisk install -o "/nopause" /path/to/exe
Removing boot entries and old image
# biosdisk uninstall /path/to/exe
pxelinux
Booting the biosdisk-created BIOS flash image with PXELINUX
To set up GRUB to allow a user to boot the BIOS flash image via a PXELINUX PXE server, complete the following steps:
a. Copy the biosdisk-created BIOS flash image and the SYSLINUX memdisk
file (usually found in /usr/lib/syslinux) to your PXELINUX PXE server
directory (usually /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg).
b. Edit the "default" file (usually /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default) to
add the following:
label BIOS Flash <version>
kernel /pxelinux.cfg/memdisk iso
append initrd=/pxelinux.cfg/<imagename>.iso
- In order to restart the computer after the Bios upgrade, press Crtl-Alt-Del