Subject: Re: Dell PowerEdge 2650 BIOS & FW update issues, and BIOS serial console support issues
To: NetBSD Help List <netbsd-help@netbsd.org>
From: Gary Parker <G.J.Parker@lboro.ac.uk>
List: netbsd-help
Date: 02/21/2007 08:52:13
On 20 Feb 2007, at 20:11, Greg A. Woods wrote:

> However the only way to update the BIOS or any other on-board firmware
> seems to be to run a program under some GNU/Linux that uses the
> GNU/Linux OpenIMPI driver, or alternately to install some windoze  
> system
> and use that.  They don't seem to provide any bootable media images  
> that
> can do the update, which is really frustrating and stupid, but  
> that's PC
> server vendors for you.

Hi Greg, I recently updated all the firmwares on a 2650 (to install  
Ubuntu onto, but we won't go into that...) and Dell provide bootable  
diskette images for almost all of the updates. The files that aren't  
bootable can be copied onto a diskette that's been formatted in a  
'doze machine as bootable. Admittedly this requires a 'doze machine  
to create the boot diskette and the bootable images are all self- 
extracting 'doze binaries but at least you don't have to install  
'doze on the 2650 itself.

http://support.euro.dell.com/support/downloads/devices.aspx? 
c=uk&l=en&s=gen&SystemID=PWE_FOS_XEO_2650&os=BIOSA&osl=EN

Follow that link up there and get the latest files for each of the  
following:
Embedded Server Management
DRAC
System Server BIOS
and any RAID card (PERC?) you may have in the machine.

-- 
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n     IT Specialist, Network Team  -  Computing Services      |
|             http://www.lboro.ac.uk/computing/               o
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