Remote updates for Windows-turned-Linux machines?

Support & Help Requests
1

Hello,

I have found that I may and perhaps that I should update my BIOS, through downloading an ".exe" file from the vendor website, then going through a flash update process under the UEFI. Any other remote updates for components that a Windows-turned-Linux machine should undergo, that you are aware of? But hey, what about machines without preinstalled OS or what about machines without any available support?

2

Hey :slight_smile:

You can boot a winpe to run the exe and update your bios :slight_smile:

2 Likes
3

Hi MSX ,
With "remote update" do you refer to a "possible update" or "from-server-update"?
If your Bios display don't admit flash from a file and is a .exe Windows executable (Insydeflash), it will be performed with protected GUI, and will only run from:

  1. Disk from SATA/Nvme slot (only starting from installed windows environment).
  2. Wine in Ubuntu. Quite complicated, and untrusty from my point of wiew.
  3. Usb. Only Windows PE (Olek suggest).

You know, flash Bios is not a game. Experiments with .bin files extracted from .exes packages could brick your laptop.

Cheers.

4

Hi @Tim, forgive me the liberate use of terms - indeed, "remote" would suggest some kind of local software doing the job in an automated manner. What I wanted to say, probably refers to a "manual" update, which would require particular steps to be taken by the user. Fortunately, the BIOS on my machine does support flash update and I have successfully updated it this way. Pros to Dell for continuing to provide all the drivers and critical updates even after the expiry of warranty support. Looking up all the long list of dedicated drivers on their website, meant for the Windows side of things, one word comes to my mind and that is: infrastructure. It is not the Windows winning the public with the attention given, it is the market momentum doing this for it - even if to speak only for the small world of home users.

Speaking of the BIOS update methods, on a website linked here, there is information about /boot/EFI/ folder, which should work as storage visible to the BIOS - at least on some machines - but apparently, the solution seems unsupported on MATE or do I have problems operating it.