What circumstances suggest the need for a BIOS update ?
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While my Trisquel installation seems perfectly happy with things as they are, it occurs to me that when the time comes that I need to update the BIOS of my legacy motherboard (no Intel email, phone or chat support) can I or should I even try, and can I do so without resort to a *indows computer ? My Trisquel installation has no *indows OS residing inside it.
Reading Intel's instructions, I came to a page which leads to this non-Intel webpage:
[deleted, please don't link to instructions on installing non-free software]
Which describes how to create a bootable USB stick ... but will that be sufficient if I also place the BIOS upgrade file downloaded from the Intel site onto that same bootable USB stick ?
[deleted]
Will there be sufficient OS on that USB stick to execute the installation of the BIOS update onto the motherboard operated by Trisquel?
I'm anxious to avoid placing any *indows OS on the same computer as Trisquel. I got along that way with separate debian and *indows computers for about fifteen years, communicating files with a network attached hard drive, external storage at my ISP, or CD's.
Looks like the flashrom package might come handy. Just install the package and fire away I believe. Note that you don't want to run out of power while the update is taking place or you risk bricking your box.
I remember doing a BIOS update in my former life to enable larger hard disks. Back then I used the popular legacy operating system I've since left behind.
Probably everything will work nicely but there is always a risk so you might not want to do it just for fun. YMMV.
A private messenger chided me for discussing non-free S/W, but that's the point that lembas addresses above: there _is_ a Trisquel package to perform the task of upgrading BIOS without having to resort to *indows. I was worried because the much-praised Intel site doesn't mention any support for linux in regard to BIOS updates.
And yes, there's nothing untoward going in with my Trisquel's handling or adaptability to the hardware; in fact, I swapped out the motherboard and the process was 100% transparent - no modifications at all required by Trisquel to handle the change. I did do a sudo apt-get update and sudo apt-get upgrade right afterwards and received quite a lot of new material that was duly shoe-horned into place, all hassle-free. So I presently see no reason to contemplate doing a BIOS upgrade just to show off.
Thanks are due to all who support this fine Trisquel operating system.
My continuing troubles with 5-1/4 inch floppies prompted me to see if an updated BIOS would activate another floppy driver on the motherboard ... which was in vain ... but Intel's website does provide a reasonable if non-free method of creating a 3-1/2 inch bootable floppy with all the wherewithall to upload that BIOS. I actually did that with two identical Intel D865GLC motherboards, which still work fine afterwards.
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