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HP Workstation System Firmware (BIOS) Update

This SoftPaq contains utilities and data files that can be used to restore or upgrade ("flash") the system firmware (BIOS) on supported HP Workstations. Several methods for flashing the BIOS on your workstation are available. This document describes the various ways to perform the update.

General Descriptions

Utilities and appropriate BIOS images are contained in each of the folders as follows:

lxbios Flash - a Linux utility that can be used locally to update the system BIOS.

DOS Flash - a DOS utility that can be used locally or with a Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) management application to update or restore the system BIOS.

Fail-safe BootBlock Recovery Mode.

This Softpaq can also be used with the following methods of updating the system BIOS:

NOTE: The Workstation BIOS Utilities SoftPaq is available on the web and contains additional utilities to support HP Workstations, including tools to replicate NVRAM settings across workstations. This SoftPaq will be shown when searching for software support of products in the category ROMPaqs/BIOS and Firmware.

Linux BIOS Flashing

lxbios is a Linux utiity which is designed to flash the System BIOS. Please see the lxbios_readme.pdf for instructions available for this utility, lxbios_readme.pdf, the pdf is located in the LXBIOS folder.

View Contents of LXBIOS Folder

Startup Menu/Computer Setup BIOS Flashing

The HP Workstation supported by this Softpaq provides a BIOS upgrade option through Computer setup (F10) using the “Flash System ROM” feature. Reboot the workstation and press the Escape key to display the Startup Menu. Use the arrow keys to select Utilities, and then select the Flash System ROM option. Alternatively, reboot the workstation and press F10 to enter Computer Setup.  In the File menu, select the “Flash System ROM” item. Either method requires that a removable storage device be present (typically a USB flash storage device) containing the BIOS binary image file in the root folder. The binary image file can be found in the DOS Flash folder of this SoftPaq and is named XXX_MMmm.bin where "XXX" is the abbreviated BIOS family (e.g. "J51"), "MM" is the major version number, and "mm" is the minor version number. If a BIOS Setup password has been set, the password will be required before being able to access the "Flash System ROM" menu. The user is notified when the process is completed. The new BIOS code will not take effect until the workstation is restarted.

USB Device BIOS Flashing in DOS

DOS Flash (DOSFlash.exe, FlshUefi.cpu) is the DOS-compatible system BIOS flash utility that can be used from DOS bootable flash media device (where "DOS" refers to any of a number of compatible operating systems such as FreeDOS, MS-DOS or DR-DOS). FlshUefi.cpu is the required driver for DosFlash.exe. To flash the System BIOS from a bootable USB storage device, you will need to copy the contents of the DOS_Flash folder to the USB device, boot the workstation from the USB device, and execute the DOSFlash application. To see a more complete description of the DOS flash utilities, view DOSFlash.txt located in the DOS_Flash folder. This folder also contains the required binary image of the BIOS.  The binary image file is named xxx_MMmm.bin where "xxx" is the BIOS family, "MM" is the major version number, and "mm" is the minor version number.  This file can be copied to the root directory of any USB removable drive for use with the Computer setup (F10) "Flash System ROM" option or BootBlock Emergency Recovery Mode.

Network BIOS Flashing

The DOS Flash utility has been designed to support System BIOS flashing via a remote network boot using PXE. DOS Flash uses a small memory footprint that is compatible with the limited DOS memory available and the DOS extended environment that may exist while running Altiris eXpress. To see a more complete description on the network BIOS flashing utilities, view the DOSFlash.txt located in the DOS Flash folder.

View Contents of DOS Flash Folder

Fail-safe BootBlock Recovery Mode

HP Workstations include 64 KB of write-protected boot block ROM that provides a way to recover from a failed update of the system BIOS ROM, for instance in the event of a power loss.  Fail-safe BootBlock Recovery Mode will detect that the BIOS is unusable and boot the workstation in a recovery mode and search the root folder of any FAT/FAT32 filesystem on any USB media source (hard drive, flash drive, etc.) for a compatible binary image. The binary (.bin) file in the DOS Flash folder should be copied to the root of the desired storage device, and the system powered on. Once the binary image is located, the BIOS recovery process will be attempted. The automatic recovery will continue until the BIOS is successfully updated or restored.