Dell BIOS updates

[Andrew J. Caines]

Mark,

> I looked there, but the documentation on how to use the site and the 
> app they provide is not clear to me.  Maybe I'm just feeling old,
> and there's no step-by-step instructions on how to use it that I
> saw.

It's not you. I suspect it's a case of it being so simple and obvious to
those who already know that no-one considered the audience.

I can't show you an actual firmware update on my Dell Latitude 5500
because it's up-to-date as a result of running these two commands:

----8<----
$ sudo fwupdmgr get-updates
Devices with no available firmware updates:
  • PM981a NVMe Samsung 512GB
  • UEFI dbx
Devices with the latest available firmware version:
  • System Firmware
No updates available for remaining devices
acaines at BN0SXY2:~$ sudo fwupdmgr update
Devices with no available firmware updates:
  • PM981a NVMe Samsung 512GB
  • UEFI dbx
Devices with the latest available firmware version:
  • System Firmware
----8<----

When there are updates, the tool will walk you through the process
including rebooting to an install with progress bars like in this photo[1].

You can see what hardware is managed with

----8<----
$ sudo fwupdmgr get-devices
Latitude 5500
│
├─PM981a NVMe Samsung 512GB:
│     Device ID:          3743975ad7f64f8d6575a9ae49fb3a8856fe186f
│     Summary:            NVM Express Solid State Drive
│     Current version:    15302129
│     Vendor:             Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (NVME:0x144D)
│     Serial Number:      S4GTNF0MA21279
│     GUIDs:              14ee3cf8-272c-5f5f-bff1-b5f1a8cfe933 ← 
STORAGE-DELL-108183
│                         3850c9f7-c6f9-ae4a-833b-673332ea8d7e
│     Device Flags:       • Internal device
│                         • Updatable
│                         • System requires external power source
│                         • Needs a reboot after installation
│                         • Device is usable for the duration of the update
│
└─System Firmware:
   │   Device ID:          b6877534098e2337b1be5d2459aff812451d81de
   │   Current version:    1.10.1
   │   Minimum Version:    1.10.1
   │   Vendor:             Dell Inc. (DMI:Dell Inc.)
   │   GUIDs:              388ff1f2-f836-48a5-9994-d4992e63faff
   │                       230c8b18-8d9b-53ec-838b-6cfc0383493a ← 
main-system-firmware
   │                       99ff3605-7c48-572b-bab4-382a75d9f2dc ← 
UEFI\RES_{388FF1F2-F836-48A5-9994-D4992E63FAFF}
   │   Device Flags:       • Internal device
   │                       • Updatable
   │                       • System requires external power source
   │                       • Supported on remote server
   │                       • Needs a reboot after installation
   │                       • Cryptographic hash verification is available
   │                       • Device is usable for the duration of the update
   │
   └─UEFI dbx:
         Device ID:        362301da643102b9f38477387e2193e57abaa590
         Summary:          UEFI Revocation Database
         Current version:  77
         Minimum Version:  77
         Vendor:           UEFI:Linux Foundation
         Install Duration: 1 second
         GUIDs:            00fe3755-a4d8-5ef7-ba5f-47979fbb3423 ← 
UEFI\CRT_E28D59CA489BD2AD580F2EA5D62D6A29BB9C02AE5A818434A37DA7FC11DFF9E9
                           4a6cd2cb-8741-5257-9d1f-89a275dacca7 ← 
UEFI\CRT_E28D59CA489BD2AD580F2EA5D62D6A29BB9C02AE5A818434A37DA7FC11DFF9E9&ARCH_X64
                           c6682ade-b5ec-57c4-b687-676351208742 ← 
UEFI\CRT_A1117F516A32CEFCBA3F2D1ACE10A87972FD6BBE8FE0D0B996E09E65D802A503
                           f8ba2887-9411-5c36-9cee-88995bb39731 ← 
UEFI\CRT_A1117F516A32CEFCBA3F2D1ACE10A87972FD6BBE8FE0D0B996E09E65D802A503&ARCH_X64
         Device Flags:     • Internal device
                           • Updatable
                           • Needs a reboot after installation
----8<----

The laptop is not connected to my Dell dock, but when it is, that also
has managed firmware.


[1] https://photos.app.goo.gl/uRybNExiroxuVy2M9

-- 
-Andrew J. Caines-   Unix Systems Architect   A.J.Caines at halplant.com
   "Machines take me by surprise with great frequency" - Alan Turing