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peter79
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Help needed updating BIOS on a Dell R710

Guys,

I need help. I have a Dell PowerEdge server running ESX 4.1 and I'm trying to update the BIOS from 1.3.6 to 2.1.15. I downloaded the correct package but when I run the install it fails and I get the following message

"Execution operation exceeded specified timeout. Update failed to cmplete"

Anyone have any experience with this or similar updates. The Dell website wasnt particularly helpfull.

Thanks.

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NYSDHCR
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

What method are you using to perform the BIOS update? Floppy or .bin?

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AndreTheGiant
Immortal
Immortal

With ESX (not ESXi) you can download the redhat binary, make a chmod +x and then run it.

Then it will require a host reboot, because only in during this phase the BIOS will be upgraded.

Andre

Andrew | http://about.me/amauro | http://vinfrastructure.it/ | @Andrea_Mauro
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idle-jam
Immortal
Immortal

Do you have dell repository manager in your environment? if so you could create a bootable cd with the firmware to update your R710.


iDLE-jAM | VCP 2, VCP 3 & VCP 4

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peter79
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I dowloaded the bin file and chmod +x on it. I executed the bin file, it eventually failed with the following error

"Execution operation exceeded specified timeout. Update failed to cmplete"

I dont have a repository configured.

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RParker
Immortal
Immortal

I dont have a repository configured.

Download open manage DVd system updates, much easier. You boot from the DVD and it will update ALL the firmware / BIOS at the same time, and it will automatically query the machine to see what updates are required, including built in hard drives.

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CorporIT
Contributor
Contributor

We had similar issues with a few 2900 series Servers. The route we took was to use a USB floppy drive, download from Dell the BIOS update floppy creator utility, and then booted the Server to the floppy. The entire update process took about 5 minutes.

Hope this helps.

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wa6ilt
Contributor
Contributor

Download open manage DVd system updates, much easier.  You boot from the DVD and it will update ALL the firmware / BIOS at the same time, and it will automatically query the machine to see what updates are required, including built in hard drives.

Can you elaborate on this a little bit?  Is open manage DVD a Dell thing, or some other open source utility?

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