Does anybody updated BIOS on DELL Power Edge 2950?

[Chandra_G_P]

I am loooking for best method to update my ESX boxes (Dell PE 2950) to latest BIOS update. If anybody done this before please share your experience and the method.

Thanks in advance

[glynnd1]

I still do it the old fashioned way with a boot floppy.

[AndreTheGiant]

With full ESX a simple way is download the linux version of the update, make a chmod a+x on the file and then run:

./FILENAME.BIN

Same for PERC and BCM upgrade.

Andre

[Chandra_G_P]

Hi Andre,

What this "Same for PERC and BCM upgrade."

[AndreTheGiant]

From dell.com/support you can download also the Linux version of PERC firmware and BCM firmware (that is different from BIOS).

Same with the same way you can appy on your system.

Note that a reboot is required after firmware upgrade and BIOS upgrade start only when host reboot.

Andre

[EVW]

You need two DVD's you can download from Dell's website. Go the the Support and Download section where you can download drivers, fill in your Asset Tag (or choose a model from the list like a PowerEdge R710). Leave the Operation system as it is. Now go to the Systems Management section and download both "Systems Build and Update Utility" and "Dell Server Updates" ISO's and follow the instruction to merge the three ISO files together of the Server Updates ISO. Start your server from the "Systems Build and Update Utility" DVD (it should be bootable) and it will enter a menu (right after a blue menu). There are three options on the right side of the screen. The third one is to update drivers/firmware/bios. Click on it and you will have the option to update the server from a cd/dvd. If you continue, the dvd drive opens and now it is time to put in the second dvd "Dell Server Updates". Now it will scan the dvd for updates. The menu will show you all firmware/bios updates available. If you choose to update all, it may take up to 20 minutes to update them all (the progress bar shows 5% all the time). You may need some free local space available or attached USB storage to store temporary files.