BIOS Flash Q&A White Paper

ManualsBrandsHP ManualsDesktopsHP Compaq dc7900 Small Form Factor PC (ENERGY STAR)

Updated December 2009

Table of Contents:

Introduction ...........................................................................................1

What are the files and directories in a BIOS softpaq? ....................................... 2

In what operating systems can I update the PC BIOS? ....................................... 4

Will I lose my setup configurations when updating the BIOS? ........................... 4

How do I update my PC BIOS in Windows 7, Vista, or Windows XP? ................ 4

How do I update the BIOS in a DOS environment? ........................................... 5

How do I update the BIOS when not running Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP,

or DOS? ......................................................................................................... 6

What are the steps necessary to execute the HPQFlash utility? .......................... 9

What are the steps necessary to execute the HPQPwsd utility? ........................ 12

What are the steps necessary to create a bootable floppy for BIOS update? .... 12

What are the steps necessary to create a bootable CD for BIOS update? ......... 13

What are the steps necessary to create the BIOS image CD for F10 ROM flash

and recovery? ............................................................................................... 13

What are the steps necessary to create a bootable USB flash media (DOK) for

BIOS update? ................................................................................................ 14

What are the steps necessary to use SSM for BIOS update? ............................ 15

What are the steps necessary to use Altiris for BIOS update? .......................... 15

What if the PC does not complete the BIOS flash process? .............................. 18

What is a processor microcode update softpaq and how is it used? ................ 18

How can a processor microcode update be executed in Windows? ................. 19

What does the BIOS binary image naming convention indicate? ..................... 19

Can the BIOS POST splash screen be modified? .............................................. 19

How do I update the ME firmware in Windows 7, Vista, or Windows XP? ....... 20

How do I update the ME firmware in a DOS environment? ............................. 21

What are the steps necessary to use Altiris for ME firmware update? .............. 21

What if the ME firmware does not complete the update process? .................... 23

Can the ME firmware be restored to a previous version after updating? .......... 23

Summary ...................................................................................................... 23

Appendix A – Modifying a DOS boot diskette for Flashbin.exe ................ 24

For More Information ........................................................................... 25

Introduction

This whitepaper outlines Hewlett-Packard Business PC dc class BIOS flashing

options beginning with the 2005 products (e.g. dc7600). The BIOS (Basic Input

Output System) is the set of routines typically stored in read-only memory that

Summary of content (25 pages)

PAGE 1
Updated December 2009 Table of Contents: Introduction ...........................................................................................1 What are the files and directories in a BIOS softpaq? .......................................2 In what operating systems can I update the PC BIOS? .......................................4 Will I lose my setup configurations when updating the BIOS? ...........................4 How do I update my PC BIOS in Windows 7, Vista, or Windows XP? ................
PAGE 2
enable a computer to load the operating system and communicate with the various devices in the computer, such as storage drives, keyboard, monitor, printer, and communications ports. As new processors, devices, and operating system features are made available, the BIOS must be updated or flashed, in some situations, to take advantage. The BIOS can be updated or restored in several methods. Users or administrators can choose the best method depending on the operating environment of the computer(s).
PAGE 3
After acknowledging the license agreement, the softpaq will allow the user or administrator to extract the contents to any directory. The following files and directories are an example of the extracted from a typical BIOS softpaq:  786xx.cab – Compressed BIOS image which can be used by System Software Manager (SSM) to remotely update a system  SPxxxxx.cva – Identification file used in SSM remote BIOS upgrade  BIOS Flash.
PAGE 4
 HPQPswd.txt – Text document describing HPQFlash use and syntax  ROM.CAB – Compressed BIOS image file used by HPQFlash  ME Flash (directory):  Local-DOS (directory)  o FWUpdLcl.exe – DOS-based application to update the ME firmware o Readme.txt – Text document describing FWUpdLcl DOS-based utility use and syntax Local-Win (directory) o FWUpdLcl.exe – Windows-based application to update the ME firmware o Readme.txt – Text document describing FWUpdLcl use and syntax o Xerces-c_2_7.
PAGE 5
How do I update the BIOS in a DOS environment? The Flash Bin Firmware Upgrade Utility (Flashbin.exe) can be executed in a DOS environment to upgrade or restore a PC BIOS image. The utility uses a driver (flsh.cpu) for specific hardware flash operations. The BIOS binary image should be included in the same directory as the utility and driver with the name format XXX_MMmm.bin. The user can execute the utility by simply typing “flashbin”.
PAGE 6
How do I update the BIOS when not running Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP, or DOS? BIOS can be updated using the F10 setup “Flash System ROM” feature. Reboot the PC and press F10 to enter setup. In the File menu, select the “Flash System ROM” item. This flash utility will present the user with the option to select the media containing the BIOS image file (7H1_MMmm.bin). F10 ROM based flash can accept the binary file from the root directory of any removable media such as USB, legacy floppy diskette, and CD.
PAGE 7
When the media is selected, the user is presented with a list of valid binaries. If the BIOS cannot read the media or media files, an error message will be displayed and another media source can be selected.
PAGE 8
Once the desired binary image is selected and confirmed, the BIOS will begin the flashing process. The flash process should not be interrupted. The percentage completion will be displayed during the process. The user is prompted when the process is completed. The new BIOS code will not take effect until the PC is rebooted.
PAGE 9
Alternatively, the user or administrator can use a Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) to boot to a PXE server, such as Altiris. The Flashbin utility can be executed in the PXE DOS-like environment to perform the BIOS upgrade. What are the steps necessary to execute the HPQFlash utility? The HPQFlash application is executed in the Windows environment by selecting the HPQFlash.exe file.
PAGE 10
If the user selects the Next button, entered the correct password (if needed), and has the appropriate rights, the application will interrogate the current PC BIOS image and compare it to the BIOS image file (ROM.CAB) in the same directory as the FLashbin.exe. If the BIOS image file is not applicable to the PC, a warning message will be displayed. If the image is applicable, HPQFlash will display the current BIOS and the BIOS version contained in the ROM.CAB file.
PAGE 11
If Next is selected, the BIOS flashing process will begin, and the user is warned not to interrupt the flashing process. Interrupting the flashing process can corrupt the BIOS image. If the BIOS does not update successfully, the business PC would enter flash recovery when rebooted. After the flash process has successfully completed, the PC will be automatically restarted or immediately if the user selects Restart before the timer expires.
PAGE 12
What are the steps necessary to execute the HPQPswd utility? The HPQPswd application is executed in the Windows environment by selecting the HPQPswd.exe file. The initial HPQFlash application window will be presented as follows options to the user or administrator. As indicated in the image, this utility will create an encrypted password file required to execute the HPQFlash application in a silent mode on an administrative/setup password protected PC.
PAGE 13
1. Insert a blank, floppy diskette into the PC. 2. From Windows Explorer, right-click the 3 1/2 Floppy (A:) drive and choose Format. The Format 3 1/2 Floppy (A:) window appears. 3. In the Format Options section, select Create an MS-DOS startup disk. To format the disk, choose Start. If Windows XP is not accessible, a bootable diskette can be created using FreeDOS (http://www.freedos.org/). FreeDOS is available as an ISO image and as a diskette distribution in 1.44MB format. For your convenience, a 1.
PAGE 14
The following steps describe how the file can be used: 1. Obtain a blank CD and place it in the CD-R/RW drive. 2. Execute XXX_MMmm.iso. This will launch the CD burning software. 3. To make the BIOS binary image CD, follow instructions provided by the application. 4. Place the newly created BIOS binary image CD in the CD drive of the computer to be updated or restored and cycle system power. 5.
PAGE 15
5. Select the format option “Create a DOS startup disk”, set the dropdown menu box to the device containing the DOS system files, and select “Start”. After the USB flash media is made bootable, the Flashbin.exe, Assignpw.exe, and BIOS image file (XXX_MMmm.bin) can be copied to the media. Boot the PC to be updated from the USB media and execute the Flashbin.exe as prescribed previously in the “How do I update the BIOS in a DOS environment?” section.
PAGE 16
successfully configured. The basic steps required for BIOS update through the Altiris Deployment server is as follows: 1. Copy Flashbin.exe, Adminpw.exe, and BIOS image to the server 2. Create Flash.bat 3. Create the Altiris ROM Flash Event 4. Connect the Client PC to the Altiris Console Step 1: Copy Flashbin.exe, Adminpw.exe, and BIOS image to the server 1. Create a “ROMFlash” folder in the Altiris eXpress folder 2. Copy the following files to the ROMFlash folder: a) Flashbin.exe b) Assignpw.
PAGE 17
7. Click on the “folder” button  The button to the right of “Run the script from file”, button has image of a folder on it) 8. Select the file “flash.bat” created in the previous section 9. Click “Open” 10. Select “DOS (from BootWorks)” 11. Click “OK” 12. The Events Properties Form should show:  Task: Run Script  Details: [path of the file] 13. Click “OK” Step 4: Connecting the Test Unit to the Altiris Console 1. Connect the client PC to the LAN with the Altiris Server 2.
PAGE 18
What if the PC does not complete the BIOS flash process? HP business PC products provide flash disaster recovery if the BIOS flash process fails to complete. The BIOS will automatically detect that the BIOS flash process did not properly complete and boot in recovery mode. With most business PC models, the user or administrator will be presented with the following screen.
PAGE 19
the BIOS, a processor microcode softpaq is provided to update the BIOS. Processor microcode changes can be updated in the BIOS without having to change the entire BIOS. Binary file microcode image is uXX_MMmm.bin where the “u” indicates microcode, XX is the general BIOS family, MM is major version, and mm is the minor version. Microcode updates can only be accomplished by using Flashbin.exe utility.
PAGE 20
images found can be viewed and a background color and a foreground color can be chosen from the colors in the image's palette. The utility also has a command line option to quickly flash a new image. The image stored in the BIOS will be compressed with RLE4. If the image being flashed is already in RLE4, the image flashed will be identical to the original except the second byte in the Bitmap Header will be a checksum.
PAGE 21
After the update is complete, the ME firmware is executing the update image, a system reboot is not immediately required. How do I update the ME firmware in a DOS environment? Another FWUpdLcl.exe version is included for ME firmware within a local DOS environment. For more information, view readme.txt located in the ME Flash\LocalDOS folder. The ME can be updated by executing the following command "FWUpdLcl.exe " from the directory containing the utility and update image file.
PAGE 22
Step 1: Copy FWUpdLcl.exe and ME firmware update image to the server 1. Create a “MEFlash” folder in the Altiris eXpress folder 2. Copy the following files to the MEFlash folder: a) FWUpdLcl.exe (located in softpaq subdirectory “ME Flash\LocalDOS”) b) XXX_bbbb.bin (located in softpaq subdirectory “ME Flash”) Step 2: Create Flash.bat 1. Open a command box 2. Start|Run: cmd 3. cd\express 4. cd MEFlash 5. edit meflash.bat 6.
PAGE 23
12. The Events Properties Form should show:  Task: Run Script  Details: [path of the file] 13. Click “OK” Step 4: Connecting the Test Unit to the Altiris Console 1. Connect the client PC to the LAN with the Altiris Server 2. On the client: Access the Altiris eXpress folder on the server a. Click Start | Run b. Type in the path to the server: \\[server name]\express 3. Run Aclient.exe a. Double click on Aclient b. Follow the instructions 4.
PAGE 24
operating system. The Flashbin utility provides a traditional DOS upgrade operation for local or remote situations. Administrators can use the remote management capabilities of such tools as SSM and Altiris to deliver enterprise wide upgrade ability. Regardless of the BIOS flash method, business PC products provide a high degree of upgrade reliability and offer failure safe recovery. We are confident that HP will remain the premier provider of comprehensive BIOS upgrade solutions in the industry.
PAGE 25
For More Information For the HP sales office nearest you, refer to your local phone directory, or call the HP regional office listed below.