BIOS Flash Q&A White Paper

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.
Microcode update images are offered for the general BIOS family and can be
applied to any particular BIOS of that family. For example, microcode image
u7D_0101.bin can be applied to any BIOS in the 786D family such as 786D1 or
786D2. Minor version numbers are incremented to indicate minimal changes to
the microcode typically involving an updated version of a previous released
microcode. Major version number changes indicate a greater degree of change to
the microcode source such as the addition of a new processor microcode.
How can a processor microcode update be executed in
Windows?
With the latest version of HPQFlash to support the 2007 HP Business PC products
(e.g. dc7800), processor microcode patches can be updated in a Windows
environment. As detailed in the previous section, the microcode softpaq specific to
the general BIOS family can be downloaded containing the image file
uXX_MMmm.bin. This image file must be copied to the same directory as the
HPQFlash.exe utility. Once that process has been completed, the microcode
update can be executed by running the command “HPQFlash –u uXX_MMmm.bin”
from the directory containing the utility and microcode image file. To log the
operation output, the command can be extended to “HPQFlash –u uXX_MMmm.bin
–l <logfile> where the logfile value is replaced with the file name target.
What does the BIOS binary image naming convention
indicate?
Binary image format is XXX_MMmm.bin. The XXX portion indicates the BIOS
family. The MM is the major version number. The mm is the minor version number.
The BIOS family is a collection of BIOS products all originating from the same basic
code source. For example, 7HX would indicate a BIOS image from the 786H BIOS
family. Minor version numbers are incremented to indicate minimal changes to the
BIOS source code typically involving minor problem fixes. Major version number
changes indicate a greater degree of change to the BIOS source code such as new
feature additions, additional hardware support, or significant POST modifications.
Can the BIOS POST splash screen be modified?
The Image Flash (Flashi.exe) utility can be used to replace the POST splash image
stored in the BIOS part or save the current image. This DOS utility is typically
provided for re-sellers who may want to be able to put their own logo in place of
the standard Hewlett-Packard image. Error checking is done to insure that an
image that does not meet the requirements above cannot be flashed into the ROM
part. The utility allows browsing through directories on the current disk. The