USB Floppy drive for BIOS update

Evil-I

Evil-I

Evil-I

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Joined
20 Apr 2003
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Gloucestershire
Hi All,

Got a query for you. I need to do a BIOS update to one of our work servers a Dell PowerEdge 2800. The download from Dell is a floppy disk image creator only, but this machine doesn't have a floppy drive installed. I could crack it open and strap in an internal floppy just for the bios update but its a bit of a pain as this machine is racked.

Will a BIOS update on this machine work fine from a USB floppy drive and if so is there a specific USB drive i should use.

Obviously bearing in mind this server is pretty critical, so I'd rather have the additional hassle of opening the box up if it was going to be safer than a potential BIOS update failure with an external USB drive.

Thanks in advance!

E-I
 
I've flashed a BIOS from a USB floppy drive once, but if this server is more than a couple of years old I doubt it will have the native USB support most modern Mobos have.
 
Depends as stated above on how old the mobo is, I've done quite a few BIOS updates using a USB floppy with no problems but make sure you use a known good floppy and not 1 that's been gathering dust, make sure you format it even if it's formatted, copy the file onto the floppy and then after a reboot make sure you can read/copy the file back off.

Sounds anal but a few extra minutes ensuring the above can save a lot of pain.
 
If server is as critical as you say, would you not want a contingency in case it doesnt go as well as it should. Is this the first of many BIOS updates or can you try this first on a test server or one of less significance than your critical one?
 
Hi All,

Many thanks for the replies.

The server is about 2 years old, it does appear to have all the appropriate BIOS options for USB booting, but being a DELL its all a little different to what you usually find in the BIOS.

Same on the motherboard front, its Dell so its their own design.

Its fairly mission critical, it's the Domain controller and exchange server, so if it went down it would be a little bit of a pain!

I think its time I called in our IT support people, at least they have experience of doing these and I've gone past my comfort zone with this. They also can put it right quickly if it all goes horribly wrong!

Many thanks for the replies!

E-I
 
Well if its a domain AND exchange server then please tell me you have some sort of redundancy!

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to flash the BIOS anyway?
 
Hi J.B,

Yes we also have two other servers that are basically used as file servers with one of them setup to be able to take over DC and Exch in an emergency.

The Dell machine is a dual Xeon box with dual redundant power supplies and two x 4 drive Ssci RAID 5 arrays which are mirrored to each other so hopefully its pretty robust. Its also kept in an air conditioned machine room so its also kept nice and cool.

The BIOS update came up as i purchased some extra RAM to take it from 2Gb to 4Gb, I used the crucial memory selector to chose the correct type for the box. However it won't recognise the additional memory, either in addition to the existing or on its own. It's rated at a higher speed than the existing, but I understand should be backwards compatible, so I wondered if the BIOS might be the issue. Its currently installed BIOS is Version A01 whilst the latest on Dells site is A07. It could have course be the RAM thats at fault, but I thought that the BIOS was probably the first port of call considering its on the very fisrt version at the moment.

Best,

E-I
 
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