6 Posts
0
973
R730/XD BIOS Downgrade
I saw this back in 2020 sometimes for drivers or other firmware.. and see posts from last year.
I tried searching to identify if there was some legit reason to downgrade. I could not find any. It would be helpful of such a document was found in the info link in OME for that item.. assuming there is a legit reason to downgrade.
I don't fetch new firmware/BIOS/drivers from the web, I let OME do its job and fetch from the catalog.. so the idea that I somehow overupgraded beyond the catalog is absurd.
Seems whomever is tasked to maintain the catalog at Dell needs to review what's going on. Otherwise, if there is valid reason to downgrade, I'd love to have more information than the Downgrade status in my OME for a number of servers.
I'd provide the specifics as to the version I have versus the downgrade, but I recall it was just the minor step down and on the 730 series.. because I'm upgrading the console with fleeting hope that somehow it will correct the catalog..
Keeping the catalog up to date is a rather critical component to patch orchestration. While I find my own maintenance windows to do these upgrades (and.. maybe downgrades..), others likely automate the process.
DELL-Joey C
Moderator
Moderator
•
3.1K Posts
0
May 26th, 2022 21:00
Hi @ODOEGuy,
I understood your point and I would too want to know what is the reason it is pulled from the updates, but I can't find any public release statement about it. I'm unsure if the server is in contract, but what's worth, probably try reaching out to call support to raise a ticket to engineering to check if there is any release statement or note about the version release on 2.14. To my opinion, if OME prompted to downgrade and 2.14 version has been removed from download site, it would be recommended to downgrade, to avoid any issue caused in 2.14 which engineering decided to pull it out.
DELL-Chris H
Moderator
Moderator
•
8.4K Posts
0
May 26th, 2022 13:00
ODOEGuy,
Would you confirm the BIOS version you are currently at? I ask because if the current version is no longer available, but is present in the baseline, it could explain the downgrade request.
Let me know.
DELL-Charles R
Moderator
Moderator
•
3.3K Posts
0
May 26th, 2022 13:00
Hello ODOEGuy,
You are correct, BIOS 2.14.0 has been removed.
Unfortunately I don't have any information for when the next release will be.
I can recommend check the support site periodically for an update.
ODOEGuy
6 Posts
0
May 26th, 2022 13:00
2.14. I went to the Other versions and am not seeing that. I can only infer it was legit-pulled but have no actual reference to this.. which is more than annoying.
If some BIOS update is being pulled and it is recommended to Downgrade, I want to know this. Else, without some relevant reason to downgrade from 2.14 I don't intend to. Given I look at this about once a month, to coincide with my cluster nodes' monthly patches in general, I will assume 2.14 was generally available for a while.
Okay, I'll be more specific.. One one of the machines I picked at random, the LifeCycle Log is showing 2.14.0 was installed 3/21/2022.. started with this:
Downloading the FOLDER08116881M_1_BIOS_HJ81K_WN64_2.14.0.EXE update package.
Maybe that will help identify the package which was apparently pulled.
ODOEGuy
6 Posts
0
May 26th, 2022 14:00
Well that's the problem isn't it. The support site has no reference to the update getting removed, why it was removed, and whether it is recommended to downgrade back to 2.13 or not.
We have at least established that OME and the catalog are both correct in recommending a Downgrade.. but the questions as to what the impacts of leaving 2.14 in place have not been answered.. at all.
It is a poor choice by Dell to just yank an update for "reasons" and not properly advise their community on recommended action. For example, it is still worse to say nothing than to say that 2.14 will erase your array configuration or some awful thing. As much as updates have release notes, there should be a note as to why I should consider a downgrade in this case. Maintenance windows are not free.
ODOEGuy
6 Posts
0
May 27th, 2022 09:00
Indeed that logic would apply. However, that of course means validating the Downgrade status with no real information to base the action upon, other than OME.. and OME along with the catalog have been known in the past to flag false positives for Downgrade due to the catalog being out of date.
The oddity here is that I applied that update in March, yet in May the update was apparently removed.. and there is nothing published to that effect. I'll submit a request on one of the assets and see where it leads. If there is anything useful from that, I will report it back here.