I would not recommand you to update BIOS automatically. BIOS is very sensitive part of computer if it fails or gets damage then you would need to replace your board.
Please manually update your BIOS one by one. and Buy downloading the correct BIOS version. Because BIOS updating requires you to first close all running applications. because it requires restarts.
You should check support.dell.com periodically for updates. I believe you can also create an account an add machines to monitor and they will send notifications, such as updates, when they become available.
The service tag is on the server itself. There is usually a small sticker on the machine that has a service tag/and or express service code on it. I have a 2850 and the sticker is located on a sticker on the back that also has a barcode on it...
If you are looking for a Service Tag, it could be in as many as 4 places on the system itself ... black sticker on the top, side, and front (if rack-mounted) and on a white sticker on the back (all systems).
If you are in Windows, you can go to a command prompt and type the following to get the Service Tag (2003/XP and later):
wmic bios get serialnumber
Or you can get it through the OpenManage Server Administrator and DSET Report.
First off be mindful of the advice you receive here. It's user beware. As for the previous posters suggestion to update the bios 1 at a time that is very false and bad advice. You should never update the bios unless you are having problems and need a bios update to correct. Just because there is a new bios doesn't mean it applies to your situation. There are many instances of bad flashes to bios's that result in dead motherboards. If you undertake to update a bios in order to correct a problem ie newer processor being added then use the very latest bios on the Dell download site. There is no need to update 1 at a time because they all build off of each other. The more times you flash the more chances of something going wrong. Good Luck with whatever you decise to do.
User beware is good advice. I see your expertise seems to be focused on client/home systems. Things are a bit different in Enterprise. I agree that one at a time is overkill, but Dell's Enterprise/Server engineers/analysts recommend skipping no more than 2 updates (every third/Urgent). While it is true that the more times you flash the higher the chance something will happen, but in the Enterprise space, I have seen many more issues with skipping too many than I have issues with performing too many (none). While the updates are cumulative, there are too many interdependent systems in a server to warrant just blasting away at the latest. On one system you cannot update the ESM if the RAID controller is not at a certain level, and on another you cannot update the BIOS unless the controller is at a certain level. Also, Enterprise Support (as opposed to Client/Home), recommends BIOS/ESM/RAID/DRAC/HDD firmware updates be performed to proactively prevent issues - SBE errors caused by BIOS on 9th generation servers, processor errors on 9G servers, foreign configurations on PERC 5, timeouts/failures of Atlas HDDs, false fan failures caused by ESM, incorrect hardware reporting by ESM, RAID recovery/consistency, etc. These are all problems whose appearance is only a matter of "when" and can be prevented by updating the hardware.
Mehraban
7 Posts
0
February 16th, 2010 01:00
I would not recommand you to update BIOS automatically. BIOS is very sensitive part of computer if it fails or gets damage then you would need to replace your board.
Please manually update your BIOS one by one. and Buy downloading the correct BIOS version. Because BIOS updating requires you to first close all running applications. because it requires restarts.
//Mehraban
sahsan_ali
11 Posts
0
February 16th, 2010 04:00
how will be know that new update are ready to install
theflash1932
9 Legend
•
16.3K Posts
0
February 16th, 2010 08:00
You should check support.dell.com periodically for updates. I believe you can also create an account an add machines to monitor and they will send notifications, such as updates, when they become available.
deanster72
5 Posts
0
February 24th, 2010 07:00
The service tag is on the server itself. There is usually a small sticker on the machine that has a service tag/and or express service code on it. I have a 2850 and the sticker is located on a sticker on the back that also has a barcode on it...
theflash1932
9 Legend
•
16.3K Posts
0
February 24th, 2010 08:00
If you are looking for a Service Tag, it could be in as many as 4 places on the system itself ... black sticker on the top, side, and front (if rack-mounted) and on a white sticker on the back (all systems).
If you are in Windows, you can go to a command prompt and type the following to get the Service Tag (2003/XP and later):
wmic bios get serialnumber
Or you can get it through the OpenManage Server Administrator and DSET Report.
DCX4EVER
288 Posts
0
February 24th, 2010 08:00
First off be mindful of the advice you receive here. It's user beware. As for the previous posters suggestion to update the bios 1 at a time that is very false and bad advice. You should never update the bios unless you are having problems and need a bios update to correct. Just because there is a new bios doesn't mean it applies to your situation. There are many instances of bad flashes to bios's that result in dead motherboards. If you undertake to update a bios in order to correct a problem ie newer processor being added then use the very latest bios on the Dell download site. There is no need to update 1 at a time because they all build off of each other. The more times you flash the more chances of something going wrong. Good Luck with whatever you decise to do.
theflash1932
9 Legend
•
16.3K Posts
0
February 24th, 2010 09:00
User beware is good advice. I see your expertise seems to be focused on client/home systems. Things are a bit different in Enterprise. I agree that one at a time is overkill, but Dell's Enterprise/Server engineers/analysts recommend skipping no more than 2 updates (every third/Urgent). While it is true that the more times you flash the higher the chance something will happen, but in the Enterprise space, I have seen many more issues with skipping too many than I have issues with performing too many (none). While the updates are cumulative, there are too many interdependent systems in a server to warrant just blasting away at the latest. On one system you cannot update the ESM if the RAID controller is not at a certain level, and on another you cannot update the BIOS unless the controller is at a certain level. Also, Enterprise Support (as opposed to Client/Home), recommends BIOS/ESM/RAID/DRAC/HDD firmware updates be performed to proactively prevent issues - SBE errors caused by BIOS on 9th generation servers, processor errors on 9G servers, foreign configurations on PERC 5, timeouts/failures of Atlas HDDs, false fan failures caused by ESM, incorrect hardware reporting by ESM, RAID recovery/consistency, etc. These are all problems whose appearance is only a matter of "when" and can be prevented by updating the hardware.