How to Update the BIOS in a PowerEdge 2900

Chaplain,

Here is the link to the current BIOS update 2.7 - http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriverDetails/Product/poweredge-2900?driverId=5VWCM&osCode=WS8R2&fileId=3000129149&languageCode=EN&categoryId=BI#

Now if you are close to that version go ahead and update. If you are pretty far from that version of the current release then you will want to go to Previous versions listed on this page and walk the updates up to current - http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriverDetails/Product/poweredge-2900?driverId=5VWCM&osCode=WS8R2&fileId=3000129149&languageCode=EN&categoryId=BI#OldVersion

The first link for the BIOS update is designed to be run from the OS. So just fire it off and it will do the rest. It does cause a reboot as well.

On a side note, since you are updating the BIOS, it is a good idea to also update the ESM/BMC as well. Here is the link for that as well.
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriverDetails/Product/poweredge-2900?driverId=C6H4X&osCode=WS8R2&fileId=3078114138&languageCode=EN&categoryId=ES

Let me know how it goes.

Since my BIOS version says, "unknown," would you recommend starting at the first version 1.0.1 (2006)?

Are you seeing the "unknown" even on startup, or just in OMSA?

I would check the BIOS for the actual version.  1) OMSA may not be properly querying the BIOS, and/or 2) it may not be a "Dell" BIOS.  Does the system report the model ok?  There exist many "custom" versions of this model server.

Just in the OMSA.  I do not have a monitor connected to the system, so I cannot see what it says on startup.

Thank you Flash. That is a good point, this could have a custom BIOS. I hadn't thought of that.

Chaplain, is this server production or could we reboot to the BIOS?

The BIOS is F2 at startup.

Its production.  However, I could schedule reboot to the BIOS.  What is that, "F2" or "F1"?

I don't suspect there is an "error" ... I suspect that this system is a "rebranded" or custom version of a Dell server. 

If you can't reboot while at the system to see the BIOS screens, then you can query the information from the BIOS:

What do you get if you run the following from the Command Prompt:

wmic computersystem get model

And how about:

wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion

Don't post this last one here - they don't like you posting Service Tags - but see if it brings up a valid Service Tag and one that is recognized by Dell.com (or send it to one of us in a private message - I don't work for Dell, Chris does):

wmic bios get serialnumber

The first command produces model, "PowerEdge 2900," which is correct.  The second command produces:

SMBIOSBIOSVersion
2.7.0

The third command does indeed produce a valid Service Tag number.

Does OMSA give you an ESM/BMC firmware version (System, Main System Chassis, Firmware)?

I suspect that is probably the problem.  I don't know a way to query the BMC, but you'll need to make sure it is updated.  It is a common mistake to update the BIOS without updating the ESM/BMC ... that can lead to a lot of odd behavior and issues. 

ESM/BMC does not even appear under System>Main System Chassis>Firmware.  For that matter "Firmware" does not appear.  The only place "Firmware" appears is under the PERC 5/i controller.