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PER220 - Bootable ISO, PER220, 20.04.00 fails to boot
Hi there,
I picked up a used R220 of eBay couple of days ago and wanted to update the BIOS, other firmware etc. before putting it in action. So I started with PER220_BOOTABLE_20.04.00.126 <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell> to update whatever available but I cannot boot into it off an USB stick. First I used [Balena] Etcher to create the bootable USB but it keeps telling me it doesn't look like a bootable image as it cannot find a partition-table information. I went ahead in spite of that but then got stuck at F1 prompt, saying cannot find a bootable media. I also tried to with dd to write iso on the stick bot ended up with the very same result.
Does anyone know what I'm missing or doing wrong? I'd really appreciate some help!
-San
SantanuDas
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June 19th, 2020 06:00
Finally updated all the firmware using LiveCD - very straight forward and a lot better than doing the monkey-business with Windows VM etc.
Just for the record (if anyone else lands here searching the same thing): Booting LiveCD by using the Linux-Based Diagnostic Tools (Dell 12G-14G servers) option. then open up the terminal and run this command
I will do an inventory and do the required updates, by following the on-screen instruction. You may have to wait for 15 mins to run that command as PackageKit holds onto yum and needs to wait until it finishes. I also had to use --ignore-signature as it couldn't find the GPG key where it supposed to be.
In the end, my system was updated with all the latest firmware.
Thanks all for helping!!
-S
SantanuDas
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June 18th, 2020 08:00
Just wanted to add I also tried with couple of previous versions of the IOs and in both BIOS & UEFI mode, without any joy at all.
-S
SantanuDas
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June 18th, 2020 12:00
the machine does have a iDrac7 card installed - does it mean I also got the license?
I already checked that page and the only other options in there is to use Rufus, which is a Windows only tool and I don't have access to any Windows machine. But I fail to see how that exactly matters, as it just a different tool to create bootable USB stick. At least dd should work, right??
-S
DELL-Chris H
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June 18th, 2020 12:00
SantanuDas,
Sorry to hear you're having issues with the updates. If you follow this link it will take you to a page with instructions on different ways to update with the ISO. One of which, if you have the iDrac Enterprise, would be to mount the ISO to the iDrac. If you don't have an iDrac Enterprise license there are other options, as well as steps to create the bootable USB.
Let me know how it goes.
DELL-Chris H
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June 18th, 2020 13:00
You would need to verify if it is an iDrac Enterprise, or iDrac Express. If it is the Express it doesn't have the Virtual Media function to mount the ISO.
I would have to look into options for non Windows based options, as I am not certain if DD will work.
SantanuDas
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June 18th, 2020 13:00
I think it's Enterprise - how do I confirm?
Trying to do VBox Windows VM - really not so liking it at all.
-S
DELL-Joey C
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June 18th, 2020 20:00
Hi,
For iDRAC, easiest would be access the iDRAC via it's IP, it will show if it's Express or Enterprise.
Did you manage to run Windows VM and used rufus?
Alternatively, probably you can run LiveCD to do the update: https://dell.to/3efZuZv
SantanuDas
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June 19th, 2020 01:00
I'll try iDRAC and feed back here.
re. Rufus, it's even worse - got the Win10 VM running but this the 4th time Rufus either fails or gets stuck after a while with 4 different USB sticks. Running out of 'em now. Is there anything you found sensible non-windows way yet?
Very quickly looked at the LiveCD and looks like it's mostly for the diagnostic, rather system update. How does the drivers/firmware gets updated with that?
-San
DELL-Joey C
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June 19th, 2020 02:00
Hi,
Live CD is actually Linux based but, I went through the manual, it did say that it's able to perform update, but you will need to download the SSU and mount it. But truthfully, I'm actually unsure if the system is able to mount the SUU ISO. I have not try it myself, but it should work as intended.
Though, iDRAC express for 12G server, it's able to run updates itself. So have the .exe file ready for the iDRAC to be uploaded.