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PowerEdge T110 II BIOS
PowerEdge T110 II BIOS Good morning everyone. I have a great question, PowerEdge T110 II - With the BIOS version installed 1.2.4. On the Dell website, according to the service tag, inform Emergency Update, for BIOS version 2.10.0. In the proper site has to check the old bios, which in my case BIOS 1.2.4, is not in the list of old BIOS. Can we update anyway. Service Tag: .
Dell-DylanJ
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February 6th, 2019 07:00
Hello,
You should be able to safely update. Considering the age, I would step up to 2.0.5, then 2.10.0. I would also recommend verifying that the BMC and Lifecycle controller are up to date, prior to updating the BIOS.
Dell-DylanJ
2.9K Posts
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April 11th, 2019 15:00
The easiest way to check would be to install OpenManage and check there. The latest BMC firmware is 1.70, the LCC is 1.7.5. You can grab the updates and OpenManage Server Administrator from:
https://www.dell.com/support/home/product-support/product/poweredge-t110-2/drivers
wwyw
14 Posts
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April 11th, 2019 15:00
I'm in exactly the same boat as the original poster (Dell T110 II circa 2011 with BIOS version 1.2.4). Exactly how do I verify that the BMC and Lifecycle controller are up to date, before updating the BIOS? If I need to update the BMC and Lifecycle controller, where do I find the current version(s) and how do I install them? I've been chasing my tail over this for a long time (years). :(
wwyw
14 Posts
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April 11th, 2019 21:00
Dylan: Thank you for your prompt reply. Unfortunately, I've run into another gotcha. I'm running ESXi 5.0 on my Dell T110 II. I want to update the BIOS so I can install a newer version of ESXi that will enable me to build a new VM with a more current version of the Windows Server OS. Installing OpenManage on ESXi seems to require some tricky Linux and other fiddling (as outlined here) that would take me well outside my comfort zone. I thought that a BIOS update would be relatively straightforward, but it's not--at least not for me. I've tried creating a bootable USB drive via Rufus, etc. etc. as outlined elsewhere in Community postings regarding BIOS updates on PowerEdge servers, but that hasn't worked either. Can you point me to a simple explanation of how to update my BIOS? I'll do it in stages as you suggested, but I'll have to forgo any updates to BMC/LCC given the difficulties of installing OpenManage on ESXi. I appreciate your assistance.
Dell-DylanJ
2.9K Posts
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April 12th, 2019 07:00
I can certainly appreciate your position. I've always been more of a Linux and VMware person and when I tackle something Windows related, I end up having to spot check everything.
There is a program call WinSCP that would give you a GUI for transferring .VIB packages to your ESXi datastore. You'd still need to enable SSH on the host, since SCP uses SSH, but that can also be done in a GUI and should help simplify the experience.
As for firmware updates, it sounds like updates by way of USC won't be an option, and the USB isn't working either. That really only leaves updating using our Support Live Image, which is built off of the CentOS distribution. I know you previously expressed some concerns about Linux, but this should be a fairly simple path. I couldn't find pre-written instructions, but let's see if this helps:
1. Download the desired update packages and confirm you have the .BIN file format.
2. Download the Support Live Image (SLI) and burn it to a DVD or USB
3. Boot to SLI, and you will be brought to a desktop.
4. Move the updates to the server using a USB drive. If the server doesn't seem to pick up the drive, try running mount -a.
5. Open the file browser in SLI and select the USB. If you right click, you should get an option to launch a terminal in that directory.
6. Once the terminal is open, type ./ .bin. This command would just mean from the current directory, run this file.
7. *OPTIONAL* You should only need to do this if you get a permission error wen trying to update. Run chmod 777 .bin. This will give every user in the SLI environment full permission to the file, so it should then run. This is very much not a good idea in a permanent Linux environment, but this one is temporary, so it really doesn't matter.
Let me know if that helps, or if it doesn't. The only other option that I can think of would be to download Dell Repository Manager and build a custom .ISO for your system.
wwyw
14 Posts
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April 12th, 2019 09:00
Dylan: Thanks again for your input. I'll do as you suggest and report back, but your comments regarding Linux reminded me that one of the VMs on my T110 II is running Ubuntu 11.10. I'm just a hobbyist when it comes to Ubuntu/Linux and I realize that Ubuntu 11.10 is ancient/obsolete. But, I'm wondering if that VM might present an easier upgrade path for me? My initial thought is "No; you can't upgrade the basic platform's BIOS from inside a VM; you have to do it on the platform itself, outside any of the VMs." Do I have that right?
Dell-DylanJ
2.9K Posts
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April 12th, 2019 09:00
You're correct - you won't be able to flash the hardware from inside your VM.
As for the VM - and this is unrelated to the core question - You can run the following command to grab all the updates, and the Ubuntu Software Updater may help you get to the latest version of Ubuntu. I can't speak to that version of Ubuntu, I never used it.
wwyw
14 Posts
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April 12th, 2019 11:00
I managed to update my BIOS to the current version (2.10.0).
I obviously did something dumb in my many previous attempts because what finally worked isn't much different from what I had tried before.
Here's what worked: