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can not down rev R640 BIOS
Hello,
I am trying to down rev an R640 BIOS from 1.6.12 to 1.3.7. The BIOS was initially 1.6.11 and I was able to update to 1.6.12 but I can not down rev to 1.3.7 from 1.6.11 or 1.6.12. The issue is only seen on one R640 as I can down rev other R640s.
The down rev BIOS is staged fine but does not update correctly after a reboot.
I have tried a power drain and racadm systemerase commands to no success.
This is what the LC Log says for the failed BIOS update.
| 2019-01-04 17:44:02 | SUP0517 | Unable to update the System BIOS (BIOS.Setup.1-1) firmware to version 1.3.7. | |
|
Log Sequence Number:
93
Detailed Description:
The firmware image specified in the operation did not apply successfully. An internal error may have occurred.
Recommended Action:
Retry the operation. If the problem persists, download the latest update package from your service provider, and retry the operation.
|
DELL-Daniel My
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January 8th, 2019 11:00
You need to use a Dell Update Package from either the iDRAC web interface or the operating system. If the backflash still fails then it is not permitted. The backflash will not be permitted if conditions are met that would cause the system to not be able to complete POST after the backflash. The conditions are listed on the 1.4.5 download page.
No backflash method will work if those conditions are met.
DELL-Daniel My
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January 4th, 2019 13:00
Hello
BIOS revision 1.4.5 contains a check to cause backflashes to fail if certain conditions are met. You can still perform backflashes though. You can find more information on the BIOS version 1.4.5 download page. To locate the page you can go to the Version category at the bottom of the download page.
http://www.dell.com/support/
Thanks
nadogmoney
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January 7th, 2019 07:00
I see this in the R640 1.4.5 release notes:
Added enhancements to UEFI BIOS update tool. Users cannot use UEFI BIOS update utilities to downgrade BIOS to earlier version once the 1.4.5 or later BIOS version is installed on the system.
Note: Update Package can still be used to downgrade BIOS to versions earlier than 1.4.5.
The first place I saw the issue of not being able to rollback was using a windows online DUP.
I also tried with "Update and Rollback" in the idrac web GUI. I am not sure if this method is considered the same as "UEFI BIOS update utilities" or not.
I will try online DUPs again.
nadogmoney
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January 8th, 2019 09:00
I tried to down rev to 1.2.11 and 1.3.7 from 1.6.12 with windows online DUPs but neither worked.
During the boot after the update failure I get this:
UEFI0305: Unable to update BIOS firmware in the previous boot because of some issues. Retry the operation. If the issue persists, contact your service provider.
nadogmoney
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January 8th, 2019 12:00
Just for clarity, if you never get to 1.4.5 you can down rev and run with 2 DPC @ 2666 Mhz or higher. I have another system with the same memory configuration and it did not make it past 1.3.7 and is currenlty running happily on 1.2.11. There must be a reason Dell did this and I will be updating to 1.6.12 after the very revision controlled OS build it done.
nadogmoney
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January 8th, 2019 12:00
That's the ticket. I can go back to 1.4.5 but no further.
RTFRN to me.
Thanks for the help
DELL-Daniel My
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January 8th, 2019 12:00
Yes, the backflash block was put in at 1.4.5, but the minimum required BIOS version for the memory to function is lower.