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XPS 8930, Bios update questions
Greetings,
I like to start a conversation about XPS 8930 Bios updates because the information at hand currently is confusing to say the least.
Available BIOS releases are ( Dell Support ) :
1.0.1 dated 20 Oct 2017
1.0.2 dated 24 Oct 2017
1.0.5 dated 22 Dec 2017
My Dell XPS 8930 was delivered early January with Bios 1.0.3
The Bios update 1.0.5 is marked urgent and fixes the following ( copied from Dell support )
Fixes:
- Fixed an issue with UEFI variable default handing.
- Fixed a potential issue with early OROM loading.
- Fixed an issue with SPI flash command configuration.
- Updated chipset SPI flash configuration.
- Updated Intel ME Firmware to address security advisory INTEL-SA-00086 (CVE-2017-5705 & CVE-2017-5708)
- Update to the latest CPU microcode to address CVE-2017-5715.
Also flagged as urgent at the XPS 8930 support page is Intel Management Interface Driver Version 11.7.0.1054, A03 released 30 Nov 2017 which fixes the following :
Fixes
- Mitigated security vulnerability CVE-2017-5705, CVE-2017-5708, CVE-2017-5711 and CVE-2017-5712. CVE details are anticipated to be available on November 20, 2017.
Both updates refer somehow to the Intell Management Engine ( ME ) and this rings a bell about the Intel Processor Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities.
The Dell client statement on this issue on the other hand does not mention XPS 8930.
Are you still with me ?
Allow me to summarize the question : two separate upgrades are marked as urgent for XPS 8930 and are related to Intel ME, therefore Spectre and Meltdown, but the Dell statement on this subject does not mention XPS 8930.
Any clarifications more than welcome :
- Are the two upgrades related to the Spectre/Meltdown issue? ( Yes I guess )
- Will applying those upgrades result in a "non vulnerable" outcome when testing with Intel-SA-00086 Detection Tool
- If so what is the recommended order : Bios first then driver or other way around?
- My XPS 8930 is vulnerable with Bios 1.0.3, so should I urgently upgrade?
Thanks in advance for your insights.
Drbogdan
17 Posts
1
January 27th, 2018 09:00
[re-posting my (newly edited/adjusted) original comments - cmts did not post earlier for some reason]
FWIW - My Dell XPS 8930 was delivered in December, 2017 - at the time, Dell Diagnostics recommended upgrading to "BIOS 1 (dot) 0 (dot) 5" - this was done without any problems - my computer now indicates "BIOS 1 (dot) 0 (dot) 5 (12/12/2017)" via Windows 10 ( C (colon) (slash) Windows (slash) System32 (slash) msinfo32 (dot) exe ) - Dell Diagnostics now recommends "BIOS 1 (dot) 0 (dot) 2" ? - since all now seems ok, I've chosen to wait and see - esp re future Spectre and Meltdown patches or related - in any case - Enjoy! :)
Criminalu
20 Posts
1
January 27th, 2018 13:00
Hi all!
This is my first post in Dell's community.
I'm expecting a brand new 8930 to arrive on Feb 7.
It's a i7-8700 (non K version) with 64 ram, GTX 1080 and 256GB M.2 PCIe x4 SSD + 2TB 7200 rpm Hard Drive.
No idea yet what the bios version will be shipped with, but I'll update on that.
My 2 cents here for your issues is simple (based on the fact that I learned programming by programming processors and creating BIOS code in my early days) - As long as your current BIOS version works just fine, Do Not try to upgrade it yet. Allow a good month for any new releases.
As specified in earlier comments, Dell did not specify all the releases in their 1.0.5 versions. They should be at least something like 1.0.5.117 rev A or 1.0.5.117 rev B or 1.0.5.2 rev A, you get the picture. All they say is 1.0.5.
Anyways, I will update once I get my pc delivered and let you know what BIOS version they shipped it with .. shipping should be on Jan 30 as of this date.
Thanks for all your postings here, I really had lots of info on the issues and upgrade possibilities for XPS 8930.
P.S - DrBogdan - Salutare si numai bine! :)
B1tbull
35 Posts
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January 27th, 2018 14:00
This is my fifth Dell unit and I never upgraded the Bios because all the past upgrades were about accommodating new hardware or fixing obscure bugs that did not affect my systems anyway.
Good to have someone with hands on Bios experience in the conversation.
Criminalu
20 Posts
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January 27th, 2018 22:00
Thank you B1tbull (*be one tough bull? :)
I expect the system to arrive hopefully on Feb 07.
Will update you with the BIOS version they now ship the system with, although I think your money is safe on the 1.0.2.
All the best, I'll continue monitoring this thread.
Perplexed5
2 Posts
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January 28th, 2018 10:00
Dell advises that any BIOS update related to Update to the latest CPU microcode to address CVE-2017-5715 should NOT be installed at this time (as of 1/22/18) and that it has removed all updates related to Spectre Vulnerability 2 while it works with Intel to revise BIOS updates because of a problem with the original BIOS updates posted.
B1tbull
35 Posts
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January 28th, 2018 12:00
http://www.dell.com/support/contents/us/en/19/article/product-support/self-support-knowledgebase/software-and-downloads/support-for-meltdown-and-spectre
If you updated to 1.0.5 and the system is operational, I recommend to wait for the next stable bios release, but also to make more than regular backups of your data meanwhile.
Drbogdan
17 Posts
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January 28th, 2018 12:00
BRIEF Followup to my earlier comments in this thread - with more details and considerations - my DELL XPS 8930 was delivered on 12/29/2017 - and was "successfully" updated to BIOS "1 (dot) 0 (dot) 5 (12/12/2017)" shortly thereafter - on 01/20/2018 however, the pc did not properly boot - and I finally decided to restore the computer to "factory settings" (via "Factory Image Restore") - at the time - I thought the boot-up problem was due to a suspicious program that was installed (and which my Avira AV detected as such) and not to the newly installed BIOS - however - after reading some of the messages here and elsewhere on the internet - the pc boot-up problem may have been due to the newly installed BIOS after all - nonetheless - the pc has now been restored to "factory settings" - and - Dell Diagnostics notes that the BIOS installed is BIOS "1 (dot) 0 (dot) 5 (12/12/2017)" - all seems to be going well at the moment - hopefully the pc will continue to be ok - in any case - Enjoy! :)
PS/1 => (Possibly helpful => noted details at time of computer problem/reset included: mouse not working; stop code (bsod?); xps 8930 1.0.5 BD[removed] Build 430610 UEFI ROM; Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery v3.1.1.3834)
PS/2 => (Add - 01/30/2018 => installed possibly relevant Microsoft Update Patch => https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4078130/update-to-disable-mitigation-against-spectre-variant-2 )
B1tbull
35 Posts
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February 1st, 2018 08:00
No news from Dell yet on this Bios update.
XPS 8930 bios 1.0.2 is still the latest, only improving Intel Core I3 support (?)
Meanwhile you can assess your system status regarding Meltdown and Spectre with this little ( 125 Kb !) utility from Gibson Research Corporation : https://www.grc.com/inspectre.htm
Thanks to ZDNet for pointing it out.
I checked it against Virustotal and it comes out clean ( 1 detection on 65, so false positive)
My system shows protected for Meltdown, but not for Spectre.I am curious if the folks who succeeded to apply Bios 1.0.5 show up all clean .
Drbogdan
17 Posts
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February 1st, 2018 10:00
FWIW - My Gibson InSpectre tool results: Meltdown/yes; Spectre/no; Performance/good - my present conditions => BIOS 1 (dot) 0 (dot) 5 (12/12/2017) & W10/home (version 1709/build 16299.192) + MS-patch => https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4078130/update-to-disable-mitigation-against-spectre-variant-2 & see my earlier posts in this thread for more details - hope this helps - iac - Enjoy! :)
B1tbull
35 Posts
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February 1st, 2018 12:00
Thanks for the update.
So it appears that bios update 1.0.5 is NOT effective against the spectre flaw after all.
Interesting finding.
Drbogdan
17 Posts
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February 1st, 2018 13:00
@B1tbull
Please understand that a W10/MS patch to disable the Spectre flaw protection was installed - please see => https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4078130/update-to-disable-mitigation-against-spectre-variant-2 - this *might* be helpful in understanding the Gibson tool results - BIOS 1 (dot) 0 (dot) 5 by itself, without the W10/MS patch installed, was not studied - iac - Enjoy! :)
crosstrek
6 Posts
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February 7th, 2018 17:00
My 8930 was received on 2/1. It has BIOS V1.0.5. No problems so far. I did install kb4078130 - just "in case". Based on what I have read, the "fix" in this version dealt with one of the problems in the Intel chip. I am guessing that Dell got nervous when Intel announced that there was a problem with the info they gave PC vendors and "pulled" this version. I think bringing the BIOS back to 1.0.2 has a risk too.
B1tbull
35 Posts
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February 8th, 2018 00:00
Thanks for the update.
Can you run the Inspectre tool, see previous posts, and report on the results?
crosstrek
6 Posts
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February 8th, 2018 04:00
Since I installed kb4078130, it will fail.
Vic384
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February 8th, 2018 08:00
According to this article, https://www.extremetech.com/computing/263512-intel-releases-new-skylake-microcode-update-spectre-still-testing-cpus, Intel released this week microcode updates for several Skylake-based platforms to OEMs which means that the updates Dell re=release do not contain microcode Intel just released. If this is true, then these BIOS updates will not be the last to address Spectre (Variant 2) and there may be more updates in the future for Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake platforms.