Have you checked your system’s BIOS lately?
Maybe you should. It’s pretty simple if you are familiar with your operating systems terminal/command line.
Linux:
sudo dmidecode –type bios
Windows:
systeminfo | findstr BIOS
The simplest way to upgrade my Lenovo laptops was to re-install Windows 10 and use the Lenovo utilities to upgrade the bios Revision , then install my Linux Distro again. I could have avoided some of the pain if I had setup my laptops as duel boot systems, but I didn’t.
There are other methods to go about this without relying on Windows, but using Windows was perfect for my situation just for the fact that it was so simple.
Lenovo’s Service Bridge is pretty simple to setup.
It wants you to download .NET 3.5 – which I did, not a big deal either. I figured I’d end up blowing Windows away and Installing MX back on my machines anyway. (I use MX-18.1 a Debian based LINUX OS) – at the moment.
All I really wanted was the BIOS/UEF1 updates
Only the file listed as Jan 31 2019 was the most recent available for my machine. This was newer than my 2017 version installed on my laptop, so it seemed to be worth the slight hassle I had gone through so far – which wasn’t Lenovo’s fault, just my own process of exploring nonlinear routes to get things done. I consider these side tracks as learning experiences. The flash utility appeared to have worked well, and then my machine rebooted. The reboot is where the BIOS actually get updated.
After Windows 10 rebooted I ran a system check again and this time the BIOS version had version 1.25 (12/24/2018) listed. Well, that’s probably as current as I’ll get with this method.
So I did what any rational pc owner would do and re-installed MX-18.1. (Of course I used the entire drive)
Why spend too much time poking around Windows updates?
Once back in MX I verified the BIOS revision as 1.25.
So did this have any benefits other than good housekeeping?
Probably nothing that would jump right out at you.
Yes, BIOS upgrades can sometimes give some performance enhancements, and resolve certain bugs or compatibility issues. It doesn’t usually increase speed, but it can help with some issues that degrade performance such as overheating.
Sometimes upgrading your BIOS may produce undesirable affects. If your computer is operating well, or as expected, you may not wish to chance any damage to your system with an upgrade that doesn’t work properly.
I upgraded my bios more out of curiosity, and waited for my spare test machine to finish before I upgraded my main machine.
My primary goal was to bring the security aspects of the bios up to date. This may be something that some Linux users don’t always focus on, but are usually aware of. Usually I focus more on available Distro updates and upgrades along with common sense proactiveness to keep my systems secure. BIOS upgrades can factor in there as well, and should at least be contemplated with a little research to see if upgrading your BIOS is a worthwhile endeavor. If anything, you should at least know what BIOS revision you currently have on your system.
So check to see what your BIOS are listed as, and if you do decide to upgrade, and there are newer revisions available – proceed with caution.
You may not need to make any changes at all.
Good luck!