This describes the procedure I used to upgrade my D820 BIOS to revision A07 with no windows installed or available floppy disk. Please be WARNED that messing with your BIOS flash might render your computer unusable. This applies to Ubuntu Gutsy, Feisty, Intrepid, Lucid.

Updated 14.01.2011: tested on E6410 to upgrade to revision A06. Requires a 32 bit linux to create the image.

1. Find your computer tag:

# modprobe i8k
# cat /proc/i8k | cut -f3 -d" "

2. Download the BIOS upgrade exe file from Dell website: D820_A09.EXE in my case

3. Download biosdisk-0.65.tar.gz from http://linux.dell.com/projects.shtml#biosdisk and untar it.

4. Install required tools

apt-get install sysutils syslinux
#intrepid, lucid, maverick update: the sysutils package has been discontinued, use the tofrodos package instead

5. install biosdisk

# cd biosdisk
# ./install.sh

6. edit /usr/sbin/biosdisk and replace #!/bin/sh with #!/bin/bash otherwise you will get script errors

7. create the image

#biosdisk mkimage D820_A09.EXE
#mv /tmp/D820_A09.img /boot/

8. prepare grub

cp /usr/lib/syslinux/memdisk /boot/

9. boot. You will need something similar to boot the image (I used the editing options from the menu to add the entry on the fly):

kernel /boot/memdisk
initrd /boot/D820_A09.img

on grub2 you will need to use the *16 names as follows:

linux16 /boot/memdisk
initrd16 /boot/D820_A09.img

This will allow to boot the FreeDOS image and launch the BIOS upgrade tool. Make sure you know what you are doing.

Helpfull links:

Comments:

Len -

No ideea. I’ve did this several times and always worked.

Che -

Thanks, guess its one of those weird problems that never get solved.

firebush -

This worked…thanks!

Che -

I did this with the install option instead of mkimage, but it should be the same. When I boot to the .img, I get the Bad commad or file name. There’s an a:> prompt, and dir lists the FIRMWARE.EXE file, but when I try to manually start it it says something like “this cannot be run in dos mode”
Where did I go wrong?

Len -

It could be a hardware issue of course. You could also try to clean it. Unfortunately it is very complicated to reach the actual fan. I use a vacuum cleaner to clean it from time to time and there is a lot of dust inside usually.

Adam -

Alright, well I called dell and they ran me through some on board diagnostics, and before they will replace it they need me to update my BIOS. I am going to follow your directions for doing so and I’ll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for your help.

Art Fore -

Went through your instructions and with slight modifications, it worked beautifully. Already had compiler, etc install, guess that is syuutils, but suse does not call it that. installed syslinux, then done the install script. Did not have to modify the biosdisk script as it was already modified (ver 7.5), and only had to move the /tmp/d820 image file. everything else worked like clock work. Thanks for your write up. It was very helpful.

Art

Adam -

I have tried to get i8k working. Is there 64 bit support for it? I can’t tell if it is trying to send commands to my fan, which is broken and not responding, or if it isn’t even installed correctly. I have also tried another program called dellfand. Dellfand was, at one point, doing the job but it is not operational any longer. I have also burnt an Ubuntu live cd, and have booted with it but still no fan. Maybe it is a hardware issue? I am starting to think that might be the only explanation. Any other ideas?

Len -

Hello Adam, I don’t think the problem is with your bios but more likely with your APM or ACPI configuration. I know of a fan controling utility for Inspirons. It’s called i8kctl and uses the i8k interface in your kernel. Normaly you should first try a modprobe i8k and check if the /proc/i8k file exists. However I suggest to handle with care because it was designed for old i8000 laptops. Also you can try an Ubuntu live cd. It will not install anything but you can see if it will start your fans or not.

Adam -

I am running archlinux on my dell Lat. D820. My fan is not running, ever, and I have exhausted many other options. I am hoping that upgrading/restoring the BIOS would possibly overcome this problem. Maybe atleast get it to run at default speed. I don’t know much about the BIOS, and although I am not a linux novice, I don’t know if I trust myself to not make a mistake. Any advice, thoughts, tips, suggestions? They would be much appreciated.

Uwe Hermann -

You might want to give the “flashrom” Linux tool a try for the next BIOS upgrade on various boards. It’s a pure Linux command line tool (no need for CD-ROMs, DOS floppies, rebooting etc.) and it’s GPL’d. It supports a growing number of chipsets, ROM chips, and mainboards. http://www.coreboot.org/Flashrom HTH, Uwe.