Computer Hardware User Manual

UpdatingorrecoveringtheBIOS
ThistopicprovidesinstructionsonhowtoupdatetheBIOSandhowtorecoverfromaPOSTandBIOS
updatefailure.
Systemprogramsarethebasiclayerofsoftwarebuiltintoyourserver.SystemprogramsincludethePOST,
theUEFIBIOS,theSetupUtilityprogram,andtheTMMrmware.ThePOSTisasetoftestsandprocedures
thatareperformedeachtimeyouturnonyourserver.TheUEFIBIOSisalayerofsoftwarethattranslates
instructionsfromotherlayersofsoftwareintoelectricalsignalsthattheserverhardwarecanexecute.You
canusetheSetupUtilityprogramtovieworchangethecongurationsettingsofyourserver.See“Usingthe
SetupUtilityprogram”onpage51
.TheTMMrmwareprovidesremotemanagementfeatures.
LenovomightmakechangesandenhancementstotheBIOSandTMMrmware.Whenupdatesarereleased,
theyareavailablefordownloadontheLenovoWebsiteathttp://www.lenovo.com/drivers.Youcanupdate
theserverrmwarebydownloadinganupdatepackageandfollowingtheinstructionsontheWebpage.
YoualsocanusetheFirmwareUpdaterprogramtohelpyoukeeptheserverrmwareup-to-date.See
“Updatingthermware”onpage65.
Updating(ashing)theBIOS
Thistopicprovidesinstructionsonhowtoupdate(ash)theBIOS.
Notes:
•UpdatetheBIOSonyourserveronlyifthenewerBIOSversionspecicallysolvesaproblemyouhave.
WedonotrecommendBIOSupdatesforserversthatdonotneedthem.Youcanviewtheupdated
informationforthenewBIOSversionintheinstallationinstructionsfortheBIOSupdatepackage.
•DowngradingtheBIOStoanearlierversionisnotrecommendedandmightnotbesupported.Anearlier
BIOSversionmightnotsupportthelatestsystemcongurations.
•IfthepowertoyourserverisinterruptedwhilethePOSTandBIOSarebeingupdated,yourservermight
notrestartcorrectly.EnsurethatyouperformtheBIOSupdateprocedureinanenvironmentwitha
steadypowersupply.Besides,ensurethatyourservercanrestartsuccessfullywithoutencountering
hardwareproblems.
•IfyouhaveupdatedtheBIOSrmware,alltheBIOSsettingsbecomethedefaultsettingsoftheupdated
BIOSversion.YouneedtocheckandreconguretheBIOSsettingsforyourspecicneeds.Youcan
selectSaveasUserDefaultsontheSave&ExitmenuintheSetupUtilityprogramtosaveyourcurrent
BIOSsettingsasuserdefaultvaluesbeforeupdatingtheBIOS.Then,youcanselectRestoreUser
DefaultsontheSave&ExitmenuintheSetupUtilityprogramtorestoretheuserdefaultvaluesafter
updatingtheBIOS.Inthiscase,youcankeepyourpreviousBIOSsettingsanddonotneedtorecongure
thesettingsafterupdatingtheBIOS.YoualsocanrecordyourspecicBIOSsettingsbeforeupdatingthe
BIOSforaneasierrecongurationinthenewBIOSversion.
Toupdate(ash)theBIOS,dothefollowing:
1.Gotohttp://www.lenovo.com/driversandfollowtheinstructionsontheWebpagetolocatetheBIOS
updatepackage.
2.DownloadtheBIOSupdatepackageandtheinstallationinstructionsinaTXTle.
3.PrinttheTXTlethatcontainstheinstallationinstructionsandfollowtheinstructionstoupdate(ash)
theBIOS.
4.DooneofthefollowingaftertheBIOSupdateprocessiscompleted:
•IfyouhavesavedyourBIOSsettingsasuserdefaultvaluesbeforeupdatingtheBIOS,select
RestoreUserDefaultsontheSave&ExitmenuintheSetupUtilityprogramtorestoretheuser
defaultvalues.Then,doadouble-check.
58ThinkServerRD540UserGuideandHardwareMaintenanceManual