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please HELP...this is a very similar issue to: How to perform a HP BIOS upgrade with only Ubuntu?

I've tried it all above, and can't seem to boot from exe. since my HP PC hardware Diagnositics UEFI doesn't give me the update option.The current version of BIOS is F.12... and the newest is from 2017 is F.20 for my product number. https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-pavilion-15-n000-notebook-pc-series/5401225/model/6453751

All I have on my laptop is Ubuntu, I recently upgraded to 20.04 from 18.04 .First I was missing a lot of RAM, I fixed that from 1.4GB to 5GB by switching places of my hardware RAM.guess that's a hardware malfunction. I'm much more happy with the speed and appreciate Ubuntu 20.04 all ready.I wish to keep it.

the reason I'd like to update BIOS is I can't seem to have any options select-able apart from time, date and system log. the rest is grey. any way I hope to fix a few issues regarding my Wireless adapter, the Wifi works, but occasionally just stops, so I turn it of and turn back on to connect again. but the Bluetooth says missing dongle, I recognize that the adapter for WLan and Bluetooth are the same adapter. and my dual graphics doesn't seem to be working.

all in all, i hope that update BIOS would fix this problem, and can't seem to boot the support packs in exe. . I'm considering booting free dos, and then installing the updates (btw would i need to install F.14 ,F.15,ect. or just the newest F.20 - i also see on hp support that the F.13 is missing.)?

Do i maybe have to update the hardware diagnostic UEFI, and how?

I'm new to the community, be gentle, I come in peace. I have some knowledge of I.T. but as you've probably noticed not that much. any help would do. I just need this as it is the only form of working from home I have right now. take care.

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  • Are you not abel to extract the .bin & copy into the ESP adn create additional folder with the rest of the files? Or you can typically copy into any FAT32 partition as UEFI only reads FAT32. Did you click on the link to arch site with more detail?
    – oldfred
    May 1, 2020 at 22:30
  • Hey thanks for the quick reply first of all :) I'm not sure I understand. I don't know where to start, should I concentrate on the UEFI upgrade of my laptop, or go staight to boot the exe. file that i downloaded from hp support ...the BIOS one, and should I upgrade gradually? or immediately to F.20? and how can unpack this exe. and make a bootable usb in Ubuntu 20.04? I mean would any of this work even? for my situation, i just would like it all neat in the bios. link to arch site? I posted the main links I have followed and tried.
    – Gochila
    May 2, 2020 at 0:16
  • If you look in the link you posted was a comment with more/similar/better instructions at an Arch site. UEFI is the replacement for BIOS. Many vendors still call it BIOS, but since 2012 Microsoft has required vendors to install Windows in UEFI boot mode to gpt partitioned drives. So all systems since 2012 are UEFI. Your first link as this in comments: h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebooks-Archive-Read-Only/… & wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Flashing_BIOS_from_Linux
    – oldfred
    May 2, 2020 at 2:31
  • Thank you for pointing out a obvious miss. but I'm still having an issue, i can only extract 2 bin files? from the F.20 version. and please would you mind answering the other questions i had? also when i restart and boot \---Hewlett-Packard +---BIOS | \---New | Mxx_xxxx.bin | \---BIOSUpdate i can't see the .bin in boot up. and there is no iso.
    – Gochila
    May 2, 2020 at 14:47
  • Do not have HP nor have done it the HP way. But my Asus motherboard in UEFI has an update. From there I go to the FAT32 partition that has my update file and click on the update file. It must be a FAT32 partition as that is all UEFI can read. I think links show HP needs not just the update file, but an additional folder with more files.
    – oldfred
    May 2, 2020 at 15:58

1 Answer 1

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I just upgraded the BIOS on a HP 340s, which runs Ubuntu 20.04. I wasn't able to locate any "update BIOS" menus whatsoever, and didn't want to experiment with copying files manually to the EFI partition either. It seems that the BIOS .exe for that particular machine is packed in a way that can't be easily extracted under Linux, so sadly, I needed a windows machine. Below are the steps that should do the trick:

  • If you can get your hands on a Windows machine, prepare a USB boot drive with the BIOS installer .exe (I think it was the second option, install on a USB drive or similar).
  • Plug in the USB drive and restart the notebook to be updated. Hold ESC to bring up the system information/setup etc. options, then choose F9 (boot devices), then "boot from an EFI file".
  • You should be able to see the USB drive you created under Windows, named "Hp Tools" or something similar.
  • Go to the Hewlett-Packard/BIOSUpdate directory and choose the HpBiosUpdate.efi file.
  • The next screen will warn you to switch to AC power and will proceed with the BIOS update.

This did the trick for me. The USB drive was FAT32 formatted and I don't think that the BIOS (pre-?)installer did something special to it under Windows.

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