DELL Firmware Update Over The Air App User Guide

DELL Firmware Update Over The Air App

The Firmware Update Over The Air is a feature that allows you to update the firmware of your system using the BIOS level connectivity framework. This feature is available in the pre-boot tasks menu and can be accessed by pressing the F12 key during system startup.

Product Introduction to BIOSConnect and FOTA

BIOSConnect is a connectivity framework that allows your system to connect to wireless networks and access the internet. Firmware Over The Air (FOTA) is a feature of BIOSConnect that enables you to update the firmware of your system wirelessly.

Prerequisites

Before updating the firmware of your system using FOTA, ensure that your system is connected to an electrical outlet and has an active internet connection.

Product Steps for Firmware Update Over The Air

1. Turn on or restart your system.
2. Press the F12 key until the one-time boot menu is displayed.
3. Select BIOS Flash Update – Remote from the pre-boot tasks menu.
4. Connect to a wireless network by selecting it from the list of available networks.
5. Click Update BIOS.
6. If you want to update the BIOS image, click Yes when prompted for confirmation. FOTA will download the latest available BIOS image and initiate the BIOS firmware update. Once the update is complete, a message stating “firmware update successful, rebooting your system” will appear, and your system will restart. If there are no updates available for your current BIOS version, a message stating “BIOS version up to date” will appear, and you can click OK to restart your system. If you do not want to update the BIOS image, click No to exit.

Product Connect to a wireless network

To connect to a wireless network:

1. Ensure that the wireless modem or router is turned on and placed near the computer for easy detection.
2. Select a wireless network icon from the list of available networks. The blue bar in the wireless icon indicates the signal strength, and the small lock on the upper right of the icon indicates a secure access point.

Notes, cautions, and warnings

• NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product.
• CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem.
• WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.

Introduction to BIOSConnect and FOTA

BIOSConnect is a pre-boot connectivity framework. It provides a support network that enables the BIOS to perform Firmware Update Over The Air (FOTA) capability and also to recover the operating system. The FOTA application searches for the most recent or the latest BIOS version available from Dell and displays it for you. FOTA supports both wired and wireless network connectivity. Depending on the type of Internet connection that is available, one of the following actions may occur:

• Wired Internet connection—FOTA initiates your firmware update upon confirmation.
• Wireless Internet connection—FOTA scans for wireless networks and displays the list of available wireless networks. You can also connect to hidden wireless networks. After the connection is established, the download of the new firmware is initiated upon confirmation.

Firmware Update Over The Air

Prerequisites

• Ensure that your system is connected to an electrical outlet.
• Your system must have an active Internet connection.

About this task

The FOTA feature in the pre-boot tasks menu allows you to update the firmware using the BIOS level connectivity framework.

Steps

1. Turn on or restart your system.

2. Press the F12 key until the one-time boot menu is displayed.

   • NOTE: If you wait too long and the operating system logo is displayed, wait until you see the Windows desktop, restart your system, and try again. When your system turns on, keep tapping the F12 key continuously for the one-time boot menu to appear.

3. Select BIOS Flash Update – Remote.

   • The available wireless networks are displayed.

4. Connect to a wireless network.

   • For more information about how to connect to a wireless network, see Connect to a wireless network.

5. Click Update BIOS.

   • Figure 2. Remote BIOS Flash Update
   • A message requesting confirmation for the firmware update is displayed.
   • Figure 3. Firmware update confirmation window

6. Perform one of the following steps:

   • Click Yes to update the BIOS image.

   • Figure 4. Firmware download complete

   • If you click Yes, FOTA downloads the latest available BIOS image. After the BIOS image is downloaded successfully, system restarts and the BIOS firmware update is initiated. Once the firmware update is complete, a screen with the message firmware update successful, rebooting your system appears. If there are no updates available for your current BIOS version, you are prompted with a message stating that the BIOS version is up to date. Click OK to restart the system.

   • Figure 5. BIOS version up to date

   • Click No to exit.

   • Figure 6. Firmware update cancelled

Topics:

• Connect to a wireless network

Connect to a wireless network

Prerequisites

The wireless modem or router must be turned on and placed near the computer for easy detection.

Steps

1. Select a wireless network icon from the list of available networks.
   • NOTE: The blue bar in the wireless icon indicates the signal strength, and the small lock on the upper right of the icon indicates a secure access point.
   • Figure 7. List of available wireless networks
2. Depending on the type of wireless network, perform one of the following steps:
   • For a secured wireless network, enter the password and click Connect.
   • For an unsecured wireless network, click Connect.
   • For a hidden wireless network, enter the network name or SSID, select an authentication method, enter the password, and then click Connect.

Dell Command | Configure

Dell Command | Configure is a software package that provides BIOS configuration capability for Dell client systems. IT administrators can use this tool to configure BIOS settings and create BIOS packages using the Dell Command | Configure User Interface (UI) or Command Line Interface (CLI). By default, FOTA is enabled. FOTA can be enabled or disabled using the DCC tool. If FOTA is disabled, even the load defaults option in the BIOS setup page will not restore the default status and the BIOS Flash Update-Remote option is hidden from the pre-boot tasks menu.

Due to security restrictions, only the IT administrator can reinstate the FOTA feature using the DCC tool. The enable and disable options are password protected. If password protection is enabled, the password must be entered while modifying the FOTA feature. For more information about DCC tool, see Dell Command Configure documents at https://www.dell.com/support.

Notifications

The following table provides a summary of different types of notifications that are displayed.

Table 1. Notifications

• The system is not able to acquire IP address through Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).
• There is no DHCP server that is connected to the network.

| Enable DHCP on the system on your router.
Failed to get networks.| When you click the refresh button, and the system is unable to find an access point.| Not applicable.
No Internet Connectivity.| There is no Internet connectivity.| Check available WiFi network and signal strength.
Download cancelled by user.| When you choose to cancel the download by selecting Yes.| Not applicable.
No media connectivity.| The router is not responding, or the system is out of WiFi range.| Not applicable.
Insufficient memory. Could not download data.| The system has insufficient memory (RAM) to complete the BIOSConnect process.| Not applicable.
Server not responding.| The server is not responding due to a network issue.| Not applicable.
Press Yes to enable UEFI Network Stack and continue OR No to restart system.| The UEFI network stack is disabled, and the admin password is not set.| Not applicable.
To use this feature, Enable UEFI Network Stack option in Bios Setup and Try again.| The UEFI network stack is disabled, and the admin password is set.| Not applicable.

Video References

For more information about FOTA, see How to perform Firmware Update Over The Air using Dell BIOSConnect at https://www.dell.com/support/contents/en- us/videos.

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