Using Fedora 43 Workstation / Desktop, latest updates. Kernel version unknown, it’s the current one. Bios version unknown, it’s the one from “before yesterday”.
Yesterday, the Fedora update manager recommended to do a BIOS update (the version was offered yesterday evening for the first time so I think the BIOS version that triggered this is the one currently being shipped). I postponed that until this morning. Rebooted, BIOS update started, looked as usual so I then went to do other stuff and left it unattended. When I came back, I observed power on, black screen, fan on maximum and heating like crazy. No reaction to anything but pushing the power button 10 seconds to switch it off. Started up again and the same thing, keyboard backlights would initialize (numbers block first, main keyboard shortly after that), black screen, high fan, much heat but nothing else, even after 45 minutes.
I remember that behavior from previous BIOS updates, however, it would recover after one forced restart which doesn’t seem to work this time. So it’s a paperweight now and I don’t know what I can do to save it.
I don’t think there is anything you can do to fix it. Contact fw support via their web page.
In general, i don’t think fedora handles bios upgrades very well because it does not get people to read the FW install instructions first. FW bios firmware update process can brick a laptop and once bricked, only a repair shop can recover it.
Things that are more likely to brick the laptop are:
laptop showing stability problems before the update, meaning it could crash during the update.
any usb devices should be disconnected during the bios update.
I have updated mine from Fedora 43 KDE Plasma to Fedora 44 last night. No problems, no fan running crazy etc. Mine is a FW16 Ai300 (Ai9) 2nd generation. So more info required. What processor? 1st or 2nd generation FW16, are you running KDE or Gnome ?
Okay, bummer! I didn’t disconnect the peripherals because I would find it hard to explain why an externally-connected monitor, keyboard and mouse would disturb an update process. It didn’t interfere in previous updates, too. Other than that, the laptop worked 100% rock-solid until this update was happening so I doubt that it crashed during the update and bricked itself.
The charger was attached during the process as it should.
Actually I think the OS is rather irrelevant here as it’s only the vehicle to bring the update files to the place where the BIOS picks them up at next boot time to install. Again, this worked beautifully in the past. Something was off with the current update. After a bit of research, I assume it’s 4.04. No idea what the previous version was that still worked. There is apparently no way to see all the released BIOS updates in a list.
The FW Laptop in question is a Ryzen 7040 from Batch 12, no idea what generation that was, probably 1st. In Fedora 43 Workstation, I am using Gnome desktop but again, that’s probably not relevant for the firmware update. Software manager downloaded the firmware as it should and I rebooted on its recommendation. Just like before, only that it turned out fatal this time.
I consider myself a repair shop by the way. If I had a binary image of a working EEPROM, I would try to reflash the chip on the board. However, I read someplace else that people had to compile the firmware image first, and that is something I am definitely not capable of. If the binary image, preferredly of the pre-4.04 BIOS, can be drawn from the EFI shell update package or, in the worst case, from the windows executable, and if that could be used directly to flash into the EEPROM, I might try that. I’ll dump the current contents of it to be on the safe side and at least get back to that state.
However, this fails already at the point where I would need the pre-4.04 BIOS that I cannot find anywhere. Then it’s unclear whether the available files would be any use to flash. The final outcome is totally open.
Val from support pointed me towards using the chassis switch 10 times as others have already posted before. Either that helped, or the battery and PSU removal for a 2-minute period. It takes longer to start up now (from pushing the button until the logo appears) but i can live with that - far better than with a paperweight.
So thanks everyone for chiming in. Your help is much appreciated!
I’ve bios bricked my work Dell by having it’s dock plugged in during a bios update, then the room power switched off because I was there too late, the dock lost power, and the Bios update failed, leaving me with a completely dead laptop…
