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I want to update the BIOS on Toshiba QOSMIO-G30. The exe file that I downloaded from the manufacturer web site is supposed to be Operating System independent! Yet using Wine I could not execute the file to FLASH System BIOS. Is there any way to update the BIOS in Ubuntu?

Wilf
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Khaled Musleh
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8 Answers8

13

I would highly recommend not flashing a BIOS with an .exe using Wine. Flashing a BIOS can potentially turn your computer into a large paperweight if something goes wrong.

Some manufacturers (I know Dell does for example) have alternative BIOS upgrade methods for Linux.

However if Toshiba does not offer any Linux compatible options, your best bet is to:

  1. Determine if you really need to do the update. If you aren't having any problems with the BIOS currently and don't require any new features from it you can probably safely ignore the update.
  2. If you do require the update, either create a DOS boot disk (Mitch's answer links to a good how-to for doing this), install DOS/freeDOS etc. onto a new partition, or -gulp- install Windows. If you have an extra old hard drive around you could also install this hard drive, put windows on it, flash the BIOS and then switch back to your hard drive with Ubuntu on it.
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adempewolff
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  • Thanks for the response . there is not good reason why i should update the bios now . I thought it might help in recognizing the graphic card since Ubuntu does not! otherwise everything is functioning OK. I agree that Mitch's recommendations seem to be the best way out. – Khaled Musleh May 31 '12 at 11:54
  • @KhaledMusleh It is very unlikely (if not impossible) that updating the BIOS will help Ubuntu recognize your graphics card. If you haven't already, open jockey (Also know as Additional Drivers) and see if you can enable a driver for your graphics card. – adempewolff May 31 '12 at 12:00
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    @KhaledMusleh In addition, it's probably related to this. - http://askubuntu.com/questions/85318/how-can-i-get-my-intel-integrated-graphics-to-be-recognized-in-system-info – jrg May 31 '12 at 12:06
  • I tried many time all the different graphic drivers supplied by ubuntu that can run 3D but none works . even in all versions of ubuntu. i found out that there is a similar card on the black list but not the same . the GT version is on the black list but not my card which have the same name-nVidia GeForce Go 7600. – Khaled Musleh May 31 '12 at 12:35
  • @KhaledMusleh I would suggest you make a new question specifically about your graphics card with all the information about your card and what you have tried. Nvidea does not make a different linux driver for every different card, so the name would not be the same. Enabling the recommended Nvidea driver on the blacklist will likely fix your problem. – adempewolff May 31 '12 at 12:43
  • Thank you very much adempewolff . i followed the bug link above and installed the apt and now i have a wonderful crystal clear screen. thanks again. – Khaled Musleh May 31 '12 at 13:54
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This site explains how to go about doing a BIOS update under Linux.

Quoted from the same site:

So you've finally made the move to a Windows-free computer, you're enjoying your brand new Linux OS, no Trojans/viruses, no slowdown, everything is perfect. Suddenly, you need to update the BIOS on your motherboard to support some new piece of hardware, but typically the motherboard vendor is offering only DOS based BIOS flash utilities. You panic! Fortunately, this problem is easy to solve...

Below are the steps to follow:

Step 1: Download FreeDOS boot disk floppy image

Step 2: Copy your BIOS flash utility and new BIOS image to the mounted floppy disk image

Step 3: Burn a bootable CD which will emulate floppy device for use

Step 4: Reboot, flash, reboot, enjoy your new BIOS

Source: linuxinsight.com

Eliah Kagan
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Mitch
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    after many times of tries i think your choice is probably the best way to solve the problem. however after reading the DOS based BIOS flash method i find it difficult for me to do. – Khaled Musleh May 31 '12 at 10:11
  • Take you time reading it, and I`m sure that you can do it.:) – Mitch May 31 '12 at 10:14
  • I will try to read carefully the steps and evaluate if it is worth the risk . than you Mitch – Khaled Musleh May 31 '12 at 11:44
  • Unfortunately the BIOS image is larger than the 1.44Mb disc image. :-( – artfulrobot Oct 04 '13 at 08:02
  • That's fine. because you\re creating a bootable CD, and not a floppy. – Mitch Oct 04 '13 at 08:20
  • I find this FreeDOS method frustrating despite being familiar with the CLI. It just feels too easy to get it wrong and because DOS is not a familiar environment, it's not easy to remember all that needs to be done. Plus I've never seen anyone spell it (this method) out in clear terms, and that too is frustrating. – RolandiXor Apr 04 '15 at 22:13
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Flashing using only GNU/Linux

(No floppy disks, No CDs, No DOS, No FreeDOS, No Win*)

Explanation

Usually there are two files:

  • a binary file which includes all the data (firmware) which is going to be transferred to the motherboard's rom chip,

  • a binary file which is an executable utility and is used to make the actual transfer of the firmware to the motherboard, plus some checks.

Manufacturers may combine these two binaries into one self extracted compressed executable file (.exe which is like a .zip file).

In this case a GNU/linux user can unzip the .exe file and extract the firmware file. Then using the flashrom utility can flash the new firmware to the motherboard.

I have tested this procedure using a Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 (rev. 1.3) and an .exe file which included F10 firmware revision.

The procedure

To make a backup of the old firmware:

flashrom -p internal -r backup.rom -o backuplog.txt

To make the writing of the new firmware, replace Z8MAD2H3.F10 with your new firmware:

flashrom -p internal -w Z8MAD2H3.F10 -o writelog.txt

To revert from an unsuccessful writing, if you completed the backup at the first step:

flashrom -p internal -w backup.rom -o restorelog.txt
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skarmoutsosv
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4

That's not going to work.

Depending on the tool provided by Toshiba, you must either:

  • run the exe file on a real Windows
  • create a DOS boot disk

If Toshiba is providing an exe file for the second option, you can try creating a FreeDOS image to run the file. I found a description for Gentoo how to do that.

Sebi
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  • thanks for the respond . I will try the second option because the instillation programs that come with the computer do not work! – Khaled Musleh May 31 '12 at 09:52
  • I meant windows can not be installed even a retail version of window could not recognize the 2 HD on the laptop. the only OS that works with the laptop is UBUNTU. I am hoping that if i update the BIOS then I might be able to run 12.04 3D ! – Khaled Musleh May 31 '12 at 10:21
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If you don't have a Win-10 copy, and if you don't want to download a 5 Gb tryout version and install it, a Win-10 based rescue disk will do it. For example, this one allowed me to run the windows .exe file provided by HP. I used directly the "update the installed BIOS".

Simplier than the Free DOS solution, in my opinion.

KO the typo
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0

Many modern laptops and system don't actually use the EXE files directly to update the BIOS, but instead ask that you write the file to a USB flash stick and boot into the BIOS with that inserted.

Kristopher Ives
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0

There is no such thing like OS-independent binary executables. As "exe file" probably means "a file whose name ends in .EXE", that's most likely either a Windows Portable Executable or an MS-DOS executable.

BIOS upgrade are really supposed to be something low-level you can do with a simple system, such as MS-DOS or FreeDOS.

So the first step here is to check whether the executable is an MS-DOS executable or a Windows executable. If it is a windows executable and it does not run under Wine, try to see if it is somehow extractable using an archiving tool (sometimes unzip may be able to help here), so you get the flash image and maybe MS-DOS flash tools (it would not be the first time MS-DOS tools are packaged inside a windows-only installer).

With no flash tools, there are generic flashers like Uniflash that are worth a try. If you want to run it and it is windows only, a good choice is probably to get a Windows Preinstallation Environment live CD, which has the basic system and will be able to run the flash tool, but unfortunately that requires a Windows license.

If you're lucky and you get a set of MS-DOS tools, just grab some FreeDOS live CD or floppy image and boot into FreeDOS to use the tools (although you will need to have the tools in a separate floppy/pen/CD). If you are even luckier, you may get a ready-to-boot disk image (as many people pack floppy images inside floppy image writers, that's possible, too).

njsg
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  • Thanks for the response njsg. the file is win/DOS program. since i can not re-install windows from the discs that comes with the laptop and even a retail windows version could not recognize the 2 HD on the lapto, then the only option left is to use the DOS OS. – Khaled Musleh May 31 '12 at 12:02
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Disconnect your Ubuntu system drive, connect an old spare or used drive, install Windows on it, and do the BIOS update (if, as Pilot6 explains, if you absolutely, positively, have to update the BIOS). Then, disconnect the old drive, put your Ubuntu OS drive back on, and you're ready to go, secure in the knowledge that Windows did not corrupt Linux (which happens often, sadly).

K7AAY
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