Update supermicro X10SLM-F firmware BIOS under Linux with the SUM cli

Here is how we updated our Supermicro server X10SLM-F with the latest firmware at the moment.

Our current BIOS firmware version is 2.0

[root@srv ~]# lshw|grep -A 14 "core$"
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       product: X10SLM-F
       vendor: Supermicro
       physical id: 0
       version: 1.02
       serial: 11111111111
       slot: To be filled by O.E.M.
     *-firmware
          description: BIOS
          vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
          physical id: 0
          version: 2.0
          date: 04/24/2014
          size: 64KiB

STEP 1) Download SUM cli

Here is how you can do it: Update supermicro server’s firmware BIOS under linux with the SUM cli Upload the file in your /root directory.

[root@srv ~]# tar xzvf sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64_20171108.tar.gz 
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/ReleaseNote.txt
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/sum
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/ExternalData/
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/ExternalData/VENID.txt
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/ExternalData/SMCIPID.txt
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/driver/
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/driver/RHL4_x86_64/
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/driver/RHL4_x86_64/sum_bios.ko
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/driver/RHL6_x86_64/
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/driver/RHL6_x86_64/sum_bios.ko
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/driver/RHL5_x86_64/
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/driver/RHL5_x86_64/sum_bios.ko
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/driver/RHL7_x86_64/
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/driver/RHL7_x86_64/sum_bios.ko
sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/SUM_UserGuide.pdf

Above you can see what files you can expect. The utility is the binary file “/root/sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64/sum”.

STEP 2) Download the new firmware from Supermicro site

Upload the firmware file in your /root directory and unzip it with:

 
[root@srv ~]# unzip X10SLM8_514.zip 
Archive:  X10SLM8_514.zip
   creating: X10SLM8.514/
  inflating: X10SLM8.514/AFUDOSU.SMC  
  inflating: X10SLM8.514/ami.bat     
  inflating: X10SLM8.514/Readme for AMI BIOS.txt  
  inflating: X10SLM8.514/X10SLM8.514  

Above you can see what files you can expect. The firmware binary is “X10SLM8.514/X10SLM8.514”.

STEP 3) Update your BIOS firmware with SUM cli

[root@srv ~]# cd sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64
[root@srv sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64]# ./sum -c UpdateBios --file ../X10SLM8.514/X10SLM8.514 
Supermicro Update Manager (for UEFI BIOS) 2.0.0 (2017/11/08) (x86_64)
Copyright©2017 Super Micro Computer, Inc. All rights reserved
Reading BIOS flash ..................... (100%)
Checking BIOS ID ...
Writing BIOS flash ..................... (100%)
Verifying BIOS flash ................... (100%)
Checking ME Firmware ...
Putting ME data to BIOS ................ (100%)
Writing ME region in BIOS flash ...
 - Update success for /FDT!!
 - Updated Recovery Loader to OPRx
 - Updated FPT, MFSB, FTPR and MFS
 - ME Entire Image done
WARNING:Must power cycle or restart the system for the changes to take effect!
[root@srv sum_2.0.0_Linux_x86_64]# reboot

Reboot your machine. After a couple more automatic reboots you’ll end up with updated BIOS firmware. We had 4 or 5 reboots before the system could be used.

STEP 4) Load default/optimized configuration of the new BIOS

It is advisable to load the current BIOS default or optimized configuration, because the new BIOS could have incompatible options with the old one. So enter the BIOS Setup -> Save & Exit -> Restore Optimized Defaults -> Yes and then make your custom configuration if any. At last press “Save Changes and Reset”.
You can see the version is now 3.2 and the Build date is 05/14/2018

main menu
X10SLM-F UEFI BIOS Main menu

BIOS Setup -> Save & Exit -> Restore Optimized Defaults -> Yes
main menu
Load Opitimized Defaults

Troubleshooting

In our case the update was successful during the first time, but if you have the following error:

Error message:
    FDT is different. Please use system reboot(do not shutdown
    or poweroff system) command to force ME enter manufacturing mode 
    and run UpdateBIOS command again to update BIOS and ME region.

Don’t panic, just reboot and execute the exact command again! The second time everything will be OK as in our more generic article here: Update supermicro server’s firmware BIOS under linux with the SUM cli

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