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from the "bricks"-is-absolutely-accurate-this-time dept.
The Register (aka El Reg) reports:
Many [who installed the latest Dell BIOS update] now cannot boot up their machines. One typical explanation posted was: "Add me to the list Dell Inspiron 20 model 3052, updated on the weekend, woke up to a solid amber/orange light and a dead computer. Contacted Dell on facebook and this is what I was told "The updates Dell releases don't affect the system. But it would enhance the performance of the system" ummmm no....if they broke they need to fix it."
[...] Some users complained screens cycled through red, green, blue and white while others saw nothing but an amber or red power light and a dead screen.
The main model affected by the allegedly dodgy update is the Inspiron 20 3052, although a few users reported similar problems with Inspiron 3252s.
[...] Dell's initial reaction was to tell customers they needed to buy new motherboards.
[...] Although complaints in the forum date back to May 12, Dell took four days to offer up a possible solution... which users subsequently said didn't work. Dell has yet to send [El Reg] a statement.
Have we saved anyone from a big headache?
The relevant Dell forum thread can be found here.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Saturday May 20 2017, @06:13AM (2 children)
This is why you don't do BIOS this way. You put it on ROM, so you can at least roll back. Cheap bastards!
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday May 20 2017, @08:20AM (1 child)
Yeh, problem is I can't retrofit soldered-in ROM nearly as easy as I could replace a socketed UV-PROM.
I believe the FLASH EEPROM is an improvement, as things could be corrected when oversights/improvements of the BIOS code evolve, but my main gripe is that the FLASH EEPROM needs to be programmable by local means. Especially if the hardware is configured to let the processor update its own BIOS code.
It is risky business indeed to have to rely on a malfunctioning or compromised processor to help me reload code!
I want the compromised processor completely out of the loop, and let me put in known-good trusted code by an external trusted known-good device. Now with known-good boot code in control, the processor should at least start off clean.
This paradigm of having a processor update its own BIOS code is ripe for abuse by rogue programming spoofing the legit upgrading code.
Whether it be remote-access snooping, or downright denial-of-service crash-the-corporate-system to force them to replace the motherboard.... for shits and giggles.
I have fussed about this ever since they took the UV-PROMS away. To no avail. They gave me a superior method, then crippled my ability to recover when it was fully within their power to provide a robust recoverable system. Its not like SPI programmers are rocket science. AliExpress and the hobbyist market are full of them.
Those penny-pinching business types drive me nuts. Yet they get paid the big bucks for this kind of thing. While people like me are seen as whiners.
When it comes to their employer, they pinch pennies and we end up with this kind of thing. They get paid a helluva lot of money for their "executive leadership and organizational skills" and spend their money on luxury cruises and the like, while their company is stuck with sub-par crap. And they still have the gall to extend their hand for a shake to those who think that a handshake with a suit-man is more important than a 6-pin SPI connector on the machine that runs the company's infrastructure.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday May 20 2017, @12:40PM
Having the processor upgrade it's own boot code works if there is a backup memory to boot from. And only pre-tested code is allowed to be programmed usually through signing the code.
What has failed here is that the code obviously weren't tested. And customers should be vary of "upgrading" anything that works. Let others be unwilling beta testers without compensation.