[OpenIndiana-discuss] Dell UEFI BIOS update and OpenIndiana

[stes@PANDORA.BE]

When I press ESC or F12 to get into the Dell UEFI BIOS, it reports 

Boot mode is set to: UEFI; Secure Boot: OFF

then there is a UEFI Boot menu and option to go into the BIOS setup,
and also an option to change Boot Mode.

The only option provided there (under "Change Boot Mode") is UEFI Boot Mode, Secure Boot ON
(which I didn't test and based on the OpenIndiana docs and suggestions, I am not going to turn on Secure Boot).

Actually I have tried to find an option to boot without UEFI but have not been able to find such an option on the Dell Precision 3640, so I think the system does not provide a legacy BIOS boot mode; at least I have not been able to find it.

In the BIOS Setup itself there is a "General" Settings with "Boot Sequence", and under Boot Sequence an editable boot list,
which I think is the same list as tools such as :

https://github.com/rhboot/efibootmgr

EFI bootmgr manipulate.

However to my knowledge OpenIndiana does not provide a tool like "efibootmgr".

Nevertheless OpenIndiana seems to work fine with UEFI,
and the BIOS Setup editable boot list in the Dell BIOS,
allows to edit the list and remove for example entries that are not needed or to add entries.

Basically this list specifies the order that the BIOS search devices when trying to find an operating system to boot.

I am certainly not an expert in UEFI boot, I'm just reporting that it seems to work for OpenIndiana.

There are open UEFI boot issues at https://www.illumos.org/issues/14807

I'll file a "feature request" for a efibootmgr tool ...

Regards,
David Stes

----- Op 27 sep 2022 om 16:31 schreef carl carl at bl.echidna.id.au:

> On 27/09/2022 6:47 pm, stes at PANDORA.BE wrote:
>> 
>> The Dell UEFI BIOS 1.17 for Dell Precision seems to work fine for me (UEFI) with
>> Secure Boot disabled (which I think is the default for Dell Precision).
>> 
>> Is someone keeping a list of supported / tested BIOS firmware versions ?
>> 
>> For me Dell BIOS 1.17 is reported in OpenIndiana as:
>> 
>> # prtdiag -v | head
>> System Configuration: Dell Inc. Precision 3640 Tower
>> BIOS Configuration: Dell Inc. 1.17.0 08/12/2022
>> 
>> ==== Processor Sockets ====================================
>> 
>> Version                          Location Tag
>> -------------------------------- --------------------------
>> Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-10100 CPU @ 3.60GHz
>> 
>> 
>> Perhaps there could be a specific documentation page for community provided
>> tested BIOS versions.
> 
> Once upon a time there was a HCL, but it seems to be long dead.
> 
> My BIOS's :
> 
> root at hog:/slow/backups/VMs# prtdiag -v | head
> 
> System Configuration: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. H370M-D3H
> BIOS Configuration: American Megatrends Inc. F2 02/13/2018
> 
> ==== Processor Sockets ====================================
> 
> Version                          Location Tag
> -------------------------------- --------------------------
> Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz U3E1
> 
> 
> root at skaro:/slow/backups/VMs#  prtdiag -v | head
> System Configuration: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. B460MAORUSPRO
> BIOS Configuration: American Megatrends Inc. F4 08/28/2020
> 
> ==== Processor Sockets ====================================
> 
> Version                          Location Tag
> -------------------------------- --------------------------
> Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-10400F CPU @ 2.90GHz U3E1
> 
> And one that's too old for prtdiag! :
> 
> carl at hostie:~# prtdiag -v | head
> prtdiag: failed to open SMBIOS: System does not export an SMBIOS table
> carl at hostie:~#
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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