Custom Dell Precision server BIOS question

[JaredKaragen]

So... I am at an impasse.


I have a Dell Precision R5400.

I purchased 2x x5460 (SLANP) CPU's and am maxing it out with 64Gb ECC Reg-F.   The cpu's were reported to be compatible.

Installed them;  get through post and it says processors are incompatible and doesn't continue the boot. (If they were truly incompatible, it wouldn't even go through POST).   The CPU's just aren't in the BIOS's list as "supported" even though they actually work.  Updated BIOS to the current A10 version, still same message (annoying, as its just a BIOS simple check that if wasn't there, everything would work fine)


I have found a custom BIOS to reflash to it to supposedly unlock it and let these processors work in it. (R5500A10.HDR)
The Ubuntu dell bios tool works and can read my current BIOS no prob.  Good news there...  I also upgraded it to the current A10 BIOS the other day while installing the new RAM   and CPU's under windows 10;  no issues at all...


Now here is the rub:  if the flash goes bad;  is there any way to recover short of using a chip clip on the on-board bios and hard-flashing it manually?   The only information I can find rely on the BIOS to reflash the machine, etc.... and the only BIOS recovery on bad flash options I have seen are related to their laptops.....


So...

I have the custom bios all ready to apply in linux, but haven't hit the button yet, for fear of ending up with a brick and bringing my main VPN and other services crashing down for who knows how long....


Anyone with experience in the matter of flashing custom BIOS's to dell servers that has any comments would be much appreciated.

[Deathwing]

"If the flash goes bad" are you talking about some sort of a drive or the Custom BIOS file?

[JaredKaragen]

"If the flash goes bad" are you talking about some sort of a drive or the Custom BIOS file?

If the file itself is bad... it was made by a 3rd party as well.


I know the laptops will allow you to make an old FAT partition, and put just the .HDR and .BIN files onto the flash's root, and boot while holding a button;  but that is the laptop series devices.

All of the server stuff, only has instructions/details for using the F12 option during POST;  which is not possible if the flash goes bad.

[Deathwing]

Hmm... you can try backing up the current BIOS firmware with which you can get more info about here: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-All-In-One-AIO-Desktops/Universal-BIOS-Backup-ToolKit-2-0/td-p/1205920

If you believe that the BIOS mod you have is reputable and trustable, you can go ahead and try it. While most of the modern servers have failsafes in place, R5400 is just... ancient by today's standards. So I can't be sure whether or not if you can even recover from a corrupt BIOS even if you have a backup.

[Carlton Banks]

"If the flash goes bad" are you talking about some sort of a drive or the Custom BIOS file?

If the file itself is bad... it was made by a 3rd party as well.

did this 3rd party publish a hash of the BIOS image?


Seems to me you are relying on:

• competence of the authors of this unofficial BIOS image
• luck during the flashing process (power surges/cuts are not your friend in these circumstances)
• lack of bugs in the flashing software (flashrom? something devised by this 3rd party developer? flashrom is pretty well tested, I believe, I've used it myself before)

if you cannot check a hash, downloading the file multiple times and checking they're identical is a (flimsy) substitute. if you can contact the 3rd party devlopers, maybe they would provide you with a hash to check the integrity of the image file.

really though, having a separate flashing device and the clips to do it is the only 100% assured way to do this (or as close to 100% as is possible). You can also read and store the contents of the BIOS ROM chip before you flash a different BIOS, which would not strictly keep you within the terms of any equipment warranty, but would render the OEM unable to actually detect that you broke any terms.

[JaredKaragen]

Hmm... you can try backing up the current BIOS firmware with which you can get more info about here: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-All-In-One-AIO-Desktops/Universal-BIOS-Backup-ToolKit-2-0/td-p/1205920

If you believe that the BIOS mod you have is reputable and trustable, you can go ahead and try it. While most of the modern servers have failsafes in place, R5400 is just... ancient by today's standards. So I can't be sure whether or not if you can even recover from a corrupt BIOS even if you have a backup.

Yeah, its definitely an older beast, but VERY reliable and perfect for the tasks I have it assigned to.

Didn't visit the Lenovo link;  this is a DELL....   dell uses their own proprietary method/utility for flashing their boards; and there is a well known/respected Ububtu utility for working with dell BIOS.

Getting current firmware from dell, or the machine itself is not in question...    I know the file I downloaded was not corrupted because I had to decompress it once downloaded and it would have been an issue then.  The BIOS modifier did not provide hash/checksums, but he was a well respected BIOS modifier on the site....


Yeah, my main concern is recovering from a corrupted or bad flash;   because at least I can be back up and running,   not stuck completely rebuilding/reconfiguring a server with all the services this one currently hosts.  I could use an RPi for the simple things (web redirects, VPN, etc.), but in no way are my game, tracking or other services going to work on that thing all at once.... so many of my services would be offline until I could get a replacement machine.


If you search for it, its the only custom ROM out there for an R5400 to accept an x5460
The funny thing is it took me hours and hours to figure out how to just flash the damned .HDR file itself;  not use the dell .exe utility or BIOS firmware updater.    
When I pulled a copy of the A10 rom out of the BIOS in Ubuntu;  I knew I could flash the file... but I never hit the button to do so;  as I have had issues in the past personally.    If I had a comparable machine to take place of this one if it goes bad.... well;  I would have just done it.... but If this doesn't work;  I am literally pooched and would have a mountain of work to get things back to where that machine is right now (not to mention trying to source a machine on the quick to take its place when I have zero cash to spend on such things ATM).    

I'm amazed it did so well with only 2Gb of ram all these years..... would really be nice to have the second CPU and better cpu's so I can put all of my RAM intensive services on that one machine instead of separate machines as they are now.... each of those machines are just enough to do what they are doing only.

If someone knows of an inexpensive USB adapter with a chip clip that would be good for use on this machine, please do tell.   I know they can be had for under $20 somewhere.... but would be nice to know i'm getting the right part.   If I got one;  Id manually pull the ROM, do a binary compare on the dell original ROM before flashing anyways....      I have a reason to be pretty cautious when it comes to things sometimes.

[Deathwing]

The link I shared is basically universal, no matter what sort of firmware or hardware you have, it takes a backup of it. But in all honesty, I would just say recycle the server or something. I am using a HP Microserver Gen 8 that I bought for like 150 USD 2 years ago it has a Celeron 1610T with 4 GB of RAM. Been serving me very well, have a lot of stuff loaded onto it and it can even handle game servers. If you are especially living in US, it should be pretty easy to get some 1U or 2U servers off of eBay easily and cheaply.

If you want to continue using your R5400 and upgrade it to X5460 try to check out reddit.com/r/homelab and ask your question there, maybe someone will reply to eventually regarding their firmware and how BIOS modding works. Sorry I couldn't help much.