Lenovo ThinkServer RD640 - Updating or Recovering the BIOS

FormoreinformationabouttheSave&ExitmenuintheSetupUtilityprogram,see“Save&Exitmenu”
onpage62
.
UpdatingorrecoveringtheBIOS
ThistopicprovidesinstructionsonhowtoupdatetheBIOSandhowtorecoverfromaPOSTandBIOS
updatefailure.
Systemprogramsarethebasiclayerofsoftwarebuiltintoyourserver.SystemprogramsincludethePOST,
theUEFIBIOS,theSetupUtilityprogram,andtheTMMfirmware.ThePOSTisasetoftestsandprocedures
thatareperformedeachtimeyouturnonyourserver.TheUEFIBIOSisalayerofsoftwarethattranslates
instructionsfromotherlayersofsoftwareintoelectricalsignalsthattheserverhardwarecanexecute.You
canusetheSetupUtilityprogramtovieworchangetheconfigurationsettingsofyourserver.See“Usingthe
SetupUtilityprogram”onpage59
.TheTMMfirmwareprovidesremotemanagementfeatures.
LenovomightmakechangesandenhancementstotheBIOSandTMMfirmware.Whenupdatesarereleased,
theyareavailablefordownloadontheLenovoWebsiteathttp://www.lenovo.com/drivers.Youcanupdate
theserverfirmwarebydownloadinganupdatepackageandfollowingtheinstructionsontheWebpage.
YoualsocanusetheFirmwareUpdaterprogramtohelpyoukeeptheserverfirmwareup-to-date.See
“Updatingthefirmware”onpage73.
Updating(flashing)theBIOS
Thistopicprovidesinstructionsonhowtoupdate(flash)theBIOS.
Notes:
•UpdatetheBIOSonyourserveronlyifthenewerBIOSversionspecificallysolvesaproblemyouhave.
WedonotrecommendBIOSupdatesforserversthatdonotneedthem.Youcanviewtheupdated
informationforthenewBIOSversionintheinstallationinstructionsfortheBIOSupdateutilityprogram.
•DowngradingtheBIOStoanearlierversionisnotrecommendedandmightnotbesupported.Anearlier
BIOSversionmightnotsupportthelatestsystemconfigurations.
•IfthepowertoyourserverisinterruptedwhilethePOSTandBIOSarebeingupdated,yourservermight
notrestartcorrectly.EnsurethatyouperformtheBIOSupdateprocedureinanenvironmentwitha
steadypowersupply.Besides,ensurethatyourservercanrestartsuccessfullywithoutencountering
hardwareproblems.
•IfyouhaveupdatedtheBIOSfirmware,alltheBIOSsettingsbecomethedefaultsettingsoftheupdated
BIOSversion.YouneedtocheckandreconfiguretheBIOSsettingsforyourspecificneeds.Youcan
recordyourspecificBIOSsettingsbeforeupdatingtheBIOSforaneasierreconfigurationinthenew
BIOSversion.
Toupdate(flash)theBIOS,dothefollowing:
1.Gotohttp://www.lenovo.com/driversandfollowtheinstructionsontheWebpagetolocatetheBIOS
updatepackage.
2.DownloadtheBIOSupdatepackageandtheinstallationinstructionsinaTXTfile.
3.PrinttheTXTfilethatcontainstheinstallationinstructionsandfollowtheinstructionstoupdate(flash)
theBIOS.
4.CheckandreconfiguretheBIOSsettingsforyourspecificneedsbasedonyournoteorreferto“Using
theSetupUtilityprogram”onpage59aftertheBIOSupdateprocessiscompleted.
RecoveringfromaBIOSupdatefailure
IfthepowertoyourserverisinterruptedwhiletheBIOSisbeingupdated,yourservermightnotrestart
correctly.Ifthishappens,performthefollowingproceduretorecoverfromtheBIOSupdatefailure.
66ThinkServerRD640UserGuideandHardwareMaintenanceManual