[SOLVED] Lenovo laptop and update BIOS

[Don]

This may not be the right part of the forum in which to post this question. If it's not, I'd be happy for a redirect.
I have a Lenovo Thinkpad L14 gen 2 laptop. The BIOS version is now out of date, but the only BIOS update information I find on Lenovo's site is for Windows. How do I update the BIOS on my Linux box?

[claydoh]

Take a look on their support/downloads site. Depending on your exact model, you probably will have at least a bootable ISO image, if not actual Linux files (command line)
Thinkpads have decent Linux support for this sort of thing.

For example, for a very similar laptop:
https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/p...me=BIOS%2FUEFI

it is confusing, as the ISO image seems to be an old Eltorito style of image, so it might not be directly writeable to a USB drive without some extra work:
https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/update...usb-stick-pen/

However, once the images is extracted, it should be able to be run through Etcher or something (or DD on the command line) to create the USB

The Linux files are not executable, but two files that are installed via the command line from the desktop
fwupdmgr install xxx.cab
But I have not yet found which of the files needs to be flashed first, or if it matters.
This method updates the firmware during the next boot. Also unclear is if this takes two boots, or any sort of in depth instruction.
Hoping anyone with a Thinkpad can chime in.

I myself lean towards the bootable USB method

There is even a small chance that you might be able to both download and install from the command line.
https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/thinkp...treme-p1-gen2/
(and, believe it or not, even a tiny (er) chance that the update might even show up in Discover at some point, if firmware updates have been checked off in its settings

Again, I lean toward the boot-to-the-firmware for updating this stuff myself.

[Don]

claydoh,
Thanks, as always. I'm on the Lenovo site, and there is an iso for the latest bios update, but it says it's only for Windows systems. I may be way wrong, but isn't the BIOS independent of the OS? So if I make a bootable USB from the iso, won't it update the BIOS without affecting my OS? Forgive me if that's a one-dee-ten-tee (1d10t) question.

[claydoh]

yes, bios is separate from the OS, and even running an exe in Windows usually just sets up a temporary boot environment to flash the update.
Do you have a link to what you are seeing?
On the link I found (again not necessarily the same laptop as yours), the ISO is marked as: BIOS Update (Utility Bootable CD) for Windows 11, 10 (64-bit), Linux - ThinkPad L14 Gen 2 (Type 20X1, 20X2), L15 Gen 2 (Type 20X3, 20X4)

[Don]

Thanks for the confirmation. (I got something right! Who'da thought?) I do have the iso file, and I can use Startup Disk Creator to put the image on a USB stick. I'm very grateful for the help.

[Don]

I did finally (after a lot of stumbling around) figure out how to update the BIOS from the cab file. I'm very grateful to claydoh (who ought to be charging me tuition).