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Still torn on whether to push firmware updates for aging hardware or leave it alone | Computer Technicians - Librear

Still torn on whether to push firmware updates for aging hardware or leave it alone

Had a chat with a client last week who runs a small repair shop in Portland. He swears never updating BIOS on boards over 5 years old because he's seen two bricked units from a 2023 update that killed the boot sequence. But I had a Dell Optiplex from 2016 that ran flawlessly after a patch fixed a USB dropout issue. How do you guys decide when an old system is worth the risk of a firmware update? Has anyone else dealt with a bricked board from a patch that claimed to just fix security stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakota4792mo ago

Gently push back on that BIOS update fear a bit. Look, I get why your client is gunshy after seeing two boards die, but saying never update a BIOS over 5 years old is too broad. Had an old Asus Z97 board from like 2015 that got a security patch last year fixed a nasty sleep state bug. Bricking usually happens when you skip versions or flash from a sketchy USB stick, not from the update itself. Your Dell example proves the point - sometimes those patches actually fix real problems like USB dropout. Just have to read the changelog careful and maybe wait a week to see if other people report issues.

beth5592mo ago

The key is really reading the changelog like you're looking for a trap. If it says "fixes a boot loop on certain RAM configs" and your board is on that list, skip it until someone else tests it. If its just security patches or USB fixes that you actually need, go for it but use the manufacturer's own flashing tool from a clean USB not the in-OS updater. I always keep a backup BIOS on a chip clip just in case, but that's overkill for most people. Your client probably had bad luck with a specific model that had a known defective update cycle.