HP Z420 v2 - How to update BIOS with USB drive?

[Krithik]

Hey y'all, 

I'm a newcomer to the whole pc space and I bought a Z420 v2 to turn into a gaming rig. I am upgrading the CPU to an E5-1650 v2 from my E5-1620 v2.

I am wondering if I need a BIOS update for this upgrade, I'm on BIOS version v3.91 right now.

If I do need an update, can anyone lay out the step by step instructions to update using a USB drive? 

[DGroves · Accepted solution]

latest bios's for HP systems can be found on the HP web site for the z420, the latest is 3.96 (sp100699) and you might want to also make use of their "auto missing drivers" check link

simply click on the "blue" triangles to expand the listing to show the full details for each file listed

since HP takes the time to include detailed flashing directions along with a description of the major changes in each bios release for their workstation systems i suggest you take the time to read the included files that are included in each bios release along with the website descriptions

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-z420-workstation/5225033

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/swdetails/hp-z420-workstation/5225033/swItemId/wk-2...

[Krithik]

Thank you, that helped. 

I was looking at the HP web site on my phone and it was not showing any bios or driver update options. I tried checking the HP web site from my Z420 today and just like you said, there were clear instructions on how to do it through a USB drive. I followed the instructions carefully and it updated the bios without a hitch!

Notes: 

- In another forum, one of the users advised to use a small USB drive when doing the update, I used a 32GB one and it worked fine for me.

- Make sure to format the USB drive to FAT32 before doing the update. (Windows 10) Go to file explorer, right click the USB drive, select format, then specify FAT32 in the pop-up, confirm that you want to format the drive in the next pop-up and after that you are good to go.

- While the bios is updating, DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING. Do not press any keys, just sit still for 2 minutes until you get a green pop-up telling you the "System ROM Flash was Successful"

[SDH]

Yes, upgrading BIOS from within BIOS is the safest way to go because an OS and its installed programs don't get involved at that low level. The next "family" of HP workstations, the ZX40 generation, has a bit more complex process of BIOS upgrading. Instead of putting the .bin file you harvest to update BIOS from on the "top" level of a FAT32 formatted thumb drive one needs to nest it down inside three levels of properly named folders.

And, the HP BIOS itself has become more sophisticated in that family... it does not need to see a small thumb drive that is FAT32-formatted now, but that still works fine. The upgrade can even work with a larger NTFS-formatted thumb drive if you create the proper nest of 3 folders. In fact, BIOS can even be updated from within BIOS in that family of workstations through a rudimentary internet connection that BIOS itself can create if your BIOS is set up correctly to begin with.

There once was a time when upgrading the ZX20 family BIOS while running under the W10 OS could brick your motherboard. I did that once, did not like it, luckily recovered from that, and have stuck with upgrading all of our workstations from within BIOS from that point on... never an issue since.