Want to upgrade BIOS from 3.86 (2014) to current on HPZ420 Workstation.

[wi1v]

I want to upgrade the BIOS which currently is from 2014, ver. 3.84. Computer is HP Z420 workstation, 16GB RAM SSD. I downloaded the latest BIOS from HP and it is in a folder. Before I follow the directions and do this I have a question. Do I have to update the BIOS incrementally from whatever BIOS came out after 2014? Or is it safe to simply just update to the latest BIOS which came out in 2019 for this computer? I don't know how many BIOS revisions there were since 2014 for this computer other than the current 2019 one. It looks simple enough using the "QFLASH" option. I just don't want to brick this nice computer. Thanks

[Brian1965]

You can upgrade from BIOS version 3.84 to 3.96 without any intermediate steps. Please see the post below by SDH;

Regarding BIOS... here's what you need to know:

1.  You need to do the "step-up" approach if your BIOS version is older than 1.07.

2.  The process is to install the Z420/Z620 BIOS version 1.23 first, and then the latest verson as a second step.  For the Z820 you'd need to step up first to 1.20, and then to the latest.  

3a.  Where to find the 1.23 installer for the Z420/Z620?  Get it from this ftp address:

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp64501-65000/sp64701.exe

A HP ReadMe for that is at:  ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp64501-65000/sp64701.html

3b.  For the Z820:

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp61001-61500/sp61312.exe

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp61001-61500/sp61312.html

4.  How to update BIOS from within BIOS:

Take the .exe you downloaded above and run it... you can run it on another HP workstation or any PC and it will unpack itself and create a new folder on the root level of C titled SWSetup.  In that will be a folder with the same name.  For the Z420/Z620 it will be named SP64701.  Inside that will be a "DOS Flash" folder, and in that will be a file J61_0123.BIN.  Your system may or may not be configured to show extensions of known file type.... I set mine that way but there is nothing else in the DOS Flash folder like that.  Copy that file out onto the top level of a fat32 formatted small USB drive.

5.  Turn off your Z420, plug the USB drive into a USB2 port (not one of the blue USB3 ports).  Boot the Z420, go into BIOS, go to the first tab of BIOS, and down the list there will be an entry to update BIOS from within BIOS.  I forget the exact terminology, but there is only one item there that fits.  You choose the USB, and run it.  Then full shut down.  Then cold boot.  Now you can go on to doing the same process with the latest BIOS available.

Note that this process keeps the operating system out of the loop during BIOS updating.  There have been bricking of systems by updating the BIOS from within W10 especially, but also in W7 (rare),   It is such a huge avoidable issue to brick a motherboard by updating BIOS from within the operating system that I will never do that again.  I saved my Z620 workstation when that happened, and learned my lesson!

Here's a link to the original thread;

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Workstations-and-Point-of-Sale-Systems/Z420-Bios-upgrade-...

All credit to SDH for this post.