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- HP Community
- Notebooks
- Notebook Operating System and Recovery
- Re: BIOS-Update under Linux alone

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12-15-2019 05:10 AM
thinking of the past, i believed to be prepared when dealing with bios updates under linux alone.
i mean, it was never meant to be easy, right from the start:
if you would choose linux as your os, NO bios update would EVER be displayed!?
anyway, manually selecting windows was absolutely necessary to download a CRYPTICNAME.exe bios file.
next would be to unpack the .exe via 7-zip, fine.
now, if i remember correctly, there were some .cab files inside subfolders which had to be put in a certain folder structure, by hand.
then, once more extracted and also be renamed, after all!
final step was to copy that folder-tree to a fat32 usb stick, boot up into your uefi and update your bios, done.
now that was quick, wasn't it. life can be so easy 😉
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now, many, many years later, with my newly purchased 17-ca1248ng, the situation changed... it even got worse.
it is basically the same procedure, until you realize you are STUCK after unpacking the CRYPTICNAME.exe.
a WINFLASH.exe file is revealed, which can not be extracted any further. (i tried with 7-zip and uniextract - no chance)
thank you so much, hp, for an even advanced user experience, really appreciated! you rock.
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why, on earth and for heaven's sake, not just offer a SIMPLE ZIPPED bios file (with correct names + folder structure right from the start) to download?
this way, any hp computer could be flashed (os agnostic) from an usb stick inside the uefi.
naah, by far too complicated for average (win?) users, right 😉
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i will return this laptop asap. never again.
thank you for your interest.
12-17-2019 02:16 PM
@sunchaser2344
I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).
Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community.
ECHO_LAKE
I am an HP Employee
12-18-2019 11:22 PM
thank you for replying.
unfortunately, i have returned the laptop already, so i can not be much of a help anymore.
anyway, i very much hope that the way of distributing firmware files in general will be revisited by hp for the future.
please provide plain zipped files, so that firmware updates can be handled os agnostic.
thank you for your interest.