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Can't blame just the manufacturers. AMD seems to do no QA with its BIOS before handing it to OEMS. Most of the previous generation's AMD laptops had issues with

Can't blame just the manufacturers. AMD seems to do no QA with its BIOS before handing it to OEMS. Most of the previous generation's AMD laptops had issues with linux. AMD bios updates are still not supported under linux. If AMD doesn't care about the core enthusiast crowd, why should people care ?

zozbot234 7y ago
Most bioses can update themselves from the system setup menu. Just download the bios update in an appropriate format, put it somewhere that's accessible to the bios, and you're set.
basilgohar 7y ago
Can you provide some examples? I own two AMD-powered laptops and neither had BIOS issues.
- bubblethink 7y ago
  https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop/Lenovo#E_series https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop/Lenovo#E_series And note that https://fwupd.org/lvfs/firmware/new https://fwupd.org/lvfs/firmware/new does not list any AMD laptops. So even if you get a functional laptop, you won't be able to update the bios easily.
  - basilgohar 7y ago
    That's really unfortunate. I appreciate you sharing that with me. I hope this gets more attention. But is the BIOS something controlled by AMD or the OEMs? My whole point in this and other threads it that OEMs are handling things poorly, and that's what's affecting AMDs prospects in the mobile market. The BIOS is a highly device-specific firmware, so that's why I'm asking.
    - bubblethink 7y ago
      The development of the BIOS is (typically) done by a company like AMI that interfaces with silicon manufacturers like AMD/Intel and laptop manufacturers like Lenovo/Dell. All of them are to blame for BIOS bugs since almost all laptop platforms (barring Chromebooks and a few others) are locked down in a way that nobody other than them can fix the issues.
  - blattimwind 7y ago
    > So even if you get a functional laptop, you won't be able to update the bios easily. Extracting a ZIP on a FAT/NTFS USB key is difficult?
    - bubblethink 7y ago
      Nothing is difficult. The point is that there is no excuse for using a) windows, b) freedos, c) geteltorito, or any hacks and workarounds in 2020 for updating the bios of your laptop. To your point, the method of putting the bios file on a usb stick is also not universal. I don't think any lenovo laptops support that. And while passable, that's also kludgy.
  - bubblethink 7y ago
    Replying to self for an edit. T495 has bios updates on fwupd but the E series does not. So it's a case of price differentiation by lenovo.
    - basilgohar 7y ago
      Appreciate the update. I'm glad that you brought this issue up. It's an important one to me and one I think needs more attention.
  - lllauri 7y ago
    I updated my A485 bios recently using fwupd, was much easier than on windows, just run a command and restart. To me the year of the Linux desktop is already here :) But yea seems that not all machines are supported, you either get lucky or have to do research beforehand.
hug 7y ago
Linux users are not the core enthusiast crowd for laptops. Even among my extremely tech savvy crowd of friends, I only know one guy who runs linux as their desktop environment.
beatgammit 7y ago
Updating the BIOS is so rare that I really don't mind going into the BIOS to do an upgrade, especially since an unexpected reboot/freeze can brick your BIOS. I update it maybe once a year, and only if there's some feature that I need.

zozbot234 7y ago

Most bioses can update themselves from the system setup menu. Just download the bios update in an appropriate format, put it somewhere that's accessible to the bios, and you're set.

basilgohar 7y ago

Can you provide some examples? I own two AMD-powered laptops and neither had BIOS issues.

bubblethink 7y ago
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop/Lenovo#E_series https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop/Lenovo#E_series And note that https://fwupd.org/lvfs/firmware/new https://fwupd.org/lvfs/firmware/new does not list any AMD laptops. So even if you get a functional laptop, you won't be able to update the bios easily.
- basilgohar 7y ago
  That's really unfortunate. I appreciate you sharing that with me. I hope this gets more attention. But is the BIOS something controlled by AMD or the OEMs? My whole point in this and other threads it that OEMs are handling things poorly, and that's what's affecting AMDs prospects in the mobile market. The BIOS is a highly device-specific firmware, so that's why I'm asking.
  - bubblethink 7y ago
    The development of the BIOS is (typically) done by a company like AMI that interfaces with silicon manufacturers like AMD/Intel and laptop manufacturers like Lenovo/Dell. All of them are to blame for BIOS bugs since almost all laptop platforms (barring Chromebooks and a few others) are locked down in a way that nobody other than them can fix the issues.
- blattimwind 7y ago
  > So even if you get a functional laptop, you won't be able to update the bios easily. Extracting a ZIP on a FAT/NTFS USB key is difficult?
  - bubblethink 7y ago
    Nothing is difficult. The point is that there is no excuse for using a) windows, b) freedos, c) geteltorito, or any hacks and workarounds in 2020 for updating the bios of your laptop. To your point, the method of putting the bios file on a usb stick is also not universal. I don't think any lenovo laptops support that. And while passable, that's also kludgy.
- bubblethink 7y ago
  Replying to self for an edit. T495 has bios updates on fwupd but the E series does not. So it's a case of price differentiation by lenovo.
  - basilgohar 7y ago
    Appreciate the update. I'm glad that you brought this issue up. It's an important one to me and one I think needs more attention.
- lllauri 7y ago
  I updated my A485 bios recently using fwupd, was much easier than on windows, just run a command and restart. To me the year of the Linux desktop is already here :) But yea seems that not all machines are supported, you either get lucky or have to do research beforehand.

hug 7y ago

Linux users are not the core enthusiast crowd for laptops. Even among my extremely tech savvy crowd of friends, I only know one guy who runs linux as their desktop environment.

beatgammit 7y ago

Updating the BIOS is so rare that I really don't mind going into the BIOS to do an upgrade, especially since an unexpected reboot/freeze can brick your BIOS. I update it maybe once a year, and only if there's some feature that I need.