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> AMD have released an microcode update for affected processors. Your BIOS or Operating System vendor may already have an update available that includes it. Ye

by dtx1 3y ago

> AMD have released an microcode update for affected processors. Your BIOS or Operating System vendor may already have an update available that includes it. Yes, I love flashing BIOS... edit nvm, Microcode can get updated via system updates.

Night_Thastus 3y ago
To be fair, flashing the bios isn't nearly as bad on most modern systems. Put the file on a USB drive, plug it in, restart and go into the bios, look for the flashing utility, select the file, done. As long as the machine is on a UPS in case of disaster, everything's accounted for.
- astrange 3y ago
  Mine loses its settings when you update the BIOS, so your fan curves go away.
- dtx1 3y ago
  From my experience: Better have a > 32gig USB Flash drive, everything else doesn't work (MSI) and I don't have an UPS so it's always quite an exciting experience. Especially since Motherboard Manifactures save almost a whole dollar by not having a display ouputting anything. So it's blinkenlights and hope for the best
  - Night_Thastus 3y ago
    Get a UPS!! Not just for convenience, but safety. You don't want to be caught out when something goes wrong, even without flashing the bios. A lot of boards these days have 7-segment displays. They're not great, but they're a good step up. Don't need to spend a lot, I think they show up on $300-ish boards. Mine definitely does.
    - dtx1 3y ago
      I see no need for it. Living in Germany, any kind of power outages are exceptionally rare. I remember one in the last 10 years for a few hours and that was very local. If I am in a situation where a power outage occurs, i'll listen to my battery radio for a while and be fine. I work on nothing and rely on nothing that would actually require a UPS.
      - Night_Thastus 3y ago
        It's like not having a backup drive. Everything is fine until one day it isn't. A good UPS does more than just protect from outages. It also protects from surges and low-voltage situations that can both damage the equipment severely. A UPS doesn't cost much and will last many years. Buying a new motherboard and GPU because they got fried is much more expensive.
        namibj 3y ago
        Keep in mind that most equipment of this nature has universal power supplies, and thus works even at just 50% of nominal grid voltage. The substation is mandated to trip in that anomaly, btw. Otherwise some very common types of motors (AC induction, single and 3-phase) would burn from the excessive current they draw to compensate for the reduced voltage.
- baq 3y ago
  Sometimes there's even a backup BIOS die available, so yeah, bricking is now much harder than in the past.
- yyyk 3y ago
  Often the BIOS will allow reading the update file from EFI partition, so there's no need for the USB drive.
- ls612 3y ago
  My new computer takes a while to POST (z690 with ddr5 smh) so it’s basically been continuously either on or in sleep since I built it 18 months ago and I’ve had an unexpected shutdown due to power loss once in that time according to the Event log. I think the risk of losing power while flashing the bios is very small in real life unless you are stuck in a place with third world electricity infrastructure.
  - formerly_proven 3y ago
    If POST takes a long time it’s often memory training, backing off on the timings just slightly might make it go a lot quicker. Bios updates also often twiddle knobs in this area.
    - Night_Thastus 3y ago
      Doesn't that only happen on the first boot with new memory? As well, I thought it was more of a concern on AMD, and less on Intel. (Z690 is Intel)
      - themoonisachees 3y ago
        Memory training can happen if the CPU detects that current timings don't work at boot. Since GP never shuts down, it's possible that his memory is always hot and performs better on a reboot (when setting new timings) than after a cold boot (this is basically always true since ram chips like to be hot but especially relevant here). If GP is using XMP or has custom timings, I'd suggest easing off on them especially considering the novelty of DDR5.
    - ls612 3y ago
      It isn’t this, it takes about a minute to train after a bios update or when I enable XMP but never trains after that. It just takes like 20-30 seconds to get all the way to the bios splash screen and only 5 seconds to return from sleep so I just use sleep instead of turning it off. Then the only time I need to wait through a boot is for windows updates.
deaddodo 3y ago
Microcode updates haven't been managed in-BIOS for over a decade now. If you use Linux, you'll usually see them released as some package like "intel-microcode" or "amd-microcode". Even EFI updates rarely are very intrusive or dangerous, and can also be handled by the Operating System via an update.
- mrpippy 3y ago
  They are managed both ways. I think updating in BIOS is preferable to ensure no CPU parameters change while (some part) of the kernel has already initialized. But of course BIOS updates have many downsides and often stop after a few years.

by dtx1 3y ago

Night_Thastus 3y ago

To be fair, flashing the bios isn't nearly as bad on most modern systems. Put the file on a USB drive, plug it in, restart and go into the bios, look for the flashing utility, select the file, done. As long as the machine is on a UPS in case of disaster, everything's accounted for.

astrange 3y ago
Mine loses its settings when you update the BIOS, so your fan curves go away.
dtx1 3y ago
From my experience: Better have a > 32gig USB Flash drive, everything else doesn't work (MSI) and I don't have an UPS so it's always quite an exciting experience. Especially since Motherboard Manifactures save almost a whole dollar by not having a display ouputting anything. So it's blinkenlights and hope for the best
- Night_Thastus 3y ago
  Get a UPS!! Not just for convenience, but safety. You don't want to be caught out when something goes wrong, even without flashing the bios. A lot of boards these days have 7-segment displays. They're not great, but they're a good step up. Don't need to spend a lot, I think they show up on $300-ish boards. Mine definitely does.
  - dtx1 3y ago
    I see no need for it. Living in Germany, any kind of power outages are exceptionally rare. I remember one in the last 10 years for a few hours and that was very local. If I am in a situation where a power outage occurs, i'll listen to my battery radio for a while and be fine. I work on nothing and rely on nothing that would actually require a UPS.
    - Night_Thastus 3y ago
      It's like not having a backup drive. Everything is fine until one day it isn't. A good UPS does more than just protect from outages. It also protects from surges and low-voltage situations that can both damage the equipment severely. A UPS doesn't cost much and will last many years. Buying a new motherboard and GPU because they got fried is much more expensive.
      - namibj 3y ago
        Keep in mind that most equipment of this nature has universal power supplies, and thus works even at just 50% of nominal grid voltage. The substation is mandated to trip in that anomaly, btw. Otherwise some very common types of motors (AC induction, single and 3-phase) would burn from the excessive current they draw to compensate for the reduced voltage.
baq 3y ago
Sometimes there's even a backup BIOS die available, so yeah, bricking is now much harder than in the past.
yyyk 3y ago
Often the BIOS will allow reading the update file from EFI partition, so there's no need for the USB drive.
ls612 3y ago
My new computer takes a while to POST (z690 with ddr5 smh) so it’s basically been continuously either on or in sleep since I built it 18 months ago and I’ve had an unexpected shutdown due to power loss once in that time according to the Event log. I think the risk of losing power while flashing the bios is very small in real life unless you are stuck in a place with third world electricity infrastructure.
- formerly_proven 3y ago
  If POST takes a long time it’s often memory training, backing off on the timings just slightly might make it go a lot quicker. Bios updates also often twiddle knobs in this area.
  - Night_Thastus 3y ago
    Doesn't that only happen on the first boot with new memory? As well, I thought it was more of a concern on AMD, and less on Intel. (Z690 is Intel)
    - themoonisachees 3y ago
      Memory training can happen if the CPU detects that current timings don't work at boot. Since GP never shuts down, it's possible that his memory is always hot and performs better on a reboot (when setting new timings) than after a cold boot (this is basically always true since ram chips like to be hot but especially relevant here). If GP is using XMP or has custom timings, I'd suggest easing off on them especially considering the novelty of DDR5.
  - ls612 3y ago
    It isn’t this, it takes about a minute to train after a bios update or when I enable XMP but never trains after that. It just takes like 20-30 seconds to get all the way to the bios splash screen and only 5 seconds to return from sleep so I just use sleep instead of turning it off. Then the only time I need to wait through a boot is for windows updates.

deaddodo 3y ago

Microcode updates haven't been managed in-BIOS for over a decade now. If you use Linux, you'll usually see them released as some package like "intel-microcode" or "amd-microcode". Even EFI updates rarely are very intrusive or dangerous, and can also be handled by the Operating System via an update.

mrpippy 3y ago
They are managed both ways. I think updating in BIOS is preferable to ensure no CPU parameters change while (some part) of the kernel has already initialized. But of course BIOS updates have many downsides and often stop after a few years.