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AudioGames.net Forum → Off-topic room → bios update: to update or not to update
hi,
the toshiba driver updates page has a bios update for my pc
the most recent version of this update was released on november 13th
my question is
is there any advantage whatsoever in updating my bios?
my pc is running beautifully
Unless you have an important issue which requires a bios update to fix then it's probably best not to fix something that isn't broken. If a bios update goes wrong it can brick your motherboard and there is no way to recover from this.
hi,
the bios update is for my exact laptop and part number model
aditionally, toshiba bios updaters do a check to see if a bios update is really for that laptop
my question, will this update improve performance or add new function to my pc
Theoretically it could, though functionality would be at a very low level and you're unlikely to notice.
I didn't just mean the risk of using the wrong bios update, every time you flash the bios there is a tiny chance something may go wrong in the flashing process. I'm assuming the updater checks the file isn't corrupt but even this aside a small power glitch or other malfunction that may normally go unnoticed could result in your mobo being bricked. Unless you've read the release notes and there's some new feature you really need I'd steer clear.
I agree with cx2 generally.
However if you have a Toshiba updating bios is easy enough and shouldn't cause any issue.
I have done this to the latest version of a year back 6.80.
Updating is simple as running the file in admin mode and waiting for it to run, things will slow right down for about a minute then when it restarts everything will be fine.
The Toshiba bios will check the version of the bios first and update if newer.
You can't actually corrupt your Toshiba bios or at least I have not seen it.
I have updated all my Toshiba bioses and no issue.
Now if you have something like an asus or asroc board, while it is easy enough to update, you have no version checker and once you restart you will have to use a non wireless keyboard like ps2 or usb in order to have the keyboard work, you then will have to hit f1 to load default bios settings and with sighted help reconfigure all your bios.
The only ones I wouldn't update like this, would be nec/ hp/ Compaq bioses as I had an issue where one got mangled and the system was a paperweight afterwards and needed to get replaced because the repair people said I needed to replace my motherboard.
Del stuff has some automated update system.
and my foxcon board I had had an automated live updater.
Some hp and asus stuff have autoupdaters to.
While I would keep my laptop bios updated, I wouldn't touch the desktop stuff because of the issue of things needing to be reset.
You should only update your bios ifthere is in fact an issue.
The other reason I don't recommend updating desktop bios is the fact that a lot of manufacturers of boards are simply not accessable.
however if you update your intel/ amd drivers with the various updaters they have, at least intel, I know from looking at the archives of files, if there are bios updates to intel firmware, they will update.
It is a rare occurance but even Toshiba laptops could potentially be bricked if something went wrong, you could probably do a thousand machines and not even get one problem but the risk is always there. All it would take is some malfunction in for example the mains supply from the wall causing a momentary change in power levels that interrupts the flashing process just enough. It probably isn't as big a problem as it once was back in the 90s but it is still possible and unless your motherboard is one of the rare ones with dual bios there's really nothing you can do, and even then you're likely to lose one of the two bioses permanantly if something goes wrong.
hi,
wouldn't the toshiba laptop's battery kick in if the mains power current fluctuated?
Yes, it would, but if your like me and don't exercise your batter, it could ruin the BIOS installation. A good technique is to always have your computer plugged in when updating computer firmware like the BIOS. Stick with your BIOS unless your computer is having issues with the current BIOS or there is a feature that you really, really need. Never update your BIOS just because you can. Updates may break features in the BIOS, and may brick your PC or prevent it from booting the proper OS. It may even corrupt the bootloader, as the bootloader, even though its loaded more than 2 million memory locations away from the BIOS location. The BIOS is always located at memory location '0x7fffffff', or the last memory location in your computers RAM. For instance, if your computer has 16 GB of memory, the BIOS is located at memory location 16000000000 ('0x3b9aca000'). If you ever run an assembly language program or a progrma that jumps to memory locations, keep in mind that jumping to the end of your memory using a program that runs as the system user or that has access to all memory locations causes a hard reboot, kind of like the Blue Screen of Death's reboot.
If your computer simply suffered a brown out that would indeed be the case, however I had a friend whose laptop optical drive became unusable after a power surge from the wall. Laptops may be better protected from drops in current or voltage from the wall but not so much from spikes, and there's always that little risk of something becoming corrupted during the flashing process.
Given that the machine in question was stated to be running smooth as a baby's behind I see no reason to bother. Like I said performance gains probably wouldn't be noticeable if they exist at all which isn't guaranteed, it depends on the individual update's content like with OS updates, and new BIOS features tend to be make or break where you either need them to run your system at all or else you're not likely to take advantage of them ever. Read the update notes and see if there is anything in there that would make it worth doing, judge based on that rather than just assuming newer is better.
Which is why I have a protecter handling my power cords and my computers and other electronics are routed through a protecter box of high quality.
A lot of my electronics not my laptop sadly but a lot in the house are on 2 ups devices.
We are due to get a power network upgrade and also a switchboard upgrade to negate serges but if you use a cheap Chinese power box yes things could go nuts and if you have a serge in your system, well yeah.
I don't excersise the battery as often as I should but I do use the battery quite a lot.
hi cx2,
only the following is listed in the bios update information
This Bios Update adds increased functionality to your system.
so there isn't a changelog that I can find
if any other toshiba users know where to find it i'd love to know
Would you mind posting the link to the BIOS update page? I'll try to locate the change log there.
hi,
http://www.toshiba.eu/innovation/downlo … service=EU
though there are many other toshiba sights where bios info might be found
to help you in finding the log i'm posting the model and part numbers for my laptop
satalite l50a1-d4 part number: pskk6e
what I would say is that if your computer is working fine, then don't update the bios.
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