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[Liam Proven]

On Wed, 10 Oct 2018 at 13:05, Ralf Mardorf via ubuntu-users
<ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com> wrote:
>
> IMO a firmware update shouldn't happen automatically. Even my DVB-T2
> receiver asks me before loading and installing a firmware update. The
> vendor of my tower PC's modem recommends against installing updates, if
> everything works as expected. Toshiba warns the user that updating the
> SSDs firmware could cause data loss. I never lost data, but it could
> happen.

I agree.

But I did not *say* automatically and I do not *mean* automatically.

I mean I have never seen a modern computer, running its native
OS/drivers/tools, put up a message or notify you or anything "my
firmware is out of date, should I update it?" and it actually happen.

Windows NT Server 3.51 running on my ancient IBM PS/2 Model 80 -- a
circa 1995 OS on circa 1987 hardware -- said that the firmware on my
SCSI controller was out of date. It even told me _which_ of my 2 SCSI
controllers.

But it didn't tell me a version number, or where to get a newer
version, and I was never able to find one.

But even the 2 Lenovo machines that I maintain, with the latest
Windows on them, the latest Lenovo system-maintenance tools, are not
able to detect that the motherboard UEFI is out of date, and are not
able to tell me what the current version from Lenovo is. They can
report the installed version, but not the newest available. They are
not able to fetch the new version for me to install.

I have to manually go to the website, check with a model number, fetch
the update, and install it myself.

Using Windows.

Honestly, I am not brave enough to try this using Linux. I have
"bricked" machines before with failed firmware updates. Once, just
once, a colleague was able to rescue it for me -- I was not, and I am
fairly good at this stuff.

-- 
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