Updating EFI BIOS & EC - TUXEDO Computers

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Updating EFI BIOS & EC

Before you tackle an EC-/BIOS update, please keep in mind: The procedure is like open-heart surgery on your notebook. However, please do not be put off by the warnings in this manual. Take your time, follow the instructions carefully, and the procedure will be successfully completed in a few minutes. If at any point you are unsure about how to proceed, please contact us.

If you do not have another device available, a printout of these instructions is a good idea.

Important notes!

  1. We cannot accept any liability for a failed EC or BIOS update! If problems occur during or after the BIOS update, we cannot repair your device under warranty. Therefore, follow all steps and instructions exactly as described!

  2. Be sure to use the appropriate BIOS/EC files for your notebook, otherwise you may damage your notebook beyond recovery.

  3. Please note: If the downloaded folder contains files like README.txt and/or LIESMICH.txt, the information contained therein must be observed. If the downloaded folder contains neither of the two mentioned files, the steps shown in these instructions apply.

  4. Make sure that your notebook is connected to the mains and the battery is charged to at least 30 percent. Interrupting the power supply during the update process can irreparably damage your device.

Please reset the BIOS to default values before starting the update process. Afterwards, please check whether the Secure Boot option (usually found under Security) is still disabled.

What is an EC update?

The embedded controller (EC for short) is a small hardware component, a so-called microcontroller, which is installed in notebooks and performs various basic control tasks within the computer.

These tasks include receiving signals from the notebook keyboard, charge control of the battery or control of the fans. At TUXEDO we customize these control tasks in the EC so that your notebook works best with our drivers and the TUXEDO Control Center.

Therefore, we recommend performing an EC update if one is available for your device. You can see whether there is an update for your specific model in your user account under Downloads for your TUXEDO. More information is available in a separate article. In our newsletter we also inform our customers regularly about BIOS and EC updates.

What is a BIOS update?

The “Basic Input/Output System” (short: BIOS) more precisely, today almost exclusively the (U)EFI (“Unified Extensible Firmware Interface”) is the firmware of a notebook or PC, which is executed directly after switching on the computer and takes over the basic initialization of the hardware. For basic, hardware-related improvements or bug fixes, an update of this EFI/BIOS firmware is therefore necessary in some cases.

Perform EC update/BIOS update

Step 1: Download EC/BIOS update

The procedure for updating the ECs and the BIOS/UEFI is largely identical. First download in your User account under Downloads for your TUXEDO the EC/BIOS package suitable for your device via the Download button and unpack the downloaded file(s) to an empty USB stick with FAT32 file system.

TIP: If both an EC and BIOS/UEFI update are available for your model, you can unpack both updates onto the same stick.

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Step 2: Create bootable USB stick

Copy the contents of the unzipped archives to a FAT32 formatted USB stick. Next, download the EFI Launcher package and unpack its contents onto the prepared USB stick as well. This should create the following folder structure on the external disk.

Name Description
XXX One or two folders named after the files you downloaded.
EFI From the archive EFI-launcher.zip
Shellx64.efi From the archive EFI-launcher.zip
startup.nsh From the archive EFI-launcher.zip

Please note: Although some models offer combined BIOS/EC updates and update the BIOS/EC in the correct order, they generally cannot update EC and BIOS in the same pass. Run the EC update first, and then run the BIOS update again using these instructions.

Caution! If you have a significantly older TUXEDO device, please check if there is at least one file with the extension .nsh in the downloaded EC or BIOS folder(s). If not, please follow this instruction.

Step 3: Start the computer from the USB stick

Once again, make sure that your TUXEDO notebook is connected to the original power supply included in the scope of delivery (not a USB-C power supply) and insert the USB stick into a free USB port. Switch on your TUXEDO.

Immediately after switching on** the device, press the F7 or DEL key quickly and repeatedly until the boot menu appears. Depending on your TUXEDO model, the boot menu may look slightly different.

If the boot menu appears on the screen, navigate with the arrow keys to the entry of your USB stick (in the picture the entry marked by the mouse arrow) and confirm the selection with the Enter key.

Step 4: Run the update via EFI shell

Now the so-called EFI shell starts. You must now navigate to the EC or BIOS update file and start it. To do this, enter the command dir (for “directory”) and press Enter. The contents of the connected USB stick are now listed for you.

Now type cd (for choose directory) followed by a space and the folder name of the desired EC or BIOS folder. So the command is for example cd 0143_Aura_15_Gen2_BIOS_10715RTR2. This will take you to the folder on your USB stick that contains the file to run the EC or BIOS update.

TIP: You do not have to type the entire name. It is sufficient to type the first two or three characters and then press the Tab key. This will automatically complete the name – just like on the Linux shell.

Step 4a: Intermediate step (depending on model)

Please check in advance whether the file MeSet.efi is in the BIOS update folder. If no, you can skip this intermediate step. If yes, please execute this file by typing the file name (in this case MeSet.efi) and confirm with Enter. This causes the write protection for the BIOS (a kind of security measure of Intel) to be removed, so that you can install the BIOS update yourself afterwards. MeSet.efi will reboot the notebook. If MeSet.efi was successfully executed, the fans will rotate to 100%. If this is not the case, please run MeSet.efi again.After that you have to return to the starting point, i.e. your BIOS update folder on the stick, as described above.

They are located in your EC/BIOS update folder. You display the contents with the command ls (for list). You will then see different numbers of files, depending on the notebook model. We are interested here only and only in a certain .nsh file, which – depending on the notebook model – is called F.nsh, Flash.nsh, Flashme.nsh or ECFlash.nsh. If there is a Flashme.nsh and a Flash.nsh in the folder, please use the Flashme.nsh. Have you found a file with this name? Then type in this file name and confirm with Enter.

Step 5: You did it!

The update process will now start and automatically delete the old EC or BIOS files from your notebook and install the new version.

Your TUXEDO then restarts and the EC or BIOS update is complete. If the notebook does not start on its own, remove the USB stick and start the computer manually. You have done it! Wasn’t that hard, was it?

Step 5a: Reset BIOS order (depending on model)

On some models, your USB stick may be at the top of the boot order after an EC/BIOS update. This means: Your TUXEDO computer may restart after the update, but then automatically boots from your USB stick and starts the EFI shell again. Should this happen, don’t worry!

As long as only the EFI shell is running, but the EC or BIOS update process as described in step 4 has not yet been started manually by you, you can still safely switch off your device. Simply press the power button for a few seconds until the notebook shuts down.

Remove the USB stick from your TUXEDO and restart your device. Immediately and repeatedly quickly press the key to enter the BIOS (depending on the model this is F2 or ESC) and navigate to the Boot section in the BIOS. There you change the boot order (Boot Option respectively Priority to the internal system drive and exit the BIOS via the option Save Changes and Reset (or similar).