Dual BIOS, what about Dual UEFI? Safe to update UEFI Firmware?

[iam2thecrowe]

Was just wondering about updating UEFI compared to motherboards with Dual BIOS. If a BIOS flash goes wrong (power outage for example) and the motherboard has dual BIOS, then you are still safe with the backup BIOS. Does anyone know if there are any recovery features when flashing boards with UEFI? I havn't seen a board yet that has DUAL UEFI.

 

[jaquith]

The recovery from a failed BIOS Flash is automatic after the failure/boot the back-up BIOS rewrites the corrupted BIOS chip's data. Only (1) UEFI can be accessed.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

Sorry but that doesnt answer my question. I want to know if there is any redundancy with UEFI and how safe it is to flash the nvram?? Are there any UEFI boards that have a backup nvram?

 

[jaquith]

Yeah, it does answer your question and apparently you don't understand what I said.

Your Gigabyte MOBO has (2) two copies, like a RAID 1 {mirror}, of the BIOS data stored on (2) separate BIOS Chips. If your flash FAILS on the Primary BIOS Chip then the Failure upon reboot, integrity check, starts a built-in routine to recover/re-copy from the Secondary BIOS Chip -> Primary BIOS Chip. This recovery is Automatic.

Some MOBO's have a dip switch to select the Primary <= switch => Secondary BIOS.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

no, your not answering my question at all, i know how dual BIOS works, im asking about UEFI. please STOP telling me how dual BIOS works! Can someone else please have a crack at answering my question?

 

[jaquith]

Was just wondering about updating UEFI compared to motherboards with Dual BIOS. If a BIOS flash goes wrong (power outage for example) and the motherboard has dual BIOS, then you are still safe with the backup BIOS.

As stated above = "The recovery from a failed BIOS Flash is automatic after the failure/boot the back-up BIOS rewrites the corrupted BIOS chip's data." Yes, you ARE SAFE.

Does anyone know if there are any recovery features when flashing boards with UEFI?

As stated above = "The recovery from a failed BIOS Flash is automatic after the failure/boot the back-up BIOS..." There are some MOBO's that also allow the 'ROM' file to be read off a CD as another form of recovery. Your question, however, is clearly stated 'Dual BIOS' and not 'Single BIOS.' Further, the procedures are different from MOBO manufacturers, meaning there's not a generic answer.

I havn't seen a board yet that has DUAL UEFI.

As stated above = "Only (1) UEFI can be accessed." Also I stated = "Some MOBO's have a dip switch to select the Primary <= switch => Secondary BIOS."

So IF you have another question or I missed something then perhaps it would be helpful if the Question is Clearly asked.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

I told you, forget BIOS, i want to know about UEFI. i was only using Dual BIOS as an example and im asking if there are DUAL UEFI motherboards or other methods of fail safe for UEFI.
"Only (1) UEFI can be accessed."? what does that even mean? are you saying its impossible for a motherboard to have a backup nvram incase of a bad UEFI firmware flash?
I shall ask my question again in a different way: Are ther any methods of fail-safe incase of a bad UEFI firmware flash on any motherboard, and if a UEFI flash does go bad (like a power outage during a flash) will that kill the board?

 

[jaquith]

Your questions are still too generic, BIOS/EFI/UEFI and their 'recovery' all depends upon who's the OEM. The 'Dual' BIOS/EFI/UEFI recovery is as I stated. However, when it comes to other 'recovery' options then it's too broad {generic} of a question. For example ASUS uses USB BIOS Flashback {media based + button} or BIOS Flashback {2 copies of different BIOS/EFI/UEFI versions}. Gigabyte Xpress BIOS Rescue and Xpress Recovery2.

Therefore, do ALL MOBO have a BIOS/EFI/UEFI recovery scheme -- well all the good ones that I've used so far. MSI, Gigabyte, ASUS, ASRock have their own methods of recovery. Is there any 'risk' for flashing ANY BIOS/EFI/UEFI sure -- there's no absolutes and if the MOBO had a 'problem' then no flashing is can fix component problems.

"Are ther any methods of fail-safe incase of a bad UEFI firmware flash on any motherboard..." - Yes, as stated "MSI, Gigabyte, ASUS, ASRock have their own methods of recovery." "if a UEFI flash does go bad (like a power outage during a flash) will that kill the board?" -- use one of the recovery methods for MSI, Gigabyte, ASUS, ASRock, etc. But there's NO ABSOLUTE GUARANTEES in Recovery. Further, I don't 'feel' any safer from a botched flash on EFI/UEFI or on the older BIOS.

I can say this, it very difficult to 'Brick' a MOBO 'today' flashing. When I flash ALL of my PC's, Workstations, or Servers are on UPS so I eliminate not only eliminate the flashing 'power loss' possibility but most importantly component damage and data loss.

Since all good MOBO's have some form of recovery I'd choose a good-quality MOBO that fits your needs and budget.

--

A good analogy to your question - 'How Safe are Airbags?' - Ans depends upon: 1. How many AB's, 2. Locations of AB's, 3. Construction of the car, 4, Point of impact, 5. Velocity of impact, 6. What's hitting you... Try answering that Generically. I have an S-Class with 11 AB's but if a 18-Wheeler Semi loaded up with 80,000# broadsides me going 80MPH -- then I'm a smear on the pavement.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

so there are no "dual UEFI" boards i guess. thanks for the input anyway.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

Best answer selected by iam2thecrowe.