Intel Making It Easier To Flash Ethernet Device Firmware On Linux

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Intel Making It Easier To Flash Ethernet Device Firmware On Linux

For those using the Intel ICE Linux network driver that is used for the likes of the E800 series, it's now going to be easier updating the device firmware from Linux...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Intel-PLDM-Firmware-Update-ICE

[jabl]

How is this better or different than the LVFS/fwupdmgr stuff that uses the UEFI Capsule thingy specified in the UEFI standard?

[Michael]

How is this better or different than the LVFS/fwupdmgr stuff that uses the UEFI Capsule thingy specified in the UEFI standard?

UEFI Capsules AFAIK have no specification designed for Ethernet adapters.

[intelfx]

How is this better or different than the LVFS/fwupdmgr stuff that uses the UEFI Capsule thingy specified in the UEFI standard?

First, LVFS/fwupd does not equate UEFI capsules. Fwupd supports a lot of things beyond updating system firmware via UEFI capsules.

Second, you should actually compare this work to UEFI capsules, not fwupd. This is the low-level support work, it can become a backend to fwupd if it ever decides to support compatible Ethernet cards.

[starshipeleven]

Is this for the card's own firmware or it allows changing the network boot firmware too? I wouldn't mind having more cards I can use iPXE on https://ipxe.org/

[M@GOid]

*Put 3D printed tinfoil hat on.

This talk about changing Ethernet firmware from the OS is making me uncomfortable.

[starshipeleven]

*Put 3D printed tinfoil hat on.

This talk about changing Ethernet firmware from the OS is making me uncomfortable.

The things you can do from an ethernet card firmware are nothing if compared to what you can do if you pwnz0r the UEFI firmware (which is so much easier nowadays)

[anarki2]

Nice, but it was never "hard" to flash firmware, you just relied on Intel utils instead of open stuff.

[jabl]

Nice, but it was never "hard" to flash firmware, you just relied on Intel utils instead of open stuff.

It's not hard, but it's extremely tedious. Having to navigate a slow and confusing vendor support website trying to figure out which firmware package you need, read the instructions how to apply it etc. And adding insult to injury, some vendors (*cough HPE*) even require you to prove that you have a valid support contract for the HW in question. And then repeat for every piece of HW you have, all different, united only in the overall suckiness of the experience. No wonder most people never bother to update firmware.

It's like keeping a Linux OS up to date without a distro, downloading tarballs from various websites, reading instructions how to compile and install etc.

It could be so much better. LVFS shows the way. If this patch provides some standardized low level infrastructure that fwupd can build upon, good.