Lenovo To Make Their BIOS/UEFI Updates Easier For Linux Users Via LVFS

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Lenovo To Make Their BIOS/UEFI Updates Easier For Linux Users Via LVFS

Lenovo is making it easier for their customers running Linux to update their firmware now on ThinkPad, ThinkStation, and ThinkCenter hardware...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Lenovo-LVFS-Support

[Schugy]

Thanks for the news. My Ideapad G50-45 that was once sold with FreeDOS will never get Spectre and Meltdown fixes then.
Vendor: LENOVO Version: A2CN23WW(V1.05) Release Date: 07/08/2014

[mskarbek]

Support for Linux on HP laptops is non-existent. In work, I'm forced to use HP ZBook Mobile Workstation, with the G3 version they pretended, with G4 they stopped even pretending and officially dropped support for Linux. Firmware updates require Windows and .Net framework for anything other then UEFI, fortunately, UEFI can be updated form the UEFI itself.

[dremon_nl]

On Ubuntu 18.04 (fwupd 1.0.6-2) it worked out of the box for my ThinkPad T470s.
Correctly detected a running system, found a firmware and updated it to the recent version without any issues.
Simply amazing, wow.

[AsuMagic]

For a second I thought LVFS was yet another filesystem. Thank god it wasn't.

[Milan Kerslager]

Thanks for the news. My Ideapad G50-45 that was once sold with FreeDOS will never get Spectre and Meltdown fixes then.
Vendor: LENOVO Version: A2CN23WW(V1.05) Release Date: 07/08/2014

Fix for Meltdown, Spectre depends on availability of the processor firmware update. Not on BIOS update even BIOS may upload update at the very beginning of the booting sequence. Later, when system is running, there is microcode update in Linux and Windows too.

[starshipeleven]

Thanks for the news. My Ideapad G50-45 that was once sold with FreeDOS will never get Spectre and Meltdown fixes then.
Vendor: LENOVO Version: A2CN23WW(V1.05) Release Date: 07/08/2014

All normal distros load updated CPU microcodes on boot if available, and the G50-45 is using an AMD processor so it is not affected by Meltdown.

Besides, it's a sub-500$ laptop, you should be already be happy that they didn't fuck up the firmware so bad that Linux kernel panics on boot (as happens way too frequently with HP laptops nowadays).

EDIT: for the sake of making it more clear, I mean that unless you are using a nutjob distro your laptop will be OK even if the board firmware will never be upgraded again.

[starshipeleven]

For a second I thought LVFS was yet another filesystem. Thank god it wasn't.

More filesystems for the Linux god!

[uid313]

https://fwupd.org/vendorlist

Vendors include Dell, Lenovo, HP, Intel.
Notably absent is AMD, Asus, Asrock and Gigabyte.

If I were to buy a laptop it would be a Dell XPS.

[starshipeleven]

https://fwupd.org/vendorlist

Vendors include Dell, Lenovo, HP, Intel.
Notably absent is AMD, Asus, Asrock and Gigabyte.

AMD has nothing to update, the only thing Intel is using LVFS for is for the Thunderbolt firmware.

This is more for OEMs (that actually make a device firmware) than IC designers/manufacturers.