Hi Chuck,
On 12/8/20 9:35 AM, Chuck Anderson wrote:
I wasn't aware you could do BIOS or firmware updates from a VM. With
USB passthru, I guess there is some hardware that can be operated or
configured from a VM. However, it is much harder to "swap" the
pre-installed copy of Windows to become a VM than it is to configure
dual-boot.
It depends what firmware you're looking to update. I have definitely,
without any stress at all, done firmware updates for various external
hardware (high-end cameras, scanners, cricut, etc) through the USB
passthru function of GNOME Boxes.
For the firmware and BIOS of my laptop itself... I always use Lenovo
hardware, generally I'd crack the files open using Windows and IIRC set
up a boot disk to install them. No baremetal Windows needed. That's no
longer necessary now because of the Linux Vendor Firmware Service, I can
update the firmware now easy as any system package update.
If you really, really needed windows bare metal for such an occasional
usage pattern though, wouldn't a Windows Live Media setup be better?
Also, a VM cannot be used to diagnose hardware problems.
I'm not sure what hardware problems couldn't be diagnosed in a native
Linux OS, but certainly Windows Live Media can be useful here as well.
If the problem is that your Windows license didn't include a copy of the
Windows installer, that's a different problem entirely, isn't it?
I suppose, but that is not in my control. Well, strictly speaking I
could go out of my way to buy a laptop without Windows pre-installed,
then purchase a separate retail copy of Windows, but that has a higher
barrier to entry.
Doesn't cost you anything if you have a valid preinstall license, see
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/
This all seems to be a (dated?) edge case to me?? 🤷
~m
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