Updating firmware of a hardware component

• US 9,858,066 B2
• Filed: 02/08/2016
• Issued: 01/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Landry, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Bui, Hanh T
• Application Number:
  US15/018,089
• Publication Number:
  US 20160170736A1
• Time in Patent Office: 694 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1433 during software upgrading
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/123 Software or firmware update, e.g. device firmware management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/654 using techniques specially adapted for alterable solid state memories, e.g. for EEPROM or flash memories

Abstract

In some examples, a computing device sets an indication that an update of the firmware of the hardware component should be performed upon reboot. Upon boot-up of the computing device, a firmware update process is initiated in response to detection of the indication by the computing device. The firmware update process triggers the update of the firmware of the hardware component by starting execution of the executable firmware update. The computing device reports the results to an entity that is external of the computing device.

Claims

1. A method for updating firmware of a hardware component included in a computing device, the method comprising:

storing, by the computing device, an executable firmware update for the hardware component on a machine-readable storage medium;

setting, by the computing device, an indication that an update of the firmware of the hardware component should be performed upon reboot;

upon boot-up of the computing device, initiating a firmware update process in response to detection of the indication by the computing device;

triggering, by the firmware update process, the update of the firmware of the hardware component by starting execution of the executable firmware update;

writing results of the update of the firmware to a storage location; and

reporting, by computing device, the results to an entity that is external of the computing device, wherein the reporting comprises reporting the results to the entity that is one of a manufacturer of the computing device and a manufacturer of the hardware component.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the initiating of the firmware update process is by a firmware-to-OS interface.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the initiating of the firmware update process is by a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI).

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the initiating of the firmware update process comprises initiating a firmware update application.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the firmware update application is provided by the manufacturer of the computing device, and

the executable firmware update is provided by the manufacturer of the hardware component.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the executable firmware update complies with an application protocol specified by the manufacturer of the computing device to return results to the firmware update application.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the storing is performed by an application running in an operating system (OS) of the computing device, and

the setting of the indication is by the OS.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing a firmware backup for the hardware component on the machine-readable storage medium; and

triggering, upon detection of a failure of the update, restoration of the firmware of the hardware component using the firmware backup.

9. A computing device comprising:

at least one processor; and

a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions executable by the at least one processor to;

set an indication that an update of a firmware of a hardware component of the computing device should be performed upon reboot;

detect, during boot-up of the computing device, the indication;

in response to detecting the indication, initiate a firmware update process;

update the firmware of the hardware component by starting an executable firmware update by the firmware update process;

write results of the update of the firmware to a storage location; and

cause reporting of the results to an entity that is external of the computing device, wherein the reporting of the results to the entity comprises reporting the results to the entity that is one of a manufacturer of the computing device and a manufacturer of the hardware component.

10. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the executable firmware update is located in a partition of the machine-readable storage medium hidden from a user of the computing device.

11. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the executable firmware update includes instructions that access and modify the firmware of the hardware component.

12. The computing device of claim 9, further comprising an operating system (OS), wherein the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to:

store, by an application running in an environment of the OS in the computing device, the executable firmware update, prior to the boot-up.

13. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the causing of the reporting of the results is performed by the application running in the environment of the OS.

14. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions that upon execution cause a computing device to:

set an indication that an update of a firmware of a hardware component of the computing device should be performed upon reboot;

upon boot-up of the computing device, initiate a firmware update process of the computing device, in response to detecting the indication;

locate, by the firmware update process, an executable firmware update;

start, by the firmware update process, execution of the executable firmware update to update the firmware of the hardware component;

write results of the update of the firmware to a storage location, wherein the results indicate a failure of the update of the firmware responsive to failure of the update of the firmware; and

cause reporting of the results to an entity that is external of the computing device, wherein the reporting of the results to the entity comprises reporting the results to the entity that is one of a manufacturer of the computing device and a manufacturer of the hardware component.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions upon execution cause the computing device to:

verify the executable firmware update using a digital signature stored on the machine-readable storage medium prior to starting execution of the executable firmware update.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein causing the reporting of the results is performed by an application running in an environment of an operating system (OS) of the computing device.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the initiating of the firmware update process is by a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI).

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the initiating of the firmware update process comprises initiating a firmware update application.