Score:1

Ubuntu Software not showing BIOS/System Updates

rs flag

I usually got notifications of BIOS updates on the Ubuntu Software app (I'm in Ubuntu 20.04). However, I just realised my BIOS had not been updated for some months while updates were available. The firmware updates were successfully found and applied by fwupdmgr.

I am unsure why or when it stopped (using ubuntu-software from snap-store). Note, by BIOS I mean the "System firmware" (as reported by fwupdmgr, BIOS version checked using dmidecode -s bios-version).

Is there any way to get Ubuntu Software to notify and update BIOS again?

About the system: This is happening on a Dell Precision 5560 laptop. Usually, updates show on Ubuntu Software as "System Updates" similar to this (but showing the correct laptop model, the image is just an example from the internet): BIOS update on Ubuntu-Software

Another Dell Precision (5550) seems to not have the issue and updates show there.

cgc512 avatar
rs flag
Apologies for this @David, I have updated the question with information on the System where this happens.
cgc512 avatar
rs flag
@guiverc, exactly, however, I have an older Dell system which still gets updates, and there were indeed new updates for the 5560 but Ubuntu-Software was not showing them (I could successfully update using fwupdmgr, so the system knew the updates were there!)
David avatar
cn flag
OK that makes some sense it is UFI that is giving you the message that there is BIOS updates. This is a wide problem it seems. BIOS and UFI are not exactly the same thing. https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/uefi-vs-bios/ Note in the picture you included it says system not BIOS just adds to the confusion.
cgc512 avatar
rs flag
I do agree it is confusing. Dell calls it "BIOS Update": https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-uk/000131486/update-the-dell-bios-in-a-linux-or-ubuntu-environment and that's also what the screen says while it's updating, so I went with that term instead. Coming back to the question, I assume ubuntu-software uses fwupdmgr to check and do the update, so I am unsure why would this stop working. Any ideas of that?
David avatar
cn flag
Only the guys that make the update will know. You MIGHT consider reporting it as a bug.
I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.