Dell firmware won't update

**Music_Guy** · May 24th, 2023

I'm running Ubuntu Studio 22.04 (fresh install) on a Dell desktop. For the last month or so I've seen a notification for a Dell firmware update in the updater app. I've clicked "update"; however the firmware will not update. I have not seen any error messages. When I run

Code:

fwupdmgr

I see the message:

(fwupdmgr:101182): dconf-WARNING **: 12:55:45.147: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance.

Running

Code:

fwupdmgr get-devices

I get:

├─CT2000MX500SSD1:
│ Device ID: 5dbeb140337f610d54913c0f43d15fdaa0eafb51
│ Summary: ATA drive
│ Current version: M3CR045
│ Vendor: Micron (ATA:0x1344, OUI:00a075)
│ GUIDs: 046771bf-4f0c-556f-9c2b-08fe18be91dc
│ b970437d-4c27-5eb2-a55a-571b36af5423
│ 86678006-2dc3-5d34-8e82-21d5735bbcad
│ Device Flags: • Internal device
│ • Updatable
│ • System requires external power source
│ • Needs a reboot after installation
│ • Device is usable for the duration of the update
│
├─PM981 NVMe Samsung 256GB:
│ Device ID: 03281da317dccd2b18de2bd1cc70a782df40ed7e
│ Summary: NVM Express solid state drive
│ Current version: EXD72D1Q
│ Vendor: Samsung (NVME:0x144D)
│ GUIDs: 0b4d773a-7ac3-58c1-a541-e22ef1cdfe02
│ c9d531ea-ee7d-5562-8def-c64d0d144813
│ 6e54c992-d302-59ab-b454-2d26ddd63e6d
│ 47335265-a509-51f7-841e-1c94911af66b
│ 848a0a55-2a1e-5a3f-a9ea-2f11335d0527
│ Device Flags: • Internal device
│ • Updatable
│ • System requires external power source
│ • Needs a reboot after installation
│ • Device is usable for the duration of the update
│ • Signed Payload
│
├─System Firmware:
│ │ Device ID: a45df35ac0e948ee180fe216a5f703f32dda163f
│ │ Summary: UEFI ESRT device
│ │ Current version: 2.19.0
│ │ Minimum Version: 2.19.0
│ │ Vendor: Dell (DMI

ell Inc.)
│ │ Update State: Success
│ │ GUIDs: c0745fac-f5a5-46c9-b716-3cc5781e876e
│ │ 230c8b18-8d9b-53ec-838b-6cfc0383493a
│ │ Device Flags: • Internal device
│ │ • Updatable
│ │ • System requires external power source
│ │ • Supported on remote server
│ │ • Needs a reboot after installation
│ │ • Cryptographic hash verification is available
│ │ • Device is usable for the duration of the update
│ │
│ └─UEFI dbx:
│ Device ID: 362301da643102b9f38477387e2193e57abaa590
│ Summary: UEFI revocation database
│ Current version: 275
│ Minimum Version: 275
│ Vendor: UEFI:Linux Foundation
│ Install Duration: 1 second
│ GUIDs: 00fe3755-a4d8-5ef7-ba5f-47979fbb3423
│ 4a6cd2cb-8741-5257-9d1f-89a275dacca7
│ c6682ade-b5ec-57c4-b687-676351208742
│ f8ba2887-9411-5c36-9cee-88995bb39731
│ Device Flags: • Internal device
│ • Updatable
│ • Needs a reboot after installation
│ • Only version upgrades are allowed
│ • Signed Payload
│
└─TPM 2.0:
Device ID: a3487e128cf1413519bce8e9a1ab3f5981e61458
Summary: UEFI ESRT device
Current version: 7.2.0.2
Vendor: Dell Inc. (PCI:0x1028)
Update State: Success
GUIDs: 6ed025d4-7c75-59de-ab55-53191b2657e0
ff71992e-52f7-5eea-94ef-883e56e034c6
7d65b10b-bb24-552d-ade5-590b3b278188
6f5ddd3a-8339-5b2a-b9a6-cf3b92f6c86d
fe462d4a-e48f-5069-9172-47330fc5e838
Device Flags: • Internal device
• Updatable
• System requires external power source
• Needs a reboot after installation

I found a website that explains how to update the firmware (https://linuxopsys.com/topics/update...tu-using-fwupd).

I am not familiar with this site. Is this approach valid? I don't want to use this approach and screw up my computer. If it's not a good way, can anyone suggest how to update the firmware?

**MAFoElffen** · May 24th, 2023

Answered today, here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1469...rmware-upgrade

Note my comment which refers back to the original, full solution...

**oldfred** · May 24th, 2023

More info:
https://fwupd.org/
https://github.com/fwupd/fwupd
https://github.com/fwupd/fwupd/releases/tag/1.6.0
Devices using LVFS for firmware updates
https://fwupd.org/lvfs/devicelist

Dell was one of the first major vendors to support UEFI update.
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pa...d-1.4-Released
UEFI/BIOS updates brand model list for Dell with (uefi >= 0.6.2 & dell >= 0.7.3)

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Fwupd-1.8.8-Released

**Music_Guy** · May 24th, 2023

I ran dconf update which installed the file .../site. This got rid of the error message; however, the firmware still will not update. Thanks for the suggestion - I just learned something new.