[syslinux] Problems PXE booting syslinux.efi on HP EliteBook 2560p / 8460p

Patrick Masotta
Sun, 15 Mar 2015 23:05:27 -0000

> When
> looking for updates for these particular HP EliteBook
> systems,
> users must choose an OS before
> being presented with available updates,
> even when the update is not supposed to be
> dependent on a particular
> OS, such as
> firmware. The opposite though, could potentially be a valid
> concern: updating to a newer firmware
> version while the (current) OS
> might not be
> able to boot (e.g. having Windows XP already installed
> while updating to a UEFI firmware version
> without CSM).
>
> Under this
> procedure, when users select "Windows 8.1
> 64-bits", the
> latest UEFI firmware
> version at this time is "F50" (year 2014), but
> when selecting "Linux" as OS, then
> the respective latest version
> available is
> "F21" (year 2011). Additionally, going back to a
> prior
> firmware version is not possible (or
> at least not supported).

I know; I have used Windows 8.1 64 bits in order to download the newest firmware
version F50 (2014)

> My
> guess is that HP is not testing the newer firmware versions
> with
> anything but Windows'
> bootmgr.efi.
>
You are probably right; that makes me wonder if SL shouldn't then check if
the UDP/TCP4 Binding Service is not available
then default to TFTP transfers under PXE protocol control (like bootmgr.efi
does)?

Best,
Patrick