I am trying to help my sister upgrade a Gateway DX4870 from windows 8 to windows 10. I found a BIOS upgrade at
Drivers & Downloads
labeled Gateway BIOS - UEFI for Windows 8 (Not for Upgrades) P11.B1 2014/04/03
I am not sure what this upgrade does and whether the update should be installed. Any advice would be appreciated.
thanks for your reply.
I have been unable to get any useful info on the update.
Gateway will only provide info if I pay for the call. Given my previous experience with TECH support I really doubt whether I would get correct information. I have tried searching using various search engines for the BIOS update and have been unable to find any information other than the release note (shown below) which is unclear. Unless the update is required I do not want to risk creating a brick out of the computer
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======================================= Goran B75 ========================================
BIOS Version: P11-B1 ROM ID: 0055800
Release Date: 04/30/2013 8M Checksum: EED6(P11-B1.PEG)
3M Checksum: FF45(P11-B1.CAP)
IPMI/EC Version: N/A VBIOS Ver: 2165 PC 14.34
IPMI/EC Release Date: N/A IMSM Ver: RAID: N/A
AMI Kernel: Aptio 4.6.5.3 ME FW Ver: ME8_5M_8.1.0.1265(ME8_5M_Production.bin)
MicroCode: M12206A7_00000028 IVB GOP Driver: 3.0.1020
M12306A2_00000008 SNB GOP driver: 2.0.35.1018
M12306A4_00000007 PXE ROM Ver: PXE 2.1 Build 089 v1.3.81
M12306A5_00000007
M12206A6_00000004
M12306A8_00000010
M12306A9_00000017
Acer Module: 4.0.9
MRC Ver: 1.6.0.0 Brand Support: A/D/G
Author: Ronald Fu Reviewer:Maxwell_Liu
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01. Secure Flash with Test Key Leakage Issue
A little searching indicates that "not for upgrade" means that it can't be installed on a machine that shipped with Windows 7 and was upgraded to Windows 8. If the machine shipped with Windows 8, it can be used. I believe that's due to changes in SLP (system locked pre-installation, which is a licensing scheme used by large PC makers) between the two OSes. If your machine came from the factory with Win 8, you may upgrade the BIOS.
Whether you should update the BIOS, I can't say.
I haven't been able to find whether the EEPROM on this motherboard is socketed or not. If it's socketed, and the BIOS flash goes wrong, you could obtain a new chip with a good BIOS on it and swap them out. If the chip is soldered, you'd have to have the machine serviced by the manufacturer. (That assumes that the PC has no BIOS recovery mode, and no dual BIOS.)
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