Updating HP elite 8200 bios without Windows

Quick dump of notes showing how to use Linux for creating bootable freedos usb stick with required files to upgrade HP elite 8200 bios.



# Below assumes your USB stick is /dev/sde. DOUBLE CHECK THIS!
# Unmount any partitions OS might have automounted from this USB device
mkdir -p /opt/foo
cd /opt/foo

# Get FreeDOS image, unpack, write to USB
wget http://dump.asiantuntijakaveri.fi/le_bueno_dumpo/FreeDOS-1.1-USB-Boot.img.bz2
bunzip2 FreeDOS-1.1-USB-Boot.img.bz2
dd if=FreeDOS-1.1-USB-Boot.img of=/dev/sde bs=4k

# Refresh Linux partition table list and mount USB
# This WILL fail if you don't unmount automounted filesystem first
partprobe
mkdir mnt
mount /dev/sde1 mnt

# Download bios
wget ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp61501-62000/sp61844.exe

# Unpack and copy to USB
mkdir tmp
cd tmp
# Install p7zip, p7zip-full and p7zip-rar packages first (ubuntu/debian naming)
7z x ../sp61844.exe
cp -v "DOS Flash/"* ../mnt/
echo "dosflash" >../mnt/autoexec.bat
cd ..

# Unmount USB as we're done
umount mnt

Remember to restore bios defaults after flashing for proper operation.

P.S. Since you will have problems getting this pos computer booting from USB check this too: http://blog.asiantuntijakaveri.fi/2012/06/hp-compaq-8200-elite-sff-won-boot-from.html