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Mike Halsey article on firmware upgrades/updates ...

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Renegade:
+1 for the "leave well enough alone" camp.

New updates and all that jazz... That's for suckers to figure out the problems. I. Can. Wait. :)

40hz:
Most modern devices probably have a recovery copy of the firmware to boot from in case of corruption, making bricking of them near impossible, but who knows, I've not checked.
-db90h (November 27, 2011, 11:31 PM)
--- End quote ---

 Having a recovery option doesn't prevent someone from bricking a device. It simply makes recovery from a screwup easier.

And yes, today virtually any device in this category can be fixed without replacing a chip. But the hassles can be major if you need to reload a firmware image after first hunting down an elusive proprietary TFTP client (and sometimes wire up your own special cable) to do a JTAG load - or better yet, learn the pleasures of first 'cracking the case' in order to short a few pins just to get to the point where your box will let itself be pinged. Fun stuff. like all science faire projects.

A secondary chip with a backup is always nice. But not every device ships with one of those. Last I checked that's more a PC mobo thing, and also not universal.

Not that it matters. Microsoft and Intel want the BIOS gone, so it will soon become a case of the 'firmware' being nothing more than a bootstrapper that gets what it needs off the disk drive to boot up.

Funny thing. This idea is being presented as innovative. Guess they forgot about the old Compaqs and IBMs that booted that way back in the 80s.

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