added new post 2023-15-07

_posts/2023-07-15-can-you-skip-bios-versions-when-upgrading-pcengines-apu

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+---
+title: "Can you skip versions when you upgrade a PC Engines APU2?"
+date: 2023-04-15T16:47:34+02:00
+categories: [homelab,pfsense,pc engines]
+tags: [pc engines, bios, pfsense, upgrade, apu2]
+---
+
+A quick note to people who are wondering if you can skip between versions when upgrading to a higher bios version of (in my case) APU2
+
+<!--more-->
+
+## The Answer
+
+YES YOU CAN!
+After googling a bit I could not find a definitive answer to this question.
+The APU2 was running version **4.12.0.4** and noticed that the latest recommended version was **4.17.x**  source:(https://pcengines.github.io)
+So after taking a few deep breaths, I decided to take the plunge and upgrade in one go to 4.17 using PFSense
+Recipe:
+- Download the required version (4.17.0.3 in my case) from the [pcengines website](https://pcengines.github.io)
+- In PFsense make sure you've installed the flashrom package
+- ```bash
+  pkg install -y flashrom
+  ```
+- Upload the file through PFSense
+- Diagnostics -> Command Prompt, Upload File
+- tar -xvf /tmp/apu2_v4.17.0.3.rom.tar.gz to unpack the file
+- Create a backup of your pfsense config just to be sure (Diagnostics -> Backup & Restore)
+- Under "Execute Shell Command" type:
+- ```bash
+flashrom -w /tmp/apu2_v4.12.0.3.rom -p internal:boardmismatch=force
+```
+- After the bios upgrade, shutdown the box, remove the power and after waiting a few seconds, power it back on.
+Done!
+This procedure and more can be found on the excellent [TekLager website](https://teklager.se/en/knowledge-base/apu-bios-upgrade/).