I needed upgrade the bios on a Dell system that didn't have an OS installed on it yet. Came across the below post on how to upgrade the bios without the OS installed. This worked great for me.
Most DELL (or any other brand) of machines have BIOS updates/upgrades from time to time. There have been several projects attempting to solve the issue that arises when attempting to upgrade the BIOS of a DELL computer with no MS Windows O/S on it. However, most of them are defunct (not working anymore). BTW: You CANNOT upgrade the BIOS from a VirtualBox or a VMWare install - Please DO NOT try this - you need to be running an MS O/S or FreeDOS natively - i.e. on the bare metal.Therefore, what is the solution? Here's one that I came across that is very easy and straightforward and makes use of the native *.exe BIOS file from DELL.(This method will also work for any other brand of computer that provides it's BIOS files as *.exe format).
2) Plug in a USB stick (it does not need to be erased, just to enough room for the FreeDOS and the bios (*.exe) file).
3) Create a FreeDOS bootable USB stick (on the USB stick you just plugged in).
4) Download the latest and greatest
DELL_BIOS_MODEL.EXE file for
YOUR specific machine from the
DELL SUPPORT website from your Ubuntu install.
5) Transfer the DELL_BIOS_MODEL.EXE file to your USB stick.
6) REBOOT your computer and enter the BIOS options (F8 or F12 - usually).
7) Select BOOT from USB before booting from anything else. Hit .
8) Wait for the USB with the FreeDOS to boot.
***THIS NEXT STEP IS IMPORTANT***
9) DO NOT choose to install the FreeDOS - this will erase your HDD and wipe-out your Ubuntu install.
Also, do not choose any of the other special memory boot options.
Just choose boot FreeDOS with no extras.
***Dangerous Step is Now Over***
10) You will get a couple or warnings/errors - its okay to ignore them. When presented with the A:\ prompt, type C: and hit .
11) Type dir and you should get a list of all directories and files on your USB stick.
12) Type DELL_BIOS_MODEL.EXE and hit to execute the BIOS update/upgrade file.
13) DO NOT touch the power (make sure your are plugged in with an A/C adapter if your are using a laptop); follow the on-screen instructions.
14) If necessary after the update/upgrade, enter the BIOS (again, usually F8 or F12) and return the first boot device to what was before (usually the CDROM or HDD).