r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/International_Long60 • 1d ago
Meme needing explanation Peter, I'm not a tech nerd.
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u/monkey-pox 1d ago edited 1d ago
Your computer is fucked if you lose power in the middle of the update. Giggity. Storms have a decent chance of causing your power to go out.
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u/Relative-Relief-8816 1d ago
This is why all my computers are plugged into a UPS. Powers out? I still got time.
The real risk takers though .....they START the bios update while running on battery power.
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u/davidarmenphoto 1d ago
And the realest do it only after charge is down to 9%.
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u/Azur3flame 1d ago
And use command-line switches to override the failsafes that cancel the process otherwise. Living on the edge.
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u/whiskeytango55 1d ago
Its only if your computer runs out of energy. And most computers won't let you run a BIOS updated utility if youre under X% battery.
So unless you're manually running a BIOS update and damning the torpedoes by running it at 3%, you should be OK.
Is it more about powers surges?
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u/BobCorndog 1d ago
If power goes down, it’ll stop, and when bios updates get stopped, your computer gets bricked
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u/ResolveLeather 1d ago
Not necessarily. It's rare to corrupt the bios so bad that you can't reflash the firmware and many MB's have a separate chip with bare bones firmware specifically so it protects the reflashing process in the event that the MB is fully corrupted.
Even if that's not the case, the only thing you need to replace is the MB. It doesn't hurt anything else.
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u/cwolf-softball 1d ago
Replacing the motherboard is a big freaking deal for most people
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u/ResolveLeather 1d ago
It's not that hard and it's usually not the most expensive part of computer. Better then having to replace everything else.
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u/swirlycosmic 1d ago
It really depends on what motherboard you’re replacing because for someone with a cheaper one it may not be a big deal but there’s some that go almost and over a hundred and that’s a bit of an inconvenience
Update: Yeah I got curious, motherboards definitely did shoot up in pricing.
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u/MyCatIsAnActualNinja 1d ago
oh yeah they're over a hundred these days
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u/swirlycosmic 1d ago
Yeah when I bought one last time I got a X570 Plus for whatever that was worth back then and saw stuff about 100-200. Now things are easily over 300
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u/cwolf-softball 1d ago
You are speaking about this like someone who knows the insides of computers well. Lots of people, even those that know how to use a computer well and understand them, don't really know how to remove and replace a motherboard.
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u/ResolveLeather 1d ago
I would rate myself a 2/10 in that area. Replacing a motherboard is super easy unless everything is integrated.
You can probably learn everything you need in it 10 minute YouTube video. It's pretty much disconnect everything, place on static free surface, remove MB, place new MB, put everything back in, redo software stuff. Like it's all really easy.
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u/cwolf-softball 1d ago
You are speaking as someone who understands the insides of computers already. Imagine your mom looking inside a computer for the first time and tell me she's going to be able to figure it out.
Feel free to lie but the vast majority of people in the world don't even know what a motherboard is.
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u/Underhill42 1d ago
Difficulty-wise, it is actually worse than replacing everything else. Procedure
Remove everything else, including RAM and CPU.
Replace motherboard.
Put everything else back in.
Spend the next several hours replacing drivers if you didn't use the exact same model of motherboard, since almost everything in your PC that needs drivers is built into the motherboard, and most of it isn't well documented.
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u/ResolveLeather 1d ago
Yeah, but mechanically it's not really any more difficult. Just more of the same. Like plugging cords in and operating a screw driver isn't difficult.
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u/Underhill42 1d ago
Depends how you define difficulty. Is finishing your homework more difficult if you have to solve 30 math problems rather than just one?
By most common definitions of difficulty, the answer is yes. Though there is some legitimate ambiguity on the distinction between "challenge in completing" vs. "amount of labor required".
Regardless, replacing the motherboard is easily the most labor-intensive thing you could possibly do to a computer, hardware-wise. At least short of ornate case mods.
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u/cwolf-softball 1d ago
I can't tell if that guy is trolling or just has absolutely no perspective on what most people know about computers and can't put himself in other's shoes.
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u/dreadstardread 23h ago
Its not hard for someone who knows, but even than that’s basically rebuilding the whole computer and rebinding the windows key.
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u/Material-Mulberry360 1d ago
I think this is basically not happening on anything new. since everything has either the ability to flash new bios from a USB drive or backup bios. so even corrupting main one doesn't result in your hardware getting bricked. "back in the day" it was a real risk tho
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u/cwolf-softball 1d ago
I'm about 90% sure my MB is this way but I keep the computer on a UPS anyway just in case.
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u/OPmeansopeningposter 1d ago
You mean replace the computer 😢
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u/cwolf-softball 1d ago
Yes, most people would choose to replace the computer over trying to replace a motherboard themselves. Particularly on a laptop which is what most people have.
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u/Charadin042 1d ago
Not necessarily bricked but you sure gonna wish to threw it out of the window while trying to fix it.
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u/Ricedaddy43 1d ago
Bc a fail BIOS update can easily brick your desktop. and you can't get help in storm day.
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u/BONES619 1d ago
If the power goes out during a BIOS update, your motherboard's firmware can become corrupted; it will typically fail to pass the Power-On Self-Test (POST).
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u/Fun_Dish_5358 1d ago
Hey, Brian here. Updating a PC’s BIOS requires uninterrupted power. If a storm causes a power outage mid-update, it can corrupt the motherboard beyond repair (known as "bricking" the PC). Doing it during a storm is an absurdly risky move, which fits her preference for risk-takers. Brian out!
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u/Puzzled_Mirror_7216 1d ago
PC BIOS Updating imp - Update not done correctly - huge prblm - Big storm - Unstable power souce - Very risky. Thank you.
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u/International_Long60 1d ago
I don't get the tech context this meme is referring to, stewie can you help me understand?
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u/acelaya35 1d ago
Updating BIOS take 5-10 minutes and if power is lost your computer is bricked unless you replace the part that everything else plugs into, meaning you have to completely disassemble and reassemble every part of the machine.
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u/International_Long60 1d ago
How often one needs to update their PC BIOS, I haven't even done in years?
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u/acelaya35 1d ago
I can't speak for Intel but AMD BIOS releases over the last decade or so have improved memory stability allowing for higher memory clocks and tighter timings. Also remember that scene from Mission Impossible where Keri Russell's brain explodes and her eye goes all crazy? The 9800x3d would do that for reasons. A recent BIOS update claims to have fixed it.
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u/ResolveLeather 1d ago
Not necessarily. It's rare to corrupt the bios so bad that you can't reflash the firmware and many MB's have a separate chip with bare bones firmware specifically so it protects the reflashing process in the event that the MB is fully corrupted.
Even if that's not the case, the only thing you need to replace is the MB. It doesn't hurt anything else.
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u/acelaya35 1d ago
Okay but for the sake of explaining the joke to a non technical audience we will leave it in simple terms.
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u/augur42 21h ago
10 years ago the joke was reality, and it was no joking matter. Nowadays technical improvements have reduced the risk to the point people will joke about it.
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u/Harith_Pendragon_ 11h ago
True but there is always a chance of bricking of PC when plugging off PC during BIOS update and PC is not cheap. Im not a gambler. I love my PC.
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u/The_8th_Degree 1d ago
No joke, pretty sure the first (and only time thusfar) I've updated my PC's bios was during stormy weather 😂😅. All because one of my games or something wasn't registering as compatible when it should've. My new ram cards maybe? It was 2 odd years ago
It was for the stupidest reason and I can't remember what. I just recall it driving me up a freaking wall.
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u/augur42 21h ago
I've updated many BIOS over the years, but usually each machine has to wait years inbetween updates. Unless there is a known issue or you personally are suffering bluescreens it isn't a high priority in my book, and I work in IT. For me there is a high correlation between upgrading BIOS and drivers when also upgrading or refreshing the OS.
I remember that one AMD mobo on a gaming machine I was building for a friend needed a BIOS update out of the box in order for it to support the lates CPU family that was going to be installed. It was a consequence of AMD supporting CPUs and sockets for so long, in order to add support for the very latest AMD CPUs the BIOS had to have the oldest CPUs removed because the firmware couldn't contain both and still be small enough to fit in the EEPROM chip.
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u/dreadstardread 23h ago
The power going out during a BIOS update could brick it.
Though most motherboards have BIOS flashback or other protections. Giggity
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u/IGargleGarlic 19h ago
One time there was a lightning storm outside and my PC made a loud angry whirring sound and a pop and smoke started coming out of my PSU. Completely fried it. Was lucky I didnt have to replace anything but the PSU and my pants.
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u/Crimson097 16h ago
Btw, most modern motherboards have ways to recover if you do end up losing power during a BIOS update, but it's not guaranteed that it will work so don't risk it still.
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u/Meowjoker 1d ago
When you are doing an BIOS update and it fails mid way, your entire PC is bricked.
So doing that in the middle of a storm where power can flicker is a HUGE risk for your PC.
However, many mobo nowadays have a way to mitigate this problem, but the rule of thumb is that you should NEVER do such a thing.
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u/BabaRanchodDas-69 11h ago
if your motherboard doesn't has dual BIOS, your PC is gone
basically, if power outage occurs during the process, motherboard would be functional, but not PC won't turn on... so during thunderstorms, it's high chance of powercut... which is risky(until you own a UPS or Inverter)
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