How to Update the Firmware on your Raspberry Pi 5

By Richard SavilleApr 24, 20250 comments

This blog post is a backup from the now-unavailable Pineboards documentation page on how to update the firmware on your Raspberry Pi 5. We have created this post to ensure this information remains available for our customers following the unfortunate closure of Pineboards.

Keeping your Raspberry Pi 5 firmware up-to-date is crucial for performance and compatibility, especially with new features like the RPi PCIe spec.

This tutorial will guide you through updating the firmware to the latest version directly through Raspberry Pi OS.

Prerequisites

A Raspberry Pi 5 running Raspberry Pi OS
An internet connection

Step 1: Prepare Your System

First, make sure your Raspberry Pi OS is up-to-date to avoid any compatibility issues during the firmware update:

Open a terminal window (Ctrl+Alt+T)
Update your system with the following commands:
sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade
Reboot your Raspberry Pi to apply all updates:
sudo reboot

Step 2: Update the Firmware

To update the firmware to the latest version:

Open a terminal window if it's not already open.
Access the configuration tool:
sudo raspi-config
Navigate to Advanced Options > Bootloader Version.
Select Latest to update your firmware to the newest version available.
Exit the configuration tool and reboot your Raspberry Pi to apply the changes:
sudo reboot

Step 3: Verify the Firmware Version

After your Raspberry Pi reboots, you can check to make sure the firmware has been updated:

Open a terminal window.
Run the following command to see the current firmware version:
sudo rpi-eeprom-update
This command will display the current firmware version along with the date. Ensure that it shows the version dated 2023-12-06 or newer to confirm that your device supports all the latest features.