The update progress of a basic input/output system (BIOS) is displayed on a display screen. A first chipset lock is applied to a first region of a shared serial peripheral interface (SPI) chip of the BIOS of a computer system containing a first program of instructions. A system management memory mode lock is applied to a second and a third region of the shared SPI chip containing a second and third programs of instructions respectively. The second program of instructions is updated, and control of the BIOS is transferred to the updated second program of instructions. The updated second program of instructions updates the first program of instructions. The BIOS update progress visual is displayed on the display screen of the computer system while updating the first program of instructions.