How does updating firmware work?

I have a Pi4B that is running LibreELEC but definitely runs hot.

I found this article:

If you bought a Raspberry Pi 4, grab this firmware update to improve performance | PC Gamer

Which links to this one:

Raspberry Pi 4 temperature - Page 4 - Raspberry Pi Forums

What I don't understand is whether this is something I have to do independent of LibreELEC. Is firmware updated with LE releases or is it a strictly hardware thing that has to be done separately or....?

Sorry, I'm not an expert here. Thanks for the information and help!

Quote from Iridium

The link seems to suggest that it is a firmware update. Without knowing exactly what the program does, the best solution is to create a new SD card and install Raspbian. Run the commands under Raspbian and once complete and the version check is correct. Reboot with your LE SD card and all should be fine.

So is there normally a need for updating firmware that is independent of the OS itself or is that normally part of the OS in the Pi world?

Quote from HiassofT

Until the RPi4 came out all RPis didn't contain any flash/eeprom chips with firmware, everything was part of the OS / sdcard.

With the RPi4 things changed a bit, it now has an eeprom with the bootloader firmware and another one with the USB controller firmware.

so long,

Hias

Thank you for the explanation. Being new to the Pi other than installing an imagine and using it, I wasn't sure.

Quote

When you said:
I've tested updating the USB controller firmware from LibreELEC (as described in the article, just drop "sudo" as it's not needed in LE) and it worked fine.

You ran a command line in LE? How did you do that? All I see is the GUI.