Series 9 NP900X4D Windows 8 Bios Update? Computer won't boot

I updated the bios today through sw update and after the update, a dos windows came up and restarted my computer. The text given while the bios was updating lead me to beilive that it was okay, but when it was finished updating, it said press any key to continue, the computer restarted and the screen would not turn on, only a whirl of the fan on go on for one second and nothing else would happen. My computer came with stock windows 8, and I am still using windows 8, haven't updated to 8.1. What should I do now?

What I've tried: pressing the pinhole button in battery, unplugging cmos battery, unplugging ram leaving the original one inside.

Additional info: I have an extra 8gb of ram inside the other slot of my laptop. At first, I thought this was the problem and I unplugged it and tried to to a restart again but no luck. Also, this is a 2013 model, 2013 September to be specific, as i found out reading the sticker inside the computer.

Thanks to anyone that helps

 

Hello no girls, welcome to NBR,

I'm afraid I cannot help you myself, but check the BIOS Update Problems thread and see if it has answers for you. It's in the sticky list of threads.

Otherwise please be patient, although I understand your urgency. Most of the members that are likely to have answers for you won't be online for a few hours. Until then, please avoid bumping.

Edit: There is also an UEFI bricking thread listed in the sticky, which may have suggestions. Look for CMOS reset in there.

 

A few days ago BIOS P09ABK (which I'm sure is the same as for your X4D) appeared to brick my NP900X4C. I did a lot of troubleshooting with no good outcome and was resigned to sending in the computer for service. So I removed my Crucial 1.35V RAM and replaced the original 1.5V RAM. Whereupon the computer sprung back into life.

For reasons best known to Samsung the new BIOS not only does not support 1.35V RAM (it should default to using 1.5V) but also refuses to recognise it at all (which is one stage worse than putting the RAM in an older computer). AFAIK Samsung hasn't used the 1.35V modules but they have used RAM from many sources and you might have got lucky and been given a 1.35V module. If the 1.35V isn't obvious on the label then you will have to Google the part number.

If you have put back just the original RAM then the computer should start OK (provided it is not 1.35V). Also try the original RAM in both slots.

Can you borrow a normal 1.5V DDR3 SODIMM from somewhere and try it?

John

 

I've tried putting back my original ram and trying it again. No luck , I'm going to check right now to see if it's 1.5v or 1.35v and report back to you, although I'm pretty sure that both the original and the other ram stick I bought are 1.5v
Also, when I am trying to boot the computer back up again, do I just need to press the power button? Do I need to mess around with the cmos battery at all or the pin hole thingy in the battery?

 

Okay, I just found out that both are 1.5v sticks. What can I do now john?

 

I presume you have been through the bricking thread (although UEFI may not be responsible on this occasion). Did you try booting without the SSD? (If there's a problem with the access then no SSD should get you to the BIOS screen). If yes, then I think you've done all the DIY troubleshooting steps and you will have to pass the problem to a Samsung service centre so contact Samsung technical support. Don't tell them all the trouble-shooting you have done in case they read their rule book and say that removing the base invalidates the warranty. As I understand it, the BIOS update reported it was successful then when you try to start the computer you just get the brief whirr of the fan and the power light (the one on the button) stays on but nothing else happens.

You will need to restore the hardware to the supplied condition. If you don't trust them with your personal data then you can access the SSD using one of these or a mSATA to 2.5" adaptor in a 2.5" USB enclosure.

John

 

Okay I will try to boot without the ssd, first of all, is the ssd under the battery? And also, how do you take out the battery plug? Do you just slide it out?

 

No. The SSD is to the left of the fan (when the base is off and the battery is near to you). It's a bit bigger than a postage stamp and under a grey pad. See the bottom photo here.

John

 

oh wow, i didnt think the ssd would be that small, anyways, would i need to take out the battery before taking out the ssd? and i attached a pic to my previous post, if i wanted to take the battery plug out, would i just have to slide that ribbon cable?

 

I think the connector just slides out but there's no need to remove the battery. Just poke something in the battery disconnect hole and listen for the click.

While you are in there it would be advisable to also try again to reset the BIOS by also unplugging the CMOS battery (coin-sized thing near the right side of the board) then holding down the power button for a minute. Then reconnect it, plug in the mains and see if there is any life.

John

 

ok i just tried taking out the ssd and rebooting and i got the same result. i will try the taking out the cmos battery now. If that doesnt work, im gonna take it to the store and see if they have any ideas and also buy that ssd to usb adaptor. Also, if i wanted to transfer the data from my ssd to another storage space. like my hdd on my desktop, is it the same process as dragging files from one folder to another in file explorer? or do i need additional software like the "restore" software from samsung which copies your entire disk drive.

 

i just tried to taking out the cmos battery, still no luck

 

Once the SSD is connected to another computer via USB it will show up as another drive. It is best if you copy / move any folders with personal data. In fact it is probably best to make sure you can see all the folders (including the hidden ones) and take a full copy of everything except the hibernation file and swap file. Taking a disc image and restoring it later will probably break Samsung Recovery Solution and you can't use SRS because it will only run on a Samsung notebook.

I'm out of further ideas. I'm sorry for you but happy that I only had a near miss and managed to resurrect my computer without sending it in.

I'm going to put a link to this thread into the bricking thread in case more Series 9 people have the same problem (the X3C / D share the same BIOS as the X4C/D).

John

 

do you think they would format the ssd if i send it into samsung?
i called samsung, they said it'll take a week for repairs plus shipping so im looking at around max 3 weeks without my laptop

 

They shouldn't need to format the SSD but would accept no responsibility for losing your data.

They ought to be able to turn the computer round in much less than a week provided they have a spare mainboard. Last year's UEFI bricking problems gave the service people some practice.

John

 

Let say they fix it, should I still update the bios again without the extra ram?

 

I would hope they will return it updated to the latest BIOS.

Samsung never publish changelogs but I always assume that BIOS updates are released for a good reason. This one might be to improve Windows 8.1 compatibility but the release timing might just be coincidental. One of the 13" Series 9 users reckoned that it messed up their fan controls.

John

 

where would i be able to check the current version of the bios that samsung has released and where would i check the version of the bios i am on?
also, do u think its the ram that messed up the update since there were 2 ram sticks in my computer, 1 with the original 4gb and the other ram with 8gb both using 1.5v
lastly, would i be able to clone the drive thats in my computer to another drive?
oh an another question, lets say they ship it back and the bios and all that other stuff is either updated or not updated. so for example the factory version that has never been updated would be v1, the latest version that i updated to, would be version 2, and then the most recent version, the version that messed up my computer is version 3. so if they send back the laptop and its on either version 1 or 3, would my ssd still think the hardware is on version 2 since version 2 is when i cloned the ssd and when i restore it, it would still think im using version 2 when really, im on version 3 which samsung sent back. so my question is, would my the info on my ssd automatically adapt to the upgraded/downgraded version or would i have to reupdate it myself?

 

I think the problem BIOS is P09ABK since that is what caused me some unwanted trauma a few days ago. There is a stand-alone BIOS update program (link in the first post in this thread) which will report what version you have and whether a newer one is available.

Your RAM is the standard 1.5V so I don't think that is the cause of the bricking. If it was then we'd have a lot more problems reported here. Anyway, let Samsung fix it.

You can clone the drive but our experience is that if you clone something back to your Samsung's SSD then it breaks a link and Samsung Recovery Solution won't be able to find the recovery partition.

John

 

what im going to do now is find a msata adaptor and backup all the files that i need and since i made backups using samsung recovery solution, ill just restore using the backup and ill then put the files that i have from the original ssd. ill send it into samsung as soon as i find that msata adaptor. hopefully all goes well, and they dont blame this on me and make me have to pay out of my own pocket. im already paying out of my own pocket to buy a msata adaptor. anyways, thanks a lot, ill report back later to tell you what happened after i get my laptop back from samsung.

 

so after over one month, i finally receive it back from staples (dont ever buy your stuff there, buy it from future shop or best buy). anyways it turns out the motherboard was "fried" as they put it and they replaced a new one. the new motherboard didnt come with the updated bios so i was hesitant on updating when i got it back cuz it still said p09abk then i checked again and it said p10abk. i saw in the other forum thread that u said samsung realized p09abk was glitchy so they made p10abk which assured me a bit. anyways i suspect the problem was that i updated the bios with an additional ram stick in the motherboard. next time theres an update, im either not gonna even apply it or just take out the ram, apply update, then put it back in.

 

Thanks for the update.

Whether or not the BIOS update had damaged the hardware is debatable but the need to change the board indicates that the update had made the computer unbootable. I'm glad that I managed to resuscitate my X4C after applying P09ABK.

John