Starting laptop NP300E5C-S01HK

Hello,

I have a problem with a samsung NP300E5C. When I start the laptop I have a loop and I can't enter inside the bios. I wanted to change the hardisk with a ssd but because of damaged hardisk, I think to reinstall the operating system on the ssd. So I disable the uefi bios secuer mode then I restart. It seems since this step I can't enter inside the bios with F2. The system boot directly from the cd of the operating system and stop during the installation process. It seems my harddisk is not recognize from the bios. Maybe some mistake with the boot process. By the way, I think I have to reset the bios on factory default. I tried to take off the battery on the motherboat. But same problem. I tried to reset from the mother boad by using the reset mode RTC as indicated on the board but I still have the same problem. Any idea how to solve this issue ?

Regards

 

Did the computer originally ship with Windows 8? If so, it is part of a generation of notebooks where Samsung had UEFI enabled but had not properly debugged it. Samsung fixed many of the problems through BIOS updates. Your notebook isn't completely bricked and I would suggest that you start by reading this thread. If those suggestions don't help then read the unbricking thread (and the threads it links to).

John

 

Yes ship with windows 8, I will try the other solution to boot a windows live OS. Thank you. I will let you know the result.

 

ok, after two days of testing and 15 DVD burnt to build a bootable Winpe without success. I bought a new copy of windows 8.1 pro. Then, I was abble to install againt the OS on the new SSD. Then, after this step I updated the Bios under windows with the tool supply by samsung. Then, no problem anymore to access to the bios with F2 key. I don't know exactly why but none of my winpe were working. I tested winpe with 7,8 and 10 without success. Always freeze or loop at the boot even I have included all the drivers. Now it is ok, but I guess I am quite lucky to boot on the dvd player.

 

Good job getting it working!

Many downloadable Win7, Win8 and WinPE ISOs, as well as some OEM Windows discs, do not properly support UEFI booting from DVD. Most discs from Microsoft should work -- and certainly all Win8.1 discs and newer.

So when you cannot get into BIOS to change UEFI settings because of NVRAM corruption, it can be quite challenging to boot anything. Yet the only way to clear the NVRAM is by having a running Windows or WinPE. (Well, other than removing the BIOS chip and re-flashing it).

Those downloadable ISOs usually do boot from USB flash drives, but only if the partition style and format are compatible with the UEFI settings in BIOS. Often it also requires disconnecting the laptop's main HDD/SSD. And even then some users have been unable to boot anything.

You did good there. And updating BIOS as soon as you had a running Windows was the right choice, since that cleared the corrupted NVRAM. You should now be in good shape.

To anyone who sees this: If you are not fully familiar with the rules of UEFI and partition layouts and formats, I recommend studying this post and the links in it -- or a similar resource. It might save you the kind of semi-bricking discussed here. Or help you if and when it should occur.

 

I tried with win 7, and win 10 and the laptop was frozen. Just windows 8 was ok to boot. The usb was not working in my case. Just the dvd player only.

 

if you have any tutorial about "how to remove the BIOS chip and re-flashing it "I am curious to see how we can do this. Which tool you need to do it ?

 

@fantasik: Sorry about the late response. I don't know of any tutorial on removing the BIOS chip and re-flashing it. But we did have a (very) few members who successfully had it done. We also had some with less positive experiences.

Unfortunately I didn't save links to those discussions. You will have to search, either using the NBR search feature or Google (such as Google site:notebookreview.com samsung reflash bios chip)

Your success really depends on on the repair store you get to. For soldered chips, they have to have good micro-soldering capability OR have equipment to re-flash it it without removing it (which I hear is possible).

 

When I start up my laptop (SAMSUNG NP300E5C) the samsung logo comes up and after a few seconds goes to a black screen and a few seconds later it goes back to the logo and it keeps repeating this forever. I have tried many of the common BIOS keys and none of them brought up anything. I also have tried resetting BIOS manually from the mobo by the RAM slots, RTC & BIOS, i removed CMOS battery did a reset and still nothing. Fan runs well when temperature increases on cpu, GPU temp also ok. Please help guys, what could be the problem? SRS6.

 

If you have SRS6 then UEFI is likely to be enabled and Samsung's early UEFI implementations were buggy. Many, but not all, the bugs were fixed by BIOS updates but some remain and can cause problems (see the unbricking thread - link above).

However, a notebook of this age might have a hardware problem which could stop the BIOS at the self-test stage. Have you tried disconnecting the hard drive and try each RAM module in turn.

John

 

I tried updating BIOS but the thing is it will not allow me to even go to BIOS, switches on for two seconds then SAMSUNG logo will show and loops again the same thing. It does not allow anything to read. I tried even removing ODD, HDD, and other connections but still the same i suspected the GPU now. I don't know if i am wrong.

 

@Techno908: it sounds like your NVRAM was corrupted. I suggest you study the the guide (and thread) linked below which has a lot of discussion about this.

Unbrick when F-keys don't work at boot, cannot enter BIOS

 

Thanks i will do that and if managed will post.