Updated BIOS Samsung ATIV 6 NP680Z5E-X02US to P04ADH and LOST 8GB RAM!

Ok, so I updated the BIOS today and rebooted to find that my once happily running notebook w/ 16gb of memory is now running only 8gb of memory. I am assuming this is due to the bios update as I firmly recall about 2 hrs prior to updating having the full 16 gb. I ordered the extra 8 gb stick a week after purchase.

I re-seated the memory module to no avail and researched out to roll back my bios but I can't find the P03ADH anywhere. Can anyone help?

Cheers,
Shawn Selway

 

Someone with a Book 8 (basically the same platform as your Book 6) reported a few days ago that the BIOS update removed support for their 8GB module.

See http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/696197-samsung-laptops-roll-back-bios-updates.html. There's a simple program near the end that will search the BIOS collection.

John

 

Ok, I found the bios but there is no .ROM file in it. There is a .CAP file though that appears to be the bios. How would I go about flashing a cap file?

 

Update: Nothing works so far and my 8gb memory module is not recognized.

So I tried running afuwinx64 P03ADH.cap /p /b /n /e /r /x while logged in as the Administrator and got the following:

Reading flash ............... done
Secure Flash enabled, recalculate ROM size with signature...
- FFS checksums ......... ok
Loading capsule to secure memory buffer ... done
18 - Error: Unable to start a Secure Flash session.

 

I guess I'm screwed...

 

I agree that this is a nasty situation that you were unfairly put in. We can hope that Samsung will release a fixed BIOS update at some point (I know, that's very optimistic). Still, I would call Samsung and inquire about it, if you haven't already. There is admittedly a risk that they will fault you for adding the RAM stick, but the computer does have a spare socket, after all.

All that said, please do not take this frustration out on NBR and the Samsung forum. I had to edit expletives out of your post and delete cross posts in other threads (with more expletives), both of which are forum rule violations. I genuinely understand your frustration, but we are not affiliated with Samsung, we're just a forum for notebook owners to exchange information.

 

Also see this discussion.

Is your 8GB module the Kingston KVR16S11/8 DDR3-1600?

John

 

Thank for the update. Mine is a Crucial branded module. See below.

Amazon.com: Crucial 8GB Single DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL11 SODIMM 204-Pin 1.35V/1.5V Notebook Memory CT102464BF160B: Computers & Accessories

 

Thanks.

That looks to be the 8GB version of the 4GB modules (CT51264BF160B) that my X4C stopped supporting after a BIOS update towards the end of last year. Can you borrow from somewhere a 1.5V module rather than a 1.35V / 1.5V part? I wonder if the same bug has spread to your BIOS. The BIOS should detect the 1.35V and switch the system to use it if directly supported, otherwise run it at 1.5V. This used to work (at 1.35V) on my X4C but the BIOS update left the computer unable to detect the RAM.

However, the Kingston Kingston KVR16S11/8 DDR3-1600 RAM that is reported by two other people to be no longer compatible appears to be a 1.5V part so the 1.35V issue should not apply.

John

 

I've tried everything to roll back my bios but it appears there is no hope unless Sammy updates their BIOS.

 

got same memory module working without problem here - maybe get folks to report their memory module's SPD profile, manufacturer date etc to see if newer produced memory modules of that module have differences

 

Mine is KVR16S11/8 with a slightly different part number and manufacturing date (99U5428-063.A00LF from w28/2013). I am waiting for other's report before updating the BIOS

 

There is now a P05ADH BIOS update. Has anyone tried it yet?

 

The Ativ Book 8 Owners Lounge has more discussion of this. Scan backwards from the last posts.

For some reason there are relatively few owners of Ativ Book 6 posting here, but the AB8 is quite similar, and its Owners Lounge still quite active.

My understanding is that the latest BIOS update unfortunately did not remedy that RAM problem. But I think there are only few reports so far.

 

I could not resist that BIOS update notice keep showing up an did that a couple months ago. Now I really regret. Now I have trouble using an external BluRay drive.

 

As the first thing I would try and reset BIOS settings to default, save and reboot. (If you need special settings that are different from default, make sure to boot back into BIOS and set those. Such as OS Mode Selection, Fast BIOS/Fast Boot or AHCI mode). This is always good practice after a BIOS update.

Also see if changing the USB 3.0 suspend option in BIOS makes a difference with your BluRay drive.

Also test the BluRay drive on another computer if possible.

If none of those fix it, you could try a factory restore using Samsung Recovery (F4) to test if the problem is still present. Make an image backup of your Windows partition first so you can restore easily. If the problem persists with the factory installation, it would seem that the BIOS did indeed cause this.

In that case you can contact Samsung (and I think you should) and complain that their BIOS update broke something. Make sure to tell them you tried the troubleshooting steps described here -- which they will probably ask you to do otherwise.

 

To bypass error 18, try this.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...-owner-s-lounge-np940x3g-166.html#post9791148