Originally posted by destroyerzx1
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Linux Bricks Some UEFI Samsung Laptops
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Originally posted by Sidicas View PostOf course.. That's exactly true. IMO, these hardware devices should be recalled.
Maybe 10 years ago when people didn't know how to make hardware that could work around a bad firmware flash, but it's not true anymore.. Even if you yank the plug on an Asus board while the BIOS is updating, you can hold down a key combination and it will load the BIOS from a removable media instead of trying to use the corrupted BIOS.. I can confirm this works due to my dog getting too excited and tripping over a power cable during a BIOS update.. It was even possible in boards that aren't branded "DUAL-BIOS".
In fact, when I was helping out other customers on NewEgg's tech support site.. Somebody came to the forum who had decided to use a 3rd party utility to flash a BIOS to his motherboard that wasn't even the right BIOS for the Asus Motherboard.. It flashed OK but then the board wouldn't power up, but the key-combo worked to get his mobo to install the correct BIOS from removable media. Surprise surprise, he used the 3rd party utility because Asus's BIOS updater refused to flash the wrong BIOS to the board. Yet he was still able to recover his hardware.
It's not hard to make hardware that's idiot-proof.
Dell's BIOS recovery is even easier... You just put the disk in and it will install the BIOS from the disk automatically if the currently flashed BIOS is corrupted.
On the overwhelming majority of Android devices and tablets these days, even if you have a bad firmware flash, you can put the device into a mode such that the PC can write directly to the device's memory allowing you to flash it remotely,... simply by holding down a couple buttons while the device is powering up..
Any device that bricks from software, is a defective hardware design. There is ZERO excuses. This is 2013 and customers don't need to put up with crap hardware and they can vote with their wallet.
Two words can describe these Samsung devices.. GARBAGE HARDWARE.
It's 100% Samsung's fault. Not only did they make crappy hardware, but they trusted other people to provide the linux support for their hardware instead of doing it themselves.. They were practically begging for this kind of problem to happen.
I'm so glad I didn't buy a Samsung ultrabook now, was really close to buying one last month. I'll probably still buy a Samsung phone though, as they don't brick.Hi
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Originally posted by stiiixy View PostAgreed. My one and only Samsung purchase has been a real pain in the arse despite its impressive hardware specs (i9300) to do anything with. Just about everything in the app-store now is 'add-supported', and the pushy kind, random crashes and dysfuntional software with limited usage options anyway (wtf am I to do with a media player that doesn't play much?) and the usual vendor lockdown (in my case, Optus) with extremely slow updates just makes it all the more a massive waste of money to have. Add to that the un-Linus style FU to the mod community with regards to support from and your mod options start to dwindle away and you're looking at an awesome piece of hardware with little use to anyone who isn't a Apple junky (so why would they buy anything else if they were!). Feel like a peacock, all colour and flare with no damn use (taking in to consideration my rxpectations and my personal experience)!
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Originally posted by Sidicas View PostTwo words can describe these Samsung devices.. GARBAGE HARDWARE.
They sure make their best to validate Sturgeon's law.
Originally posted by Sidicas View PostIt's 100% Samsung's fault. Not only did they make crappy hardware, but they trusted other people to provide the linux support for their hardware instead of doing it themselves.. They were practically begging for this kind of problem to happen.
Originally posted by Sidicas View PostI'm so glad I didn't buy a Samsung ultrabook now, was really close to buying one last month. I'll probably still buy a Samsung phone though, as they don't brick.Last edited by ?John?; 31 January 2013, 06:36 AM.
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Originally posted by destroyerzx1 View Postroot it and throw AOKP on it. so far is the best rom as far as stability and customizations, really looking forward to trying out the ubuntu phoneHi
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Originally posted by Pawlerson View Post
But since UEFI works on most other laptops, or at least doesn't brick them, we can take away that either the Samsung guys dis something incredibly stupid in their firmware, or the kernel devs did the same in thier driver. However since this bug bricks the board it's going to be a PITA to troubleshoot without samsung support.
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I heard M. Gerrit half/year ago on a Linux summit per youtube: He already said, you are able to shredder your PC doing with efi. Due to bad efi-bios implementation, but also due to errors by the Linux code, because there are no barriers doing wrongly.
I do have a mac mini with an age old apple efi 2009. I use refit to start. I would like to change to the new follower refind. But I hesitate: Never touch a running system.
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Originally posted by Sidicas View PostTwo words can describe these Samsung devices.. GARBAGE HARDWARE.
It's 100% Samsung's fault. Not only did they make crappy hardware,
Originally posted by Sidicas View Postbut they trusted other people to provide the linux support for their hardware instead of doing it themselves.. They were practically begging for this kind of problem to happen.
And don't you Linux nerds take pride in being your own tech support? What happened now? Did the Linux users find out that their esteemed kernel and driver devs, who were supposed to be capable of writing better code than evil corporations, are really too stupid to the point that their 'top-notch coding' resulted in a driver bricking a notebook? It's so damn obvious that the 'samsung-laptop' kernel driver is at fault, if disabling it during kernel compile time solves the issue.
Plus this is a damned old bug that was first filed in August last year. What were the devs doing? Sleeping? Did it take 3 dozen sudden bricks to force them out of their beds?
Blame, blame, blame. That's what Linux nerds are good for, except when it comes to blaming THEMSELVES.Last edited by Sonadow; 31 January 2013, 10:57 AM.
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