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I have already bricked and replaced my Samsung Chronos Series 7 NP700Z3C laptop. I have discussed it in the following question:

Why does my Samsung Chronos 7 not boot anymore after installing Ubuntu?

Summary of the problem is that If you normally try to install Linux on it, your laptop will die.

I am a GNU/Linux user and I boot and install different distributions frequently. Now I want to know how I should deal with this laptop, should I always be afraid to boot a live GNU/Linux distro on it? Or is there a safe way to avoid this problem again?

Thanks.

Community
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mehdix
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3 Answers3

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The Samsung UEFI bug is not Linux-specific -- as described by Matthew Garrett, it can be triggered under Windows, too. Disabling UEFI support in the laptop is the safest way to deal with it, but this will require re-installing Windows, and the installation media provided by Samsung probably don't support doing a BIOS-mode install. Thus, you may need to find installation media from another source. Personally, I'd return the laptop to the store for a refund and buy another brand, but if that's not an option, converting everything to BIOS mode is the safest (albeit awkward) solution.

With any luck Samsung will eventually release a fixed firmware, but I have no idea how long this will take to appear.

Rod Smith
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Set the laptop to boot in BIOS/legacy mode/Compatibility Support Module (there should be some option somewhere) and you should be fine. Just don't boot it going the UEFI route.

Mario
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According to this article and to committed patch to Linux kernel, most reliable way to avoid this is to disable UEFI mode - this patch simply disables boot if UEFI mode is detected to prevent possible bricking.

mvp
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