GT9000 BIOS problems

Hello all, I read a post in here regarding BIOS flashing desasters so I figure someone can guide me here.

A mate has a laptop GT9000 and I think the hard disk blew. He was using it on a bed without any regard to my advice about the heating fans.

He tried to boot up one morning and nothing. So he's on the phone to the only guy who he knows who could look at it for him. ie me!

When I looked into it the hard disk wasn't spining up to speed at all so we got a new drive. I removed the old one and inserted the new. Upon re-boot we had no response, it was powering up and the drive was spinning however even with a new Boot CD with XP will not boot up at all.

So I figure maybe we are looking at a complete overheat here and who knows what problems so I figured the best place to start would be the BIOS and move from there. I found the Samsung website here,

http://www.samsungpc.com/products/gt9000/gt9000.htm

and downloaded (for the lack of knowledge of which to use) the first one. Found out how to create a boot disk and used Phlash.exe to run the ROM

No problems, the floppy booted and run the Flash file and promped me to re-boot but now it does not respond at all. I have read here and there about how to recover like this one

http://www.devhacks.com/bios-update-failed-heres-what-you-do

but the Fn + B and the Xin + B doesn't seem to invoke any response from the boot up, I have an internal floppy so I used this to boot from but I cannot get any response from the PC.

I power on, after about 20 seconds I get a beep, then there is a period on nothing for about 2 mins, then I get two beeps and nothing . . . . . .

Anyone know if there is a different set of keys for the Samsung to get the computer to boot from the floppy??

I have just tried this

http://www.rechner.org/b1800.html

and this, harsan post number 41

http://www.rechner.org/b1800.html

but I cannot get the damn PC to recognise the Disk, as far as I can tell I still have the first file 03ke.rom on the laptop!

Please, can anyone let me know where to go from here! I would be ever greatfull

 

On the newer Samsung notebooks F2 gets you into the BIOS setup and Esc (during the initial boot) brings up a one-time boot order menu.

Are you able to get into the BIOS and confirm that is OK? Other keys which might, for an older BIOS, enable entry into the BIOS are F1, detete .... . Once you are in the BIOS then you should be able to configure a boot priority, such as FDD, CD then HDD. Once you have the HDD working then you could put the HDD at the top to avoid the boot delay while the BIOS checks the other devices.

Hope this helps,

John

 

I cannot get the computer to recognise the disk. F1, F2, Escape, Win + B, Fn + B all produce no results.

I have now pulled instructions from every laptop I can think of except Samsung. They offer no information that I can find,

There is only one instruction I have come across which some have tried with limited success and something I know nothing about, something about pushing wires in to the Parallel Port. "parallel port diagram to trigger recovery mode" as quoted from another post.

I have no idea about this, it doesn't seem very scientific however its academic really as I cannot find anything on line to guide me anyway!

This is why I wondered if there was any unique keys for the Samsung?

sigh, what I know to be repairable is hampered by a company that has decided its more profitable not to provide information to repair what they created. I think its a fraud to be honest let alone a waste of resources.

Anyone please!!

 

I'm wondering if the problem is misdiagnosed:

Did you check the old HDD by putting it into an external enclosure and then trying to read it on another computer? It might not have been the source of the problem. There are plenty of other components which would be nearer the CPU and might have died of heat.

Prior to flashing the BIOS were you getting the normal BIOS splash screen? That should have come up with some info, even if the HDD was dead.

Are you now getting a BIOS splash screen (you say you think you still have 03ke.rom install?

If none to any of the above then maybe something else died. Sometimes the contacts on the RAM can gat a little dirty and can be fixed by removal / replacement.

The GT9000 manual (page 48) states to use F2 to enter the BIOS. If you are able to enter the BIOS you can check if it is correctly seeing the various devices. Manual page 50 explains how to change the boot order. You might want to try to clear the CMOS. Sometimes this can be done by disconnecting mains and battery and holding down the power button for a minute.

So there appears to be nothing unique about this notebook. It is around 6 years old and you suggest that it might have been killed by heat. Most people feel that 6 years use from a notebook before it dies would be excellent service.

John

 

Thanks John for answering,

The story here is a mate rang me and said he had done nothing, it would not re-boot. So when I got hold of it my initial idea was HDD - They are prone to damage more frequently than a PC's HDD as they move around.

It was after I installed the new HD that I saw no improvement. Thats when I called into question his version of events only to find out he was using it on a continental quilt on his bed, this after I warned him about the venting fans!!

Anyhow my thought then went to the BIOS as we were getting absolutely no where, no BIOS screen, no wind up noise! So I created a BIOS flash disk as per instructions on the Samsung Website (above) and for the lack of knowing which to use chose the top BIOS in the list.

The disk booted ok and the flash file worked, ended and prompted me to re-boot. Now I get two beeps, 90 seconds with fans going then three beeps and nothing. The flash disk will not work at all and thats where I am now, unable to get the floppy to recognise the disk so I cannot change anything if I wanted to!

I have not checked the HDD in another case/laptop as I currently don't have one and I too are now starting to think maybe this wasn't the cause. With heat the being the possible cause it could be a number of things.

Prior to the flashing NO I was not getting the normal BIOS screen, I checked there pre/post installing the new HDD and could not get in to it. I have little exp with broken laptops so I treated it similar to a normal tower PC.

I have tried clearing the CMOS, no joy

over to you if you can take me further! This un is foxed!

 

Thanks for the additional info.

The beeps suggest that something is wrong. This could be something terminal like the CPU died of heat. Built-in thermal protection for CPUs is relatively new.

You could contact Samsung support and see if they can help regarding the beep codes. You can use the email link on the FAQ pages, such as here.

John

 

Thanks John I'll give it a try,

I suppose like yourself PC's in general are a passion of mine and up till now I have never not managed to get one back on its feet. I hate the way people who have the cash on the hip throw computers away. You can see em everywhere rushing out to buy Jaguars and all they do is go to the shops in it when a mini would have done!
P4's are everywhere and really cheep but in my mind that does not make em disposable. Too many people who moan about the planets resources, race out to do their bit in their dust bins, re-cycle papers and then throw away household appliances rather than get them fixed. It makes me sick

Thanks for all your help John.

Phil

 

Using your example, today's shopping will no longer fit in the back of the mini so people find they need something with more capacity.

In principle, I agree that we should try to get the best possible working life out of notebooks. However, tasks like manipulating digital photos with only 256MB RAM can get tedious.

John