Q210 64 bit OS

After upgrading my Q210 to 4GB I then wanted to complete the process by installing a 64 bit OS to make full use of the additional memory.

Before zapping the Vista installation I upgraded the BIOS to 07LE.

I run XP Professional on my desktop and it has been very reliable so that's what I initially chose for the Q210. Try as I may I cannot get it past the 'Starting Windows' in the text setup, it simply reboots at that point. I have used nLite to slipstream the required Intel ICH9M-E/M drivers and can see them loaded in the text setup status line so I do not think that is the problem.

After repeating this process many times with all combinations of ACHI in the BIOS I tried plain old 32 bit XP with the 32 bit versions of the same Intel drivers and that installed fine.

This then made me suspect that the Q210 is simply allergic to 64 bit OS's so I tried an Ubuntu 8.04 x64 and it to reboots like the XP x64 soon after the install starts. I tried the same 8.04 Ubuntu but the i386 version and as if by magic it worked.

So my question is....has anyone managed to get a 64 bit OS onto a Q210 ?

 

I've just got off the phone with Samsung support who did not fill me a great deal of confidence.....

'Windows XP x64 has loads of drivers issues'....have been running it on my desktop machine with an P35/ICH9 chipset for 2 years with no problems

'It's because of differences in the way the chipset writes 32bit and 64bit data with the level 2 cache'....Sounds pretty fundamental and searching I cannot find any information

...and finally, as expected.....'We do not support 64 bit OS on that machine'

The only thing I can think of is there is something in the BIOS that 64bit OS's do not like

 

'Windows XP x64 has loads of drivers issues'

That is true, many notebooks have issues with drivers relating to XP-64bit. 1st off they are rare, secondly they are unstable

 

I might have put more faith in the 'Windows XP x64 has loads of drivers issues' had it not been for the fact the 32bit Ubuntu 8.04 was OK and 64bit Ubuntu 8.04 rebooted just like XP x64.

I can imagine that once installed I may not be able to get everything working, webcam is an obvious one, but to not even install is suprising.

I'll see if I can get hold of a 64bit Vista and give that a go

 

Hi.

I just tried to put Vista64 on my Q210, but i cannot get past the install drive selection.

I get the message "windows is unable to find a system volume that meets it`s criteria"

I have put the Vista64 Intel ICH9M-E/M drivers on a usb memory stick and Vista sees and loads them, but i still get the message above.

I might try downloading Vista64`s Sp1 upgrade and extract the files to my memory stick and see if that helps.

EDIT : I think all the Partions need to be deleted and re-made , but i don't need Vista64 as i only have 3gb of memory, I just thought it would be interesting to see what would happen.

If i could find a small cheap 2.5 sata hdd, I would use that to mess about with, and keep my original hdd safe.

Regards

John.

 

I have not been able to find a 64 bit Vista yet but kind old Microsoft do allow you to download a Server 2008 trial.

I've downloaded it and.....have managed to install it, to a single partition (with all the original ones deleted).

So perhaps my initial scepticism about XP x64 being the issue was misplaced and as for the seemingly identical behavious of Ubuntu 32/64 to XP 32/64 perhaps that is just one of those stange coincidences.

I will still try and find a 64bit Vista to play with but at least this proves that a 64 bit OS is possible on the Q210.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=297242

 

I have Q210 with T6400 Chipset GM45 Express. Reports 2.9Gb memory but contains 4Gb.

I am sure that 64 bit operation will have to be enabled in bios. On my bios version 08 there is not way to do this as far as I have experienced or read on the web. People have the same experience with version 09. On some Phoenix bios there is the facility after entering setup with F2 to access further advanced options by using a key combination like Fn+F11. I have not found any key combination to do this.
See: http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/asmo-na/eng/203142.htm

Using Ubuntu 904 the 64 bit version will not boot. Further using a utility to check for 64-bit function in Linux indicates this is not enabled.

Further, the T6400 does not support Inter-VT (Virtualisation) so speed up using this for VirtualBox and Win4Lin is not possible. See here:
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=40479

I have asked Samsung if they can upgrade the processor to a P9400 which supports VT and whether the 64 bit function will be able to be turned on in bios. Hears from Samsung the will do upgrade to P9400 but it will cost 340GBPounds - a lot of money. I'll wait till the guarantee is out and do it myself. I can buy a P8400 for c 130GBP.

According to Intel's website the chipset will support P9600 and other processors. I may try and install one myself after a few months.
http://ark.intel.com/chipset.aspx?familyID=35509

Since writing the above in Oct 2009 I upgraded the bios to 09LE and 64 bit option is enabled. When in bios the key combination Fn+F11, Fn+F12, Caps lock on, Caps lock off is carried the following happens: No Intel menu appears. However, on the Boot menu the detailed version of bios appears: 09LE.M004.20090404.KSY.

 

Seems like the same problem i have with my R510.

All 64 bit operating systems will work with 2GB.

With 4GB it will crash.

Try the ubuntu live cd with 2gb of ram installed.

 

The facility to turn on/off the Intel VT feature is hidden in the BIOS under the Intel menu within the CPU Control Sub-menu.

Turn on the Q210, press F2 to go in the bios

Once in Bios

press FN key + F11 (numlock will illuminate)
press FN key + F12 (scrollock will illuminate)
press CAPS lock so it illuminates then press it again
use the cursor to move left/right and the intel option should magically appear

(as per Geekdaddi's post) http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5214545.

I have the NP-Q210-AS02UK and can confirm it was enabled by default. You can also adjust the fan temperature setpoints from one of the sub menus within too.

For the record, I have been able to install Windows 7 Ultimate x64 onto my Q210 (3GB) without any issue. Unfortunately I cannot confirm whether it suffers from the 4GB memory mapping issue affecting other Samsung models with 64 bit OS. Even Easy Display Manager works correctly (able to adjust screen brightness) using the drivers for Vista 64 bit. I am using a mixture of Vista 64 bit drivers from the R522 and Q320.

 

I could get all the Intel options using the Fn/F11/F12/CAPS as you say with Q210 T6400 bios 08LE. However, there was no option to get 64 bit that I could see. Lots of other options that you and others have referred to.
I downloaded and installed WIN_Q210_09LE.EXE and under WINXPSP3 and it flashed the bios perfectly.
Now the Fn/F11/F12/CAPS no longer produces an Intel menu. There must be some other was to do this. BUT it will run Xubuntu904-amd64 Desktop Live from CD perfectly. So the 64-bit function is enabled. This would not run with bios 08LE, it loaded then just rebooted.

Ubuntu904-amd64 Desktop will run from live CD with "noapic apic=off" in boot options. It also install perfectly. How well it runs I will report back, but there are no obvious problems at all.

Ubuntu904-amd64 has installed, runs fine and reports 3.8Gb memory.

 

I am not entirely sure in your particular case, but I am using the 07LE version of the BIOS and it does not mention any option for 64 bit either, instead the option I refer to is the "Intel (R) Virtualization Technology" option. I have the P8400 CPU which supports this feature, and it is set to Enabled by default. Perhaps since you have the T6400 CPU which does not support this feature that was probably reason why the BIOS did not display it. Installing a 64 bit OS is not going to give you Intel VT for a CPU that does not support it. Unless I am mistaken, there is no prerequisite for having Intel VT for installing a x64 OS.

There may be another factor at play here with the rebooting. I know that the BIOS tries to detect where the OS is AHCI aware by default. It does not always get it right on first try and on the second try will load up. This was the problem I was getting when dual booting between Xp x86 and 7 x64. Installing the AHCI drivers for Xp negated the need for the AHCI switching and the reboots. Perhaps this was finally fixed in 09LE BIOS release. I'd rather stick with 07LE and keep my Intel menu than to lose it in version 09LE.

On other Samsung threads there are issues with users where they have rebooting issues where systems have 4GB RAM installed on x64 OS. If you have 4GB RAM installed with a x64 OS then it may suggest that the Q210 is not affected by this issue at least in BIOS version 09LE.

 

You will see that I have edited the post to say that Ubuntu904amd64 installs on the Q210 T6400 and shows 3.8Gb memory. So 64 bit does not require Intel-VT to be supported. I may change the processor at some point to P8400 or similar if I think the speed benefits using VirtualBox with be worth it.