Samsung R540 BIOS recovery procedure?

Hi guys, need help.

I bought a busted R540 and its problems are it doesn't boot. It light up power light but nothing else.
According to the seller, the laptop didn't overheated or anything similar, one day the laptop just didn't boot anymore.

I've already tried all the usual stuff, re-seat everything, tested AC adapter and battery, removed coin battery, etc and although the laptop didn't overheated i even tried a quick reflow to the GPU and chipset...
I'm about to send the board for repair, but before i'd like to try one final shot, and attempt BIOS recovery procedure. However i couldn't find any instructions online.

Can anyone help?

Thanks.

 

I hope you didn't pay much for this

Can you boot into BIOS with F2? If so, maybe it's just the HDD.

If you mean to try the Recovery software, you load that by pressing F4 after power on. But if you cannot get into BIOS (F2) I doubt that F4 will work. It relies on Recovery software on the HDD.

There is a CMOS reset procedure in the thread linked below. But you may already have done that by removing the coin battery.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/706510-samsung-laptops-bricked-using-uefi.html

I seem to recall someone report that they were unable to boot when the battery and/or coin battery were out (even with power connected). I may remember that wrong, not 100% sure. But if you still have them out, and you're sure the CMOS is reset, I would put them back in before retrying.

I wouldn't spend too much time on this before sending it in for repair.

 

Payed 90€ with 2 original batteries included. I figured if i can't repair it i still can make a couple bucks on parts. :thumbsup:

Yeah, according to my previous statement, i can't access BIOS or anything else logical for that matter. Sorry if it wasn't clear, my english becomes confusing sometimes.
I've made all these steps described, regarding coin battery, power button, etc, those are basic diagnose steps for me, what I'm looking for is BIOS recovery procedures directly from BIOS manufacturer (which i don't know for R540), procedures like press Win+B or Fn+B, etc...

The board is not going for repair on Samsung, the price simply wouldn't be worth it. I have a repair lab (or several) that diagnose and repair harder stuff that i can't do on my own, they are well equipped with all sorts of measuring and repair equipment.

Cheers

 

Got it, that makes sense -- the economics as well as your repair choice.

I am afraid I haven't heard of any "BIOS Recovery" procedures like the ones you describe. I am sure I would have remembered if they'd been posted here. But maybe before my time at the forum.

Good luck with it

 

Thanks. Unfortunately I think it has nothing to do with time, never seen BIOS recovery procedures for Samsung laptops, and unfortunately i can't figure out what's the manufacturer for the R540. Once you know the manufacturer is quite easy. Just check the link below, maybe it will make more sense to you.

Bios Mods -The Best BIOS Update and Modification Source: BIOS Recovery

Cheers.

 

OK, I got it. Yeah, again, I am afraid I haven't seen anything like that for the Sammies.

The BIOS on my older Sandy Bridge is Phoenix, but obviously customized for this laptop, not like the BIOS on typical desktop mobos. And it may be something else entirely for other and/or newer Samsung models.

Good luck with your project

 

Solved!



Cheers.

 

Thanks for the update. I must try to remember this possible fix. However, I can't see the reset pins on the board of my NP900X4C.

John

 

I think it changes from laptop to laptop. Here's how I found it:
- I was looking for a service manual but without results, so, I took the board out and identified it. It was a Bremen2-L.
- Googled for Bremen2-L service manual and schematics and found both. Service manual comes with Circuit Wiring, Operating installation, Troubleshooting and Reference Info guides.

BIOS reset was in troubleshooting guide.

Hope this helps. Cheers.

 

Right guys. I'm having this problem. Got Bios to work and done the f9 then f10 or whatever but still won't boot. If I press f4 it just goes to a black screen with a curser

 

Welcome to NBR.

Did you change UEFI settings in BIOS and/or install a new HDD? That could cause the HDD to no longer be detected.

Do you know if your Recovery partition is still intact? Otherwise F4 won't work?

Try restoring BIOS settings to default (F9) and save that. Then boot back into BIOS and check that UEFI is disabled and AHCI enabled/auto. Also check the Boot Priority to see if the HDD shows up there.

If none of that works, you can study the thread linked below for procedures to either re-flash your BIOS or clear its NVRAM.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/762595-samsung-series-7-np700z5c-s03ca-my-last-hope.html