Laptop bites the dust
Vlad_Inhaler
predates the Vista release date by a couple of weeks so it has been
around for a while. It is set up to dual-boot Linux and XP using
GRUB. The Linus version is opensuse 11.2 x64 - I upgraded from 11.1
x64 two weeks ago.
There is this old problem which has been there since the Motherboard
was replaced years ago - the disc freezes under Linux for around a
minute, then resumes. The logs indicate a timeout but given that
Samsung do not support Linux in any way (and rejected the previous
problem because I had Linux on the system, I had to set the boot
manager to hide Linux) there is nothing I can do about it.
That was then, this is now.
Booting into XP this morning, things started fine but then hung just
when I was trying to input my password. Then BSOD saying that an
essential service had died. I should have written down the code but
did not.
Since then, booting hangs for a while with disc activity at 100%.
Then eventually I get
GRUB
After another long wait, "Loading stage1.5" is added to that line.
After another long wait, I get "GRUB loading, please wait..."
Running from the mains, the screen gets brighter and the fan gets
busy. Unhooking from the mains reverses both effects.
That is it.
So why don't I boot from CD-Rom? The activity light is on and I can't
open the CD-Rom bay.
The Samsung X11 does not have a floppy drive.
I have access to the BIOS, that is all.
At the moment, I can see two ways forward:
1 - Buy a new laptop and use this ide:usb adapter I have to migrate
all essential settings to the new system (building out the disk, no
problem)
2 - Build out the disk, back everything up, make the XP partition the
primary (all via my ide:usb adapter) and send it in to Samsung who
will charge me an arm and a leg to repair it. Given that I had to
drive to their repair facility last time around to demonstrate the
problem - they obviously could not read - I am a bit dubious about
this option.
My assumption is that the IDE controller is dead. Can anyone think of
any way this could be something else? I could possibly set up an old
ide drive to be bootable via that adapter and boot from there but
there does not seem to be a lot of point.
Thanks guys
Bill Marcum
>
> My assumption is that the IDE controller is dead. Can anyone think of
> any way this could be something else? I could possibly set up an old
> ide drive to be bootable via that adapter and boot from there but
> there does not seem to be a lot of point.
>
> Thanks guys
It could be that the drive is dead. Maybe the reason you had trouble with
Linux and not XP in the past was that there were bad sectors in that part
of the drive.
thunder
> GRUB
> After another long wait, "Loading stage1.5" is added to that line. After
> another long wait, I get "GRUB loading, please wait..."
> My assumption is that the IDE controller is dead. Can anyone think of
> any way this could be something else? I could possibly set up an old
> ide drive to be bootable via that adapter and boot from there but there
> does not seem to be a lot of point.
I don't know what the problem is, but an IDE controller problem shouldn't
pass post, and, after all, you are addressing the hard drive. Grub
stage1 and stage1.5, both reside on the disk. As you can access the
BIOS, is the disk accurately represented there?
I'd be thinking a trashed hard drive. Can you try it on another system?
Or try another hard drive on that system?
Vlad_Inhaler
Thanks to you and Bill for pointing out that my theory was dubious.
1 - I tried the drive via my usb:ide adapter on another system - nope.
2 - I tried another ancient 2.5" drive the same way - nope (different
error)
3 - I tried a newer drive I believed to be bad the same way - worked
fine. Looks like I'll be building that one in.
4 - I tried the original drive from step 1 via the adapter it had
already failed on - works fine.
This will not be a problem with failing sectors (I think), it will be
a problem with the drive's electronics.
Since the PC I am using for these tests only has USB 1.1 and my USB
2.0 PCs are in a room where I have a visitor, I'll wait 48 hours until
the room is free and then use the tips from the Vince Coen posting
above (12-November) to get the NTFS stuff across. I am used to
copying linux partitions around so that should be easy. Actually, it
is probably easier to do a fresh install of 11.2 and then copy /home
across.
Thanks guys. No new laptop (with Win 7) for me ;-)
Stefan Patric
Check the CD door. There should be a small hole there. That's the
manual ejector. Using an unfolded paper clip, stick an end into the hole
far enough to feel the release. Press. The drive should pop open. This
will work whether the computer is on or not.
Insert any Linux LiveCD and reboot. See if it works. Get back here with
the results.
> The Samsung X11 does not have a floppy drive.
>
> I have access to the BIOS, that is all.
Be sure that you've set the CD drive to be before the hard drive for
booting.
Stef
Jerry Peters
> I have a Samsung X11 Laptop which is no longer under guarantee, it
> predates the Vista release date by a couple of weeks so it has been
> around for a while. It is set up to dual-boot Linux and XP using
> GRUB. The Linus version is opensuse 11.2 x64 - I upgraded from 11.1
> x64 two weeks ago.
>
> There is this old problem which has been there since the Motherboard
> was replaced years ago - the disc freezes under Linux for around a
> minute, then resumes. The logs indicate a timeout but given that
> Samsung do not support Linux in any way (and rejected the previous
> problem because I had Linux on the system, I had to set the boot
> manager to hide Linux) there is nothing I can do about it.
That might be this issue: "Samsung N130 ATA exception after 5min uptime"
From GregKH's reply on LKML:
"This is because after 5 minutes, the BIOS implements C states in the
processor, which causes a "hic-up" in userspace. Everything should be
fine after this, and most importantly, the power usage drops by a few
watts, which is most important."
>
> That was then, this is now.
>
> Booting into XP this morning, things started fine but then hung just
> when I was trying to input my password. Then BSOD saying that an
> essential service had died. I should have written down the code but
> did not.
> Since then, booting hangs for a while with disc activity at 100%.
> Then eventually I get
> GRUB
> After another long wait, "Loading stage1.5" is added to that line.
> After another long wait, I get "GRUB loading, please wait..."
> Running from the mains, the screen gets brighter and the fan gets
> busy. Unhooking from the mains reverses both effects.
This problem sounds like the disk is dying or dead. It's taking a long
time because the drive is retrying the operation until it eventually
succeeds.
Jerry
Vlad_Inhaler
Update.
********
Hooking up my ide:usb interface and trying several times, I finally
managed to address the drive on another machine. It took 58:36
minutes to "dd if=/dev/sdb of=/local/image", 100GB at 28.6 MB/s.
Now copying to the newer 120GB drive, USB speeds were 4.5 MB/s so I
hooked it up as IDE and it completed in 3:30:32 (the 100GB at 7.9MB/
s). Rather worrying! New drives are supposed to be faster.
Hooking it back to the original laptop, exactly the same as before.
The CD/DVD still refuses to eject, even if I poke sharp objects into
it.
One thing I did not notice before: Normally on a boot, the CD/DVD
twitches a couple of times - rather like floppies used to do - while
it checks if anything is in there. Not since Sunday. The fact that
the CD/DVD and the IDE drive ceased working at the same time triggered
my original suspicion that the controller was to blame.
Given that I pretty much have to use dual-boot, I suspect a new
Opensuse 11.2 / Win 7 laptop is heading my way. It will be something
I buy, reformat and reinstall so "crapware" is probably not a
problem. It will not be re-installed. Any particular preferences? I
am feeling rather hostile towards Samsung at present, a local shop
builds Wortmann / Terra (I'm in Germany) machines so I may well check
them out.
A Williams
I took it to my local friendly dealer.
They took the CD/DVD out and now it works.
Substituting other CD/DVD Drives kill the thing completely, it is *that*
controller. I'll have to try and find out if it is on the Motherboard
or not.
sctvguy1
> I took it to my local friendly dealer. They took the CD/DVD out and now
> it works. Substituting other CD/DVD Drives kill the thing completely, it
> is *that* controller. I'll have to try and find out if it is on the
> Motherboard or not.
What brand is the notebook? My old Dell Inspiron 1000 has a bad CD-R/DVD
that rattles and won't play unless it is turned on its side.
A Williams
Samsung