Maverick 64-bit doesn't boot on Samsung R510 with 4GB RAM

[MoMaT]

I'm using Jaunty Beta live CD. The boot sequence continue up to the gdm login screen. After login, shortly after the jungle sound, the system reboots.

I've tried several boot parameters recommended by google search to work around this:
- noacpi -> restart
- noapic -> restart
- nolapic -> freeze
- acpi=off -> works, only FN+sound functional, FN+brigthness and FN+suspend cause restart
- acpi=off apm=on -> same as above
- pci=noacpi -> same as above, with 4:3 narrow screen
- mem=4GB -> works, FN+sound and FN+suspend are functional, FN+brightness does nothing, only 3GB RAM used

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: amd64
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.04
MachineType: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. R510/P510
Package: linux-image-2.6.28-11-generic 2.6.28-11.37
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/hostname.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.gz quiet splash -- mem=4GB
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.28-11.37-generic
SourcePackage: linux

[MoMaT (momat)]

After installation and update the problem remains. The most usable boot parameter is mem=4GB as it makes suspend, hibernation and CPU clock scaling work. But only 3GB of RAM is seen by the system.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Hi MoMat,

Please look at the following for a more detailed explanation of the 4GB memory limit:

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/kernel-team/2008-December/003834.html

Also, it would seem this is really a duplicate of bug 74179 so I am marking it as such. Please continue to track this issue at that report. Thanks!

[MoMaT (momat)]

Wait, bug #74179 is about the i386 version of the kernel, while what I'm using here is the amd64. And I'm not actually complaining so much about having 3GB detected instead of 4GB while using mem=4GB but mainly about being unable to boot from live CD without using extra boot parameters.

[MoMaT (momat)]

I did additional test to check how crucial the memory issue is here. I removed 2GB of RAM and booted the live Jaunty Beta live cd with 2GB RAM only. The boot went fine (no rebooting as before). It seems then, that the 4GB of memory are causing the problems, regardless of the fact that the 64bit kernel is used.

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Hi MoMaT,

Care to test the latest mainline kernel build and confirm if the 4GB boot issue is seen with the latest available kernel, 2.6.30-rc8 - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please let us know. Thanks.

[MoMaT (momat)]

I've tried booting from the Karmic Alpha 2 live cd that has the 2.6.30 kernel included. Still no good. This time it rebooted even before the gdm login screen. What kind of log would be useful for you guys to trace it down?

[MoMaT (momat)]

I did another boot with Karmic Beta live cd. This time all went smooth without a reboot and 4GB of RAM were detected. It seems that the problem has been solved by one of the kernel upgrades.

[MattW (matthew3walker)]

When I boot the Kubuntu Karmic Beta live-cd with acpi=off I get the missing GB!
It reboots after a few seconds without acpi=off.

Using the function keys or the power button causes it to instantly shutdown but as far as I know everything else works :)

I'm on a Samsung R510 too btw.

[Georgiy Miroshnikov (laggy-luke)]

I can confirm this problem with 4GB RAM on Ubuntu Karmic.
I don't have Karmic final live-cd at the moment, but booting and installing from Karmic RC live-cd works fine without any tweaks.
However, after downloading and installing all available updates, my machine keeps rebooting when trying to start Xorg.
I ran memtest86+ and found no errors, so hardware memory failure is unlikely.
I've downgraded to 3GB RAM for now and it works perfectly.
Will play with kernel params later.

[MoMaT (momat)]

I've just tested the Karmic final release live cd. Unfortunately booting to Xorg does not work again (it was already fine with Karmic Beta). My machine reboots right before the gdm login screen.

[Georgiy Miroshnikov (laggy-luke)]

Xorg reboot problem is gone after updating BIOS to latest version (08LI).
Unfortunately, that required installing Windows just to launch executable file of BIOS updater that Samsung provides :(
Still, I'm on 4GB RAM right now and everything works fine... except of Fn key for brightness control etc, but there's already bug 297962 for that.

[opi (opi-gmx)]

I've the same problem with a Samsung SA11 Notebook.
Bootable with acpi=off or mem=4096 but then only 3GB are available.

Duplicates seem to be: #367891 and #296941

System: Kubuntu Lucid (daily update) 64bit
Kernel: 2.6.32-10-generic #14-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jan 7 17:38:08 UTC 2010 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I would help to resolve the bug. What can I do?

Also it seems, that the problem exists in other distributions as well.

[opi (opi-gmx)]

Also no success with the mainline Build v2.6.33-rc4

[MoMaT (momat)]

I've just tested the Lucid beta live-cd. It is still rebooting. However, Samsung has released a new BIOS (09LI ) recently and that's worth testing. If there just would be a way to upgrade it without Windows...

[Quintin (quintin-vanrooyen)]

I have an NP-R509 and when I used mem=4096 I had only 3gb available to me. acpi=off booted with full RAM but caused other hassles. No boot flags caused a reboot loop.

There is a bios update as of April 2010 for the R509 that solved my problem.

Bios updates fixes this for Samsung Laptops, you need Windows to run the .exe though, did not test it in wine for fear of bricking my laptop.

[MoMaT (momat)]

Another test with the Maverick final live CD. This time the reboot happens even sooner, before the splash screen appears. There is also a new BIOS release from Samsung (10LI) for R510 (still flashing requires Windows) and right now flashing the BIOS sadly seems to be the only way to fix this bug (see comments in related bug 272530).

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug was filed against a series that is no longer supported and so is being marked as Won't Fix. If this issue still exists in a supported series, please file a new bug.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Jay Bee (jay-bee)]

Hello,

I had the same/similar problems with the Samsung R510, model: NP-R510-FS0ANL. (The last 2 letters of the model only identify the country you bought it in, like DE/NL/etc. so it is actually a NP-R510-FS0A)

I tried all the option under F6, (ACPI = off, etc), I tried different versions like Ubuntu 11.10/12.04 CD and DVD versions, both amd64 and i386... but every time the laptop would reboot right after selecting "Install Ubuntu", or trying to boot the live CD of Ubuntu.

Now... I found the fix!

Simply download the BIOS Update from the samsung website and install it via a windows live CD, after that the Installation works with no more unexpected reboots :)

Hope this helps, enjoy!!

p.s. you can change the brightness control for the monitor in the BIOS from automatic to manual, in case you have issues with it ;)

[MoMaT (momat)]

What kind of windows live cd have you used? I've tried with winxp and win7 and in both cases the samsung BIOS update tool crashed with a cryptic message: "Loading driver failed. Restart system".