Linux: Booting Via UEFI Can Brick Samsung Notebooks

Posted by Unknown on Wednesday January 30, 2013 @03:10AM from the like-openfirmware-only-it-sucks dept.

wehe writes "Heise News reports today some Samsung notebooks can be turned into a brick if booted just one time via UEFI into Linux. Even the firmware does not boot anymore. Some reports in the Ubuntu bug tracker system report that such notebooks can not be recovered without replacing the main board. Other Linux distributions may be affected as well. Kernel developers are discussing a change in the Samsung-laptop driver." It appears even Samsung is having trouble tracking down the problem (from the article): "According to Canonical's Steve Langasek, Samsung developers have been attempting to develop a firmware update to prevent the problem for several weeks. Langasek is advising users to start Ubuntu installation on Samsung notebooks from an up-to-date daily image, in which the Ubuntu development team has taken precautions to prevent the problem from arising. It is, however, not completely clear that these measures are sufficient."

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Criminal by ThatsNotPudding · 2013-01-30 03:44 · Score: -1, Troll

Some reports in the Ubuntu bug tracker system report that such notebooks can not be recovered without replacing the main board.

Microsoft is not only guilty of attempted hardware monopoly, but also willfully contributing to the e-waste problem; given that it's a notebook, most folks won't even try to replace the board (and it should just be a replaceable chip, but NOT ALLOWED), but will just throw the whole thing away. Criminal waste due to criminal greed. The EU needs to get their butts in gear and stop this garbage cold.