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What do I need to do to install Ubuntu on my Samsung Laptop from 2013? I heard that I can brick it. If I need to do an update then please give me instructions. Sorry for asking such an easy question. I'm a linux noob.

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    Can you put the exact name of the laptop in your post? – Exeleration-G Jan 09 '16 at 12:25
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    @Exeleration-G This is a good idea, but Samsung used the same firmware for all laptops. The problem has never been fixed. Finaly Smasung stopped producing laptops at all. Only chromebooks. – Pilot6 Jan 09 '16 at 13:00

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It is NOT safe to install Ubuntu on that kind of laptops in UEFI mode. I tested it not long ago and got the laptop almost bricked.

I had Ubuntu already installed and just wanted to test if the kernel workaround works OK for the well known firmware bug. So I swithched to UEFI mode.

It works partially. It is possible to revive the laptop, if you can find a relevant firmware and find a way to flash it.

It was not a total brick, because it was possible to reflash firmware from the external DVD using Windows and cleaning NVRAM, but still it is not an easy procedure, because Samsung does not provide download links for the firmware and the utilities do not let to flash firmware the same version as it is installed. I made really lots of efforts to restore booting.

The problem is with bad UEFI software that does not comply any standards.

But if you boot in CSM aka legacy mode, you can safely install Ubuntu.

Samsung firmware developers and other people made two many obvious mistakes:

  1. They made a firmware that can be completely broken in UEFI mode from any OS installed. That is unaceptable for many reasons including security. Malware can brick the laptop easily using Windows too.

  2. It is possible to flash firmware only using a Windows utility that checks the installed virsion and downloads firmware from Samsung sites. No direct download links.

  3. Support of some models has been dropped and even the Windows utility does not find anything to flash now.

It is more funny that I bought a NP300E5X without Windows pre-installed. And it is not possible to restore firmware without having Windows.

But the hardware is good. And it is well suported by Linux.

Pilot6
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  • Do I lose something when I use CSM? –  Jan 09 '16 at 12:44
  • Maybe a second or two while booting. I bought a '13 300E5X without any OS and it works quite well with Ubuntu since that time. But my experiment appeared to be too dangerous. I was lucky to find a compatible firmware image and reflash. – Pilot6 Jan 09 '16 at 12:49
  • Also you will need some additional steps with CSM if you have a HDD larger that 2 TB. But it is unlikely. – Pilot6 Jan 09 '16 at 12:57
  • Just installed Ubuntu 20 on a Samsung Series 9. It was necessary to disable fast bios, disable UEFI, and press F10 on boot for manual selection of USB boot device. – Charney Kaye Jun 02 '20 at 21:22