Samsung Evo 840 Firmware update - Now windows won't boot.

[revel]

Hi. I ran the Samsung 840 EVO Firmware update that was provided because of the degrading problem said to be with the product.

It went all the way through and said complete. There were no problems or interruptions there. I closed the application and rebooted my machine.

The computer will get to the windows screen but right when it is supposed to go to the login it goes black and the monitors stop detecting a signal. It just sits at a black screen.

The scary thing is that when i try to run a recovery all executables associated with a given recovery error out. I.E. StartRep.exe fails to run. Trying to load previous working fails to run to. They get memory exception type errors!

I put in the windows 7 disc and have had it come up with "hit key to boot from cd or dvd". all repair attempts are the same as above. They fail the same way.

The only thing I have not figured out is how to get the machine to load into safe mode. i have been hitting F8 and doing what I can but I get no such options. My options are only the repair dialogs or boot normally. I do not understand why this machine has never given me a choice to boot to safe mode. How can I get that to work?

Please help! Is there anything I can do? I can't find any samsung forums or info.

Windows 7 64 Ultimate.
Asus X99 Deluxe.
Intel 5960X 3.0 x 8 core
G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 4 x 8gb (32gb) DDR4 2400
Samsung 840 Evo 500gb SSD
Corsair RM1000 1000wPSU
Corsair H100i
Nvidia 780GTX

 

[AddRAM]

What degrading problem ? Samsungs are the best IMO, what did you think upgrading the firmware would help ? Or what did Samsung say it was for ?

How old is the drive, how often is it used ?

 

[Layback Bear]

I have heard of no degrading problem with Samsung EVO's.
I did read about a few problems with the cable connection points on the ssd's.
Best of my memory they were RMA.

 

[derekimo]

Maybe this is what the OP is referring to,

Second patch for ongoing 840 EVO SSD performance issues being prepped by Samsung | ExtremeTech

 

[Ranger4]

@ revel.
Have a look through this Samsung website & scroll down to the "Samsung SSD 840 EVO Performance Restoration Software". Click on the Installation guide & read through that to see if you followed all the directions. It also mentions that the upgrade could take over a hour & not to use your computer or to shut down the computer or have a power failure while the upgrade is under way.

Samsung SSD Downloads | Samsung SSD US

Do you have the Samsung Magician software loaded on your computer as most Samsung upgrades are done through that.

Also note that you should have backed up the drive to separate media before doing any SSD software upgrade, as the upgrade can sometimes fail, causing a loss of all your data.

 

[revel]

Thanks guys.

Yes it is that 840 EVO thing. It went around the internets a while back and I never got around to doing it til now.

I do not have the Samsung Magicial software. I will look into that.

The machine magically booted up! I don't know how since I couldn't for the life of me for quite some time.

I am still curious though.

1. Why were all the repair executable failing? Even with the disk in the dvd drive.

2. How do I get the Safe Mode option to pop up. F8 was only giving me Repair or Start Normally.

These things boggle my mind.

I had everything backed up except some of the latest crap sitting on my desktop (which is now backed up as well). I back up pretty good. I freak out cause the machine is a work machine and getting from windows install to working is kind of a doozy.

 

[AddRAM]

So is the Samsung performing better run an Atto test and post the results.

ATTO Disk Benchmark Download - Softpedia

 

[Ranger4]

A revel.

Glad to hear that you are back in operation again.

It's possible that the firmware upgrade was still occurring when you tried to get the DVD to work. According to the Samsung website that I pointed you to, the update could take over a hour.

Refer to this Seven Forum tutorial for starting in Safe Mode.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/69585-safe-mode.html

 

[revel]

Thank you for the Safe Mode information. Strangely F8 was not yielding any Safe Mode options. I only would get repair or normal boot options. No safe mode.
EDIT: Ok, Even though I go back to 386sx25 with building computers I forgot about F5. I probably need to try that next time. It is awesome that computers have gotten to a point where I just can't remember what does what anymore. F5. F8. Shift+whatever. F2? Delete? It is all jumbled in my mind these days.

The firware was completely done. It said "Finished" So I closed the app. My worry is that something happened when I rebooted where it needed to do something after a reboot of sorts and it didnt' really take? That or perhaps there was just some strange problem completely unrelated.

Meanwhile the repair exe's failing make no sense to me. I don't think anything should have gotten in the way of that. I was unable to load earlier working states of Windows and that is very strange to me.

 

[gregrocker]

What repair .exe's? For unbootable Win7 you'd run a Startup Repair
from F8 menu or preferably disk.

What is the error you alluded to which occured then?

For future reference everything that can be done is here for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start.

If less than a year old, all hardware is covered with tech support and replacement warranty. I'd use it for any Updates or issues as they are more directly aware of known issues and can directly queue the drive up for RMA if needed when they supervise the testing and repairs.

 

[revel]

What repair .exe's? For unbootable Win7 you'd run a Startup Repair
from F8 menu or preferably disk.

What is the error you alluded to which occured then?

For future reference everything that can be done is here for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start.

If less than a year old, all hardware is covered with tech support and replacement warranty. I'd use it for any Updates or issues as they are more directly aware of known issues and can directly queue the drive up for RMA if needed when they supervise the testing and repairs.

The error is that it fails to run the exectuables associated with the repair tools. So when you try to repair it will say.

rstrui.exe - Application Error
The instruction at 0xfacc584d referenced memory at 0x00000008. The memory could not be read.

Click OK to terminate the program.


This error is very similar for "StartRep.exe".

I have no idea how or why it would do that, especially during the time I had the Windows 7 DVD in the drive.