How to reset CMOS on a Samsung N150
September 12, 2011 3:34 PM Subscribe
How to reset CMOS on a Samsung N150 netbook?
My wife's Samsung N150 is not turning on (it's fully charged and plugged in, and there's a little green light that says so).
When I say it's not turning on, it's not turning on. I'm hoping it's just a BIOS update error, rather than a hard drive failure (it's a solid-state drive).
We bought the N150 about 18 months ago.
Before I buy her a new netbook, I'd like to try doing a hard-CMOS-reset. However, I can't quite figure out how to do this on her machine.
There is a how-to on the internet here (it's in Italian, but Chrome does an okay job of translating) about how to disassemble a Samsung N150, but I'm kind of at a loss as to which stage counts as the CMOS reset on the N150.
Anything I should pay attention to?
My wife's Samsung N150 is not turning on (it's fully charged and plugged in, and there's a little green light that says so).
When I say it's not turning on, it's not turning on. I'm hoping it's just a BIOS update error, rather than a hard drive failure (it's a solid-state drive).
We bought the N150 about 18 months ago.
Before I buy her a new netbook, I'd like to try doing a hard-CMOS-reset. However, I can't quite figure out how to do this on her machine.
There is a how-to on the internet here (it's in Italian, but Chrome does an okay job of translating) about how to disassemble a Samsung N150, but I'm kind of at a loss as to which stage counts as the CMOS reset on the N150.
Anything I should pay attention to?
Have you removed and reinstalled the main battery? I have a Samsung N120, and if one of the too-easily-bumped battery release levers gets slightly moved, the battery will make poor contact and it just will not turn on at all.
posted by xedrik at 4:09 PM on September 12, 2011
posted by xedrik at 4:09 PM on September 12, 2011
You might want to remove and re-seat the batteries just to make sure the laptop is not stuck in a strange power state. As far as resetting the CMOS...normally these settings would be kept alive by the CMOS battery, which may be on the other side of the board. The BIOS however, can normally be reset by shorting a pair of pins. (just the settings, not the firmware itself...which can only be restored via flashing).
If you can't make it to the CMOS battery, check for these pins underneath your RAM modules.
posted by samsara at 4:11 PM on September 12, 2011
If you can't make it to the CMOS battery, check for these pins underneath your RAM modules.
posted by samsara at 4:11 PM on September 12, 2011
Response by poster: Just tried shorting the RTC reset pins, but that did not work...
posted by KokuRyu at 4:30 PM on September 12, 2011
posted by KokuRyu at 4:30 PM on September 12, 2011
You might have to take this to a repair shop (or if you feel comfortable, take it apart to reach the CMOS battery so both that and the main battery can be temporarily detached).
That being said, it is possible that the issue is not CMOS related at all and rather something else that has shorted or gone wrong within the hardware. The link you have already for disassembling the unit looks like a good start if you're up to doing it yourself. The battery is a round quarter sized piece on the flip side of the board pictured here.
posted by samsara at 1:49 PM on September 13, 2011
That being said, it is possible that the issue is not CMOS related at all and rather something else that has shorted or gone wrong within the hardware. The link you have already for disassembling the unit looks like a good start if you're up to doing it yourself. The battery is a round quarter sized piece on the flip side of the board pictured here.
posted by samsara at 1:49 PM on September 13, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Bonky Moon at 4:00 PM on September 12, 2011 [2 favorites]