Samsung UEFI laptops bricked by installing Linux

Hexus reports users of Samsung's UEFI-based laptops are experiencing issues when installing Linux and booting via UEFI. Online reports of users who tried to install Ubuntu indicate that after preparing the laptop's drive with Ubuntu Startup Disk Creator the laptop freezes and from then on restarting the computer completely bricks it - the system doesn't even go as far as displaying any basic startup info.

The bricking occurs on Samsung's 530U3C, 300E5C, NP700Z5C, NP700Z7C and NP900X4C series laptops, but only when Linux is booted using UEFI:

The problem can be avoided if the user chooses to boot Linux using the Compatibility Support Module (CSM), a recent UEFI feature designed “to enable operating systems to be booted in the same way as on computers with conventional BIOS firmware”. However H-Online says this method isn’t as straight-forward as installing Linux alongside a Windows installation using UEFI mode. And if you didn’t know of the Samsung driver problem why wouldn’t you just take the more straight-forward install route.

The issue is believed to be caused by a problem with the Samsung Driver in the Linux kernel. A fix to deactivate the Samsung driver if a system boots to Linux via UEFI has been found but is not yet merged into the Linux development tree, and Samsung has been working on a fix or several weeks via updated firmware but the solution isn't ready yet.