+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: Samsung NC10 netbook cannot activate Vista Enterprise via KMS

  Share/Bookmark
  1. #1

    Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation
    AngryTechnician's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,361
    Thank Post
    234
    Thanked 374 Times in 225 Posts
    Rep Power
    78

    Default Samsung NC10 netbook cannot activate Vista Enterprise via KMS

    This is a heads-up for anyone thinking of trying this: The Samsung NC-10 netbook cannot be upgraded to Vista Enterprise if you manage your activations via KMS.

    We were hoping to buy a large quantity of these with Windows XP installed, upgrade the RAM to 2GB, and run Vista Enterprise under our Software Assurance upgrade licence, as we do all our other clients. The OS runs perfectly on our first test machine, but it won't activate. When we try, the KMS server will not activate the machine, reporting error 0xC004F035. The Microsoft KB has an article all about this:

    You receive the following error message:

    Error Code: 0xc004f035

    The Software Licensing Service reported that the computer could not be activated with a Volume license product key. Volume licensed systems require upgrading from a qualified operating system. Please contact your system administrator or use a different type of key.

    This behavior occurs when the following conditions are true:
    • You are using the Key Management Service (KMS) to perform activation.
    • The computer uses an ACPI_SLIC table in the computer BIOS program.
    The causes are listed as either:

    Cause 1
    You purchased a computer that has a qualifying Windows operating system installed. However, the Windows marker in the ACPI_SLIC table is corrupted.

    Cause 2
    You purchased a computer that does not have a qualifying Windows operating system installed. In this case, the Windows marker is not present in the ACPI_SLIC table.
    Clearly Windows XP is a qualifying system for the software assurance upgrade; we've rebuilt Dell machines with Vista that shipped with Windows XP, even ones that are several years old, pre-dating Vista's release, and that do not have an ACPI_SLIC table at all. This leads me to believe that Cause 1 is that case here. The KB article mentions that a few Lenovo ThinkPad models had similar issues which were resolved with BIOS updates.

    No such luck here. The latest BIOS for the NC10 doesn't resolve the issue, and Samsung support have divorced any responsibility for it by stating that "We don't support Vista on the NC10. This is a Microsoft licensing issue."

    Their loss. We were planning to buy about 150 of these this year alone, but if we do that we will have to request MAK activation codes for every install, which is hardly ideal. I'm starting my Vista test install on an Acer Aspire now instead...
    Last edited by AngryTechnician; 18-02-2009 at 03:49 PM. Reason: Formatting

  2. #2

    Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation
    gaz350's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Rutland, east.leicestershire :P
    Posts
    520
    Thank Post
    44
    Thanked 36 Times in 32 Posts
    Rep Power
    18

    Default

    dont forget to hold off on buying them untill the atom 280's arrives! Asus are claiming 9.5hrs of battery life. even though (i think) intel haven't announced anything yet.

    same situatuion as you 150+ and the samsung NC10 is my personal choice (unless toshiba can get some of their patents out the door this year) dont know if we'll be going down the Vista route so wont be a problem. thanks for the warning though!

  3. #3

    Reputation

    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Leeds
    Posts
    135
    Thank Post
    13
    Thanked 10 Times in 10 Posts
    Rep Power
    8

  4. #4

    Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation
    AngryTechnician's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,361
    Thank Post
    234
    Thanked 374 Times in 225 Posts
    Rep Power
    78

    Default

    If you use a retail or MAK key for Vista it will work fine. It's only the KMS activation that will be an issue, so your average consumer would not have a problem.

  5. #5

    Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation
    FN-GM's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Rochdale, Lancashire
    Posts
    8,813
    Thank Post
    309
    Thanked 611 Times in 554 Posts
    Rep Power
    120

    Default

    Might be better off calling Microsoft. For Windows Vista SP1 support is free.

  6. #6

    Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation
    AngryTechnician's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,361
    Thank Post
    234
    Thanked 374 Times in 225 Posts
    Rep Power
    78

    Default

    Depending on the outcome of our other netbook trials I may do that, but if it's just one manufacturer's products that have this problem then I suspect Microsoft will (legitimately) point out that it's not their fault.

    Samsung's approach so far has been to wash their hands of the problem without even looking at it properly, and that says something about their support that makes me want to avoid doing business with them.

  7. #7

    Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation
    AngryTechnician's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,361
    Thank Post
    234
    Thanked 374 Times in 225 Posts
    Rep Power
    78

    Default

    While still not impressed with Samsung's support approach, it seems that the problem is not unique to the NC-10. Both the Acer Apsire One and MSI Wind netbooks exhibit the same symptom.

    I have a suspicion that it may be to do with the Windows XP Home ULCPC licence. I'm going to get in touch with Microsoft later and find out what the deal is with upgrade eligibility from this version. It seems ridiculous that we are eligible to upgrade from Windows 98 and that it wouldn't work from a low-cost XP licence, but that is seeming like the most plausible cause right now.

  8. #8

    Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation
    Oops_my_bad's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Man chest hair
    Posts
    1,692
    Thank Post
    401
    Thanked 48 Times in 46 Posts
    Rep Power
    21

    Default

    I dont think home versions of XP are elegible for upgrade rights. What the oem's should be doing now is burning their BIOS's with certain info which tells Vista it is an elegible upgrade, in order for KMS to work. So either Samsung aren't doing this, or they have done but with an XP home product.

  9. #9

    Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation
    AngryTechnician's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,361
    Thank Post
    234
    Thanked 374 Times in 225 Posts
    Rep Power
    78

    Default

    If you are on an academic Software Assurance program, as we are, then XP Home is eligible according to the Microsoft documentation (page 96-97 if anyone is interested)

  10. #10

    Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation
    AngryTechnician's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,361
    Thank Post
    234
    Thanked 374 Times in 225 Posts
    Rep Power
    78

    Default

    Update on this: both the Acer Aspire One and the Toshiba NB100 (which we have also been testing) both have BIOS updates that fix this problem.

    Frankly, this only supports my opinion that this is Samsung's problem and not Microsoft's.

  11. #11

    Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation
    AngryTechnician's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,361
    Thank Post
    234
    Thanked 374 Times in 225 Posts
    Rep Power
    78

    Default

    I'm going to perform a little thread necromancy here to update on the eventual conclusion of this: sometime between BIOS v04 and v07, Samsung have corrected this issue, though their failure to provide release notes for any of their BIOS updates means that I don't know which revision fixed it.

  12. #12

    Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation

    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    England
    Posts
    732
    Thank Post
    126
    Thanked 134 Times in 118 Posts
    Rep Power
    30

    Default

    I don't suppose you know if the MSI Wind has had this problem corrected? Possibly looking at getting either the MSI Wind U100, Lenovo S10e or the NC10 at the moment

  13. #13

    Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation Reputation
    AngryTechnician's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,361
    Thank Post
    234
    Thanked 374 Times in 225 Posts
    Rep Power
    78

    Default

    The latest MSI U100 BIOS available on the MSI website is version 1.0B. This version does not work with KMS activation.

+ Reply to Thread

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

     

Similar Threads

  1. Samsung NC10
    By TechSupp in forum Hardware
    Replies: 23
    Last Post: 09-04-2010, 04:57 PM
  2. Vista Enterprise freezing
    By Oops_my_bad in forum Windows Vista
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 01-10-2008, 10:51 PM
  3. Vista, WDS and Key Management Service (KMS)
    By Psymon in forum Windows Server 2008
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 11-08-2008, 05:47 PM
  4. Vista Licensing +KMS
    By Dos_Box in forum Windows Vista
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 27-03-2008, 03:26 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts