Clevo/Sager Windows 8.1 drivers, issues, etc?

Just wanted to start a thread with general Windows 8.1 concerns as they relate to the Sagers/Clevos. Please do not bash Windows in this thread.

Are there new drivers or software for Windows 8.1, or does all the Windows 8 drivers and software work fine? I didn't see any Windows 8.1 on the Sager website.

Will new Sager models ship with Windows 8.1, and a Windows 8.1disc, or will they always have to update?

 

Sager hardly ever updates half the drivers, though Clevo doesn't neither nor do most manufactures lol.

That said I am running 8.1 (final) fine. All my drivers are from Station-Drivers - News or the manufacture directly, depending what was newer.

I don't think they will do 8.1 officially on new machines until end of the year prob if ever because some software/drivers do need to be patched.

I have no known issues that said though, but also am not using any official drivers from Sager/Clevo.

 

Good to hear you have it running without issues. You said some drivers and software needs to be patched. Do you know which ones and why?

Thanks for the link. Since the site is not English, are there any language issues with them?

 

Drivers are drivers so language won't matter. That said, I have never downloaded something that wasn't in English anyway from that site so you're good on that.

As for patches, I say that because Win 8.1 made a number of core changes. Though many things will work without any indication of issues, optimizations for Win 8.1 are strongly recommended to them from MS.

Some programs flat out won't work without upgrades. For example I use Symantec Endpoint Protection for my security, a version does not exist (outside of a beta) that is compatible and properly runes. Other applications and drivers may be similar.

That said, many drivers have already been upgraded to support 8.1 officially.

For example Intel Wireless drivers has a 16.5 branch for 8.1 vs the regular 8 is on like 16.1 or 16.3

Realtek has updated the drivers to specifically support 8.1 (network, card readers etc.) as are the Intel graphics and Nvidia graphic drivers.
Most manufactures have stayed up with the trend in changes and adjusted to them. Those that MAY cause issues might be proprietary ones like hotkey etc. I have not noticed issues with it for example but I generally use external keyboard and monitor so don't use it for brightness, OSD or keyboard backlight etc. to know if it is without any issues.

Airplane mode is another one. It uses a special driver/software package, though thus far not noticed any side effects.

So in simple most things will just work, even without the updates, but it's been recommended throughout the development of 8.1 that vendors review and make adjustments to account for changes.

I could load the Windows 8 wireless drivers if I wanted, but is a reason they made ones specifically for 8.1

Anyway, odds are you will be fine. Most things work out of box but I would recommend still downloading the latest yourself.

As for what the laptops ship with, I wouldn't worry it much. 8.1 is free for all that own 8 and I suspect the hand will be forced for them to make sure it's compatible with the current gen stuff. It's not like an entire new OS (though very close). It's more like a Service Pack but on steroids because they went a little further on the changes vs. they use to for Service Packs. Heck for Servers it's a paid upgrade and considered a new OS lol

 

Nice list, I think you covered the main ones that need to be updated. Thanks for taking the time.

I ask about what the laptops will come with since I plan to order a NP8255-S very soon. So I wonder if it is worth it to wait for the Win 8.1 package, since I am already waiting for the Haswell USB 3.0 fix to ship. I also wonder if MS might offer a upgrade deal to Windows 8.1 purchasers that is better than those that got Windows 8.0. I am guessing they will treat them the same for upgrades, but who knows.

 

Hi Bryane, looke like you are running windows 8.1 without issue, since my laptop have almost exactly same configuration (i7 4900 with 780M), and I am having issue to adjust the brightness under windows 8.1 I am wondering which driver are you using for intel 4600? - I am using the one from Station-Drivers...

thanks,.

 

problem solved - just reinstalled the whole windows 8.1 and ask windows to find the drivers online (it works for most of the hardware include 4600 and 780 and intel wireless plus network card)

 

So brightness control works now? And to be clear the solution was to let Windows 8.1 find the video drivers for Intel and Nvidia. So, I presume the first time you used the video drivers that shipped with the unit on the drivers disc?

Good to know the ones Windows finds work, as well as the Intel ones. Doesn't seem too tricky or complicated. Sounds like everything works well so far.

 

Here is the steps I did:
1. Fresh install the Windows 8.1 - you got wireless card and lan card working.
2. Right click "this computer" -> "manage" -> "device management" -> find all unrecogonized hardware then right click then -> "update driver" just let the windows to update the drivers.
3. for remaining 4 unrecogonized hardware (in my case, they should be card reader, airplane mode, intel IME, intel chipset) -> I went to sager website to downloaded newest driver, and install them.

 

I just checked and my brightness control works fine.

I am running latest nvidia drivers 331.40 and the latest intel ones on that site posted.

 

Might as well post here as we can't make threads.. (And note this is just for OUR systems )

Windows 8.1 support will be coming on 10/18/13 for our entire 2013 lineup (Models Numbers ending in 13), we already have it installed and testing right now.. Looks good, will require a BIOS revision if you want to get the SecureBoot watermark to go away

We will also support all 2012 models with Ivy Bridge processors as well for Windows 8.1 (Will also need a BIOS update)

All 2011 models and 2012 models with Sandy Bridge won't be supported.

 

Woo!

Btw, where do we pick up the drivers? I've logged into my account on your site and don't see anything there under the drivers page. Perhaps I'm not looking in the right place.

 

Thanks for posting Mythlogic. That is great information. Nice to hear you are supporting Ivy Bridge as well. I know it is a lot of work.

 

We'll be launching a new driver page with 8.1 so you're in the right spot, just aren't there yet =)

 

How come a bios update would be needed? (I don't own your ver but just wondering?).

So on 8.1 mine did show a warning initially but I just went into bios, secure boot, switched it to custom, load factory default keys, switched it back to standard and it was enabled, active and watermark went away.

 

I wonder now that it is availible, if others have seen issues or things they had to fix?

 

That is great news! That secure boot watermark is annoying, but my system runs great with 8.1 so far. Thanks for the update. It's a bummer that you aren't going to support the sandy bridge systems (they are relatively new), but at least I have Ivy so I'm a happy camper :thumbsup:

Do your bios updates get posted to the driver page or will you be sending those out some other way?

 

You have to email us for BIOS updates, as we don't put them up on the page for anyone to start flashing

For issues.. Yea we've seen issues with people NOT updating drivers etc BEFORE upgrading (For drivers that are 8/8.1) so far a few people have hosed their system.

So REMEMBER its STILL an OS upgrade (Even via the store) so please take normal precautions with that =P

 

I updated my NP8275 with Windows 8.1 successfully. Only problem I am seeing is about insyde airplane driver. There is question mark in device manager even after reinstalling those drivers.
Xoticpc or sager guys do you have new driver for 8.1? I don't see one one Sager download page

 

My Mythlogic Pollux 1613 (i.e., 150SM) got hosed when I tried to update to Windows 8.1 last night. After the update, it would boot directly to a black screen with a glitchy cursor. I could manage to get into Safe Mode, but my Ethernet wouldn't work, my wireless would connect but not be able to access the internet, and I was not allowed/able to update the video or wireless drivers. I eventually gave up and restored my previous copy of Windows 8 (which then ran into its own "invalid activation key" debacle, but that's another story). I'll definitely be waiting for Mythlogic to release updated drivers and a BIOS before I try again.

 

Had some weird issues with video drivers after upgrading. The 7970m ones were not working. Got everything up and running smoothly today. Here's what I did if someone else needs it:

Uninstall AMD drivers
Reboot
Uninstall Intel drivers
Reboot
Windows then installed some basic Intel drivers for me
Reboot
Installed the latest 8.1 drivers from the Intel website, which I actually think were the same as the ones Windows installed
Reboot
Installed the latest 13.11 beta drivers from the AMD website
Reboot

Everything is working well.

I also had to reinstall wireless/bluetooth drivers according to Windows, even though they were working fine. Did so to make it happy.

 

Thanks, I am sure that will help someone. And it may give someone a clue for a related issue.

 

I'm having some issues with windows 8.1, comodo firewall became completely corrupted, it doesn't work (I'm using windows firewall now) and I can't even uninstall it !!
I had some problems with airplane mode, wireless drivers and internet connection but I solve them...
and I have also the "secure boot isn't configured correctly" watermark

really a smooth update....

 

Did you see Bryanu's post on secure boot issue? Or if you have Mythlogic, they will soon have a bios for it.

 

In case color profiles don't work, here is a link to a thread with solutions. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=9411797
Windows 8.1 erased my color pofile, please help.

 

yes I try that and other things but I still have the watermark.... and I'm not even interested in this secure boot stuff, I wish there was just a way to disable it even if secure boot is off

 

Yea wouldn't that be awesome... especially if you dual boot lol

 

I thought some distros of Linux supported Secure Boot. So no need to turn it off for dual boot for those.

I see many users, on many forums, complaining about the secure boot watermark. So I expect various fixes and workarounds soon. As I understand it, you just get some text on the bottom of the screen that says it is not secure, but otherwise the computer is fully useable.

 

Sager NP8265-S here.

Windows 8.1 upgrade gives me the black screen/cursor thing going on. Safe mode to remove the graphics drivers, then upgrade to latest 8.1 drivers from Intel and then 13.11 from AMD. So that solves that.. everything else seems OK except the hotkey program didn't seem to work.
The strange part though, is that the processor is constantly at 10-30%, even though task manager shows no tasks taking up CPU time >.<

Wiped and reinstalled 8 because I didn't like the CPU mystery usage. Will wait as long as possible until I'm forced to upgrade, I think.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I wonder if others have seen the mystery cpu usage. I know someone posted about the keyboard lights not working.

 

I had no extra software on there either, just Windows 8.1, and drivers.

When I get a chance this week, I'm going to install 8.1 on a 2nd partition on my data drive, and try to find the cause... I'll post my findings up here.

 

I have literally no problems whatsoever with Windows 8.1 :
- WiFi Working
- GPU Switching Working
- BT Working
- Keyboard backlight and shortcuts Working
- Fingerprint Scanner Working
- Webcam Working
- CPU scaling properly and no weird usage.

Updated from windows 8 to 8.1. Had to reinstal drivers for my 7970m .

Edit: Wouldn't count this as an issue, but Unity 3D isn't working in Windows 8.1. It's a known issue with other systems as well, and the only solution is to force it to run in DX11 mode via argc.

 

My Windows 8.1 update is fine now. No issues at all. Had a problem with insyde airplane hid mini receiver. But after rebooting and reinstalling it is good now. Everything is working smooth on P170SM

 

So no mystery cpu usage?

 

Nope. Can't say that I've seen it.

 

FWIW I suspect Sager will have a new Bios & EC for us in the next 15 days.

[Sammelthread] Clevo P1xxSMx Gamer Notebook (2013) shows on already but it's for Clevo branded (So don't use if you're Sager!).

I checked with my Sager contact and they have not as of yet gotten the version they are getting. Clevo seems to give to them last as they have to modify the logo and a few other things Sager has set as a standard.

No idea what the updates will do.

I still have 0 issues on my 8.1 install, not even with Secure Boot as some did. Just reset that to the defaults and it was happy even.

If you have odd CPU usage it must be some type of conflict with something.
When you open task manager go to "Resource Monitor" and see if you can see more details about what is causing the CPU rise.
Resource monitor often will give better details vs. just task manager as it wont just say "System" generally

 

Hi guys!
I have a big problem!. I am able to control the sound and the display light but I cannot control og turn on the backlight keyboard!!!, I Have installed every version of Clevos Hotkeys but none of it works. Latest version from their site: " CLEVO - Download " is Hotkey 8.0132

My laptop is P150SM and i have the following specs:

- CPU: Intel Core i7-4700MQ 4x2,40GHz (Turbo 3.40GHz)6MB cache Haswell
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX780m 4GB GDDR5
- RAM:Kingston 16GB DDR3-1600 RAM
- Display: 15.6" FullHD-LED AntiGlare 1920x1080
- Storage: 500GB Solid State Disk (Samsung 840)
- Battery: 8-cell Li-Ion high-end battery
- Sound: SOUND BLASTER® X-FI®
- Net: 100/1000 Mb/s GIGABIT
- Wireless: Intel AGN Dualband (2,4GHz/5GHz)
- Webcam: 2.0M pixel webcam
- Weight: 3.1 Kg or 6.8 lbs

If somebody from Clevo read this, please make a new version of Hotkey for WINDOWS 8.1 PRO and give us a link!!!
Clevo P150SM (X-Series X4585) Unboxing - YouTube

 

Did you install W8.1 from scratch or did you update from W8 ? I suppose that P1**SM use the same software P1**EM use for the keyboard backlight, and that is working with my P150EM having updated from W8 to W8.1 .

 

I can turn on keyboard light on and off, fade on and off without hotkey. Dual booting clean install of W8.1 and Ubuntu here.

 

Hi I updated from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 (No scratch install)
But I don't think Hotkey worked probaly for Windows 8 either. Last time I was able to control the backligt keyboard was when my OS were Windows 7.
It is not possible to adjust the backligt keyboard on the following machines:

X-Series X4585)
SAGER NP8265
Metabox P150SM
Schenker W503

Please help with a Link to a new version of Hotkey or another solution.
It is pretty annoying to spent a lot of money on a expensive laptop and also pay for Windows 8 - and it just get worse!!!

 

Zymphad

I can see you have a Clevo NP150EM and you don't use Clevos Hotkey program. But what happen when you press " FN + /" this i usually where you can change Color and such?!

 

Did you also upgrade from Windows 7 to 8? If sot his is probably your problem. Doing an Upgrade from 7 to 8 and from 8 to 8.1 is just trouble waiting to happen. While I agree yes it "should" be fine upgrades are NEVER as good, clean or run as fast as a fresh straight install will be.

I have a P157SM (flashy ver. of P150SM) and was probably one of the first people on 8.1 with this machine.

I have no problems.

At the moment I am on Bios .09 EC .05 and Hotkey ver 8.0134 and all my functions work fine and not a single crash or thing not working correctly.

 

Nothing since I said I don't use hotkey. Color blue is fine for me, I find hotkey to be an annoyance, especially with setting up my power settings. I don't need another useless background program.

 

Problem solved

If you was not able to turn on and change the color of your backlight keyboard on P150SM or P157SM, like me i now have the solution!

1. Go to Software Upgrade

2. Find Windows 8 Hot Key Utility for Windows 8 32/64 BIT - Download it (30,0 MB)

3. Install and enjoy!

View attachment 103884

 

I'm having another problem with 8.1, quite often after 20-30 of playing I get the low on memory warning, but in reality I have a lot of ram available, for example yesterday I was playing with Skyrim and I had almost 6gb of ram available but I got the memory warning... this only happens when I play and it NEVER happened before the upgrade to 8.1

with event viewer I saw that the system commit charge was really too hight, too close to the system commit limit
I already tried to increase the maximum virtual mem size but that doesn't help

it seems to me that windows keeps getting worse and worse

 

Had the exact same problem. The thing is, you need to have a pagefile available. I know, I know, you have a lot of free Ram (i had about 16 GBs free and it would still crash some apps). Create a pagefile with some size, as many applications write to that file even when ram is available.

So, right click on your computer, go to properties, advanced system settings, Advanced tab, click on Performance Definitions. A new window pops up with three tabs. Go to Advanced tab on that one and where it says Virtual Memory, click alter/change. Create a page file to your liking or leave it at your system's liking (it will create a page file the size of your RAM, even though it may recommend a smaller size). After that, you will get no problems such as that one

 

a little update, in my case the problem is not the pagefile but I'm quite sure that the real problem is the new intel driver for win 8.1

if you read this: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/foru...mus-V-17-3-quot-Windows-8-1-BSOD-igdkmd64-sys

well you will see that I'm having almost the same problems, low on memory warnings and few days ago the same bsod ( DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (igdkmd64.sys) ) after 10 mins of playing, like many others these things start to happens only after win 8.1 update....
it can't be a coincidence

 

I'm having a few major problems myself with a BRAND NEW Sager NP8265-S.


1)Font is blurry in some programs (Chrome, Steam) but not others.
2)Airplane Mode is giving me an error:
This device cannot start. (Code 10)

STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR

3)After a while, my USB ports go dead. Then they turn on. Then they turn off. Then on again. Then off. When I go into Device Manager... I get an error for "Intel(R) Display Audio)
This device cannot start. (Code 10)

STATUS_POWER_ERROR

Reboot fixes this issue.


4)I've gotten a few BSODs.


I'm not sure whether I should do a clean install of 8.1 or just go back to 8.

 

xman77, does the old Intel driver work under Win 8.1?

Dyskresiac, This may fix the blurry font issue. http://www.askvg.com/fix-bold-blurry-or-hard-to-read-font-problem-in-windows-8-1/
You may want to try a clean install, as it has helped some.

 

I tried the old driver for win 8 but it doesn't work.... probably I have to wait for new drivers from intel....