2013 Ativ Book 9 Plus owner's lounge (NP940X3G)

The windows 8 is on a recovery partition on c drive and it's hidden. You can use samsung tools to extract the recovery image and place it on USB and then wipe c drive for full install of your windows 7.
Not sure if driver's are available for Windows 7 so tread carefully.

 

SW Update pushed this new touchpad driver out to me. It brings most features (3-finger and 4-finger) back - everything that I can think of EXCEPT the ability to disable the default reverse scrolling, so I still need ETDAniConf.exe to access that setting.

 

I had the same reservation about Windows 8 when I got my newer X4C, but gave Start8 a try. It provides sufficient Windows 7 functionality (eg a proper start menu) that I didn't need to implement the backup plan of installing Windows 7. I'm not sure how Windows 7 will work with the QHD display and I doubt if providing Windows 7 support for this model is high on Samsung's list of priorities.

Use Samsung Recovery Solution to make a full backup (preferably on a non-Sandisk 32GB flash drive with the bootable option enabled and check it will boot) before you mess with the Windows installation.

John

 

I just tested, and I would say that about 68C the fans is definitely noticeable and at 71-72C it's really loud

 

Ok ativ book 9 plus owners,
I have discovered what has been causing the flicker.

I noticed there are 3 power apps
1. native windows power options
2. Intel graphic power options(seems to override everything and is the master)
3. Samsung's own sw software

So I set my intel graphics options in power section panel refresh off in battery as some suggested here to remove the flicker. I thought that would sort the flickering but it did not especially when plugged in.
What I noticed every time I rebooted with maximum performance set in intel power options, the screen would flicker especially forums and when moving mouse along the text of threads the screen would momentarily flicker as you highlight text and this would be visible at night with adaptive brightness on set for both mains and battery mode.

So I tried everything adjusted Samsung sw reset it to default did nothing, went into windows 8 power options again tried all power options rebooted ativ and flicker kept coming back. I then tried adjusting intel power options and it still did it.
Then I thought what did I change from memory when I installed windows 8 and from memory I increased the brightness of the screen to max (Fn + F3)

So from memory I recalled when first installed windows 8, it was one notch down from maximum the screen brightness.
I set this with Fn + F2 (remember one notch down from max brightness) and voila no more flickers when on mains (plugged in) and maximum performance.
I can replicate the issue everytime I set it back to max brightness it will flicker on reboot and when you unplug it it will stop as brightness levels change for battery mode.

I also have set display power save technology to off as colors are weird with that on when in battery mode and also re-enabled panel self refresh.

That's it with this the panel its good to go and perfectly setup for mains(plugged in) and battery mode and no more flicker in either mode.
Enjoy everyone

 

On my K04, with the current display drivers 10.18.10.3304 and all updated drivers, I have yet to see a screen flicker for 1.5 weeks. All my intel/windows/Samsung display settings are mostly default except auto brightness turned off (including in the BIOS). Before the intel update, I had the flicker issue twice but since the update, never seen it. My battery panel refresh is on yet no flicker.

 

You'll only see the flicker when you reboot and are in dark room plugged in with auto brightness and brightness set to max.

 

Well, today, my touchpad cursor is extremely erratic - almost useless. Anyone else have similar or different experiences with the new driver?

 

Updated new touchpad drivers today... working fine for me. New interface added 3 and 4 finger options. ETDAniConf.exe was missing in the Programs Files folder, so if you guys need that, make sure you copy it and put it back in after the update. ETDAniConf.exe still works if you do that.

 

Anyone experiencing a flickering screen, try this (I don't know if this is well known or not).

1. disable adaptive brightness in the power option (I'm sure people know how to do this)
2. Right-click on the desktop, select "graphics properties"
3. Click "Power"
4. Switch it to "on battery"
5. Un-check "Display Power Saving Technology"

I found that this 'display power saving technology' changes the level of brightness based on what images are being displayed on the screen.
Hope it helps.

Cheers

 

Is there any place within the USA I could buy a 256 GB SSD version of this laptop? I can only seem to find the 128GB SSD model.

 

I am also going to ask why do power options in windows not stick?

I noticed when I set balanced and reboot it keeps showing power save mode?
Is there something changing this on boot>?

Curious what others have found and wondering if this is normal.

 

Check in Samsung Settings if you are in Silent Mode or Eco Mode, both of which switch to the Power Saver profile. Disabling Silent/Eco mode will revert to Samsung Optimized (or whatever profile you came from when you toggled Silent/Eco mode). Although that shouldn't persist across a reboot...

If that is not the case, I'd say uninstalling and re-installing Settings (reboot after each) should be the first thing to try, as that will reset the Power plans. Note that you have to re-do any tweaks you have made to the Power plans after re-installing Settings.

Samsung like to do things their own way, not the standard Windows way (or Android way for that matter). The following posts explain how power settings are generally handled on Samsung laptops:

Overview of Samsung Power settings

About Windows Power Profiles (Power Plans)

Silent Mode explained (Win7 but also applies to Win8)

If you're on Win 8.1, there may be other twists or bugs involved that are causing what you see. I am afraid I cannot speak to that.

 

Search for "NP930X3G-K04US" and set up some notifications.

The first batch sold out.

John

 

Yup that did it thnx you, should be sticked for new Samsung owners I went into Fn + F1 and saw silent mode with fans was on auto. Disable it turned it off and now Samsung optimized is the power plan.
Thanks Dannemand, your links are very helpful.

What power plan is the best for maximum performance on mains plugged in and maximum battery life when unplugged? I am starting to think leave it on Samsung optimized as it does not throttle cpu.

 

Anyone else have this problem with chrome tab size?
It becomes to small when the window is sized in half - see below

 

I would use the Samsung optimized power plan. The Maximum performance gives a negligible improvement in performance but the computer will run hotter because the CPU doesn't slow down when not busy.

john

 

Great

I agree 100% with John: For all but the most demanding cases, I would leave it on the Samsung Optimized power plan. Alternatively, you could change the Min Processor State in the High Performance plan to something more reasonable than the default 100% (such as 50%). That way you'd still see a (small) performance benefit from the other settings in that plan, without constantly running the CPU at 100%.

 

~48 hrs later, I am now able to go back and forth (format then fresh install) between Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 8.1. The most difficult part was figuring out how to get UEFI turned on, bios keys, and the whole sha-bang to work fine since we have no physical access to our installation product key.

[edit] To be clear, I purchased Windows 7 Ultimate a while back so I had a separate physical key for this. Windows 8.1 does not require a key because the key for 8.1 is hard coded in the BIOS of the laptop.

 

Yup I set max processor for battery and mains to 99%. This way cooler and no turbo mode

 

Oh yes, about that, John recently did some tests, which showed you had to drop Max Processor State lower than 99% to prevent turbo from kicking in. I don't remember the exact brackets he found, they probably depend on which CPU you have. You may be able to find his post with a little googling.

 

Is the RAM and/or HDD user upgradeable?

 

I can't remember where that post is but a quick retest using HWiNFO to watch the CPU speed shows that for the i7-3537U on my X4C (2Ghz with turbo to 3.1GHz) any maximum processor state above 78% lets the CPU run to full turbo speed, 78% limits the CPU speed to 1.9GHz and values below 78% gradually drop the maximum CPU speed. The discovery was that, for this notebook / CPU combination, a 99% or 90% maximum processor state made no difference compared to 100%. It would have been useful to have been able to slightly reduce the maximum processor speed.

I would be interested to know how the X3G behaves in this respect.

The RAM is soldered so what you get is what you have to live with. The SSD uses the M.2 format and is swappable, provided you can find the right part.

John

 

I just ran SW update on my new AB9+ (K04) and it upgraded a bunch of stuff (display, touchpad, sound etc) however its caused me a bunch of problems. specifically:

1) The brightness keys (Fn+ f2, fn+3) dont work anymore - This is incredibly frustrating
2) Samsungs settings dont work anymore (Fn + F1)
3) The touchpad settings still don't allow me to select reverse 2 finger scrolling as an option

Any help here would be much appreciated

 

Reinstall the Samsung settings. Reverse scrolling has always been available in the elan settings through their program. Check the thread.

 

Okay, I think I fixed the lag in the upper 2/3 of my touchpad: I went to Device Manager/Mice and other pointing devices/Samsung TouchPad Input Device and right clicked, selecting "Uninstall." After system retart, I then went back and clicked "Update Driver Software..." The touchpad seems to be working now.

 

Could you please point me to the post where it shows how to reset the samsung settings

 

Thanks for the info. I am a little concerned with only 4G of ram.. i wonder why there aren't more options available? I would love an in 128 gb with 8 gb ram

 

^^
Don't worry the 4GB can do plenty well compared to other non-haswell systems

 

You can find Settings using SW Update. Save it then reinstall it.

For fixing the reverse scrolling search for "ETDAniConf.exe".

John

 

So I just installed the latest Samsung update and on rebooting my laptop/screen do not show anything... The power light and WIFI light are blue but the screen stay pitch black, I wonder if there was an error on the LCD firmware install? Not sure what else could cause such a radical issue even before my Bitlocker/BIOS?
What can I do with this? Any special shortcut to reset the machine to factory mode even if you can't get to the BIOS? Or am I stuffed?

 

I presume you mean a BIOS update.

If so, read suggestions in http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/698094-samsung-bios-update-problems.html and http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/706510-samsung-laptops-bricked-using-uefi.html.

John

 

Upgraded to Win8.1 without any problems and everything works perfectly. I did a Windows and 'SW Update' update before the upgrade and did the same after the upgrade. But now (2 weeks later) in 'SW Update' I see all these updates:



"Touchpad Driver" and "Graphics Driver" are in 'Update' menu and everything else is under 'Recommend'

After reading how many problems and issues people have had upgrading to Win8 I am tempted to just ignore all these updates, because everything is running smooth for me. My Bluetooth works perfectly as does my graphics card and touchpad. Everything else on the list I am not sure about.

So shall I update/install them or just ignore it? Also kinda curious why all of a sudden SW Update is saying I don't have any of these drivers when 2 weeks everything was fine.

 

In terms of stability, I am on the all the latest drivers and windows updates on 8.1 and it is fine.

 

I looked at the thread but my NP940X3G-K01US does not appear to have any "battery disconnect" hole at the back to try the CMOS reset.
Also, I can't be 100% but I am pretty sure it was not a BIOS but a screen firmware update?
Either, since nothing come up when I turn it on, any other option except waiting for Samsung support to open on Monday morning? (US laptop but I live in the UK so I am expecting trouble if I need a replacement).

 

Unlikely to be a screen firmware upgrade. Moreso, a bios update not flashed correctly.
Follow john's links.
Good luck.

 

The last BIOS update was 20130930, way before the release so it is probably not a BIOS update either.

 

What's the latest bios?
I have P01ACJ in bios, what is everyone else on?

 

I installed the latest TouchPad drivers as well from the update. It reset a few settings I had made to make the bottom right section of the pad be a left click instead of a right click, but that was easy to fix.

I'm still hunting for any sort of registry or driver hack to disable movement on the bottom section of the touchpad. I've tried modifying several registry values that looked promising but nothing so far has worked. Clicking on the bottom of the touchpad with my thumb still often causes the mouse cursor to jump a little, even after disabling all of the multi-touch options. Synaptics touchpad seems to have this capability ( Disable touch pad for mouse button region on new HP pavillion models? - Super User), but the Elan touchpad doesn't seem to offer it.

Anyone out there find a way to improve the clicking ability of this touchpad?

 

Well, I went through the threads before posting back, my main question now is, the NP940X3G-K01 does not seem to have battery reset button I can press from outside, can anyone confirm? Since it's still under warranty I would rather not open it up

 

Take it back and say you did a software update and this now happened.
Good luck.

 

From memory there was an option to disable touchpad when external mouse connected. I'll have a look again and post tonight when I use it again.

 

Control Panel, Mouse, Touchpad

 

......
:hi2:

 

Samsung SW Update has new wifi and Bluetooth drivers (installed and work fine). There is also a new "Windows 8.1 common patch(es)" but I haven't tried it yet.

 

Not sure if I am missing something, but I'm not sure if my system is properly running full QHD resolution. When I right click the desktop and hit screen resolution, it shows 3200x1800, but when I watch high resolution video, it doesn't look anywhere as crisp as it used to be. I remember being able to change resolution through Samsung settings, but I don't see that option anymore. Anyone have any insight?

 

Has anybody figured out a way to disable the "High Volume Can Cause Hearing Loss" warning? This prompt comes up on screen every time I increase the volume level past 39 - It only happens when I have headphones plugged in!?!

I read somewhere that installing a generic windows audio driver over Samsung's factory driver gets rid of this message, but I could not figure out how to do that.

 

Are you running Win 8 or Win 8.1?

If Win 8, what is your display scaling setting in Samsung Settings (Fn-F1)?

What is your display scaling setting in Windows Control Panel (Control Panel->Hardware->Display)?

What application are you using to watch "high resolution video"?

Some applications (including Chrome) are not yet built to work well with scaling settings. I don't know if this is what you might be experiencing or not, but I figure it's a start.

 

What is the Samsung " Settings" App?

I downloaded it with a recent upgrade and when I try and open it up it doesn't seem to do anything.**** It takes up more HD space then any other app...should I delete this or is it doing something behind the scenes I don't realize.

*** actually I just managed to open the settings page and found the various options it offers.

My question remains though....worth saving this app?

Thanks.

 

hey guys - I have an i-7/8/256 AB9+ which I've been using for about a week now. I'm getting 4.5-5 hrs of battery life, while browsing and having 3-4 programs open and a brightness setting that is 3 or 4 notches below max. This seems to be way lower than the 8 hours advertised by Samsung.

Have you guys experienced similar battery times? If not, any ideas what I can do to fix this? Thanks!