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

I am very sorry to hear that

With some Samsung models, the bezel is glued onto the screen, which makes for a tricky removal. You can watch this video (found by Googling series 9 screen replacement) to see what I mean. It's for a classic non-touch series 9.

You can buy downloadable service manuals on samsungparts.com. You can also by the replacement LCD there -- or just use it to lookup the parts number and compare prices from different sources.

Personally I would definitely let Samsung do it, but it all depends on your experience and background.

 

If the touchpad gestures work in general, only not in VirtualBox, then definitely the issue is with its mouse driver. They have their drivers that determine which functionality is available to the guest OS.

As for the touchpad acting up during heavy network traffic: It might improve already by disabling Silent Mode (as previously mentioned). Also, I wonder if the Power Profile and Adapter Settings tweaks in the WiFi remedies thread might help with this (in addition to helping with WiFi performance).

 

Do you have a grounded power connection? I suspect that no (or poor) ground can cause erratic touchpad behavior, particularly if you also have a lot of static buildup: dry air and an office chair on a plastic chair mat.

You can find much more discussion of the Elan touchpad in this thread. Also check this advice from member damouk.

But your touchpad keeps acting up, then don't rule out that it could be defective. These Elan touchpads can be excellent when they work right.

 

I think I did not make myself clear.
Inside the VirtualBox the touchpad works fine (in fact I never even tried to configure the touchpad gestures on linux, don't need it). What happens is that after the first time VirtualBox "steal" the mouse the swipe right gesture stops works back on Windows. I open a VirtualBox window, use it, go back to windows, then the swipe right is not working anymore. This sometimes go back to after after some hours or a couple of sleeps.

The WiFi is full optimized already (had some problems in the beginning but used this thread to fix it). And now on the second day of no Silent Mode I'll test the touchpad under heavy traffic again. The Power Profile did not kicked back anymore, yet.

 

OK, you're right, I had not understood that correctly. I think I do now. Obviously something is stealing the touchpad and not giving it back. Is it just a few gestures or is the entire touchpad reduced to "basic mouse mode"? I wonder if you're seeing the same problem as happens sometime after wake-up from sleep (see this post).

Let's see if disabling Silent Mode solves the other issue of erratic behavior. Make sure to also check that post from damouk. Again, this touchpad should be excellent (as they CAN be) otherwise something is wrong, possible a defect.

 

The point is that ONLY the right swipe stops working. The rest of the gestures keep working as normal, so never sounded to me as a "not waking drive".

This happens only after VirtualBox steal the mouse. And I'm trying to put together a Windows framework to be able to work without it, maybe is a doomed problem. I just wanted to know if anybody had the same effect when using virtual machines.

Update: With Silent Mode OFF and heavy traffic the touchpad works really fine, I have for sure a lot of heating and noise, but the touchpad is perfect

 

My new job has afforded me the potential luxury of an updated notebook, so I am considering trading my AB9+ i5/4G/128G up to an i7/8G/256G. I understand that the MS store i7 AB9+ might come without Sidesync preloaded, but I can't imagine that it can't be installed manually. Any thoughts or any other advice is appreciated. I love the i5, but I only got it because I couldn't wait for the i7 8GB version.

 

That's great -- except for the noise, of course! Thanks a lot for the update.

What a wonderful problem to be contemplating

I do remember those posts about the Microsoft Store model not having SideSync (nor the SideSync lettering). And indeed, I don't see SideSync in SW Update either. But I do remember the thread linked below, which proclaims SideSync to be free for all, and member blue13x providing a download link in this post.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/744418-sidesync-3-0-coming-its-free.html

 

For those about to order from Microsoft Store, I just saw this $100 off deal on Techbargains.

Microsoft is offering $100 off any Laptop or Desktop $599+ with Coupon Code: "GRADUATION" (Exp Soon). Free Shipping. Tax in many.

I could only find AB9+ there, that's why I post it in this thread.

 

I just registered in order to post and say thank you for this post and your other very informative posts (e.g. the power profile posts). Thanks!

If anyone out there is like me and uses a Mac and consistently uses two fingers on the touchpad (index finger moves the mouse, resting thumb presses down to enable clicks) then head into the touchpad settings and set the palm slider to "max" (i.e. will ignore the flat side of resting thumb). I've only had it on for a few minutes and it's already way better!

 

I wish I could like this a dozen times. Two AB9+ models qualify - the K05US (i7/8G/256G) and the S03US (i5/8G/128G), but with a valid student email address, an additional 10% off applies to the S03US (not to the i7, though). So $1848 shipped for the i7/8G/256G or $1310 shipped for the i5/8G/128G.

I am of the mind that the improvement of i7-4500U vs. i5-4200U is probably noticeable but still somewhat marginal. And since I just ordered the Crucial M550 M.2 512GB SSD, so the 128GB difference is mostly moot. I'm not sure how to justify a $500+ diff in cost there. I have not paid a lot of attention to the i7 performance in this machine, but I have to think that 8GB vs. the 4GB I have now is a bigger performance increase than the i7 over the i5. Maybe.

Also, if anyone understands the meaning of the S, K, or A in the Book9 model numbers (e.g. S01US, K01US, A01US), I would love to know.

 

Hello. I'm thinking about buying Np940x3g or np900x3g. I like to ask something about this 940 model. You know when you reduce the resolution, graphs and screen get worse in most laptops. How is case in this one? If I reduce the res to 1920x10800 from 3200x1800, still I will get an original, good screen? I mean 1920x1080 is good as default res?

 

I'm thinking of buying this laptop too but am worried about scaling in some applications. I was wondering the exact same thing. How is this laptop when resolution is set at 1920x1080?

 

Do we have ANY info on an updated 2014 AB9P? A guy picked up his 940x at Espresso House and my heart skipped a beat! Really regretting I sold mine, and might buy one again. But a few updates would be nice.

 

So... Just Updating, I just talk with Samsung and they can immediately pick up the computer and have it repaired or exchanged... but the whole process can take like 2 weeks!!
I really can learn to live with a little black spot, but since I notice it I've been noticing more and more grey ones... and don't know if i'm just paying attention to it now or if it's a growing effect...

As far as the repair is up for a year.. I'll try to came up with a temporally computer for work and go through all this process...

 

Not as good as a native 1920x1080 panel. I don't think it's the laptop to buy if you want to run that resolution daily.

 

I wouldn't think so. Broadwell is a long way off and Samsung might be out of the notebook biz by then. What features are you looking for? I think the glaring omission is lack of external 4K support. This laptop really needs more than vga, mhdmi. TB would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath for DP even. Maybe a 4K non-pentile screen would be enticing as well.

 

OK. I was thinking to just run at that resolution until 3200x1800 becomes more universally supported.

 

I liked the AB9P but had a hard time getting 6h on the battery with light use and the screen really dim. I´d like another 100 nits on the screen and 2 more hours on the battery. The latest MBPr gave me that over the previous one.

And HiDPI-support in Chrome please

 

Hi guys,

I'm about to purchase the NP940X3G-K01 (on special as its a discontinued model) and just wanted to know if there are still any issues I need to be aware of before I buy it.

The yellow issue is fixed?
Wifi issues?
Can I actually get drivers for win7 if I choose to use that instead of win8? I have searched but couldnt really find a definitive answer

Any other thoughts would be much appreciated!

 

I don't own this model myself, and will defer to others who do. But to the best of my knowledge:

1) Fixes for the yellow issue have been posted several times in this thread. Unfortunately I didn't bookmark any of the posts that has it, so you may have to search. I believe there are some questions about whether there is still mustard when running on battery.

2) Every model has its share of WiFi issues being discussed, including this one. But AB9+ seems to have fared significantly better than previous Samsung laptops, which were plagued both by the Intel 6235 adapter (this one uses 7260) and by their antenna design. Our WiFi remedies thread contains some tweaks that apply to all models.

3) This model is officially supported for Win7 by Samsung, which publishes all drivers through its SW Update utility (not their website). When you downgrade to Win7 on Samsung laptops, there are some considerations to make. This post earlier in the thread covers that as well as a Win7 install guide.

These answers are somewhat generic. I hope owners of this model will chime in with firsthand experience.

 

I am sorry, I never properly acknowledged your post. Welcome to NBR

I am glad to hear that ETDAniConf worked for you. And thank you for sharing your own touchpad settings tip.

ETDAniConf is actually the default control panel from Elan, but Samsung (and many other laptop vendors) choose to install a simplified control panel -- presumably to reduce support costs, but I have to wonder if they accomplish the opposite.

 

Yep, same for me. It was on auto also. I put it on "off".

 

Thanks for the info.

I'm thinking of upgrading the wifi to the 7260 AC Centrino anyway, I read somewhere that it works great with the AB9+.

Hopefully all the issues are resolved and mine doesnt have any problems.

Would appreciate any other thoughts anyone has....

 

Mine came with the 7260.For stock intel wireless 7260, I have been having issues with the recently updated driver 17.0.2.7 (intermittent wake up from sleep issues, slow); I have rolled back to the more stable 16.10.0.5 for now. Anyone else have issues with 17.0.2.7?

 

Not sure if this is only related to the Samsung AB9+ or its touchpad but has anyone else noticed that two-finger scrolling in desktop IE results in "grabbing" whatever is under the cursor? In other words, if you're in Gmail or something and you position the mouse over the emails in the center of the page then use the two-finger gesture to scroll up and down it will show the "move selected conversation" tooltip briefly, indicating that you've clicked on and are dragging an object. This is the same on any other webpage, too.

Not sure if I'm explaining this perfectly, but has anyone else noticed this?

 

Just received my new np940x3g-s03us from microsoft store. This comes without sidesync and homesync preloaded, but it also comes without an outdated recovery image and I cannot update recovery (or even launch recovery) because of that. Samsung sent me to MSstore, who sent me back to Samsung. I know this was a problem another user had with a refurbished AB9+, but this is retail from the MS store - hard to believe that the factory is imaging hard drives like this.

 

We have a few owners who have now confirmed that Microsoft Store removes Samsung Recovery Solution as part of their Signature treatment and install standard Windows Recovery instead.

In one case they had botched it (member GuzziRider here) and the new recovery partition consumed most of the SSD. MS offered him a swap, but only after some fingerpointing and back and forth between MS and Samsung.

Microsoft has to accept responsibility if something is wrong -- and I am convinced they will if you can get a supervisor: This is not a Samsung factory installation, but Microsoft's Signature installation.

But if done right, I think it can actually be a benefit: While SRS6 has some nice features, it is a finicky creature. If Microsoft created a well working alternative Recovery setup that isn't subject to breaking (like SRS) you will be in good shape. I just don't know anything about it, so I cannot help you

I think the refurb case you refer to was that of member elniche ( here) who received a refurb'ed unit from a different Samsung reseller, with no working recovery and all, and a hacked attempt at creating one (or making it appear as if there was one).

 

I've had my new AB9+ for about six weeks now, and I'm loving it.
I would like to know if someone can explain why I have 3 Recovery partitions on my SSD (plus an EFI System partition)?
The partitions are:
1. Recovery Partition, 499 MB;
2. EFI System Partition, 300 MB;
3. the "C:" drive, 223 GB NTFS;
4. Recovery Partition, 13.0 GB;
5. Recovery Partition, 1.0 GB.

One reason I'd like to understand these better is that if you use Windows 8.1 Recovery to make a recovery USB flash drive, it will copy the recovery partition and then offer to delete it from the SSD for you to make more space. I would guess that it's referring to the 13GB partition, but are the other small ones required for something?

 

That is normal for any Win8 laptop with Samsung Recovery Solution (SRS). There is even another small, so-called MSR partition (Microsoft Reserved) in front of your C: partition, hidden by Windows Disk Management. See this post for a description of standard partitions -- and some good background reading.

The 500MB Recovery partition (1) is for Windows Recovery while the two larger ones (4 and 5) are Samsung Recovery Solution (SRS). Windows Recovery does not understand SRS, and if you use it for your backup, you will most likely lose SRS if you ever restore it.

To backup SRS, you need to use the Factory Image feature in Samsung Recovery (SRS Windows app or F4 boot) with Create Boot Disk option enabled. Most models need a 32GB USB stick, although 16GB may be enough with yours (I am not sure). The USB stick you choose is important, and so is how you create and verify the backup. Follow the first two steps in this post.

Once you have that backup, you can delete the two SRS partitions (4 and 5) but NOT the Windows Recovery partition (1).

If you want to be on the safe side, you can make a secondary non-bootable Factory Image backup on an external HDD, and delete only the large SRS partition (which contains the factory image), but leave the small one (which contains the Recovery software). That gives you a fallback in case that USB stick should fail. It is explained in this post.

 

That is exactly what's happening. I was thrown off by the fact that Samsung SW Update was trying to update Recovery and then reported the "older version of Recovery than the Recovery update" message, rather than NO version of SRS AT ALL. It's also a little disturbing that Microsoft and Samsung support are not on the same page about this - actually, they are on the same page, as they are both clueless on the subject.

I am kind of okay with the MS Signature setup, as I have tried to clone my old drive with SRS and had no success. Samsung offered to allow me to ship it for reimaging the HD for a $39 fee, which is not a bad option, but I don't think it's necessary, and there are other options available. I have had no problems using Windows Recovery in the past - it does not provide all of the same features, but your experience seems to be that SRS is not perfect, either. So, ultimately, I don't think this is a Microsoft problem at all - it's just that Samsung's SW Update Utility has no idea what to think of MS Signature configurations.

My biggest complaint about this new AB9+ is the trackpad is noisy. Whereas my K01US that came in September is nice and tight, with just one satisfying click sound, this newer S03US makes a "cheap" rattling sound, as if something is loose in the "spring" mechanism. I am deliberating whether to send it back just for that reason alone, or whether to take a look at it myself when I open it up to install Wireless-AC and the 512GB SSD.

For reference, my AB9+ K01US (Samsung factory image) is partitioned as follows:

SIZE	FILE SYSTEM	USED	PARTITION
499 MB	NTFS	340.78 MB	Windows Recovery Tools
300 MB	FAT32	47.72 MB	EFI System Protection
128 MB	Other	128 MB	(Hidden Partition)
103.65 GB	NTFS	66.31 GB (incl. user data)	C:
450 MB	NTFS	333.46 MB	Recovery
350 MB	NTFS	23.51 MB	Recovery
12.91 GB	NTFS	12.63 GB	Samsung Recovery Image
1 GB	FAT32	625.05 MB	Samsung Recovery

This AB9+ S03US (MS Signature) comes as:

SIZE	FILE SYSTEM	USED	PARTITION
499 MB	NTFS	241.68 MB	Windows Recovery Tools
300 MB	FAT32	47.79 MB	EFI System Protection
128 MB	Other	128 MB	(Hidden Partition)
110.34 GB	NTFS	32.53 GB (after updates and app. installs)	C:Windows
8 GB	NTFS	6.38 GB	Windows Recovery Image

 

I do find that odd as well: While Samsung does have a habit of tweaking things with their own software, beyond what I sometimes necessary or desirably, it's still their hardware, and their software supports it. When Microsoft takes on the (admirable) task of stripping bloatware as part of their Signature treatment (presumably installing Microsoft bloat instead, to make sure you use their services) they really have to assume full responsibility for that installation -- particularly when they go as far as replacing Samsung's Recovery and factory image with their own.

Again, I think with persistence they probably CAN be made to take responsibility if something is wrong.

In this case, it sounds as if Microsoft left the Samsung Recovery Windows app installed, and SW Update tried to update it. That app relies entirely on the Samsung Recovery Boot partition (the small 1GB one in your original K01US) and will not install unless it finds that partition. They should have uninstalled that app before removing the partition. If you uninstall it, SW Update should stop bothering you.

Yeah, I too would just keep Windows Recovery in this situation. Create a backup (however that works) and get on using your new laptop.

Samsung Recovery Solution (SRS) has some nice features, such as the bootable Factory Image backup, which creates a self-contained Recovery on a USB stick, that can be used to re-image the entire drive (Recovery and all). It also has a cloning feature and some decent backup and restore features. The main issues are (i) it is easily broken by 3rd party imaging or partitioning tools, because it relies on a hidden link in the partition table that they don't understand. And (ii) it's bootable backup feature is very picky about which USB sticks can be used (see here).

Personally I would not tolerate that: I returned two different units of my Series 7, mainly due to touchpad issues that some might have found minor, before keeping the one I have now. I've had it for almost two years, and the touchpad is excellent -- as these touchpads should be.

Thank you for sharing that. The only difference should be that instead of the two Samsung Recovery partitions (1GB and 13GB, size of the latter varies with model) Windows Recovery only has one partition (8GB in your case).

The two additional Recovery partitions you see on the K01US are NOT part of Samsung's setup, but were created by Win8.1 during its update process. A few other users have reported the same (see this). I consider it a horrible mess that a Windows update shaves size off the main partition and adds new partitions without prompting the user.

I presume it's some kind of rollback data, and that there is a clean way to get rid of them once you see that the update has succeeded. I would love to know the answer if you (or someone) should decide to dig into it.

 

I have not seen this myself, but it sounds a little like the the issue addressed by member damouk in this post. Or maybe just a too high sensitivity setting that causes the touchpad to register a touch before that second finger makes it a scroll gesture.

It's all I can think of

Others?

 

Good grief. What a mess. It's unfortunate UEFI has opened the door to allow this kind of muck. I'm guessing you applied the W8.1 update from the MS Store and it added some a couple more, because why not? I would just get a new SSD and clean install W8.1 if you're keeping it.

Samsung+Microsoft a winning combination.

 

Thank you very much for the explanation and links. I've got some reading and studying to do!

 

It's not as bad as it looks when you see all those links I scatter. I'm just too lazy to write it all up again in a new context every time. And I PROMISE you'll be much better off

 

So it looks like I'm going to pull the trigger on an NP940X3G next week. Unfortunately I am stuck with the i5/4GB RAM and the measly 128 GB SSD, which all isnt really a problem exept for the storage. I need more. So I'm planning to upgrade to atleast 256GB.
Now before I buy the wrong SSD Format i thought I would ask here. I know nothing about the newer M2 SSDs, the last ones I dealt with looked like regular 2,5'' hdds.

After looking at the Ativ 9 with its backplate off i have figured that this SSD probably fits: http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server5...TA_M550_2__19329.1399754157.1280.1280.jpg?c=2

Its the 256GB M2 Crucial M550. Will this fit 100%, or is it too long? What SSDs are you guys using?

Are there any other alternatives out there from the likes of Samsung themselves or such? Maybe even faster then the 550/550 MB/s since they are now PCI-E if I'm not mistaken no?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Yellow issue is fixed on everything but max brightness on battery and with the adapter plugged in for some reason. Not sure why that is, but I noticed it on 2 different laptops.

 

Thank you for that clarification. I should bookmark the post(s) covering this for later answers

 

Scrolling in browsers has been stuttering lately on my ativ book 9 plus. Does anyone know why this may have randomly started happening? I'm not sure the type of site exactly that causes this, but for example, reddit threads with over 500 comments and some sites with a lot of graphics are some examples of where it happens most. When I scroll through some pages it will stutter and my cpu usage will spike. I primarily use IE mainly because it works best with the a9+s resolution, but I noticed the issue occur in other browsers as well. This didn't used to happen and I'm not sure what has changed on my system to cause it, whether its a windows update or something else. Also, scrolling with the touchscreen doesn't seem to stutter. Any ideas?

 

^
Before digging deeper, check in Settings (Fn-F1) if Silent Mode was accidentally enabled. It will reduce the CPU to its slowest. If that website is packed with Flash ads, that could cause stutter when scrolling.

I apologize if you already checked this, I know it's basic. But it happens almost daily here.

Of course there is also AdBlock and/or disabling Flash altogether.

 

I appreciate the reply, but no, silent mode is not enabled.

 

Is there any way of stopping the fan from spinning up when I plug the laptop in?

The fan goes silent when I pulled the power cable out.

 

Yes, activate silent mode and unlock the CPU with throttlestop (this removes the lock Samsung puts on the CPU when activating silent mode)

When you unplug AC Samsung puts another lock on the CPU which prevents it to run in turbo mode. Throttlestop should fix this lock too.

 

Thank you for your reply. I've checked the Samsung Settings program. Should the silent mode setting be on auto or low?

Also, can you explain which settings I need to change in throttlestop?
The disable turbo option is grayed out.

 

Hi,

I apologise if this question has been asked before, but I am looking to upgrade the SSD of my NP940X3G-K04US Ativ Book 9 Plus. I am aware that Crucial M500 480GB is one option, however, I noticed that Samsung has also released 840 Evo mSATA SSD. Is this SSD suitable for our notebooks? Or am I pretty much restricted to Crucial? Thanks in advance!

 

Just found this post http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...4-15-6-haswell-announced-jan-6-2014-a-13.html by John Ratsey. So I am guessing the answer is yes?

 

No, I'm currently not running Windows, but maybe user Matthias_K can help out. He posted some infos in the http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/746741-silent-mode.html thread

You don't need to disable turbo. Samsung is disabling it when running on batteries. So in case you still wanna use it when on battery you have to enable it.

 

Thanks for your help

 

You can read more about Samsung Power Management (in Windows) in this post earlier in the thread.

Basically Silent Mode=OFF is your normal mode with the CPU unthrottled. Both Silent Mode=AUTO and Silent Mode=LOW cap the CPU at very low speed (to keep the system cooler) and switch to the Power Saver profile. The difference between them is LOW keeps the fan running permanently at slow speed, while AUTO turns it on/off as needed.

You can press Fn-F11 to quickly toggle Silent Mode on/off.

As member oled posted, you could use Throttlestop to override the CPU cap even while in Silent Mode. Just note that incorrect settings here can fry your system. Otherwise nothing wrong with that, it's just a more hardcore tool. Check that thread oled linked.

Alternatively you can also just manually switch to the Power Saver profile (without activating Silent Mode). It uses Passive System Cooling Policy which gradually reduces CPU speed to control temps instead of speeding up the fans, thus keeping the system more quiet -- at least in theory. If you want to cap the CPU only a little (not to a crawl like Silent Mode does) you can tweak Max processor state under the advanced settings for the Power Saver profile.