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

You need to do the upgrade first in order to extract (and take note of) the Windows 10 key which you can then use for a clean install.

John

 

Also wanted to post my experiences...updated both a k03us and k05us model to W10 using the media creation tool. Both upgraded fine with little issues except that swupdate is not recognizing the models when it loads up. It only shows the find model page, etc. I did run swupdate to download and install any updates prior to upgrading to make sure there were no issues, and it ran find on both pc's, but now after upgrading to W10, swupdate does not work. I also uninstalled it and downloaded it from the samsung website, still the same issue. Maybe I will go back to the version that was running on W8.1 to see if that works.

EDIT: Did anyone else have this issue? I guess its not that big of a deal if everything works, but don't know how I will receive updated drivers. Maybe a clean install is in order.

 

Yep - same issue with sw update - I update the graphics driver already manually

 

Actually, I don't think you need the key for the clean install after doing the upgrade (I didn't). Just skip entering the key when asked. The system will activate on its own in a short time.
I also have noted that every computer I've upgraded (4 so far) has the same key for Windows 10 Home. I read that this is because Microsoft is saving an ID of your computer (based on its components) in its store. Your Microsoft account isn't part of that ID. You or anyone could do clean installs forever with no key on that specific computer after doing the upgrade.

 

Thank you for this clarification. I wonder if upgrading the SSD would change the ID.

John

 

No, I put a new SSD in a laptop after doing the upgrade. Then did a clean install on it. It activated without entering a key.
I've heard that changing a motherboard will cause activation to fail. In that case, you'd have to try to convince MS on the phone that it's the same computer.

 

You need to do an update first to make Microsoft register your hardware ID as activated, correct. You don't have to extract any key though as Microsoft will just give all users who upgraded the same key. You also don't need a key to make a clean install as you can just skip entering the key during install and have Windows automatically activate later.

EDIT: I missed that someone already stated that. I guess you can see this as a second confirmation that the key doesn't have to be extracted. Information from Microsoft employees confirm it too.

On an unrelated note, I find it promising that Windows 10 seems to work fine on this model.

 

Just a quick note, that Samsung returned my Ultrabook after only one day repair (touchpad problem). They have changed the topcover on warranty and now my 940x3 runs like a charm

 

I had the same type of repair months ago. Based on the UPS parcel tracking, mine arrived at around 10 am, and was shipped back at about 3 pm on the same day. Which leads me to believe that it's a simple electrical problem that they know about. I've had no issues with the touchpad since then.

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

 

I just performed the update. Samsung had added an update on Samsung Update that started after the Windows 10 upgrade was finished, updating all drivers with Windows 10 compatoble versions.

So far, the only issue I've noticed was that my custom touchpad registry settings had been reset. Thanks to my old post earlier in this thread, I could reconfigure it like I wanted.

 

Hello!

My NP940X3G-K01US had an unfortunate incident with some ice tea last week and I need the keyboard replaced. I have talked with some repair people and they all appear to be unable to find a vendor that sells the keyboard in the US. Instead they are only able to find Chinese sellers who appear to require a few weeks to ship the keyboard to the US (the repair people also appear to distrust the sellers' shipping estimates). Does anyone know any US vendors, or perhaps a trusted international seller with expedited shipping, who would be able to ship a keyboard within a shorter time period?

Thank you for the help!

 

Unfortunately, samsungparts.com which used to have a large inventory of spare parts, seems to have discontinued offering many of them. The next best alternative is to contact Samsung technical support and/or check the website to find out the authorised service centres and then contact your nearest.

i would also note that the official Samsung replacement keyboard includes the complete keyboard surround etc (called "top housing"). Some of the keyboards offered from China comprise the basic keyboard so you have to do a bit of engineering to remove the existing keyboard and fix the replacement.

John

 

Hey guys! I've had an issue with my touch screen on my Ativ Book Plus for a long time now (NP940x3G-K03). The touch screen isnt working and in system information it says that no touch device/screen is detected (sometime it actually says limited touchscreen availability but still doesnt work)

Basically the problem started after i factory restored my laptop and the used SW update to update all drivers. Im running Windows 8.1. Is anyone able to help me?
FYI the touchpad driver (ELAN) is installed.

 

I had ordered a keyboard (approx USD 50) from China. Shipment was approx 2 weeks.

 

Hey folks. Been away from this forum awhile. Catching up, I just want to say you all are my heros! The last 10 or so posts, about experiences w/W10 were so incredibly helpful to a person who does not have the awesome knowledge you all have, but can sure put that knowledge to work when you supply it. Btw, I have a 940X3G-KO5US, and I'm lovin W8.1 for now, but when I hear no complaints of driver problems, excess cpu usage, hot laptops and loud fans, then I will be in! Thank you, JohnRatsey, and thank you all. Jeff Bellin (can't lose that stupid handle now!)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

If that is just for the bare keyboard then you may want to follow this thread. It's likely that you will encounter a similar gotcha in having to figure out how to replace a keyboard that was fixed without consideration of easy replacement.

John

 

Win 10 on this machine is amazing. The batter-life never been this good.

 

Is that with a clean install or an upgrade?

How many hours are you getting?

John

 

I used the previews from the get go but left the program before preview 10525. Just a normal user. No clean install.

Hard to say, but if I got 5h before I´m getting over 6 now. Notahellovalotmore but for me it really push it over the edge so that I can rely on it on another level.

And just changing the scaling down from 250 to 225 made me fall in love with this machine again.

I still need some tweaks and feats for it to be great, but that might arrive:
Simple way to switch between vr-desktops.
Diffrent wallpapers on your vr-desktops.
4-finger swipe-down not messing EVERYTHING up!
Silent-mode to work.

 

So, did I say something that offended people, did I embarrass you, do you have trouble with compliments, or just don't care? I was sincere. Thanks anyway.

 

Regarding your question about Windows 10 issues you should also read this thread. It has proved to be a lot less troublesome than 8 and 8.1.

John

 

Thanks John, but that thread wasn't terribly reassuring re: upgrade to 10 w/o probs and too much work for drivers, etc. My 940XUS05 works great on 8.1 (until the latest SW updates ruined it, but rolling it back made it all great again). Never had a problem going from 8 to 8.1. Don't now need anything 10 has that 8.1 doesn't. Call me a Luddite but I like to use my tech far more than fix it. 11 mos to do the upgrade, I'll wait for reports of reliable stability, no excess heat/fan and not so much work to get working drivers. Jeff

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

Waiting may also give time to see on whether Microsoft do a U-turn on some of the less useful or more controversial aspects of Win 10. I've have to spend time finding and following instructions about how to replace white title bars with coloured ones. Whoever in Microsoft thought that white title bars were a good idea needs putting in the stocks.

John

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

Did some battery tests: Running a bluray rip 720p mp4 in windows own videoplayer. I think this machine is doing better now than 2 years ago. Ran it on my 900x3c to.

Both started on 96% battery and wi-fi off. W10. Audio on 50%
Screenbrightness set to match eatchother:
AB9+: 6/10
Series 9: 2/10

First runthrough was the whole film: 1h30min

AB9+: 77% left
Series 9: 69%

After another runthrough of the same file, IE 3h total:

AB9+: 56%
Series 9: 39%

Battery wear on AB9+ is a few % and on the Series 9 at least 10% so this is realy good. When I bought the AB9+ 2 years ago i think i did the test at screen:5/10 and with a realy low-res 360p or 480p clip i looped. And then i did not get over 6h on this machine. So with 56+4= 60% left after 3h i should easily get 6 h if I dim the screen a little bit more.

 

edrive

Hi Forum,


since my 940X3 G came back fully repaired (touchpad problem), i installed windows 10 (upgrade) and i can confirm paulreedsmith and lovelaptops commends regarding windows 10. It runs like a charm on our machines!


So i wanted to do a fresh installation of windows 10, realizing eDrive with my crucial M550 M.2 512 GB which supports opal 2. That means, that bitlocker uses hardware encryption. With all my tries, i was not lucky, means i could never engage bitlocker with hardware encryption. For now, it seems to me, that the bios does not support the EFI_STORAGE_SECURITY_COMMAND_PROTOCOL.


Was anybody successful making use of opal 2 on the 940X3 ? Or any other clues and hints regarding eDrive on the 940X3 ?

 

Howdy all!

Any recommendations on calibrating the battery on this guy running Windows 10? From a full charge with intermittent screen on time, the laptop dies at 43%.

 

There should be a battery calibration option in the BIOS.

To do the calibration (i) fully charge the battery; (ii) unplug the PSU, go into the BIOS and run the calibration (this will take several hours to fully discharge the battery); (iii) fully recharge the battery. If there is no calibration option in the BIOS then just leave the computer running at the BIOS screen until it stops.

John

 

After one month with windows 10 on my 940X3 i have only one issue:

When I open the notebook, it takes much longer time to wake up than it took under windows 8.1. (all updates are installed, also the Samsung specific via SW update).

Also, the Notebook poweres down even when the energie indicator shows a remaining running time of 45 min. I might need to do a battery calibration to see if this helps.


Anybody else who could confirm this behavior?

 

I calibrated the Battery using the BIOS Batery calibration tool. I installed BatteryBar pro 3.6.6 and found that the Notebook turns off when the remaining Battery power ist at 26% or at abot 45 min remainig running time.

After powering the Notebook up again, the Battery level is 0%

Strange.

 

I would run the battery calibration again (i) fully charge the battery; (ii) run it down (you can use it on battery down to around 30% charge then use the battery calibration in the BIOS to fully drain the battery; then (iii) fully charge the battery again.

If that doesn't fix the problem then it is time to get a new battery. The one you have might have a bad cell.

John

 

Thank you John,

I have just ordered a new battery. I was lucky finding a supplier who ships to Thailand for a reasonable price.

 

Happy X-mas everybody!

Finally I got the new battery. But still this problem:

persists.

 

I recently upgraded my notebook to Windows 10 and everything worked great. A few days ago, out of the blue, my notebook gets stuck at a black screen with no cursor after coming out of sleep or after a reboot.

The black screen lasts from minutes to hours and eventually the sign-in screen will display.
Once I sign in, all is normal. I checked the event viewer, ran check disk utilities and even rolled back the latest windows 10 build, but this behavior persists.

Anybody experienced this behavior with their Ativ notebook?

 

Same with me (see my previous posting).

I found http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...0/cf3b4559-67d8-40e0-9cf2-ebf4528e1e78?auth=1 this, but it did not help in my case.

When the error occured, I did a sfc /scannow , but no errors were found. Also DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth found no problems.

Only when I disable the password on login ("Users must enter a password....... ") I do not have a black screen.

This black screen issue occurs on my machine only after sleep mode. The behaviour is normal at a regular boot and from suspend mode.

Please keep us updated in this forum, I will do as well when I find a solution for our 940XGs and Windows 10.

 

I took it to the Microsoft store where I bought it and they did some extensive diagnostics for a couple of days. Their verdict was a bad motherboard. So I had them send it to Samsung for repairs.

My warranty is out, but since I purchased this machine with my credit card, my cc covers me for an additional year.

 

Hope your cc will pay for the mainboard exchange.

I have tested my mainboard with SANDRA and it is working fine, allthough the wakeup bug persists.

 

I had exactly the same issues on my Ativ Book 9 with the touchpad. After a year of problems, I decided to replace the touch unit and voilà: the problem went away.
The replacement part BA97-03985A ASSY TOUCHPAD AMOR3-13,SEC,ALL,TOUCHPAD can be bought on http://www.samsungparts.com/Products/Parts_and_Accessories/PID-BA97-03985A.aspx?model=NP940X3GK06US . The replacement is really simple: just remove the battery (see ifixit.com). The touchpad is mounted below the battery with 4 screws (you need a really small phillips screw driver). The spacers (and also the mounting plate) are fixed with adhesive tape and can be removed (by gently pulling) from the old touch unit.

 

I finally got my motherboard fixed at http://www.l2computerinc.com/; they did a great job for a very reasonable price.
My notebook is functional again and I'm ecstatic.

 

There was no extraordinary event preceding, but suddenly my Ativ 9 ultra 13.3 Windows 10 128 MB SSD blackscreened, and will not power up, although the AC power supply's blue light on the power cable and the yellow/green light lamp on laptop indicating the device is plugged in are lit. But besides this absolutely nothing. Took out battery and removed AC power held power button down to discharge, but no result. Held power button down forever and all that too. The actual power indicator beside the AC indicator remains dark throughout. Any advisement or similar experience would be great.

 

The only thing I can think of at the moment is to try removing the SSD and then see if you can get any message on the screen.

Otherwise, we have to suspect a problem in the power circuit which converts the voltage to the various voltages used by the computer.

John

PS: And also read through this thread.

 

Hey all!

I've noticed lately that my laptop has slowed down. I've begun looking around and it seems that my memory (4GB) is pretty insufficient. Firefox alone takes up about 20-30% of the memory and the laptop idles at around 40%. I'm looking into upgrading the memory for my laptop to 8GB, but I wanted to check with you all before I did it. Is there anything that I need to know before upgrading my memory besides the fact that it currently uses DDR3L 1600mhz RAM? Any pointers from people who have done their own upgrades?

Thanks!

 

The NP940X3G has soldered RAM (you can see a photo here) so there is no easy upgrade. However, some versions of this notebook shipped with 8GB RAM so, if you could find one of these boards then you could do a swap.

How full is your SSD? If your SSD is 128GB then it could be well past its best and this size always had lower write speeds than higher capacity SSDs. Run CrystalDiskMark to check the SSD read and write speeds. Any noticeable slowdown will impact on the speed of the virtual memory. You may find that upgrading to a new, larger, SSD will improve performance.

John

 

Thanks a lot for the reply! A few questions:

1) So does this mean the only way to change the memory capacity would be to find a motherboard+8GB ram combo and swap the whole thing? Any idea where I can find that - is ebay the best bet?

2) My SSD is indeed pretty full. I just downloaded CrystalDiskMark and ran the speeds. What are good read/write speeds vs. poor ones that flag a problem? If my SSD is indeed having a poor read/write speed, then is upgrading the SSD the only option here? Can I remove some big files from my laptop instead?

 

Yes, you have to change the entire mainboard. Soldered memory is used as a way to reduce notebook size and weight (no space needed for the RAM slots). ebay would be the best place to watch in case a suitable board shows up which has come from a dismantled notebook.

Most SSDs have read speeds around 500MB/s but write speeds range from around 250MB/s to 500MB/s depending on model and capacity. My reviews here and here include some test results. However, it's not just the headline sequential read/ write which matter - queued reads/ writes as measured by CrystaldiskMark's 4kQD32) is also significant. when Windows uses virtual memory there will be concurrent reading and writing which starts to test the SSD's performance (the Sandisk U100 was very bad in that respect and choked my NP900X3B).

Once an SSD is more than around 80% full then garbage management (clearing up of deleted files and creating usable blocks of empty space) can suffer. A total wipe and reformat might give the SSD a good refresh but you may want to consider a new SSD and file the current one away as a backup. Prices are about half what they were two years ago.

John

 

Thank you for the help, John!

One more question: regarding the SSD, will removing files from the laptop to under 80% capacity help to restore some of the speed, or is getting a new SSD the only route here to improve the speed?

 

Give it a try. Do your own housekeeping, then run Windows disk cleanup including disposing of all the Windows update files, then finally run MyDefrag to consolidate the empty space.

After that compare your benchmark results with those in reviews for the same SSD.

John

 

Found a problem with my ativ book 9+
The symptoms: Left side of the keyboard lllumination was deffect.(intermittand on/off) Right side full funktional.
From that moment the ab9+ started to produce random BSOD's.
Searching for ages opening the laptop several times, i could not find the cause.
After removing the battery the flatcable connected to the keyboard illumination was folded 180 degrees and cracked. It is folded underneath the battery. Disconnected the illumination flatcable and the BSOD's are gone. No idea how the keyboard illumination can cause BSOD's.

Found a replacement keyboard in China.Still due to arrive

 

VERY satisfied owner (128GB, 8MB, now W10) and appreciative thread follower since March 2014. Kudos to Ratsey and other contributors!
1. After waiting patiently for Samsung, bought 1 TB Sandisk X400 (Newegg, about $250 including tax). Put original 128GB in USB3 enclosure and cloned everything back in. Works perfectly so far.
2. Attempts to upgrade WiFi to 7260 AC failed. Advice? How about 8260/8265?

 

Some years ago I tried to upgrade the WiFi card on a notebook (I can't remember which) and Device Manager reported an error. Both cards were Intel and probably used the same generic Intel driver. I suspect it didn't realise that the card had changed and continued to use the details for the previous card. The fix might be to remove the original WiFi card and do a complete cleanup of anything to do with it (uninstall the driver and then clean up the registry) before installing the new card. However, I never got round to trying that approach.

John