2013 Series 7 chronos / Ativ Book 8 15" owner's lounge (NP770Z5E / NP780Z5E / NP870Z5E / NP880Z5E)

Your options depends on which version of Samsung Recovery Solution you have.

See this post for some relevant discussion.

Creating a backup bootable flash drive may be the best course of action. You will need to use whatever SRS offers because using other methods to copy the recovery partition will break the F4 to boot to recovery facility.

John

 

Thank you, will have a look ASAP

 

Can the ativ 8 run far cry 4? According to Can You Run It it can't. I just have to confirm it. Thanks

 

This, which driver would you gust suggest for Far Cry 4. Also, has anyone tried 14.11.2 Beta yet?

cheers,
muntier

 

I'm running 14.11 beta and it's the best driver in a long time imo. Latest is always best for newly released games

 

No issues with 14.11 beta? I can't seem to run any game in fullscreen without ridiculous flicker! Windowed or 'fake fullscreen' work fine though and one noticeable thing is temps stay pretty low, even with overclock.

Using windows 10 but it was an issue with the betas on windows 8.1 for me as well (both overclocked and not).

 

I am getting the same flicker as you in Valkyria Chronicles, but nowhere else with 14.4. Forcing it to windowed/borderless windowed should fix it.

14.11.1 was kind of bad for me, and was crashing to black screen with firefox. Haven't tried 14.11.2 yet.

I'm on the 8870, with the latest generic intel drivers (not the OEM ones)

 

I also get heavy flickering as soon as I start a game. Guess I'll go to system restore now :/

By the way, does anybody else have a problem with setting the laptop to sleep mode? Mine turns the display off and seems to run everything at full power and gets really hot until the battery's empty. Can't even wake it up, instead I have to hard reset it ...

 

Event viewer > system log might give some clues about that is happening when you tell the computer to sleep but also check the power plan you are using to see what action is set for when you tell the computer to sleep and check the power options for each device in Device Manager and make sure any "Allow to wake computer" options are not selected.

John

 

I wonder how newest catalyst driver can run on ativ 8 (almost) flawlessly. Since 14.4 catalyst all drivers my radeon is no longer able to to run games that used to run on ultra with older drivers. Which intel graphics driver are you currently using? Maybe intel driver might cause trouble with switchable graphics. Apart from very poor performance I also have some glitches in metro mode with this driver. I figured out that it is caused by intel graphics driver but performance in games hasn't changed. Thanks in advance

 

Hi,

I'm sure the answers I need are in this thread, but its grown so long that I'm hoping someone can point me at the info I need...

I've been running the 13.9 ATI drivers for a good long while on my NP780Z5E, and I've been somewhat nervous about upgrading them - when I did so a while back I seemed to get into all sorts of problems, so I reverted back.

However given how old they now are I'm assuming the newer versions get better performance out of the hardware and I'm thinking I really should have another go.

The thing I struggled with previously was that I seemed to lose the graphics card switcher app that sits as a dedicated icon in the system tray, and wasn't able to get things running through the discrete card properly. I have a sense that maybe that functionality has simply moved, but I wasn't really able to get to the bottom of it. I'm hoping things may be clearer now...

From the front page it sounds like 14.4 is the best version to go for, though it looks like there may be some challenges.

Can anyone share some guidance on the steps I need to go through to get into a current, stable version from the drivers I have? Many thanks in advance. This thread has been a big help over the 19 months I've owned this laptop, so thanks to all who've contributed.

 

I followed the recent instructions on upgrading to the latest Intel drivers, and then had an effort at upgrading the ATI drivers to 14.11.2 beta drivers. Initially had some issues, but after stripping them back off and re-installing, it went better.

I lost control of brightness and it was very dim - after installing the patch its still not controllable, but its full brightness, which is fine for me.

On the plus side the graphics switching works fine - don't know why it was an issue for me previously. On the downside performance seems to have dropped over the 13.9 version I had before. It sounds like different folks have had different experiences performance wise with 14.9 and the newer beta drivers. I'm a it more comfortable trying out 14.4 and other versions so if there.

I'm currently playing Shadow of Mordor and am about to kick off Dragon Age, so I'm keen to get a bit more juice out of the card if I can - a little under par at the moment...

 

I upgraded to winodws 8.1... should i revert it?
My perfomance on LOL has came down alot, i used ot have like 120fps on max.

Im running 14.11.2

 

By my expierence - do clean install of 8.1, upgrada was slow as hell for me too. But clean install was differnt case.

 

How can i do a clean install? My own samsung backup image is from like february

 

First post have DIY for that, and for image from MS look last pages for my post, how to get it.

 

Do you really think it isnt windows 8.1 fault that my fps dropped?

 

Hey guys, I am having so much trouble installing the AMD Catalyst drivers. Can you recommend the best version that works on Windows 8.1? I keep getting an error at the end of the instlalation, and the only single time it went well, after a reboot the resolution was still low and I could not change it from the control panel. Also, both Intel HD Graphics and AMD display adapter were not recognized, they showed a yellow mark under device manager, even tho windows said the drivers were up to date. I'm going crazy...............

 

If memory doesn't fail me, the last version I installed was 14-4-mobility-win7-win8-win8.1-64-dd-ccc-whql. I've been using it with Win 8.1 and it's been working just fine (I don't play too much other than LoL though). I do remember having problems installing it, but I think that was my bad because I tried installing it from within safe mode or something like that; after I got the laptop to boot normally again I managed to install everything without a hiccup.

 

I will give it a try - thanks for your reply man.

 

Do perform a manual uninstall of the AMD driver first! And I think I used Driver Fusion (the free version) to clean up. I don't remember having to mess with Intel's driver (it was quite a while ago)

 

Will report back tomorrow or in a couple of days - thank you!

 

For those interested I've successly unlocked and updated the microcode for our laptops latest bios release (P05ADH). There are ton's of new menus available by doing this, useful for activities such as overclocking, throttling control, low level graphics changes, etc. Here's some pics of the newly available hidden menus:








If anyone would like more info on modding bios, PM me but be warned doing so is at your own risk.

 

I am impressed.

Perhaps you can figure out what mistake Samsung made about a year ago when something in an updated BIOS made the notebooks very fussy about the RAM that it would recognise.

John

 

Have you been able to re-enable battery life extender option in np8x0?

 

Wow, very impressive! We haven't seen much BIOS modding discussion here in Samsung, so this is great.

 

Hey, thanks for suggesting the driver version to use - it all went fine with 14.4. The laptop is now fine thanks again! REP+

 

Has anyone ever tried to swap out their silver keyboard for a black one? I've got a NP770Z5E that I would LOVE to swap out the keyboard on, if it's not too difficult or risky.

EDIT: I've found a few of the keyboard units themselves on Ebay...not having much luck finding an instructional video for replacing them though.

 

Is 14.4 the best driver for Windows 8?

 

I have successfully changed my keyboard, albeit not to a black keyboard, it was just a replacement. I replaced my keyboard without any help, so it's not that hard. You just have to keep track which type of screw goes to which part of the laptop and take pictures to keep track of how the keyboard/wifi/touchpad cables are folded and packed in. I personally thought the hardest part of the replacement trying to get the bottom cover open, you need a credit card to pry it open.

 

A common problem with this laptop is random framedrops (possibly throttling?) that is fixed by unplugging and replugging the laptop. Does there seem to be a setting in the BIOS that could fix this behavior?

Also, good job on unlocking the bios!

 

I've had it open on a couple of occasions to install the SSD, then put the old HDD back in because the image didn't take right, then put the SSD back in. Once you've done it the first time it's a lot easier to open on subsequent occasions because you know how much pressure you can apply. At any rate, once the bottom panel is removed it seems that the system board and pretty much all of the internals are in between you and the keyboard. How much of that has to be disconnected and removed to get the keyboard out?

 

Hi Semuel,

If I use the ISO downloaded by that tool and install it in my ATIV Book 8 ,will it recognize the Windows 8 key that comes with the PC?

Thank you,

 

You can run this program to find your key before you try reinstalling Windows. It's useful to have in case Windows doesn't find the Win 8 key embedded in the computer.

John

 

Hi!

I've got a Samsung 870Z5G running Windows 8.1. I'm having problems using a custom ICC profile. I install it and set it as my default but it doesn't seem to be doing anything to my screen. I have two thoughts as to why this might be, but I'm not sure:

1. I have the Intel Graphics HD Control Panel. Is that stopping my ICC profile from working? If so, how do I stop that from happening? When I change the colours in this program, they do change.
2. In the Colour Management section, it refers to my screen as "Generic PnP Monitor". (It also doesn't recognise my NVIDIA graphics card at all. Only my Intel one.)

Any thoughts as to what I can do? I called Geek Squad but they basically told me that they couldn't do anything and sent me packing.

 

First, what display setting are you using in Samsung's Settings program? This needs to be the equivalent of nothing special (I can't remember what's on the list).

Sometimes there can be a challenge in making a user-defined display profile stay permanent. Start by looking at what Intel advise. There is plenty of discussion of the problem including on this site ( here for example).

John

 

Those Win8.1 ISOs downloaded from Microsoft may not pick up your embedded Win8 Product Key nor accept it when entered during Windows Setup. But you should be able to clean install 8.1 by entering a temporary Product Key during Windows Setup, then change the Product Key to your Win8 Key after installation, and only THEN Activate Windows. This guide in our Windows forum describes the process. You can change the Product Key EITHER using the slmgr command OR through Charms - Settings - PC settings - PC & Devices - PC Info.

Of course you need to first extract your Win8 OEM key as described by John.

 

All that procedure is written up, step by step on first page of this topic. It works and all questions are covered, except, where to get iso, that I covered, assemble all that knowledge, and don't be lazzy.
And say thanx to folks what did that write up in first page.

 

That is very true. I forgot about member Obyboby's excellent guide in this post, which is also copied in the OP.

 

Hey guys!
I recently discovered this forum.and I guess this would probably be the best place to get help regarding this laptop.

I've run into a performance problem with my 770Z5E. I recently installed Windows 8.1 and with that the newest AMD drivers (14.11 Beta). I also have the newest Intel drivers. After that, my FPS in games is 30-35 max. I've installed the fix that is in the first post of this thread and no luck. In CS:GO I do get my FPS up to about 80-100 when i unplug and plug the computer back in, but the game I mainly play, which is League of Legends, just sits at 30 FPS. Unplugging and plugging it back in slightly increases the FPS to ~50 and after a couple of seconds it just drops back down to 30.

Willing to try just about anything that could fix this issue.

E: Also, recently discovered this aswell.

 

I'll just sort of copy something I said to someone else . I've had Windows 8.1 for quite a while and the only game I play at the moment is LoL. The other day I tested and I got around 100 FPS with the 8770m card. My setup is:

14-4-mobility-win7-win8-win8.1-64-dd-ccc-whql
In device manager AMD shows 14.100.0.0 and Intel 10.18.10.3304

It was a long time ago when I updated the driver, but I think what I did was:
1. Export the graphics driver package from SW Update. There is a folder called Graphics Driver_10.18.10.3304, and inside it I went to /Intel/win64/ and manually ran Setup.exe
2. Uninstall AMD Catalyst and reboot, I think I used Driver Fusion (free) to try to clean the uninstall, reboot again
3. Install the AMD 14.4 driver manually (needless to say, NOT from within the folder you export from SW Update, since I suppose that the included AMD driver is not the best version)

I think that was it...

EDIT: I just noticed that the download link provided in the first post for the driver is not working (at least for me), and on AMD's webpage I only see a newer 14.9 version here. Have you tried that version? Otherwise I guess I could provide the 14.4 executable.

 

Oh I guess I don't have the newest Intel drivers (derp), since I actually have the same drivers installed as you do.
If you could provide the 14.4 driver I would be happy to try it out. Also, do you have the 14.4 driver with the fix or no fix?

EDIT: And yes I've tried 14.9, had the same issues.

 

Nope I've never applied the discussed fix. I wonder if my lack of problems has to do with having the 8770m vs 8870m card, or maybe it's because I don't play that much

Googling around I found a couple of webpages that supposedly have the 14.4 version but sometimes the size differs and in one case the MD5 is also different... This one seems to match the one I have saved, at least in size. Here's the link to the one I have in my Dropbox if you feel like trying that one

 

Thanks, will try it later when I get home, with and without the fix and see if it works.

But yeah, I have the 8870m, maybe thats the problem. With 14.9 and 14.11 beta, the driver renames the card to R9 M270X.

 

That's normal, I believe. AMD decided to rename some cards, but that shouldn't be a problem.

 

So far, everything seems to be okay with 14.4 and without the fix. Thanks for the help!

 

Hi guys,

do you know where I can purchase replacements for my case? As you can see in the images, the case broke (by itself) on random spots but I cant find a store where I can buy the parts I need. Furthermore the bottom is not well attached to the the rest of the case anymore after I opened the laptop a few times. My fans are noisy too, but im afraid to open the laptop another time. Do you think I should try to send the laptop to Samsung and ask for warranty? I bought the laptop (770z5e) in march 2013. I already tried to contact Samsung Support, but after filling in a formular I only got an EMail which says:

"Your message could not be delivered because of

550 5.7.1 <[email protected]>... Relaying denied

The following recipients were affected:
[email protected]"

Any guesses?

 

Have you searched your local Samsung website to see if contact details for the authorised repair companies are provided? They may have the parts but are likely to be expensive.

The NP770Z5E is the same basic chassis as the NP780Z5E, NP870Z5E and NP880Z5E and the differences are explained in the first post of this thread. The NP780 parts should fit your NP770 if they are easier to find.

I can find the bottom of the notebook here but I think the part that is damaged is the keyboard surround / palmrest which contains the keyboard. You can see that part here (but note this is the US version with a different layout).

Personally I would be testing if a small drop of superglue into the cracks would be sufficient. If not, then epoxy resin glue is likely to be stronger. Ideally the computer should be first dismantled so the the repairing can be done on the inside.

John

 

Hey John,

thnaks for your answer. I recently contacted the Samsung-Support via chat and they told me, that my warranty expired because I opened the laptop (Unfortunately its obvious I opened it a few times, so there is no chance I could deny that ). Then, the guy told me where to find the parts. So my only option is to buy those two things and to repair it by myself. Does anyone know if there is any guide (e.g. is it necessary to disassemble the monitor from the rest of the unit?)? Ive got the feeling it would be better to hand in everything to a repair service, which will cost me even more...

 

Some of us have had warranty service even though we have been inside the computer. The rules are: don't damage anything, make sure that the original parts are inside when you call for service and don't mention that you have been inside. However, they would probably argue that the damage you have encountered is caused by misuse and is not covered by the warranty.

Since you are familiar with getting inside, I would suggest you try to do an adequate repair without buying any new parts. This will also provide greater confidence for more complete disassembly needed to replace the keyboard / palmrest unit (which, upside down, is effectively the tray into which the rest of the computer is built).

You may be able to buy the service manual from samsungparts.com. First look at this thread which may lead you to the manual for another model and provide an example of the quality of information.

John