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

I have the crimson driver (15.12) with windows 10, i have gained some performance in some games but i lost brightness so yeah

 

Have you tried the usual fixes? See this and this.

I'm interested in battery life and power consumption with that driver, but if your brightness is stuck at 100%, it would be hard to assess.

 

Hello, first time poster here.

This seems to be a knowledgeable thread about this line of laptops, and I have a mind blowing issue that I can't seem to fix. Here goes:

I have the NP880Z5E, original owner and bought new approx 2 years ago this month. When Windows 10 came out originally, I did an upgrade using the clean install method. Had a few rough patches with brightness not working, but was able to fix those. However, for about the past month, whenever I put the laptop to sleep and then wake it up, the screen will not come on. I hear the hard drive and fans power on, the power light illuminates, and every now and then the wifi light will come on (remaining in a frozen state where pushing the button does not turn it off), but no screen or other activity. I end up having to do a hard reset by holding the power button in before things work normal again.

From what I can recall, this originated around the same time the 1511 update rolled out. Thinking this was the issue, I went ahead and did a clean install of 1511. No luck. Wasted 48 hours of my life with Windows and Samsung support. No luck. Did a clean install of original Windows 10 build where I knew things worked correctly. No luck. Swapped out the upgraded SSD to the original HDD which also contained an original working Windows 10 build. No luck. Reset BIOS settings to default. No luck.

I know my way around a computer fairly well, so yes, I've tried the standard fixes like making sure all drivers and stuff are up to date using familiar, known to work for me versions. Checked power management, yada yada. Shouldn't matter cause it's a clean install setting everything up like I have in the past when it used to work right.

My warranty is of course out and Samsung wanted me to pay the $$$ to have it sent it. I have an escalated ticket with higher up support awaiting to play out, but in the mean time wanted to see what suggestions you guys may have about this. It blows my mind that after all these different clean installs the problem is consistent. Nothing was changed prior, it just randomly started doing this about a month ago.

Is there anything like a hard drive partition or something outside the OS itself that might have been changed or erased that is causing this issue?

I'm so aggravated. My 7 year old Dell has never had issues, even now with Windows 10. I'm beginning to think I purchased a $1200 piece of headache garbage. Help much appreciated

 

As far as I can remember it is related with bluetooth driver. I know you tried almost everything but you better focus on bluetooth driver. it was mentioned before in earlier posts

 

It is official that my graphic chipset is fried and local samsung service requested money more than laptop price itself. Question is, do any of you guys know where to find reliable motherboard?

 

Forgive me, but I can't seem to find the post you are referring to. I've done a search on this thread, but came up short. Can you point me in the right direction or re-explain the steps? Also, could it be something with the video drivers? I saw something about uninstalling the video from device manager and reinstalling via SWupdate.

 

OK, something new to add. Just playing around some more I went into device manager and uninstalled driver software for both the Intel and AMD video cards as well as everything under Bluetooth. Let those reinstall. Pulled up some windows and then sent the computer into sleep. Pressed the power button to wake back up (BTW, it will not wake up from raising lid, touching mouse or keyboard). Heard the fans kick in and the power light come on. However, there was a delay in the wifi light coming on. After about 30 seconds or so it came on, then another 30 seconds or so the screen comes on, but I get the Samsung splash screen and then the computer goes through the process like a fresh boot up. Once to the desktop, none of the Windows I had open were there, again, signaling a fresh boot.

In Samsung Update I'm showing an updatable graphics version 10.18.10.4242. I'm about afraid to do that, though, as this is the most I've been able to get from a sleep wake up since the issue started. When I reinstalled the graphics, I did it right after uninstalling the old but before a reboot so that maybe MS wouldn't automatically start reinstalling. I downloaded the files from Samsung Update and installed the AMD by itself. I tried the Intel but it came up with an error, so I just restarted and let MS handle it.

It shows the current installed Intel driver version as 10.18.10.4276, which I assume is newer than the one suggested by Samsung Update.

Sorry for all the info. Just hoping this might all lead to a fix.

 

Hello,

i see a lot of people tried to install Windows 10, is the consummation probleme ok now ? Is there a place where the information about Windows 10 are summarized ?

 

Windows 10 works fine, but the idle power consumption is (still) dramatically higher compared to 8.1.

 

UPDATE: I've come to the conclusion that, for whatever reason, sleep mode is no longer going to function on my machine. I will just replace sleep with hibernate and make it just fine.

LINGERING ISSUE: Graphics brightness. With the 1511 update it is once again broken. Clean installs, refreshes, drivers, nothing fixes it. I've also tried using the regedit fix changing FeatureTestControl value to f048 and ffff with no luck. The original value is f908. I only see one FeatureTestControl file to change though when I run a search. Should there be more? Are they under a different name?

 

Did you try this to fix the sleep issue?

And for the FeatureTestControl thing, you have to press Ctrl+F and Enter for new entries to appear, each time you press Enter will only get you one result.

 

Dear owners of 780Z5e could you please give me some information about it? How sturdy laptop case? I travel a lot. I need a laptop with firm case.

 

Check in device manager to see if your monitor has been disabled. Both times this happened to me, that was the problem. Strange but true.

 

Finally got my SSD, but can't seem to open the HDD case as the screws are too tight. I have however been using whatever screwdriver i just happened to have, so i am going to buy a new one. Just to confirm, is it a Phillips size 0?

 

x2.... I was getting almost 5 hours of battery power in windows 7, now on windows10 I can hardly last 2 hours and 30 minutes...

I don't use the battery at all, so it's no problem for me, but I can understand that somebody would't be interested in updating to win10

 

The screws on the bottom are probably Philips size 0 but you may need Philips size 1 for other screws. The important consideration is to have good quality tips and a big handle so you have good control and apply pressure. This is what I use.

John

 

To the guys who updated to Win (or lose?) 10 - was it worth it? I'm thinking if I should too, but then again, look at my awesome power consumption - not even on power saver. I can work all day at uni with no need to plug.

 

Hi. Could you please say the case of 780z5e and 880z5e is same? What is difference between them? Only the color?

 

That's a good power consumption if you aren't deliberately trying to save power.

BTW, Alt-PrtSc will capture only the active window.

John

 

I'm not, its just the idle consumption on Balanced profile. That's why I'm so hesitant to update, despite improved features.

 

I believe so. The differences between the notebooks are summarised in the first post in this thread.

Given the numerous reports of increased power consumption by Windows 10 on this notebook I would share your reservations. Perhaps, one day, Microsoft / Samsung / AMD will fix the problem, but I suspect they are doing their best to ignore it.

John

 

Does anyone know of a solution for the problem where waking from sleep doesn't work (black screen and frozen laptop with only solution to hold power off and shut down)? Did search but cannot find a set solution. If anyone has managed to fix it on this model, please share?

 

I believe they changed the keyboard color and the BIOS: NP880 no longer has Battery Life Extender, possibly other changes too -- Samsung had many issues with its first generations of UEFI/SecureBoot BIOS.

You can lookup the case on samsungparts.com and see if the part numbers are the same for the two models.

Edit: Oops, didn't see John's reply before posting.

 

AMD? Does anyone have proof that it's the dGPU that's causing this? Because it should be offline while doing browsing and light tasks. It's also easy to check with MSI afterburner if there's activity or if it's just cold 0% activity, meaning GPU is offline.

 

Does anyone know if the GPU is the same or different in the two different versions of the NP770Z5E (ie. the i5 and i7 variants). I've read conflicting things online.

 

The GPU's are different as I have both the i5 and i7. The i7 is a Gddr 8870m. The i5 uses ddr3, is slower and is stated as 8800m. It's all quite vague to be honest.


Edit: The i5 is 8850m, though it doesn't say this on the GPU info.

 

Aren't the screens supposed to be different? I have the 770 version which has the image screen burn in problem, but I thought that the 880 solved this?

 

Thank you. I had the i5 until I broke it recently. I'm now thinking of buying another. I obtained a report using HwInfo on my i5 and it said the graphics adapter is: AMD Radeon R9 M270X/HD 7830M/7850M/8800M. Like you say, a bit vague!

 

Oh, maybe you're right about that. Thank you for pointing it out.

I do remember plenty discussions about image persistence in the thread, some having it while others didn't. I don't remember it established as being a difference between the 780 and the 880 (which would be a significant difference). In my memory, the differences were only (A) brand: Series 7 vs ATIV Book 8, (B) silver vs black keyboard, (C) Battery Life Extender vs no BLE.

But I could very well be wrong, and the panel was also changed.

 

Looks like the W10 battery issue has been solved. I have less than 12W power usage and 8h of battery life with new Intel GPU driver.

 

I know what I'm going to be testing tonight. What version of the driver is it? Was it pushed through SWUpdate, or did you have to download it from Intel?

 

Could you please elaborate which version of the Intel GPU driver. I can see only (for i7-3635qm 3rd gen) 15.33.38.64.4252 (2015-07-29) available for me through Intel Driver Updater software.

 

AMD driver is 15.300.1025.1001
Intel driver is 10.18.10.4338 (15.33.41.64.4338)

If it doesn't make any diffrence I will check other drivers and settings.

The best I can get with wifi on is 11.6W and 8h 9min battery life

My battery wear is 5.8%

 

Thank you! I can see the difference just after a reboot, 12W usage when idle with WIFI on and 3 hours remaining with 50% battery left.

 

Currently on
AMD driver 15.300.1025.1001 (same as previous post)
Intel Driver 10.18.10.4358

Total consume: 20W unplugged, processor in 1.200Mhz

 

Cannot find Intel .4338 drivers. I will try .4252 drivers directly from Samsung Update utility.

 

Found some drivers somewhere on internet.
CUrrently using 12w when plugged, but 18w on battery. Weird, isn't it?

 

Are these the latest AMD Crimson drivers? Thanks for posting this information!

 

I'm still consuming 25W on battery, 1.18Ghz, lowest brightness. Where did you get your drivers?

 

Download the newest driver from AMD website and Intel driver from here http://station-drivers.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=352&func=fileinfo&id=1991&lang=fr

 

Whith the lid closed, I'm using arround 8W. When unplugged, and still with the lid closes, I go up to 13W aprox

 

Same problem here!

My np880 is not able to exit from the sleep mode! The PC seems to start but the screen is black.
As explained by Azharb17, in order to make it working again it is necessary to force the shut-down and then power-on again.

If anyone knows a solution to this annoying malfunction for the Ativ Book 8 series, please share!

We would be very grateful!
Thanks a lot!

 

I usually suspect the graphics drivers for black screen when waking from sleep. I've had this problem occur on many computers over the past 20 years and not just Samsung. Driver updates can sometimes fix the problem, but it may be necessary to reinstall Windows.

A work-around is to use hibernation.

John

 

So, to the windows 10 users: Is the battery consumption issue solved with the latest drivers that Jako used? And somebody knows how to play older games in windows 10 with the securom feature?

 

I only started experiencing this when I installed my SSD with a fresh install of Windows. All drivers are up to date. In recent days it occurs less frequently though

 

Sigh... i also have the sleep problem. Almost every time it results in a black non responsive screen... i tried many random solutions. updating the drivers of the intel card resulted in a fix that worked only twice and then back to the black screen. and what makes it worst is that this SW update thing does not allow to try any driver you want.. lets hope windows updates will solve the issue... it really ruins the user experience (of an otherwise great laptop) not being able to close the lid and pop to the next office..

 

I never had that problem. It must be something with the drivers you use or some windows files are corrupted.

 

You are lucky. In my experience, black screen on waking is a problem which can appear at any time for reasons that are difficult to discover.

At the hint of any of the sleep problems I change the power settings to use hibernation because I want the computer to open with all my work in progress. A black screen problem (and forced reboot) can mean lost work, while shutting down/starting up takes time.

John

 

I have been so happy with my 780Z5E with an added 1TB Samsung SSD. Is there a worthy Samsung successor that gives gaming power in a classy looking chassis? Planning ahead.

 

Have you come across the NP940Z5L Book 9 Pro? Until there's information to the contrary, I would assume it is only for the US market (I see that a US seller has it listed on UK ebay).

John