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

literally waiting for the 960GB M500 to be in stock from either adorama.com or bhphoto.com. I regularly buy all my DSLR gear from these 2 so it's a no brainer

 

i cant understand why after the install the recovery in the ssd i have now 2 partitions. c with 34gb,free 5gb and d with 184gb.

 

On the recovery screens (during the recovery) is a slider you can use to configure the amount of space on drives C and D. It depends how large your hard drive is as to the size of these partitions, for me it put roughly 50% of the drive for D and the rest for C, recovery partitions, etc.

It really depends how you want to operate your setup as to whether to bother to live with this or change it - I used to keep a second partition for my documents, but then realised that it was all part of the same drive anyway, so if part of the drive failed, the whole lot would. I now keep my C drive only for Software and the odd quick save/local saves when I'm out and about. Everything else I save to my external drives/the cloud!

If you're happy to live with this config then leave it, otherwise you can either re-recover and slide the C drive to use all the space, or you can use windows disk management to do the same thing.

 

infact i cant understand why i have all these partitions:



1 sould i have to cancel all the partitions except the recovery and c?
2 can i erase the partitons by the menu or do i have to use the recovery??are there some differences(like spoil yhe ssd life)?
in a ssd with only 250gb i think is better to not have partitions...

 

If I were you I would delete all partitions and put all "space" into 1 ("extend" or something). I have only one. I had 2 on the beginning (SSD) but decided that 1 is enough.

 

The original post is here.

If you want to keep the Samsung factory install, I suggest you to leave all those partitions.
Instead, if you do a clean install you can delete them all and save space

BUT, whatever is the type of installation you do, I highly suggest you to keep those partitions at least in the original HDD, just in case you need to bring the laptop to the original conditions (i.e. to sell it). OR, to keep the USB stick backup.

 

Hi,

I bought the NP870z5e from Amazon.it and I probably will be recieving it tomorrow afternoon and I have a couple of questions. I've read many comments about the things I will ask but it isn't clear which is the best way to proceed.

I want to first of all get rid of Samsung bloatware, so basically get a clean install. I know making a clean install will need the Win 8 media. Since I don't have one, I've read that a fresh install and getting rid of the bloatware by hand was the best option. If this true or is there a better way? If is true, which Samsung software should I eliminate and which I shouldn't?

Also, I need to make a partition to save my stuff, I usally reserve more space for this partition. What method should I follow to do this? Should I go to the drives manager in windows and do it by hand or should I make a clean install and do it? I read you can do it from the recovery but I suppose I would have to do the whole recovery, right?

I would much appreciate any advices.

By the way if anyone have anything that they want to test in this just let me know, also pics or anything. I will confirm it has 8GB on board once it arrives.

Thanks!

 

Guys, my HWMonitor is showing battery level wear at 21% after having the laptop for just 3 months. I've been keeping the Laptop plugged in with BLE enabled and thus I never discharge the battery. I've only ever discharged the battery once, and that was when I first got it. Around a month and a half ago, I had a cycle count of 1 and a wear level of 0%. Now I have a cycle count of 4 and wear is 21%.HWMonitor is also showing that my max charge capacity is 72768 mWh compared with the designed capacity of 91718 mWh. At 93% charge right now, I have 67674 mWh of current capacity and windows is predicting me a 5 hour battery life at 10-13W of power consumption (using Silent Mode). Is this % wear likely to be accurate and should I be worried? Can other users run HWMonitor and see what wear they are getting?

 

:hi2:Anybody on here play Blu Rays?
I am having a problem getting my NP780Z5E to play any with an external player and PowerDVD.

 

No, you need to keep ALL of the extra partitions, some of them are for Windows and some are for Samsung Recovery. If you delete these. you will either break windows or Samsung's recovery.

The only 2 you can safely merge are C and D (trust me, I discovered this the hard way and had to do a full recovery 4-5 times before I managed to get everything the way I wanted it, and working properly!!)

Somewhere on either this thread or the 2013 Chronos 7 mega-thread is a post which tells you what all the various partitions are for, but I can't find it now!

 

If you're now at 93% charge, then BLE is either not enabled or not working, it should never go above more than about 80% with BLE (seen mine go up to 81%, no higher!) - not that this explains the terrible condition of the battery after such a short time, that type of wear sounds like you're draining the battery and charging it constantly.

Have you tried going to the BIOS and running the battery calibration? It might need this doing - and check BLE is actually on while you are there!

 

Sorry, I should have clarified. I disabled BLE to charge it up to 93% to see if that would have an effect on wear level (as 21% was suspiciously close to the empty capacity of the battery when BLE is enabled). Usually, my charge remains in the 76%-80% level. I may try the battery calibration tonight, I'd just have to leave the laptop running? Also, can you check and see what wear level you are getting?

 

According to HWInfo:
Full Charged Capacity: 92476 mWh
Wear Level: 0.0 %
Current Capacity: 73056 mWh (79.0 %)

I run mainly on AC power, with BLE enabled.
I've had the laptop since 7th March 2013, so it's exactly 4 months old!

 

I just noticed that if I insert a USB device (mouse, thumb drive, etc) while audio is playing (YouTube, Foobar, iTunes...) the volume drops. Weird. I've got an NP780 running the Windows 8.1 Preview.

 

My method for the calibration is to fully charge the battery and then use the computer on battery until it is nearly empty. Only then shut down and run the calibration in the BIOS which makes sure the battery is fully drained. Then do a full charge.

John

 

Sorry, got slightly distracted by Murray winning at Wimbledon!! John Ratsey's right, you won't be able to just "try the battery calibration tonight", it will take some time as it empties the battery - best to run it low through use and then calibrate - also don't plan to use it through the recharge - you could do that overnight (that way it's using all the power available into the battery rather than diverting some to power the machine for use).

 

i have an 770Z5E-S01, someone has already upgrade it to 12gb ram ? which exact model of ram is really 100% ok to buy ? From the start of the original topic, I've read many opinions about that...

 

I just installed a Liteon LCT-512M3S ssd disk and boom, super fast, just 10 seconds to boot, everything run faster, and recently added a 8gb ram, really happy with the chronos

 

You've not mentioned your country and some brands use different names/availability in each country. As long as you buy DDR3 1600 PC3-12800, you're pretty much guaranteed compatibility. Stick with a brand you recognise and you should be OK.

 

Thanks, I'll try that. I charged my battery till it hit 99% according to windows (wouldn't go to 100), while HWMonitor said my charge was at 98% and a current capacity of 72040 mWh. I have now been using the laptop for half an hour (on battery) and charge is still on 99% ( or 98% according to HWmonitor). So I think it most likely is an issue with calibration. I'll let the battery run down and see if anything changes.

 

Can everyone heaven benchmark scores with their respective overclocks? I wanna know. I don't feel like the 8870m is working to its fullest even at stock clocks. I only have 625 as a score at 1920x1080, no AA, moderate tessellation and medium quality.

 

@Kira: I was offline most of the day yesterday, but I see you made some progress. I hope your laptop is getting to run well. I am surprised you ended up installing with the USB backup, since I was under the impression you wanted to do a clean install (you had argued the benefits of that earlier).

About SecureBoot: This feature was designed to prevent booting anything except the installed Win8 (or other SecureBoot compatible OS). Of course Recovery is also SecureBoot compatible (otherwise F4 would never work without disabling SecureBoot); but I am surprised it let you boot it off USB, as this would be an obvious opening for malware to circumvent SecureBoot. It's convenient that you can boot your USB backup without having to change any BIOS settings. Not a problem, just a bit puzzling.

As damouk and alfling already told you, the partition layout you're seeing is normal. This post earlier in the thread describes the different partitions that are standard in a Win8 UEFI/GPT installation. That may be the one damouk was referring to.

You can adjust the split between C and D during restore, as damouk explained. Personally I prefer keeping all my data on a separate Data partition (D). I've been doing that for many years, which allows me to update and replace Windows on the C partitions anytime I want, without affecting my data. But other users may prefer the simplicity of having just one large C partition for both Windows and Data. It utilizes disk capacity a bit better, which is important on SSDs.

I absolutely agree with the advice to leave these partitions alone. They don't take up much space, except for the Recovery Data partition (SAMSUNG_REC2). And nice to be able to simply press F4 and restore to factory while you're messing with a new installation. That said, you have both your USB backup and the original HDD, so if you need the extra space on the SSD, you could delete SAMSUNG_REC and SAMSUNG_REC2 once you have everything running smoothly. You will lose the ability to use Recovery on the SSD -- but can still boot your USB backup and restore from that. Or put the original HDD back in. But DON'T touch the other partitions.

I know you have already been reading a lot (thanks for the Likes ) But I still have to say that almost everything we discussed here these last few days, has been covered even more extensively -- and repeatedly -- earlier in this read. Some of it just a few weeks ago. Compared to how much time one can spend experimenting with installations, it actually doesn't take that long to go back a few months in the thread, then scan forward through the pages for relevant posts. I often do that myself when looking for answers, even with threads that I followed originally.

Of course, there is also the Search Thread feature. And finally are Google searches such as the following very efficient in locating relevant discussions: site:notebookreview.com/samsung 2013 chronos description of partitions after factory restore.

Keep us posted on your progress

 

Hi alfling,

As Kira posted, it appears that the USB factory image backup can actually boot even with SecureBoot enabled. I find that puzzling from a security standpoint, but obviously convenient.

As for a clean install (from Win8 DVD or USB) you will have to at least disable SecureBoot and probably set OS Mode Selection = UEFI and CSM OS -- because the Setup itself is not a secure UEFI OS. After installation is done, you should be able to set those back to default ( OS Mode Selection = UEFI OS and SecureBoot = Enabled). I imagine it'll make the boot routine a tiny bit faster -- and certainly better protected from rootkits and other nasty forms of malware.

 

Hi pranktank. Thanks a lot. In fact I am more focused on getting your rep up where it deserves to be. Enough said. I am treading on thin ice here.

Yes, I am not too concerned about my incorrect Win8 Refresh advice since it doesn't cause any harm. But it didn't have the desired effect either of providing a simple alternative to clean install. I appreciate that you can uninstall the worst bloat in a few mins, as you have shared before.

Since clean install isn't a real alternative for most people (because they don't have clean Win8 install media) we should do a write-up on a clean-out procedure for these models to get the most optimized Samsung Win8 installation. I really wish Earth days had 36 hours

I'm afraid I don't have experience to share on SSDs. Everybody raves about the 840 Pro. And John has been waiting for the excellently spec'ed Crucial M500 (as mSATA) though he just found another hot solution. Here in USA I'd monitor techbargains.com over a few weeks for good deals; I am sure you have similar sites there.

Thanks again for all your work here!

 

Hi Twistx, that's a great machine you'll be getting there!

Based on some earlier posts, I had understood that the Win8 Refresh feature would strip out all bloat and give you the equivalent of a clean install. Hence I have recommended it in many posts, which may be what you have seen. That works on my own Win8 -- which was a clean install originally. But it turns out on models like yours with Win8 pre-installed, it simply takes you back to the Samsung factory install (but preserves your data). That is still useful after messing around, but it doesn't give you the benefits and efficiency of a clean install.

If you don't have clean Win8 install media from Microsoft, you really have no option other than just uninstall the stuff you don't want. You can use the following as guidance:

1) This post lists the bloat that came with my older Series 7 model, and my opinion on which is worth keeping (hint: not much). There will be differences in your model, but also much that is the same.

2) This post lists the drivers to install after a clean install. In principle you can uninstall anything NOT on this list -- EXCEPT there will be some modules (such as Visual C++ redistributables) that are included with drivers, and which you shouldn't install.

3) After uninstalling all that, use SW Update to get the latest versions of what is left. It will nag you to update even before, but no point in doing that until you're done uninstalling. You can disable update notification in the taskbar tray. (OR you can disable the Scheduled Task for sAgent and load it manually whenever you want to use SW Update. If this is unfamiliar, probably better to leave it alone).

4) Run Windows Update (if you haven't already). Note: Some updates (such as .NET) require several restarts and some time churning in the background before they're completely finished.

5) Uninstall and re-install Samsung Settings, reboot after each. You want to locate the latest version of Settings as described in this post. Any time you re-install Settings, make sure to disable Adaptive Brightness as described in this post.

6) Run Windows Disk Cleanup and use Clean up system files. Also run CCleaner if you have it, as it cleans out more temp files than Disk Cleanup. Note that Disk Cleanup can take a looong time when cleaning Windows Update files or Service Pack files. I don't know why it takes so long, but do NOT interrupt it, let it finish.

7) Finally Defrag your Windows drive if you're on an HDD. Don't defrag if it's an SSD.

I probably forgot something, but at least this should help some

Note: Needless to say, always make backups first before significant system changes such as those described above. Or be prepared to factory restore if something goes wrong. Or use Refresh

 

Hi gwrace, I don't think we properly welcomed you to the Samsung forum.

From everything I've read about the Book 8 on this forum, I think you're making a great choice there. I am not quite ready for a replacement yet myself, but once the time comes, this will most likely be my choice as well. And lots of helpful members here, so you've come to the right place

 

Wow, that's what I call help .

Thank you so much. I know my way around with computers but I've learned that each machine usually have its ways and it is better to take advice on them .

Your post should be at the first page for guidance.

I will try that and if it stills feels "heavy" I will try to get the windows 8 Media from my university program.

I really don't get why Microsoft don't let you donwload the copy we have for free... we have already paid for it, and they invented all that secure boot and the key inserted in the bios to keep us controlled... It is the least they should do...

I don't know when they will learn... I forgot... the same for Samsung... it's not that hard a clean option...

 

Glad you like it. It's great that you have experience and will be doing this on a new laptop, making it easy to restore if something should fail. Please let us know how it works out -- and if something in that post needs correcting.

If you (or anybody with one of these models) can make an updated bloat list similar to the one I linked, that would be very valuable.

I agree, we should have access to download Win8 ISOs the same as for Win7. But it's not so different from what it used to be with Win7 before those ISOs were made available: Many bloat infested PCs were delivered without install media and only a Recovery Partition -- which you had to backup on 14 DVDs or 92 CDs or something

 

Thanks a lot for the help. I havent done a clean install to keep the recovery utility and to to see if it will be ok. Now i havent any problem i think. I have unistalled manually some software from windows unistaller. Should i have to use samsung magician software now or is not necessary? Why have you suggested to use defrag? I should use this utility also in my ssd?? Ps i did not know about settings.. It cant be updated so i have to unistall then install again? sorry to bother you and for my bad english

 

Hi guys, ever since I updated the BIOS through the built-in app, my BLE has been defaulted to off. So I have to switch it on every time I turn the computer on now... bit of a faff. Any ways around this?

 

OK, got it (about your not doing a clean install yet).

Oh yes, thanks for reminding me: Defrag speeds up an HDD, but since you swapped the HDD with an SSD, don't use defrag! I'll add a note about that in the steps above. Maybe Samsung Magician has some other optimizing features relevant at this step, I am afraid I don't know that. Hopefully others can fill in.

About Settings: Use SW Update to download the latest version as described in the post I linked. Then uninstall the current Settings using Programs and Feature control panel, reboot, install the new Settings you downloaded, reboot.

And don't worry, your English is fine, this is not a grammar school

 

Do you still have BLE in your BIOS settings?

Which model do you have? It appears that BLE was taken out in the Ativ Book 8 models, and I wonder if updating the BIOS on earlier models has the same effect. In that case, maybe Settings needs to be re-installed in order to detect the change and stop showing the BLE tab.

 

I'm not sure if I still have it in my BIOS - how do I check?

My model was the original Chronos 7, purchased in HK. Not the rebranded Ativ 8.

 

Well, the original series 7 Chronos came out in 2011 and 2012 (NP700Z3A, NP700Z34, NP700Z5A and NP700Z7A being 14, 15, 15.6 and 17 inch models respectively). But I think you meant the original 2013 model, such as NP780Z5E

And thank you, that was also what I meant: Maybe the latest BIOS updates on this model removed BLE.

You enter BIOS settings by pressing F2 immediately after power on. But Win8 never really shuts down, which can make it difficult to catch F2. If you use Charms - Settings - PC Settings - General -Advanced startup you should be able to choose Power down from there. Next time you power on, start pressing F2 every half second, that should get you into your BIOS settings.

 

Ok, I will try to make the list. I got a noticed that my computer arrived today but I'm at work so probably tomorrow morning I will go and get it.

 

An update with this. I ran the battery calibration and my wear level went down from 23% to 10% and my cycle count went from 4 to 6. HWMonitor now reports and full charge capacity of 83380 mWh. My current charge level is 100% but HWMonitor says my max value was 117%. I'm currently being predicted 5 hours battery life with 17-19W of power consumption.

Opinions guys? I still think 10% is too high for a 3 month old battery, but is it still an issue with calibration? Should I contact Samsung about a replacement?

 

I just received my SSD today. I followed the steps on the first page of this thread on how to swap the HDD to SSD, and after multiple mini-heart attacks while trying to get the bottom cover off, I finally did it. I did exactly as what was written on the guide here, started from the corner, then around the ports, etc. For those having difficulty imagining how the bottom cover of this laptop is attached, it is the same as how Galaxy S3's back cover attaches to the phone. It's a little bit scary to take it off, but putting it back is a breeze, I just pushed it back to its place and it re-attached itself.

 

Do I take it from reading this thread that it's now possible to do a clean install of Windows 8 on the 2013 Series 7 Chronos Touch-Screen laptop? I tried this right after I purchased the laptop earlier this year and installed Windows 8 Professional since I need that for work, and the laptop would crash every time I closed the lid. The debug log pointed to the video driver, and contacting Samsung yielded a response that they only support the included OS and the laptop doesn't support Win 8 Professional. I know the problem was related to the stand-alone video drivers that the support tool was downloading because I was able to upgrade the Windows 8 Home edition to Pro with just a license key allowing me to retain the pre-installed video drivers, and I had no problem closing the lid (sleep mode). My laptop is crazy slow now, I can't stand the bloat.. and the WiFi disconnecting every time it goes to sleep requiring manual reconnection is annoying as hell... so I'm considering wiping out the drive and doing a manual install of Win 8 Pro again if the steps listed in this thread yield a working install without crashing and WiFi disconnects. Is that the case now?
-Keith

 

Yes, you just needed to uninstall HD4000 driver and install it from Samsung SW Update

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

Great thanks.
I shall plan the installation of the bottom at the same time I'll install the SSD then...

 

Well I can't tell for sure if it's normal or not but for reference, I've had mine for a little over 3 months and I've had BLE enabled almost since day one. I have a cycle count of 45 but wear level still says 0.0%. Full charged capacity says 92476 mWh. Haven't been paying too much attention to how much run time I get, but I would say it takes around 4-5 hours to get from 80% to about 15%. (I got all this info with HWiNFO)

 

Given that one calibration dropped the reported wear by so much it would be worthwhile doing it again. It may drop some more.

I doubt you will persuade Samsung to replace it at this stage. Check Samsung's current claims about the battery longevity. I think it's along the lines of retaining 70% capacity after up to 1500 cycles and if the wear exceeds this (ie 30%) within the first year (ie the warranty) then you will have a strong case for demanding a replacement.

John

 

the other day, a bios update came up on SW to my 870Z5E...it fixed the keyboard backlight being on despite the computer being idle for more than the predefined time to turn it off...
unfortunately it didn't gave us the BLE option in bios, so settings still does not present the charge untill 80% option....(also, the samsung folder does not contain any battery-related option as was stated in a samsung article given somewhere recently...) --- bummer

 

In order to replace the BLE, is there any third party software that automatically stops the charge at a level you can set? Maybe Battery Bar?

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

to the best of my knowledge, no....it's hardware encoded or something. all the soft of this kind I have seen so far, is proprietary unfortunately.
battery bar doesn't cut it... i have the payed version

 

Has anyone tried the Samsung drivers on the NP780Z5E with Windows 8 R2 Prerelease? Everything works great for me so far except I can't get the Settings app to open. No errors or anything, it just doesn't open.

 

UPDATE: regarding my last post about the updated BIOS removing the BLE ability. Mine seems to have fixed itself. After switching it on manually after 2 reboots, it now successfully stays on.

Are there any other changes people are noticing?

Recently my wifi with this laptop has become a bit erratic, sometimes disconnecting randomly during use, or at startup. I did roll-back my drivers to the factory fresh ones following the SW update making it worse. Some others on this forum also did this, but it seems there is a new version from SW 15.8.05, but I am yet to install it.

Also - and this is going to be VERY specific - but whenever I am playing Football Manager, there is the occasionally 'cracked screen' issue. It never happens during any other task. What I mean by it, is that the screen will randomly flash and display what appear to be cracks. It disappears pretty much as soon as you notice it. It has happened to me 3 times since I updated the BIOS. First time, in the top-left of the screen. Second, horizontally in the middle and then most recently, at the top right.

Is this down to incompatible drivers? Is there any other way I can test if this is a serious fault? Maybe my panel is becoming defective? I certainly hope not.

 

Hello everyone,

I recieved my ATIV Book 8 today. I confirm 8Gb soldered. I desinstalled the Intellimemory software because it kept the HDD at 100% al the time.

Also, I've updated the drivers but now the computer have been updating the BIOS for like 30 minutes... is this normal?

If it doesn't finish, what shout I do? shut the computer off anyway? Won't this be very harmful for the computer?



It doesn't let me cancel

Nevermind, already fixed.

I force close it, restarted and did it again. Second time worked flawlesly

 

For battery stats, for windows 8 folks also try from windows DOS command line

powercfg /batteryreport

should generate a html file with full battery usage, wear etc history

Finally got my 8GB Kingston KVR16S11/8 SO-DIMM module and the Samsung NP880Z5E memory upgrade process was painless and so easy with the dedicated memory panel on back side

memtest86+ 5.00 testing the new 16GB memory configuration now – seems memtest reporting DDR3-1596 at 11-11-11-28 as block is a bit under clocked it seems at 99.75 bclock. CPU temp seems to hit 67C under memtest

Upgrade 100% working screenshots http://imgur.com/a/keg3F#0



Pcmark7 = 4717 http://www.3dmark.com/pcm7/662602
3Dmark11 = P3306 http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/6849927

edit: weird, now i reboot system and get another 'Configuring Windows features 15-16% complete' message !

 

So, I bought a np780z5e a few days ago after reading this and similar threads for months and installed an SSD this morning, and let me just say, this thing is a rocket! I used a third party software (EaseUS Backup) to clone my drive to the SSD. Then I just swapped it in and it worked like a charm. But on further inspection, i realized a lot of the function keys ceased to work (F1-F5 and F9-F11). Also, the settings app (Samsung's) wouldn't start. I uninstalled it with Windows and then tried to reinstall it with SW Update, but that just caused the system to hang and had had to force restart it. At this point SW update thinks that settings is installed, which it isn't, and half of the most important hot keys don't work. I don't think it's a hardware problem, as I can still use them to boot into the BIOS, its just inside windows they don't work. Since the computer is only a few days old, I'm tempted to just reinstall Windows, but I thought I'd ask you guys to make sure I wasn't missing something blatantly obvious.