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

That's pretty much it. In brighter environments it was difficult to see the keyboard with the backlight on. I find that in many cases you're better off just shutting off the backlight altogether.

The only other issue that I'd mention is that it's fairly annoying opening it up to install an SSD. It can be done, but there are quite a few tiny clips that have to delicately be released to open it up since the hard disk is not a "user serviceable component".

 

Not a permanent fix, but if all you have to do is run the .exe you just need to stick it in the startup group or put it into the registry under hklm\microsoft\windows nt\currentversion\run. If it requires additional configuration, is it possible to create or save a profile or config file?

 

edit3: answer from AMD - The 13.11beta 8 page includes the HD 8000M support means that these chips are supported in this driver when the laptop manufacturer didn’t do much changes/customization to make it incompatible. Since your system doesn’t pass the compatibility check, you may not be able to use this version.

edit2: The Catalyst 13.11 Beta 8 is available for Windows 8.1/8/7 and offers support for the Radeon R9, R7, HD 7000, HD 6000 and HD 5000 Series cards. and since i was getting yellow "!" in device manager after installing b8 i shall try out b1 now

edit: switchable graphics seems to be wanished with these drivers, for ex. cannot set battlefield 4 to use amd card

13.11b8, 13.11b7,6 and 13.10 - if i install them, they always give me error in logs after installation (except 13.6): (warnings occurred during instalation) view log, it shows all was installed successfully, but last line was with some error: Other detected devices; Error messages; Driver install: the specified driver package was not installed for matching devices. I dont notice anything strange tho, all working well, except what im describing below:

Other problem i have (dont know maybe it should be like that on 8xx series, new enduro tech?) i cannot see the amd gpu in hwinfo64 but the sensors are showing the right clocks when a game is launched. Also when i right click on catalyst tray app it shows HD4000 but nowhere is HD8870 / HD8000. Basiclly im never seeing the HD8000 anywhere and also the windows experience index never goes higher than 3.4 (as GPU is lowest rated)

Appreciate if someone is willing to help me out or having the same issues and found a solution.

 

Found the answer on the "win 8.1 don't upgrade ..."thread. Uninstall win 8.1 touchpad driver and reinstall win 8 driver. I guess Samsung doesn't thoroughly test their drivers.

 

Actually a Samsung rep told people in the Netherlands that they will not void their warranty by replacing the HDD... But I'll find out soon enough since I have replaced it with an SSD and will be returning the laptop for warranty sometime soon (when I won't need it as much) because my SD card reader is still misbehaving... (unmounting SD cards all the time by itself and after a while it sometimes turns up as 'unrecognizable usb device' for a few days).

 

It's advisable to restore the hardware to the as-supplied condition before sending for service. Aside from avoiding the issue about the warranty validity, it means that the service people won't wipe your SSD while trying to debug the SD card reader (they could well start by reinstalling the factory image in order to confirm that it is not a software issue).

John

 

I was indeed planning on doing that

 

What OS are you on, 8 or 8.1? if on 8.1,,,, good luck with thaht, if on 8, id go back to the latest non beta stable release.

 

i tried beta 8 and couldn't even launch switchable graphics.

FOR ALL OF YOU OUT THERE USING the AMD beta's or WHQL, what do you mean by "Switchable Graphics Works"

when i try to install the drivers cleanly, i can't launch Switchable Graphics nor Intel Graphics Control Panel. When I follow the directions in the OP, the Intel Graphics Panel works fine and Switchable Graphics launches but shows lock signs next to the programs most relevant to using my AMD graphics card (e.g. media players and graphics programs). It's locked-in to the preferences I set before updating the drivers. The tooltip reads, "To ensure compatibility, this application is locked". I can reset the preference to their default for these locked applications but it is irreversibly fixed to this default thereafter. I've tried WHQL and several beta’s. The 13.9 WHQL seems to be least restrictive (i.e. less lock). By the way, all this applies to both programs installed before and after the driver update.

I tried searching and couldn't find any relevant posts in this forum and very little hits on google, the most relevant of which is this one on an HP forum. They just brush off the issue stating that certain programs only work with the integrated GPU (intel HD4000 in my case) which is the default GPU used from what I've read (ie must switch GPU to the AMD from this default via Switchable graphics). I'm sure this is the case for some programs but definitely not for most of the programs that are locked after upgrading drivers. When I restore back to the stock (old) drivers I can freely set my preferences to almost all applications, notably the media players, graphics programs that are locked after upgrading to the non-Samsung, AMD drivers.

Someone mentions that this is a bug -- one to me seems to render Switchable Graphics unusable. One workaround that someone suggested was to change the name of the *.exe file. This actually seems to work (on the surface at least). I have to manually add the new *.exe name and there’s no more lock sign and I’m able to set my preference (high performance, power saving, based on power source), but is all this kosher? Is it working/switching properly? I’m not sure if it’s cool to just change the names of programs like firefox or ie. Other than the shortcuts and changing it in my custom mouse settings (logietch), I feel like it might mess up something else I’m not thinking of. Thoughts?

Samsung told me that new drivers are going to be released in 1 or 2 weeks. This is great, but as much as I'd prefer using Samsung released graphics drivers I don't want to have to wait another year for their next upgrade.

Most people on this thread seems to be using the new AMD beta’s just fine. Am I really the only one who has this issue with locked applications when using non-Samsung graphics drivers released from AMD? How were the rest of you able to work around this problem?

Please, any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

p.s. any good alternatives to GPU-Z? never works on my computer.

 

Unfortunately, Samsung reps have a reputation of giving conflicting information...sometimes within the same call/chat session. If I were you, I would remove anything that you installed after the initial purchase (SSD, extra RAM, etc) before shipping it in. For all you know, they'll offer a "warranty replacement" rather than a repair.

 

- One other person a few pages back said that he only got switchable graphics to work with Beta 1 and not on any of the other betas. Switchable Graphics at least launches on Beta 1 for me but I have problems with application settings being locked (see my post above for details). I tried Beta 8 and couldn’t even launch Switchable Graphics. Base on this, I wouldn’t venture anything beyond Beta 1. you may want to try try 13.9 WHQL or lower. I myself have reverted back to the stock after having limited success with upgrades.

You mean this?

I've gotten this every time and the log is consistent with what you stated. If you run the "AMD Mobility Radeon Driver Verification Tool" from the AMD Beta website, it gives an incompatibility warning saying that we should use the Samsung drivers. Ideally I'd only use Samsung drivers since they customize it to our devices, but it's been almost a year since they came out with any upgrades for the drivers. That and the fact that everyone else on this forum seems to be using the Beta's just fine motivated me to try and upgrade drivers with limited success. Clearly there are some people (like us) that have trouble which justifies the warning message. I think it just means that it doesn’t have Samsung’s seal of approval. We definitely install at our own risk and it seems other people have gotten it to work just fine.

Of course when I asked about this in this thread, nobody replied. My message got flooded with everyone else asking their own questions. Cuz who the hell cares about us when their upgrades are working just fine, right?

- So I’m back on the stock Samsung drivers and am experiencing the same things with regards to hwinfo and righ-click systray -- ie. I only see Intel GPU. I would assume then, that all this is normal. However, I’m not sure if things got messed up between all the driver upgrade attempts and windows system restores I’ve made? I don’t think system restore is full proof and even Windows says that not everything might work right and that reinstalls may be necessary for affected programs. Somewhere along the line my Samsung “support center” program got messed up (no longer displays things properly) so I guess the system restore doesn't return things to the way they were perfectly?

I wanna say that I vaguely remember being able to use the dropdown menu in HWinfo and switch between viewing my iGPU (intel) and dedicated GPU (AMD), but I’m really not sure. I might be imagining things. For now, like you, I only see the iGPU when I right click CCC systray but I can't be sure if this is normal. Can anyone chime in on any of this, please? A simple, “I’m on stock, Samsung drivers and see the same thing” or “I’m on catalyst 13.xx and can toggle between the two."

As far as your Windows experience score is concerned, as you implied this score is whatever is lowest of the categories tested… I’ve read somewhere that the graphics drivers tested are for the iGPU as this is the default (from which Switchable Graphics is used to use the dedicated GPU for whatever programs that you want). So I wouldn't concern myself too much with these scores so long as the dedicated GPU is being used for the programs that you want (e.g. graphics intensive games like battlefield). Having said that, assuming we all have the same iGPU, 3.4 seems really low. If you’ve tried installing other Intel drivers I’d suggest you try switching back to what SW Upgrade has to offer. You’re not going to be able revert back directly through SW Upgrade. Instead you’ll have to find your model, then export the Intel graphics and install manually. I’m really not sure what the best way to uninstall and reinstall this driver is (ie. safe mode? use drive sweeper? display uninstaller? just use windows programs and features?). Recent experiences seem to contradict what I’m used to doing on my old computers. For example, you can't install AMD drivers in safe mode. And the instructions in OP only applies to AMD drivers not iGPU.

Here’s my windows score:


I get 6.7 on my graphics (lowest score). Another user eva2000 posted his scores in this thread which showed 7.0 for his graphics score. I thought that his graphics score was higher than mine because he had AMD 8800 series and I only have the ghettosuperstar 8700 series. This seems to contradict my earlier statement that dedicated GPU is not considered and therefore iGPU brings down the score. If dedicated graphics card does play a role then your score should be higher than mine.

me too

How exactly is Switchable Graphics not working? Can you at least launch Switchable Graphics? Is it available when you right click desktop?

If you can launch Switchable graphics are you seeing your applications greyed out with a lock sign next to it? When you on-mouse-over these locked applications do you get a tooltip popup that says “to ensure compatibility, this application is locked.”?

assuming that you don’t see a warning ! sign in device manager, can confirm that drivers are installed in device manager, the warning message during installation is expected, the skeptical signs that we are speculating about (which someone in this forum can definitely debunk) are normal, you can launch switchable graphics, the paragraph immediately above is preventing you from using your dedicated GPU for battlefield, THEN you may want to try to change the name of the *.exe file for the game and then, manually add the renamed *.exe file. Then set it to high performance to see if you get frame rates consistent with the 8800 series AMD GPU. It may be worth PMing Shinji_U since it seems he/she plays a lot of games, and has everything in working order with upgraded graphics drivers, unlike us.

That's a lot of if's and maybe's. I think it's best for us to wait for the new Samsung drivers. A rep told me it'll be available sometime this month (as early as 1 week late as end of the month). Those should work and be an upgrade from the old stocks. Still, it'll be nice to be able to use the newer Beta's from AMD since Samsung is soooo slow to upgrade their drivers. That way we won't have to wait another year for the next upgrade.

Hope this helps. And please chime in people. Thank you.

 

I'm also very aggravated with the lack of driver support for the AMD 8770m on my NP780Z5E. Samsung tech support in the United States confirmed that the AMD graphics drivers that came with the computer do not properly interface w/ the card, but they did not have any estimates on when new drivers might be released. Which model notebook do you have? I'm trying to decide if I should accept an upgrade to the NP880Z5E or a different Samsung model if offered by the executive customer relations team.

 

Come on guys,anybody with NP770Z5E-S01
I dont play games but i need notebook with good battery when i am on sea.
So,please can you help me and tell how many hours this notebook can go with watching movies(at least with 90% battery).
Also i am streaming movies from web so if you can get close to that scenario it would be great.
I dont ask to test battery,just look what battery icon says in tray after streaming 720p movie for 5 minutes.
Does discrete graphic turn on when watching movies,and if it is,can that be disable so it run only on HD4000?

 

New drivers in 1-2 weeks, supposedly. We've waited this long. I know it's been frustrating but I ask you to wait just a little longer my friend. I went on S Service to chat with a consultant yesterday and got word that a new set of updates is imminent. I actually posted the transcript here if you're interested.

I think Samsung is well aware of the fact that this whole 8.1 upgrade has been a mess and are working to remedy the situation ASAP. When I spoke with them about a week ago the guy told me not to upgrade to 8.1 YET, when I didn't even ask. As soon as I connected and before I had a chance to explain my issue he asked me whether I was on 8.1 and not to upgrade yet (kinda out of nowhere).

I have NP880Z5E-X01UB (US BestBuy). If you look up the model via SW Update the 8 drivers are the same for graphics and the recent upgrades for Sound, Touchpad (don't upgrade this!), chipset, etc are listed. But if you click on the 8.1 drivers the new upgrades people have chatting about on this thread are available. The Samsung guy says
1. these upgrades are incomplete
2. don't upgrade to these
3. new updates are coming out in 1-2 weeks
So I think we should wait.

 

Okay, so that's the order gone in for my NP780Z5E-T01UK, for delivery on Tuesday.

Does anyone have any tips for things I should do straight away during set up?

I'll not be installing an SSD straight away, but I hope to do so in a little while (when I can afford to get one with a decent enough capacity). Would it be better to make the bootable USB stick now, or is it fine to just do it when I'm going to do the replacement?

 

780z5e owner here, and I'm wondering if anyone knows how to address the problem of the system automatically lowering the volume to 42 (rather than 100) when I plug in headphones or restart the system. Before I installed Windows 8.1, I was able to fix this issue by disabling the Realtek HD Audio Manager, but now that doesn't do anything. This is rather annoying, as it keeps lowering my volume to something that's almost inaudible, because even at 100 the loudness (through headphones) isn't really that great. Speaking of which, does anyone know how to get more loudness out of this system, or has everyone else noticed that it's not that loud? I have already checked the "do nothing" box, as well as the "disable all enhancements" box. Also, does anyone hear noise when they turn up the volume?

 

You will really want to install a faster hard drive ASAP. It is the biggest hardware limitation of the computer, and the stock hard drive is one of the slowest hard drives I've ever experienced. If you can't afford an SSD with enough space to suit your needs, you may want to consider a hybrid drive. I have one in my computer now, and it's still 300 times better than the stock drive.

Before you create a recovery disk, run "sw update" because there is an update to the recovery software. And for a list of what programs to keep/delete, check out the first page of this forum. Hope that helps.

 

Hi everyone! After system recovery I have got a problem with amd drivers. All worked fine but since I´ve done recovery amd installer always give me an error after installing amd drivers 13.10 beta and newer. I delted amd files from registry but problems still persist. In amd catalyst I cannot adjust power saving or high performance so simply I cannot choose anything. Please help. Recovery came fine and I restored my samsung to point when it was shipped to me. Thanks in advance.

 

Hello guys,

Brilliant post, very useful articles.
I have already replaced the hard disk for a SSD on my 870Z5E-X04DE. Excellent performance now !!

I am looking how to replace the keyboard. The German QWERTZ layout is not suitable for me
I am afraid this replacement is not as easy as the SSD one because it seems all the pieces need to be disassembled ...

I have found the Service Manual on SM-NP880Z5EX01UB - SERVICE MANUAL (USD 12)

Anybody has replaced its keyboard?

A lot of thanks,
David

 

Ähm...

I don't think that is possible. You would need keys a new cover and some other stuff...

 

Hi guys. I'm thinking of buying the Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 250GB SSD.

Can anyone recommend me a Caddy for the SSD?

About the SSD, should I buy the Single Unit Version or the Notebook Kit Version?

 

It looks like the Singe Unit version is just a bare drive, whereas the Notebook Kit includes: SSD Drive, USB 3.0 to SATA Cable, Drive Spacer, Samsung Data Migration Software, Samsung SSD Magician Software. If you are putting it in a Samsung notebook, then you'll really only need the USB3->SATA cable (assuming that you don't have one or an external 2.5 drive enclosure to use). The software cannot be used to properly clone the notebook anyway (you'll lose the F4 boot menu). If you might end up installing it in another system, you may want the kit.

 

You need a complete keyboard / keyboard surround / palmrest /touchpad (?) unit. They aren't cheap. NP770 / NP780 / NNP870 / NP880 are probably physically the same but may be different colours. The change is feasible but involves a complete strip down of the computer.

What nationality keyboard are you looking for? And you will need to restore the computer to the as- supplied condition should you need warranty service unless you pay an official Samsung service agent to do the exchange.

John

 

To get the new keyboard is not a problem, i.e samsung keyboard 870z5e | eBay

What I am looking for is the way to dissamble the whole machine in a right way ...

 

Can you relate the keyboard, as shown here, for example, with what you have got on your computer. Is there a joint around the keyboard unit? I see no joint around the keyboard in the photos in this review.

John

 

Hi John,

This is my first reply Since you guys are talking about the keyboard, I really want to ask have you also noticed that the bottom edge of the laptop (where my palm rests when typing/browsing) is very sharp? Do you use anything to cover it? Especially the part that right below the trackpad.

BTW, I am a owner of the 770Z7E, the 17' one.

Thanks

 

Hi,

I finally found the time to install my SSD drive which has been lying around here for a couple of months and indeed the laptop is a lot faster and better to use now (actually worls of difference!). But sadly enough I still have some strange issues which I hoped would be gone after a clean install (did a clean Windows 7 install because my recovery was kind of broken anyway). Everytime I try to restart the laptop it freezes for a couple of seconds and then shuts down, and I have to manually start it again. This is not that bad, but I see the same behavior when it's trying to go into hibernation, but then it doesn't recover from it anymore and I have to shut it down and restart it again. Sometimes it can recover from hibernation after a manual restart by pressing the power button for a couple of seconds, but most of the time not.

Obviously this is rather annoying, and I hoped this issue would have been fixed by clean install. I think I started having this issue when playing around with the bootloader when the other HDD with windows 8 was still installed on it, so I think it's more something related to the bios or something then the windows installation.

When I try to reset the default settings in the BIOS which I had to change to make the bootable USB stick work, my laptop doesn't boot anymore as well. It doesn't find any bootable device then.

Hope someone has seen this before or has any suggestions on how I could fix this issue

Thanx,
Kenzo

 

@Guoshima: On Samsung laptops it is recommended that you install Win7 in Legacy BIOS mode on an MBR disk, instead of UEFI mode and GPT disk (which is default on your machine). If your SSD wasn't already MBR, and if you didn't change your BIOS settings correctly, that could very well be the reason for the issues you are seeing.

Try and follow this Win7 install guide, which includes steps for converting Win8-delivered machines and disks before starting the Win7 install.

BTW, I am sorry I never got around to answer your questions here last week about salvaging your Recovery. I've had to spend my time away from the forum lately (and still have to). Sounds like you moved on, though.

Clean install should be easy if you follow the steps in that guide (including the various conversion and BIOS settings).

 

im on 8, not 8.1 i dont want these problems, like others have, i also have tried all different choices regarding the install/uninstall of amd and intel gfx, but still seeing only 1 hd4000 in ccc properties, think it has to be that way then.

 

Is there any way to download 8870M Beta Drives.

If yes, where can I find them.

Thanks!

 

That's my NP780Z5E-T01UK just arrived, and its charging up now.

 

Could anyone with an 770Z5E look in the BIOS and check the MICOM version please? I have a different version than the BIOS Version and I wonder if that has something to do with the crash during the update.
Thanks

 

No problem for the other thread, and thank you for the reply again. The guide looks really handy and detailed. I used the guide on the first post of this thread from black83 and everything worked fine accept that I still have the shutdown, restart, hibernation issues. I checked this morning and my drive is currently set to MBR, and I did perform the BIOS switches as suggested in the first post. But now I can't restore them anymore. Win7 was installed on a completely clean SSD drive.

Do you think that if I follow the guide again and format my drive and do everything as suggested that the shutdown freezes could be fixed? The guide is for installing from a DVD, but I guess all the same steps apply when I want to install from a bootable USB stick. And do I also still have to use the DISKPART to format the drive for MBR again then?

Kind Regards,
Kenzo

 

Ok, got it. You're way ahead of me then. I just wanted to make sure you were properly switched and converted to Legacy BIOS/MBR when running Win7. And no, you don't need to make that switch again, it's just the first time.

My first suspicion on the shutdown issues would be whether Chipset drivers and a recent version of Easy Settings are installed.

If you decide to try re-installing, I would say start out installing only SW Update provided drivers (except as noted in the guide), not OEM or beta drivers. Once you have stability, make an image backup, and THEN you can start tweaking and testing fancier drivers. But maybe that's what you already did

Oh, on the 2013 models (which don't have ExpressCache) you can install from USB or DVD, no difference.

 

Windows 8.1 users - I just noticed that in the Touchpad settings there is no longer a setting for 3-finger swipes. Is it just me? Thanks!

Edit: Nevermind - went to the Program Files\Elantech folder and opened the ETDSimpleUI.exe executable instead of the Win8 executable and it is there. Why would it be removed in the other? Stupid.

 

Hi Dannemand,

I tried playing around with some settings and checking some threads on the internet but I am not closer yet in finding out what is causing my freezes on shutdown/restart/hibernation/sleep.

The event manager has the following critical errors for a few of the hangs (doesn't detect all of them):
Critical 5/11/2013 20:20:54 Kernel-Power 41 (63)
The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

Event log entries are very vague and don't really give me any lead. But I don't think it's related to Windows or any drivers. Because now I remeber that I had some strange 'issues' already during the installation of Windows 7. When it wants to restart it freezed for a few seconds and then shuts down instead of restarting.
I think there might still be a Grub boot loader installed but I tried removing it via Bootrec.exe /FixMbr in windows recovery but I still have the issue (read this on a forum post somewhere). Even when I load the bios and exit + save, it feels like the shutdown is hanging for a few seconds. It always shuts down then, but doesn't reboot. If I remember correctly the laptop is supposed to reboot when I apply changes from the Bios instead of shutting down?

As mentioned before, the issue started happening when I was playing around with trying to recover/repair my Recovery Partition on Windows 8. The tools I used were MiniTool Partition Magic, EasyBCD and Testdisk. I don't know if any of these tools could have the side effects which I am currently experiencing though.

Cheers,
Kenzo

 

@Goushima: If Windows Setup complained already during installation, I would try clean installing again, using the guide. Make sure the disk is MBR first, and OS Mode Selection = CSM OS. You already knew that

 

Hi all,

Yesterday I ordered NP770Z5E-S01PL (12gb RAM version) and it should arrive tomorrow so I still have some time to dig through all info relevant for my new toy. You guys post A LOT but it's all good, I love to have as much warnings about possible problems and real users feedback as I can so keep'em coming But amount of issues you have is pretty astonishing, 21st century and we still have to either take whatever bloat they give us or struggle with obstacles to make their hardware work as it should. One could imagine those R&D departments should have some idea about how people use products they design, it's not like it is first laptop ever.

I also ordered Samsung 250GB 2,5 SATA SSD 840 EVO 7mm and Windows 8.1 because I really don't like stuff laptop manufacturers put in their installations so I intend to switch from hdd to ssd and do clean Windows install. With that being said I may wait with this until Samsung releases fixes for 8.1 problems you reported. Hopefully that tech support guy wasn't just pushing usual helpdesk bullsh!t about fixes being delivered in relatively short time

It will be my first time ever changing hard drive in laptop on my own and I really hope I won't break anything just after unpacking it.

Ok, that's it from me for now, I will probably share my excitement tomorrow.

Have fun

 

Quick question regarding factory recovery set and backup of existing install to USB flash drive. I take it you can't create both on the same USB pendrive? Especially if use option to make each backup bootable.

Only considering both backups to avoid having to upgrade supplied Windows 8.0 to 8.1 in the future if require restoring.

 

is there any way to strip the 0 numkey of its popup menu function?

 

That's a good question, definitely worth testing: Create a Factory Image backup on the stick and ENABLE the Create Boot Disk option. Then save a regular backup of the install to the same USB, but DISABLE the Create Boot Disk option. Now boot that USB and see if both images are there.

In any case, make sure you have a working bootable factory image backup at the end of the day. So many people would have been helped after the 8.1 debacle if they had had that backup.

 

What exactly are we supposed see normally? Something like...
1. Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
2. AMD Radeon HD 8xx0M
???

I did a system restore to stock Samsung drivers but I'm not sure if everything went 100% smoothly. I get this on right click:
1. Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
2. Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000



which doesn't seem normal. Does this mean that my settings in CCC doesn't apply when AMD crad is used (e.g. 3D settings).

If I want to reinstall the same stock drivers do I follow the same instructions as in the OP? Or is it best to use something like Display Driver Uninstaller, or Driver Fusion in like safemode or something?

Switchable Graphics seems to be in good working order for me so I wouldn't want to mess that up.

 

Hi All,

Everything run well for about 1 week, then my computer start to reboot automatically right after I shut it down.
It happens when the notebook is already shutdown and I unplug the power supplier, after 10s it reboot but without recognizing the SATA port. CTRL+ALT+DEL doesn't work, the SATA still unrecognized, I have to press the power button few seconds to be sure the notebook is shutdown.
Very annoying issue, because I already get my computer running in my bag several hours and get it very hot!

I tried the tips of the first page, uninstalling and reinstalling the HD4000 driver from SW, but it didn't work out.
Does anyone have a solution?

My config:
NP880Z5E-X01HK
16G DDR3
8870M
SSD Samsung 840 Pro 512G
Windows 8.1

 

Hi,

reinstalled Windows 7 according to the earlier mentioned guide and still have the same reboot/hibernation issue. When I want to hibernate, everything shuts down nicely, and I see a black screen, and just before it wants to actually go to sleep, it kind of freezes up. Power button is still blue and WIFI light on the keyboad is also still burning. CTRL+ALT+DEL also doesn't work anymore, or any other key combination. When I force it to shutdown by pressing the power buttong for a few seconds then it sometimes is able to resume my previous session by restoring my windows, but must of the time it's just a cold boot.

I tested this right after Windows 7 was fully installed (no extra network or video drivers or anything installed yet) and it still happens.

It's kind of comparable to the issues Brunchy is explaining, but it doesn't look like my laptop reboots, but just stays into that 'stramge' mode. The laptop also gets hot and keeps running and uses battery power.

Cheers,
Kenzo

 

Yes, it's exactly the same issue, actually it also freezes sometimes on black screen, sometimes on recovery mode (few white sentences on black background asking pressing F4), but never boot on windows since SATA port became unavailable.
Since I am using Win 8.1 and you are using Win7, it doesn't looks to be linked to windows itself.
By the way, my Bios is P03ADH.
I am trying now to restore my system 2 days ago, I will let you know.

 

My BIOS is currently P05ABU, but I think I was P03 yesterday as well, and had the same issues. Would be good to know if the restore fixes it.

 

Problem solved
The windows restore didn't work, so I've been to the Bios setting and did a "Restore Defaults" and everything back to normal.
Actually when your notebook is shutdown and you unplug the power supply, you should see a battery's picture on screen, but before I could not see it (stick on black screen). Now I see the battery pic.
Hope it will help you and others with same issue.

 

@Guoshima: Thanks for the update. The fact that you get exactly the same symptoms after a reinstall is kind of encouraging. Consistency is always better, even though it doesn't directly solve it.

Which Easy Settings version did you install? I'd be interested if the same problem exists regardless of whether Easy Settings is installed or not.

Since you're on a BIOS/MBR Win7 setup, your situation is very different from Brunchy's UEFI/GPT Win8.1 - even if the symptoms are similar.

That said, if you updated your BIOS recently, resetting it is absolutely advisable. But you have to subsequently change to CSM OS mode, otherwise you wont be able to boot at all.

 

So, my new 770Z5E arrived today. I started it, windows sloooooowly got up after asking me stupid questions and "preparing" itself. I run Samsung Update app it downloaded and installed some updates with couple of sloooow restarts on the way. Boy, that 5400 rpm disc is really slow. I decided it is time to get serious and switch to ssd.

As I wrote previously this was first time I ever did anything inside my laptop. I never dismantled any of my old ones and this was just bought so you can imagine stability of my hands

First, prying back cover off was a nightmare. I wasn't exactly sure how much pressure I can apply and where so it took me almost half an hour before I finally figured it out and got some significant progress. But once I got a hang of it cover was off in no time.

Ok, so this is how it looks inside...

I watched few videos about series 7 so I knew where is hdd and how to get it out. Four screws and it should be out. First went easy, second and third too, fourth... not. ? I got more physical but to no avail, it wasn't turning at all! . My first attempt of serious business and fail? No way.

I looked closely at hdd casing and tried to lift it up. It went quite easy and it simply bent at the thin piece where last screw was keeping it hard. Hmm... ok. With one hand I got rid of four screws keeping hdd inside, slid it out, put sdd in, screws back into holes, plug it in and bent casing back down. Now quickly three screws mounting it to mobo and voila!

I put back cover back and pressed power button. No smoke, no sparks... On screen message that there is no system blah blah blah. Bootable pendrive with my own Windows 8.1 was ready so I plugged it in and restarted machine. Windows installer started and few minutes later I saw clean fresh Windows 8.1.

At this moment I had to have a smoke

I noticed I can't change brightness of a screen and I think only integrated GPU is used even though radeon seems to have latest drivers installed. Amd automatic installer said something about not compatible hardware but I will have to have a closer look at it. Probably I have all symptoms of Win 8.1 everybody else reported but I didn't noticed them all yet. I'm not sure if I should install Samsung update software or keep Windows clean from it and just wait for some drivers from them.

Anyway laptop looks great and with ssd is awesomely fast and that screen, wow. I am 100% happy with my choice.

Ok, that's it for now.

Bye.

 

You will have to install Samsung's SW Update to get Settings version 2.2.0.5 (listed under Windows 8.1 for the NP940X3G). That should get the Fn key controls for brightness etc working.

John