Samsung 2012 Series 7 Chronos (NP700Z3, NP700Z4 & NP700Z5 series) Owners Lounge

@yjgfikl Your sound problem sounds familiar to mine, altough mine only happened once. I do also have the 6....6699 driver but i have not noticed any problem on startup/returning from sleep...

And about my screen... i'm going to hand it in to a service store and use my warranty. I will also tell them about my sound incident... perhaps they have some answers. Will keep you noticed through this thread if they tell me anything useful!

 

Anyone else on Series 7 or Series 9 with Windows 8 facing problems with Chrome not displaying the page correctly till you refresh. This seems to be an issue many are facing according to the following thread:

Google Groups

Does anyone know how to report it so Samsung?

I am on a Chronos 7 with the same problem and the following solution suggested on the thread worked for me:

1 - Click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar (3 horizontal lines).
2 - Select Settings.
3 - Click Show advanced settings.
4 - In the "Users" section, click Add new user.
5 - The confirmation dialog Appears, choose a picture and enter a name for the new Chrome user.
6 - Click Create.
7 - A new window for the user Appears, with the picture you've chosen for the user in the top corner. Here, you can sign in to your Google Account with Chrome to associate the account with the user. Once signed in, all your bookmarks, apps, extensions, theme, and browser settings will Appear in the new user you just created.
8 - Now that you have all your stuff in the new user, you can simply go back to the settings and delete the first user.
9 - If all goes well, the problem should not return.

 

Thanks libbrichus, I was beginning to think i was the only one with this problem! I have the same issue on chrome and firefox, haven't tried the fix yet but worry about the root cause and other issues that could arise in time seeing there is an obvious problem.
I purchased an asus machine today, still have the samsung. If no fix is forthcoming the samsung will have to go back even though i love everything else about it.

 

Hi, everybody.
Does enybody know where can I get a copy of recovery partition for Samsung NP700z3 (14")?
Accidentally have deleted all partitions on my HDD without backup copy.
Or it would be great if somebody can upload it somewhere.
I know it around 10gb, but if it's not difficult, please, help.

 

Is there anybody else who has problems with the FN buttons? When I press volume up or volume down or any other FN key, there's a lag of a second or two before the action is executed.

 

I wonder if it is a latency issue. This thread describes how the process works.

John

 

Thanks John, this did the job.

 

Heya.

Well i am intrested in buying this version of the Chronos series NP700Z5AH i5-2450, radeon 6750m 6 gigs RAM For only 440£. Is it worth it? Of course but i mean its worth the hassle? Because reading in this forum about its problems like the touchpad the wifi connection and some driver problmes with the videocard.
There is an another notebook also samsung but the 5. series 550P5C for 500£ with the i5 3210 and comes with only the intel hd 4000. Less hassle with it far as I heard.
Chorons would be a better buy at this price but its problems are not gamebraker? And the difference betwen the CPU ar big?

 

Guys my computer bricked. I dont know what happened but all of a sudden when i boot my computer it gets stuck on the samsung boot screen where it lets me press f2 for bios or f4 for recovery. I can get into both, but when trying to recover using a recovery cd made in windows 7 it, it isnt able to diagnose a problem or fix it. It just remains stuck at the screen and wont boot! Please help!

It isnt able to system restore as it says the drive is locked. im not sure what to do now. Ive read of an issue where people trying to load a live linux cd and it gets stuck and when they power cycle it bricks their computer. I dont want this happening. Is there any way to fix it without taking it to a service center?

I also removed the back cover and removed the battery and memory once and pressed the power button to try and reset whatever...idk. help?

edit - I have a NP700Z3A running windows 8. All drivers were up to date.

 

@desiromeo: That sucks, sorry to hear that.

I cannot help you with Win8, but I have some ideas you can try to at least get the PC back.

1) I know you want to just get your PC running again, but your fist priority should be data backup, in case you have to wipe and restore the entire HDD. The fact that you can F4 boot your recovery is excellent. Use that to make a Data Backup to an external USB drive and backup System Software to a DVD (or USB drive).

In addition to that I would use Parted Magic to backup individual files and folders to an external HDD. Yes, it's a Linux Live CD, but I've used it on the same Samsung model without problems. I would then make a backup of the entire Recovery Partition while at it: Just copy every file and folder on that Recovery Partition to a backup folder on your external drive. You may need it.

If you absolutely don't want to use a linux Live CD, you can boot your Windows 7 Setup disk, press Shift-F10 to open a command prompt, then use XCOPY <source> <destination> /E to copy folders to an external USB drive or memory card. You can even backup your Recovery Partition this way, as described in this post.

2) Also in F4 Recovery, make a USB Admin Tool as described in this post. You'll need a USB stick of at least 512 GB. Save this just in case.

Now you're backed up in case you lose the drive.

3) Call Samsung, particularly if you used their process to upgrade to Win8. Who knows, maybe they have a fix. And logging this call with them and giving them a chance to help (before any further messing around) increases the chance they will fix it for free in case you have to send it in.

Following are some things to try if Samsung cannot help you. Only proceed if you have backup.

4) If you have a Win8 Setup Disk (or can make one) I would boot that and try whatever Repair it has (assuming it's similar to Win7). This would be my preferred option.

5) Boot F4 Recovery again and try the Complete Restore function. It will wipe everything (including data), re-partition your HDD and restore the Factory Win7 image. If this works, you should have your original PC back.

6) Alternatively (or if that Complete Restore doesn't work) boot your USB Admin Tool and try the MBR Fix function in there. You COULD lose everything on your drive (including the Recovery Partition), but with a little luck, it may fix things so that you can boot Win8 again without losing anything.

7) Worst come to worst, start over completely: Boot USB Admin Tool, use STEP 1: Disk Partitioning, then restore the contents of your Recovery Partition that you backed up in step (1). Follow the description in this post. This is a rather elaborate procedure, but should allow you to run the Complete Restore in recovery and get back to factory state.

8) Alternatively, start over with a completely wiped HDD and do a clean install of Win7 or 8. I recently posted this Win7 clean install guide to another member. He was looking to replace his HDD with an SSD, but starting at step (5) it should be the same procedure.

I am sure there are other things you could try. Maybe others have great ideas. Let us know how it goes.

 

Hi thank you so much for your response. I tried to boot from a recovery cd but the computer refuses to boot from the cd. I have checked the boot order and the dvd drive comes before the hd. I was able to boot from a usb recovery drive somehow and tried the complete restore option to no avail. It did not work, nor did the diagnose error part. I did try the mbr fix from the command tool while booted into the usb recovery which didnt work either. Unfortunately I cant put in another cd because the recovery one that I made wont boot nor am I able to remove it. ( I was thinking of trying gparted to wipe the drives, but cant do that obviously). Not sure what else to do besides have samsung repair it...

 

Yeah, I didn't mean to make just any backup or boot any USB tool or try any MBR fix. I meant the very specific ones described in my post - and the posts I link. They were researched and tested (many times over) on your specific Samsung model.

As for booting the ODD, make sure UEFI and Fast BIOS Boot are disabled in BIOS, and Legacy USB is enabled. Then hit Esc repeatedly, starting about 1-2 secs after power on (not just restart). It may take a few tries. Power off each time and try again.

 

@desiromeo: I just re-read my last post, which I wrote on my phone while out and about; admittedly it's a bit... well, terse I apologize for that.

Here is the thing: The fact that you can F4 boot Recovery means we can almost certainly get your PC restored to Win7 factory state -- which is probably what you would get if you send it in to Samsung.

But it requires very specific steps, involving that USB Admin Tool I mentioned. This is a Samsung specific tool can only be created by F4 booting your Recovery and going to Management Mode using a Samsung password -- as described in step (5) of the post I linked.

Many users only realize they need this tool after they lost their Recovery Partition or the ability to boot it. So again, the fact that you can still boot yours means we most likely can save it.

Of course it means completely wiping and re-partitioning your disk and losing all data. That's why I suggested you focus on backup first AND on steps that might get your current installation running again. One of them is booting the Win8 DVD (if you have one or can make one), so keep trying that. The other is that Samsung specific MBR fix available in the SRS5 USB Admin Tool.

If both of those fail, we should look at a complete re-build -- again as described in the post linked in my original response.

The only things that might prevent a successful re-build are (A) actual hardware defect; (B) a corrupted BIOS; (C) changes or corruption to the recovery partition, making if different from the original SRS5. Any of those means you'd have to send it in.

Let me know how it goes. I'll help you.

Update: DO NOT wipe the drive yet with Gparted. Not without creating that USB Admin Tool first AND making backups of the Recovery Partition. Once again, as described in the post I linked. Sorry to sound like a broken record

 

Hi guys, owner of Samsung NP700Z5 here, and I have a problem.
Recently my notebook started to make very loud noises, which can only be rid off if I reboot the notebook or turn it into a sleep mode.
Besides the noises it works pretty neat, but the noises made me worry that there's something seriusly wrong with laptop.
At first I thought it could be problems with HDD, so I downloaded Seagate utility for hard drive testing, which found not problems at all.
So I guess it's not HDD (which i hope, because from what I understand that would be disastrous) or maybe I should try another program for testing it (could you recommend some?)
The most important part of the post, the recording of the noise it makes is right here:
https://soundcloud.com/serg9/notebook-makes-very-creepy
Can you tell me what could me making this noise and how i should proceed to eliminate it?
Thanks in advance.
P.S: Sorry for bad English, it's not not my first language.

 

Hi. I've got a NP700Z5B-W01UB. Whenever I try to burn a CD or DVD, the max burn speed that I can get is 24x/8x respectively. It isn't the media, since I can burn full speed on my Linux box. I use Taiyo Yuden media, so the quality should be good. It tried two different burner programs but got the same results. Samsung Chat Support says that it is a limitation of the drive itself, but that seems unlikely (to me, at least). Anyone else having this problem or know how to fix it? Thanks.

 

Those are quite likely the maximum speeds provided by a notebook burner. They are designed for relatively low power consumption, which means lower burning speed. What model burner is it? Device Manager should give enough info.

John

 

Does anyone else have Easy Settings 1.1.1.4 break your brightness controls on Windows 7? I'm not just talking about the keyboard function keys, but also the brightness control in Easy Settings and in Power Options. I've had to stick with 1.1.1.2.

 

I am on Win7 and used Easy Settings 1.1.1.4 since it's release last summer until mid November, when I updated to 2.x (part of the Settings 2.0.0.30 for Win8 package). I never had that problem, and I adjust brightness all the time.

If you haven't already, I would uninstall, then re-install Easy Settings (reboot in between).

WHILE Easy Settings is uninstalled (i.e. before you re-install it) make sure the Windows brightness control works (in Power Oprions). If it DOESN'T work, Easy Settings and Fn-keys won't work either. I would look at Graphics drivers in that case (AMD or Nvidia/Intel, depending on you model).

 

When I switch on my laptop it takes a while for the Fn keys to become active, this is most annoying for the sound and wireless selection functions. I assume this is because Easy Settings is taking a while to load? Is there anyway I can improve this?

thanks

 

I agree, that delayed loading of the Fn-key module is one of the most annoying aspects of Easy Settings. There are some things you can do:

1) The post linked here tells you how to tweak the loading of select Easy Settings modules to make Fn-keys available faster.

2) If you prefer a more aggressive approach, the post linked here covers how to strip Easy Settings down to just the Fn-keys module. It's part of a thread discussing how to trim Samsung software in general. More detailed steps are in the post linked here .

3) Easy Settings v2.x (which you have to extract from the Win8 Settings package) loads faster (but still slowly). They changed the modules, and you have to be careful about tweaking their load times, as described towards the end of the post linked here.

Hope that works for you.

 

It's is a Mata UJ8A7AS. I couldn't really find any info about it online, other than the fact that lots of people want to hack them to make them region free It really isn't of much use to me if it really is as slow as it seems. I guess I'll get me an external burner and install something useful in that space - like an SSD.

Thanks.

 

I agree, the www is devoid of an official specs sheet for that burner. You can check the rates speeds using the free Nero InfoTool. You will get much faster burning with a desktop burner. For the number of discs I burn each year I'm content to settle for the notebook burner speed.

John

 

Hi there,

I recently got the Samsung Series 7 Chronos (17.3"). I just wanted to know how exactly I can configure my GPU settings since this laptop has Intel HD 4000 and Nvidia GeForce 650m. I'm aware that optimus automatically configures the GPU depending on tasks executed on pc. But how do manually configure this? For example, how do I activate the Nvidia GPU or how would I know its activated? Since I want to use it for movies + gaming.

Also, talking about movies, there is a relative difference when watching the movie in its original size in comparison to fullscreen (doesn't appy for web videos). I know this sounds logical but even when I convert the file to HD and to a resolution of 1920x1080, the quality is still the same. In addition to this, my mac pc plays the exact same videos with fullscreen in stable and decent quality. Thoughts?

Thank you in advance

 

@SgtBaker: I am afraid I cannot help on your specific questions. But I think you're much more likely to find answers -- and fellow owners of the Z7C (17" Series 7) -- in the thread linked here.

Update: I forgot: Welcome to the forum, and congrats on your new PC. I want one of those when my old 18" HP dies some day.

 

@Dannemand: Haha, thats nice of you. I actually had a hp compaq for at least 5/6 years so you can imagine how relieved I was when I got this laptop
Anyways, thanks, I'll head there right away.

Oh wait, 18"?!

 

18.4" actually. HP HDX 18. 3.5 years old, but still a great machine. The first year I traveled with it to Asia and Europe -- it's huge, but I needed the screen real estate. Now it's just a desktop replacement using both the internal 1920x1080 screen and an external 23" 1920x1200 screen.

 

Unless you use a very charitable airline that must have been your one and only hand baggage. One of the advantages of my current NP900X4C is that the bag I carry it in is smaller enough to put inside my other piece of hand baggage in case airline staff start muttering "only one piece of hand baggage".

John

 

As far as graphics, I've got one of the newer models with Nvidia. Brightness control has, to my knowledge, always worked while Easy Settings was uninstalled. That being said, I'm noticing that it isn't necessarily strictly caused by 1.1.1.4, but is some sort of combination of actions that causes it, but I can't reproduce these consistently yet. I'll see if I can figure it out. Anyway, thanks for the info, I may consider going to 2.x.

 

Hello all,
I'd like to express my sincere thanks for the great amount of information and knowledge regarding our beloved series 7. I am in my second week with the machine, upgrading from my trusty old 7 year old laptop! As you may guess I have researched my purchase quite well, and have been following this thread for some days now (finally read all!).
So as to not double post I would like to share my findings regarding the LCD panel, post #66 if the ICC profile thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/629656-samsung-series-7-chronos-np700z4-np700z5-icc-profile-7.html#post9010084

You will be able to downlad the color settings I've posted there. Ufortunately as you will read and probably verify, this panel is somewhat out of industry specs which makes it a bit more difficult to arrive at optimal color settings (I've posted an explanation for this)... Still, after several days of playing with the machine I have arrived at what I hope are very pleasing settings for photo retouch, desktop, and movie playback use. Hope some of you will be able to test these new settings as well and please do comment if you find those useful.

 

@rigman: That's a great post about profile settings, very useful information. And congrats on your new laptop. Which model did you get?

 

I got a bag that fit the HP HDX 18" perfectly. Usually I would carry both that bag and a small roller on board. Back then (up until 2009) I was travelling extensively on United and Star Alliance and they always let me do that. Maybe it's different now, dunno. I am off that race, and happily so

 

Dannemand, thanks!
I got an NP700Z4A-S02MX, which has the smaller 84key keyboard but with a 15" display. I believe this model is rather rare from what I've seen, but it was perfect for me as I don't need the extra num keys and was looking at having at least the 15" screen (my previous laptop has this screen size so I didn't want to go with a smaller one since I am so used to it). I also find the keyboard and the trackpad more to the center in this model (like the 14" version), and it seems some of the keys are less cramped than on the models with the num.pad.
At first I thought it was a typo from samsung and I was getting the 14" version but if you compare pictures you can see the extra space on each side next to the keyboard. Maybe this is the 15.6" screen and chassis???
My lcd screen (the visible portion, just the pixel area) measures some 33.2mm width by 18.8mm... the width of the machine (If I measure the bezel area from left to right) is 35cm wide, are you guys getting the same size on the series 7 with 15.6" screen?
Just curious to see if what I have here is a different sized chassis...
Mine looks exactly like the enclosed picture, just has the memory card slot in the front to the left.

 

Yes, that model is quite rare. The display is the same size as the 15" Series 9 (it could well be the same panel). I also think its a very convenient size with the pixel size almost the same as the 14.1" 1440 x 900 panels of a previous generation and the notebook is usefully smaller than a standard 15.6" model. Samsung put the "4" in the model number to indicate that the computer size was equivalent to a 14" notebook. I'm a bit surprised that they haven't been selling this size more aggressively since there are no direct competitors that I know of.

John

 

@rigman: I've noticed that model number, figuring as John said, the 4 implies it's the size of a "normal" 14 inch. But you are indeed the first I've heard who owned it.

I have the older Z3A (14 inch screen, physical size of a "normal" 13 inch) and I really like the pixel density of 1600x900 on this one. For me, 15.6 inch would be too big a screen for that resolution.

Coming from an older 18 inch as my primary PC, I've had my eyes on the Z7C for when the time comes for replacement. It has the right resolution and size for me (1920x1080 on a 17 inch) and I NEED that NumPad. I hope Samsung will be refreshing it over the next year.

 

John, yes I was a bit suprised too that they are not marketing them much. Here I had never seen one in a store, they alway have the less powerfull series but not the cronos. In the end I had to special order it through a dedicated computer shop. I am so glad it did not dissapoint even considering all the little issues. Build quality is great, this machine feels solid.

Dannemand, that 17 inch screen at those resolutions in a laptop will be sweet. Personally I wouldn't get that resolution in smaller screens (anything less than 15"), but that's just me. I just spend so much time in front of the machines.

Now since this new cronos is basically my desktop replacement I am thinking of getting some sort of docking station (usb 3.0 perhaps). Planning to get a nice 23 or 25" monitor, plus external keyboard and mouse... Video will go through HDMI or perhaps through the usb3.0 if I get the docking station... Not sure how would the usb3 video would hold up when gaming with the ATI card...

 

It turns out it wasn't Easy Settings, it was a bug in Windows. See here, as I'm sure others with this laptop have had this problem: Screen brightness changes and you cannot adjust the screen brightness after you resume a laptop from sleep mode in Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2

 

Regarding the NP700Z5 series, I don't want to say anything that might offend the great prior work on these ICC profiles that people have posted, but I've found that simply creating a profile using the Windows "calibrate display color" tool, whereby you leave everything at their defaults until you get to the RGB controls, and then just knock the blue slider down to about half or a little above that (wherever white still looks fairly white), has done the trick for me. I then go in to Color Management and make this calibration the default.

Maybe I'm used to having a little less blue light since I've used f.lux in the past, but simply doing this has gotten rid of the horrible blue tinge on the picture with this panel for me, and seems to be much more balanced.

 

So finally i got my NP700Z5C-S03IT with a 640M... now i got some Side by Side 3d films and i would like to see them on my 3d television through hdmi...is it possible? if yes should i use cyberlink or what?

is there a way tempor disable HD4000?

 

I don't think anyone would be offended at all, on the contrary! What you say makes alot of sense as it seems the windows calibration is applied immediately, unlike the profiles in the intel graphics control panel which are applied after igfxpers.exe is loaded. I've set the blue slider some 3/4 of the way and that seemed to get rid of the blueish tones for my screen too. I also adjusted gamma a bit within the same windows color management calibration process. I still think adjusting the other parameters is necessary hence the utility of the intel graphics media control panel. But in the end I guess it's about personal preferences... Thanks for the heads up

 

I just got a the NP700Z5C and I'm loving it so far. The only thing that I'm not really liking is the touchpad and that's mainly because it is not even throughout, as it is slightly more depressed on the left than it is on the right.

I'm also liking Windows 8, it's not as bad as some people made it out to be. But then again I've only been using it for a day or so. My laptop came with quite a bit of bloatware and sometimes it's using 1.5GB of RAM and sometimes that goes upto around 3GB of RAM. I'm thinking of playing around with it some more and then I think I'll either get rid of them or do a clean installation of Windows 8.

 

@Sonic Scream: Congrats on your new laptop.

I had to exchange my first Sammy (an NP700Z3A) because of issues with touchpad clicks, and there have been a other reports around here of issues similar to what you describe. The one I have now is even and works great. These machines are wonderful, it's just some units slip through QA with imperfections. You'll have to decide if it's enough you want to exchange it.

Also, you may want to watch this Z5C thread which is one of the most active Samsung forums. Some very experienced and helpful Z5C owners there.

Update: Regarding bloat, the post linked here is my list of what I consider useful and not. It's based on a Win7 model, but may still be useful.

 

Thanks for the tip. I have actually been reading that whole thread for nearly a week now (it helped to get an idea of the possible issues with the laptop and general feedback) while waiting for it to get delivered. I couldn't wait for it to come (was desperate for my new toy LOL) so I keet reading that thread and other reviews. I couldn't choose between the Samsung or the Asus N56VZ but in the end I went for the Samsung because it's a very powerful laptop while remaining pretty thin,light and the great battery life.

 

Great to hear that you had a chance to read up already. You're well prepared then. Once again I think you made a good choice

Update: Just came back from the Z5C lovers' thread and saw your posts there. I'd missed that earlier when I linked you to it

 

Hi Guys, :hi2:

does anybody know how I can access the UEFI options?

I have a naked Chronos 700Z5 and tried to install Win8 on it which didn't work. The installer says, that the HDD is in UEFI mode (GPT) while the System is set on BIOS-mode and I have to change this before I can proceed. When I open the BIOS there is an option to enable UEFI Boot (done) and AHCI (done) but this does not solve the problem. Is there a way to open the UEFI Setup?

Thanks in advance!

Okkupant

 

Okkupant:
Did you reformat any partition in the HDD while in UEFI or BIOS mode? I wonder if formatting in any of these modes would affect the setup process. I have no way to try this as I don't own windows 8 yet...

Quick question I got: To anybody that has installed a clean windows 7 system (no bloatware)... how much ram is the system using? (after installing required drivers). I'm wondering if I should try this type of install. Here I am getting 1.2 GB after uninstalling some of the stuff from factory default...

 

Hi Rigman,

when I got the notebook it was already formated, and I reformated it again in GPT-style while in BIOS mode. Do you know how I can switch between BIOS and UEFI mode?

BR
Okkupant

 

Hi everyone.

I'm kinda new to posting to these forums, but I do like to use them from time-to-time to get information on how to fix my laptop. Unfortunately I have become stuck on a problem that I can't seem to fix.

I'm getting BSOD on my Samsung Series 7 Chronos. It's a year old and has been refurbished by Samsung once. This BSOD is not so frequent, but it happens about once or twice a week. Recent searches has suggested that it could be down to the USB 3.0 driver. I have tried all fixes that I can think of. Uninstalling said drivers, as well as making sure all my GPU and sound drivers are UTD.
My most recent one was about an hour ago and now I'm done with it.

I really like this laptop - it's perfect in almost every way - but I need to fix this problem.

If I have done this right - there should be an image of the BSOD that I'm getting. Anyone else had any problems? Or, if this is the wrong place to post, can you please point me in the right direction......

Thanks for help in advance ^^




0x000000F4 (0x0000000000000003, 0xFFFFFA801566DB30, 0xFFFFFA801566DE10, 0xFFFFF8000359A460

 

It's possible that the root of the problem is the USB 3.0 firmware. Samsung had included firmware updates in some of the USB 3.0 driver packages but it is more than likely they are not up-to-date (I have a pending task to try to fixing the last firmware update causing one of my USB 3.0 flash drives to become unrecognisible). One of my friends pointed me to this site which worked for him.

John

 

Hi There,

I would like to know if you suggest me to buy a Samsung 700NPz3 (14") or not?

I found this review but this is from 15,6"
Review Samsung Series 7 700Z5A Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

The review writes disapprovingly from the display and i would like to know if the screen is the same in the 14 and 15,6 notebook.

I can't decide if i buy this Samsung or pick another machine (like Lenovo Edge S430)

Thank you.

 

Hi everyone,

I have a small question. Does anybody know whats the maximum output resolution of the HDMI port of the 700z5a. Does it support 2.560 x 1.440 or 16:10 1920 x 1200?

Thanks in advance