Samsung NP930X5J / NP940X5J ATIV Book 9 (2014) 15.6" Haswell announced Jan 6, 2014

Thank you for your quick reply!

I've searched the thread and it seems like the RAM is soldered to the motherboard:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ounced-jan-6-2014.742013/page-84#post-9729528
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...nced-jan-6-2014.742013/page-127#post-10210943

It's a shame because the laptop works really well, I'd need a little more RAM though...

 

I just noticed today that my keyboard backlight is permanently on. I tried to turn it off using Fn+F9, no effect. I then tried Fn+F2 and Fn+F3, and they no longer worked either (screen lighten/darken)! But, Fn+F6, F7, F8 all worked (Sound adjustment). So I figured I needed to run Samsung Settings; I double click it, see a brief twirly 'busy' symbol, then ... nothing. Tried running as administrator, no change.

So I figured I needed an update. Tried to locate the software on the Samsung site, but there are no downloads for my model - NP930X5J.

Has the whole software update and driver situation changed? Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

Samsung stopped updating the drivers on their web pages some years ago. Use the Samsung Update software ( this link may be to an old version but it works) to find the downloads for your computer. The software might utomatically identify your model and list the available downloads. If not, use the Find Model button.

John

 

What an interesting utility - it tells me, front and center, what my model and s/n is (that is, it correctly detected it) but then lists a whole bunch of other models below, and not mine. But if I manually type the model number (already presented to me by the utility) in the search bar, and search, then it does list my model below, and I can proceed. Not the most intuitive of processes!

So I see a number of updated items; but it's not obvious which one would affect the keyboard backlight and screen brightness controls ... would that be the 'samsung settings' item? I guess I'll give it a shot! I'll also update the chipset driver while I'm at it ... I hope I don't regret this as my laptop has been pretty stable for some time!

 

I use the Find Model option and go: Country > Notebook family > model number > operating system.

Samsung Settings is the package which most likely includes the keyboard backlight control (reading the keyboard and talking to the BIOS). However, first run the BIOS Update utility to see if you have the most recent BIOS (make sure that the last 3 letters on the current BIOS and any new BIOS are the same).

John

 

I checked the BIOS version, but I already had the latest version installed (P07AED).
I then ran several of the update programs, including chipset driver, Color Engine, display profile, Graphics Driver. I also ran Samsung Settings. I rebooted several times. But in the end,
1) I still cannot adjust brightness using the keyboard shortcuts Fn+F2, etc), and
2) I CAN still adjust audio using keyboard shortcuts Fn+F6, etc - so obviously my laptop has the basic framework in place to read and respond to the keyboard shortcuts in general.
3) Fn+F9 also has no effect on keyboard backlight, and Fn+F12 has no effect on wireless.
This is a bummer because I don't like leaving screen brightness on auto, so I have to now go to settings/display to manipulate screen brightness.

 

For the display brightness control I wonder if you have encountered the brightness control bug encountered on some other Samsung notebooks. This is discussed here. Another possible causes of your problems is that the version of Settings isn't completely compatible with your notebook - Samsung add and remove features without keeping checks for compatibility. Try an older one such as that offered for Windows 8.1. However, it will be best to do a full uninstall, reboot, reinstall and reboot again so that Settings does a full reconfiguration.

John

 

Still working on this ... thanks for the assistance. I would clarify that I AM able to adjust screen brightness (thankfully!) using the windows settings control; it seems people in the other thread lose all ability to adjust brightness. Will keep digging ...

PS - regarding the Samsung settings app; I haven't updated it in years (until yesterday) (same goes for any Samsung software) and the screen brightness controls (Fn-F2/3) worked just fine until 'very recently' (last month or so). I think the recent big update to windows 10 may have done it.

 

The Windows 10 update could well be creating problems as Microsoft will install whichever drivers it thinks best - eg the most recent graphics driver rather than one specifically tweaked by Samsung to work properly with Samsung hardware and the Samsung Settings program. Whether Samsung is willing to spend time and money clearing up this mess remains to be seen.

John

 

Hello,
I could buy a second hand Samsung Ativ 9 NP930X5J for about $450. My question is: would this be a good deal/price or would I be better of buying something like an Acer Swift 5 or Travelmate X349? I love that Samsung, but is an older laptop and what irritates my is that it is running Windows 10 but the screen brightness FN keys are not working according to the seller. Reading the posts above it seems that this is something which is not resolvable? Or is it?

Another question I have is, does the auto screen brightness work with Windows 10 with this laptop and is it any good? I would love some advice because I have another week before I would buy this thing from the seller. Is this a good deal or better look for a new one?

 

The native windows auto screen brightness does work, and manual up/down control of brightness is also possible through the native windows settings applet. So you just don't have the convenience of the function key control. I'm not done researching this yet; I have two instances of this laptop, and one 940 (touchscreen), so I plan to test across all models when I can be bothered. (UPDATE - my spare 930 still works with the FN keys, so I'm going to let the windows update occur and see if that's what kills it).

Whether this is the one for you or not depends on many factors. I really like the relatively low resolution screen; the large screen size; the lack of touch screen (having it adds glare and weight), and the non-numeric keyboard. It is plenty powerful for me in terms of CPU, etc. I guess I am hitting the limit of 8 GB Ram, but only because I have a total of about 40 tabs open in Chrome at any one time, plus dozens of open office docs. It's just such a lovely package. $450 sounds good if it's in good condition.

 

Thank you for your quick answer. I once had an Vaio Fe31M and after upgrading that the screen brightness never worked and it irritated the hell out of me. So therefore I am a bit sceptic. Also, this thing is 3 years old, no warranty, but the price is not bad indeed and I also love the NOT-numpad and dedicated home and end keys. Is that native auto screen brightness working allright for you? And may I ask another quick question please? Do you notice any difference in battery time under Windows 10 in comparison with Windows 8? Thanks again!

 

I tend to find the 'auto' screen brightness to be a bit weak; always seems to go dimmer than I prefer - but that's possibly because I'm old and need all the help I can get, visually. It SEEMS LIKE, at least in this latest incarnation, the 'auto' can be adjusted slightly, up/down, and maybe that is a 'tweak' override while still being auto overall. But I just can't be bothered fussing with it and set the brightness where I want it when I want it. This has been the case forever and isn't related to this laptop or windows 10 - I just never seem to agree with what the device thinks is appropriate brightness (I have similar opinions with my phone).

As for battery under W10 vs W8, I can't say I have noticed. In all honesty, I spend 99% of my time plugged in and just don't find myself using the battery that much.

I do now see that some of the extra 'power' control settings I had enabled to tweak SSD behaviors are gone, probably a result of the 'creators' update- damn. I'll need to see if I can get them back using the same old registry tweaks I used a while back.

 

So, I decided. Its gonna be the second hand Samsung. Went to the store today and saw the 14 inch Acer Swift 5 , but it just lacks screen estate. So, now its an easy choice. The battery cycle count is 71 so I hope it is still in good condition.

So Steerpike, do I understand it correctly that you've got the FN Brightness keys working under Windows10? Or did I not understand that correctly?
Also. I read in a review here that supposedly you could add a second m.2 SSD, is that correct? Thank you!!!
Oh and are you not interested in the latest Samsung 9 with the titan colour? I would love to have that laptop but I'm afraid here in Germany they don't sell it. Such a shame!!! It looks great!!!

 

No, I did NOT get the Fn keys to work (yet) for screen brightness control. What I did find was that the native windows 'settings' thing (charm?) will allow me to adjust brightness, so I use that for now. I have three similar ATIV book 9's and so I have plenty of opportunities to try stuff!

The 940 model does not support 2nd SSD; the 930 model "MAY" support a 2nd SSD. I forget now the exact criteria, but both of my 930s do have the 2nd slot, and I'm using it. The answer may be buried in this thread, but I don't recall. Bottom line, if you remove the 10 screws that hold on the back plate, you can see it (or not) plainly. I included photos in this thread.

 

hmmm. Well, I'll see if the NP930X5J will have that second slot. The reviewer here says so, but I thought it is weird since it is a big luxury and not common, but very welcome. Fixing the brightess FN keys would be the icing on the cake. I will pick up the new (second hand of course) Samsung next week on Saturday, so then I can try for myself and get them to work. Looking forward to having it in my hands.... Thanks for your quick replies btw! Goodnight!

 

Update on my non-working Fn keys for screen brightness and keyboard backlight ...
The (non-working) computer in question is an NP930X5J-S01US (pro windows version; non-touch screen); I also have an NP940X5J-K02US (non pro windows version, with touch screen). I finally updated it to the latest windows (Creator edition) - winver shows 1703 (OS build 15063.540). So now both computers are at the same, latest windows version. The 940 laptop still has functioning Fn keys! So the problem is not simply related to windows version.

I compared versions of Samsung Software and to the best of my knowledge, they are identical (I downloaded samsung update and tried hard to make them the same).

I decided to try to break (temporarily) the Fn keys on the 930 laptop, by killing task after task (Samsung related) in task manager. No matter what task I killed, the Fn keys kept working!

So can anyone suggest what executables may play a role in the Fn key behavior? Once I know what task is involved, I may be able to better pursue why it's not running appropriately on the 940 laptop.

Or does anyone have a better suggestion?

 

@Steerpike58: Some of those Fn-keys (such as Volume up/down) are handled directly by Windows, even with no Samsung software installed. And of course others require Samsung Settings.

I have not had time to read up on past posts about your problem, but if you have not already tried it, I'd recommend completely uninstalling Samsung Settings, reboot, then re-install it, reboot. Sometimes two re-boots are needed after re-install of Samsung Settings before everything kicks in. And make sure to use Windows Restart, not Shutdown, which merely hibernates/resumes the machine state instead of fully rebooting.

Also, make sure you are able to adjust brightness using the Windows Power Options control panel before you re-install Samsung Settings. If that doesn't work, you have an Intel Display driver problem.

Some of this may be old news, in which case I apologize for repeating it.

I use Samsung Settings 2.0.0.89 which I have found to be the most compatible with my older NP700Z3A. You can find it with SW Update (Samsung Update) under Win7 drivers for model NP930X5J. Download Easy Settings 2.0.0.89, then install from the Win8 folder inside that package. That's what worked for me, both under Win8, Win8.1 and Win10/1703.

Edit:
Also make sure you wait a minute or longer after Windows log-in for Samsung Settings to load and the Fn-keys to work. You probably knew this already. It's an annoying side-effect of Samsung implementing Fn-key support as part of an Auto-run application (sSettings) instead of as proper drivers. They're brilliant when it comes to hardware and design, but not so much when it comes to software...

 

Yep, Volume up/down work fine with/without Samsung settings.

Did that, a few times now, two reboots (restarts) after install. No change.

Brightness can be adjusted using the windows setting 'charm' (?).

Of interest, when I uninstall and/or reinstall Samsung settings, my screen goes very dim. So while Samsung settings isn't able to control brightness interactively, during install/uninstall, some related setting is getting touched!

Thanks for the info ... I'm determined to fix this!

Wow, so you are suggesting I downgrade all the way to 2.0.0.89. My latest version is 2.3.0.26, and I have an older version from 2014 labeled 2.3.0.17; I've tried both of them. I guess I will track down 2.0.0.89 and give it a whirl!

But remember, I have a near-identical ativ book 9 that is a 940X5J, and it is working fine with the latest windows and the latest Samsung settings app. I also have another 930X5J, and I'm in the process of applying the 'creators' update to it as we speak to see if it survives the process.

I'm beginning to suspect some other software on my laptop - I use it for business and have to install various AV/Security packages on it (such as Fortinet, Malwarebytes, etc) and any one of those could be interfering with the process.

Of interest also is that Samsung settings won't run (as a standalone UI app) on the laptop, unlike on my 930X5J. I see progress circles, but no UI finally manifests. That's probably related to the issue.

 

Oh my - I just noticed something very odd. On my two 'other' (working) laptops - 930x5j-s01us and 940x5j-k02us - I went to c:\program files (x86)\Samsung, and saw that 'settings.exe' is version 2.3.0.28, dated 4/14/2017 (I THOUGHT it was 2.3.0.26, same as the non-working laptop). So I have a much newer version on the other two laptops (one of which is identical to the non-working laptop).

I updated these two 'other' laptops over the last few days using Samsung update, and let it do it's thing automatically. But I can't get Samsung Update to work on my new laptop, and ... it now won't work on the other two laptops either - keeps giving error 'no information found' when I try to search for my models. In fact, I can't seem to get a consistent behavior - sometimes, if I enter the model number (as, say, np930x5j) it will find all the variants of that model; other times, it will say nothing found. And when it does present me with all the variants, no matter which one I choose it says (after a long 'getting software and update information ...'), 'No information found. Please visit download center to manually download the software'. And of course, download center has nothing for the model either.

But bottom line, I have two machines that work and that have a very recent version of Samsung settings, but - I can't find the 'install media' on those laptops because I let Samsung update do it for me; does anyone know where Samsung stashes the install media when it does the updates for you ? I'd like to snag those files from one of the two working laptops and copy them to my non-working laptop.

 

I gave an incorrect description above; I won't edit it since I know people get emails of posts, so an edit may not be seen.

And as I try to correct what I said, I realize I'm totally confused. Here's what I know: On the two 'working' laptops, I used a Samsung tool (Samsung Update, I thought) on the laptop which presented me with 'things that needed updating' - including Samsung settings, BIOS, and several other items including Intel Rapid Restore ... Network drivers, etc. The key point being, the app scanned my laptop and compared what I had to what was available 'somewhere', and offered to install all update-worthy items, which I did. At the end of that process, I had Samsung Settings 2.3.0.28. But I can't seem to get back to that tool; Is it that Samsung Settings tries to run in an 'automated' fashion, and if it can't, then it just offers to download stuff for you?

Bottom line is - I have a version of Samsung settings (2.3.0.28) that is newer than the one I have on my non-working laptop, and I cannot for the life of me find this 2.3.0.28 version anywhere to install. On my two working laptops, I can get Samsung update to run, and I can manually enter my machine name, and find Samsung settings - but it is only version 2.3.0.26, from year 2014.

 

Hi @Steerpike58,

We actually prefer that members update their post in these cases instead of making a cascade of new posts. Often we'll simply merge such cascades into one post. It is true that many members rely on email notification, but the actual post in the thread (with any edits) is still the official and preserved reference. So feel free to edit your post(s) -- and report any posts you would like to delete.

NBR mods are custodians of thread content, you know, that's how we think

The main advice I can give you is the uninstall/re-install of Samsung Settings I suggested in my last post.

The Samsung Update utility (what used to be called SW Update) is the only official source for Samsung drivers. They stopped posting updated drivers on their website several years ago. A site called samsung-driver.com has sprung up, but I don't think they're official, and I am not sure it is safe.

With Samsung Update (SW Update) you can enter a model number and save the latest drivers for subsequent manual installation. And that's what I suggest you do with Samsung Settings (which does not update itself or any other Samsung software).

The reason I use 2.0.0.89 because it is the latest version that still supports certain features in older Samsung laptops (Battery Life Extender and ExpressCache). Starting with version 2.1.x Samsung Settings gained official support for Win8.1, and starting with 3.x official support for Win10. But I've found 2.0.0.89 to work perfectly with both Win8.1 and Win10.

I don't think the problems you're having are caused by your version of Samsung Settings: Any of these versions should work, including 2.0.0.89 (which happens to be posted for model NP930X5J (essentially your model), just hidden in the Win8 folder of the Easy Settings package for Win7). I think something was messed up during your upgrade to Win10, and my recommendation is to completely uninstall Samsung Settings, then re-install it as described, making sure to reboot in between, and wait 1-2 mins after each reboot.

 

Curiouser and Curiouser ...

I decided to do a terribly 'hacky' thing, just to see what would happen. I had very little hope in the outcome, but regardless, I did it and ... IT WORKED ! So let me explain as best I can what I did.

I have two physically identical NP930X5J-S01US laptops. One was upgraded to Win 10 Creators edition, and Samsung Settings did not work (version 2.3.0.26) (The "Problem Laptop").

Second laptop was at an older version of Win10, and Samsung Settings worked (version not recorded before I started updating) (The "Older Laptop"). I used "Some Samsung Tool" to update all the Samsung Software on this laptop to the latest versions. I say 'Some Samsung Tool' because I can't honestly say what it was called, and I can no longer verify what it was, but - this tool was interactive, and showed me what items on my laptop needed updating - broke them into (something like) critical/important, and 'recommended'. I simply clicked on each of these categories, and confirmed, and magically, things like BIOS, Samsung Settings, Color Engine, etc were updated (several reboots were required, and after the reboot this tool relaunched itself and resumed where it left off ... all very user-friendly and convenient). This was not the process I see now in Samsung Update, where a long list of 'latest versions' are presented, for download and subsequent manual application; this tool literally downloaded and applied the updates for me.

At the end of the above process, on the 'Older Laptop', Samsung Settings still worked. I then applied the windows 10 creators update to this laptop, and confirmed it was now at the same version of windows as the 'Problem Laptop'. Samsung Settings STILL WORKED on this 'Older Laptop'.

I then looked at c:\program files (x86)\Samsung\Settings folder on the 'Older Laptop' and saw that the properties of the settings.exe file was 2.3.0.28 (compared to 2.3.0.26 on the 'Problem Laptop' (and had a date circa April 2017).

I then did everything I could to find a version of Samsung Settings 2.3.0.28 using 'Samsung update', to no avail.

Finally, I did my nasty hack; I literally copied the contents of C:\Program Files (x86)\Samsung\Settings from 'Older Laptop' to 'Problem Laptop' (which took a ton of work, going into safe mode, using admin command prompt and xcopy, etc since windows now does a nice job of not letting you 'hack' at "program files" any longer!). And to my great surprise, now Samsung Settings WORKS on my 'Problem Laptop', and it's properties confirm that it is now 2.3.0.28 (not 2.3.0.26 as it was before). Samsung Settings the GUI tool works, and my Fn keys work for screen brightness and keyboard backlight!

So in summary, I was able to get a version (2.3.0.28) of Samsung Settings 'somehow' using a tool I can no longer locate that is NOT made available through the Samsung Update tool.

I suspect that what I ran was Samsung Update, but it ran in a different mode perhaps ... maybe if it likes the environment on which it is running, it offers the nice interactive/automated method and if it does not like the environment so much, it just offers to let you download the latest versions and do it yourself?

 

@Steerpike58: Wow, so it really was the small version jump from 2.3.0.26 to 2.3.28 that made the difference! I have to say that surprises me.

Very well done fixing it!

On the subject on Samsung (SW) Update I do understand what you say about the two different "modes". When the program can properly detect your model (let's call it "Auto mode") it is able to offer compatible software updates the way you described, and even install them all automatically if so chosen. Very convenient, particularly after a clean install.

OTOH when Samsung (SW) Update is NOT able to properly detect your model, or connect that model to its database, you have to use its Find Model feature, which allows you to look up software and drivers for any Samsung model and save them locally. I just looked up various NP940X5J and NP930X5J models and, like you, I was unable to find a Samsung Settings newer than 2.3.0.26.

But I too have experienced that SW Update offered me newer versions when it was in "Auto mode", versions that I could never locate in "Find Model" mode.

Many are the unsolved mysteries when it comes to Samsung's software, and this just adds one more to the list.

Once again well done!

 

Helo Steerpike!
Aha!!! Well, congrats!
Now, I also have my NP930X5J model in the house and its great, BUT, i cannot control my backlit keyboard which is now always on, and FN key brightness also dont work. I am also non Creators Upat Windows 10, but nowhere is there an automated Samsung update tool to be found here. Well, it did found something, and updated a chipset or something, but needless to say, nothing still works here. I love this laptop but man, I wanna control the FN keys.
What should I do now?

 

Manually copying files into the 'program files (x86) folder is a very risky business. There may be corresponding c:\windows\system32 files needed, and/or, registry changes to go with new code ... so I think this is a matter of last resort. But it did work

Also, this was a one-shot deal; now that all three of my laptops are on Win10 creators, I can no longer get Samsung Update to work in the 'auto' mode, and thus, won't get any new stuff unless and until they (Samsung) clean up this whole mess. It is very annoying that they seem to have a fix for this but no means to deploy it! I guess I could downgrade from windows 10 creators but that's pretty drastic!

 

Battery Information ...
My main Samsung ATIV Book 9 (2014) NP 930X5J has started to die when running low on battery without hibernating first, even though it is configured to hibernate when battery is low (Critical battery action). I downloaded the latest "BatteryInfoView" (from Nirsoft, a wonderful utility) and one anomaly I noticed is that the 'Full Charged Capacity' was 78,692 mWh even though the 'Designed Capacity' is only 62,266 mWh (and as a consequence, Battery Wear Level aka Battery Health is showing 126.4%, which doesn't make sense). I looked at my other, identical NP 930X5J and it shows a 'Full Charged Capacity' of 61,884 mWh, which is more logical - just slightly below the Designed Capacity.

So does anyone know why my 'Full Charged Capacity' would be showing significantly greater than the Designed Capacity? My hunch is that this is the root cause of my system not correctly recognizing a near-discharged state. Both batteries are original, Samsung.

FWIW, the charge/discharge count on the 'main' unit is currently 246, and on my 'spare' unit, it is 10.

 

Over time, the battery voltage - capacity table can drift away from the correct situation. BatteryInfoView shows that the battery thinks it has more capacity than it actually has, so it suddenly goes from thinking it has plenty to charge remaining to empty and hence no power to hibernate.

Try running the battery calibration by (i) fully charging the battery; (ii) fully discharging it until it is empty (the last stage has to be done in the BIOS - there probably is a battery calibration option in the BIOS but leaving the computer running at the BIOS screen is an alternative is there is not; then (iii) fully recharging it. It's not good for a Lithium battery to be regularly fully discharged but it's necessary to do it from time to time to reset the value for empty.

Make sure that any battery saver option is disabled while you do this (but I recally that was only available on earlier Samsung notebooks).

John

 

Thanks; discharging now ... will post back with results.

 

I used the laptop normally while on battery for some time to run it down, then went into bios (F2), and chose 'advanced', and then 'smart battery calibration'. This brings up a picture of the battery, not sure what it's actually doing, but I left it on that screen until it died. I then fully charged. BatteryInfoView shows Current Capacity and Full Charged Capacity as 78,692 still (identical to before), with Design Capacity still at 62,266. So no change whatsoever. Any thoughts?

 

My own inclination would be to tolerate the confusion. Effectively 25% charge means empty so you could set the power properties in Windows to hibernate at, say 30%. You should still get the same run time on battery as before it got confused.

John

 

I don't mind setting the 'critical' level at say 30% to work around this.

Are the values read by the utility taken directly from the battery, or is there some interface component that is involved?

The cycle count is around 250; is this considered a high number for this battery?

Are there good replacements out there? http://www.batteryclerk.com/Samsung...1Nl-Np940X3G-Laptop-and-Notebook-battery.html this site wants ~$100, which is pretty steep. Looks like I can get a new one for $125 from here - http://www.ebay.com/itm/SAMSUNG-ORI...845981&hash=item4b18117be6:g:wQQAAOSwUuFW0wRV

 

1. Try the 30% critical and see if works OK and gives you the expected run time.

2. I believe that all Lithium batteries contain a chip which monitors, and keeps a record of, the charge level. The device containing the battery gets the battery status from the chip. The need for communication between device and battery explains why the batteries usually have 3 or 4 contacts.

3. This very recent post has a positive comment about a 3rd party battery supplier.

John

 

As you can see from these packs they are new old stock. Meaning those packs may not last that long. The other new cells MAY last longer but beware of cheap cells.

As you can see from the packs they are 2 serial but multi parallel packs. This of course can cause issues as cells fold under load or charge and/or develop leaks.

 

I don't understand your post - 'as you can see from ...' - what are we looking at? Should there be an image in the post?

 

No, if they are original OEM, then 99 times out of 100 they were from when the laptop was made. This makes them new old stock that has been in storage.

As far as the picture and multiple cells you can see how the different cells were assembled to make the pack.

 

I went ahead and ordered a battery from the supplier you recommended. I'll report back on how it goes.

I also put my battery through a couple more 'full cycle' discharge / recharge cycles, using the bios 'smart battery calibration' for the entire discharge, but still no improvement in accuracy.

Not sure what you two guys are discussing - seems like you are looking at some pictures that I can't see....

 

If you carefully examine the battery from the link below you can see how the pack is assembled with multiple flat cell panels.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SAMSUNG-ORI...845981&hash=item4b18117be6:g:wQQAAOSwUuFW0wRV

 

OK, battery arrived today - 9 days after placing the order, not bad for overseas - but I'm unsure how to remove the battery connector! I've searched online and can't find a single guide or indication. I suspect the answer is lurking here in this thread somewhere but I can't find a meaningful way to search the thread, I've pulled apart dozens of laptops, and am familiar with many types of connector. In this case, it would appear that the white battery 'plug' is held in place by the dark surround. In many such situations, the dark surround 'flips up' on a hinge, but I can't see any such hinge. There are two 'lugs', one on each side, that suggest I might be able to lift up that black plastic surround, but a mild application of pressure didn't yield any movement. I'm also wondering if I should just PULL on the white connector; I can see that there is a protrusion on the white connector that mates with a slot in the black retainer; maybe it's just a 'pressure' thing and it will 'pop' out when I pull ... I just don't want to force anything and break something! Thanks for any guidance!

EDIT TO ADD: OK, I figured it out - I just pulled on the white connector (using a small flat-head screwdriver) and it came out surprisingly easily.

So now I get to see if it actually works well! I'm going to let it fully charge while off, for the first time. It arrived with a 52% charge.

Edit to add: I let if fully charge; then did a complete discharge using the bios advanced battery calibration feature (basically just let the bios run it down) then fully charged it without using it. At this point, 'design capacity' is showing 61,940 mWh while Full Charged capacity is showing 62,320 mWh - so the 'full charged' is again higher than 'design', but only by a small amount and I think that can be ignored. So now the real question is, is it any good as a battery ... I guess I'll have to run it on battery to find out!

 

In order to store the old battery to keep it as a spare, should I discharge it down to 50% or so before long term storage? I recall you should not store them at full charge.

 

Iḿ posting about my wife´s notebook She loves it, and she is distraught because the screen is separated at the entire edge along the hinge connection point. It appears to be a broken hinge. Is this a common issue? Is it repairable? or does she need to start shopping?

 

Yes, don't store at full charge, nor fully discharged either. 50-60% should be fine.

 

I posted way back in 2015 that I was having sleep/wake issues. Here's my old post for reference. Note the reference to device "USB\ROOT_HUB30\4&af86a28&0&0".

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...nced-jan-6-2014.742013/page-124#post-10095461

Recently, I've noticed that intermittently, when I wake my laptop after putting it to sleep, it fails to wake from sleep but rather, does a fresh startup. And in the event viewer, I'm STILL seeing the same entry I saw back in 2015, coinciding with the 'sleep' action:

The driver \Driver\USBHUB3 for device USB\ROOT_HUB30\4&af86a28&0&0 stopped the power transition.

So ... what does anyone know about this device? Is it something I can safely remove and allow to get re-added? Is it a Samsung specific device? Any thoughts on the subject?

80% of the time, my laptop sleeps / wakes normally but 20% of the time I get various issues including cold start and also unexpected wakes (when laptop is in bag) - that was the specific issue I posted about back in 2015.