Samsung Series 7 Windows 8 Fn Shortcuts

How's everyone finding Windows 8 so far?

I'm liking it, but having a bit of a problem with the Fn key shortcuts. To install Windows 8 I had to uninstall Samsung Easy Settings, which is responsible for the screen brighness, keyboard brightness etc. that the Fn keys can control. Now that I have Windows 8, the only keys that do anything when I enable Fn Lock are the volume mute up and down buttons (F6, F7, F8) and none of the others work. Anyone found a solution to this? Tried reinstalling Easy Settings, but got an incompatibility issue.

Thanks for the help in advance!

 

There's a similar thread for that.

Update your Intel graphics driver, then install Easy Settings by renaming the install file 'setup2.exe'. Be aware that the AMD drivers won't work after that (at least for the NP70Z3A).

EDIT: It might also work with the new Samsung Settings, available from their SW Update program.

 

Thanks! I shall try this out tomorrow. Mine has the NVIDIA graphics so hopefully there won't be a problem.

 

I installed Settings and could never get it to open, so uninstalled it for the older Easy Settings. Uninstalled that, side-loading the Easy Display Manager, and I have Fn controls. Unfortunately, Samsung's Updater installs what appears to just be the current generic NVIDIA WHQL drivers, which breaks Brightness controls.

(After my clean install of Windows 8, brightness controls from Control Panel DID work. But they don't after I ran through the Samsung driver updates.)

 

Anyone able to get switchable graphics working with Windows 8? I have tried everything, including updating to the latest Catalyst drivers (also tried the latest .12 beta). I get yellow exclamation mark next to the Radeon card in Device Manager, and Catalyst doesn't appear to do anything. Thanks for any advice!

 

Neither have I.. I'm looking into to it.

EDIT: Well, I got the switchable graphics option to work. Kind of.

By installing the latest AMD drivers from Samsung (they're called AMD PowerXpress WIN8 Graphics Driver 9.000.0.0000_NO_WHQL), I think the switchable graphics works. However, the Fn-keys for the lightning won't actually control the lightning. I've tried with both the new Samsung Settings and the old one. I also tried updating to 12.10.

If I install the Intel drivers as well (Intel IvyBridge Windows8 GFX driver - 64bit 9.17.10.2857 (WHQL_ALS). By doing this I get the Fn-keys to work, but it breaks the AMD drivers and the switchable graphics option as well..

So I'm stuck with either being able to control the lightning or having functional AMD drivers. I think we'll have to wait for a new set of drivers...

EDIT: I got it to work! I just used the old AMD drivers for Windows 7 (got them from SW Update - just find your model and save the drivers to your computer). For me they were called AMD PowerXpress WIN7 Graphics Driver 8.863.1.2-WHQL(NoALS_ForNikeOnly). Now, both the switchable graphics AND the Fn-keys for lightning works! (I use the new Samsung Settings).

 

Maggie, you did it. With your help, I figured out what was going on. SWUpdate was not showing me the right model (I have NP700Z5B-W0UB). When I MANUALLY searched through SWUpdate for my exact model, it gave me a couple of new drivers, including the AMD driver you mentioned. Thanks a bunch - I see exactly what you see now. Brightness is not controllable, but I have switchable graphics. Thanks a ton!

 

Glad to help. You can get the brightness controls to work as well. However, I just found out the Windows 7 driver wiped out the Intel driver. Less graphic dependent stuff (like playing videos) won't work now... I'll try with another Intel driver.

 

What do you mean by wiping out the Intel driver? If you were be able to success to have switchable, the Intel driver should working and does not have any exclamation mark on Device Manager.

 

@spincel

Well, instead of showing as "Intel HD Graphics 3000", it shows as "Intel HD Graphics".

Did you get it to work somehow?

 

So there is no exclamation mark on the device? If that's the case, I guess it's just a naming scheme. Each driver might contain different name, and it all depends on who modify it. I gonna try that version to see if there is any problem at all. The driver that Samsung provided is working with Windows 8 as well as switchable, but it does not working properly with brightness and also it is not WHQL, meaning that some Metro apps won't run like Netflix because you need to have consistently WHQL drivers in the laptop. Both the AMD and Intel from Samsung are not.

 

The only Intel driver for Windows 8 with working brightness controls is 15.28.0.2770.

If you care about Metro apps... then too bad, better yell at Intel/Microsoft to get their act together (broken for 3-4 months already).

 

It seems this guy got both the brightness and switchable graphics to work.

Apparently the drivers are modified to work with each other. I will try it out!

 

I wrote with samsung support about drivers for Windows 8 and here is the answer:
"At this time, despite the official release of Windows 8 on October 26th, drivers compatible with this new OS have not yet been made available for your model ( NP700Z5). We encourage to visit the product support page to check for added drivers. "

so we need to wait some time till they release drivers for W8

 

@ maggie4sho, did that work for you?

 

Good new guys. I found another Samsung driver that solve everything include brightness control, switchable graphic, and more important, it is WHQL. Search for NP700Z5B-W01UB and download the graphic driver version 9.002.000. It is include the newest AMD Catalyst 12.10 plus the Intel 9.17.10.2857.

P/s: If you guys don't want to look that up, here is the direct link to download from Samsung
http://orcaservice.samsungmobile.com/FileDownloader.aspx?FILENAME=BASW-83344A09.ZIP

 

spincel, this didn't work for me, unfortunately. I tried both uninstalling existing drivers as well as upgrading, and both times, when I tried to initialize Catalyst either manually or by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing 'Configure Switchable Graphics', the cursor would spin for a bit before a message popped up saying that Catalyst Manager couldn't find anything to start. Have you actually attempted to configure the switchable graphics using this driver?

 

You might need to uninstall and wipe all the current driver for Intel and AMD. Try using any driver sweeper software to completely remove any remaining, then run the setup again. If you success, then when you look in Device Manager, you will see that both AMD and Intel devices had bumped to 9.2.0.0 and they are Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher.

P/s: You might need to do the sweep twice and the second should be in Safe Mode because some files cannot be delete because they are still be using.

The driver worked flawless for me up until this time.

P/s 2: There is a new version of SWUpdate. Just update it into the newest version and search for your particular model. There you will find the newest graphic driver.

 

It took me two days to resolve this. The advice to use Driver Sweeper (or something like it) should be taken VERY CAREFULLY. Driver Sweeper will remove files that should NOT be removed, which is what happened to me. It required a complete restore and update to the newest drivers before it worked properly. Proceed with caution when using Driver Sweeper!

 

Most sweeper programs allow you to choose which files to be removed, of course, if you know which one. The one I used is Trexxy Driver Fusion. I will remove everything that related to AMD and Intel if you choose both, however, it won't remove some files because they are in used, so you have to do that in Safe Mode.

 

Nope, rolled back to Windows 7 some days ago.

Waiting for a more stable set of drivers..

 

I was having the same problem with my Series 9. I ended up installing Easy Display Manager as well, which online says is only for XP, and all Fn buttons now work correctly.