Samsung Series 9 - Windows 8

The PC will switch between the Samsung Optimized and the Power Saver profiles whenever you toggle Silent Mode.

I know we're all used to the Balanced profile, but on these Sammies you're simply better off tweaking those two (Samsung Optimized and Power Saver) instead of trying to force it to use Balanced.

 

Hmmm. I wonder if that was it. Maybe it's been on silent mode for awhile, without me knowing. I just took it off silent and it jumped to Balanced, on its own.

 

Oh, it did that, excellent. So it remembers which profile you came from when you hit Silent Mode (before it switched to Power Saver).

On mine I've set Samsung Optimized and Power Saver the way I want for normal and power frugal operations, respectively, including Max Processor State, Cooling Policy, Wi-Fi Power etc. That gives me full speed when I want it (including on battery) and extra battery time when I need that.

 

Yes. It's a good plan. I need to do something similar. As of now, the problem has been fixed. Here's another quirk I have been noticing. The laptop used to turn on when i opened the lid. Now it only comes on with the lid if the laptop is in hibernate or sleep, otherwise I need to hit the power button.

 

I think this happened with a recent update. To me, the new arrangement seems logical: I don't want the computer, if turned off, automatically starting the moment I open it.

John

 

@Mervyn & John: On Series 7 in Win7 we have the option to choose Samsung Fast Start Mode under Lid Open Action in Easy Settings (nothing to do with Win8's Fast Startup or BIOS Fast Boot). When enabled, the power LED turns off during sleep and the lid will automatically resume when you open it. When disabled, the LED blinks slowly during sleep and opening the lid will NOT automatically resume -- you have to press the power button.

I actually prefer the latter, where lid open does NOT automatically resume, and the LED blinks slowly during sleep. Unfortunately, that option is no longer available in Win8 (at least for me). I have chosen When I close the lid - Do Nothing in my windows power profile -- and indeed, it does nothing when I close it; but it still resumes when I open it (assuming I had put it to sleep ).

We discussed this briefly in this thread last year right after Win8 came out.

I am not quite as bothered by this as I would have been, thanks to Win8's Fast Startup feature (which micro-hibernates, then shuts down): I simply don't use Sleep much anymore because Shutdown/startup is so fast now.

 

I agree here. I just didn't know what had changed, so it was puzzling me. I had gotten used to the laptop turning on with the lid, and I still find myself waiting for life before remembered I have to hit the power button. I'm an easily trained monkey, I guess.

 

The new BIOS disables the lid open action from hibernate, not sleep (i.e. from S4 state). Someone said there's a new option in the BIOS for that in the same place as the USB sleep sleep settings, see if you can find it.

 

With reference to this post, I'd like to ask a few questions about my situation which is quite similar.

I just got a NP900X3C and I want to dual-boot openSUSE 12.3. To do this, I want to get as much space out of the SSD as possible by removing unnecessary recovery partitions. My machine also came with Windows 8 pre-installed with the same partition setup (500MB recovery, 300MB EFI system, 95GB C drive, 22GB recovery and another 1GB recovery.)

I will be attempting to make all the backups described in the post linked above, but how do I restore these partitions should I ever need to for returning to Samsung or sale of the laptop? I will be using the Samsung Recovery software and I don't plan to use any third-party backup software such as Acronis etc - is it possible to make all of the necessary backups without the use of such imaging software and using the Samsung software alone? Also, can I safely remove the 500MB recovery partition at the beginning of the drive before the EFI system partition?

Thanks for all the advice in this thread, it's been very useful!

 

Actually, I just tried upgrading the BIOS again to the latest and I didn't see any such option to enable the lip open from hibernate/IRST. I think if you want that back you need to downgrade your BIOS.

 

Hello Morley, welcome to the forum

On an SSD, I can definitely understand why you want to reclaim the space from the Recovery Partitions.

Most of my posts regarding this were based on Samsung Recovery Solution 5 (SRS5) and Win7-delivered PCs that use an MBR partition table, where the entire Recovery is contained on a single 22-24GB partition at the end of the drive. These Recoveries didn't provide very good tools for backup of the Recovery, and my main advice was to create a so-called USB Admin Tool and a full file and folder backup of the contents of the Recovery Partition (using a Live-CD, Command Prompt from Windows Setup, or by temporarily changing the Recovery Partition to a regular NTFS partion and copying everything in Windows Explorer).

The USB Admin Tool tool must be made by F4 booting into Recovery (before wiping the disk); and using this tool is the only way I know to re-create a Recovery Partition on a blank disk with working F4. Once a new Recovery Partition has been created this way, the original file and folder contents can be copied back -- and you have a working Recovery.

That whole procedure is better described in the post linked here and partially described in the post you linked.

But things are different now with Win8-delivered PCs, which use GPT partition tables, and with the Recovery software and data spread across multiple partitions. Also, they use a newer Samsung Recovery Solution 6 (SRS6). From reading member posts in this forum AND after studying a new NP780Z5E at Best Buy the other day, I observe that SRS6 has tools for backing up the Factory Image right there in the main Backup menu. (The old SRS5 required you to enter a "secret" Management Mode password to backup images, as decribed in the post you linked). I assume that the SRS6 Factory Image backup includes the software required to restore the Factory Image to a blank drive -- but I don't know for sure .

But I am almost certain that the SRS6 Factory Image backup does NOT re-create the entire disk, including Recovery partitions -- as you might like if you want to sell the PC someday. In order to do that, I assume you still need USB Admin Tool. Fortunately, I heard from other members that the password and procedure for getting into Management Mode and creating the USB Admin Tool remains the same as in SRS5 -- and as described in the post you linked.

So the following would be my best guess for a backup procedure -- although I have not tried this myself with SRS6:

1) F4 Boot Recovery and backup Factory Image from the Backup menu.

2) Still in Recovery, backup System Software -- if such an option exists (not sure it does in SRS6).

3) Still in Recovery, enter Management Mode by pressing [CTRL]+[ALT]+[F10] password SECCLX and create a USB Admin Tool on a USB stick (512MB-1GB). Keep that stick with the other backups.

I am thinking this is PROBABLY enough -- although it would be safer to also have the file and folder copy (as described in that post I linked above).

The following would then be my best guess for a procedure to re-create Recovery and restore the factory image:

4) Boot USB Admin Tool.

5) Use the function to perform a full Disk Partitioning ( STEP 1 in SRS5). This will wipe the disk and create a new Recovery partition of the size specified. There may be more options in SRS6 related to the multiple partitions.

6) When prompted for an Initial Image, provide your Factory Image backup.

You should now have a disk with a working Recovery and F4 and your original Factory Image.

To be safe, I would definitely still make file and folder copies as well. That, too, is described in the post linked here (same as above). The only difference is that software and data are spread across multiple partitions. You have to take note of which partition they come from for when you restore the content.

Again, this is my best guess, but I have not tried it with SRS6, only SRS5. I will certainly try these things out when I get a new laptop to replace my old HP HDX18 (likely a a Series 7 15" or 17" ). But I am afraid that won't be until late this year at earliest.

If you DO make these backups and wipe your disk, I highly recommend you make some experiments trying to re-create Recovery BEFORE you install Windows anew. There is never a better time to try things out than before you load a PC up with programs and data.

And if so, PLEASE post your findings here. We could really use updated SRS6 based procedures

Update: I just re-read your post and notice I forgot your last question: I believe the small Recovery partition at the beginning of the drive contains the Recovery software, while the big one at the end contains the Factory Image. Quite frankly, I would leave the small one alone. It is possible that you will still have working F4 and all, and can simply restore the Factory Image without all the hoopla

But once again, I cannot guarantee this.

Update Feb 2014

I came across this old post of mine, and it really is quite outdated. Not that the Admin Tool features described here don't work, but there are much easier ways to backup Recovery with SRS6, as described in numerous later posts, such as this and this and this.

 

Thanks for the excellent response!

I successfully booted into Recovery mode using F4 during boot. From there I was able to create the USB Admin Tool by entering Management Mode as described. The password you provided was correct, except I believe I had to use all lower case to gain access. As stated, this backup fit onto a 1GB USB stick which will now reside in the laptop's box just in case I should ever need it.

I also created a backup of the Factory Image onto an external HDD. It consists of five files named "init" with extensions .w01, .w02, .w03, .wcl and .woo. Overall, these files total 13.4GB.

Looking at the HDD I was using to make backups and the SSD of the laptop, I can't see any other images/files which would be the System Software backup, so I can only assume that I couldn't find how to do this. I have tried looking back at the Recovery software for this option, but I can't see anywhere to perform a System Software backup in the Windows application. I can't get into the F4 Recovery mode on boot up to check there, as this was presumably handled by one of the recovery partitions that I deleted. I took your advice and left the first recovery partition alone, as I felt it wasn't worth risking my Windows installation's integrity for the sake of a couple hundred MB...

For anyone interested in how dual-booting openSUSE went, I can say that I've successfully got the GRUB EFI bootloader loading openSUSE 12.3 and Windows 8. To do this I had to boot from USB onto the openSUSE KDE Live image and install from there. I had to manually specify that I wanted to use GRUB EFI (as opposed to the standard GRUB which was the default), then enable secure boot support for the bootloader. I found this guide which pretty much walks you through the whole process, although some common sense is required to get the OS setup just how you want it.

At first I thought that I'd bricked the Windows 8 install as it was refusing to boot from GRUB. I later found that I could get into Windows 8 by disabling openSUSE in the BIOS boot priority and after experimenting a bit, I found that disabling secure boot in the BIOS allowed GRUB to load both openSUSE and Windows 8.

openSUSE 12.3 runs very well on the NP900X3C and I think the only time I will ever be booting Windows will be to update the BIOS or maybe play some games which aren't Linux compatible yet. The only things which are missing seem to be keyboard backlighting and suspend on lid close which aren't a huge deal for me. More information can be found in this blog post which I found very useful.

Thanks again for the advice Dannemand!

 

I didn't find it either. I can live without it. I had just gotten used to it. Thanks though.

 

@Morley: Thanks a lot for the update.

Re System Software, I've sensed from others that it is not there -- and I didn't see it either when I checked out that NP780Z5E the other day. Thank you for confirming. On previous models, all drivers and utilities and bloat was stored in a SystemSoftware folder on the Recovery Partition, and SRS5 had a feature to back them up to USB or DVD. It made installation a snap using Easy Software Manager (the predecessor to SW Update) even without internet connection. But of course internet is required to check for the latest versions.

Re your Factory Image backup, it sounds as if it contains ONLY the image, not the software required to restore it. Since you said F4 quit working (even though you kept the small Recovery Partition at the beginning of the drive) that most likely means you'll have to use the USB Admin Tool to re-create Recovery and have it restore the Factory Image.

I realize you're pretty far into it by now (good job on openSUSE) but if you DO decide to re-install at some point, I would say PLEASE try and re-create the Recovery, so we can verify the procedure.

Re F4 not working: Once you get Windows installed and running, you can try and install SRS6 (the Windows package). It will look for a Recovery partition and sometimes re-build the F4 link. But of course the Recovery Data Partition is gone...

Again good job on all this, and thank you for posting your findings

 

I'm having an issue similar to this one posted before. What's different is that I just bought my Samsung Series 9 (N900X3D) with a pre-installed Windows 8 and the keyboard backlight just suddenly stopped working as well. When I first used my laptop the backlight would turn on and could be manually controlled using the FN hotkeys just fine. Sometime around when I was installing the recommended drivers from SW Update and performed all the computer updates (like 10 minutes after turning on the laptop for the first time) the backlight stopped working.

When I open up the Samsung Easy Settings I can control the backlight slider just fine and in fact when I press the FN hotkeys it will move the slider up or down accordingly, but the backlight just won't turn on. I've tried turning off the "Auto Screen Brightness" so I can try manually controlling the backlight, still no dice. I've even tried a system restore back to the very beginning, before I installed all the drivers and updates (not that this was very far back considering I haven't even added anything of my own yet). It still doesn't work. At this point I'm wondering if this is in fact a software/driver issue or if maybe my backlight is just broken? Can anyone give any insight into this? Thanks so much!

 

Some of saw similar problems appear a couple of months ago and the problem is suspected to be either in an (Easy) Settings update and/or BIOS update.

I seem to have tamed my X4C in this respect by putting a small piece of black tape over the sensor (next to the power on LED) so it thinks it is in permanent darkness. Unfortunately, black tape isn't such a discreet solution for the X3D with the bare metal finish.

John

 

Hey John,
Thanks for the prompt response. The problem is, I've done the BIOS update and nothing changes. I've also tried taping up the sensor and the display screen will dim/brighten accordingly, but there's still no response from my backlight.

 

Same problem as jellyb reports. I tried to check all possible changes in Windows Power Options with no results. I guess that some updates done shortly after I bought the laptop changed the config and now windows thinks that the keyboard has no backligh capabilities. The behavior regarding the backlight on my laptop is just the same as for jellyb.
I am surprised Samsung does not say anything regarding this issue as it disables on of the key selling arguments for this product.

 

1. Are you checking in a very dark room - the backlight isn't very bright (it uses an electroluminescent panel (thinner) which is dimmer than normal LED backlighting).
2. Is there a keyboard backlight control in Settings (there is in my Windows 7 Easy Settings)? Try fiddling with it.
3. Finally, try reinstalling Settings.

John

 

Hey John,

Thanks for the help. I've done 1-3 and still no change. I went ahead and returned my laptop. I didn't want to pay $1,000 for a new product that wasn't working properly. When I returned it, customer service told me that a lot of the Samsung Series 5, 7, and 9 were being returned for hardware defects. The Series 9 in particular were having issues running Windows 8. Guess I'll wait it out a little longer :/ Thanks for you help anyways.

 

Keep in mind the "Series 9" spans three generations of Intel chipsets so lumping them all together probably paints an inaccurate picture. Windows 8 is running better than Windows 7 on my NP900X3D-A02US Ivy Bridge based machine.

 

I suspect that big proportion of the problems are caused by Windows 8 and UEFI (and Samsung's less-than-perfect implementation thereof). However, overall and based on the discussions here, I think that saying "a lot of" those notebooks have hardware problems is an exaggeration. The hardware is the same as running windows 7.

John

 

hi,Anybody got any problem with keyboard's vibration/noise playing music etc. on the samsung new series 9 (2012)?
please, try this test-audio-sample 400mhz(see bottom link) and let me know if u get a strong noise from the keyboard. thanks
www.dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14100148/track55 - 400.mp3

 

Hi all,

I bought my Win8 900X4D 3 months ago now, and my choice was solidly influenced by people here. So far I have been mostly pleased with it, and the quirks I found annoying were known before my purchase. So thanks guys

I've got a few issues though, that i can't quite seem to overcome.
1/ every once in a while, the touchpad drops dead. No particular trigger, no unusual activity prior to it, although now that i think of it, it always happens while in use. I mean by that it always happened in the middle of a motion of the cursor, never after coming back to it after a few seconds or minutes idling or of keyboard use. Usually it would get back to life after a reboot or sometimes after a sleep/wake up, but just now it took a couple hours and several reboots to revive. Anything obvious i should try before calling customer services?

2/ wireless works fine enough to my taste, but i keep getting disconnected, or getting a "limited connection" flag, whenever my roommate's macbook is connecting to the same router. Never an issue while my older winXP laptop is connected, very occasionally when portable devices would connect (i've tried an ipod touch and a kindle). It is usually all getting back on track by turning on and off the airplane mode - and a few minutes wait -, but is still fairly disrupting. Any thoughts on that? Router is a fairly moody speedport W723V form the german ISP deutsche Telekom

3/ right now, sw update offered me a BIOS update, which i accepted as i had no issue on the previous one(s?). It didn't ask for reboot, it is currently stuck at "Updating the software". There is cancel button that is unresponsive. It's been 30 minutes or so. I'm debating killing the process, the i figured I'll ask first... So believe it or not, i just missed a "do you want to proceed" type of dialog, which inexplicably took the focus off of the SW update window and yet was hidden by it. 3rd attempt did the charm, bios updated.

Any help most welcome

 

The 15" Series 9 machines seem to have most WIFI problems than the 13.3". John (the forum mod) certainly has a lot of experience looking at this with Windows 7. I don't think it's a software issue.

 

Hi. I just purchased a Series 9 900X3C-A02CA

It has 256GB drive, i5-3317u, 4GB ram..

I noticed that doing the windows experience I get 4.3, lowest score being graphics, I updated the HD4000 drivers and now its at 4.6.

I have looked at other samsung laptops in the stores.. and other manufactures with the same i5 processor and RAM... they are showing as 5.6.. why is my numbers so low?

thoughts? suggestions?

 

Two thoughts: (i) On my Win 7 X4C I changed the priority setting for ETDCtrl.exe and ETDCtrlHelper.exe to Above Normal priority; (ii) If you have the Sandisk U100 SSD then the pause could well be while the SSD is choking on too much food (which effectively freezes the system for a few seconds - but not the duration you are seeing).

Try the WiFi driver 15.6.1 from Intel. It has improved connectivity for many (but not all) people. The 6235 adapter has issues and must be an embarrassment to Intel. See, for example, this thread in the Intel forum.

My observations are based on my X4C with Intel 6235 adapter performing worse than the X3B (with the Intel 6230 adapter). I suspect the problem is more related to the adapter than the antennae arrangement, which is similar.

Check the RAM configuration using HWiNFO or CPU-z. Is it single or dual channel? We have the recent issue with the new X3E having single channel RAM, which will hit the performance of the integrated graphics. There is the suspicion that Samsung ran out of the dual channel DDP module and they are hoping that no one notices that they are using a single channel module instead.

If that isn't the problem then (i) re-run WEI and (ii) reinstall the graphics driver. Another booby trap that has caught some people out is that Silent Mode (Fn+F11) locks the CPU to minimum speed. However, this should hit all your benchmark results.

John

 

Hi did as you suggested, seems like it is only single channel memory. Is this going to cause performance issues? Should I send this back and look for an ultrabook with dual channel memory? I was also looking at the Toshiba Z930...

Can I change the ram in this machine?

I spent a lot on this machine, and I want it to last... any comments are much appreciated.

Thanks,
Shaun

 

The RAM is soldered and can't be changed. Single channel RAM will primarily affect the graphics performance and if you aren't needing the maximum graphics performance that can be squeezed out of the Intel GPU then you aren't likely to notice in the read world. This single channel problem has only cropped up in the past month, or maybe it's been around for longer and no one has noticed.

The SSD is a bigger factor in the everyday performance. Is yours Samsung, Liteon or something else? (Get the model number from Device Manager).

John

 

It's a liteon, I can get the model number later, it got 8.1 in windows experience.

 

Thanks. The Liteon is at least as good as Samsung's own mSATA SSD. We've had only one report of a 256GB Sandisk U100 but many 128GB U100s (which are inappropriate in a premium notebook).

I suggest you figure out whether the single channel RAM affects performance for what you do.

John

 

I went to check the priority of these two processes, and interestingly enough, they were set to "above normal" by default.
For my problem here, it is not a system freeze, everything else functions perfectly smoothly, only the touchpad gives no response at all any more. I'm starting to think hardware/connection fault, I'll have to keep track of whether it happens more or less often in time i guess.

My driver version is 15.6.1.20, updated fro SW update. It is an update that showed up after my post but before i read yours. I can't tell yet if it got better, only that it's not perfect, since i got the "limited connection" thingy already since then.
It could be a router issue too, though. My main problem is that win8 doesn't give me any more specific clue as to what went wrong, only "connection limited", while signal strength is at max and i can't access internet or even the router.
Are there tools to diagnose more precisely a wireless connection?

Thanks for your answers

 

This will be awkward one to diagnose. Intermittent faults always are. I can see Samsung wanting you to restore to your original Windows installation before they will agree that it's a hardware issue. My Bluetooth mouse does something similar, but that seems to be a feature of BT. The pad shouldn't have such connectivity issues and mine always works when the mouse is non-responsive.

It seems that Samsung aren't bothering to update the SW Update database for Windows 7 - it still offers 15.0.0.75 for my X4C - but is good to know that they are doing it for Windows 8.

My main tool for checking network issues is InSSIDer, which shows the signal strength of your router and also any others in range. -50dB is a strong signal and -80dB is weak and likely to be problematic. If there's another strong signal on the same or overlapping channel then it increases the challenge of making and holding a good connection. If you have this problem then reconfigure the router to use less congested spectrum.

You may have the Intel ProSet/Wireless Tools in your network and sharing center. This has some diagnostics but I doubt if you will find anything useful. I suspect there are still bugs with the driver. The router is another possibility but shouldn't be a problem if there are few users. Connecting to a congested system can be more of a challenge.

John

 

hey guys
i've written a couple moths ago about the fn keys that didn't work. well as hopefully everybody experienced, they work now.
but there's one issue:
My f12 (Wlan) led is always on and the key isn't actually doing anything when toggled. Does somebody know the solution to at least turn off the led or even make it work?
help is highly appreciated
cheers!

 

The light will stay on if Bluetooth is on. You can control WiFi and Bluetooth separately in Settings.

John

 

Thanks for the Answer. Unfortunately it didn't work when i turned off bluetooth.

 

The light should go off when both WiFi and BT are off. Did you check that combination in Settings? It this doesn't work then uninstall / reinstall Settings.

John

 

Make sure you install the Airplane Mode Control Driver using SW Update. In Win8, Fn-F12 toggles Airplane Mode (turns all radios off/on) and also turns that LED off/on. Win7 was different in that Fn-F12 merely opened the Network page in Easy Settings.

At least that's how it works on my NP700Z3A, admittedly a somewhat different model from yours

 

Thanks alot Dannemand!
Finally it turns off! (it still doesn't work but at least the led-light doesn't bother anymore

 

Well that's some progress, but it really SHOULD work.

Ahem... you're pressing F12 in combination with Fn, right? I am sorry, I just had to ask

 

John, will you be starting up a new thread for 8.1 or just edit and keep this one going? Thanks!

 

Today I installed windows 8.1 preview from the apps store. Downloading process went fine but during installation process my laptop NP900X4C stucked. I am unable to use F4 function to restore or even F2 function to enter into the setup mode. I upload a video on YouTube: .
It seems that the laptop is broken.

 

That is very unfortunate for the owner that had the failed Windows 8.1 upgrade. Mine went pretty smoothly and is working for the most part pretty well. The only issue I have however is that the Fn Settings keys do not work. Only Volume does. Brightness, keyboard backlight, etc does not work.

 

I also updated to Windows 8.1 preview, and I am having the same issue as yjlee01. Everything went well except Fn keys don't work. Only the Volume settings do (F6 - F8). Are other Samsung 9 users experiencing this issue? Any idea if there's a solution?

I tried a bunch of stuff, including uninstalling and reinstalling SW Update, Settings, etc. I even tried rolling back to Easy Settings, but Fn functionality was limited and unusual (e.g., brightness keys worked, but toggling Eco Mode [F11] caused brightness to reset to max brightness).

Too much of a pain to go back to Windows 8 (all apps would be lost), but I'd like to have the Fn keys back. Biggest issue is keyboard backlight, which can only be adjusted by F9 and F10.

If anyone has ideas about a solution, please share. Also, it would be good to know if anyone knows how we could adjust keyboard backlight besides the Fn keys.

 

Have you tried reinstalling (i) the Settings program and (ii) the Samsung-supplied graphics driver?

John

 

I'll try and find time this weekend to test the 8.1 preview and report what I find. I am already surprised to hear that it seems to wipe the existing Settings installation - or that they changed it so fundamentally that the current Settings is broken.

I will definitely make an image backup of my Win8 partition first, so I can go back after finished testing!

I'll try it with the latest Settings 2.0.0.55 which John just mentioned is released for 880Z5E. If that doesn't work, we'll have to wait for Samsung to release a new one. The good thing about this 8.1 is that Samsung is now forced to release Settings updates for all models supporting Win8 - so we don't have to go hunting for the latest version

 

Should anything else be reinstalled?

 

I just re-read this. That's interesting if Easy Settings can control Brightness, but Settings can not. It makes me think that the problem is the graphics driver (which controls Brightness) rather than Settings (which controls the Fn-keys, but depends on the graphics driver to change the brightness).

The fact that toggling Silent Mode (Fn-F11) changes Brightness is normal: It's because it switches to the Power Saver profile, and Windows remembers brightness for each profile. You can set any brightness (and other settings) for Power Saver and Samsung Optimized (the default Samsung profile) and toggling Silent Mode will switch between them.

I would definitely try the following:

1) Uninstall Easy Settings (it's not made for Win8). Reboot.

2) Re-install the latest Settings 2.0.0.55 (made for Win8). Reboot.

3) Make sure Adaptive Brightness is disabled in all the places mentioned in this post. We've seen how that can prevent effective brightness control, and some of these settings may have been re-enabled during the 8.1 upgrade.

4) If the problem is still present, un-install the Samsung-provided driver for Intel graphics. Reboot. I assume that 8.1 comes with built-in HD3000/4000 drivers.

Any time display drivers or Settings is upgraded or re-installed, make sure the Adaptive Brightness settings haven't been re-enabled behind your back.

Please keep posting your findings here. Though I am sure we'll soon see posts about 8.1 in other threads as well

 

I tried all of the uninstall - reboot - reinstall options. I also uninstalled the Samsung-provided graphics driver. No dice, Fn keys still don't work. It's also worth mentioning that my Settings window only has 3 tabs: Network, Display, and SoundAlive. Seems like there should be more options.

Another thing I noticed is that when I open my lid, the computer doesn't wake automatically. I never had a problem with that in Windows 8, but I need to push the power button to wake the computer in Windows 8.1 preview. Any ideas what that could be? Is anyone familiar with how opening the lid triggers the computer to wake when it works (e.g., event in Task Scheduler)?

 

Yeah, sounds like we have to wait for Samsung to release an updated Settings.

Regarding the lack of lid wake-up, did this happen after you had installed Easy Settings? I ask because Easy Settings has a Samsung Fast Start Mode setting which controls this (and is enabled by default). Settings (Win8) always enables this and doesn't provide a setting. But if Settings doesn't "take" that might explain it.

Here is a thought: Try the exact steps I gave above one more time in that sequence, but install Settings in Compatibility Mode for Win8 (if there is one) and/or As Administrator.

Also, doesn't the 8.1 upgrade offer a roll-back feature? Didn't it create a Restore Point? At least that would let you get back to Win8.