Samsung Series 9 - Windows 8

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  Are you talking about Intel Rapid Start? I"ve been trying to get that to work and I can't get it installed. I'm using Windows hibernation.
  
  Does Rapid Start actually work on your Series 9, i.e. it hibernates to disk and then resumes as fast as from sleep mode?

 

Yes, I believe it does. It seems to be hidden, ie shows up in Installed Programs, but no application visible. Hybrid sleep is NOT enabled in the power settings. But it works, as far as I can tell. I set power button to hibernate, and wake up is the same as when I just shut the lid and it sleeps, as far as I can tell.

 

Note that Windows 8 includes somethings similar to IRST as explained here.

John

 

You didn't delete the 4GB partition before you did a clean install, did you? That is needed for rapid start to work I believe.

 

My notebook NP900X4C-07US seems to be changing of its own accord to Power Saving plan, (from Samsung Optimized) This is happening repeatedly, on a schedule, even without going to sleep or hibernation. Any ideas? I suspect there is some other "settings" program interfering, but I can't find it.

 

Where are you setting the Power Plan? In Easy Settings or Windows Power Management? (Assuming that Windows 8 includes both these facilities).

John

 

Is anyone else out there getting tired of waiting for Samsung to upgrade and release new Intel Graphics drivers? I'm running an NP900X4D, and it's been out for just shy of 2 months now, and still we don't have Intel Graphics drivers that allow me run Intel WiDi -- the WiDi App just says you need to upgrade your graphics drivers from either Intel or your OEM. But I can't install the drivers from Intel, they bark and say you need OEM drivers. And around an around we go...

Also, I'm wondering if anyone else is having resolution issues connecting this model to their HDTV through the HDMI cable. Since I have no WiDi I'm hooking up to the TV through HDMI, but the resolution is off. The last 100px or so square on the TV are off the screen, so all the edges of the display are unreachable. Totally weird, but certainly not a zoom setting issue on the TV, I can hook up two other laptops to it, no issues.

Any input on both those subjects would be hugely appreciate, thanks!

 

Hi,

I have the same issue with my NP900X3A, the hdmi output will not show the edge of the display. I tried to play with the Intel Graphics settings with no success (I am running the Intel drivers from a clean Windows install, I never installed the Samsung drivers).

So I did not find any solution so far.

cheers

 

Could you make the intel rapid start installer available for download on one of the free hosting sites? From the website you can only get windows 7 version.

Thanks.

 

Hmm, well that's disturbing then that the HDMI output has issues with both sets of drivers. I guess the hope is for Samsung to sort it out with their driver update maybe. Come on Samsung, two months and still nothing. Frustration thy name is Samsung Service!

 

Ok, here is the IRST package (zipped). It appears to be specially for NP judging by the name.

iRST Win8 for NP 11.5.2.1001 PV NP PKG (SW Dscrpt.).zip

 

gonna give this a try when I get home.

 

Here is the list, including junk.

If there is demand, I will make them available

Directory of \\sim1\S9 Backups recovery\S9 Samsung system drivers software\SystemSoftware

20/12/12 12:32 <DIR> .
20/12/12 12:32 <DIR> ..
20/12/12 12:23 <DIR> Adobe Reader for Win 8 10.1.3.23
20/12/12 12:23 <DIR> Airplane Mode Control Driver(Win8, 64bit) 6.2.8400.4218
20/12/12 12:23 <DIR> Allshare Play 1.3
20/12/12 11:32 59 Autorun.inf
20/12/12 12:23 <DIR> Chipset (Chief River ) 9.3.0.1021
20/12/12 12:23 <DIR> ClearSky Theme for Win8 1.0.0.2
20/12/12 12:23 <DIR> Display Profile Installer All (Mercury27 update2)
20/12/12 12:24 <DIR> EasyFileShare for Win8 1.3.4.0
20/12/12 12:24 <DIR> Elan_TP_Win8_SMBus 11.7.4.3._WHQL
20/12/12 12:25 <DIR> Heci(Chief River,SWDESC)_Package 8.1.0.1248 for Win8 (Fast Boot) 8.1.0.1248
20/12/12 12:25 <DIR> Help Desk1.0.8.0
20/12/12 11:32 430,199 IMGPKG_20121220113256.XML
20/12/12 12:25 <DIR> Intel AppUp for Win8 3.6.1.38693
20/12/12 12:26 <DIR> Intel Bluetooth Driver (Win8) 2.5_PV2_ESP
20/12/12 12:28 <DIR> Intel IvyBridge Windows8 GFX driver - 64bit 9.17.10.2817 (WHQL_ALS)
20/12/12 12:28 <DIR> Intel WLAN Driver (e64)15.5.6.48 HF6 WHQL
20/12/12 12:28 <DIR> IntelliMemory_x64 1.0.26.0
20/12/12 12:28 <DIR> iRST Win8 for NP 11.5.2.1001 PV NP PKG (SW Dscrpt.)
20/12/12 11:57 12,060,503 iRST Win8 for NP 11.5.2.1001 PV NP PKG (SW Dscrpt.).zip
20/12/12 12:28 <DIR> MediaSDK patch for Widi1.0
20/12/12 12:28 <DIR> Norton Internet Security 2013 20.0.0.136
20/12/12 12:28 <DIR> Norton Online Backup for Win8 4.1.0.11
20/12/12 12:29 <DIR> PowerDVD (DVD) for Win8 10.0.4421.02
20/12/12 12:29 <DIR> Quick Starter For Win81.0.1.8
20/12/12 12:29 <DIR> Realtek ALC26X Win8_Win7 Snd Drv 6.0.1.6699LogoTruBass
20/12/12 12:31 <DIR> Settings (MS Feature) 2.0.0.25
20/12/12 12:31 <DIR> sRecovery 6.0.6.5
20/12/12 12:31 <DIR> Support Center 2.0.12.0
20/12/12 12:32 <DIR> SW Update 2.0.20.51
20/12/12 12:32 <DIR> SW Update Patch2.1.5.33
10/09/12 06:48 3,154,552 SystemSoftware.exe
20/12/12 12:32 <DIR> Win8-Realtek LAN Driver[Gigabit] 8.2.612.2012-Dock_Dongle
20/12/12 12:32 <DIR> Win8_UserManual _Amor2_13_14(900X3B_900X3C_900X3D_900X4B_900X4C_900X4D) 1.2.00

 

I can't find a power plan setting in the WIndows 8 version of Easy Settings. So power plan is being set in the control panel. However something/someone is definitely resetting it to Power Saving plan from time to time, especially after reset or long sleep. Any ideas to track it down?

 

According to Samsung Software Update, I am using Easy Setting v2.0.0.25 and I don't really see much power management in the app either. Samsung's Windows 8 software seems incomplete to me. Especially compared to their Windows 7 software.

 

Hi, a have a 900X3A-A01fr (i am from France),
i did the upgrade to Windows 8 but i have many problems.

I did a clean install of Windows 8 pro, then Windows update, and finally SW Update.
First, i have trouble with the FN keys, i can't mak working the backlight keyboard.
Then the Programm "Settings" is not as powerful as "easy display manager" that i use to have in Windows 7.

Also trouble with the sleep function when i close the screen.
Then i can't switch the different power plan with Fn+F6.

I tried to install in compatibility mode "esay display manager", it is close to work but it is full of bugs.

On the Samsung website, it is mentionned that the upgrade of the 900X3A is ok since November the 30th, but for me it is not the case.
Thank you for your help.

 

I have the same model and had the same problem. Update the last BIOS via SW, it fixes the FN keys (most of those) and restore the "Settings" features (hybrid sleep closing/opening the lid etc).

 

As far as the HDMI output scaling, I did find that using the Intel Graphics -> Scaling Setting (be sure to be on Advanced Settings for the graphics card) enabled me to fix the scaling issue. Also make sure you have your TV zoom set to "normal" or whatever your TV calls it.

But as for Samsung providing new Intel Graphics Drivers...well now it's over 2 months and still nothing, and thus still WiDi is not possible in Windows 8! That's crazy bad support for a system that costs around $1500.

 

Thanks for your feedback. What did you modify in the "Scalling Setting" menu, did "Full screen" checkbox solve it or you had to manually change the scaling gauge ?

 

Yes, I had to manually set the scaling. I used the "Customize Aspect Ratio" option under Scalling (Intel - Graphics Properties). And just in case it doesn't auto detect if I change the HDMI output device in the future, I saved the profile in the Intel Graphics Properties app.

 

Is anyone finding it difficult to use the devices function from the charms bar? I have a Samsung TV and Xbox, and although initially both were found by Win8, it now states these devices are offline. I tried uninstalling the device, searching for, finding, and reinstalling, but once the laptop is turned off and back on the devices claim they are offline again, making music or video streaming pointlessly difficult.

 

I also have a series 7 from BB, and also had frequent load problems with Chrome and FF. Thought it was ad-block, but that was not the case as I still experienced it with the plug-in disabled. I have since installed an ssd, and Win 7 ult (sorry Win 8, spent too long trying to get you to run like 7). So far, not a single issue with Chrome. However, I also disabled Express Cache since installing the SSD.

 

Hi,
I have a 13" series 9 NP900XC-A03 which has FACTORY Windows 8 installed.
I have done all Samsung updates.
As this laptop has a 1600x900 display I would of thought the the Windows Start screen would have been 5 tiles high.
It appears I'm wrong!. Having said that, most web sites that offer programs or reg edits state that 1600x900 SHOULD be five tiles not the four I currently have.
I thought it might be a hardware issue (graphics cards etc) but when I popped into my local electrical store they had a np900x4c - the 15" version.
Low and behold it had five rows on the start screen.
I know how to reg edit and all the sites say do the same thing..
edit HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\Grid
change a value or two. Apply. Log out etc.


part of the reg file
"PreviousRTL"=dword:00000000
"PreviousScaleFactor"=dword:00000064
"PreviousLogoScaleFactor"=dword:00000064
"LauncherGridControl_HasPreviouslyRun"=dword:00000001
"Layout_MaximumAvailableHeightCells"=dword:00000004
"Layout_AvailableHeightCells"=dword:00000004
"Layout_MaximumRowCount"=dword:00000005

Wont work for me. Any one else got 5 rows working?
I'm used to 6 or 7 rows as my work home machine have 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 resolutions!

 

Just some impressions (lessons learned) from installing Windows 8 Pro on my Series 9, NP900X3C-A01US:

1. Doing a full in-place upgrade and then doing some mucking around resulted in some problems. I didn't realize, but using "Refresh Your PC" is like getting a clean install after the fact (personal files are still intact, however). It was a surprise (I didn't fully appreciate that everything in Add/Remove Programs would be removed, including drivers), but I think it was for the best in retrospect. If I were to do it again, I'd choose the upgrade option that only kept personal files. Beforehand, I could have manually uninstalled applications that use licensing servers for activation (e.g. Adobe).

2. Another surprise is that using the 1-click install for all updates in SW Update does allow you to uncheck unwanted items. The only "essential" item I decided to not install was IntelliMemory. I downloaded the setup package for IntelliMemory and read the read-me file. I'd rather trust the built-in memory management of Windows 8.

3. I think it could be better to install from SW Update before doing massive batch install using Windows Update. Otherwise, Windows Update will try to install its own device drivers.

4. Intel Rapid Start is not included in Samsung's updates for Windows 8. Personally, I've very pleased with the performance of the built-in hibernation feature, which has been improved in Windows 8 over Windows 7. I'm not inclined to manually shoehorn Intel Rapid Start into Windows 8. I think the standard system hibernation and resume in Windows 8 is faster than the use of Intel Rapid Start in Windows 7.

5. FYI, Windows 8 has built-in stacks for bluetooth and USB 3.0. It looks like SW Update still installs something for bluetooth, but there isn't a downloadable driver for USB 3.0.

6. I'm still getting used to Windows 8, but it's overall much faster than Windows 7. Settings (formerly "Easy Settings") launches much faster than its Windows 7 counterpart.

7. I had considered shifting to UEFI for supposedly improved performance. However, in the latest BIOS update, UEFI is disabled by default. I took it as a sign that UEFI is not ready for production on this model. Also, I'm not at all sure that secure boot would even function-- UEFI "support" may be partial at best. These are guesses; I didn't test it-- transitioning from MBR to GPT looks kind of complicated anyway. Anybody have a report on using UEFI on this model?

 

I have the Samsung Software Update program set to manual and only install what I feel is necessary. I don't use IntelliMemory or Intel Rapid Start.

Windows 8 is much quicker than Windows 7 in many ways. I don't use the Windows 8 hibernation so I am doing a cold boot after power off. However, sleep resumes after a lid open are massively faster than Windows 7 on my NP900X3D-A02US. This is especially true for WIFI reconnects.

As for UEFI, unless you plan to use Secure Boot or Connected Standby, I see no point in it. Since your machine doesn't have a TPM chip, you might as well stick with BIOS and MBR.

 

So I installed the easy settings and everything works perfectly except for the brightness. When I try to change the brightness with the function keys the easy settings graphic that pops up in the middle wont change off whatever it starts at and the screen will only change in brightness by a tiny fraction (like 1 step). Every other function key works exactly like it did on windows 7. Anybody know how to fix this?

Edit:

Nevermind, turning off adaptive brightness did the trick.

 

Hi, NP900X3A-A05US user here. I upgraded the RAM to 8g myself but I also had the bottom half of the machine replaced so I have the better trackpad, keyboard, and most importantly, a reliable power port. Just FYI before I start with my issue.

This is a great thread and has helped a lot. I still cannot got my f6 (performance) FN key to work although everything else is working well. I started by using easy display manager and then stumbled on to the SW update program. I downloaded all of the important stuff but went to realtek and intel sites for my drivers (graphics, wifi, ME engine and chipset). I've got settings installed as well as the new bios and the airplane mode.

Everything is working swimmingly, even the touchpad with charm bars and stuff. I did a soft upgrade from Windows 7 so kudos to MS for the transition. It's been pretty smooth other than this niggle. The reason why it bugs me so much is because I do a lot of work with HandBrake and I can see in HWiNFO64 that my 2 cores are only being used up to 1500ghz with the very occational boost to 1800ghz but nowhere near the 2600mhz I am supposed to have. My butt-dyno tells me I could encode much faster in Windows 7 so I think there is a disconnect somewhere.

Would someone mind cluing me in on how to get the performance stuff sorted out? I've hit the button to see if I get a spike and I don't. I've also installed the old software using the rename trick to see if I could get it to work to no avail. Hope this helps someone else out there, too. Thanks in advance, Sam

EDIT: I also ran OCCT to max out the CPU and I am not getting any higher than 1800mhz...

 

Still no one that have any clues on how to get this to work in Windows 8?

 

Does anybody know of a version of easy display manager that actually works with all the function keys under w8? Or maybe a better version of easy settings?

 

All of the function keys work on my Series 9 NP900X3D-A02US. Running Win8 Pro x64. Settings version on my machine is v2.0.0.25. The following pic shows the other software I have installed, and the stuff I ignore. Runs great.

View attachment 89936

 

This is very helpful. I am still having problems, but at least I have a start - I think it must be the sequence of what got installed, when - or it may be a function of doing an upgrade. I have identical installs and versions to you. Thanks!

 

Has anyone done a clean install on an X3D (that has W8 preloaded)? I'm wondering if there's any trick to it, haven't dealt with a secure boot setup before, but want to trim down the bloat. Thanks.

 

I have. I am typing this on my 3D that is a custom clean install. My machine is not using secure boot. I have that disabled.

 

Well for any one that wants to know I found a way.
It is to do with scaling

see below for the reg tweak:
1. open notepad
2. post following line:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Explorer\Scaling]
"MonitorSize"="15"
3. save as a .reg file
4. import into regedit
5. restart laptop
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
worked for me - also works on RT device - change size to 12.1!

 

Thors, no media came with mine, I do have the pro upgrade disc for my X3B, will that work? I got the A01 which I don't think is pro, but I can't find the sticker on the X3D battery for the key. I guess I can pull that out with a sw utility. Other than that, make a backup of the recovery partition, anything else? Many thanks.

 

Windows 7 keys are on the PSU. I think the Windows 8 keys are coded into the hardware somewhere.

John

 

Our configs are slightly different. My machine came with Windows 8 Pro. The key for it is embedded in the CSM BIOS/UEFI implementation. When I did the re-install, I used the Microsoft Windows 8 retail media. I had purchased the retail product for another machine. After I installed the Crucial M4 256GB mSATA SSD, I booted from the Windows 8 retail media and it installed without asking me for a key. It read the embedded Pro key.

I'm sure there are other legit ways to re-install the OS, but I just took the optical disk route.

 

Thanks guys. I did a samsung backup on the X3D then tried the W8 refresh option which reverted the system to essentially a fresh W8 install (no bloat!). I want to make sure the external backup I made works before I nuke the recovery partition but can't figure out how to boot from usb. I turned off secure boot, fast boot, do I also have to disable uefi to boot from my external dvd drive? I can confirm the drive boots on my x3b. Thanks again.

 

That's a cool way to do it. I might have to try that on the 15" 1080p Series 9 I intend to buy when they are ready.

 

what about 1080p in 13.3 flavor?

 

Thors,

Where did you download SW update from? I looked under my X3D-A01 model on samsung's site but it seems only the W7 files are there i.e. "SW Update" is still listed as "Easy Software Manager". Thanks.

 

There's an SW Update link near the left side of this page.

John

 

At the time, I didn't yet have my machine fully registered and showing under my account profile. So I had to go to the support area at http://www.samsung.com/us/support/.

As you indicated, I didn't see the model I have (NP900X3D-A02US). They have the A01 but I know that is the old Sandy Bridge chipset with different video and other devices. They do however have the NP900X4D listed which is close enough. I'm pretty sure I downloaded the old version of Easy Software Manager and installed it. Then I let it do the search for new updates. I then saved the updated version local (the ZIP file) and ran the update from that.

I didn't take specific notes, but I believe that was the process I went through.

It would be nice if Samsung would actually list all of the models they actually sell.

Now that my machine is registered, I can see all of the downloads if I login.

 

If that was directed at me, I am not interested. I already have the 13.3" 1600x900 PLS screen on mine and I really don't want to move to 1920x1080 on a 13.3" screen.

 

Thanks John, Thors. Yeah that website is a complete maze. Guess we're not paying for support only build quality.

 

EDIT: One user reported this reset trick may not remove the bloatware with newer systems. While I see no problem trying it out on a new machine, it make not help. Sorry.

Thought I'd write a quick overview of how I got an essentially clean W8 install on an X3D WITHOUT the cd/iso. Unlike my X3B, the X3D did not come with windows media, but was well stocked with plenty of bloatware. Thanks Samsung! Also, I was unable to locate an iso for W8 regular and the pro iso I do have WILL NOT allow you to install basic (or whatever it's called). Note that if W8 came on your laptop, the key is “burned” into your bios/uefi. Thanks to John and Thors for advice on this.

Here are the steps that should work, but I offer no warranty, use at your own risk, etc.

1. BACKUP! Open recovery (search “recovery” in metro). Create a backup of the 20GB restore partition on an external drive. Or use other backup software.

2. “Reset” Windows. Open settings from the charms bar, change pc settings, general, remove everything and reinstall windows. This rolls back windows before most of the Samsung software was installed.

3. Once your system is restarted, it will look a lot less cluttered. However, this is not a complete rollback, since “SW Update” is available on the desktop. I am not sure if the drivers/software are also stored locally or not. Choose your drivers/software carefully. I essentially installed everything Thors recommended in this post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...es-9-windows-8-a-post9021957.html#post9021957
There are differing opinions on touchpad drivers for this laptop. I used the one John provided in this post instead of the “SW Update” one, your call.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...c-ivy-bridge-cpu-post9003914.html#post9003914
Additionally, you may want to reinstall “recovery” if you do not have backup software that supports uefi and perhaps the bloated powerdvd if you have something against VLC and want to play dvds from external drives/isos (W8 no longer supports DVD playback natively, dvdfab provides a free bluray/dvd iso mounter btw). I uninstalled “SW Update” after everything was working as I don’t care for its warnings about installing the rest of the garbage.

4. (Optional). If you’re finding the 128GB Sandisk POS SSD is pretty full after you’ve moved over your files, you can reclaim 20GB by deleting the recovery partition. To do this from an elevated command prompt: [diskpart – select disk # - select partition # (the 20GB partition only) - delete partition override]. You can now expand your C: drive into the unallocated space in disk management. Do NOT delete the 1GB recovery partition if you plan to use F4 recovery, I’m not sure if this one can be rebuilt or not?
5. You should probably make another backup of your system to the external drive now in recovery or another program.

That’s it. You now have a fairly clean system running W8. Not ideal for those of us who prefer booting from media, but should be adequate for most users. Note, to boot from an external drive, you need to disable secure boot, fast boot (I think), and change the setting to uefi+cmos. I’m not sure how you can migrate to a new (bigger) SSD, except through recovery and that may require an external usb interface to do the cloning? Let me know if I should update this post with other information.

 

Hello everybody. Samsung has recently replaced my faulty year-old NP700Z5A which apparently they were not able to repair, with a brand new NP900X4C (yay!). I must say I'm quite happy with the change, it has its trade offs (no dedicated graphics, slower CPU, less disk space) but in general I consider it a major improvement (lighter, better battery, much brighter screen, SSD, windows 8 license). It finally gives that premium feeling which S7 would somewhat lack. It just looks so damn sexy..
Not without its quirks though (no surprise to me after what was going on with drivers and all when I first bought my S7) but I don't find any of them too serious. I see that the most frequently discussed are wi-fi (just change the advanced power settings) and touchpad (which I believe is actually great, much better than the one I had in S7, as long as you disable tap-drag&drop which, I admit, might be a problem for some people but click to drag is fine by my standards, or even more comfortable than awkward tapping).

Anyway, I also had serious issues with chrome on my model:
- it wouldn't fully load pages (you can observe in the developers tools that it fails to read css files from cache, it's not a network error);
- occasionally it would display a cache read error message.

Good news is that there is an easy fix for that. Just uninstall "IntelliMemory" whose role, from the description in SW update, is:
"By using RAM as a cache, it speeds up the time for the system to launch web browser and other frequent used applications".
As previous posters have already confirmed, it's complete garbage and leaks memory. After a few of hours of work, with all apps closed, task manager would show 6GB RAM used. Absurd.
Since I deleted IntelliMemory I've had no problems browsing and my memory usage is steady at about 2GB.

I didn't notice anyone mentioning this but in my case, other symptoms of probably the same problem included (after some time of booting the system):
- flickering/black screen, only mouse visible;
- windows, buttons and other UI elements freezing, disappearing;
- apps unresponsive, freezing or crashing;
- complete lockups solvable only by hard reset;
- many errors in the Event Log (services failing to start, application hangs, fatal errors, I/O errors).

Just listing so that it's easier to google for others because it took me way too long to figure that one out. If IntelliMemory screws up the memory which is shared by the graphic driver then my guess is the issues are related (no problems so far since I've deleted IntelliMemory and no errors in the event log). I also had tested my SSD with HDTune and RAM with MemTest before, no faults there.

Peace.

 

Just updated my 9004XD and just wanted to share my experience.

From Windows 7 I just made sure I had the latest updates from samsung SW update and proceeded to install windows 8. Installation took less than 2 hours and it was up and running in no time. Bootup time was a sec or two better than before and wifi range seems to have increased. I was running into problems with MSOffice so I decided to do a full wipe using Win8 restore function.

After restoring (full wipe including all apps and data), proceeded to download SWupdate from Sammy and updated everything and once everything is set restarted. I definitely noticed a huge difference in performance with the fresh install because my laptop now boots in 5 secs!! Shutdown time has increased though to about 10 secs which is not bad. Gesture support on the trackpad is now greatly enhanced and more responsive. I most especially enjoy using the swipes to bring up my computer, switch through apps and bring out the charms bar.

For everyone else who is on the fence about installing windows 8 I highly recommend you do so! The metro UI may not be that entirely useful but windows has now become more responsive and finally feels modern without compromising performance. I really love the implementation of Samsung's updates and it easily trumps whatever Sony or HP is doing for their products. It is just so easy to use and it is almost impossible to screw things up. I find myself enjoying this notebook more than ever! The only thing I'd change about this is the screen.

 

Is the wifi range as good as other laptops? Have you compared it?

 

Unfortunately, I have the Chrome problem too, and I uninstalled Intellimemory on first boot. Thanks for the explanation about the CSS files - matches what I see. There are chrome bug reports on this (damn, can't find the link).