Series 7 Chronos All Models: Push for SAMSUNG to implement "FIXED MODE" in BIOS

Hi i had the same issue, when i play SCII, so i search the web. To optimize SCII, i sure this will work for any game Razer Game Booster Performance Boosting & Screencapture Software - Razer United States

There also minor fixes




Also Ive a request
Need to update my BiOS, so any help would be helpfull. Thanks

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-bios-update-model-np700z5ah.html#post9601803

Hope it will help.

 

Use Samsung's standalone BIOS update program (link in first post of this thread).

If that doesn't find any BIOS newer than you have then it means there is nothing in Samsung's own database.

John

 

Hello Drewbis, welcome to NBR.

The "switchable graphics problem" originally discussed in this thread for the Series 7 Sandy Bridge models was actually solved two years ago through BIOS and driver updates from Samsung. So if you have the latest BIOS and graphics drivers from Samsung it really should work -- although both are a bit old now, and it may not play the latest games well. I have an NP700Z3A myself, and switchable graphics works both in Win7 and Win8. (Win8.1 can be made to work as well, but that's more work since it is not supported by Samsung on these models).

Mine has BIOS version 15FD, which I believe is also the latest for your model. Follow John's advice (just above) for how to safely update your BIOS.

As for drivers, you need to use SW Update to get the latest (that was a link). Samsung stopped updating drivers on their web site in 2012.

For my model (NP700Z3A-S03US) SW Update only offers a combined graphics driver package containing both the Intel HD3000 and AMD driver (along with the switchable magic). You didn't mention your OS version, but it's version 8.940 for Win7, and version 9.200 for Win8. I notice (and was always puzzled) that SW Update lists separate Intel and AMD drivers for some NP700Z5A models -- and often older drivers.

First of all, use HWiNFO as described in this post to check whether your AMD actually kicks in or not. If it DOES, there may be an issue with the particular game you are playing. Otherwise here is what I suggest:

1) Uninstall your current AMD graphics drivers using Windows Programs and Features control panel -- and Intel graphics drivers if they are listed there. Reboot.

2) Install SW Update (if you don't have it already) and let it install whichever graphics drivers it offers. Reboot.

If that doesn't help, you can try and uninstall again, but this time download and install the combined graphics driver package from NP700Z3A-S03US (using Find Model in SW Update).

If that doesn't fix it either, there is a deeper problem in your Windows installation. If you are running Samsung's installation, you can perform a factory restore by F4 booting Recovery; otherwise you can perform a new clean install using the exact steps in this Windows install guide. In both cases please backup your data first.

Now, there are newer graphics drivers than the ones from Samsung available directly from AMD and Intel, and some of them work (or can be made to work) even on our older computers. You can Google LeeKM's drivers; he is an NBR member who modifies new AMD and Nvidia drivers to support switchable graphics. But I would make sure you have a stable installations first using the basic Samsung drivers, and make a backup or Restore Point of that, before experimenting with more exotic drivers.

 

Ok, I got a good one for you, hoping this isn't a blown GPU.

NP700Z5A-S03CA

Previous stuff
Bumped the bios to 15FD

Clean install #1
Non-OEM Win7 Ultimate 64
Installed SW Update
Updated the chipset
Ran all the other proposed updates except the bloatware
No Graphics package proposed
Pulled the graphics package manually for my model, it's there, downloaded, only this available in the custom options:
http://i.imgur.com/XeNlXSi.png
Pulled the NP700z5A-S03US graphics package, essentially the same result
Device manager has only the standard VGA adapter showing in display adapters, no unrecognised devices, not trace of even the on board graphics
HWINFO does see the the HD3000 but not the AMD GPU (also sees my boot drive as 2GB for whatever reason):
http://i.imgur.com/7RMpely.png
Install Leshcat driver, manage to get the HD3000 working, Catalyst install fails

Clean install #2
Redid the relevant SW Update stuff
Checked the south bridge in the BIOS to make sure all the PCI ports are enabled
Threw my hands up in the air

Any ideas?

e: Attempted the latest drivers directly from the support section of Samsung's site, 8.951.9.3000, no dice.

Question is why the hell isn't my GPU detected (or how the hell did it just decide to die for no reason)?

 

Use the Find Model facility in SW Update to manually search for the NP700Z5A (you can also look in other countries for the Z5A and you may find newer drivers elsewhere).

John

 

No installer sees it either the one from the site or the ones pulled from SW Update, neither does Device Manager:
http://i.imgur.com/EieeNpG.png

As I said my concern now is a hardware failure, how can I verify that the hardware is present/detected/healthy?

 

I flashed my BIOS to the custom version referenced a couple pages ago to take a peek under the hood, should I be seeing anything as far as connected devices or dedicated PCIe channels on the south bridge?

 

Hello fgervais,

Sorry I am joining this a bit late.

You have already been making all the right moves: You installed the Chipset driver from SW Update as the first thing, which should have ensured that the AMD showed up in the device tree (if it didn't show before). And you found the latest Graphics driver version ver.8.951.9.3000 on Samsung.com (we always tell people to check SW Update for the latest, since Samsung stopped updating their site -- but in this case, the SW Update database is actually behind the website). That driver contains both Intel and AMD drivers, as you gathered.

The only other thing I can think of, is to try the BIOS/CMOS reset described by John in this post in order to flush out any gremlins in the BIOS data tables. After that, boot into BIOS (F2) and make sure settings are as you want.

If that still doesn't bring out the AMD, I am sorry to say it sounds like your original assessment of a dead AMD could be correct

Update: I missed the part about you flashing a custom BIOS. That may have already reset it -- though the paperclip/power button procedure is still worth a try. I am afraid I couldn't tell you what to look for in that custom BIOS.