Series 9 Owners: Third party mSATA upgrades

Are you actually going to use the Recovery Partition for storing backups? If not, squeeze it down to the smallest possible size (controlled by whatever is already in the partition). Acronis True Image makes it easy to put your backups onto an external device, which is my own preference. Many of us have deleted the recovery partition after making a backup image.

John

 

I plan to use Acronis Backup & Recovery for backups, so I'll squeeze it down as you suggest. Thanks.

 

I began following this thread some time ago, bought a 256gb mSata SSD to repalce the 128gb in my 13" SS 9 (NP-900X3C-A01AU) then got too busy to install it!
I have now fitted the new SSD and tried to do a clean install. After FINALLY managing to boot into the Samsung "System Recovery Media" CD and install Windows I discovered that none of the needed drivers, such as WLan etc had been installed.
It seems that the Samsung disk only contains the basic install of Windows and none of the other drivers, and utilities that were previously on the SS 9.
I apologize if this question has been asked before, but do I need to download all the drivers and utilities from Samsung or am I being thick and they are tucked away somewhere on the Samsung recovery DVD (where I logically expected to find them)?
If they are not on the DVD and have to be downloaded is there any particular order in which they need to be installed??
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Yes, I was being thick. Re-installed the old SSD and created the required recovery DVD with drivers etc then loaded them onto the new SSD.

 

Im sorry but I dont understand this.

Im using so much force its crazy.

 

It's the lower seam. Lifting the front edge of the base (when upside down and unscrewed will help the back seam to unclip.

John

 

English is not my native language, so there are alot of terms I dont understand. A video would help alot.

I got it open, and I understand now how I should have opend it.


After some glue and tape, my SS9 is as good as new :thumbsup:

 

Thanks, especially to John, but also to all the others which have contributed, this thread has been very useful.

I've now updated my 900X3C to 256GB Crucial M4. Used the mSATA to 2.5" SATA adapter linked below to place the M4 into a standard USB disc enclosure for the cloning. The shipping is free and it arrived in less than a week.

Mini PCIe PCI E mSATA 3x5cm SSD to 2 5 inch SATA Adapter Cnverter Card PA6006 | eBay

Used the free Macrium Reflect and bought Acronis Disc Director Home as described in this thread to clone, delete, move and extend the partitions. I kept the hibernate partition, but deleted the recovery since U100 of course can be used for a new cloning if needed in the future.

Removing the bottom cover was much more easy than what I've had expected from reading this thread. It was jut to wiggle it a bit back and forth while lifting in the front, and it came loose. I was lucky finding an unused Philips 0 screwdriver in my toolbox, a good screwdriver is needed especially for the two screws in the front corners. When reassembling the cover just make sure it's clicked back into correct position at the back end before start screwing.|

 

Thanks for the feedback.

The way that the back edge unclips with a ripping noise is a little disconcerting.

John

 

Crucial released a firmware update to their M4 SSD's, that can be downloaded from their support site. The email I received from them was as follows:

Crucial SSDs are designed to support periodic firmware upgrades that provide enhancements to optimize how our drives perform. We're happy to announce that the latest firmware upgrade is now available for your Crucial m4, Adrenaline, or mSATA SSD on our SSD support page. This is an optional firmware update, but by upgrading you'll benefit from the following improvements:
• Faster boot up – we improved the time between when you press the power button on your computer and when the drive is ready to accept commands
• Faster TRIM – we improved how our drives clean up files to make them more efficient
• Better power management – we improved some power consumption elements so that our drives can draw less power
At Crucial.com, we're proud to deliver first-rate support to our SSD customers and that includes firsthand upgrade news. While you're on Crucial.com downloading the latest firmware, why not see if you can further improve your system's performance with a DRAM upgrade? Our innovative Crucial System Scanner accurat
ely identifies the memory in your system and provides a list of guaranteed-compatible upgrades. Just another great service we can offer – thank you for being a valued customer!
-The team at Crucial.com

There are apparently some issues with this upgrade, because there are a lot of problems reported on the Crucial forums - But it might be installation errors by some users. There is a different version of the upgrade for the mSATA drives, and for the other M4 drives. Also their upgrade software apparently does not work on systems with UFEI Bios.

I installed the upgrade on my Crucial M4 mSATA drives in my 900X3C with no problems, using the windows based installation procedure and it worked fine. I haven't tried any benchmarks to test for any changes in performance, but it appears to be working fine with the updated firmware.

Ben

 

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll do a backup before trying it.

***Update*** The firmware upgrade went smoothly although it was disconcerting to load of DOS-type text appear on the screen along with various prompts (which should be ignored - leave the updater to work through the process and then reboot).

John

 

Hey guys, I just received my 900X3C today and am looking forward to the computer. I plan on upgrading the drive to the Crucial M4 mSATA and had a quick question. Rather than doing the whole acronis image and copying my original drive to the new one, would it be easier to just install windows from scratch (off a bootable USB drive) and install the drivers/software from the Samsung website? Would there be any issues? I saw a few posts about needing a special partition made for the Intel rapid start to work - does anyone know if I need to make that partition first before installing windows? Thanks in advance!

 

I just installed my Crucial M4 this evening, and I have to say it is super fast - pretty incredible because i was already impressed with the boot / sleep restore times with the sandisk ssd. My previous laptop had an SSD in it as well, so that alone was impressive.

I went with the Acronis clone / resize route. I tried macrim reflect, but due to how the partitions were laid out, I couldn't get the main partition to resize - the free space was at the end of the drive and the c: drive was in the 'middle'. Nice tool though - will definitely keep it in my toolbox.

Drive swap was super easy - anyone with the correct screwdriver should be able to swing it.

 

A clean install is feasible, especially if you don't want the recovery partition. Windows installation will be easier if you first use Samsung Recovery Solution to make a backup of the drivers and software. After installing Windows you then run this and it will load Easy Software Manager to lead you through all the things to be installed. Getting Intel Rapid Start Technology working is discussed in this thread.

John

 

I ave been trying to find an answer for this question for a little while now and have received conflicting answers from different websites. Does NP900X3a use just a MSATA(MSSD) drive as the main hard drive? Or does it have an actual 2.5in SSD? I am receiving one in a few days to repair and it comes without hard drive and I want to make sure I have one to test with.

Thank you.

 

The X3A does not contain a normal HDD. A search through the X3A thread reveals this part number for the SSD. And a search for that part confirms it is mSATA.

John

 

Ah the othr version name of the series 9, didn't think to look there.

Thank you very much for the reply.

 

I'm planning on upgrading my Series 9 with the 256GB SSD drive and am planning for a clean install on the new hard drive. I was originally going to do a windwos 7 clean install, but now I'm wondering if anyone knows if I can just clean install windows 8 (using my $14 upgrade download). I've seen websites where people talk about doing clean install using the retail $40 version, but I would like to use the $14 download to install. Is this possible, or should I just install a minimal windows 7 first and then run the upgrade program (it just seems like a waste of time and also waste of my SSD drive to do that extra step). Thanks.

 

You can do a fresh install with the $14 upgrade. I did a clean install with mine and it worked fine.

 

The upgrade utility says you have to *order* the $15 upgrade from the machine you want to install on. Is that really required? Once you order, what form does the install come in, do you just get an ISO+key?

 

I have to choose two option to buy Series 9 NP900X4C or D. One of the things are SSD. The price difference between a model without 256 GB plus 4 GB RAM, and core i5, costs about 490 US$ less than the full featured Series 9. I know i5 and i7 difference is insignificant. 4GB RAM cost only 20 to 40 US$. Now my most confusion is on SSD. The 128GB Sandisk U100 should be replaced. But as I haven't made any purchase, shall I buy with 256GB SSD or buy one with 128GB SSD and upgrade when I get the chance? My concern is, which one is better 256GB SSD, built in or that can be purchased for upgrade. I read that Samsung msata SSD is only available on OEM Ultrabooks, and it is not being sold separately.

 

The Crucial m4 mSATA SSD is a good performer (see first post in this thread for a link to my review) and probably gives best value. One advantage of putting in your own SSD is that you then have the supplied SSD in reserve in case you need service or to restore the computer ready for resale.

John

 

What about durability? I read that Samsung SSDs are durable but I checked that crucial has 3 years warranty. I expected 5 year warranty.Are SSDs more or less durable than HDD? I never owned an SSD.

 

There's just one problem. Samsung doesn't sell theirs in the retail channel.

Or have you located a source? I would buy the Series 830 or 840 mSATA in a heart beat.

 

No I couldn't find any. They are not selling it yet. I checked everywhere.

 

Samsung also give 36 months warranty on their SSDs. With current price / performance trends continue then after 3 years you will be able to get a 512GB SSD for <$100.

John

 

That is cool. I just imagined a solar rechargeable Ultrabook using Haswell chip with 512 or 1 TB SSD, lol.

 

Just a heads up. I tried a clean install of WIndows 8. It took the license key and completed the install. However, Windows wanted the license key again afterwards. It then gave me an error saying that my version of Windows 8 could only be installed as an upgrade. I had to go back, install Windows 7, and then install Windows 8 on top.

 

That is really strange. I did a clean/fresh install of Windows 8 (using the $15 upgrade) and it worked perfectly fine. I've been using it for over a week and it never asked for the key after the installation.

 

The request for entering the license key again was in the Action Center (white flag in system tray).

 

Samsung has a confusing messages on upgrading SSD and RAM.
1. If you upgrade the hard drive on the X360, NF310 and Series 9 laptops you void the manufacturer’s warranty on the computer because you must open the notebook to access the hard drive. Source

2. Upgrading the memory on the X360 or 9 Series (NP900*) Laptops voids the warranty, because you must open the notebook to access the memory.
For example,
- If you upgraded the memory, and you have a problem with your Wireless LAN that requires service, Samsung will service your notebook under warranty.
- If you upgraded the memory, and you have a problem with the memory that requires service, Samsung will not service your notebook under warranty.
Source

The memory explanation seems fair. However, there is no clarification on the hard disk upgrade. Will it be the same?

 

First off big thanks to those who have provided such valuable help in these threads and in particular John in the thread specifically.

I get a new Samsung NP900X3C-A05UK tomorrow and want to know specifically what would be the best course of action with a new machine in order to upgrade to the 256 mSATA SSD.
So before I get into it (comes with windows8 home premium) what would be the steps to take in upgrading it the most efficient way?

Thanks.

 

Stop worrying and don't break anything and keep all parts so you can restore the computer to the supplied condition before requesting warranty service. If you leave no trace that you've inside then the Samsung service technicians won't be looking for finger-prints.

Use Samsung Recovery Solution to make a backup of drivers / software.

Then the method I use is to clone the supplied SSD onto the new one using Acronis TrueImage (but there other packages). This avoids the possible challenges of getting everything working again. The alternative is to do a clean installation. Cloning will require a 2.5" HDD - USB adapter and a mSATA to 2.5" adapter.

John

 

Ok that is cool.

 

I've upgraded to Win8, Windows Experience Index for the HD with a 256GB Crucial m4 is now 9.1, quite impressive.

 

I would assume that Microsoft has expanded the WEI range (7.9 was the upper limit for the storage device in Windows 7) rather than the SSD has magically become faster.

John

 

That is true. Windows 8 Experience Index is now out of 9.9. I feel 7.8/7.9 is better than 9.1/9.9. The actual real life performance is the one that matters though. Windows 8 generally performs better than Windows 7 but the down side is there are not enough drivers at this point.

 

Yes, the max is now 9,9, but since the other scores are more or less the same, this is the value showing the true relative performance of the disk. U100 gave 7.5, m4 7.9 with Win 7.

The previous scale was not dimensioned to handle very fast SSD's.

 

Are you sure your score isn't 8.1?
My 900X3C with the M4 and another desktop running a Smsung 830 SSD has a score of 8.1

 

Just wanted to check something:

My NP900X3C - AO5UK finally turned up today and on the package it states for the HDD: SSD 128GB (mSATA(PCIE), 4mm)

Just checking what I have here, can someone verify what HD this is?
Thanks.

 

Its an mSata ssd alright, as for the manufacturer you have to go my computer > properties > devise manager > disk drives and see what type you have

 

Ups, I should have read here before ...
I ordered a 4GB RAM Module as I've seen a video how to upgrade a Series 9 memory with an additiona module. So this is really not true for the 900X3D? Then I don't need to open it and risk the warranty? ... Grrrrrr
Has anybody a picture of an open 900X3D?
Thanks, I need to check, if I can return the memory module

 

I have already been inside my NP900X3D-A02US. The memory is soldered to the motherboard and there is no SoDIMM slot to upgrade the machines memory. Return the memory module if you have no other use for it.

The only thing you can upgrade is the mSATA SSD.

 

Thank you for your reply, I will return the Memory then ...
The X3D was the wrong decision then. Should have gone for the X3C.
So I have to live with a rather modest performance of my Virtual machines (under VMware workstation) ...

 

There is no difference in the X3C and the X3D except the chassis color.

The X4C on the other hand has two SoDIMM slots and can be upgraded to 16GB of RAM. If you are in the USA, see Buy Samsung Series 9 900X4C-A04 - 15 inch notebook PC, Intel Core i5 processor, sleek design, HDMI - Microsoft Store Online for an excellent deal.

 

Was just thinking to go and get a new X3C to put my memory in
Actually none of the 13" models is upgradable to 8GB?

 

Thors,

actually I had your opinion, X3C and X3D are identical, except
color, processor and SSD size. That's why I ordered the Kingston
4GB Memory Module for the X3C to put it in the X3D.

Does your statement mean, that the Kingston Database is wrong?
They mention, the 900X3C has an Expansion Socket.

 

Here a picture of an open 900X3D:



Does this look exact like in a 900X3C?

 

For the last time, none of the 13.3" Samsung Series 9 machines have a sodimm slot. They all have soldered memory. The Kingston database is wrong.

 

Yes, they are identical.