Windows 8.1 Update Issues and Discussion

One of my thought on why Samsung might not release for the 2012 is that the graphic driver. Everything else is interchangeable between every model. Actually, there is not much about specs compatible for Windows 8.1. The 2012 is still compatible if and only if the OEMs provide the drivers. My laptop is currently running most newest driver from different vendors, though I only keep the old Settings and nothing else. They haven't released anything update after awhile for every models. Moreover, we could not blame MS for this because they actually gave other OEMs 2 months in advance and before that (partner builds) to create and test drivers. Once I get my laptop back, I will try to upgrade and see if it works. I don't really want to shelve out 1k more to get new laptop just because of one update.

P/s: Talking with Samsung US support now. They have no clue like before .

 

I have the UK NP780Z5E

 

Indeed, graphics drivers and switchable graphics are the greatest and most visible variable (AMD 6000 vs AMD 8000 vs Nvidia Optimus vs HD3000 vs HD4000 vs HD4400). USB3 varies quite a bit as well (Intel vs ASMedia vs Renesas) but is fortunately supported directly by Windows now. The same is true with WiFi and Bluetooth (Broadcom vs Intel 6230/6235 vs Intel 7260). G7C has ModeShift. Also, many 2011 and 2012 models had ExpressCache, without which HDD speed will suffer -- though in my original test of 8.1 Preview ( here and here) ExpressCache 1.0.94 seemed to still work.

But I think another big challenge for Samsung is the different families of BIOS that support the various features of the different models. Samsung's drivers and Settings rely on BIOS calls with knowledge of the different models encapsulated into the various modules. I wouldn't be surprised if many models require BIOS updates in order for everything to work properly with 8.1.

I still think Microsoft overshot when they changed architectural bits in an otherwise minor update, which broke hardware drivers. But I think Samsung failed by having a hacky driver architecture in the first place, so that they couldn't update as quickly as other vendors. And of course by not announcing and warning properly.

I am sorry, I get carried away in speculation here. It won't happen again (right )

 

Hi, i bought a NP510R5E-A01UK Series 5 laptop last week and updated to win 8.1 when it was released, i have subsequently lost the ability to adjust brightness. Should i get a refund while i still can or will Samsung release updates for this model.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

NP740U3E-A01UB here. Tried uninstalling, downloading, and reinstalling Intel HD4000 drivers, but I still can't change brightness. SW update did find new touchpad drivers and they are working fine, three-finger gestures included.

I tried using Samsung support chat and it was just infuriating. The first guy told me it was a "registry issue" and we could fix it, but of course, I'd have to talk to a second guy to do that - and the second guy requires a modest subscription fee. OH REALLY SAMSUNG? You need me to pay you to fix a known issue on my five month old laptop? A known issue that is widespread and you had plenty of time to fix before 8.1 was officially released? I hate you. Actually, looking at this thread, I very much doubt the second guy would have even fixed it. It's just a racket.

Even if they fix the brightness issue tomorrow, I will never buy a Samsung laptop again.

tldr - Don't bother using "Samsung S Service" support.

 

Same question here - I can't find that model John. What country is it listed under?

 

I would add that I discovered a few months ago that the X4Cs released with Windows 8 have a different BIOS family (***ABK) than those released with Windows 7 (***AAC). I think the same applied to the Series 7. So some of the potential headaches now arise from design decisions made when Windows 8 was still a blob on the horizon.

I think that speculation has a valid place in this thread if it helps the frustrated notebook users understand headaches. But I also suspect there has been insufficient reporting back up Samsung's line of command to say that they wouldn't be ready with the updates and needed more time or resources.

Samsung haven't yet released the 8.1 drivers / software for your model. They will arrive, sometime. As you can see from this thread, 8.1 is having numerous unexpected side-effects.

If you mean the NP940X3G-K06DE then it is Germany (DE for Deutschland) Series 9. I would note, however, that there is a report that the new touchpad driver lacked the 3 and 4 finger gestures.

John

 

Anyone have a direct download link to SW Update 2.2.0.5? It's not showing for me.

 

in NP770Z5E-S01CL they only upgrade the SW update for 8.1; but nothing more i restored my windows for repair the black screen, i think that we must wait until they release the newest graphic driver on SW Update
(sorry for my bad english)

 

I have the Samsung settings back - downloaded a copy for a series 9 model (NP940) in the US, under windows 8 (not 8.1).
So the Settings program is now working, plus SW update just updated it for me to 2.2.05, even though my machine is an NP780 series in Canada with Win 8.1

The Fn brightness keys now "Work" i.e. the brightness meter is displayed in the top left corner, but it still doesn't change the brightness, neither do any of the innate windows controls... ugh. I'm going to remove the intel 4000 drivers and see if that does anything.

 

I'd strongly recommend just getting your laptop to a useable state, and then waiting for Samsung to get their drivers and/or updates out the door - it won't be long - it's obvious from the changes being made to their SW Update tool that there will be some updates in the next few days.

 

Try to use the previous HD4000 drivers as someone suggested, it's now working for me. Version 9.17.10.2875.

 

WHO's The Champion -- ME! Fixed the brightness issue for samsung XE700T1C-K01AU windows 8.1 (brightness stuck on full)


I played around with the registry FeatureTestControl, setting, and (after trial and error and a lot of googling), Set the value to 0xFFFF and yes, it works! I can now change the brightness using the fn keys
My driver is HD4000 version 10.18.10.3316 (the latest version that 8.1 installs), OS is Windows 8.1

I did confirm that installing the latest HD4000 does overwrite the value in FeatureTestControl. And I did confirm that reverting to an older (windows 8) version of HD4000 does not fix the problem

I still have problems with my touch screen freezing, but I can live with that for a while until Samsung releases a fix. This whole debacle cost me 3 hours today - and a headache from looking at the overly bright screen


----Side Note----
Before I fixed it, I had a chat session with Samsung support over the brightness issue, here is how it went - what a joke..

1. The agent requested a remote session on my PC and searched the registry for the key FeatureTestControl, which was set to 0xF000 (61440)
2. He then told me that the brightness problem was a registry issue, but he cant change the registry as he is only 'basic support'
3. He then opened up a browser on my pc to wea25.com and told me that they would fix it.
4. wea25.com is a PREMIUM 3RD PARTY company that requires a subscription for them to even look at the problem.
WHAT A JOKE.


***EDIT***
Step by step instructions
1. Swipe from right and press on 'search'
2. Type "Regedit"
3. Press F3 to bring up find dialog box (or select this under the menu 'Edit'
4. Find the key FeatureTestControl
5. Write down its current value (So you can revert back if something really bad happens. It will be in hexidecimal format, using the sybols 1-9 and A,B,C,D,E,F
6. Right click, select modify, type in FFFF'
7. No need to save, it already does it
8. Restart
9. Something bad happened? Redo above typing in your original number that you wrote down in step 5, Restart.

CAUTION: If you a following this and you have no idea what Regedit does, then for the love of all and every deity, don't go playing around changing any other values or any other keys. You can really mess things up

 

Open SW Update, go to Find Model, click Find Model. Select Canada, Series 7, then your configuration. Select Windows 8 (not 8.1). Download the 64 bit Intel graphics driver, and install it over top of whatever driver you had before. It should work.

 

Oh my God, Jimbob's solution works! I have brightness again!

Also, that's EXACTLY how my interaction with Samsung support went, I just didn't think it would be so simple to go and do myself. Good job. Just to be clear, here is how samsung support works if you contact them about the brightness issue:

1. First, they will tell you your system crashed and pretend it has nothing to do with the upgrade.
2. Through remote desktop, support will find the registry key in question
3. At this point, literally all there is left to do is change the value "F000" to "FFFF" and your issue will be resolved
4. Instead of telling you this, Samsung tries to extort you into paying money for them to change three digits of a hex value. A hex value that only needs to be changed due to their own broken drivers.

Samsung, ladies and gentlemen.

 

Should i try to update my NP740U3E to windows 8.1 again? i afraid if i have black screen of death... i have updated all of SW update drivers, is samsung ready here?.... give me a reply and suggestion?

 

Absolutely not. If you have a working windows 8 machine, then be glad and wait till Samsung sorts out this mess before you upgrade

 

fine, have "cancel install" when it has reached 73% in windows store progress.... until when then should i wait for samsung >_<..... it's so long, my friend's laptop with other brand has already run windows 8.1

 

I talked with samsung technical support today by using his live chat.
They told me:
"Our developers are working about this problem now. Please be patient"

Country: Poland
Notebook model: NP350V5C-S0CPL

So we have to wait till they'll realese new drivers for win 8.1

 

well, depends on how much you want 8.1 there is nothing worth risking to brick your laptop. start menu that goes into start screen? or a new wallpaper for start screen? i do not think it is worth the risk.

NP370R5E S01EE after install lost all switchable graphics control, all brightness control, laptop seems to be running a little hotter (might be just imagination), yesterday i got my first black screen (4 days after 8.1 install, and i think what trigered it was the screen turning off after 10 minutes, after which it never turned on - excpet for the mouse pointer), had to hard shutdown the laptop. BUt besides that - it is running pretty well, considering all other problems that were reported on other models. If i did not have to keep this laptop work ready, i would revert to win 8. But it would take way too much effort to reinstall all the needed software, so i am keeping 8.1 for now. Tho i have faith in Samsung that they will fix it soon (soon beeing during this week). But i might be too optimistic about it.

 

when i used my old samsung series 5 models, they provide the update for windows in their 'SW Update'.... do you think that now, they will provide the windows 8.1 update in their 'SW Update' just like before?

 

Yes, they told me, everything will be updated by SW Update when developers finish his works. So we have to be patient and wait for updates.
They don't know how long it will be...

 

Hi,

the registry hack for setting display brightness finally led to near perfection. Time to sum it up:

1. Running latest Intel HD drivers now (the 10.x version that comes via MS Update). These will be reinstalled if you uninstall the previous driver (the old Win 8 ones in my case), reboot, go to device manager and select "Update driver" (or how its called). Then apply the registry hack to regain brightness control.

2. Running the AMD 13.11 mobility beta drivers that proved to be stable in my case, including the "Switchable Graphics" option. There is a new checkbox under Power Settings | Switchable Graphics | Global settings (or what it's called, I'm using a localized version) that enables some additional power saving options, claiming that apps may reload faster if unchecked. Default is checked IIRC. This should be left at that state, as system power consumption went up from about 9-11W to around 20W when unchecking. This can be checked in detail via the

3. Settings app. This one I updated by downloading and installing the version for the NP940X3G-K06DE (IMHO any new model listed on the right panel in SWUpdate that has a Windows 8.1 entry will do) via SWUpdate which apparently is compatible with my Ativ 8 too. After installing, SWUpdate immediately updated that version to current version 2.2.0.5 and looks more or less the same, but has some additional options available, in particular a Bluetooth switch that was gone after the Win 8.1 update or previously never existed, don't recall. Before that, I had updated the Intel Bluetooth drivers to the latest version available on the Intel Site, as Windows complained about compatibility issues with the old version (Intel ProSet Wireless/Bluetooth). Didn't check bluetooth connections yet, but it successfully finds devices and can be switched off and on.

4. Reinstalled the Touchpad driver (the Windows 8 version that comes via SWUpdate) to make it keep its settings.

5. Had to install an additional Visual Studio 2013 update to fix an annoying message about a missing file when starting Management Console (though it worked anyway).

6. Had to remove a nasty warning message about a missing LogiDLA file by disabling the appropriate startup entry via Task Manager.

Now, finally, everything seems more or less complete again. Function buttons work, display brightness and keyboard lighting included. Still no updates via SWUpdate. Odd thing is if you start SWUpdate in Windows 8 compatibility mode, all the old entries are showing up again, wonder where and how they store its software inventory. Ah, and both FSX and DCS A10-C work as usual on my desktop, so there may indeed be a compatibility issue with the AMD driver here, but can't tell anything more about that from here. Sole thing that I could not find an update for was Intel WiDi, but I don't use that anyway.

Still can't understand why Samsung is so underperfoming in this case. In my opinion, it cannot be the AMD driver thing alone. The beta driver I use is from the ATI site, no Samsung things involved apparently, and it also supports those "complicated" Switchable graphics right out of the box.

HTH,
-- Chris.

NB. My notebook is an Ativ 8 (np870z5e-x04de), purchased only 2 months ago.

 

The whole problem with windows 8.1 is loading out the store. You can't install it with admin rights. People who want a clean install got at the end the problems with the black screen.

 

Hello,
I have problem with my sister ultrabook 5.
She updated Windos from 8 to 8.1 and now PC doesn't want to start.
I have loop after logo of Windows, anyone know how to fix it?

 

OoPS!

I'm reading I can call myself lucky .... I also innocently updated W8 to W8.1 (64 bit) on a "series 3 NP370R5E-A03NL"

first off the brightness-buttons do not function, neither the brightness-setting in power management.
I got a software update from the samsung-update that hung itself. a BIOS opdate that i had to kill in taskmanager.
and the SW-update does not recognise the machine.

but for the rest of it, seems so work ok - however i have my doubts on bluetooth...

trying to log in on the samsung support site makes my browser go bananas... i guess there is too much traffic on people freaking out!

 

Samsung Series 7 ULTRA

Registry setting worked perfectly, I now have my brightness control back, thanks!

For the record, set
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000]
"FeatureTestControl"=dword:0000ffff

and rebooted.

Thanks all...
I

 

I created this account just to share about my experience in case it helps somebody.

I have a NP900X3F-K01US that I just bought a few weeks ago. The 8.1 put me into the constant boot cycle that some have mentioned. No keystrokes I tried would help. Nothing - not f4, not f8, not shift or control with an f key - nada. And I tried over, and over and over.

I did a live chat with support and they told me to take it to a service center. I called the service center and they hung up on me and wouldn't answer every time I tried to call back.

So I got a little desperate. I cracked it open and pulled the hard drive (ssd). Then I booted it with no drive. This got me to a screen that allowed me to hit f-4 to get into the recovery program. The first time I tried it failed without the disk. So I had to shut it down, reboot, get the message to start recovery, put the disk in place, hit f-4 and then start the recovery program.

The recovery program had a few options. I tried things that seemed less destructive but they all failed and put me back into the endless boot loop. Each time I had to power down, pull out the ssd, reboot, put in the ssd, hit f4 and try new recovery options.

Only doing a full repartition recovery to original factory settings got me up and running again.

I own Samsung phones and now a Samsung laptop. I see a very worrying trend. They want your money for the initial purpose and after that support is quite frankly horrible.

 

For all those who had the bootloop problem after installing Windows 8.1. Clean or (Store Upgrade) please the following.

Since Thursday till yesterday I was fighting to get Windows 8.1 going on my laptop. First I started as a regular customer and being nice with the Store Upgrade. Something I regretted a half hour later.

Windows 8.1 started booting up in its setup mode. All good. Then right after it was done and going for the last reboot. It crashed. After several hours of investigation I noticed it had something to do with my Intel HD 4000 drivers. I was like, oh well. Just update them to the latest available on the Intel site. New driver were released that day. While installing it. It crashed again.

Days passed where I was trying to install windows 8.1. Yesterday I did a clean install and payed attention the screens. Windows installed ok. Copied its stuff to the SDD in my laptop and started the setup process. During this process the bootscreen was the regular "Samsung Logo". It installed the drivers and said getting ready. It rebooted again. From this point it shows the "Windows Logo".

On a clean Windows installation it did not install the graphics drivers automatically. So I connected to my NAS and installed that latest driver I downloaded Friday. During installation it crashed like it did on the upgrade. I did the bootloader fix to reinstall the BCD. Rebooted and bamn ! The samsung logo appears again. Installed the Intel driver. Rebooted as it asked. And back to Windows Logo. After several reboots I was able to get into the Advanced Options. Did the same trick to reinstall the BCD and whoppa back to Samsung logo... Windows booted normally with the Intel driver and everything functioned properly.

To give my suspision a confirmation I did another reboot. And as expected it loaded up again with the Windows Logo boot and crashed. At this point I was SURE something is wrong with my UEFI compatibility with that particular bootloader screen. But I didn't want to have to use the bootfix everytime I rebooted. It takes about 10 minutes restarting everytime to get into the Advanced Options after a crash.

I went into my UEFI settings and disabled SecureBoot and put the firmware mode to UEFI ON and CSM ON. It booted in CSM mode and everything is fine. Though windows gives the secure boot watermark in the lower right bottom of the screen.

I hope this is just a temponairy fix and will wait for Samsung to come up with a fix. Or Microsoft.

I advice everyone with the boot problem to try the same. Start in CSM mode.

Reference to the bootloader fix :
http://superuser.com/questions/4607...ows-8-efi-bootloader?answertab=active#tab-top

 

I noticed that the update uninstalled Avast and my Nvidia driver!

 

We need to point out that UEFI/CSM mode is not just some random BIOS setting you change back and forth to see what happens:

1) If your HDD/SSD is GPT partitioned (all Win8 delivered systems) you MUST install AND run Windows in UEFI mode ( OS Mode Selection=UEFI OS or UEFI & CSM OS). If you disable UEFI, you will not be able to boot off that GPT disk. Windows will remain installed in UEFI/GPT mode until re-installed.

2) If your HDD/SSD is MBR partitioned (all Win7 delivered systems) you MUST install AND run Windows in Legacy BIOS mode ( OS Mode Selection=CSM OS or UEFI & CSM OS). If you subsequently enable UEFI, you will not be able to boot off that MBR disk. Windows will remain installed in BIOS/MBR mode until re-installed.

3) The partition style of the HDD/SSD can be converted between MBR and GPT either using Minitool Partition Wizard or using DISKPART (from Windows Setup) as described in this install guide. Just know that everything on the disk will be wiped, including Recovery.

4) Please read up on this subject before making changes or attempting to re-install in a different style (UEFI or Legacy BIOS). This recent discussion may help, and includes links to informative Microsoft articles.

I apologize for sounding like a school teacher, but this is the stuff of many failures and losses posted on the forum.

 

No worries. It's good to warn people.

But I want to add something to it.

I installed Windows in SecureBoot/UEFI mode. It created a GPT partition. (Verified in Diskpart).

Windows reports in msinfo32 that it is indeed in UEFI mode... Even in UEFI and CSM ON.

This could be particular to my laptop. I just thought I shared what i've found out.

 

I am sorry, of course you're good. I applaud all who share their experience.

And that's great input, thank you. If you came from Win8, your disk may have already been GPT style. Otherwise it could be a (sensible) change in Win 8.1 Setup, that it automatically changes the disk to GPT when it detects a UEFI BIOS, sparing the user those cumbersome conversion steps.

Come to think of it, I believe I had that discussion somewhere a few days ago as well. Thanks for pointing it out. And as long as users are know what they are doing with this, all is fine, of course.

 

The disk was GPT before indeed. But before the clean install I have done a diskpart/clean before getting into Windows Setup. But installing in SecureBoot/UEFI mode would have made windows going GPT.
I will keep it this way. Waiting for a update from any side that would fix this issue.

 

Cool, thanks. We had cases of members being unable to install on MBR drives while in UEFI mode (Setup not seeing the drive).

Anyways, enough about that here. Thanks again

 

Anyone install the AMD driver update for the HD 8800M that was released through windows update yesterday? Wondering if anyone has had any issues or any successes.

 

Graphics have been updated! So far so good!

 

GFX Driver is up on SW Update for NP880Z5E. Installing now.

 

Installed fine, got switchable gfx back, CCC is working and I can adjust the brightness too. Now if I could just get the touchpad settings to save so I didn't have to manually adjust them every time I reboot it actually would be back to where I was before I stupidly installed 8.1.

 

SW Update has just offered me a BIOS update (P09ABK) for my X4C. Most likely this is paving the way for better 8.1 compatibility.

I would repeat my recommendation that, if offered a BIOS update by SW Update, don't do it in SW Update. Instead use the standalone BIOS Update program (link in first post in this thread) to download the new BIOS. Then separately run the downloaded program (right-click and Run as administrator). Using this method seems to be more reliable than through SW Update and you can see the progress report for the BIOS updating.

John

**** Update: My BIOS update resulted in an apparent bricking as described here. The computer came back to life after I had replaced my 1.35V RAM with the original 1.5V RAM in anticipation of a trip to the service centre. It seems that Samsung left out support for the low voltage RAM in the latest BIOS update.

 

Installed the new Intel drivers showing up on SWUpdate for my NP780Z5E and then I get the black screen issue again. Anyone else getting the same or managed to fix it other than going back to the older intel drivers?

 

Let's hope they are going to make more bios's for the the wide range of Windows 8 laptop's they have produced this and last year.

 

Same here with my NP770Z5E. After recovery to a point before the installation everything works fine. My current versions are 13.152.0.0 (AMD,Date: 30.08.2013) and 10.18.10.3304 (Intel, Date: 09.09.2013).

 

I would recommend for 770z5e users to install the latest AMD Beta Drivers. Samsung offers only drivers that causes black screens or bsods. They make good notebooks but the support seems to be very disappointing. They do not even test their updates and so we have a lot of problems now.
Fortunately with the AMD Beta drivers everything seems to work fine including switchable graphics.

 

Somehow after uninstalling the Intel HD 4000 drivers I seem to have got the Windows Update ones installed 10.18.10.3316 with working graphic switching and brightness etc - bizarre.

 

I have just received my laptop from services and I decied to update 8 to 8.1 and I have one problem with touchpad, after reboot I have to set my settings again, do you have the same?

 

That is still my only problem.

 

May I ask how you did this? I've tried installing the beta drivers, but it just says that my model is not supported (770z5e-s02 with hd8870m). Oh well, I've gone back to the factory image anyway now, so I guess I'll just wait until Samsung get their drivers updated.

 

I have the same model (770z5e-s02). It worked without any problems. I just downloaded it and ran the installer.

 

Model NP880Z5E, After updating the graphics driver thru SW update, almost everything seems to be back to normal. The only exception is the AMD HD8700M graphics are disabled. I have the message (Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. - Code 43). Any idea's on how to fix this, or should I wait for a updated driver?