Samsung Series 5 ULTRA NP530U3B

[oldschool013]

Hi there!

Recently I adquired this ultrabook (NP530U3B) too, but I'm losing my mind about some things. I REALLY, REALLY REALLY, don't want to go back to Windows, I prefer sell this ultrabook.

The issues:

overheating?

Just firefox opened

acpitz-virtual-0
Adapter: Virtual device
temp1:        +71.0°C  (crit = +99.0°C)
temp2:        +29.8°C  (crit = +99.0°C)

coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Physical id 0:  +70.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 0:         +70.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 1:         +68.0°C  (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)

I tried the grub default, new kernel (3.8.0-6), others distribuitions ( 12.10, 13.04), jupiter, samsung tools (change mode of fan doesn't work). Some help?

The wireless is TOTALLY unstable and low, even if I stay close to router, it doesn't get the same as Windows (this notebook came with Windows, sorry guys).

Any needs, just say, I'll put the output.


Thanks

[oldschool013]

Fan works. With the right speed? I don't know.

I tried Ubuntu 12.04, same things, except for wifi, this seems better. I'll take a better look at that. I'll install windows too (sorry) to take a look at temp and fan to compare.

Any ideias?

[miesogeno]

oldschool013,
Don't try to compare Ubuntu with Windows on this computer or you'll get depressed, this computer is completely built to work with Windows, battery time, temperature, startup times after suspend, everything is better on Windows, but its still Windows, which I can't stand to work on (despite all my efforts).

I was about to tell you that in my final attempt, all I did after installing Ubuntu (ElementaryOS, actually) was to install Bumblebee, that solved every problem. BUT I then realized I have a different computer (NP530U4C), with an hybrid nVidia card, which you don't have. That alone was responsible for reducing temperature, fan and battery consumption. So, it was a graphic card issue.

In your case, I don't really know whats responsible for those issues, but I can point you to some links I wondered on before I stuck to Bumblebee, some of them made a big difference, check them out carefully (you probably already know some of these links) and see what could apply to your case:

http://www.voria.org/forum/
(Linux on my Samsung Forum, samsung-tools, yada yada... you' may find some Q&A there)

http://bgrande.de/chronos7.html
http://openideals.org/2012/04/15/tun...ries-7-laptop/
(some guys quest trying to install linux on a series 7, which has some of the same problems as series 5)

http://jablonskis.org/2011/fedora-16...es-9-np900x3a/
(another guy trying to install fedora on a series 9... again, some of our problems seam to be the same)

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...15_power&num=1
(explanation on some boot arguments you could add to grub.cfg, a recurrent approach on the above links)

Pay special attention to the graphic card related tweaks (this includes changes to grub.cfg). That seams to be the problem in most cases. But please, try these at your own risk. I read it all very carefully before trying to apply anything. I hope this helps you.

[jnesset]

Hi,

I have also got this computer and I've tried EVERY suggestion that is on the internet to get better battery life. It has become slightly better, but unfortunately it still sucks... I have enabled all of the kernel parameters suggested by Phoronix, installed CPU-freq, powertop, jupiter, you name it. Can't help getting depressed about only having 2-3 hours of battery life when it's a lot more with windows. Going back to windows is no alternative. Let's hope some things will change with the new distro...

and btw, when using powertop, is it normal that radio device: iwlwifi is using 100 %? When turning the lights down to minimum, the iwlwifi is the only thing using 100 % and maybe that is the reason low battery life? Can't find anything about this on the internet.

J

[jnesset]

I just have to tell you guys, I deleted ubuntu and did a fresh install of Linux Mint 14 instead. Now my battery life is doubled! I've got approximately 4 hours according to powertop.

J

[oldschool013]

Hello guys,


@miesogeno,

I think I like being depressed lol, almost a month trying to make it better on Linux. Those links you have passed to me, gorgeous.

I didn't have answered yet because I'll make a full post. My wifi is better than windows, got 5h on battery life, temperature is always dropping to ~60º. I'll keep searching if it's possible to get more battery life and lower temperature.

@jnesset,

What is the temperature of your ultrabook?


Thanks.

[jnesset]

Hello guys,


@miesogeno,

I think I like being depressed lol, almost a month trying to make it better on Linux. Those links you have passed to me, gorgeous.

I didn't have answered yet because I'll make a full post. My wifi is better than windows, got 5h on battery life, temperature is always dropping to ~60º. I'll keep searching if it's possible to get more battery life and lower temperature.

@jnesset,

What is the temperature of your ultrabook?


Thanks.

Acpi says that my temperature is 62 degrees. Yesterday, battery life was better, but I think I'm going to try adding a few parameters to the kernel on Mint also to see if it's helping. But does anyone know if wifi using 100 % is normal?

[miesogeno]

My wifi is better than windows, got 5h on battery life, temperature is always dropping to ~60º. I'll keep searching if it's possible to get more battery life and lower temperature.

You've got 5h battery on linux? You have to teach me how to do that. My battery doesn't go beyond 4h. Thats really something.

One very annoying bug is the problem with the lid not activating suspend, and the battery status not changing immediately when connected/disconnected. I've seen several forums and blogs stating its a problem with the kernel, BIOS, EC, ACPI, etc, people claiming they got it solved, and then just realizing it was temporary. If anyone gets this working, please report here, that would be a great improvement too.

[sostacked]

I've got the NP530U4B (i5, 16GB SSD + 500 GB HD, DVD, HD3000 + ATI 7550, 14"), installed 12.10 (tried 13.04 as well). This thing has brought me nothing but grief.

All the standard items work. WiFi/LAN, display, sound, HDMI, touchpad, etc.

Managed to turn off (hopefully?) the ATI card by blacklisting the driver and switching to IGD at boot. The fan isn't spinning all the time anymore.

Tried installing to the 16 GB internal SSD (sdb). GRUB loader goes onto 500 GB sda, no issues. However, after the install the SSD reads and writes with like 6 MB/s, making it slower than a 2 year old USB flash drive. I create a new partition with Gparted, hdparm says I got 200 MB/s. As soon as I write a single file to it, the speed drops to 6 MB/s and stays so for good. Tried LVM, ext4, ext4, btrfs, no change. So I gave up on it, swapped out the HD with a SSD and I got 4 sec from cryptkey to desktop.

Power management is abysmal. ACPI events aren't registered, unplugging/plugging in power doesn't get registered, hence throttling doesn't occur, lid close is a no-go, suspended laptop drains the battery with breakneck speed. Also, I can't get the power consumption below 16 W. As a result I get 2 hrs battery time when fully charged. That's from a 6000 mAh 8-cell battery. How did you guys manage to achieve single digits and 4+ hrs?

I've installed laptop tools, powertop, etc., aplied every GRUB switch I could find. Tried 3.8 kernel, all powersave tweaks I could find. Unity, Gnome Shell, Classic. At best I get 16 W, avg is around 18.

Obv windows works as intended, 4+ hrs, expresscache, graphics switching, etc. I'd very much like to keep this cutie, but it looks like our ways are gonna part.

[dosyoyas]

Agree. After reading this I tried linux mint 14 with Cinnamon on my Samsung NP530u4c-A01 (i5, 8gb ram, 1tb hd, hd4000+nvidia gt620m) and everything just works out of the box, except for the fn +f11 and f12 (fan and wifi). Powertop reports 10-11W with wifi on after lowering the screen bright and estimated battery life is the same as in windows. Using bumblebee and running glgears of course increases power consumption but the nvidia is usually off. Suspension on closing the lid works randomly though.