Samsung Series 5 ULTRA NP530U3B

[Angelo Maldito]

Hi there folks,

I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (w/Gnome shell) on my brand new NP530U3B. Tried 12.10 (also UGR) first, but got a persistent kernel panic issue, so I downgraded it for a more stable release and have no major problems so far.

In order to install Ubuntu, I had to upgrade BIOS version using the .exe file from samsung website, then disabled "Fastboot" on BIOS and changed the boot order sequence putting the USB Flash in first place on the list.

Once installed, most things worked well out of the box, including the trackpad and most of the Fn keys, apart from Settings (Fn+F1), Fan (Fn+F11) and Wireless (Fn+F12). The last two were fixed by adding the "Linux on My Samsung" PPA, and then installing 'samsung-tools' and 'samsung-laptop' from there.

The only issue I found and couldn't fix yet is the power status (charging/discharging) on the top panel, as previously reported by stlehmann.:

EDIT: when i plug or unplug AC the status in the change panel takes a while 5min or so

In my case, however, instead of taking ~5min, the battery status on the top panel doesn't change at all when I plug/unplug the AC, unless I reboot the device. Does anyone has a fix for this?

Have researched a lot, but no luck so far

[EDIT]: The Fn Lock key is also dead. Have found that on samsung-tools settings, it's possible to add key combos to enable/disable webcam and bluetooth as well, features which doesn't seems to have been intended for this specific device.

[miesogeno]

Angelo Maldito, can you suspend the computer by closing the lid?

I confirm the battery status problem, haven't found a solution yet.

[Angelo Maldito]

Angelo Maldito, can you suspend the computer by closing the lid?

I confirm the battery status problem, haven't found a solution yet.

No, unfortunately not. I didn't realized before because I'm used to use the "suspend" button on gnome menu instead.

So, I can confirm that there are at least two issues left without a fix yet.

[Pott]

Hi, I just got one of these (with the 500GB disk/hybrid SSD) and I'm running trying out Ubuntu before install (wanted to use GParted to partition the HDD).

However the trackpad isn't recognized at all! The fn + enable/disable trackpad button does, but the pad/buttons do not work at all. I have an external mouse which does, but I don't want to install before figuring out the trackpad issue.

Any ideas..? Thanks!

EDIT: using the 64bits version.
I also followed the troubleshooter in https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SynapticsTouchpad but to no avail. The Kernel is not detecting a mouse at all!

[Pott]

Any ideas? I tried to test with the 32bits version as well but for some reason my USB key built with Unetbootin doesn't boot, but installs Wubi... I wasn't able to try it.

[Jay_Bee]

Try making your live usb with pendrive linux tool.
I can't say what's with your touchpad issue. Mine worked fine in the live enviroment.
Only issues I see on 12.10 are that the battery status does not change and that closing the lid does not suspend the laptop.

[Jay_Bee]

Hi everyone!
I received a BIOS update today via samsung update program in Windows, and now I'm trying out 12.10 live USB and battery indicator works as expected and laptop also suspends when I close the lid. I hope that this is the fix we were waiting for, I'll try live USB for few more days to verify the fix is permanent before installing Ubuntu on HDD.

[Paper Bag]

What version? On Samsung's support site newest is 1.0.0.2 from 13/12/2011.

Btw, does the 530U3B also suffer from the horrible "UEFI + Ubuntu = brick" firmware bug like 530U3C does?

[Jay_Bee]

BIOS Version/Date - Phoenix Technologies Ltd. 11XK, 6.11.2012.

[shuverisan]

I found this thread trying to determine why my NP530U3B suddenly wouldn't boot from anything but the internal SATA drive. I had to flash the BIOS to 11XK which fixed it but I think trying to boot a live USB had something to do with it. UEFI boot was enabled.

In Quantal's live session, I had a kernel panic and it didn't brick the laptop, but the reflash was a pain without Windows on the drive.

But now that it's done with, everything works perfectly. In Precise I had the blank screen suspending from sleep issue and no matter what I did, nothing fixed it permanently. This only happened after I updated the kernel from 3.2.25 to 3.2.35.

Synclient commands will give all the three finger options for the touchpad. I use several and the only way I've found to make them permanent is by creating a startup script. It's given here in what steps to do.
http://tombuntu.com/index.php/2011/1...-ubuntu-11-10/

I also spotted this thread about the i915 options.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...highlight=i915

I gave it a shot to not load them with Quantal. On battery, I was using between 7.5 and 8.5 watts and the only noise I could hear was from the hard drive. The fan was silent so it seems that they aren't needed anymore? At least for these models.