Old Samsung NP930X5J question / issue - screen brightness

[Steerpike]

Bit of a long shot here, but I know @John Ratsey has this same laptop so maybe he has an idea. Or maybe the answer is more generic and others can help. 

 

I have a Samsung NP930X5J from circa 2014 that I'm still using for some old tasks. Engineering marvel, still runs beautifully, but - it's now heavy compared to modern laptops.  When in Windows, I can brighten/darken the screen by using the proprietary Fn+F2, Fn+F3 keys or by going to the standard windows settings areas and adjusting the sliders.  But right now I'm doing some imaging tasks that require me to boot into a standalone WinPE environment. 

 

The screen is on what must be MAXIMUM brightness and I can't find a way to darken it!  To make matters worse, the program I'm using is Macrium Reflect, and the background is pure white!  I'm literally having to wear sunglasses to work with it.  The Fn+F2/3 buttons don't work, of course, and there's no 'settings' environment to mess with. 

 

I looked in the BIOS and don't see any screen brightness controls.  There is a setting labeled 'BIOS adaptive brightness' (text says "In case of Enabled, LCD is dimmed under dark environment during the BIOS POST time") but enabling/disabling it makes no difference.   

 

At other times, I've noticed the BIOS screen was incredibly dark, and I recall not being able to adjust it. So, is there a generalized way to handle screen brightness on laptops outside of windows? 

[John Ratsey]

I didn't have this model of the Samsung. I used to have the X3B and then the X3C but both have been rehomed several years ago. The solution, if there is one, may be in the archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20220121212133/http://forum.notebookreview.com/forums/samsung.1011/ . Have you tried enabling adptive brightenss and covering the ambient light with some black tape so the computer thinks it is in a dark room? I recall doing this on a notebook to disable the auto brightness but can't remember which one.

[Steerpike]

11 hours ago, John Ratsey said:

I didn't have this model of the Samsung. I used to have the X3B and then the X3C but both have been rehomed several years ago. The solution, if there is one, may be in the archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20220121212133/http://forum.notebookreview.com/forums/samsung.1011/ . Have you tried enabling adptive brightenss and covering the ambient light with some black tape so the computer thinks it is in a dark room? I recall doing this on a notebook to disable the auto brightness but can't remember which one.

Ah, right - so you didn't have 'this model' but you had the same family (NP930) which presumably shares the same BIOS and core elements. I know we shared experiences with some aspects, over on notebookreview.  

 

I've taken a look through the archive (thanks for the link to the Samsung-specific area!) but nothing jumps out.  Is there a trick to searching the archive that is effective? Does Google index the archive? I'm familiar with the 'site:' keyword in google searching, but not sure how to use that effectively with the archive.  There are so many pages out there where the screen brightness within windows is discussed, it's hard to find anything that applies to running outside of windows. 

 

I tried enabling and disabling 'adaptive brightness' in the BIOS, rebooting, and covering the sensors (there are several 'holes' at the top of the screen (by the camera), I assume one is the sensor) but no change.  I also tried plugging in an external monitor, but it would not display anything when booting into WinPE (the environment the backup software is running in).  It's tolerable during the day, with plenty of ambient light; last night, I had to wear sunglasses! 

 

EDIT TO ADD:  I seem to have a solution!  Changing 'Adaptive Brightness' in BIOS did not seem to have a direct impact on brightness outside of Windows.  HOWEVER - if I enter BIOS, turn OFF adaptive brightness, then re-enter BIOS, and turn ON adaptive brightness, and then go into the WinPE environment, the screen is much darker.  It's going to take a dozen more iterations to fully understand the pattern, but my current theory is - (assuming you start with Adaptive Brightness ON, and entering BIOS after being in Windows); Toggling Adaptive Brightness off (reboot) on (reboot) - now screen is appropriately dim and I can work comfortably in the WinPE environment.  But if I then reboot into Windows, and then return to the WinPE environment, it's back to being too bright.  So then I do the off/reboot/on/reboot shuffle, and it's back to being dim.  So the theory is - entering regular Windows disables the BIOS setting, and it takes an off/on BIOS toggle to get it back to working.  Bottom line is - I seem to have a solution such that I don't have to wear sunglasses when using the application 🙂 

 

[Steerpike]

8 hours ago, Steerpike said:

Ah, right - so you didn't have 'this model' but you had the same family (NP930) which presumably shares the same BIOS and core elements. I know we shared experiences with some aspects, over on notebookreview.  

 

I've taken a look through the archive (thanks for the link to the Samsung-specific area!) but nothing jumps out.  Is there a trick to searching the archive that is effective? Does Google index the archive? I'm familiar with the 'site:' keyword in google searching, but not sure how to use that effectively with the archive.  There are so many pages out there where the screen brightness within windows is discussed, it's hard to find anything that applies to running outside of windows. 

 

I tried enabling and disabling 'adaptive brightness' in the BIOS, rebooting, and covering the sensors (there are several 'holes' at the top of the screen (by the camera), I assume one is the sensor) but no change.  I also tried plugging in an external monitor, but it would not display anything when booting into WinPE (the environment the backup software is running in).  It's tolerable during the day, with plenty of ambient light; last night, I had to wear sunglasses! 

 

EDIT TO ADD:  I seem to have a solution!  Changing 'Adaptive Brightness' in BIOS did not seem to have a direct impact on brightness outside of Windows.  HOWEVER - if I enter BIOS, turn OFF adaptive brightness, then re-enter BIOS, and turn ON adaptive brightness, and then go into the WinPE environment, the screen is much darker.  It's going to take a dozen more iterations to fully understand the pattern, but my current theory is - (assuming you start with Adaptive Brightness ON, and entering BIOS after being in Windows); Toggling Adaptive Brightness off (reboot) on (reboot) - now screen is appropriately dim and I can work comfortably in the WinPE environment.  But if I then reboot into Windows, and then return to the WinPE environment, it's back to being too bright.  So then I do the off/reboot/on/reboot shuffle, and it's back to being dim.  So the theory is - entering regular Windows disables the BIOS setting, and it takes an off/on BIOS toggle to get it back to working.  Bottom line is - I seem to have a solution such that I don't have to wear sunglasses when using the application 🙂 

 

Well, the plot thickens!  In my previous post I was using a boot / 'rescue disk' (USB) to boot to a standalone WinPE environment for image backup / restore purposes. (I'm evaluating Macrium Reflect, FWIW). When I booted into the Macrium GUI, it's a full-on white background so the high brightness of the screen was a killer (I literally had to wear sunglasses to look at the screen) until I figured out how to adjust brightness.  So ... after successfully backing up my old laptop yesterday, today I moved on to my two new laptops - the LG Gram 17 and the Samsung NP950XDB.  Turns out they BOTH launched the app in max brightness, and ... unlike my old laptop, there was no screen brightness control to be found anywhere in either BIOS!  So ... @John Ratsey - have you seen any screen brightness control in either of your laptops' BIOSes (you also have the LG Gram and the Samsung NP950 as I recall). If you are just tooling around in the BIOS making changes, it really doesn't matter but when you launch this standalone app, it turns the entire screen into a blaze of light! The Samsung is unbelievably bright when on full power! 

[John Ratsey]

14 hours ago, Steerpike said:

 So ... @John Ratsey - have you seen any screen brightness control in either of your laptops' BIOSes (you also have the LG Gram and the Samsung NP950 as I recall). If you are just tooling around in the BIOS making changes, it really doesn't matter but when you launch this standalone app, it turns the entire screen into a blaze of light! The Samsung is unbelievably bright when on full power! 

I don't recall seeing any default brightness setting in the LG BIOS and I've also checked photos I took of various BIOS pages and see nothing relevant. I've also just looked in the Samsung BIOS (which has remarkably few settings) and there's nothing relevant to brightness. Google found me a reference to the maximum brightness problem with Reflect but with no solution.

 

I wonder if the problem lies with the graphics driver in the WinPE environment. I know nothing about this but wonder if there's a startup text file with some settings which can be edited.  Otherwise you'll have to get a sheet of tinted film to hand over the screen.

[Aaron44126]

I think it's normal to not have manual brightness control if you are using a "generic" graphics driver and not the "real" one, which would be the case if you boot into WinPE.  You'd have to rely on the BIOS to set the brightness properly before WinPE boots, and if that is not possible, well then... 😕

(I'm only really familiar with Dell and they always have BIOS options to set the default brightness, both for AC power and battery power.)

 

I also use Macrium Reflect.  I only ever boot to WinPE to do a clone or restore (pretty uncommon).  For doing a backup, you can do it right in Windows without booting separately to WinPE.  Macrium Reflect uses Volume Shadow Copy to make a "snapshot" of your disk when the image process starts, so you can even continue working while the backup image is building without worry that it will do some kind of inconsistent backup.  I have mine set on a schedule to run at night, backing up to a network drive.

[Steerpike]

4 hours ago, John Ratsey said:

I don't recall seeing any default brightness setting in the LG BIOS and I've also checked photos I took of various BIOS pages and see nothing relevant. I've also just looked in the Samsung BIOS (which has remarkably few settings) and there's nothing relevant to brightness. Google found me a reference to the maximum brightness problem with Reflect but with no solution.

 

I wonder if the problem lies with the graphics driver in the WinPE environment. I know nothing about this but wonder if there's a startup text file with some settings which can be edited.  Otherwise you'll have to get a sheet of tinted film to hand over the screen.

The current Samsung BIOS (NP950 model) looks identical to the one seen in my 2014 NP930 (same layout, color, etc) but - as you mentioned - with even fewer options!  I wonder if (like in the LG BIOS) there's a magical keyboard sequence to reveal 'advanced options'!  The Advanced Options in the LG Gram are VERY extensive. 

 

Around a decade ago, I was working on a project to automate / streamline windows imaging (when the company I was with had enough PCs to justify automation, and not enough to warrant paying Dell to do it for us), and delved into WinPE quite deeply. It was a fascinating project, and WinPE was a really powerful environment so I can imagine being able to load all manner of drivers and settings.  But at this point, I don't have the stomach for it so ... as you suggest - I will just don a pair of sunglasses for the short duration!  I do recall, though, with my old NP930, that some Samsung update broke the 'Fn+F-key' ability to adjust screen brightness, and I spent days and days getting it to work (all documented somewhere in notebook review - probably on page 500 of some Samsung thread!). 

3 hours ago, Aaron44126 said:

I think it's normal to not have manual brightness control if you are using a "generic" graphics driver and not the "real" one, which would be the case if you boot into WinPE.  You'd have to rely on the BIOS to set the brightness properly before WinPE boots, and if that is not possible, well then... 😕

(I'm only really familiar with Dell and they always have BIOS options to set the default brightness, both for AC power and battery power.)

 

I also use Macrium Reflect.  I only ever boot to WinPE to do a clone or restore (pretty uncommon).  For doing a backup, you can do it right in Windows without booting separately to WinPE.  Macrium Reflect uses Volume Shadow Copy to make a "snapshot" of your disk when the image process starts, so you can even continue working while the backup image is building without worry that it will do some kind of inconsistent backup.  I have mine set on a schedule to run at night, backing up to a network drive.

I must say, after a long career dealing mostly with Dells, I do miss their BIOS!  If only the XPS 17 wasn't built like a lead brick! 

 

I'm aware that Macrium Reflect can do it's thing 'within' the Windows environment, but I want to get as much familiarity with the 'quirks' of the 'Rescue' environment as possible so that when I finally need to actually use it to do a serious restore, I'm not fumbling around wondering what keys to press or what options to choose!  Once I have a few base images that are known to work, I'll probably fall back to the windows installation. I'm noticing, with both the LG Gram and the Samsung NP950, that just getting to the boot menu can be a challenge; I haven't quite figured out when to press F10 during the boot process to get the menu. So far, I just start pressing the F10 key like crazy as soon as I can.  I think setting the boot delay to something greater than 0 probably would help.  One thing that surprises me is that the 'rescue' environment I just built on my old Samsung NP930 (2014 vintage) is working just fine on the LG Gram and NP950, and even sees the network on those two devices (neither laptop has a native ethernet port, so I'm using a 'BaseUS Type-C hub' for wired ethernet access). I was able to backup to, and restore from, my NAS from within the 'Rescue' environment. 

[John Ratsey]

@SteerpikeMy Samsung has the AMI BIOS with the Aptio Setup Utility. Does yours? If so, then this might be relevant.

[Steerpike]

3 hours ago, John Ratsey said:

@SteerpikeMy Samsung has the AMI BIOS with the Aptio Setup Utility. Does yours? If so, then this might be relevant.

AMI BIOS, with Aptio Setup - snap.  The page you reference, sounds like there are BIOS mods to gain access to more advanced features, but nothing 'official'. I did search the site for my model and nothing came up. 

 

This is the sparse 'main' page for my NP950XDB: 

and the ridiculously sparse 'Advanced' (!) menu: 

 

[John Ratsey]

16 minutes ago, Steerpike said:

AMI BIOS, with Aptio Setup - snap.  The page you reference, sounds like there are BIOS mods to gain access to more advanced features, but nothing 'official'. I did search the site for my model and nothing came up. 

 

This is the sparse 'main' page for my NP950XDB: 

 

and the ridiculously sparse 'Advanced' (!) menu: 

 

I think that's identical to mine. Someone somewhere might be able to do a BIOS mod to reveal more settings but it's not something I would try unless desperate and it's possible that would still not reveal a default brightness setting.

[Steerpike]

13 minutes ago, John Ratsey said:

I think that's identical to mine. Someone somewhere might be able to do a BIOS mod to reveal more settings but it's not something I would try unless desperate and it's possible that would still not reveal a default brightness setting.

I just googled for hidden key combinations to get access to 'hidden' menus, but nothing works so far! Some tips suggest Fn+Tab, three times, then rebooting back into BIOS; others suggest alt+F1; etc.  nothing worked for me. Of course, even if you find the correct sequence, knowing exactly when and how to enter that sequence is another challenge - do you have to be at a particular menu to start with, do you need to navigate a certain way after the keys are entered, etc.  With the LG Gram, I found (you told me?) that you have to enter first ctrl, then alt, then shift, then F7 as a combination, and that worked. But doing the ctrl+alt+shift at once didn't work.  So guessing is pretty hard!