*** Official Clevo W230SS/Sager NP7338 Owner's Lounge ***

Try to remove AC Adapter for 30s...

 

I tried that. Also noticed that during the BIOS flash, there was this message that no Nvidia GPU was found. It was working perfectly a while ago; what happened to it suddenly?

P.S. I don't know how useful this info is but it happened after a reboot from OS X where the dGPU isn't used or enabled.

 

Sounds like hardware, but try this first:

Disable the dGPU in BIOS, make a full shutdown, remove AC Power, Plug AC Power back, enable dGPU, make a full shutdown, remove AC power, reboot.

If it doesn't show check the vBIOS chip which is located below the dGPU heat-pipe. It has 8 pins and is market with a small colored. See if all Pins are properly soldered to the board or if a PIN got lifted...

 

Just installed Yosemite with unibeast (laptop configuration while making the usb installer), keyboard not working, and Multibeast is so slow and not able to install Chimera!!!

 

Tried the reboot/remove-AC power thing. Did not work. When you say the chip is below the dGPU pipe.. Does that mean I have to remove the pipe to see it?

Stick with Mavericks 10.9.5 right now. Yosemite support is not 100% yet, and the issues you're getting are to be expected. And as far as we're concerned, the biggest benefits in Yosemite, all the Handoff/Continuity features, will not work on our hackintoshes properly even though we've got the specs (BT 4.0 LE), because Bluetooth itself doesn't work consistently (not for me, at least). I lose BT after waking from sleep. Many drivers haven't been updated yet, so wait for at least 10.10.2 to be released before installing. Or stick to Mavericks itself; honestly, that's what I'm going to do as I hate the Yosemite UI (Helvetica looks like sh*t as a UI font).

 

Stick with Mavericks 10.9.5 right now. Yosemite support is not 100% yet, and the issues you're getting are to be expected. And as far as we're concerned, the biggest benefits in Yosemite, all the Handoff/Continuity features, will not work on our hackintoshes properly even though we've got the specs (BT 4.0 LE), because Bluetooth itself doesn't work consistently (not for me, at least). I lose BT after waking from sleep. Many drivers haven't been updated yet, so wait for at least 10.10.2 to be released before installing. Or stick to Mavericks itself; honestly, that's what I'm going to do as I hate the Yosemite UI (Helvetica looks like sh*t as a UI font).[/QUOTE]

Where you able to sort your problems?

 

What do you mean? On Mavericks or Yosemite? I haven't and don't want to install Yosemite. On Mavericks, yes. I got a 95% working system with CPU power management, QE/CI at native FHD 1080p resolution, sleep and lid sleep, sound, Ethernet, HDMI video/audio out, VGA out, WiFi with a USB dongle, Fn shortcuts. Things that do not work on OS X are the Nvidia GPU (Optimus, cannot be helped), headphone out and proper screen on boot (I get a grey screen with vertical lines, need to sleep and wake to fix).

 

Mavericks, so like me.

Hope you find a fix for your Nvidia.

Keep us posted.

 

Ok. I saw 2 chips with 8 pins under the GPU heat pipe, named PQ51 and R581. Both have all pins securely soldered to the board. There doesn't appear to be any contact loss.

 

Anybody knows how to get the windows 8 logo while booting in UEFI? to replace the premabios logo?.

 

Change your UEFI boot mode to 'Others', then you'll get a non-stretched Windows logo; you can also enable the CSM.

 

Thank you so much.

But the secureboot option is no longer available!

 

Yep. Secure Boot is incompatible with the CSM. You've got to choose one or the other.

 

All done, flimsiness resolved.

Had some old trackpointers, used these as a temporary solution:



Old scenario, bent display bezel, damage averted due to trackpointers:



New situation, with titanium sheet splashed on:



What it looked like before spray-painting matte black:



Replaced trackpointers with black felt:



The felt may no longer be necessary now, but think the margin between lcd and keyboard/palmrest is still too slim. Even if the display lid can no longer flex.

Btw, this TA6V alloy's certified grade is ASNA-3200, which is apparently used in the Airbus (amongst other things). Makes sense in hindsight; bought it as a discard from Toulouse, France (Airbus factory's there). Pretty neat stuff; its 0.2% yield strength is 1040 N/mm² (regular construction steel is 235 N/mm²). Took three hardened saw blades to cut it to size, though. And the smell it gave off was not very reassuring ...

 

A list of my mods with pictures :

Filter mod :



Coolling mod :



Internal USB Mod :



Iphone button Webcam mod :



Keyboard color mod :




And to finish Space Invader mod :

 

View attachment 116929

My specs :

BASE : Clevo W230ss + Prolimatech PK-3 11,2W/mK Thermal Paste
ECRAN : CHI MEI N133HSE-EA1 Calibrated

CPU : Intel Core i7 4702MQ Base 2,2Ghz Turbo @ 3,4Ghz (4C@3,1/3C@3,1/2C@3,3/1C@3,4)
RAM : G.Skill Ripjaws 8Go (2x4Go) DDR3L Dual Channel PC17000 @ 2133Mhz CAS 11-10-11-27 1,35v
GPU : Nvidia GTX 860m @ 1320Mhz 2Go @ 5652Mhz (1413) - Bios overclocking - ThrottleStop
SSD : Samsung 840 Pro 256Go MLC 21Nm Sata3 2,5" R/W: 540/520Mo/s - 100100/90000IOPS
WIFI : Intel Wireless-N 7260 802.11a/b/g/n WIDI/vPro 2xMIMO 300Mb/s + Bluetooth 4.0

BENCHMARKS : 3DMark 13 FireStrike : P4400 / 3DMARK 11 : P6200 / 3DMark Vantage : P22200 / 3DMark06 : 24200
Desktop equivalent : GTX 580 / GTX 660ti / GTX 750ti OC / PS4

 

is there a guide on installing mavericks on the w230ss i could use, with applicable kexts?

 

Hi SRSR333.

Just wondering if you have any tips on sound for OSX? I have a machine in a similar state as yours. Almost useable as my daily driver. However I have just noticed my internal mic doesn't work. Im using a patched HDA kext with appropriate DSDT edits. Sound works, and it recognises both the internal mic and the mic jack port. But I cannot get any blue bars in the Sound settings dialogue. If I plug in a jack into the mic port the bars go blue and it registers the change, but still nothing registers on the internal mic after unplugging. Im wondering if there is a physical switch for the mic, such as a Fn key or something I am missing in OSX somewhere......

Also, what did you do to get working HDMI and VGA? VGA on some devices but not others, and HDMI is just dead.....

Keep us updated with your GPU issue. I hope you are having some success......

 

About VGA... Yeah, it works only occasionally for me as well, I suppose. It works well on monitors and televisions but isn't very good with projectors in my school. It's quite picky, so I prefer using Windows for presentations, even if I have to skimp out on the fancy Keynote effects. VGA support on OS X is almost zero, so we should be happy enough that it even works by just plugging in the cable. I think VGA is wired as DisplayPort or HDMI internally and it uses an internal adapter. I can't be sure, maybe the hardware gurus can help out here.

As for sound, I'm currently attempting to patch the AppleHDA driver myself - I'm currently using a patched driver that I found off the Internet. Same case as you - internal mic, external headphones and mic don't work. As for HDMI, I think it was a DSDT edit that did it. I said that I had sound out for HDMI, did I? Made an error there - I only have video out.

About my GPU issue... I'm awaiting Prema's reply, to see how it goes.

 

Here's the BIOS update process on my laptop, guys:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2Nq7vzr7sBJVHlHY1VESVl6Z3M/edit?usp=docslist_api

 

Hey Guys,

I'm new to the forum and I would like to introduce myself: My name is Imran. I live in Dubai, UAE. I'm on the cusp of buying a brand new Sager NP7338 and I was hoping you guys could help me come to a decision. I was gonna pick one up from Xotic PC as they have a discount coupon on them as opposed to the Sager website.

Initially I wanted to pick up an Acer S7-392 due to its super-thin profile, excellent IPS display, touch screen and zippy performance. But then the fact that maximum storage is maxed at 256GB was sort of a deal-breaker for me as I carry around a ton of videos and pictures (I hate the though of carrying an external HD everywhere to read/write from)

What I really need is a system that is small, light and portable (as I travel a lot) but at the same time has a ton of storage and can render stuff as I do quite a bit of video editing. So in the quest to find a powerful system that has a discrete graphics chip, excellent IPS display, super-fast SSD drive in a tiny 13.3" form factor... I find myself increasingly looking at the Sager NP7338.

But I have3 important questions that I need clarifications on in order to proceed:

1. Boot-time is extremely important to me. After doing some research I found the fastest consumer SSD on the market currently to be the Samsung 850 Pro. Unfortunately Xotic PC don't have it on their config options for the Primary OS drive. It's only showing on their 'Storage Drive' options. They do have the 840 EVO though and although I've read some great reviews on it It still is much slower than the 850 Pro.

I didn't want to spend a lot of money on getting a RAID 0 setup as I read somewhere that it's overkill. I'd much rather buy a single SSD that is best-in-class. Please tell me is the 840 EVO fast enough for extremely quick boot-ups on Windows 8.1 or should I purchase the 850 Pro separately in order to get the kinda speeds that I want.

2. I heard the trackpad and speakers are really crappy on this laptop. Is that true? What about audio from the headphones? Is it loud enough as I need good crisp sounds. What exactly is wrong with the trackpad that people complain about it so much?

3. The NP7330 had random bursts from the internal fan where it fires on full throttle even when not using on load. Is this issue fixed with the NP7338?

Looking forward to an early response. Thanks a lot guys. Appreciate it much.

 

Hi Imran!

I'm also new in this forum and I just recently received my Sager NP7338 unit so maybe I could answer some of your queries. I can only give you proper inputs for nos. 2 and 3 since my unit only has the 1TB 7200 SATA2 HDD but at least I'll give you a feedback on its boot time as well.

For number 1, boot time of the laptop clocks at around 20-25 seconds with a SATA2 HDD.

For number 2, I'll give my opinion on the trackpad first. The trackpad is clearly not the best in the market. I think what most users complain about is this: touch responses are sometimes rather off-putting. It sometimes does not register your scrolling. Also, in order to register a tap, you have to exert a slight minimal force instead of just gently tapping it. I tried a work-around and went to the synaptics settings and increased the scrolling region of the trackpad and also made the trackpad settings extremely sensitive to touch so it would register your scrolling and to perform gentle tapping instead. I don't think it is the hardware that has the problem but more on driver issues.

For the audio, it has nice sounds and was loud. I didn't experience sounds that were like coming from a tin can. However, I haven't tried when using an earphone or headset. Sorry.

For number 3, I haven't experienced sudden bursts of the fan turning on when just idling (such as browsing the web, playing videos on youtube, doing word or excel documents).I was even amazed that the fan doesn't even turn on immediately for some games such as Deadpool or NBA 2K13. It only opened when I was about 45 mins or 1 hour into the game but you could turn it on if you wanted to if you think it was getting hot by pressing FN+1 key.I only experienced the fan turning on almost immediately is when I tried playing newly released 3d extensive games such as Watch_Dogs.

Hope this helps Imran!

I would also like to ask from my fellow Sager NP7338 owners regarding travelling with our laptops. I'm planning on buying a padded laptop sleeve for it when I travel with it, do you think it is necessary for this laptop? Is it very fragile?

Thanks for any input!

 

1. You really won't notice. Really. The difference in boot time between the fastest and slowest (albeit decent) consumer SSD is like 1 or 2 seconds.
2. The trackpad indeed is ty. It does nothing except mousing around. The only thing it supports is tap-to-click, it doesn't support gestures and doesn't have a scrollbar on the side.
The internal speakers aren't really great either, with little to no bass, especially on higher volumes.
Also, I'm having a lot of trouble with the headphone ports. The driver does see that they're plugged in, but they're not available for selection in the playback devices menu. The microphone of my headset does work though.
Reinstaling the driver makes it work for a few times, but it will randomly stop working after a day or two.
3. The fan profile is the third thing I'm really not happy about. Even with the Prema Bios mod the fan just has a few modes, and alternates continuously. When gaming, for example, it's often jumping between 100% and 25% instead of just staying at a continuous level. What I do like is that the fan is completely off 90% of the time when just browsing, and is quite silent when watching videos on YT and that sort of loads.

Hope I helped you out a bit.

This is a very different machine from that Acer you listed though. This is much thicker and more gaming oriented, the Acer is an ultrabook with integrated graphics, and just focuses on looks and portability.
I'd really think about what type of laptop you really want before jumping on this machine, as it does have a few major drawbacks, including, but not limited to the things listed above.
(the need of a bios mod, for example, because the stock bios just doesn't have any options. Also, the screen is flimsy and often has backlight bleed. Build quality is also often a concern.)
Don't get me wrong, it's performance is great and I like the laptop, but seeing you first looked at that Acer ultrabook, I think you should try looking at some other laptops first.

 

OK guys. I've tried everything possible, and nothing has worked, so I've sent in the machine for my reseller to take a look at the GPU. They say I'll get it back by the 30th, latest.

Speaking of which, have any of the other resellers experienced such an issue of the GPU going missing, even in the BIOS? Hutsady and Meaker?

 

Yes, if the chip dies then the machine goes IGP only pretty much.

 

No other instances I can think of, but electronics can be funky like that.

 

Well. My reseller called me up because what the technicians saw was so extraordinary, they wanted to find out what I had been doing with the notebook.

Apparently they had de-soldered the GPU from the board to see exactly what had gone wrong, and it appears that a couple of the contacts had fused together, and the silicon chip had warped slightly. They had never seen anything like this so they called me up.

I get a feeling that at some point while gaming or while rebooting from OS X, the GPU got so hot that it completely, literally fried, and I didn't notice.

My GPU over-clocks are relatively conservative: +200 MHz and +400 MHz on the core and memory respectively, plus a +175 mV over-volt. Or are they pretty high? Anyone has an opinion?

 

maybe it was damaged because of your 70° idle temperature:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...er-np7338-owner-s-lounge-229.html#post9784447

for myself i overvolted only +62mV and my card runs with +200 MHz core
I had no need to go further because it ran stable for me.
I do not do memory OC because all 3DMark 11 failed even with very low memory OC of only +75/100 MHz

 

If your GPU shorted it could draw a large amount of current and cook itself yes.

 

Ok guys, I got back my laptop and they replaced the mainboard.

Thing now is, the laptop worked perfectly until I flashed Prema Mod - after which I started getting reboot cycles. For example, I'd switch the notebook on, and it would switch on and off without ever entering the OS, multiple times before properly working. Even then, after launching Skyrim, I got a sudden, forced reboot - at completely stock clocks and voltages. What's going on? My computer seems very... Spastic.

Note that temperatures are also pretty normal - 45° idle, 65-75° under load.

Furthermore, the reboot cycles seem completely random - there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to when it happens. It happens before Windows boots, when Windows is loading, or in Windows, during a game, or not playing anything and just looking at the desktop.

 

You have a high res screen, right? Did you use the the proper Mod version for QHD (wide and plus) screen?
What vBIOS did the board ship with?
Did they install the NVIDIA driver on the system with the shipping vBIOS?

Is your RAM OCed? My old board did 2400Mhz @ CL10, the new one with same old CPU and RAM won't do 2400Mhz at all...

 

No, not high-res screen. I've got the 1080p full HD screen.

I don't remember the vBIOS version as I flashed Prema Mod as soon as I got home from the service centre. However, Aftershock ran Unigine Heaven and 3DMark in front of me to confirm that the dGPU was now working. Then they restarted the computer to the BIOS to adjust a few settings. I didn't see any reboot loops at all.

The Nvidia driver was installed already...

And no, RAM is completely stock clocks. I haven't touched any RAM settings at all.

 

They probably installed the NVIDIA driver on the other vBIOS, so either flash the Prema Mod for QHD screen (it is the same vBIOS that also ships on newer FHD units) or re-install the NVIDIA driver now with the Mod.

 

Ok... I think I bricked my laptop because it entered a boot loop while the BIOS was flashing and now all I see is a black screen, keyboard backlights and power LED on, Fn+F1 controls fan speed.

*facepalm* Is there any way to recover from this?

 

That doesn't sound like a healthy board...anyway check your mail. I'll send you the recovery.

 

Alright, thanks.

 

@Prema Damn, you're one awesome f*cker

 

Hi,

I bought the Sager NP7338 from XoticPC with the i7-4810MQ CPU. Following some suggestions I read here, I asked for the IC Diamond upgrade. Unfortunately, it still is getting quite hot.

Idle temperatures are on the ~45°C, but while compiling or benchmarking it gets quite easily to the high 90°C (max was 98°C). It still have the stock bios. I also have a Samsung 840 EVO 250GB, which gets to mid ~60°C and a Seagate SSHD ST1000LM014 1TB, which gets to mid ~50°C. Currently, the room temperature is around 25°C.

The fan is spinning up/down correctly (as far as I could see), and I got these temperatures both on Windows 8.1 and Ubuntu 14.04.

It feels like the XoticPC did a poor job applying the IC Diamond paste, but I want to rule out other options before trying to reapply it myself. If possible, I would prefer not to underclock the CPU, but I'd rather do it than risk frying my notebook.

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Vitor.

 

Hi there, I also report roughly the same temps when not doing any undervolting and underclocking on the CPU. I knew that these were the expected temps going in even with new thermal paste applied. To get successful mid to low 80's temps on load on that particular CPU within this chassis, undervolting and underclocking of the CPU is REQUIRED. For me, the only reason I went for the 4810MQ was for VTD as I do run virtualized environments at times. Other than this, there is really no reason to get this CPU unless it's in a larger laptop with better cooling or if you require VTD. If all you plan on doing on this laptop is general computing tasks and gaming then the 4710MQ is the logical option. As far as the Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD temps are concerned, I also have roughly the same temps. From what I gather online those temps seem to be the norm which is a shame as my other Mushkin mSATA runs around 20deg lower on average on either port. Oh well.

 

Because of the small thin design of this model you are going to see higher temps vs larger models which can fit better cooling solutions.

How long have you had the computer, is it brand new? If you've had it a while you may want to check the vents and fans to make sure they are clean and allowing proper air flow.

 

Ok. Completely bricked my laptop. Prema's Fn+B procedure combined with a file he gave me, still doesn't work.

I talked to my reseller, Aftershock, who say that they're going to have to send it in to Taiwan for Clevo to use a hardware programmer and reflash the stock BIOS. They say it's going to take at least a week, so, well... No laptop for me until then. Sigh. Maybe I can get down to completing that OS X install guide that I promised ages ago.

 

regarding SSD temps: did you enable DIPM ? (please search this threat for details - it was mentioned many times before)

 

i7-4810MQ is borderline acceptable in this laptop. I have it as well. But a couple things you can try.

- prop the back of the laptop up with some bottle caps, and check temps
- clean out vents/fans/heatsinks with some compressed air
- repaste the CPU and GPU yourself

IC Diamond like any other paste, is only as good as how it was applied. I don't doubt Sager knows what they're doing, but I've repasted numerous Sager notebooks that had IC Diamond and used IC Diamond myself and resulted in as much as 10C drops. Not saying that's typical, but usually end up with 2-3C drops in temp. And with Sager notebooks, repasting is a breeze.

For gaming, I run the CPU at 3.2GHz using XTU. For encoding I run the CPU at full tilt and temps get in the mid to upper 80's.

<iframe width='640' height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/CFztLNvjchA?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Wow, I'm surprised. When I bought my machine and asked about Prema Mod, they said that my warranty would be honoured even with the BIOS flash, but if I bricked then I was on my own. That's really nice that they are willing to help you with that. Good luck on the OS X guide, I haven't made any progress because of schoolwork

Regarding temps: I have a 4710MQ and idle on ~60+ degC constantly with 5-10% CPU load. My 840 EVO 120GB likes to hit 60 degC often, and I've enabled DIPM for it too. In the Entertainment profile, if the CPU usage jumps above 10-15% the fans starts blasting until the CPU usage drops. I don't even dare to use the Performance profile haha. I'm sort of used to it now (sometimes I leave it on Quiet profile the entire day...) but I should probably ask about a repaste right? My machine is only about a month or two old!

Also, does anyone else have cases where the chassis scratches itself? I have noticeable scratch marks along the bottom edge (below the touchpad) and top edge (above the keyboard), as well as on the screen bezel (there's a scratch that aligns with the raised ridge between the keyboard and the touchpad). My retailer said they were ok with swapping in a new chassis for me (which I haven't let them do yet - they said they would need about 3 days and I have exams coming in a few weeks), but I'm more interested to know exactly why it happens. I've lurked on this thread and didn't really see anyone with reports like this. I mean, it would be rather meaningless if I got a brand new chassis that goes on to scratch itself again.

 

Hi all.

I'm about to buy a W230SS. Sub 15" with 3 HDDs? Sold!

My only worry is that they update the w230 the same way they just updated the P150 with the P650. That is, if my W230 arrives, and they announce that a new W230 is coming out in January with an all black metal case, improved keyboard and trackpad, PCIe M.2, 3 video outs, and better cooling, I'm going to be very sad!

Anybody know clevo's roadmap for this model? I intend to use my w230 until the day sub 15" laptops come with two PCIe M.2; USB 3.1; and 32GB.

 

Thanks for all quick and great answers! I'm commenting on them all below.

I bought the 4810MQ for the same reason. Even though I understand that a small chassis will have worse heating problems than a bigger one, I expected XoticPC not to sell the notebook with a procfessor that the coolers can't handle. It makes me nervous to have the CPU getting so close to their reported maximum temperature (100°C).

It's less than 1 month old, so that shouldn't be the problem. I'm also using it in a notebook riser (3M LX550), which should help cooling.

It wasn't enabled. When I enabled it, the temperatures kept around 48°C while benchmarking. (Just in case anyone uses Linux and wants to enable DIPM, the setting is to set SATA to minimum power. Check https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PowerManagement/ReducedPower)

Great video, thanks! How was your CPU when you ran the 3dsmark tests? Did you undervolt/overclock or anything? Any idea on what was your room temperature?

I use the laptop with a notebook riser (3M LX550), it's less than 1 month old (so the vents are clean). The only thing I didn't was repaste. The IC Diamond wasn't applied by Sager, but XoticPC, which according to reviews does a good job.

 

Usually models are updated when a core component (cpu or gpu) gets a significant refresh.

 

I tried running 3dmark to reproduce HTWingNut's test and see the temperatures I would get. In the middle of the benchmark, my notebook powered off. I couldn't see the actual temperatures, but I think it means that they got very high.

I'm was trying to undervolt to avoid damaging, but couldn't figure out how to yet on Ubuntu 14.04. As far as I know, Prema Mod doesn't support undervolting, right? I underclocked all cores to 3 GHz but they still got to ~98°C and were throttled while running UnixBench.

Anyway, I'll repaste. I assume XoticPC did a good pasting job with IC Diamond, so I wonder if it wouldn't be better to order another thermal paste. What do you think?

 

(removing duplicate post)

 

The NP7338 can handle the 4810. These newer CPU's have a higher temperature tolerance then previous gens did. So when you see temps that used to be in the red they actually are not that bad for Haswell CPU's.