Confused about s agent

Hi,

I'm confused about how work s agent, the tool in the systray that warns you about the updates made by Samsung.
When I click on its icon in the systray, it opens a small window that list the notifications. It's always the same notification message, once a day.
It says something like (translated in English): "Not installing the software can lead to some problems when you use your system. Open sw update and install the software".
"The software" but what software? Moreover when I click on the message, it opens sw update but there's nothing to install (besides the stuff like norton I uninstalled). Is it the normal behaviour?

 

I can't explain why S agent is telling you about a non-existent update. it could be some other unnecessary Samsung package that you decided to uninstall. The only two essential packages are (Easy) Settings and SW Update.

Instead, I suggest you follow my approach of changing S agent's notification properties to Hide icon and notifications and manually running SW Update every few days to see if there is anything new that is worthwhile installing.

John

 

I uninstalled some bloatwares like norton security, norton backup, kies, easy fileshare,sidesync..
.
When I run swupdate, the update tab is empty. The all software tab contains 8 packages that can be installed. 3 of them are recommended: allshareplay, norton security and adobe reader X. Maybe I get the notification because of these 3 packages. But well I'm not going to install them! (I have another antivirus and reader XI)

In theory, what kind of updates should be notified by S agent? drivers, bios, settings, swupdate?

I understand about hiding S agent but it's actually my mom's laptop, then a well designed and clear automatic update checker would have been better for her to understand.

By the way, in theory does S agent tell exactly what update is available? On this laptop it only says "the software"

 

It's quite likely that the bloatware is triggering the alerts.

I wonder whether you need to update SW Update in order to get the proper list of drivers and software. Use the Find Model facility in SW Update to find what is offered for your model then Export the SW Update to a folder on the hard drive. Then (re)install it from there. This might fix your problem (or might not). Samsung's update system is a lot better than it as a year ago but it still isn't reliable.

John

 

I just saw something weird:
- When I use the find model facility, the versions of some listed packages are older than the installed ones. For example it says SW Update 2.1.17.9 while I have 2.1.21.1 installed. Or Settings 2.0.0.46 while I have 2.0.1 installed. Or the GFX driver. I did several tries to be sure I chose the correct model, I even type the S/N instead, same thing.
- When I click on the "save setup files" (not the find model button), it displays the packages installed on my computer. The versions displayed for these packages corresponds to the ones installed. But then, when I click export, it doesn't save that but the older packages. For example it says "SW Update installed 21.4MB 2.1.21.0" but clicking export creates a "SW Update_2.1.17.9" folder.

Is it the normal behavior?

I don't think it explains my original question (I agree it's probably the remove bloatware) but SW Update is very confusing.

 

I also have some software installed that is newer than what SW Update lists for my model, so you aren't seeing anything unusual.

Perhaps SW Update works in two ways: Last week I was offered the latest version of Settings. Perhaps because it is meant to be generic and work with all Samsung's recent notebooks.

I'm sure that your notifications are for programs that you have decided to uninstall because they aren't necessary. SW Update isn't clever enough to realise, for example, that you've removed Norton because you prefer another AV product.

John