NP550P5C-T01US - Windows 7 - What does a BIOS update update?

I got this computer with Windows 7 installed, and will not be upgrading to Windows 8. Software Update is offering me a new BIOS update, to P09AAA. I've been having trouble with USB3 devices, so I'm tempted to install the update, but don't want to do that if all it does is prepare the computer for Win 8.

Is there any way to find out what changes are included in a BIOS update?

In case it matters, the problem with USB3 is that the computer doesn't recognize that anything is plugged in unless it boots up with the device plugged in. It recognizes USB2 devices just fine, but not USB3 devices, even as USB2 devices, unless the device is plugged in on boot. Applies to both USB3 ports.

 

Samsung never publish what changes are made by a BIOS update but, as you surmise, new updates for older computers are probably related to better Windows 8 compatibility. However, I think it is unlikely that a BIOS update would fix your USB 3.0 issues.

If your USB 3.0 controller is Renesas then most likely there is a newer firmware version that has never been offered by Samsung but can be found on the www at sites such as this.

John

 

Thanks John. My USB3 appears to be part of the Intel 7 Series C216 chipset. Perhaps I can find updated drivers for it.

Edit: I found new USB 3.0 drivers for this chipset at Intel, and installed them. I uninstalled the old drivers first. Not sure I needed to do that, but I did it anyway.

So that upgraded from v1.0.1 to v1.0.10, and now the USB3 ports appear to be working ok.

I see that there are other Intel drivers for things like Wifi that are later than the Samsung versions. But since everything works now, maybe I'll leave them be. And I think I'll pass on the BIOS update unless I find someone else who has done it successfully under Win 7.

 

Thanks for the update. I'm glad to hear that the USB 3.0 issue has been fixed.

If your WiFi card is the Intel 6235 then it would be very worthwhile upgrading the drive.

I would hold on the BIOS update. There have been several issues with new BIOSes on Samsung notebooks not recognising RAM that previously worked.

John

 

Well I spoke too soon. The USB3 ports have stopped working again. They worked for a while after I installed the latest Intel drivers, but no more. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the new drivers, but that didn't help either. So I'm back to having to boot up with the My Passport drive already plugged in. It will find it that way, but not otherwise.

What puzzles me is that the WD isn't recognized even as USB2 if I plug it into the 3 port after bootup. But it is recognized as 2 if I plug it into a 2 port, along with the balloon notice that it would work faster if I plugged it into a 3 port. Well, maybe I need to get another USB3 device to test with, just to rule out the WD drive as the culprit. Or maybe I should see if there's new firmware for the WD.

 

I recently discovered problems with my USB3 dock on a Win8.1 test installation: It would detect the drive alright, but quit during heavy disk traffic (different issue from yours) requiring the device to be toggled in Device Manager, or reboot. To my surprise, the problem went away after installing some updates to Win8.1 -- NOT driver updates and NOT the Spring Update 1, some OS updates before that (probably compatibility updates).

I know you are using Win7, and I am not suggestion you change that. My point here is merely that other things that drivers can affect this behavior.

Are you running the Samsung factory installation or your own Win7 installation? If the latter, make sure you install Chipset drivers as well as Windows Critical Updates and Windows Common Patches from SW Update. I would specifically get those from SW Update and not from Intel, as Samsung may have added tweaks for your computer model.

You could try a new install using the exact steps in this guide which has worked for many Samsung owners (including several NP550). But of course I cannot guarantee that it will fix your USB3

 

Windows 7 on the Samsung below, I'll try the newer ones though.



Edit; tried 1.0.10 and went back. In then old version my 2TB drive in a NextStar 3.0 2 bay doc I hear the usb device plugged in within 6 seconds, with the new version 10-15 seconds. The drive then comes up in the old version within 30 seconds and 40-45 seconds with the new driver. I guess it takes the hardware a while before the drive is seen without error and can list.

FYI this is all with the drive spinning already and at all times.

 

Well (knock on wood), with v1.0.10 of the USB 3 driver, and the latest firmware installed in the My Passport, it's working quite well. It only takes a couple seconds for the drive to be recognized.

So in the end the drive may have been the problem. I just don't have another USB 3 device to test with.