Help with installing Nvidia 580M video card

Hi, I have recently purchased and installed a 580M video card into my M17X/r1 which previously had two 9400M cards (one of them got replaced) and my laptop is having trouble recognizing the presence of the 580M card. Obviously, my card slots are MXM2 and provide 75 watts where as 580M requires 100 watts.
So, the question is whether there is any way to make it function properly (at the moment my laptop recognized it as a 260M video card somehow) or is it better to return / resell it and go back to having two 9400M cards?
I did install the new Nvidia 290.10 drivers with the modding suggested on these forums (without it the drivers would not install due to no compatible hardware found error)

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Probably need a bios mod.

Are you using the latest bios?

 

Thank you for a response - my bios version is Alienware 02, 21/08/2009
EDIT: I guess a BIOS update is a possibility - will try tomorrow, any verbal help or links will be appreciated
Is this something like what I am looking for? http://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-Alienware-M17x-R2-A10-BIOS-Unlocked-OC-Options

 

That bios could help, must be newer than your current one.

Also you can try flashing a dell 580M vbios onto your 580m (if yours is not dell branded).

 

If you have the 9400M and your laptop has aluminium chassis, than its the M17x (improperly called R1) and it has MXM 3.0 slots. In this case the 9400M is integrated.

Can you please confirm?


I suggest you flash either A07 or A03 sBIOS, don't bother with A04 and A05(fixes what A04 broke).

 

I believe you are correct - I have M17x which had 9400M integrated and 2 260M cards on SLI, my laptop does not see the 580M yet (it is shown in the bios update tool I downloaded though). Going to give a shot to bios flashing

 

Ok, now that we settled this, upgrade your BIOS to A07, Install the card and try an external monitor (thru VGA port first) if you don't get any output on the laptop's monitor.

 

Upgraded to A07 - the issue now is that I am unable to update the Nvidia Display Driver to 296.10 (or 296.35). Error is: Nvidia 580M configuration key is invalid.
Also, my keyboard suddenly started to process only half of the keystrokes - is it my fault in plugging the ribbon cables back poorly or some driver issue?

 

Doesn't sound like a driver issue, re-seat the cable.

Also try uninstalling the current nvidia driver and then install one from laptopvideo2go with a modded inf file from there as well.

 

Thanks for the help so far everyone! I believe I got the 580M to work with the new Nvidia drivers. The issue at hand - I get 1 to 2 fps in New Calico or Jane Nash tests. It seems that my integrated 9400M is driving the display still - is there a way to change that?

 

Make sure your laptop is plugged in, turn it on and access BIOS menu.
Go to Advanced and down to Graphic Settings, here disable first two options. Your system should now use the 580M.

If there's no post try with an external monitor.

 

Followed your advice - now laptop display is on 260M and PhysX on 580M, cannot change the display default, but can swap the PhysX to 260M as well. Did I fail and should swap the cards slots? 580M is on the right, 260M is on the left at the moment.

 

The left side card (your left facing the monitor) is the primary card and the display output is routed to that card, that's the reason.

Why not install the 580M alone in the primary slot? Remember to disable the 9400M in BIOS

 

Yep - just returned from a Google trip... sure wish I did that before installing the card in the first place. Will let you know how it went tomorrow. Thanks for the great help!

 

No problem. Looking forward to your results.

Have a good one.

 

Well, swapped the video cards, but got an unexpected complication - my laptop does not see the power adapter, so I cannot turn integrated graphics off in the Bios and battery charge is almost non-existent. Is this the right time to mail my laptop to dell support? Not sure what could have caused such a malfunction - the blue light on the end of the power adapter is on, the problem is most likely somewhere within the laptop as it occurred right after I took it apart the second time to swap video cards.

Is there any trick that I am unaware of?

 

Try this...

1. Disconnect the AC adapter.
2. Remove the battery.
3. Press and hold the power button for at least one minute.
4. Plug in the AC adapter.
5. Turn on the laptop.
6. Install the battery (while running on AC power).

Hope it helps, bro. Good chance that it will.

 

No luck, I think it is something internal - going to send laptop to Dell, maybe they can figure it out.

 

So it doesn't turn on without the battery while plugged in? That's a bummer.