[*Resolved] "Prototype Test-NVIDIA Confidential" Error Message [See posts #283, 319]

I think that what Skygunner is referring to is that, upon installation of driver from 285 and followings, I have also notice that the "Set stereoscopic 3D" appeared in the nvidia settings menu, as soon as I plug in some device on HDMI port; additionally, the 3D TV Play logo is visible in "Set stereoscopic 3D" menu, like it is already "contained", somehow...

As I said, I guess that the standard drivers package from nvidia probably contained a "base" of 3D play, but probably the one that you install (and pay) separately, add something like "profiles" or similar.

In this sense, please refer to this other thread that I found regarding nvidia support for Sony HMZ-T1: The nvidia guys are speaking about "setting a profile" to be incorporated in the following release of the software.

@Andrew. Does 285.62 support hmz-t1(sony 3d personal viewer) - NVIDIA Forums - Page 2

I hope that this info may be of any help to the more technical user: I personally will (kicking and spitting!) buy the program from nvidia and solve the issue.

I feel a bit guilty to have blamed the Alienware assistance guys of lack of capability to resolve this "problem", since it is just a "lack of commercial agreement", and poor knowledge on my side, but is quite surprising that with such an "obvious" issue they where not able to point me in the right direction...

I think that I will probably write to them giving the solution, so that if someone else from Italy will occur in this problem, they will be able to support him easier and quicker.

In conclusion, my opinion is that is quite shameful for Alienware to advise for a HDMI 3D capable computer without clearly mark that you have also to purchase 3rd party software to use it (since not all the TV / Monitors 3D capable come with 3D TV Play license).
Is like the license for Roxio or Power DVD: they come standard with the BD reader / DVD writer...

They could have being provided the license for free (giving the fact that 40 bucks to be paid over a 4000 EUR computer is more annoying for the user than onerous for them ), or provide an option in the configurator for purchase it with the laptop, like they do for antivirus or MS software.

Anyway, I am so happy to have this issue solved...

 

Well said. Here's the bottom line. A fully functional 3DTV play comes standard with our drivers without the need of additional software. To get the prototype error message that shouldn't be there in the first place removed, we have to pay an additional 39.99USD.

 

We are reaching out to Louis. He has the explanation on why Dell cannot provide a free license for the Nvidia 3DTV Play software package.

 

Thanks Chris. I am sure I speak for us all when I say your efforts are very much appreciated. The thing is, *IF* Dell cannot provide this and Nvidia *WONT* provide this, why was the M18x advertised as it has been and sold as a 3d capable laptop when it is NOT at stock configuration without having to purchase aftermarket licences etc etc.....I dont see any mention of having to buy 3rd party software to enable the 3d functionality, and thus, I feel quite misled.

There is NO mention of additional licences required as shown below - obviously the "additional equipment" indicated would be the 3d TV itself & the glasses......

 

Concerning this, "A fully functional 3DTV play comes standard with our drivers without the need of additional software.". Was that the Dell OEM 269.03 driver or the retail driver? Someone should remove the retail driver with Driver Sweeper and install our 269.03 driver and see if 3D TV Play logo is still listed under Stereoscopic.

Maybe I missed it but in looking at the sales site, the M8x was not marketed as a 3D Capable gaming laptop. It was marketed as, "Desktop performance wrapped up in a laptop-sized package". We even say on the sales site, "you can wirelessly blast 3D games and HD content to any properly equipped external display. Note: 3D viewing requires additional equipment, sold separately.

So does "sold separately" imply buying the hardware and software from Nvidia?

 

Ok, lets look at this from a different angle.................


I think we can all(Dell & Consumer) agree that the end user should NOT be seeing "Prototype Test Only. Nvidia Confidential. Not For Production. Not For Release". What can be done about removing that message? I think Dell and the End User asking for this overlay to be removed that's not suppose to be there in the first place is quite reasonable.
All we need is that message removed not a license.
Thanks everyone

 

Excuse me but I am a little confused here, this whole license deal has nothing to do with gaming. Its always been know that you need special software to play bluray movies because of the bluray license or whatever it is, DRM and so on.

This has nothing to do with the issue at hand, people want to game in 3D and they keep on getting this error, if some sort of license is required then why are we able to play games in 3D on our desktops without errors using Nvidia cards? Am I missing something here? Why is dell tip toeing around the issue? Its clear that this message is not meant to show up, IE some sort of bug unless were all running prototype cards.

Edit: I take everything I said back, I just realised I never actually tried a 3d game on my desktop before, just watched a 3d bluray with roxio. It turns out you do in fact have to buy this license to be able to play in 3d, nvidia must have messed up with the release drivers or vbios or something and basically have forgotten to properly disable it on our machines. So yeah everyone who wants the prototype error to be gone must purchase this license because technically everyone else does if they want to game on their HDTV's and have 3D.

I guess this topic should be marked as resolved and the original post should be edited with the fact that we must purchase 3dplay to be able to play 3d games on our HDTV's.

 

This is what it looks like when you need 3DTV play.
width='560' height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6pq5EwyLUAM?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6pq5EwyLUAM?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='560' height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
^^This is how 3DTV play is suppose to work on all systems. Someone should remove this message for us pointing out a huge flaw in their driver and because it's also the right thing to do.
Our M18x's go beyond this step and already have it installed and fully working, but with the Prototype Error message that should be removed.

It just dawned on me... We have the Prototype portion of 3DTV play software.

 

As I was saying, maybe could be interesting for Dell to have an agreement with nvidia and offer the option to buy the license in the customization phase of the system purchase... Or maybe (even better!) to provide it together with a 3D integrated monitor with M18x-R2...

 

All good conjecture at this point. When Louis comes back, he can provide to me the Dell Alienware/Legal response.

 

Thank you Chris for your support. Tell Louis and Bill thanks too.
I'm sure we would all like to hear what Louis has to say on the matter.

 

Indeed, it will be really interesting.

Thank you

 

Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated, had a busy weekend (that I'm not remembering so well)...

Anyway, I tried the fix last night, however, only with the trial 14-day trial software. The trial software is not resolving the issue... Is this to be expected, or should the key only work if I get the retail? I just don't want to shell out the $40 to be back at square one.

If you're not sure I still welcome conjecture. I promise I won't hold you responsible if you vote for forking over the $$ and it doesn't work

 

That Prototype Overlay showed up an hour into gameplay with 3DTV Play installed and activated. With 3DTV Play it just takes longer to show up. This problem is definitely NOT resolved. I tried the trial and the full retail hack. This problem is still there after an hour or so of 3D gaming.

 

I wonder how it works with buying the retail software direct from Nvidia as opposed to a hacked version? - maybe there is something awry with the software you got, gunner? - I'm just speculating here of course....

Did it still occur even with the legitimate Nvidia trial software after some time?

 

I will try it when I wake up from my nap in a couple hours... been up for 36 hrs or I would try it now...

 

Great. Look forward to hearing your findings.....

 

Yup, it showed up on the legitimate Nvidia trial software as well after about an hour of gameplay with Crysis 2 and Sonic Generations. Somone needs to remove that Prototype Overlay, end of story. Could you imagine how pissed I'd be if I waisted 39.99USD to remove a error message that shouldn't be there in the first place, only to have the error re-surface after an hour of gameplay?

 

I couldn't sleep so I called a friend who is a manager at a local retail store with many 3d tv's... Yes it showed up on 4 different tv's from 4 different manufacturers...

Yes, I am highly pissed that I spent the money and it still does not work... This anger which is more than when my m17x was useless for 6 months...

now I am going to try to sleep again...

 

Thanks to both of you for confirming that even WITH nvidia's legitimate software, the overlay is STILL apparent...not what we wanted to hear and certainly not for those who shelled out the cash to buy the software (I would be after reimbursement from Nvidia for those that bought it!)

I guess we will have to wait and see what Louis comes back with via Chris.....all in all, its not a good scenario right now for the M18x and 3d, is it?

 

Wow, I'm glad I didn't spring the $40 but uber-disappointed that we seem to be back to square one :-( I sure hope our temporary "fix" didn't make it's way into official Dell tech support, as that would just create further confusion (and expense) for future m18x owners with dreams of 3d...

Sorry for the double-post, but I figured this l ink to users with 3d working on their M18x's might be relevant again. Quite a few users on there who have M18x's who seem to have 3d working, but no idea if they have 580m's or even Nvidia cards.

Edit: (sorry again, just realized I could edit!) StevieJones and Mr. Fox seem to have actually posted in that thread a while back, as well, now that I look at it. You guys got any insight into those users' setups? It looks like Pion2099, 0x29A and D3adpool3 have 3d setups.

 

I cant recall their spec. BUT I revisited that thread to recap and it seems that those who use an OptX 2310 external monitor havent had issue...bear in mind that this monitor is listed by Dell as "Nvidia 3d Ready" which could be a reason of their success....some others seem to report no problem either using 3d TV Play.

Maybe the following post from that thread could be of help here and maybe one of you guys with 3d TV's can try it out...

Don't know if that will make a difference but it might help as the TV is left to convert rather than the M18x.....obviously as I dont have 3d, my insight is limited....I could be barking mad LOL - maybe what we are seeing is two components trying to convert the same signal, IDK.....

I also find myself wondering about DisplayPort in all of this...wether or not it works correctly to an external 3d source using a DisplayPort to HDMI adaptor using a 3d ready HDMI lead - as most TV's dont have DP.

All conjecture at this point, but with little else to go on until we hear from Dell....might as well toss some ideas about, eh?

 

I have a Panasonic viera st30 that can do the conversion but its not the same it takes a 2d image and tries to make it appear 3d as opposed to true 3D in games drawn by the computer. The conversion is nowhere near the quality.


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

What's so strange/lame is that the 3DTV Play activation software(we already have 3DTV Play activated from the get go) definitely prolongs the run time before the "Prototype Overlay" shows up. It still renders a advertised feature useless.

If you rely on the display to convert 2D->3D, then the results will be horrible.

http://i.imgur.com/jt0TI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/KSHeN.jpg

This is how it works properly: The game/movie etc... needs to support 3D. Like Crysis 2, Sonic Generations or Trine 2. Some of these games allow the customization of 3D from within the game. Our STANDARD Nvidia Verde drivers can detect these Nvidia 3D optimized games and vice versa. The last thing that takes place is that our displays "handshake" with the Nvidia Verde Driver and prompts the use of 3D.


To bypass this process with the display's 2D-3D upconverting capability will produce a very poor 3D viewing experience.

Sentinel already tried that. It still produces the same "Prototype Error Overlay".

 

I think I might have something...give me sometime to test it and Ill post the result soon.

 

Sweet! Keep us posted.

 

skygunner27, sent you a PM.

All,
This is from our lab -
With the correct Sbios, Vbios, driver and the 3DTVPlay license, the overlay message goes away. I have 3 systems in the lab with everything updated and when I play games on our Samsung 3D TV, there is no message. Here are the versions we are using -
Sbios – A04 Official release http://dell.to/y5JLxE
Vbios – 70.24.2B.00.06 for both cards http://dell.to/tZaz4t
Driver – 285.62 http://dell.to/wOnksv (we haven’t tried the newer driver yet)
3DVision driver – 285.62

So, you all need to list the versions your using:
Sbios
vbios
driver

 

From my understanding it goes away for a bit and the comes back so I suggest leaving it running for more than a few minutes and see if the overlay does in fact come back.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Any reason for NOT using the latest A05 Bios? - every time someone calls tech, thats one of the first things they tell you to do - update to the latest bios LOL......

 

Any reason for NOT using the latest A05 Bios?
* They were out of office for awhile. They just got back today and saw all of the emails. They tested with those versions. All of you should try to replicate the versions and then retest.

 

Gotcha. Thanks Chris.

Unfortunately, I cant test myself as I dont have a 3d display but I am SURE that gunner and the rest will do so.

 

PM sent, Chris.

Here's my systems driver/bios:
R295 Driver 295.73 - 8.17.12.9573
vBios 70.24.2B.00.06 both cards
sBIOS A05
3D Vision Driver 295.73
I am using the following 3D displays Samsung UN55D8000, UN55D7000 and Playstation 3D Display.

Around after an hour of 3D gameplay the error shows up with the 3DTV Play trial activator or activator hack. If someone can guarantee it(Paid version) will work with the latest Verde Driver then I will purchase the paid version. The trial version should also produce the same results but it doesn't....which leaves me to believe that the paid version will also crap out after around an hour of 3D gameplay.

 

It works!!!

Ive found the solution to this warning msg and we shall never see it again.
Basically there a file hidden within nvstres.dll which lies within 3D Vision folder, the file contains the font and numeric for the msg, replace it and that solves the problem.

Needless to say, if you do delete it you wont be seeing anymore red msg that could be of important but I dont think we care, well not anymore.

We need a program (PE Explorer),a replacement bitmap and few simple steps.

1. PE Explorer
2. Replacement bitmap (please see attachments)

Steps:

1. Install and open PE explorer
2. Load your nvstres.dll file which is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\3D Vision (select All Files in File Types)
3. Click on Resource Viewer/ Editor
4. Go to Bitmap folder and select 201 (this is the template of the warning msg)
5. Double clicks on 201 a new window should appear allowing you to edit the file
6. Open the replace201 bitmap file
7. Close the editor and save it as nvstres1.dll (for some reasons it wont allow me to save over the old file)
8. Delete the original nstres.dll and rename the new one as nvstres.dll
9. Restart your lappy

Should you wish to see the msg again simply reinstall the driver . For every drivers upgrade you'll have to repeat these steps.

Try it and let me know if it works for you, after somewhat 5 months Im finally enjoying my m18x to its fullest...

Cheers
Thach

Mod Edit: See post #319 for batch file

 

I'm about to give it a go......I sooo hope this works
Thank you.


I'm confused between step 5 & 6. Step 6, When you say to 'Open the replace201 bitmap file" is that something I do in PE Explorer or with the file itself that I already downloaded on to my desktop?

Here is where I am at.
http://i.imgur.com/7BhUZ.png

 

Yes, extract the file after you downloaded it and when the Editor window appears click on the open file in the Editor and choose the replace201 which youve just extracted.

 

Ok, I'm about to start my 1 and 1/2 hour test run. Currently I do NOT have the trial 3DTV Play activator software installed.


Thank you +rep!!!
Without the trial it usually shows up in minutes.

 

Brilliant Lubu! Would be cool if someone could make a batch file for this so when we update drivers it does it by itself.

 

It works!!! Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you lubu!!!!

No Prototype Overlay!!!

Thanks everyone else & Dell. Chris can you make sure this is case closed? I wouldn't want Nvidia to make any unnecessary changes in future driver installments.

 

Brilliant news - Great Fix Lubu!! - thank you VERY much! + rep!!!!!

 

Although more of a work-around than a fix, this is awesome news!!!!

Congrats and well done!! +Rep

 

Yeah - I would still like to see it permanently fixed to avoid having to do this step every time you wish to update drivers.....let's see what Dell / Chris come back with....

 

Its true that this is just a simple hack into the templates but other than that I dont know how to permanently remove the msg, this is something that only Nvidia/Dell can do. I did once, tried modifying the .inf of the display but the .inf fix would be different for everyone since our displays are not the same. At the moment this is the best that I can come up with, sorry in advance that it is not a proper fix.

 

As it stands your workaround works PERFECT!!! Maybe one of our fellow members could cook up a quick batch file to speed up the process. Regardless, I am soooooo excited to be able to game w/o that stupid overlay and w/o having to pay 39.99USD to activate a feature that is already fully activated in the first place. I really think this is as good as it's gonna get and I'm fine with it. Dell's solution is to buy the activator to remove the overlay. At this point I really don't want Dell pushing Nvidia for a fix. Currently we have a fully functional 3DTV Play license, activated. We are in a good position.

Thank you lubu.

 

Great find lubu.

 

But we still need all of you to load our testing revisions. We need your systems to match ours to verify that your systems do not get the overlay message.

 

I'll give your's a go with the trial this evening. My old lady is throwing a baby shower for her cousin at our house, so I'm getting 86'ed/kicked out for most of the day.

I know that with the fully activated trial and Dell's driver I still got the Prototype overlay. Maybe someone else can chime in on your reequest and test this. I'll post my results this evening.

Thanks for working with us through the weekend!!

 

Chris,

I was wondering how long your guys had been testing your setups for? - gunner says the overlay comes back after around an hour or so....maybe (just maybe) your guys havent tested it for that long?....sorry if that sounds patronising because it isnt meant to be - I just wondered if maybe they tried it for like 15 minutes and said "good to go"......

Even so, would be good for those with 3d to test it out under your specifics and report back.

 

The whole 3D vision/ 3D play thing on Notebooks is really just a licensing issue.
The driver checks if the combination of sBios, monitor, gpu and vBIOS is on the whitelist and then enables stuff accordingly.
If I just flash an older revision sBios on my 3D vision Clevo, the whole stereoscopic tap in the driver disappears right after reboot without any normal way to bring it back.
It's a shame, there are long threads of people over at NVIDIA forums, who bought 3D vision notebooks but can't enable it because of this thing that nobody wants to talk about...they are just being ignored.
Don't let them fool you they know exactly the problem.
Soon this will become an even bigger issue...just wait till you want to put your new gtx680m cards in later this year and the card works but your 3D vision just disables itself, because the combination is not paid for.
It's either time for us to hack the stereo 3D driver, or NVIDIA to get over their greedy nature and and remove this "money-check".

 

On the Dell drivers with fully activated trial the overlay showed up after an hour and 17 minutes and 16 seconds. Maybe the difference between Dell's results and us end-users is that we are using the trial that should work the same as the paid..at least for 14 days. Maybe there is a difference between paid and trial. Oh well I'm happy the way things stand. If you need more from me just let me know.

Can someone get started on a batch file for lubu's hack?

 

Just wanted to let everyone know that I tried Lubu's fix, and it works great! You are my new hero, Lubu. Seriously, just awesome.

Unfortunately, my excitement is tempered by another issue that appears to have cropped up. After dropping the $ on a $100 displayport to dvi converter (My Asus VG278 doesn't have a dp), I've gotten the 120hz 2d working. Unfortunately, the laptop doesn't seem to recognize the monitor as 3d through the dp/dvi converter setup. It still works through hdmi (at 720p), but it just doesn't seem to want to see the built-in 3d emitter through the displayport.

Even came up with a message when I switched to displayport that no 3d monitor was detected, and I when I try to force it through Nvidia control panel, it just defaults to red/blue old school 3d in the tester. I went back and re-read the Amazon post for the m18x user who used the adapter successfully, and it turns out he did mention that he had to set up 3d emitter through the laptop. Unfortunately, this monitor only came with the glasses and the built-in emitter. Wanted to try downloading the Nvidia drivers, but am I correct in my understanding that Nvidia website drivers are not compatible with Dell/Alienware machines, and we're meant to be happy with the yearly or so proprietary driver updates that Dell provides? I've heard that in a few places, but seem to get conflicting reports.

Anyone got any ideas or experience with the vg278? I guess I should probably just make a new thread, but wanted to check with all the people who have been so awesome and helpful thus far.