M11x R1 Hybrid/Optimus Driver

can you make a video tutorial pls. so that it will clearer to understand

 

285.65?? nvidia dont have that version. u mean it is 285.62?
and we will install this in safe mode or normal boot?

 

This is about hybrid Optimus driver. Are you guys discussing something else?

 

at least its working. .. i am asking what version of nvidia.

 

From page 7 (and page 1):
Driver version: 285.38

I think you guys have changed the topic and messed up the info. There has been only ONE version of the modified optimus drivers talked about in this thread AFAIK. If you want to get into installing switchable graphics using latest drivers please start a new thread.

The original topic is based on optimus. Both cards are active for me now as a result of the first post - which is why I am able to run three screens on my R1.

If I misunderstood what you guys are doing then let me know but it looks like you are trying to setup switchable but using latest drivers (yea!) which is off topic.

 

Is this even being worked on anymore? There still seem to be a group of us who cannot get this to work at all no matter what we try. Is it safe to assume he is not working on making the video cards switchable as well as optimus, or just update them a little?

 

While there was mention of switchable it never really came about and at least now you have a method to experiment with. I think I was a bit harsh earlier. I'll "suggest" a separate thread for switchable

As for Optimus we can't assume much but I suspect there will always be issues for some even if a newer version is created

 

Well it works for me - optimus is running on my R1 using the drivers as shown on the links on the first page. I have only had one instance where the 355 card was flagged with an error and the optumis would not start - I have tested with optimus tools and easy way to check is simple open the nvidia control panel from the bottom and select manage 3D, this starts the 355 and when you exit shuts it off - tested multiple times worked every time, except just now when it stopped responding go figure!!! - have tested with a few games and have had no problems seems to use a bit more battery life.

If you have issues installing remove all drivers and instal the Intel drivers, check your device manager and make sure all you can see is the intel display and a VGA display adapter with a yellow icon. you should now be able to install the Nvidia driver. reboot and optimus should now work

 

It is swicthable? the Nvidia 285.38 + Intel 2413. it works for you?

 

no no no. It is Optimus driver based. The switching is automated. Nearly this entire topic is about modified optimus drivers and not requiring any switching at all. In other words your R1 can function similar to R2/R3.

A few pages ago someone posted a how-to for updating vid drivers while still using switchable config (non optimus)

 

Yep what GNandGS said - the whole point of these drivers is to mimic the R2 & R3 where the video card switches based on demand. The advantage is you don't need to remember to switch the down side is they are very beta, and can be problematic to install. But they do work I have had problems but after multiple installs and playing they are again working correctly. Oh the other down side is the battery life is not as good

 

Discovered a separate problem - firstly switching works no issue there card runs when needed. Problem is linked to CPU usage under System => interrupts, CPU runs at 50% when gaming have done plenty of checking and believe the problem is linked to the driver. Have been forced to roll back to the normal dell driver.

Have always had a separate problem with this laptop and switching with failures to switch and beep error's when on discrete. Probable MB issue so have brought a new MB and will fit and re-test.

 

So, any news for HYBRID section except workaround by Tpom?

@ GNandGS Will 3 screens will work out of the box with this optimus driver?

 

I used windows to config the arrangement but all screens detected.

 

Wait. If I use this driver, I can use 3 screens simultaneously? Is that correct?

 

GNandGS - Have you had any issues with CPU usage - ie interrupt faults??? running process explorer and found this to be sitting at 45 odd% have gone back to normal switching drivers faults have resolved themselves indicating there is something with the driver that the system does not like.

Now it could be my MB I have always had switching issues and figured best solution is just to bit the bullet and replace the MB. Have ordered a replacement unit keen to retest with new MB.

 

As I type this there are 99 processes running (inc TM). CPU is hovering in 25-45% range.

For fun I launched a bunch more... I waited for it to settle and it did at 80-100% (lol) until I closed Movie Maker editing. Now with 106 its back down to 25-45

Primary: Samsung S24A350H via HDMI
Secondary: Same via Display Port
Third: native LCD panel.
GPU temps are low 50's

I rarely run any games these days but when doing so I use projector mode to turn off the built in display.

 

Well I still haven't tested it with heavy gaming, but I plugged in a monitor to each port, and they all work. At the same time. 4 monitors at the same time. How awesome is that.

 

I wanted to try it but didn't have one. Thanks for confirmation!

 

Problem with CPU only occurs when the GPU is under load, ie gaming - CPU will use 45 - 50% resources on system interrupts - which means we hit a CPU throttle issue when gaming (after all the 7300 is not exactly a power beast processor).

It is possible the MB in my machine is the issue but does not occur when running the normal dell driver - this will still use some CPU resources under system interrupts, around 3 - 5% but this will not affect the in game experience.

 

I cant tell any diff. I leave all screens "on" but switch to projector mode. Run game, then turn off projector mode. My CPU is not even OC right now.

 

Suddenly, R1 get's a huge advantage over more recent revisions by having extra port

 

OK then it's probably my MB - should have it swapped out by the end of Jan as soon as they ship the replacement.

 

Let me rephrase: there might be a diff but not enough that I took notice. I have 86 processes right now and only the built in screen active - CPU is 0-20%. Odd spike now and then.

 

Only tried 2 monitors, I'd better try this soon

 

Yerp, as reported by Descalzo and others, one can use four monitors.

I currently have mine... all extended.

VGA is just 1920x1080, which is OK, but my monitors(2) are 24"1920x1200 IPS.

Just installed the driver(s) so still getting my head around what works and how it works, but no problems to speak of yet.

 

For office tasks this works great! Would do four but not spending money to make it happen.

 

I still get random blue screens with it coming in and out of power states (standby, resume, etc).

But other than that it does work fairly well. Power usage is nearly as good as switchable mode, and it activates the 335 chip for gaming properly.

 

I'm rarely doing any suspend or powers state stuff so have had that. Are you changing anything befor resume? Screens or USB devices?

 

Nope, not changing anything. It's fairly random and doesn't do it every time.

 

I have been able to hybernate a few times without issue if that helps anyone. Note though that I did at least disconnect from all external monitors.

Tried today to apply the volt mod bios for GPU and while it did flash ok and boot up normally, the computer no longer detected external displays on HDMI/DP. Reinstall of driver was of no benefit. For grins and groans I then turned off switchable in BIOS and nearly bricked my system. Had to use the BIOS recovery from here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/572239-m11x-r1-bios-recovery-guide.html

After installing drivers again I'm back to 3 screen goodness

 

Mine has been going in & out of hibernation for about two weeks now without a bluescreen. I'm still not sure what causes the crashes as it's random. I don't have the system plugged into any external monitors.

 

If it makes you feel better random crashes are not new to nvidia or the M11x. I have had random crashes with pretty much every driver tried. Right now its about the same as the 26x was. If I can blame any non game app its flash.

Today for I think the first time I was prompted with a notice of a newer verde driver via a little popup near the tray. I ignored it but found that odd as I never really bothered with update settings for the nvidia software and I'm sure its on by default. Anywho, wants me to update from 285.38 to 285.62 released Oct 24

 

Thanks for the effort here guys, but I gave up on it and reverted back to the working Hybrid driver. :/

Tried all the variations of installing throughout this thread and couldn't get it to work. The last couple of times I could get all the drivers installed but it wouldn't enable the discrete Nvidia card and got stuck in integrated mode. On the plus side, I find the Intel drivers in post 1 to be a lot better than the ones I had originally.

Hopefully we'll eventually get an official update, but I wouldn't count on it.

Cheers.

 

Err... there is only one ver of hybrid driver by OP right? The other stuff was using newer drivers for switchable mode not optimus.

 

Yeah, just some of the techniques people were trying earlier on to ensure that it worked properly (uninstall this, reboot, so on etc.).

None of them worked for me. I contemplated formatting, but given the bsods and some other beta issues, it might not be worth it at this time.

 

Reverting "back" to working driver is confusing

 

Well, thanks for the input. I figured out the problem anyway. I recently decided it would be a good idea to put the system into overclock mode in the BIOS. As it turns out, with the 8GB of crappy ram Dell uses, they just can't handle the fsb increase. I suppose I could try swapping the dimms or even taking one out, but I'm too lazy for that. I'll just go with 1.3GHz and stability.

Somewhere along the line the unstable overclocked ram effects the installation of drivers and that's it.

 

Where did you hear that? The pin mod thread finds more issue with "good" ram. Most that fixed their oc in bios did it with a mb change

Likely th bios oc issue in R1s is related to voltage

 

I close the lid to hibernate all the time. I let it go to sleep occasionally. I haven't had any such problems. The only problem I've had so far is that when I plug in my DisplayPort monitor at work, it comes up as the only monitor and the screen goes dead. I have to manually set the m11x screen as primary and ext as secondary manually.

 

Is it normal for this driver to enable one of the audio controllers associated with the NVIDIA HD Audio?

 

Dont know. With my plantronics headset active I see this under sound:

Bluetooth Hands-free audio
High Definition Audio Device
High Definition Audio Device
High Definition Audio Device
High Definition Audio Device
High Definition Audio Device
Plantronics Wireless Audio

If I check "System Devices" I see "High Definition Audio Controller" but no mention of nvidia.

 

I only see "Realtek High Definition Audio" and "Bluetooth Hands-free Audio" under Sound. Under system devices, one of the two "High Definition Audio Controller" is disabled. If I enable it, 4 "NVIDIA High Definition Audio" will show up under Sound, but the controller always start as disabled when Windows start.

Tested an external monitor through the HDMI port and sound is coming out of the monitor's speaker when I enable the HD originally disabled HD audio controller, so everything seems to work apart from the fact that it starts disabled.

 

I'm not using audio via hdmi so can't say on that. Under system devices I have the two entries but they are already enabled... I see both still without any external video or even the headset. No mention of nvidia.

 

Ended up going back to the 263.08 hybrid driver cause I kept getting crashes on this driver even after reinstalling.

Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk

 

there is no 263 hybrid(??) Do you mean the OEM driver? Dell provides ver263 on support page.

 

yeah, I meant the Dell 263.08 driver. I said hybrid driver because the Dell driver is a hybrid driver as opposed to Optimus. I just changed the Intel driver with the 2281 driver as per the guide that was posted in this forum before. Running pretty stable at the moment, too bad I won't be able to play BF3 with this driver lol.

 

I hope Dell releases a new official driver for the M11x R1.

4/20/2010 197.12, P03
Applies to:
Notebook BETA Driver (NV)

Download File
nVidia-Driver
NVIDIA_GEFORCE-GT335M_A02_R297688.exe (148MB)
Recommended 3/16/2011

If we're lucky, I'd hope for a new official switchable graphics or Optimus driver in February this year.

 

197 is the older one

 

I created a topic on Dell community forums , many people replied but it seems that we got no answer ..

What a poor customer service , i'm glad i bought an Asus now :/