M11x graphics drivers (General Discussion)

So, is my screen issue where it won't turn back on after closing a hardware issue, driver issue, or what? I need to know if I should contact Dell. (which would not be preferable)

 

You guys forced my hand. Uploading test package.. I put this thing together real quick.

Probably drivers. Which are you using?

 

Thanks! I'm done with driver for now though, I'll do it when I have time to mess with drivers tomorrow. I get sick of the rebooting every two minutes lol.

 

Ok package up for testing.
EDIT: NEVERMIND.

Make sure to sign them after installing.

 

Nautis, your work has inspired me to create an account here and post Your work so far seems excellent. Thanks.
A few questions for you if you don't mind
1. Are you sure we should be using 197.45's for the GT335m? I don't see it under the supported list.
2. I understand the current problem with the Optimus mod for the M11x is that even when in low power mode the GT335m still draws some power making battery life worsen?
3. lksing78 method seems pretty straight forward, but shouldn't there be an ini somewhere which makes the drivers recognize a 3D API in order for it to turn on/off intelligently?
4. Is that Test Package you uploaded a merging of the 197.45 drivers and the dell switchable functionality? Or an optimus mod?

One more thing with Optimus (generally speaking). What happens when say, ur in integrated mode graphics, and a HD youtube video pops up with 10.1 accelerated encoding or a CUDA application fires up. Will it automatically enable that way?

If you need me to test anything, I'm willing to help out.

 

1.) Traditionally Nvidias drivers work on all their GPUs as they use what is called a Unified Driver Architecture ( more info) they are usually only tested on ones they list under supported.
2.) I assume this is the case though I am hearing now that the nvidia part may not be using any power but still be seen in device manager. People testing optimus may want to do some wattage tests to find out. The other issue is the overlay text.
3.) Nope no INI. lksing78s method is using Hybrid Graphics so no automatic switching. Optimus uses profiles and api detection it also has a mechanism which downloads new profiles from nvidia on its own.
4.) Test package is Hybrid Graphics not Optimus like lksing78s method. Optimus is still considered a proof of concept IMHO.

Yes it will. From the Optimus Whitepaper:

 

Hi Nautis, Regarding about the test package all i need to do is install the package without using lksing78s method or must follow his method as well? thanks

 

Nastrox, I assume you know the method for installing unofficial drivers (test mode & signing) on windows 64. Other than that they can install using setup.exe after uninstalling your previous drivers in nvidia mode.

 

Sweet thanks for the response.

I'll give your package a test on my lappy. I'll report back shortly. I'll test power draw before and after for you too.

 

ups sorry wrong post

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anyway Nautis, if i may know, what does that package will do?

 

What makes Optimus able to switch between Integrated and Discrete graphics without worrying about closing down an application?

Just about to try your drive package. Will launching setup.exe install both nvidia and intel graphics drivers?

 

Yes it will install both as Hybrid Graphics requires both drivers together because the Intel drivers use nvlddmkm.sys rather than igdkmd64.sys.

Optimus eliminates the need for a multiplexer. A multiplexer is basically a switch that switches the display between the two GPUs. Optimus basically hijacks the framebuffer of the integrated Intel part and utilities its existing connection to the display.

 

Ah that makes sense. I'm quite savvy with digital logic and that seems like a pretty quick fix on nVIDIA's part. They rave on how it took them years to develop. Yeah right.

 

Nautis is there any trick to using your driver package, i uninstalled my current nvid driver and ran yours with driver signing disabled and i BSOD my system during the installed.

 

You are one up on me then. You should really check out the Optimus Whitepaper.

 

Thanks for the link.

Just trying that installer for you. Removed the old drivers dell supplies us with. Both graphics adapters are visible, yet only the nvidia drivers install. Additionally the GT335M still comes up as a missing device in device manager after installation.

 

*SHIFTY EYES* Try lksing78s method and see if you can get them to install. Unless I FUBARd something in my quick modding it should be almost exactly the same. I will take another look in the AM. Sorry All.

Bah might as well add this in for anyone curious since I just posted it else where. Even though it isn't really super relevant to our discussion.


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EDIT:Editing in an explanation on Hybrid Graphics drivers.

The Hybrid Graphics drivers are basically standard Intel and Nvidia drivers. There is really only one file that is different and that is the nvbridge_int.kmd. AFAIK the existing nvbridge.kmd is for Hybrid SLI (two nvidia gpus) and nvbridge_int.kmd is for Hybrid Graphics (intel + nvidia gpus). The rest of the magic is done in the INF. (SIDE EDIT: Two files actually because there is a uninstall file that includes entries for the intel drivers)

This is new:

Code:

[Section###]
AddReg = nv_HelperGUID_AddReg

[nv_HelperGUID_AddReg]
HKLM, "System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NVLDDMKM", NVIDIAHelperGUID, %REG_SZ%, [COLOR="SeaGreen"]{9A516B97-E7C1-451B-9165-C5035994A3F5}[/COLOR]
HKLM, "System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NVLDDMKM", SecondaryHelperGUID, %REG_SZ%, [COLOR="SeaGreen"]{6C4BE3D5-831A-42ED-AA62-2AEB34C8CBA4}[/COLOR]

This has been changed:

Code:

[nv_commonBase_addreg__##]
HKR,,UserModeDriverGUID,%REG_SZ%,"[COLOR="Red"]{5F507F20-AEB0-4C37-A10C-FFBDF3269C76}[/COLOR]"

[CoInst.AddReg]
[COLOR="Red"];[/COLOR]HKR,, CoInstallers32, %REG_MULTI_SZ%, "igfxCoIn_v1994.dll, CoDeviceInstall"

[CoInst.CopyFiles]
[COLOR="Red"];[/COLOR]igfxCoIn_v1994.dll,igxpco64.dll,,0x00000010

[igfx_SoftwareCommonSettings]
HKR,, UserModeDriverGUID,%REG_SZ%,"[COLOR="Red"]{5F507F20-AEB0-4C37-A10C-FFBDF3269C76}[/COLOR]"

[igfx_Service_Inst]
ServiceType    = 1               ; SERVICE_KERNEL_DRIVER
StartType      = 3               ; SERVICE_DEMAND_START
ErrorControl   = 0               ; SERVICE_ERROR_IGNORE
LoadOrderGroup = Video
ServiceBinary  = %12%\[COLOR="Red"]nvlddmkm.sys[/COLOR]

In the standard drivers those entries are:

Code:

[nv_commonBase_addreg__##]
HKR,,UserModeDriverGUID,%REG_SZ%,"[COLOR="SeaGreen"]{9A516B97-E7C1-451B-9165-C5035994A3F5}[/COLOR]"

[CoInst.AddReg]
HKR,, CoInstallers32, %REG_MULTI_SZ%, "igfxCoIn_v1994.dll, CoDeviceInstall"

[CoInst.CopyFiles]
igfxCoIn_v1994.dll,igxpco64.dll,,0x00000010

[igfx_SoftwareCommonSettings]
HKR,, UserModeDriverGUID,%REG_SZ%,"[COLOR="SeaGreen"]{6C4BE3D5-831A-42ED-AA62-2AEB34C8CBA4}[/COLOR]"

[igfx_Service_Inst]
ServiceType    = 1               ; SERVICE_KERNEL_DRIVER
StartType      = 3               ; SERVICE_DEMAND_START
ErrorControl   = 0               ; SERVICE_ERROR_IGNORE
LoadOrderGroup = Video
ServiceBinary  = %12%\[COLOR="SeaGreen"]igdkmd64.sys[/COLOR]

Now if you have been paying attention you will will have noticed that the standard GUIDs are now calling whatever is attached to the HelperGUID (most likely all the Hybrid Graphics voodoo) and the HelperGUID has the original IDs. You will also have noticed that the Intel drivers call nvlddmkm.sys rather than their original igdkmd64.sys. The Intel coinstaller dlls have also been disabled.

And that is the basics to Hybrid Graphics drivers in a nutshell. There are of course extra settings specific to the different notebooks these are just the changes specific to Hybrid Graphics. Happy Modding.

 

Works with 197.16. Not 197.45 - they come up as 'no compatible hardware detected'

EDIT - Everything works fine using the replace method as mentioned by lksing78. No dll was required to change. I made sure all the files were name appropriately as mentioned in the above post. Switching works seamlessly. The computer doesn't use any more power then it did on the official DELL drivers 188.55. Admittedly only a restart will fully power down the GT335M, but this was the case on the official drivers as well. When in performance mode, both adapters appear in the device list.

I'm not sure if the 10.1flash GPU acceleration is working properly as a 1080p Youtube video still consumes 25-35% CPU power on my ULV S7300 @ 1.71GHz.

 

i think might as well stick to 197.16 for now
that is the officially supported driver for 335m from nvidia
so anyone other then me successfully install the driver..
any different..?
Soorry did not do any bechie test on it yet..busy reseting/rebooting my M11x whole night

 

Nvidias latest. Bad idea probably. I should really change.

 

Guys,

Word directly from a Senior Engineer at Dell is that M11x Drivers are in another round of testing. They should have been released 2 weeks ago but they found some bugs that they wanted to fix before releasing. In the next week or two we should be seeing an official Dell released updated M11x Driver.

However, i'm very intruiged by ReignsofPower's post that says he was able to update his drivers and have his 335M Powered down (albeing via reboot, but thats fine.) Is there any way ReignsofPower you can write a definitive guide to how you packaged the Nvidia drivers to get this working? This would be useful going forward.

Keep in mind a Dell driver will officially be out very soon.

Nick.

 

Good to hear about the driver. Any chance you can ask this senior engineer if an updated BIOS is really in the works, and what issues it might fix, or features to be added?

 

what a pleasant news!!

i hope by the time i got my M11X next week, this new driver is already out!

 

Hopefully updated drivers can help me push my bench scores farther. On the other hand, at least we know Dell is actually working on the updates.

 

I did ask about that but he didn't respond. I dont want to push it, there's a fine line between annoyance with people.

 

i think as long as the GT335 can truly turns off upon switching back to IGP, it's a big upgrade already and surely it will help on the battery life and benchmarking!

 

Yay can't wait for new Ofiicial drivers to come out and test out BF Bad Company again.

 

Off Topic:

wha? isn't BFBC already playable on M11X regardless of the switching issue?

 

Multiplayer is nearly unplayable IMHO.

 

hmmm... so is it theoretically plausible to have nvidia optimus implemented for already existing alienware M11x owners, directly from dell?

 

NO. The M11x DOESNT RUN OPTIMUS.

 

unless it needs a support from hardware, me too, hope for this

if Optimus is entirely software based, it would be sweet! but imo it should be, because the Asus U30Jc is using GT 330M and they already use Optimus

but again, i heard that the graphic card needs to have the Optimus Engine Copy to buffer the thingy

 

Not much to report, all I did was follow this guide here
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6138260&postcount=40

I tired a few complex methods (such as modifying .ini's but that didn't work well at all). The 197.16 work fine, 197.45 does not work at all)

Just set your BIOS to switchable, follow the above guide and everything should work. No hitch at all here. You can start up in low powered mode and the GT335 will not appear in the device manager. If u fn_f6 it, it will appear. Similarly if you switch back, it will remain there. Hence for full 7 hours battery life, restart up in integrated graphics mode.

The main problem with not fully powering down the GT335 is a dell driver issue and hopefully that update you mentioned will cover that problem.

Optimus would be kinda cool to have, but from what i read in the Optimus report, its a hard wire of the two graphics solutions into one another to share frame buffers. Additionally to that, API / Cuda etc. detection profiles monitor operation in order to tell it when to kick on Discrete graphics.

 

Correct. The above describes Optimus. The M11x can't do it.

 

Even so, there have been a few proof of concepts here:
http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/26410-optimus-drivers-on-the-vaio-z/page__pid__128386__st__0

 

ok i dont know if this is what i think it is

but some source says something like this

now i dont know if the 335M is included as one of those "new" series or not

http://www.pcmag.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=248220,00.asp?hidPrint=true

on last paragraph

 

You wont see Dell/Alienware officially supporting Optimus unless its officially part of a redesign of the machine.

Oi people.. Did we go back in time about Optimus or what? Read the whitepaper again.

The 200M, 300M & Fermi all have the Optimus Copy Engine.

Where did you read its a hardwire?

You may also want to read up on the Nvidia & Intel lawsuit.

 

Indeed. I already have a 197.16 package up but it doesn't have the M11x in the INF. I can build one based on 197.16 and lksing78s instructions (with proper missing additions from 197.16) if you all would like to make for easier installing. I am investigating the differences a bit further now and looking to see if I screwed anything up in modding.

197.4 4 is also a Notebook set BTW that includes 335m. It is located in the developer section at nvidia.

 

anyone tried lksing78s method of creating the 197.16hybrid graphics driver and got conflicting driver versions?

my system information on the nvidia control panel and gpu-z shows 197.16, but my device manager shows 188.55. so is it really running 197.16 or 188.55?

 

This is because the INF identifies it as 188.55. It is also missing the install stuff for proper 64 bit video encoding, opencl, and uses an intel uninstall for 32bit.

[Version]
DriverVer = 12/28/2009, 8.16.11.8855

[Version]
DriverVer = 03/16/2010, 8.17.11.9716

Here is a compare with a proper INF modified for the M11x. The missing/critical differences are in red. If you open nvdisp_ih.nvu in a text editor you will also see it only includes the 32bit files for removal from intel.

Glad you guys got it working. I am excited about the potential for the 197 series on Hybrid Graphics. And just to give the working instructions a bit of a bump. And again nice job lksing78.

 

Glad I could help..
I'll leave the rest to you Master Nautis to perfected the formula
Muahahah.....

 

Hahha..well now I am all turned upside down.

Really though good job. I am glad when people take things into their own hands. I have been working on this stuff ever since it came out and you get it working on the M11x so easily. Sometimes the simplest approach is the best.

Hopefully you got bit by the modding bug and will continue to experiment like this.

 

/noob on

So, on the point raised about the INF by Deathbringer, is it necessary to do anything after following lksing78's instructions regarding this?

Also, can I go ahead and delete the Dell folder from the C drive after I've installed the drivers, to save a bit of space?

Thanks

/noob off

 

Since the Dell folder/subfolders only hold installers, they can be deleted.

 

Thanks. I've just been through the install process, and everything seems to be working fine. Had a quick go on Zeno Clash and I'm presently decoding a DVD to MKV with DVD Fab at 35fps, so it looks like CUDA is working well too.

When I restarted on Intel the Nvidia didn't appear in the Device Manager so switching seems to be working.

Thanks again to lksing78 and everyone else who's been working on this.

 

Anyone try the newer drivers and benchmark at all? These dont specifically name the 335 only the 330 and 340 I believe. .44 is notebook and .45 is desktop.

Just curious.

BW,

StevenX

 

that's all i'm curious of - it seems remotely possible, but yet only through user frankentweaking atm.

if it is truly doable through frankentweaking though, the alienware/dell engineers would be silly not to buckle down and figure out an implementation for their existing M11x architecture. that would knock the fence sitters into purchasing now, boosting sales through the fall, and blow the mind of the existing owner base worrying about future driver support - epic one-two marketing money couldn't buy!

 

Really? Why does Nautis already have an early beta working with M11x then? Perhaps you should do a little research before being such a negative nancy!

 

actually no frankentweaking.. I will let you in on how I got them to work but you have to keep it a secret.

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I added the identification strings to the drivers and that is essentially it. Seriously. The actually settings are pointing to the same settings that the Asus Optimus notebooks use. So most likely some of these issues are a result of it just not being configured correctly. So no real frankentweaking other than basically writing "this works on these too."

It is irony at its finest. No one tries it because they are told it doesn't work. I read up on Optimus and say to myself, wait a minute here something seems fishy this should work. I look at the hardware restriction of Optimus. I find people who have those GPUs. I say hey try this. It works. There is a lesson here people.

There is a little more since I could understand the technical aspects of what I was reading and I have been modding forever, but that is the general gist of it.

Here is a comparison of my inf vs the original optimus inf.

If you need me to break it down for you I can or if you need further proof try it yourself.

Do this. Download the standard Optimus drivers. Open the INF Remove &SUBSYS_12B21043 from the following line
%NVIDIA_DEV.0CAF.01% = Section070, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0CAF&SUBSYS_12B21043
so it becomes
%NVIDIA_DEV.0CAF.01% = Section070, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0CAF
save
install.

 

now there's outside the box thinking - nice!

this only goes to prove that maybe if alienware/dell really wanted to, they could make an awesome product announcement - and perhaps wouldn't have to spend a penny on hardware modifications to pull it off!