FINALLY! Successfully installed NEW drivers for SLI Laptop

Hey guys, I don't know if this is posted anywhere else, but after struggling through installing new drivers onto my SLI laptop, I did it!

Here are some quick steps (Though Chaz has a good instructions already):

1. Download desired driver from www.laptopvideo2go.com (go into the forums for the absolute latest)
2. Download .inf file that comes with driver.
3. Uninstall your current driver and reboot.
4. Unzip driver into a folder.
5. Move .inf file into driver folder. This WILL overwrite a file. (Good thing)
6. Install by selecting 'Setup'

Next step is important! as this caused me MANY black screens with no output!!
7. Install 1 card only. When the driver asked you to install and you click 'Continue Anyway' Do this only once!
8. Cancel install for second card. This cancels out install process
9. Reboot
10. GO to Devicde Manager, and select 2nd card that didn't install. (Most likely called 3D Hardware and not recognized as a video card, I can't remember exact name)
11. Update driver and select folder you unpacked in step 4.
12. When the driver installs, click "Continue Anyway"
13. Reboot and done!

The second card process was killing me as every time I would try and install it at the same time as the first I'd get a blank display screen. Windows would work properly but I couldn't see anything. I kept having to uninstall the new drivers in safe mode to use my laptop again. I hope this helps anyone who might be runing into the same issue I did.

3dMark Score of 8727 using 169.04 drivers ^^

 

Im running the drivers AW supplied, with Vista and SLi and am scoring 8360.
So when I have the time to mess, ill do as above

 

which cards are you running? the 7950's or the 8700's?

 

I'm sorry. I'm running 7950 GTX cards in SLi under windows XP.

 

Oh I see.
Im running SLi on Vista, works a treat!

 

Worked for me, hot damn! I'm using 2x 7950 GTX 512mb cards in XP with 169.04 and everything's golden (including getting rid of that annoying frozen mouse cursor glitch that was in Alienware's 94.23's)....169.01 also works, FYI, but 169.04 seems to be better.

Wow, m9750 SLI owners have been searching for months for a viable solution and who would've thought it was as simple as installing it one card at a time. Any particular reason as to why it only works that way???

 

hmm, I'll definitely have to try this =P

 

I don't see the 169.04 driver listed on LaptopVideo2Go (I am using the 163.69 driver released in early September). Is this a Vista driver? and where can it be downloaded?

 

You must look in the Forums...it takes a while for drivers to show up in the "Downloads" section.

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=15828

 

8816 in 3dMark06, SLI-enabled. ^_^

 

nice professor...these drivers are for XP right?

I've been kinda away from the scene for a couple of months, but are there better SLi drivers for Vista yet?

 

Don't know. I believe the one on Alienware's site is from 8/23. I think they're 156.55, or something like that; they're still listed as Beta.

 

On my desktop, it was recommended that I install 1 card at a time when installing graphics cards before enabling SLi. Since we can't simply take out one of our graphics cards very easily, in theory not installing one driver for the second card is similar to not installing it physically. I just thought I'd give it a shot on here and see what happens. Glad it worked ^^.

 

Vista also has 169.04 beta drivers available to it. Check for it in the www.laptopvideo2go.com forums.

 

thanks Grey, I'm still running the Vista SLi beta's from AW site as well as the SLi drivers for XP...so hopefully these new one's will be an improvement

 

*bump*

Has anyone else tried this? So far, only me and Professor Spankit have done this successfully and I'd like to see if it works on other systems. What are your specs, operating system, etc.

Thanks!

 

There are several new Vista drivers out on the LaptopVideo2go site that all work with SLI. The 163.69 driver works well. The 163.75 drover works even better (somewhat higher 3DMark06 scores) and the 169.04 also works well and is an October release. Be sure to download the modded INF file with the driver.

Do not use AW drivers-they have problems with certain games.

 

when i play on external monitor
it doesnt scale my screen

 

dend, I ran into the same problem...it really drove me nuts!

I tried different drivers from Laptop2go and the problem was still there...

anyone else figure out how to fix this very annoying problem?

 

I have tried this method but no luck for me in Vista. The problem I have is when I remove the old drivers im left with VGA adapter along with a 3D adapter, so no probs here.

But I then select the first card and update the driver as stated in this post, and again no problems, reboot and everything is good. So good infact that now in device manager both 7950gtx's are showing.

Basically when I install the driver for the first card it automatically without asking me installs both cards??? Go figure.

Then to top it all off in Non SLI everything plays and works really well. Turn on SLI and any game I play or open just flickers. Have tried every driver from 156.55 up to 169.04.

7950GTX SLI
T7600
1920x1200 WUXGA
320GB X 2

 

Ok guys sry to be a pain here but I just downloaded the 169.04 drivers. But I find the instructions at the top of the thread a little unclear. Can anyone give me a step by step setup so I don't pork this up? would be much appriciated! (I kno I know, this laptop is probably to powerful for me to have in the first place...lol!)

 

1. Download the driver.
2. Unpack it (if not already).
3. Obtain the modified .INF file from here: http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=15828

(assuming you're using XP 32-bit...search the forums for the other releases - you should also just go with 169.09, they're much better)

4. Copy the .INF file into the folder where you unpacked the 169.04 drivers (replace the existing file).
5. Go to Add/Remove programs and uninstall the current nVidia driver from there.
6. Reboot.
7. Open the folder with the 169.04 driver and run the Setup.exe.
8. You'll encounter the first warning box with two options - Continue, or Stop. Click continue.
9. After a minute or so, you'll encounter the SECOND WARNING BOX....CLICK "STOP INSTALLATION."
10. Reboot immediately.
11. Navigate to your Device Manager and click on Display Adapters. One will be correctly installed, but the other just says 3D Device or something...right click on it and select Update Driverl:

a) Don't connect to the internet to install (last option).
b) Choose specific location for the driver (advanced).
c) Browse to the folder with the 169.04 again and click Next.
d) If should find the folder w/ the drivers and start installing. Another warning box will open, click CONTINUE.

12. Reboot again.
13 Open the nVidia control panel, turn SLI on, configure your settings however you want.
14. FINALLY enjoy proper and full gaming support, and give the finger to Alienware's crappy, ancient drivers.

 

Hello

I thought I would try again with your setup plan. Problem I have is the first box comes up and I select continue. Then after that no other box comes up. The driver installation carries on then the system reboots and voila, I have two 7950gtx's in device manager. SLI is an option in the control panel just as it always is but if I enable it whenever I run a game the screen is flickering constanty. Turn of SLI and it stops.

I did initially think the daughter GPU may be on its way out but if I install the old AW ones 155, games wil then run in SLI perfectly, but obviously I then cant play Bioshock, Crysis, Timeshift etc etc. Any Ideas!!!!!

 

Are you running Vista??? If so, then can't help you much...Vista's SLI Support needs some serious work, and all new drivers cause problems.

 

I tried your install procedure with the 169.04 on Vista and the install program and only one warning box comes up. After it finishes and reboots, both drivers are installed.
The device manager shows that both drivers are 169.04 and working correctly. I can run with SLI enabled on Vista with no problems thoough although I don't see any improvement in game performance-just a highter 3dMark06 score.

The flickering problem is probably not Vista's fault.

 

To paraphrase: Vista's EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING support needs some serious work, and all new/old/in between drivers cause problems.

(Yes, I detest/hate/abhor/despise Microsoft.

 

Works like a champ. Downloading Crysis demo right now...finger given to AW driver support!

 

So basically this method doesn't work at all with vista? Is there any other method? I did try it but I'm getting the same problems that other people are. When i unistall the drivers and reboot, they only appear to be removed from one card, (the other one still claims to be working properly), the cards still show up as 7950 GTXs instead of un-named display drivers, and I only get one dialog box when installing the drivers. Has anyone using Vista managed to get good results with SLI? I'm a bit annoyed that after having this notebook for 2 months I still can't use one of the major features I paid extra for. AW's SLI drivers were terrible. I don't know if I would be able to put Crysis on High at DX9 with this laptop but it's really stuttering at times on Medium, which doesn't really seem right to me.

 

In hindsight I would have ordered my 9750 with just one 7950gtx card but I trusted that AW would come out with a Vista compatible SLI driver within a month of my order as they claimed. I still think that the Vista SP1 will likely fix the SLI issues. Just have to be patient.

 

Finding drivers that actually WORK with SLI notebooks has to be the #1 worst thing. So many of them will let you enable SLI but it doesn't actually work. You run the tests and your scores show the same as if you only had one card enabled. I can count on one hand how many drivers that I've found that are stable and work with SLI. (Even wierder is that the chipset used in some laptops to enable SLI doesn't work on other laptops...i.e. the SLI alienware driver...94.23? won't work on a D901C with SLI) Very confusing and fustrating. Thank you for this find!

 

Just an update but I recently tried the 169.09 drivers.....screen went blank and had to safeboot to get old drivers back. The joy of trying out new drivers....beware the 169.09 ones for XP!!

 

I had the same problem happen on my m9750 at first. Got a black screen upon installation. Once I rebooted, the system came up with the 169.09 just fine.

 

Lol, I've tried out so many drivers that sometimes it will work after going black and rebooting sometimes it will stay black after rebooting. With those 169.09 ones it went black again after rebooting. I'm going to give the 169.04 ones a shot for XP. Wish me luck. I wish Nvidia ODM's/OEM's someone would give a rats arse and give use driver updates!!

 

I know, right? I keep hearing about how laptop sales are overtaking desktops, people want performance on the go...

Yet despite the increase in sales, the driver support still continues to be questionable. I hope the 8800m GTX can help change things, but it's ridiculous. Everytime I want to update my laptop video drivers I feel like MacGuyver trying to string together binary code with a roll of ducttape, a paperclip and a funyon. Will it work? WHO KNOWS!

 

I successfully installed the 169.09 drivers on a Toshiba SLi3 notebook with dual 8600M-GTs. It has Vista Ultimate x86.

 

I retract my earlier statement. I tried this method and it worked. I now have 169.09 working with no problems so far in SLI in XP. The video went out after installing it to the 2nd card but after a reboot it came up and is working now. Thank you very much Chaz and Grey728.

 

Thanx a ton!!
this method worked for me (driver version 169.04)
Alienware m9750
dual 7950 gtx
2.0 ghz cpu
4gb ram
windows XP pro
dual 200gig 7200rpm HDDs

 

I'm getting really frustrated now - ever since I tried this method on my Vista notebook, I've been getting black flickering lines when I activate SLi - but the thing is, the frame rates in some games have improved, but it's unplayable with the screen like this - I just installed new drivers, the 169.12 ones, and both video cards are saying they have them installed - can anyone offer any advice on how to fix this? Thanks.

 

jpm2007, I'd try uninstalling the nvidia driver, reboot so that you only have standard VGA drivers and Ensure BOTH cards state standard VGA (or unknown display) only before trying to install new drivers. You may need to manually uninstall the second video cards driver if it still says 7950 GTX instead of standard VGA or something.

I wish I had Vista to test out and give better guidance =( Chaz, did you do anything special to get your drivers installed on your Toshiba Sli notebook?

 

That's the thing - I went into the device manager and uninstalled the drivers from there, but upon reboot both cards were still showing up as 7950 GTX's, although one was described as not working properly. Upon installation of the new drivers, I get the flickering screen in SLI. How would I go about uninstalling laptopvideo2go drivers other than the device manager menu, if such a thing is possible?

 

Hi!

Received my m9750 today (ordered Nov 12th, shipped Nov 21st from UK to Finland), and upon establishing internet connection, did the driver update successfully to 169.09.

I did not experience screen going to black (except just for about one second) when installing the second card. All in all, procedure worked just fine. Here are the specs of my m9750:
- core duo [email protected]
- 2 GB
- 2 x 7950 GTX
- Win XP
- 2 x 200 GB/7200 rpm RAID-1
- Blu-ray drive

Have not tested any games yet; I have a strange and persistent fatal error message upon starting Windows that did not disappear when I updated the drivers (although I hoped it would). This error appeared already at the first start-up from the box:

Fatal Error
We are very sorry, but an internal error occurred.
Please re-install the product to fix the problem.
Error code: 1 / -3 / 9000
See Doc #5305
[OK]

No further info was available, nor any indication what product should be re-installed. I emailed AW Tech support, but until they reply, any ideas are appreciated. So far the fatal error doesn't appear too dangerous; when I click OK everything (well, what little I have installed) works fine.

With regards,
Pekka

 

Celevue - Let me see if I understand correctly:

You were getting this error prior to updating drivers, right? Was anything else updated / changed, or was this error occurring straight out of the box?

If the error was occurring straight out of the AW shipping box, I'd put money on the fact that something is not seated properly inside the machine - possibly from shipping.

Does device manager show both video cards? If so, can you enable SLI? If you can, then it's most likely not the video cards, but another device.

I don;t think there will be much you can do without tech support on this one. I wouldn't dig in too deeply until you hear from them.

 

Hi Sambun - thanks for the thoughts... I actually stumbled upon the culprit. I got the same fatal error when trying to start the included Nero software. I uninstalled and reinstalled it, and the fatal error disappeared.

 

wow...seems like alienware builds everyones system within a week except mine been a week since i placed the order and its still stuck at phase 4

 

Mine's also been delayed. Ordered on the 19th, told me it would ship on the 26th. Called them today, told me it wouldn't be shipping until the 30th now.

 

Sorry to hear about your delays; I guess I got lucky when I ordered already a week before the big announcement on the 19th. At that time no component was shown to cause a delay in the configurator, and I was told that the system would ship on the 20th - while it actually did ship on the 21st. My cheap DHL option only took until this Monday for the actual delivery.

Hope you get your systems soon - I'm still busy putting all the software in. I have some problems with the blu-ray drive; can't get movie discs to play... but I'm working on it (and hopefully, so is AW tech support). By the way, they replied within three hours to my enquiry about the fatal error, by the way, so quite fast considering that they only promise to reply within 72 hours.

 

Are there same drivers on other web sites? with modded ini

 

Is there another download site? laptop video 2 go is down.:

http://sobek.lunarservers.com/suspended.page/?showtopic=15828

 

The site looks down permanently while the Laptopvideo2go people look for another server provider. Check here for the latest .infs and I believe you can download the driver of your choice form nvidia.

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=52555

 

If you play crysis in window mode it will not flincker