M11xR3/M14x/M17xR3/M18x - Intel WiDi discussion thread

There seems to be a lot of confusion about these two technologies, so i figured i write the differences between the two.

WiDi is Intel`s solution to transfer data from the laptop to a TV.
With this technology you use the IGP of either i3, i5 or i7 CPUs (those with an IGP) to display things on the TV. And to actually transfer the data from your laptop to the reciever, you will need a Wireless card. Wireless-N 1000, Intel Advanced 6200/6230, Intel Ultimate-N 6300 is cards that is able to transfer the data. You will also need a software which i don`t know the name of to run it all from your laptop. And at last you will need a reciever by the TV. The only manufaturer i know of that makes these are Netgear. You have two different types. 1: Push2TV which can recieve and output up to 720p. 2. Push2TV HD which can recieve and output up to 1080p.
i3, i5 and i7 1st gen can only manage to get up to 720p on the TV. i3, i5 and i7 2nd gen up to 1080p.
According to Intel all laptops that are compatible with this technology have this marked on them



And here is a list of laptops that is compatible. ptv_supportedlaptops_usa No alienware is on this list for some reason. Probably because they are not bundled with the software. M17x R3 have all the requirements filled. NB: You cannot use the M17X R3 versions with 120 Hz (3D) screen with WiDi because the IGP is disabled and WiDi relays on the IGP to display things on the TV.

WiDi 1.0 supported streaming up to 720p and you had to watch the same on the laptop screen as you did with the TV. No multitasking available.
WiDi 2.0 supports up to 1080p and you can stream video/music etc to the TV while at the same time do whatever you want with the laptop.

WiHD Discussion thread is here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...18x-wireless-hd-sibeam-discussion-thread.html
The difference between WiDi and WiHD is that WiDi use the Intel wireless cards to transmit the data from the laptop to the TV, while WIHD use a transmitter to transfer the data.

 

Please only WiDi related posts here...

WiDi and WirelessHD are different and we have a dedicated WirelessHD thread here -
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...18x-wireless-hd-sibeam-discussion-thread.html

Thanks.

 

From the WirelessHD thread -

 

Hey everyone, I know there was a widi thread, and I posted in that but I think it isn't getting answered because everyone has read that thread and it's just discussion of the technologies. Basically I get it close to connecting. The adapter says connected, and then the Widi software says unable to send desktop to remote device. Haven't been able to figure another way to get it to work. I've tried reinstalling the widi software, the wireless software, and I can't do anything about the graphics driver. I haven't called dell since they are as likely to tell me the solution is on Mars as they are to give me a correct answer so I'm asking if anyone in the community has had any success, or perhaps has used it on a different laptop.

Thanks!

 

Yes, I have tried and it works, I confirmed even on other threads that it works at a quite good distance (at about 10 m from the TV to Laptop and the signal strength was still 100%).

I had the same issue as you had, but this is nothing to do with your system and is the software you are using. You must download the actual driver from the manufacturer of your receiver, not from Intel’s website, that will not work; it will always give you an error message.

Go to the website of your receiver brand and download the latest software. Once installed you will see immediate connection without fail (it will ask you to enter on your computer screen the password you are seeing on the TV).

Hope you will succeed. It is nice to watch movies and even live TV directly from your laptop, wireless to your TV.

 

So far no luck. I did go get the netgear drivers (PTV2000) and now I still get the same thing. One thing I don't understand is that if I'm watching the my wifi display it shows my device as allowed, then when it's connecting displays an IP address, and when it fails it shows up as blocked. I wonder if this has something to do with it.

Thanks,
-Rick

 

Has anyone here tested out Intel's WiDi on the new Alienwares??

I'm interested in it since I want it to mainly movies (720P/1080P) to my TV.

But I wanna know how it performs?

- Is there any lag?
- Does it look the same as if it were connected via HDMI?
- I have WiDi 2.0 on my M14x so would a 1080P stream clearly with a strong wireless connection?

I know games won't run well on it but I have my external monitor for that.

Any feedback would be appreciated!

Thank You!

 

I am still trying to get it to work with almost no luck. However it seems that juliant has been able to so maybe it is just my ptv box. At this point I'm almost ready to return it. I may give netgear a call today or tomorrow.

 

Well i have both the Push2tv1000 and the Push2tv2000. It was a royal pita to get working but i finally got it working. The issue is the display drivers. The ati drivers include a intel driver for the graphics switching. The provider of the intel drivers is listed as ati. When i was doing the multitude of driver uninstalls and re-installs to get it working i figured out that when the using the intel reference drivers without the ati drivers loaded at all it worked 100% of the time every time. As soon as i managed to get the ati drivers loaded that were needed for switching it would not work.

The intel reference drivers and ati drivers hated each other and would not work together (mutually exclusive) so the key was to try to get the ati drivers that included the intel reference drivers to work now unfortunately i have no explanation or process but the ati drivers started working. I did so many install uninstalls ghosting and re-imaging i cant be sure how but one it started working it stayed working even after the update to the 10.4 drivers.

 

this sound more like a PITA than just connecting HDMI directly.

In paper this all sounds amazing and should be easy to use for even a person with a little knowledge of technology, but to go through all this just to try and get to connect wirelessly to a TV, who is really going to waste their time?

 

It seems to me Intel only designed it specifically to work with the Intel IGP only. These hybrid switching systems throw WIDI for a loop. What i observed was it was, as you call it, dead simple when the only video card i had installed was the Intel igp. Intel most likely designed it to come preinstalled by oems on IGP enabled notebooks with no discrete video what so ever. It only goes all south when you try to shoehorn in a IGP with switchable graphics although it may just be alienwares implementation. Hell it may only be a issue with ati gpus and graphics switching for all i know.

I think intel's solution when it works is quite amazing considering if you look at the technical hurdles it over comes. A. Using a IGP gpu to transcode video on the fly. B using the built in wireless to stream to a receiver box over a secured PAN connection. C. Allowing simultaneous streaming of video through the wifi adapter while still able to use the wifi for internet connection. D Streaming at 1080p with or with out extended desktop. (push2tv2000 required). E. Streaming through walls (Sibeam can't)

Yes there is lag but its not like the intel igp is a graphics power house, so you cant run crysis wirelessly so what? It plays movies great, it works for presentations, pictures, basically everything non 3d. Does it have limitations, Yes, Can it be tricky to setup with switchable graphics, also yes.
Is it worth the price? that depends if it meets you needs while still living with its limitations. It works for me, considering i never even heard of it until after i got my M17xr3 since i had ordered it with the intel wifi it was a relatively cheap upgrade for me (or at least if i figured out the push2tv2000 was actually available i would not have bought the 1000 first.)

 

I travel alot for work so i use a hdmi cable when hotels have LCD tv's, but 80% don't have them. the push2tv adapters allow me to output Legacy A/V for old school crt tvs that hotels still use. I could use the laptop screen yes but if the tv is decent sized i prefer a larger screen for viewing.

 

Hopefully there will be a driver update, for the amd/intel drivers, I wonder if the driver included with the amd package is just old? and that is the problem? I would love to get this working, but must decide soon if I am keeping or returning it.

 

@exocet956

very well explained and its just what I needed to hear.

thanks a ton for the feedback.

I think ima go buy a P2TV adapter sometime this week.

 

What I did to make M17X R3 work on the Push2TV 1000 (no additional cards required for 720p):

1. Switched to IGP graphic display
2. Installed Intel® PROSet/Wireless Basic http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?lang=eng&DwnldID=18240
3. Downloaded the software for Push2TV 1000 and installed it from their website (please do not download Intel Wireless Software from Intel as it does not work; if you installed it, please remove it and download the one from netgear.com) PTV1000
4. Turned the receiver on and also connected to the TV.
5. Started the Intel Wireless Display
6. The receiver will be listed. Press connect and it will connect to the receiver. For the first time it will show you a password on the TV screen. You have to enter that password from your system.
7. Voila! You are now connected and also I confirm that I can play music and watch video.

If anyone has a issue, it may be because your firewall it may block the connection (Check in the list of your firewall for WiDiApp and make sure the boxes in the right side of your connection are tick marked).

 

Best buy is the only place i found has the Push2Tv2000 in stock. Costs the same as the 1000 @ 99.99. I dont see any reason to buy the 1000 as the 2000 is far superior. I only wish i found in stock before i bought my 1000.

 

After trying a bunch of different drivers and ways to get the WiDi to work with the Netgear device, I'm stumped.

I put the latest drivers on the R3. Went to the Netgear site and loaded the critical update and the WiDi driver from the Netgear site. I connect and get past the security code. It keeps stopping saying it was "unable to push the desktop to the adapter" or something like that.

Anyone actually get the WiDi to work with the Netgear device? Which drivers did you load?

 

Maybe you could try to ask/see here?
PTV1000/PTV2000 Forum - NETGEAR Forums

 

I still cannot get my WiDi to work either. I've used the Critical Update on the Netgear site, loaded new Wifi drivers, and the new WiDi update and I still get this message about Unable to send desktop to device. Did you find a way to get it working yet?

 

Could the lag between the laptop and the P2T device be in the wireless card?

The M14x comes with option for the Intel 6205 Wireless card which has 2 antennas.

But what if I were to buy the Intel 6300 Wifi card which supports 3 antennas and just add the 3rd antenna myself in the laptop.

I wonder how much the difference would be.

 

The lag you are seeing is most likely because the processor is encoding the image to send to the receiver, in WirelessHD(sibeam) there is a dedicated card to do this and so there is little to no lag. However I hear the lag with tis new gen of procesors is much less then last gen. Maybe ivy bridge will reduce it more?

 

Hey guys. just asking if anyone uses WiDi 2.0 wit hthe new net gear reciver. Does it fix the lag? and will it display 1080p

 

I can't get it to work, I have the receiver and have been trying for about two weeks to get it to work. I think it is a problem with the intel drivers that dell provides

 

Mine works just fine. I have the wireless 6300 and downloaded the driver and critical updates from from netgear website, as advised earlier. I do not have any widi HD installed in my system and it works just fine from the first day I have installed it. Only problem is that it changes the resolution to 900P and it reverts back to the normal resolution 1080P once disconnected.

I reconfirm that I can play movies, I've even watched CNN online through the wireless Push2TV 1000 and never had a problem.

Maybe ir0nman1, your receiver has some problem, if you have a way to try it out somewhere else, it will be much easy for you to find the bug...

 

I wonder if it is perhaps because you are using the ptv1000 and I am trying to use the ptv2000? that is the only difference that I can tell from our setups(relevant drivers etc) If I can I will try and exchange the device this week to see if it is the problem, though I don't know how long bb will exchange for it's been almost two weeks already.

 

There is no reason the 2000 should not work. When i managed to get my 1000 working i went to best buy brought home the 2000 and it worked with the exact same driver setup as the 1000. I changed nothing. Now i think my main difficulties in getting it working has been a. A fresh install (non Dell windows install) b. using manufacture reference drivers (display) c. Intel Proset (latest version using the intel enterprise wireless configuration tool not the Windows 7 built in wireless connection tool) D. The Reference Intel WiDi App.

I used no OEM drivers for any of the components. I did manage to get it working yes but it took alot of trial and error. One i found the correct combination of voodoo magic that seemed to work i took a ghost image of the drive to make sure if i ever broke it i could roll back to a known good working state. You might have a easier go of it if you use the OEM display drivers from dell. What i found was the display drivers had a direct correlation to whether you got the "cannot send display error". All i can say at this point is it has to have the intel driver it want's. You may run into like i did where getting the switching graphics portion of the setup does not want to work.

all i can say is keep at it, it is possible to do it may be tricky to get working but if you have a backup solution i highly advise you to backup your machine once you do. Since it seems to be display driver related the next time you attempt a display driver upgrade it may very well break again.

 

I have both. There is still lag but it seems to be less that the pusht2tv1000.

 

I think I am going to exchange the adapter tomorrow, I have the latest wifi drivers, widi app from netgear (also tried the latest intel). I have reinstalled my ati drives from dell, but it still doesn't connect. I also notice that after every failed attempt the intel mywifi application has blocked my device. I can renable it and begin the connection it gets an ip and then it goes back to blocked status. (I've tried disabling firewall/AV) Thanks for all the help guys, much appreciated.

 

I have the p2tv1000 and am having the same problems as ir0nman1. After a few days playing around with drivers, I was unable to get it working. I was going to wait a month or two and see if drivers were updated that would make it magically just work. I did get the closest when I went with all the new Intel drivers for WiDi and the Wifi. It started to update the firmware and then crashed and gave the dreaded cannot send display error. I've also been thinking to try it on newer tv's as mine are a couple of years old. I can usually get things to work in this amount of time and I'm pretty frustrated.

ir0nman1, did you update to the 11.5 Catalyst Drivers? I just did yesterday but haven't tried to use the WiDi with them yet. I'm hoping maybe this will fix it.

 

I haven't tried the 11.5 drivers, I did exchange the receiver that didn't help. I can't help but think now that it is becuase the mywifi program keeps showing my device reverting to the blocked state that is causing this. Does that happen to you sdcalbchguy?

 

Yes, after it fails, it does turn to that blocked state. I'm thinking that it has more to do with the Intel HD drivers since we can't update those. I was hoping that 11.5 would update them but it still isn't working.

 

Hi guys, I'm new here. I'm having the same problem as ironman1 and sdcalbchguy. Have either of you two figured out the problem yet? Any help would be appriciated. Thanks in advance.

 

What is the process to get Intel's WiDi working with the 6300 wireless card and dual 6970's?

Looking for a step by step. I think I have to buy a Push2TV HD set for 1080p and that I have to switch to the IGP as well as install the Push2TV software. I don't need it for games just movies and to stream my iTunes collection to my TV.

I get my M18x in a couple of days.

 

Hey, cool point, is the M18x WiDi capable? It's run by the CPU/HD3000 isn't it?

 

Intel's WiDi only works with the HD3000 running the show. That limitation is what drove AW to offer the Wireless HD system option which can use the discrete GPU to display on a remote display.

 

On the M18x with a boot up into the HD3000 it's still not considered running the show? It does make sense on why the WirelessHD is offered then I guess.

 

My understanding is that you can switch to the IGPU. People have talked about doing it just not in conjuction with wanting to enable WiDi.

 

No one knows?

Also what about using Asus WiCast or BriteView Hdelight?

 

I'm still waiting on my m14x to arrive so I was reading this to see if WiDi works on it but it seems everyone is as confused as I am...

It looks like it should be possible; Check here for Intel's 'System Requirements'. Note that it also lists the installation of 'Intel® My WiFi Technology (Intel® MWT) and Intel Wireless Display' as being prerequisites.

I'm just spit-balling here as I don't have mine yet but have people tried disabling Optimus (NV cards) and/or the discrete card itself? The NV GPU has hardware-accelerated video decoding built into it so the system may be automatically trying to switch to it, messing up the WiDi link.

 

I bit the bullet and ordered the HD Wireless. I'm not sure that I will really use it, but was concerned the the Killer Wireless did not have WiDi like the Intel.

 

Folks,
Dell Alienware models M11x and M14x are the only ones that support Intel WiDi. Models that support Intel WiDi should have the necessary drivers and Intel WiDi application software already installed. From a quick reading of the Dell website, the M17x and M18x models are missing the Intel HD Graphics HW requirement so it would not possible to "retro-fit" these models for Intel WiDi.

Garry Weil
Intel Corp.
Intel WiDi Guru

 

Thanks for the info Garry.

 

Hey guys,
Would anyone out there know if the m14x with the Killer Wireless Upgrade support Widi?
I really appreciate your time.
Mark

 

I am keen to find the answer to this question

 

Anyone tried this adapter yet? Belkin - ScreenCast TV Adapter for Intel® Wireless Display - F7D4501

 

I just found out, my Vaio SA (and SC before it) works with WiDi and hard switchable AMD GPU. Though need to be on Intel IGP to make it work.

[note, that quote is asking about Killer NIC and WiDI, for context]
No. Not unless if Intel allows Atheros (which is part of Qualcomm) to lic WiDi tech.

 

ok so i am still a little unclear on this, i have the alienware m11x r3 and the killer wireless n card. is there any way i can use the bigfoot wireless n card and the intel integrated graphics chip to with the netgear push2tv adapter?

 

My experience has been different. I have an M17xR3 with the Intel Ultimate-N 6300 card and that system is listed on Netgear's site as compatible with WiDi and the Push2TV units.

I think the key here is that you have to be using Optimus graphics, which allows you to use the Intel graphics with WiDi. Any M17xR3's with Nvidia 3D will not work with WiDi since they do not use the onboard Intel graphics chip at all. I'm not sure about AMD switchable graphics as I am unfamiliar with that technology.

A few weeks ago I purchased the PTV2000 and had it set up and running flawlessly in less than 30 minutes. I did have to download the drivers with the WiDi app from Intel, but that was my only hiccup. I even installed the gadget that pushes apps to my TV as if it were a second monitor, leaving my desktop free to work with other applications if I so wish.

There is a definite delay between what is on my screen and the same thing on the TV, but sound and picture are in sync on the TV, so I have no complaints.

I have watched Blu-ray movies as well as other feature-length material on the Push2TV with no problems other than a loss of connection when I close my laptop lid.

It was simple to push a firmware update to the PTV2000 as well, and I've seen no detrimental effects from that update either.

I would certainly recommend this technology to any M17xR3 owners out there with the right hardware. It's been very nice to watch downloaded material on my TV rather than my laptop. My M17xR3 supports WiDi quite well.

 

@roykirk - I really appreciate your quick review of the widi experience. Your opinion was honest and detailed enough to finally give me the full picture of what I would be getting if I buy the netgear adapter. +1 rep for you

 

Hey guys, I can confirm that it also works on the m17x r3 with the AMD 6970M, I upgraded to the m18x drivers for the 6970 and installed all the latest programs from netgear (WiDi, wireless etc) And it's all working great!

-Ir0nman1