Modded 197.16 Hybrid Graphics Driver for UL30/50/80VT

Great job Nautis, your last modded driver working find on my asus UL30VT,

Thanks

keeepc.

 

mine works the same as before, nvidia doesn't turn off, no brightness control under intergrated and p4g button doesnt work

 

weps windows updated my intel driver and broke it... :O

 

Is there a yellow exclamation point on the Nvidia device under Device Manager when switched to power saving mode (intel)? does it appear like normal? or how does that appear?

 

i found the comented section i turned on everything ecept dynamicslienabled 0


it had the down arrow on it not the yield sign

 

still working as before. with the first 4 in the commented section turned on

 

You uncommented those lines reinstalled, resigned the drivers, and rebooted?

Comparing a UL80VT registry export to my own and a couple other working Hybrid Graphics configurations I have noticed there is a "CoprocPowerState" set to "206e4f20" that it adds itself.

It would look like this in the INF

Code:

HKR,,CoprocPowerState,%REG_DWORD%,206e4f20

I forgot to add it to the commented out section of the INF.


EDIT:
We are pretty much at the trial and error stage of this thing. There are no officially released Hybrid Graphics drivers above the 197 series that I know of. The latest official Hybrid Graphics driver is 197.72 for the Alienware M11x, and the M11x has issues powering down the Nvidia GPU. Nvidia seems to have changed up things slightly in the 256 and up and may be trying merge settings a bit more. I have noticed more and more of the CoProc settings appearing on technologies other than Optimus (see enablecoprocpowercontrol above) and assume that CoProc is becoming a universal setting for Multiple GPUs (Multiple CoProcessors).

 

can i just add the reg entry or do i need to reinstall?

 

Sorry r0b0t I had an appointment. If you follow those entries and are comfortable enough editing the registry absolutely. It still requires a reboot after setting the setting in the registry but it makes for a much easier process. I am going to poke around some more and see if there are any other registry settings that jump out. Things like DsmUseInteger, EnableGoldOnHybrid, & DeepIdleTimer have been the key to getting switching working properly on various other Hybrid Graphics notebooks.

 

i'll try it when i get home, I should have brought the laptop to work. It is so dead I could have worked on it...

 

should i turn on enabledynamicsli 0?

was there anything else to try other than those 5 comented reg keys?

 

ok i tried all the comented settings on including the new one , doing it via install instead of regedit and brightness still doesnt work in intel mod, nvidia doesnt turn off and the switch button doesnt work...

i dont think i am doing anything wrong

 

No you are not doing anything wrong, it is just how the process works.

Try deleting/disabling DSMUseInteger.

The Intel side can most likely be fixed by dropping back to 1994. If you want to try that download the 1994 files and replace the 2020 files in the driver package with them, reinstall, sign, reboot.

 

Will this drivers enable CUDA for software like this? WPA password recovery and audit tool. GPU accelerated.

 

The drivers will enable CUDA, so your application will probably work. I've got CUDA working with CoreAVC, which wasn't possible with the original drivers.

 

i tried the UL series drivers and couldn't get the NV to power down correctly.
blahhh

 

This is driving me nuts, now some times, if the display turns off from being idle... it doesn't' wake up, and if you move the mouse, it just sits, screen dark, about a minute later it hardboots

 

hmm, im using the 197.12 drivers, and now they battery icon doesnt even show up after hibernate, and i cant enable the icon in show taskbar icons

 

disabled DSMUseInteger
pasted 1994 files

same story. button doesnt work, intel won't dim nvidia still in device manager.

 

nautis can you post the latest stable 256 drivers?all im seeing is alpha/beta testers

 

Umm. I believe that is exactly what Nautis is trying to create. (Unless you mean the drivers from Nvidia? But those can be downloaded from their webpage, but [probably] cannot be installed on ULx0VTs)

 

oh, yeah i know, but usually hes got a package of stable drivers that he has finished.

 

This would be great, as I too would like to help in testing, but at the moment I'm using the laptop for working and right now I'm not going to be running the laptop in test-mode. Perhaps I can do that in September, but not quite sure. I'm currently running using 197.16 with NVidia always on, and even so these drivers are better than the originals. Thanks again.

 

yeah the performance of the 258's are great. an i could live with most of hte problems, even though i would like switching to work. The one problem i really dont like is that if the monitor turns off for idle, some times it wont turn back on and u have to hardboot.

 

I got nvidia powering down, but still no brightness control under intel and the switch button does nothing

 

hi,
I would like to express my appreciation to you for your work. Especially for your effort, nautis.

Found out about this all yesterday because I wanted to update my nVidia drivers and it just don't work... I've got an ASUS UL80VT and it seems the modded drivers don't work without some flaws but if you need anything tested let me know.

 

Could you explain what you did to get nvidia power down?

 

There is this new VGA Patch driver at the Asus support-website... Very small and something with removing the card or the driver. Anyone any idea about this?

 

i still have the problem of it downclocking occasionally, i wonder what thats all about

 

Downclocking as in getting stuck with clocks of 405/810/405? That's safe mode for the gpu. Happens if you oc the gpu and it runs into an error that crashes display drivers.

Can be fixed by powering down nvidia gpu and then powering it up again or by restart.

But how did you get the nvidia gpu to power down correctly?

 

I turned on everything Nautis added for UL50, I added this: (per his instructions)

HKR,,CoprocPowerState,%REG_DWORD%,206e4f20

And took out DSMuseinterger.

I am also working with a clean windows install. I also recently installed C++ 2005, 2010 redistribute but IDK if htat has anything to do with it.

 

Also, the first time i switched to intel graphics, it gave me the "detected new hardware" icon.. before that there was no intel in the device manage

then I think, once i switched back to nvidia, intel stayed, i think..

 

I would be surprised if it all has to be on in order for it to work. I added those lines so it would be easy for you guys to remove the ; and test each setting. Chances are it is one or a combination of those settings which will make it all work. I have updated an INF with that CoprocPowerState line added and DSMUseInterger disabled that you can download here.

If you open that INF you will find:

Code:

;Alternative Settings to try for UL30VT/UL50VT/UL80VT (just remove the ; the lines you want to test below)
;
HKR,,CoprocPowerState,%REG_DWORD%,206e4f20
HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid",DeepIdleTimer,%REG_DWORD%,0x78
;HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid",DeepIdleTimer,%REG_DWORD%,0
;HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid",DsmUseInteger,%REG_DWORD%,1
;HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid",StartupMethod,%REG_DWORD%,5
;HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid",SkipIntelUmdCapella,%REG_DWORD%,1
;HKLM,"System\CurrentControlSet\Services\nvlddmkm",EnableGoldOnHybrid,%REG_DWORD%,1
;HKLM,"System\CurrentControlSet\Services\nvlddmkm",EnableCoProc,%REG_DWORD%,1
;HKR,,EnableCoprocPowerControl,%REG_DWORD%,4
;HKR,,RMDynamicSLIAllowed,%REG_DWORD%,0

The lines with ; in front of them are disabled. Without the ; in front like CoprocPowerState are enabled. If you remove the ; in front of a setting reinstall the driver and reboot the drivers will be using that new setting.

You can also add or change these settings easily yourself by going to the registry location that it mentions. So for example HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid. The settings without a location are put in the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} (the one that is for Display Adapters) and under 0000 or 0001 (you can identify which GPU is 0000 and 0001 by looking at "Device Description". If you edit the setting using regedit you will still need to reboot after making each change.

Goodluck. And as always use at your own risk, we are still testing here.

 

Does the following note from the Nvidia's 258.96_Win7_WinVista_Desktop_Release_Notes.pdf means that the possibility to use any newer Nvidia drivers for our modded sets (my last successfuly tested on the UL50Vt was the one updated with files from the 257.21) is over?

"...The following tables list the NVIDIA notebook products supported by the Release 256 driver, version 258.96:
Note:
Hybrid Power technology with Intel chipsets is not supported by this
release. Sony VAIO notebooks are not supported at this time (please contact
Sony for driver support)..."

 

no i'm fairly sure you'll find the same thing in the current driver's we're trying to get to work... thats why it's not working right yet

 

No, it just means that they will not do it officially, the capability is still there. Nvidia has never supported our Hybrid Graphics notebooks. This is one of my biggest issues with Hybrid Graphics honestly.

Hybrid Graphics is essentially a shared technology that requires three companies to work together (heh). A OEM like Asus gets a driver with template file from Nvidia, they also get a driver from Intel. It is up to Asus to build the driver package (much the same way I do) test and release it. So really the only "official" releases and support you will ever get is from Asus. Nvidia can not release Intel drivers, Intel can not release Nvidia drivers. The only company that can release these drivers sets is the OEM and as we have seen in the case of Asus they are pretty much relying on us to update it.

 

Ok, thanks for explanation.

Meanwhile I had to get back to the original Asus driver. I had several issues with my modded set (problematic HDMI audio, cannot switch Nvidia and Intel graphics back and forth, no screen brightness hotkeys on Intel, etc.), but the one I cannot live with is that sometime my system stops switching the graphics at all (only complete driver uninstall/install helps...).

 

probably because you have an app blocking the switch.

 

Nautis.. could you give me a little more info on the commented out sections? which items should be / are mutually exclusive? like if you have one on, you shouldnt have the other?

 

I don't think any are specifically mutually exclusive in that group, there are some that I have seen grouped in other Hybrid Graphics INFs though.

I suggest trying the following group:

HKLM,"Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid",DeepIdleTimer,%REG_DWORD%,0x78
HKLM,"System\CurrentControlSet\Services\nvlddmkm",EnableCoProc,%REG_DWORD%,1
HKLM,"System\CurrentControlSet\Services\nvlddmkm",EnableGoldOnHybrid,%REG_DWORD%,1
HKR,,CoprocPowerState,%REG_DWORD%,206e4f20

Note: DeepIdleTimer 0x78 may not be in that INF, it may be a setting you have to add (or just put x78 after the existing one set to 0.) The 0x78 setting is in the original INF for the UL3/5/80VT series.

-
EDIT: Oh... HKR,,EnableCoprocPowerControl,%REG_DWORD%,0 is another setting I have seen.

Since I do not have any inside access or knowledge most of what I know comes from trial and error and by comparing all of the Hybrid Graphics drivers that have been released. The problem is that most of the Hybrid Graphics drivers and INFs are put together by OEMs which may have (and in some cases definitely have) screwed up some settings. Some OEMs seem to be having issues getting Hybrid Graphics drivers working 100% so this may be why there are so few drivers released.

EDIT2: Part of the issue may be that Nvidia could very well have changed the settings needed for proper Hybrid Graphics functionality in the 256+ series. They have done this in the past with the DSMInteger and GoldOnHybrid settings. I have 258.96 working on my VGN model Vaio Z and BenQ S42 but there are a couple issues like it being locked to one display only, and on the Vaio Z flickering issues related to powermizer clock changes (fixed by adjusting powermizer). The Alienware M11x(R1) seems to have similar issues to your Asus with powering off the Nvidia device but AFAIK they have always had this issue even with their older official drivers.

With the official 186.88 drivers for your Asus the Nvidia device disappears from device manager when switched to Intel, correct?

 

why is there a 0 and an 0x78?

 

My assumption is that these are just different idle times, don't think there should be much of a difference between 0 and 0x78. 0 would be instant and 0x78 would be delayed a certain amount. (I have been wrong in the past though.) If I remember correctly it was said that with 186.88 the Nvidia device takes a little bit before it disappears from device manager. My assumption is that it is due to 0x78. (There may be a reason for the delay or like I said I could be completely wrong as to what the variable is.)

Idle Time traditionally refers to the period the hardware is idle. So Deep Idle Timer should be the time before the Nvidia GPU goes into a deep idle state (what we consider off essentially.)

EDIT: There is also a setting to allow for this to be adjusted through power options, I haven't been able to get it to work fully yet though.
(No you wont have these settings, yet. )

 

correct. "NVIDIA GeForce G210M" disappears from the device manager after switching to energy saving mode but it takes quiet a long time... 1, 2 minutes, maybe even longer.

well, I have these settings with the official driver from Asus. Don't know if that's new to you or does mean anything to you but I thought I should let you know.
... ok maybe not... only have the "NVIDIA Hybrid Graphics" and "Put the discrete GPUs to sleep after" options... my mistake.

 

The official drivers by ASUS and also Itarus modded drivers include the setting to modify the time after which nvidia gpu completely powers down (same as in the screenshot "put the discrete gpus to sleep after"). It is also the time after which it disappears from device manager.

The minimum being 2 minutes. Variation is usually caused by the fact that the default value is different in each power scheme.

 

I would just like brightness control and my hot key button working again

 

it's properly shutting down for sure on my system.

 

"Put the discrete GPU to sleep after" primarily refers to the time the machine is idle before automatically switching to integrated (intel) to save power.

The "Pause before power saving for" should be the time before the Nvidia GPU actually goes into power saving mode. I haven't had too much time to test this setting as I am struggling just activating it. The only reason I could see pausing the power saving would be to make switching a bit faster. I may be missing something however.

Well if we got the nvidia gpu powering down properly brightness and the hotkey shouldn't be too big of a deal to fix. I would like to confirm this with other people before we move on to the hotkey and brightness so..

.. Can you post the exact settings that get the Nvidia GPU shutting down?

 

I'll get you the inf asap... sorry for the delay

 

here it is

the only problem i had other than what is known is that some times when the display would turn off , it would not wake up and i'd have to hard boot. the computer would still work (audio) for a while before crashing if i didnt hard boot.

 

ok hardbooting thing is annoying as hell