Driver update problems. Please Help

Ok, lately I have been having problems with what I believe is my GPU driver. What happens is my computer black screens mid game and the sound just loops, there is nothing I can do to bring it out other than a hard restart. At first I thought it was just Age of Empires III but this morning it did it with Gears of War as well. AoE black screens after about 20-30 minutes while most recently GoW lasted nearly 1.5 hours. My temps are fine, vents are clear and I have no idea what is wrong, I was using XFastest 177.85 and it was fine for 3 months now all of a sudden this.

Now the part I don't get. I uninstalled my driver's following the update guide. I decided to download Nvidia's beta drivers but when I run the .exe it says there is no compatible driver than can be found for my hardware. Anyone know how to fix this? Thanks.

 

You have to get their mobility driver or the desktop driver? And did you pick the 32-bit Vista version?

GeForce Release 179 for Notebooks BETA
Version: 179.48
Release Date: February 11, 2009
Operating System: Windows Vista 32-bit
Language: U.S. English
File Size: 122 MB

Try downloading driver through Gateway's support.

 

i have the 64-bit notebook driver........

 

Oh ok, by your signature it didnt say 64-bit.
Here is the latest from Gateway, June 2008
http://support.gateway.com/support/...sta 64-bitVersion v7.15.11.6746&uid=223441120

Thats why they call them Beta drivers, they have bugs.

try the last SQL certified driver.

Or see if Windows Update has a suggestion, as that would be the most stable even if its not the most performance.

Did you try loading the driver manually? Did it unload a folder with the drivers in it that if you go to the device manager you can load it yourself, by choosing load from a specific location or completely manually.

 

i tried it manually but i didn't know which .inf to select. didn't see nv_disp. Currently I'm running Gateway's driver but still have the same problem. I just undervolted and am currently stress testing.

 

I had the exact same problem, I have the laptop in for a diagnostic right now, I'll let you know what they say.

 

You probably know most of this, but....

So after you click on the .exe file it will ask you to download the files somewhere, pick anywhere you know where to go get them. Then cancel the installshield.

In the device manager go to the display adaptor properties and driver tab and select upgrade driver. Choose "browse my computer for..."

Then pick "let me pick from a list..."

Then select "Have Disk"

Browse to the folder you downloaded the Nvidia files to, go into the display folder, and select the NVAM.inf

should be ok from there

You might want to go to the control panel folder option and under view uncheck the hide known file extensions....

 

Oh, so with the actual Nvidia BETA driver you look for NVAM.inf? That is what I was missing. Thank you +rep.

 

Oh, so when you use Nvidia BETA drivers you use NVAM.inf? That is what I was missing, thanks. Tried to +rep but apparently I need to spread the love lol.

 

no problem, let us know if it works......

 

Nvidia drivers have the same problem as XFastest for me, the only drivers that allow me to play games without an inevitable black screen are the stock gateway drivers.

 

Does the system fan come on more if you use the Gateway drivers? could it be overheating?

On Nvidia's site they really dont seem to support the 8800M GTS. In advanced driver search to find drivers there is nothing for the 8800M GTS. If you select Geforce you can't specify 8800M GTS and if you select GeforeM you can specify 8800M GTS, but there is nothing there.

Gateway was only one with 8800M GTS, so looks like Nvidia drivers may not be 100% compatable. You can try this slightly older version, but I cant find anything else on Nvidia site for it. I'd just stick with the Gateway drivers from their website.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_notebook_winvista64_179.28_beta.html

 

Yeah thanks for the help, guess I'm stuck with the stock drivers until I upgrade. GPU temp never goes over 72C and TZS0, TZS1 don't go over 68 and CPU cores don't go over 54.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "advanced driver search", but using the regular driver download page, use the 8M notebook series option under Geforce. Alternatively, you can get to it through the notebook driver dowload page. In any event it should point you to 179.48 as the latest (it's beta).

 

The correct file for the P-6860FX is actually NVWI.inf, but it might not matter so long as it finds the right lines to support your hardware in one of the .inf's.

 

The NVAM.inf I think is an overall set of GPUs and then you/it selects the 6860.

Yes if you select the 8M series it gives you the 179, but go to advanced driver search like I said and it doesnt have anything for the 8800M GTS.
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us

 

For the most part, the inf's are broken out by vendor: http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=918.
NVAM.inf didn't support the 8800M GTS, so if it worked after you modded it, then probably doesn't matter what inf you mod, the driver will find your hardware in one of them.

So much for "advanced" eh?