X205-SLi1 Video Card Problem !!

Greetings all! Based on the various postings I have read here over the last month or so I decided to purchase an SLi1. I've had it for about three weeks, running Vista in SLi mode with updated drivers from laptopvideo2go (169.09) and enjoying the performance and apparent stability of the unit very much.

But, a couple of days ago I noticed that the nVidia control panel was no longer showing the SLi option (no option to enable or disable). I checked under device manager and, to my surprise, Vista was reporting only one 8600GT M under display adapters (prior to this time it had shown two as expected).

I've done a reinstall to factory settings from the Toshiba DVD, clean install of Vista with backup media and just recently a clean install of XP, thinking that it might be some sort of strange Vista quirk. Unfortunately, the result is still the same and the OS is reporting only the one card.

Now, the curious part (at least for me): I had installed Everest Ultimate (full) to take a look at the system (did this under both Vista and XP, same result), and Everest appears to report the two 256 mb 8600GT M's.

Anyone have any ideas as to what might be the problem? Solutions would be nice too Thanks in advance!!

 

That is very strange??, it makes no sense that if everest shows the 2 cards why XP and Vista only see one card. I have not seen this before and cannot see why something like this is happening.

 

I agree, lol. If someone that has an x205 with both 8600s reporting and in SLi could check something for me in device manager and report back here, I would appreciate it.

Open up device manager and change the "View" to "Devices by connection." Expand "Microsoft ACPI...", "PCI bus," then "Mobile Intel PM965...PCI Express Root Port - 2A01." Driver version for the PCI-e Root Port is ver. 8.3.1.1004 (05/18/2007).

Under this tree I have "PCI standard PCI-to-PCI- bridge." Expanding it reveals two additional PCI-to-PCI bridges. One of these two additonal bridges can expand to reveal the 8600GT M. The other cannot and, upon closer inspection (double click), is missing a "Resources" tab in the properties listing.

I'm curious as to whether the both 8600s (in a working system )fall under the same PCI bridge or something else.

 

I just looked at mine and I have attached a pic of what mine lists.
Update: I just ran a test with FEAR and have attached a pic of the score I got which is what I have gotten with the 169.09 drivers without any overclocking.

 

Hey man, did what ya said and here's what I got... First, my pci express root port 2a01 driver is dated 9/15/2006, version 8.2.0.1000, so older than yours, guess i need to update ha.

As for the two pci to pci bridges, each has it's own 8600m GT, so there's something wrong with yours only showing one.... and the second shows the monitor.

 

Yep, mine looks just like yours Jesse

 

be77solo, I wanted to show you a pic of what I have done on my device manager, I mentioned this on another thread, if I don't disable any listed HID Compliant Devices my score in some games especially FEAR go way down. Attached is a pic of my device manager listing the disabled devices, I had to do the same on my 8800GTX SLI desktop for the same reason I guess it is a Microsoft bug in all their operating systems.

 

Wow, thanks guys for the quick replies. Indeed, there appears to be a problem with my second PCI bridge. As I said it is also missing a "Resources" tab, so I imagine this is as good place to start as any I've attached a screeny of Everest and Device Manager. Do you think the bridge is dead or something else?

 

Yeah, that doesn't match mine... curious, under display adapter under device manager, what does it show there? Mine shows 2 Nvidia 8600M GT's...

Also, was looking at your everest, and have a question.... 1) why does it show up as different names next to the video adapter, and 2) why does it show 512 MB? As, each card should only show as having 256, not 512.

Anybody else get that in everest, I haven't ever run that program.

 

Attached is what everest summary shows for my sli1.

 

Hey, curious Jesse, why does your show up as just the standard video driver?? that's wierd isn't it? But, it does show 256 compared to his saying 512....

Hey, if you shoot me a link on where to get Everest I'll see what mine says, but I'd think it wouldn't show up as Standard video adapter.

 

Under device manager, sadly, just the one 8600 GT.

As to Everest showing the two different names, I've wondered about that myself. As to the 512, I'm guessing it's combined between the two (the actual tab in Everest pertaining to per card details shows it as 256). Everest Ultimate can be downloaded as a 30-day trial if you'd like to check your system and compare

 

Yeah, let me know where, and i'll compare for you, as I'm about positive mine is setup and working properly

 

You noticed that too, not sure why everest shows it as a standard video device either as long as they are working.
This is the link to the everest web site: http://www.lavalys.com/

 

Here's the link you wanted for Everest Ultimate. Thanks so much for looking into this with me

http://www.lavalys.com/products/download.php?ps=UE&lang=en

 

Hey, thanks for the link.... mine shows up as this:

Video Adapter nVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (Toshiba)

 

And shows 256MB for each card, Also note at the top, both showing up.... hope this helps, not sure what screen you guys are showing, new to Everest

 

And, if this helps, what mine shows on the summary page, hope this helped atleast compare



Sorry, uploaded the wrong picture, here's the summary....

 

B.Solo and Jessie, as a point of reference, what versions of nVidia drivers are you using? I'm currently using 169.09 with modified inf. Here's the same shot as Solo's for comparison. The SLi info just shows either yes or no as to SLi being enabled (mine is currently no).

Oh, and what version of the BIOS are you using (1.90 for me). I tried to go back to 1.80 or 1.60 but Winphlash said no to reverting to an earlier BIOS. The problem actually first appeared while I was using the 1.80 BIOS, so I went to 1.90 but saw no improvement to this problem.

 

I am using 169.09 drivers and I think be77solo is using the same version.

 

I'm using the 169.09's as well, using a modified .inf to use the HDDVD player, haven't bothered to upgrade again yet.

Bios is V1.60, haven't updated yet, just what it came with from Toshiba.... slightly afraid it'll brick it, and haven't had any issues to make me want to update it yet.

one difference though is I don't seem to have that SLI option up top under device description as you do in that last picture, instead have two seperate devices listed there.... Did just run a game though to test out SLI and all is working great, it is enabled under the Nvidia Control panel. So, something is definately set up differently. This is all after a fresh install of Vista Home Premium 32bit about a month ago, and using Service pack 1.

 

I'm going to do fresh install back to Vista tomorrow, and take a look once again to see if there's something I might have missed. I guess I just don't want to accept that something might be kaput on my new baby Thanks for all the help guys!

 

yeah, that's no fun... wierd that it happened after a bios update, but probably nothing related... who knows... With a fresh Vista install, which I've done about 4 times on this and another X205, and both cards showed up under display adapters once the drivers were installed, so should tell ya pretty quick if it's hardware related.... good luck!

 

Hey, one last thing I just saw, and then I gotta get to sleep... gotta be at a meeting at work in 6 hours ha, but under Everest, under the devices tab on the left, then physical devices, on the right side under PCI Devices I have:

Bus 9, Device 0, Function 0 nVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (Toshiba) Video Adapter
Bus 10, Device 0, Function 0 nVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (Toshiba) Video Adapter

Wonder what you have there, if only one or the other listed?

 

Yeppers, I'll give it a whirl. Oh, and as to the BIOS, I updated it AFTER I had discovered the problem, so I don't think it had anything to do with it. Mine had shipped with the 1.80 already installed.

 

Well, now I've stumbled across something that makes me worry. I bought this laptop from Toshibadirect.com. Decided I might want to take a look inside using the PDF of the x205 disassembly guide. First time I've had a need to remove the battery pack and I find a small, rough hole and several scratches underneath the pack on the plastic case of the laptop. Looks as if someone might not have known how to remove the battery and resorted to brute force with a screwdriver. As I continued I saw other random marks that again appear man-made on the black plastic tray under the keyboard. Theres' a patch of marks on the copper plate of the bottom case that looks as if they were trying to scour away something with the edge of flathead screwdriver.

Do they cannibalize these cases and send them back out to new customers when someone RMA's a unit back to Toshiba? I'll get some pics and post them if anyone's interested. Should I request a new unit, given what I've found not to mention the issue with the video card. I guess I cant really point out the damage on the inside since I'm not supposed to be there , but the damage to the battery compartment is in a common place.

 

Well mine shows up 2 cards in both device manager and everest... However my sli isn't working... Why, i dont know, but it doesn't matter if i reinstall vista home premiun 32 or 64 bits, Ultimate 32/64, toshiba's Recovery version, it wont work... Worked for a day (after reinstalling drivers) but suddendly started to lag and never worked again... I mean, it's enable, ieven if i overclock the cards using rivatuner everest will show the new frecuency for both cards, but the performance it's the same (sometimes worse) that having sli disabled... I'm waiting Toshiba Venezuela costumer service to be back from holidays (January 7th) to take the laptop there...

Btw jesse, in my device manager theres no such thing as HID compliant device...

Now i'm having another problem, HD related, even after i replace the .inf file for HD Playback (the one in the toshiba's driver, replacing the one in the 169.09's) but now i tried to play the DEMO DISC that came woth the laptop it says "unable to output the video to an external device. Please switch your display device by pressing the Fn + F5 keys after ending the application"... Since i unistalled/disabled (don't remember) the Fn keys, i can't do anything... Can someone help me here... How to reinstall the disturbing keys to see if i can do something...

Oh, also, since i installed the drivers with that modded .inf, the aero thing just got disabled... anyone know how to turn on again (sorry for my noobness) to see if it works now...

 

Jose, look at reply #7 on the first page of this thread I attached a picture of what I am talking about in the device manager where I disable the HID Compliant Devices.

 

Well hard to understand some of your post, but if your having HD-DVD problems first SLi has to be disabled to play HD's, try this fix, it might help (fix should be done anyways to fix other problems) http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/929461/en-us

 

Just saw your last post, Solo, with the Bus listing. Indeed, I only have the one card showing on Bus 10, Device 0, Function 0. Nothing reported on Bus 9, so perhaps therein lies the problem.

As another reference, if you or Jes. (or anyone else with functioning SLi and using Everest) check under Display and the Windows Video. There I see the two 8600Ms. If you also see both, what do you have listed under "BIOS String" (for each of the cards).

I had read elsewhere for a different brand laptop that they were able to get a similar problem resolved and SLi active by making sure that the BIOS ID of each video card was different (they actually ended up flashing the chip to change it, don't think I have the guts to go that route, I'll just take it in to Toshiba

BTW I've gone back to Vista with a clean install (I even tried Ubuntu earlier, same results, lol).

 

Snow i already tried that fix, because my DVD-RW drive dissapeared... I disable the sli before trying... Now the problem is that (i dont know why) the HD player thinks that i have plugged an external monitor... Can anyone tell me how to enable again the FN keys? Or reinstall those buggy things?

And jesse, yes i already saw the pic you attached... Mine looks like this:

[img=http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4866/piclp1.th.jpg]

 

Hey, I just checked. and here's what i got....



Seems to only be the one, which I guess is the main one windows uses, the other is for 3D only since SLI enabled.... buts that my guess, as both show up elsewhere.... is odd that we all have different names and ram sizes and how they show up

 

And one more question, just curious, when you run a temp monitoring program like Rivatuner or Nvidia Monitor, does it show a temperature for the core on each GPU? mine always show up as GPU0 and GPU1, and I get a temperature for each(usually different by about 7degrees or so), curious if these programs even see each core?

 

Hmm, how strange. It's kind of funny when you think about it. Lol, you have 2 cards that show up in device manager but only the one there in Everest, and I have one card show in device manager and 2 cards in Everest.

I've given up and decided to take it to Toshiba repair shop in Knoxville. Toshiba support and the guys there at the repair shop both felt that it is a hardware issue. Knoxville people like to talk alot so hopefully I'll get a good rundown of what the actually repair I'm also gonna ask them about the strange damage under the battery that I mentioned earlier (I suppose they'll just shrug and say they don't know, but, I'll give it a try).

As to GPU temps, I only show the one.

Another Everest request (hopefully my last, right ): Under "Display - GPU," you had already given us one screeny with the first PCI-e port selected (card#1), could I get you to give me one with the second PCI-e port selected. I'm looking for the BIOS version on both cards.

Thanks!

 

Here ya go, and notice I have both listed here ha.... i can only assume since Windows only uses one card, that's why it list one, but since there's something wrong with your's, it doesn't know what to do with it?



Good luck getting it taken care of, hope we helped some

 

Yes indeed, you guys helped a bunch. I'm new to the Toshiba product line of laptops so it's been a great learning expereince (though I don't look forward to disassembly again to upgrade the processors, yikes ) I wouldn't have been happy taking the thing in and not having a pretty good idea of what needs to be repaired / replaced (wish I could do the same thing with doctors and automechanics, lol).

Anyway, we leave for TN tomorrow and I'll drop the comp to the service techs on Wed and then go cry in the corner until I get my baby back Guess my playtime in the Pirates of the Burning Sea beta is done

Mata ne!
Aki

 

With that kind of damage I'd demand a replacement, pretty obvious someone bought it, messed with it causing internal damage, returned it, and it somehow ended up in your hands. Make them give you a new one!!

 

Bah... at least you were able to upgrade the drivers... When i tried to install the 169.12 drivers, it told me i wasnt using vista 32 bit..... Which is weird, cause i took the laptop out of the box, downloaded the drivers, and attempted to install... and nobody knows whats causing the problem

 

Sounds good to me Snow Probably wouldn't be a good idea to bring up what I know about the insides (apart from the battery compartment), since it really wasn't in a commonyl visible area. But, really, I don't think it should take more than the pellet sized hole under the battery on a unit shipped straight from Toshibadirect to prove my point.

I see them Wed., so send your happy thoughts my way that day Thanks for the encouragement!

 

Well, I've been holding off updating this post in hopes that I'd have the laptop back and everything would be super-duper. That could still be awhile, lol

For starters, I'd have to say that some of the Toshiba 800# phone techs are wonderfull, others, not so much. If you get one that doesn't seem to be able to talk to you other than to read verbaitm what must be a troubleshooting script, just politely tell them you'll need to call them back and try again (they really do have some helpful folks)

Secondly, my experience with the Toshiba Authorized Service Provider in Knoxville was, frankly, pathetic. They were extremely nice and tried to answer all my questions to the best of their ability. Unfortunately, these guys had never seen an SLi-1 rig in their shop (though they told me they had worked on plenty of them at the time that I dropped it off, lol). And not only that, they didn't understand the concept of SLi (I actually had to explain it to the tech at the time I picked the unit up, to which he said, "Ohhh, wow, well we've never seen a unit like this before.) Was a nice shop too, with probably 20 - 30 employees.

Dropped the comp off on a Wed., explained the problem exactly as I had to tech support, and was told to check back in 2 days (Friday) if I hadn't heard from anyone. So, about 15 minutes before closing on Fri, I call them and find out from the tech working on it that he's had the unit on since Wed afternoon, hooked to an external monitor, and, he's been "stress testing it and can't get the video output port to fail. I was going to leave it on over the weekend and see if it would fail. I would have called you but, I was busy."

Ugh. I ignored that he had basically told me I wasn't as important as the next person and focused on why he was trying to break my laptop further, lol. He interpreted "2nd video card not working" to mean "video out port not working." After some effort, I got him to almost believe that the unit had two physical video cards and he would approach the problem from this aspect on Mon.

They finally dismantled the unit on Mon., and, on my first progress check was told by the intake clerk that the tech had it on the bench and was checking to see if the cards were properly seated. She further told me that if the card was bad they would have to order it from Toshiba and that it would take a week to get the part. That was enough for me. I thought that at least if they didn't keep an inventory of the parts, they could at least get it overnighted, but, they couldn't (really, what does being a Toshiba ASP mean then, lol). I told her to have the guy put it back together whether he fixed it or not and I would pick it up at the end of the day. She agreed.

Now, later, around 3:30 PM, the tech calls and says, "... the unit does INDEED have two physical graphics cards that APPARENTLY run IN TANDEM, that's why it's showing up as only one card, so everythings running as it should and you can pick the unit up whenever you're ready." Double ugh. So, I went to pick it up, asked to speak with the tech and then apparently explained to his virgin ears for the first time the concept of SLi

Now, I've returned the thing to Toshiba (I hoped it would go back to CA, instead, it's in KY). The repair status has shown "On Hold - Parts" from 01/10 until today. Now the status reads, "In repair - Off hold - SENT TO TECH ROOM : 01/17/08, 02:22:00)," then, "On Hold - Engineering Issue 'hfei, need to test video cards' 01/17/08, 13:08:00." Any thoughts as to what "hfei" means?

 

THAT SUCKS BADLY!!!! I still think you should ask for a new one>

 

Yeah, I'da blown a gasket by now, sorry to hear about your troubles! That's terrible, and I agree, what's the point of the service centers if they are that clueless..... definately keep us updated!

 

Hey, Jesse can you tell me what settings you are using to run FEAR? Thanks.

 

nendren - Attached are 2 pics of the settings I am using in FEAR.

 

:cry:

Over one month at the Laptop Depot and the unit returned today. They replaced the HD DVD drive and say, in re my complaint about the video cards:

'No problem found with VGA Card. The unit does have a dual VGA Cards, but only one Video Drive will appear in the Device Manager. The VGA Cards are connected togerther and act as one VGA Card' (typo's left as they were).

What the ... did you know that the Laptop Depot techs only use the crappy little bundled diagnostic program that comes with these units as they're testing agent to see if anything is amiss. That's just sad. I gotta get into the computer repair racket ... err, business

Back to Global Support. They give me two options: (1) send it back in to the Laptop Depot for repair (the gaskets finally blew, be77Solo, btw ), or, (2) talk to Customer Relations.

So, I had already started the wheels rolling and had the case assigned to Customer Relations last week (this is what they do when you tell the tech on the phone you want a replacement or a refund, lol). Spent a total of 3 hours on hold before I was allowed to have a connection to a live person, lol

The nice lady I talked to at Customer Relations says that before they can replace the unit, per our glorious Toshiba Limited Warranty, the unit has to have been deemed non-repairable or a major part (she only gave examples of Mobo or Screen here, lol) has to have been replaced. I asked if they considered the video cards a major part and she didn't know. However, she did want to get me authorized so I could send the unit to their engineering department in California (Tech Level 3, woohoo, lol) for repair.

After a short time on hold, she returns to tell me that first Tech 3 is going to call me to discuss the issue and then a determination will be made as to whether they want me to send it to them or not.

If anyone out there knows the magic phrase I need to say to get this thing replaced, please, please, please share with the group Oh, and are there any specific questions I should ask the tech?

I've attached a screeny of my service claim just for fun :cry:

 

Okay, get this ... on a whim I decided to go into msconfig and have Vista boot up in diagnostics mode. Lo and behold, I now have the option to enable SLI. I'm not familiar enough with the OS to know how and why this would happen, but, if any of you guru's do and want to tell, I'd love you forever, lol.

In the meantime, I'll be Googling my butt off on the subject

See ya!
Aki

 

Well, after really not doing anything other than rebooting a couple of times in and out of diagnostic mode, the SLI option stuck, and the darn thing is working as it should. After two cycles of rebooting in and out of said mode, on the next regular boot Vista discovered the second card and installed the driver and now if shows in Device Manager! *swoons from all the excitement*

Whichever one of you sacrificed a small animal to Gods of Mt. Redmond, TY!!!

I still plan on talking to the tech 3 guy and pick his brain as to what might have happened.

Thanks to everyone for there help!!

Aki