Modified LaptopVideo2Go nVidia 32-Bit XP INF with VAIO Brightness Controls

I added the VAIO brightness control info to the recent v169.13 XP LaptopVideo2Go inf and it should be compatible with some of the newer VAIO models.

Please test it out and let me know if it works.

v174.74 INF
v174.74 Driver

 

Thanks so much, Bogart; I've always wanted to use the optimized drivers from LaptopVideo2go. I can confirm it works with my SZ650N/C. Will this .INF work with future releases, or will it require editing according the new driver?

 

Yes, it will, but it has to be edited. The easiest way to do it would be to use a file comparison utility like ExamDiff and compare the v169.13 modified XP INF offered at LaptopVideo2Go (not this) and an updated LV2Go modified INF, and add any changes to the one that I made. You can skip changes related to the addition of extra video cards from the [NVIDIA.Mfg] and [Strings] sections.

 

It sounds somewhat confusing, so let me use the new 169.17 XP 32bit as an example. Using ExamDiff, I found 6 differences between the 169.13 INF at LV2G and the 169.17 at LV2G: Changing two lines and adding other 4 lines. Can I go back to your 169.13 INF and change the two lines and add the corresponding 4 lines?

 

Yes, that's basically what you do. As you do your comparisons you'll find that the header area will always change due to the version and date differences. To find out where to add the other changes in my inf, you'll have to examine the LV2G inf more carefully. The LV2G inf supports both mobile and desktop video cards, so if there happens to be a change outside the mobile section related to your device, in this case anything not associated with nv4_mobile, you can ignore it. My (and Sony's) inf uses a different name for each video device, which is the same as nv4_mobile, but you can find out which one is related to your device by checking the NVIDIA_XXXX.DEV_XXXX.X string in the [NVIDIA.Mfg] and [Strings] categories.

Using the 169.13 LV2G inf as an example, the following lines are related to the VAIO graphics devices:

Code:

[nv4_mobile]
CopyFiles    = nv4.Miniport, nv.Display, nv4.icd, nv.Panel, nv.Help, nv.nViewPanel, nv.nViewHelp
DelFiles     = nv.oldrm, nv.delete.systemfiles
RegisterDLLs = nv.RegisterCPL

[nv4_mobile.CoInstallers]
CopyFiles = nv.CoInstaller
AddReg    = nv_CoInstaller_AddReg
AddReg    = nv_CoInstaller_NVAppsXML_AddReg

[nv4_mobile.SoftwareSettings]
AddReg = nv_SoftwareDeviceSettings
AddReg = nv4_icdSoftwareSettings
AddReg = nv_ControlPanelSettings
AddReg = Mobile_Tweaks
AddReg = MapOSD3ToNV_3
AddReg = Default16BPP_AddReg
DelReg = nv_ClearRegistrySwitches

[nv4_mobile.Services]
AddService = nv,    0x00000002, nv4_Generic_Service_Inst, nv4_EventLog_Inst
AddService = NVSvc, 0x00000000, nv_NVSVC_Inst
DelService = nvarch
DelService = nvgfx

[nv4_mobile.GeneralConfigData]
MaximumDeviceMemoryConfiguration = 80
MaximumNumberOfDevices           = 4

So any changes that you find here or at any of the categories listed to the right of CopyFiles, DelFiles, AddReg, DelReg, and RegisterDLLs (such as [nv_SoftwareDeviceSettings], [nv.Help], [nv.RegisterCPL], etc. located at the bottom of the file) should also be applied to my inf.

 

Hi There.

@bogart
I've got Sony VGN-AR41S with 4GB Ram. Tried Vista 64bit on it and only thing which I coudn't get going was brighness adjustment using FN key. Is there any chance this driver will work on Vista 64 bit?

Thanks
Marian

 

Strangely enough i haven`t had any problems with Powermimizer, smart dimmer, and Brightness Control after similar values were put into a laptopvideo2go inf driver i installed a few months ago.

Didn`t need to touch smart dimmer to get brightness to work with new drivers from laptopvideo2go. Althrough i am guessing this has to do with the registry values from the previous installation not being completly uninstalled during a driver clean.

Currently using 169.04 XP which works perfect (except for the new control panel in it which crashes) and allows overclocking. Do these newer drivers allowing overclocking on the SZ? i have heard good things of the latest 174.XX drivers.

 

You are right. If you're installing the drivers from a clean installation state, you'll have to adjust the slider in the SmartDimmer options to get the brightness hot keys working, but if you are upgrading from an existing driver and did not remove all the brightness registry entries with a program like Driver Sweeper or Driver Cleaner Pro, you don't have to adjust the slider.

You can overclock with the drivers I posted, and there's an option for it in the old control panel. I'm not sure if the new control panel has one, though.

 

Inf file worked perfectly bogart. I dunno why Nvida made a new control panel for. The old one is much faster and easier to use. In the new 174.XX drivers it looks like they updated the GUI pictures in it too.

Crud. Overclocking didn`t work on 174.40. RivaTuner values reset themselves on exit. Haven`t tried 169.13/28 yet. Beginning to think the 169.04 drivers were never meant to be released allowing it to bypass the locked bios GPU core/mem clocks that Sony seems to have put on the Geforce 8400M GS

 

Hey,

i've git a VGN-NR21 S/S and FN buttons still don't work. I can change brightnes via the nVidia control panel, but not with the FN buttons.

Using the v174.74 Driver with your INF:

 

I tried to use this INF + Driver but I still can't get the Fn buttons to work on my sz691.

I changed nv4_disp file prior to driver installation
then changed the slider in smartdim. But I still can't get it to work.

What am I missing ?

thanks!

 

bump............

 

@Bogart

Hi, what do you mean by Smartdimmer doesn't technically work with Vaios? so how else is the brightness handled?

 

Smartdimmer, or the feature that dims the brightness after a certain amount of inactivity, does not work in v169.13 and other previous versions but it works in some of the newer versions like v174.74, which is why I omitted that line from the notes in later versions.

 

hi bogart,

awesome work, thanks!
could you please create a .inf for the 175.80 XP LV2G driver
and post it here?
this version is meant to be faster and more stable.
i´ve tried with examdiff following your steps but didn´t get it to work unfortunetaly
so would you please help an old guy out?


btw, i own a vaio fz.
and sorry for my bad english!

kind regards,

b0

 

Hey Bogart,

I am having difficulty downloading from the file front website where you store many of the drivers and additional files for downgrading a vaio sz to xp. I am currently based in beijing, china, so that may be of influence. Is there any other way for me to get the .inf file? I would also like to download the alps touchpad driver if there is another site hosting the file.

best,
allen

 

http://rapidshare.com/files/133324809/alps_touchpad--nvidia_inf.rar.html

 

sweet. thanks!

 

Hi,

I own a Sony VAIO VGN-FE28B with Windows XP SP3.
I would like to use the lastest 179.13 LV2G drivers with the fix you get on 174.74. Could you help me to tweak the inf file?

Thanks.

 

Can anyone suggest similar driver for Vista 32 bit. Using Laptopvideo2go driver is not allowing Sony Fn keys and Sony AR790U model driver is not providing all features (i think it is 156.65)

Are 'smart dimmer' and other features disabled in Vista and only avialble in win xp?

btw, mine is nvidia 7400 GO

Thanks

 

Filefront doesn't work, please could anyone give 169.28's and 174.74's inf files via another website to me. And also I have installed the driver 174.74 driver and inf file from www.laptopvideo2go.com. But after a while green Nvidia icon is disappearing from the notification area. I am enabling it from the settings but still it is gone. Is it a bug or can you give an advice to me about it? Thanks in advance.

 

@Bogard

First of all, thank you for your work. Now I can start to explain you my experience with your solution: I've followed all your steps to get my hot keys work under Windows XP but, unfortunately, I haven't achieved it. I've tried both versions 169 and 174. The first one asked me where some files were so I couldn't finish the installation properly and the second one, in the beginning, I had no problem installing it but after restarting my computer and do the changes in smartdimmer I wasn't able to make work my hot brightness keys.

I don't know what to do so I'll be glad if you help me with this problem.

Thank you very much,

 

It took some time, but I finally found updated Sony XP Nvidia drivers on non-USA Sony sites.

http://www.sony.co.in/support/download/product/vgn-sz44gn

http://www.sony-asia.com/section/home
If you do a search at this url for Nvidia Drivers you'll get a download link for NVidia 6.14.11.7698 for Windows XP

I also came across this site - http://b2b.sony.com/b2bMicrosites/landingpage/vaio_drivers/download_vaio_drivers.html
which is where Sony list all sorts of things for their business clients.

One time when searching on this site I came across a link for NVidia 174.82 XP.

The other day I contacted Sony USA support and asked if there was a site where you could go to see any updated XP drivers for Nvidia and I was told that there were no updates.
When I replied back that I had indeed found some on non-USA sites and the B2B site, the support consultant did not know what to say next.

Anyway, hopefully you might be able to find the drivers you are looking for using the above links as a starting point.

 

Hi Johnjisf,

I'm very thankful to you for your search! You've done a tough job to get a solution for everyone. Regrettably, in my case, I couldn't find property drivers for my laptop. I hope other people can take advantage of this information.

 

how about these drivers on vista or windows7, has anyone gotten them to work (with brightness ctrl)

 

Nvidia just released 185.81 drivers. I can let you know how to install this driver in your Vaio if you PM me.

 

Hi there. I just had my first Dox Optimised driver for Win 7 64-bit (7100) I installed the latest ones I'm aware of: 185.68

Now I'm hoping someone can inform me how to reinstate the brightness controls of my Sony VGN-SZ340P with GO7400 graphics, running 64-bit and Windows 7, please get back to me, and coolguy I suppose I can't PM you when you're not online. I tried to. But anyone please help me, thanks! The drivers work great, theres just no ability for me to control screen brightness which is killing my battery.

 

Have you tried the Windows Mobility Center to change the brightness? Press Windows Key + X. The Display panel is in the upper left corner; use the slider to adjust the brightness level.

You should be able to also change the brightness via the battery icon in the system tray. Left click the battery icon, select "Adjust Screen Brightness". This launches the Windows Power Options control applet. The Brightness slider is at the bottom of the window.

--L.

 

from the microsoft windows update, install their driver, brightness control works (at least on my 32bit win7), only from their control panel, not with the hotkeys.

you can DIFF the file with the original one, and try to import the settings to other drivers (at least i'm waiting for someone to do this as I'm too lazy)

 

Hi I'm well aware of changing brightness in the top left of Mobility Center and in battery settings, but BOTH DON'T WORK with Dox driver. I was able to do that in the dated old Windows Update Win7 (7100) driver, but I updated it from that one because it crashed alot. Now I'm trying to find out which modified INF file I should be applying or do I just add a few registry keys? I'm confused on which directions here to follow to enable modifying the brightness. Someone please inform me, thanks.

I have not even the first idea how to make a modified INF file to be used. Has these DOX drivers already have the patched INF file since its so new? I didn't clean install the driver, I just installed over the last one. I'm going to try to clean install my whole video driver system by following the instructions on other sites to see if it enables it. My windows mobility center does not have brightness on the top left nor is it in my battery settings. I hope my using windows 7 64bit can be fully supported. If someone can attept to make an INF file I can use its much appreciated. But the DOX installer for 185.68 had NO INF file to edit in the extracted folder for installation which was created on the desktop. So pls let me know what to do! Thanks.

 

I haven't read the whole thread.. but will there be a x64 version too ?

 

For some reason I couldn't find a way to PM you. I would be interested in getting the Windows 7 64-bit 185.85 drivers to work with my VAIO VGN-FZ31.

 

I installed the latest version from laptop2go.com 186.06 i think. brightness still isn't working.

using the driver from windows update, it does work, however i think its a sucky driver.
any way to use the brightness settings with the newer driver ?

 

Does anyone know howto modify nVIDIA inf file so that Fn + brightness control works ??

I've been googling to find such information but no joy. Whenever, I feel like updating nvidia driver, I'm stuck with a very few and old ones which are working with Fn + brightness..
Whenever I feel like changing OS, Vista -> XP.. now Windows 7.. always GeForce Go 7400 and Fn + brightness becomes an issue.

If someone knows how to, please, for the community, post step by step tutorial for us.

 

You can use this driver : http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=415774

 

Thanks for the link.

What makes that driver special? There already are many drivers for Vista/7 for nVidia GPUs. The one being talked about here, in this thread.. is modified inf because Fn + brightness does not work. Every driver for nVidia needs to be inf modified for VAIO laptop so that it works with Fn + brightness.

 

That driver is special it doesn't need to be modified for your Vaio to make use of the fn keys. I am using this driver for months in my FZ with Windows 7 RC 64-bit.

 

Oh, I stand corrected. I'll try it out. Thanks again for the info.

 

Didn't work for me on an SZ440

 

is there any newer driver for vaio SZ on vista 32bit?

 

Use the MS update 198.05 driver linked in my clean install guide.

 

i think it might not work... i've tried regular driver with epic fail..
.. i don't like that driver.. someone has suggested that i can use the laptopvideo2go driver with mod inf but if it doesn't work , i'll try ur suggestions.

 

How do you know that the MS update dirver won't work without even trying it?

 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !!!

I've been working for over a week trying to get one of our profs' FZ180E's downgraded with XP to work with all of its hardware controls. The last hurdle was the screen brightness controls. After trying all sorts of fixes, yours is the one that did the trick!

For anyone else who's working on an FZ180E and Windows XP, here's a link to a page that got most of the stuff working (see post #9):
Sony VAIO VGN-AR605E downgrade to XP - driver help!