My discoveries on Vaio Z’s Hybrid Graphics

Thanks for the info.

I have a DisplayLink USB connector on the way, but was hoping that the beta drivers (or the other drivers being discussed) allow for the simultaneous use of both DVI and VGA ports on the dock. I can see monitors connected to both ports but can not make both monitors active with the stock drivers. I also have no issues simultaneously using DVI/VGA ports on my older Lenovo/dock combination - so I know if it is possible.

I am waiting to gain more confidence in my system backup scheme, before I try myself.

 

^Are you able to activate both monitors if you close/disable the internal lcd?

 

No. I tried but it seems that only one external monitor is allowed. Windows sees both monitors and lets you set up two external monitors, but then says that it can not save the configuration and never actually displays to both external monitors. This is consistent with the docking station documentation, but feels like a software/driver limitation.

 

Working on the Z11/12 32bit package along with the updated 64bit package with no signing.

Ran into a couple of issues.. the dang installer is very picky.

Glad to have finally figured it out and very appreciative of everyone's patience, persistence and help.

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So what issues is everyone running into with the 260 set so far? (Something to remember is that 260.63 is still beta from Nvidia and comes with bugs of its own. The control panel locking up when adjusting some things is one that I have noticed. Powermizer also seems a bit buggy, I have activated it with auto-clocking in the settings since it seems to be running full by default.)

How well is AUTO (switch) working? It is one of those features I do not have on the VGN series so it is something that I do not know the ins and outs of. I am sure there are more settings to tweak and would love to get as much of this stuff worked out before the final full Z11-12 set.

 

It may be a limitation of the multiplexers. You might want to look up some of the other Nvidia Hybrid Graphics notebooks to see if anyone one else has a similar display configuration going. If it works on one it should work on them all.

EDIT: Whoops meant to edit this in above. Sorry for the double post.


EDIT2: I forgot to mention that I tested my VGN model with what fixed the VPC blackscreen issue and it still causes blackscreens using newer Intel drivers. I was hoping this would be a universal fix. I am going to stick to this being an EDID bug on Intels side but there may yet be a magical setting like the one that fixed it for the VPC model.

 

I think someone (Sony) should donate an extra VPCZ1 to Nautis for "testing purposes".

 

This might be a boneheaded question, but do we need to understand how to sign any of these driver sets if they are unsigned, and if so, any tutorials we could point to?

Thanks for all the hard work, BTW. I'm using the BETA set beaups picked up on, and while a little buggy, they are allowing work with the new video engine in Adobe CS5.

 

I am using the MotionInJoy 64-bit driver for using my PS3 controller over Bluetooth with my Z1. Since it doesn't have a driver signature, you have to either override the driver signing requirement at the F8 boot menu every time, or, sign the drivers yourself and enable "test mode" (which adds an annoying overlay to the bottom right of your desktop, but can be removed).

Here's a good guide for this: http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives...ed-drivers-in-windows-7-and-vista-64-bit-x64/

 

I've installed the Nautis's 260.03 driver successfully on my VPC-Z11. There were trials and errors, but it finally worked and is currently working beautifully. The auto brightness control (by ambient light sensor) is also working. One minor problem is when I switch from speed to stamina for the first time after the reboot, it takes some time, but it works when you wait or switch to speed and back to stamina. Auto is also working fine.

Thanks a lot for your wonderful effort, Nautis.

 

Thanks, Blahman. I know there are also ways to turn off signed driver detection (or requirement), but have also read that's not a great idea. I didn't realize you have to enable test mode even if you sign your own drivers. I don't know if I care about that. Think I did it for a while in the past running a Dell fan control app that had either unsigned or unofficially signed drivers. I can't remember whether it caused any issues other than the "test mode" legend at the bottom of my screen.

 

I was considering going to the closest store with one and "testing it out".

I DO NOT recommend the ReadyDriver Plus method as it modifies your bootloader. I have seen a number of less experienced users loose a lot of information because the modified bootloader screwed something up and made the system unbootable. NGOs Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider is my recommended method because you are using built in system that was put in place for developers. I know ReadyDriver Plus has just a small paragraph in that article but I am sure there will be people trying to use it.

Everyone seems to be noting that about switching the fist time. It is very curious. I may want some registry exports to see what is going on, I assume a setting is being created after the first switch.

Anyways glad to hear. Amazed that it is working so well honestly.

--

Don't seem to be able to tackle this no signing thing today. Just cant get it working. Hopefully approaching with fresh eyes will do the trick. Sorry all.

I got side tracked with working on my Hybrid Graphics Master Set to put these things together so I now have a bunch of other Hybrid Graphics users waiting. Guess I will just have to kick it in to overdrive.

 

Thx for your hard work. Can't get my eyes off of this thread -_-;

other than the driver signing, the newer 260.63 package will be the same as what you posted previously?

andrew mentioned that the v2 being better than v1 (inf), i was wondering what it means.

I tested the 260.63 driver with v1 inf and it worked beautifully and haven't replaced it with v2 inf that you uploaded.

removing the 260.63 driver turned off the lcd while the system is still on.
If i remember the shortcut to shut down the computer, it wouldn't be a problem. However, I was forced to press the power button. I guess, truly the gt330m is only working gpu with the 260.63.


thanks again.

 

The m11x r1 does have this option in the BIOS. It's how most m11x R1 owners are getting later drivers installed, as far as I am aware.

Of course, it's a minor drain on the battery...

 

Actually I have a VGN-Z model.

 

Will we also see new drivers for the VGN-Z series?

Page One: Unofficial Windows 7 64bit [Nvidia: 191.66 | Intel: 1994 ]

This are quite old.

And as it seems you have this model, so why not also releasing drivers for it?

 

Yes I have a VGN model Z.. Yes I will be releasing drivers for it... Yes I have been horrible about updating the first post as the information is inaccurate. The latest for the VGN are actually N258.96 | I2020 64bit. I will be releasing 32bit drivers for the VGN model when I release the 260.63 64bit ones.

The Z11/12 drivers were originally posted as a test because I figured we found the setting that would make them work and indeed we did. I have not forgotten about VGN or other Hybrid Graphics notebooks and will be including them. Right now the Z11/12 users are getting my attention because this is the only set they have working above what was 188.80 (or 190.24 which was found). It is an extremely huge deal for them and me.

It was my hope that finding the remedy for the VPC model Intel blackscreen issue would also work for us VGN users but alas it doesn't seem to. If it did work we would all be able to use the latest Intel and Nvidia drivers but since it does not work we are stuck on Intel version 2020. This means I still have to release at least 4 different sets of drivers for each update. My Hybrid Graphics Master Sets cover 10+ Hybrid Graphics notebooks which have specific settings so I have to be careful for each. Hybrid Graphics drivers are not the easiest things to put together and the new Installer makes them that much more difficult. And that is just the Hybrid Graphics stuff I am working on I also have Optimus, Hybrid SLI projects and a few others I can't really discuss.

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Ok ... I need someone to test the "no sign" drivers for the Z11/12. I think I got them working and have 32bit and 64bit versions put together. I am packaging them now and will start uploading as soon as they are finished packing.

 

Ah great man, can't wait to check out another set ^_^. Test2 package works great here, but refresh package would be even better hehe.

 

Off the top of my head I don't think it is any different really than test2 so It might not even be worth installing for you.

This package is sort of a hybrid (heh) of the separates I was working on pre-installer2. The Intel and Nvidia INFs are separate so each uses its own original catalog file. This makes it very unique compared to all of the other Hybrid Graphics sets out there as with this each driver is installed separately. This of course is all pretty much invisible to the user so you guys shouldn't notice anything different. Those of you who are looking at putting your own Hybrid Graphics sets together however should really enjoy some of the differences. Upgrading each driver should also be much easier with these.

I of course need to make sure these do indeed install correctly. Functionality wise there should be no difference.

 

I think Andrew said V1 was better than V2.. the new no signing set is based on V2.

I assume the 190.24 beta set from Sony has the same issue with the screen turning off when uninstalled. (Windows drops back to the primary integrated GPU by default when uninstalling.) This may be one of the issues it is still beta. The problem is that with Hybrid Graphics the Intel drivers use the Nvidia kernel mode driver instead of its own. What I assume is happening is that windows drops back to using the Intel GPU with no settings when uninstalling and this causes the black screen. Can anyone confirm that the Sony Beta set does the same thing?

EDIT: blah did it again.. was meant to be an edit for above.

 

+
10 char limit

 

I am up for a bit of testing

 

i only have a little bit problem...
i tried nautis v1 and v2, first time v1 works very well, all the things are there i mean...
- switching works
- brightness works

after that i installed v2 and something happen...
- switching for first time lag
- brightness sometimes not working, i don't really know when the brightness control will work...

and if i install v1 back it will become like v2

actually i am a little bit surprised that 26063 works with 2189, this tell me that nvidia side having problem not intel...

and second nautis idea to make the graphic card install 2 different thing is very good and i tried this before, which end up the nvidia side not working at all but the intel side 100% working...

 

Sorry guys I passed out before I could post them.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. THESE ARE STILL IN TESTING UNTIL WE GET SOME CONFIRMATION THAT THEY WORK THEY WAY THEY ARE MEANT TO.

Unofficial Hybrid Graphics Drivers (VPC Model Vaio Z11/12 Only)
Nvidia Version	Intel Version	OS Version	Driver Link
260.63 (8.17.12.6063)	2202 (8.15.10.2202)	Windows 7 & Windows Vista	64bit Download - Pulled for further internal testing.
			32bit Download - Pulled for further internal testing.

EDIT: Don't work.. I suck. The test drivers here should still work fine I just messed up the installer for these.

You should be able to just download, extract, and install these. These may not work the way I intended. Please wait for others confirmation that they do not need to be signed before everyone jumps on them. Looking forward to feedback.

 

Andrew08. Maybe you should use a program like drivercleaner.net to uninstall the video drivers to make sure every possible registry key and dll is removed. Maybe when you installed v2 of the driver there were still some files left from v1. The regular windows uninstall doesn't remove everything as intended.

 

didnt really work here. It didn't even finish the install correctly (gave an ''installation failed'') although it did install some drivers (screen res went up to 1080p, but switching wasnt installed). So something not really working there m8.

 

Frick... frick frick... thank you. I will probably end up pulling them for the time being then. I ran them through an install last night and thought they installed fine that was at 3am though so it may have all just been a dream.

 

Hey, Nautis I found something amazing!!

I installed the driver u just updated and failed to install.

I went in to safe mode to remove the nvidia driver thru control panel's uninstall program.

Then I rebooted and installed the previous test v1 driver without replacing with nv_disp.inf v2.

Then I rebooted.

Amazing thing is that, the newer driver from test package v1 does not require driver signing!!

Even though the device manager says that the gt330m driver was not digitally signed, it does not require any driver signing in order to work!!!

 

I can confirm. Uninstalling Sony Beta produces a black screen and requires a reboot.

 

I can also confirm the same, dropped back to the original drivers now until nautis provides his excellent driver set.

 

Well finally got a backup scheme I can feel confident in and installed the various versions of the video drivers. None allow multiple displays - always get a message "This GPU supports only one display" in the Nvidia Control Panel (and "Unable to Save Display Settings" in Windows Screen Resolution panel) when trying to turn on two external monitors. This happens even with the internal LCD turned off. Seems that Sony really does not want us using more than one external monitor with the Z (without DisplayLink anyway).

On the positive side, the 260.63 drivers allow screen rotation in Speed mode (including the internal monitor) from the Windows Screen Resolution panel without any registry changes. There is now also an option in the Intel Control Panel in Stamina mode, but it does not actually rotate (probably due to a registry setting).

260.63 drivers are awesome - thanks Nautis! Eagerly waiting for the "no sign" version.

 

Sorry for my stupid question but where can i find the latest w7 64 bit driver for the OLD VGN-Z?

 

I feel so lost in the whole driver situation..

Do we still need to install 260.xx and Intel seperately and if so, which?

thanks a lot, got my z12 today, super exciting

 

Thank you nautis it's working youhhoouuouou !!!
I follow you step here and everything works !
I Test inf 1.
HDMI port, Nview desktop
I got a problem with the stamina but i reboot and now i can switch between 3 options.

 

The download page for the vpcz13 can be accessed now, but there is no original drivers for windows 7 yet. I think we can have sony's official update for nvidia driver soon.

 

I have a vpcz1290x and am trying Nautis' 206.3/2022 set, but even with UAC disabled, in test mode, and signing the drivers with the tool, my system won't load the drivers and says there's a problem with the signatures. Anyone have that experience and know what I'm doing wrong?

1) Uninstall everything
2) Reboot
3) Disable UAC
4) Reboot
5) Enable Test Mode
6) Reboot
7) Install driver set (reports success)
8) Use tool to sign both drivers (reports success each time)
9) Reboot
10) Nothing loads, no drivers, no lights on my switch, lowest res, etc.

Thanks.

 

Well i follow this step.

1.)Download Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider
2.)Disable UAC (Can usually be done by typing MSCONFIG in run and going to the Tools tab. You can re-enable it after installing the same way.)
3.)Run the Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider and choose "enable test mode"
4.)Reboot. (You should see Test Mode at the bottom right corner after reboot.)
5.)Switch to speed mode
6.)Install driver package
7.)Run the Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider again and choose "Sign a System File"
8.)In the box type "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys" and click ok (do not include the quotes.)
9.)Click "Sign a System File" again and this time put "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\igdkmd64.sys" (do not include the quotes.)
8.)Reboot and all should work.

 

This might be what I missed. Not in the original instructions. Thanks.

 

Hmmm. That wasn't the issue. The issue seems to be that DSEO just isn't working on my machine running Win7x64 Ultimate. I'm running it in Admin mode and have UAC disabled, and Test mode is clearly on (watermark in the lower right-hand corner). I can run the driver set (and it seems great) by disabling the check on boot (using F8), and now I've installed ReadyDriverPlus, which is working, but not optimal. Anyone have any ideas as to why DSEO wouldn't work on my system, or any optional ways of signing those two files? Thanks.

 

To be sure im downloading the right material, could you please drop a link for those drivers?

thanks a lot.

 

Look at Ender007's post above, with link

 

Ah of course, sorry for my ignorance. I am sick these days yet too excited about my new z12 that I am trying to set it up anyway hehe thanks.

 

Okay, so I installed 260.63 with the method described and it all seems to work like a charm! except for brightness (I did not use the v2 inf as I got the impression it was bugged?) I do however seem to be able to get my brightness to 100% so its not THAT big of a deal right now.

However, all this is meant to work with the test label still there right? or do people disable it somehow? thanks

 

it is possible to get rid of the "test mode" overlay and still be in test mode, check out the guide in my post: http://forum.notebookreview.com/6719388-post1908.html

 

thanks, I will look into that.

Can anyone actually confirm if the 260.63 drivers runs better \ faster than the 19x.xx from Sony? in games like Starcraft 2 ?? thanks

 

Yes i try with Starcraft 2 and with adobe premier pro

 

Have you got fps values before/after for SC2 ?

 

i get great fps like 40fps average in sc2 on medium preset at 1360x768 resolution, but even with an fps of like 70, it still feels a bit sluggish not sure why, so thought id ask if anyone had tried before upgrading to 260.63.

I might try and revert just to see.

 

No news? :-(

 

Patience I am sure Nautis is working on them in his free time and when he is ready he will update us all.

Until then kick back and relax...

 

what is the purpose of building 260.63 with 2202?
- Cuda for Cuda lover...
- OpenCL.
- Physx
- Get out from 191.97 2202(last unconfirmed working driver)
- New Features

Known Issues:
- Physx driver not working properly
- Switching for the first time take more than 3s
- Brightness

Known Fixes from 19197 2202:
- Dxdiag shows 4GB instead of 512MB
- Booting faster
- Quiter

This also show that Nvidia will support hybrid graphic notebook in future release, and show that 25x.xx driver having problem not intel side.