My discoveries on Vaio Z’s Hybrid Graphics

Hi, i found sth out, you can simply deactivate code signing in vista x64 without to go in testmode, but it's not confirmed, so please test this method! I don't would test, because it runs on my system in the testmode, and it's okay!

Do This:
Go to gpedit.msc
then:
User Configuration
--Administrative Templates
----System
------Driver Installation
And on the right window:
Code Signing for device drivers: Aktivate and Ignore...

Sry for my English!

Pls Update this drivers, and pls test my solution on the top...


One other thing, does anyone knows how to remove Testmode on the edges?
I mean only the wtermarks... Replacing User32.dll.mui? or sth? Can anyone help?

 

... where are you guys getting these drivers from? 185.xx and 1624?

Intel's site only seems to offer 1608, and... NVIDIA only released like... 181.xx series recently?

 

We are just that good. In all seriousness though most of the newest nvidia drivers can be found at http://laptopvideo2go.com/ or http://www.guru3d.com and the Intel drivers just tke a bit of poking around intels website.

Nvidia did just semi officially release 182.05 which I have almost got working with our Vaio Zs. Sorg if you are around maybe you can work your magic. They seem like they want to work the trick seems to be in the switch again however. Also technically 182.05 are newer than 185.20.

 

Please Make it again for Vista X64!
I like the drivers, since the modded drivers, my 9300 is faster as that integrated x4500, so please make it for the x64 users too

 

I test out any updated drivers for x64. I am glad someone else has been able to use the x64 drivers with good results.

I currently have no problems with the drivers Nautis|Sorg created and hoping to see new ones to try out.

 

Can someone please write a coherent and clear guide about building a current Vaio Z nvidia 64bit driver with new driver files and the files from the original driver with the vaio tweaks.

that would be great!

 

Hi, does anybody can upload again the Nvidia Hybrid 185.20 Driver for vista x64?
The downloadlinks are dead here, and i reinstalled my system...

Pls upload the drivers anyone...

 

Sorry bout that. I will upload some new ones with Intel 1367. I will upload the updated x32 ones also. I have just started getting caught up.

 

Hi,
Im a benq s42 user and i can see that you doing a grand job here.
I have question though,
Can you please upload 64 bit drivers?
Curently im using fujitsu-siemens drivers, works fine but they do not support physix and cuda.
Much apreciated.

 

I was waiting for some benq/fujitsu people to show up eventually as we hybrid graphics notebook users all seem to be in the same boat. The driver sets (32bit & 64bit) I am finishing up I call my Hybrid Graphics Master Set as they should work for all hybrid graphics notebooks and are not just Vaio Z specific.

185.20 seems to be a very unique driver in that it works with our hybrid graphics notebooks, I haven't found any others beyond the ones that were developed for a specific hybrid graphics notebook that work. My only issue with 185.20 is that there are some bugs as it was pretty much an alpha release (or leak would be the better term.)

I have also found a interesting new setting in the registry yesterday that seems to trigger the switch by changing the value. This is potentially exciting because that means it can be triggered by an outside source.

Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid\Action
Type: DWORD
Name: SetMode
Values: 3 (default value, it seems to always jump back to this value.), 0 (switches to Intel), 1 (Switches to Nvidia), 2 (additional displays trigger, NOT FOR US)

Drivers coming soon.. sorry for the delays everyone. My old Vaio specific package for 64bit can be found here.

 

Sounds good Nautis. Take your time, it's better to wait for a quality package than rush a buggy one.

Thanks for your hard work.

 

Hi,
Nautis i downloaded drivers you provided (VaioZ_N18520_I1637_x64_TEST), but there is only intel and 9300gs option...
How can i unlock 9600gt?
Thanks.

 

tathlyn, the reason it is not working for you is because the INF in those drivers is VaioZ specific. So while our Intel gpus are the same our NVIDIA gpus are different. The identifying information for the gpu in your BenQ is not in the INF while the Intel information is. As stated however I am working on a "Hybrid Graphics Master Set" for Vista. What makes this master set unique is the fact that it should work for all Hybrid Graphics notebooks (Sony/BenQ/Fujitsu.)

Now for you, just because I am such a nice guy , I have uploaded a version of the INF to my host ( here). You can download this INF and replace the one from the file you downloaded and then install again. I don't have Vista 64bit or a S24 to test these, so there is a chance it still might not work. So consider the INF and those drivers a test version. Good luck and have fun. Make sure you report any issues you might have as this is new territory for me.

Unrelated & off topic: Alps Touchpad Advanced Settings

 

great work. benq s42 vista 32 user here.
there's a newer version 182.06 out in laptopvideo2go if you could take a look.

eagerly waiting for your completed work. thanks.

 

@nautis: where did you get this alps driver release 7.2 and is it for 64bit vista?
THX for reply

 

Hi,
well, it did not work. I have tried everything, including test mode and signing tools.
Most of the time drivers are succesfully installed but did not work:

"This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)

Click 'Check for solutions' to send data about this device to Microsoft and to see if there is a solution available."

Sometimes nvidia driver do not wanted to install at all - code 39 - that's mostly happend when ive tried install it first.

Thanks for your efforts Nautis, im really appreciate it.

 

I have tried 182.06 and I couldn't get it working. Someone else may have better luck though. I couldn't get 185.20 working originally either as I overlooked a couple of things, it was Sorgs fantastic work here that got us where we are now.

I believe the alps drivers are from toshiba which I modified to work with my Vaio z in much the same way I do with the video drivers. I believe Dell has some that allow for circular scroll and the sort. I will be seeing just how much added functionality I can add to the alps drivers.

Tathlyn, lets not give up yet. I have a hunch at what might be causing those problems for you. I will upload a new package for you to test a little bit later today.

-

I am making slow progress at this point. I have a few extra ideas I am trying to put in last minute on the drivers. Compared to the 185.20 set that Sorg released for us vaio users I wouldn't expect too much difference as these are still based on that set with updated intel drivers and a few extra tweaks.

 

Thanks for your work from me as well. I'm running on latest Sorg's drivers right now and I'm fully satisfied But of course I'm curious about new versions. Would it be possible to make small changelog, when you'll release your new version?

btw...Sorg is still with us as well or he's busy now with some another project?

 

Thanks for your work! I just install it on my Z window Seven works like a charm . SO far i see no bugs whatsoever Thanks again!

 

Tathlyn, I have some more stuff up on http://www.nautisiandesigns.com/drivers/ for you to try. Hybrid_Gfx_Master_Defaults_18520_1637_x64_TEST.exe is a version of my master set for 64bit users with default settings for all notebooks. There is also a benq specific nvmvqu.inf up under INFs/x64/. Hopefully one of these will work for you. Vaio Z 64bit users are welcome to test these drivers also. I hope they work. Wish I could test them myself, kind of a weird experiment for me.

I may start doing changelogs after the first version is released. I will list the changes I have made with my set however. Not sure where Sorg is, hopefully he is cooking up some more good stuff for us also.

Always good to hear success stories. Sorg made quite the find for us.

 

good and bad news i have.
It did not work again. I have tried everything again (both infs, different order of instalations etc.)
But, i had a hunch and tried nvidia from your package (original -Hybrid_Gfx_Master_Defaults_18520_1637_x64_TEST - without this extra inf) and Intel from a Fujitsu-Siemens package. And it works!
I know that i do not have a newest intel then, but it is not really that important. Best thing is newest nvidia!

Now, how it works:
- i have uninstalled old drivers (fujitsu-s) - restart
- ive installed your package first (setup.exe) - restart
- system started with error 39 from display drivers (could not load them)
- then update intel (right click) from fujitsu-siemens drivers

System started, no problems so far.

Its a grand job Nautis, i appreciate people like you. Thanks

Edit: there is a problem. a few problems:
- ive lost aero
- physx does not work
- cuda does not work
- and directx does not work too - games crushes with directx error

 

Well tathlyn.. progress is progress I guess. This is the problem I have with not being able to test these 64bit drivers myself. I am surprised that at least the custom benq inf didnt work.. especially since I used the fujitsu INF as its basis.
You got the idea now though I think we can work it from here. I suggest downloading a compare tool (I use beyond compare) but winmerge is open source. Compare the fujitsu INF the one I made paying special attention to making sure new files like nvcuda32.dll & nvcuda64.dll are in the appropriate locations in the inf. Also pay attention to the files that are no longer in the package like nvcolor.exe and remove those lines. This is basically all it takes for a driver package like any of us who customize them do. I will also go back to the drawing board for you real quick with the fujitsu inf and do what I listed above, we will see who gets done first. Great to hear the progress though and that you are so close.

P.S.: Fujitsu INF (for tathlyn) with just the criticals (will need to be forced since the benQ identifier isnt in there like you have been)

 

I have tried, a lot. Did not work. Creating catalogs, merging inf etc. Messed up my system few times (could not start). Fortunately i made backup before
I will try again, but maybe weekend when i will have a little bit more time.

 

Hi Nautis, I noticed you had the new 32bit drivers on your site so I gave them a go. They installed perfectly on my Vaio Z with Windows 7 and a quick go on Mass Effect shows they quite stable. I'll let you know if I run into trouble but so far so good.

 

Thanks planto. I originally uploaded those for a vista 32bit BenQ S42 user but for some reason they don't work for him. One thing to note on both _TEST sets that are up is that they include a inf for compatibility. They basically use the same settings/configuration as the orginal INFs from Sony/Fujitsu/BenQ depending which notebook they are installed on. This means no Hybrid Power for us Vaio Z users with these drivers. I plan to have the option to install drivers using either compatibility/defaults or optimized. I am also looking at adding options for configuring Hybrid Power (automatic/manual[taskbar]/hard switch[off]) upon install.

 

Well thanks anyway, they do the job.

 

Other notebooks with switch graphics

old Toshiba X205 , old Xtreme Notebook Raptor 766X and some alienware m5550.
Old Asus U3 and new N10 series
ThinkPad T400, T500, R400, and W500

and of course Apple's Macbook Pro 15"

 

Can anyone point me to the latest Vaio Z hybrid graphics drivers for Vista 64-bit? I was looking at Sony's esupport drivers section for the Z590 ( http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNZ590&SelectOS=28) and the latest version they have is dated 09/03/2008, and none of the drivers listed specify any difference between x32 and x64 versions of vista (is that normal??).

I'm planning on doing a clean install of Vista Home Premium x64 when I get my Z590 and just want the most recent release that works without any major quirks (I'm guessing that Sorg's packages won't work for 64-bit since they're unsigned).

 

The latest official drivers from Sony for 64-Bit can be found here. As far as I know sorg never put out 64bit drivers, the ones you may be speaking of are the ones I put out. The 185.20/1637 64-bit drivers I put out are indeed unsigned and do take a lot of work to install (instructions can be found previously in this thread.)

 

AFAIK most of these are just standard NVIDIA SLI and not Hybrid Graphics in the same sense as the ones I listed. Hybrid Graphics uses both Intel and Nvidia GPUs and allows for switching on the fly without rebooting. Hybrid Graphics (a variant of Hybrid SLI) focuses on Hybrid Power to emphasize power saving (switching on/off the Nvidia GPU) rather than the traditional approach of using both GPUs for speed.

 

Did anyone think somewhere in the future there will be a modded driver that enables both gpu's at same time??

 

I doubt it would be worth having both GPUs enabled as the performance of the Intel GMA 4500MHD is lacking.

-

I have found more fun registry entries for our us.
If you add the string value "Whitelist" under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\Hybrid" you can add exceptions (executable filenames) that the drivers will ignore when switching. (Example Value: "msnmsgr.exe,Yahoomessenger.exe,PDVDDXSrv.exe,PDVDCinService.exe,PDVDOnService.exe,FAService.exe")

This should fix an annoyance that I know at least I have because I use Windows Live messenger. When I unplug power and Hybrid Power automatically switches to Stamina it would prompt me that I have to close msnmsgr.exe before it would switch. I would then have to close my IM and click save power before it would switch.

 

Latest x64 drivers from Nautis works fine on Windows Serveur 2k8 x64.

However you have to disable signed drivers at boot, press F8 then select boot with disable signed drivers.

Then it works like a charm.

 

Okay so I've been trying to keep up with this thread from the beginning but I have a HUGE test to study for in a couple days and just simply don't have to time. Can anybody give me (and anybody else who's reading this) a quick recap and any important links and instructions on what to do to restore the hybrid graphics (or at least the Nvidia ones) for Windows 7?

Sorry to be such a beggar, but it would really really help me out.

 

No worries it is my fault for being so slow on the updates and updating the main post. Which version of Windows 7? 32bit or 64bit?

New 64bit drivers coming soon.

 

64. I installed one of the packages (it was superrrrrr late last night/early this morning so I'm having a hard time remembering which one ), and now while I can now access both cards, it's only after restarting the computer. When I leave it on "Speed" mode I can't adjust the brightness either. When I tried to update automatically through the device manager it jacked up the resolution and pretty much ignored the NVidia card. I restored it and am just kind of here in graphical limbo.

Also, anyone have any ideas if this might have to do with the fact that my Disk Data Transfer Rate on the WEI is scoring a 1.9 after getting 4. something in Vista? It's a 5,400 RPM 320 gig drive, but it seems to me like it should be scoring much higher and that the issue might be driver related.

Thanks for any suggestions y'all might have.

 

rcast1986, You will need to re-install the 64bits Sony software back on to your machine. Don't rember which one but make sure it is the 64bit version of the software and it will correct your brightness and speed\stamina switch issue.

Your second issue also sounds like you need to install the 64bit Intel drivers for your motherboard.

Glad to see you got the x64 drivers working though.

 

Sweet, thanks for the heads up man. I'll take care of all that and see where that takes me.

 

Ughh, okay this is now beyond ridiculous. This has to be one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. I have wasted SO much time on trying to get this computer setup since getting it on Saturday with very little to no payoff. The end result is a brand new gorgeous notebook that can't use half of the features which were the reasons I got this particular one in the first place. The stamina/speed switch STILL doesn't work and I can only change between the two when I restart, and when I'm in Speed mode I STILL can't adjust the brightness. Fn Brightness keys STILL don't work, and I have no hope of getting the eject, S1, or S2 buttons to act right. On top of that the memory card/SD slot STILL doesn't show up under 'Computer' and the fingerprint reader might as well not exist.

Potpeye, which Sony software did you mean specifically? I tried to install all the ones I could find on the website (notebook utilities, event service, control center) to no avail. And I installed the motherboard Intel drivers but my score only moved up to 2.0. Basically, it did nothing.

HELP!!!

 

Hey Guys,

I have a benq s42 laptop. I want to put on vista x64. What is the recommended vista x64 hybrid drivers and where can i get this?
I dont care about having the latest driver. I just want a working set...

 

Rcast1986, you can get the drivers from http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNZ690&SelectOS=36

The mains fiels that you need to get those function working is

Sony Programmable I/O Control device Driver
Sony Firmware Extension parser
Sony Shared Library

If i was you i Installed all the drivers and fiels from that site cause they are official 64bit drivers for our notebook.

 

I wonder is anyone seeing similar behavoiur from their vaio z?

When I unlock my PC or it resumes from sleep (which requires an unlock) it sets 'boost performance' mode, rather than staying in 'save power' mode, which is where it was to start with. This isn't an issue on normal power, but on battery, it isn't the setting I want. I would prefer it didn't change at all, as the power state isn't changing to or from battery.

Any ideas?

Gibbo

 

I am using Vista Business 64 bit.

I did not see any mention of the 64bit drivers in the first post.

Can I check if you have fixed the setup program? Or if you can provide the steps to manually install the driver?

 

Sorry for taking so long to respond Gibbo. It sounds like automatic hybrid power switching is taking over. Not sure which version of the drivers you are using but here is a .reg download that you can import into your registry that should turn that off.

Due to the nature of how Vista 64bit works it takes a work around in order to get unofficial/unsigned 64bit drivers to work correctly. For this reason I only recommend them to people who absolutely want the latest & greatest. The workaround basically puts Vista in driver testing mode. There are some fantastic instructions at the bottom of the first post here to get the drivers working if you still wanted to try. NOTE: The 64bit drivers linked there are from an old test package I was working on I can not guarantee they work 100%. I recommend waiting until I post new ones later (see below) if you want the very latest drivers available.

-

I am extremely behind in updating the first post and releasing the latest drivers. I wanted to formally apologize to everyone. There isn't really all that much new on the hybrid graphics front so I haven't been in too much of a hurry to update everyone. You all deserve better so I will try to release at least a couple new basic packages in a few hours (Vaio Z only.) The drivers for 64bit users will be an all new pack 185.26/1659 and for 32bit users only the Intel drivers will be new 185.20/1659.

 

has anyone contacted nvidia about releasing an official driver for hybrid? considering it is their design....

 

Gibbz, These are all technically nvidias drivers as they are the ones who program and release them to each company. The only real thing people like myself, Dox, etc. do is adjust settings and things through the INF. The INF (or Install Information file) basically just identifies the card and installs the files and settings specific to that card.

More to the point, it looks like nvidia plans to support us (somehow) in the future as if you go to the page with the latest notebook drivers here and look at the products supported tab it says the following:
1. BenQ Joybook S42 (will be supported in an upcoming release)
4. Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Xi 3650 (will be supported in an upcoming release)

Both of which are Hybrid Graphics notebooks which means us Vaio Z users should be able to use them also.

I am not exactly sure how they plan to do this as Hybrid Graphics drivers contain both Intel and Nvidia drivers that install at the same time. If they separate the drivers the Intel portion of it likes to complain a bit.

 

No hurry, take your time.

I was just asking as the information in this thread has become spread out about the 20 pages and I thought I may have missed it.

Just want to say that I appreciate the extra effort you are making to help out other Sony Z users. Thank you soooo much!

 

I have tried the 64bit fujitsu 185.26 vista64 with no luck. They install but after reboot it still only shows the intel video card with driver, and the nvidia as a vga card with the yellow ! icon... Any suggestions what to try next on my benq s42?

 

I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with the s42. Have you tried contacting BenQ's technical support to request them?

 

Well here they are:

UNOFFICIAL! USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
64 Bit | VaioZ - 185.26 Nvidia | 1659 Intel | Packaged By: Nautis
You can find help with Vista/W7 64Bit test mode/driver signing here [Potpeye], here [Utility], or here [Ramalama].

32 Bit | VaioZ - 185.20 Nvidia | 1659 Intel | Packaged By: Nautis

Automatic switching is disabled by default. Both driver sets have Hybrid Power UI enabled. As always, report problems if you run into any.

Note: I will post this to the front post soon.

Yeah, that is extremely strange, I wonder what is different with the BenQ. I will have to look into this more. The official BenQ drivers really are not any different that I can see than the Sony or Fujitsu so I would assume 64bit would be the same. I will message you in a bit here with a few things to try. We will figure it out.