Sony Z11 - NVIDIA Optimus

But let's say this thing does work. What happens to the 3-way switch. Power would be Nvidia card, Stamina would be Intel and the power would let the drivers choose? Is this correct?

If thats the case, that would be simply great.

 

You want the switch to remain in the intel gfx mode (Stamina). Optimus will engage the NVidia gfx when it needs it and use the intel gfx to render to the LCD.

 

With Optimus the switch is completely disabled.

In theory I would assume the switch could be mapped to speed forcing the Nvidia GPU on, stamina forcing Nvidia GPU off and auto using standard Optimus. That is really just a theory though. First we would need to get Optimus working properly, then we would need to figure out a way to force the Nvidia GPU on and off, finally we would need to figure out a way to hack/map the switch. All this may happen, but only after we discover unicorns.

Forcing the Nvidia GPU on or off is one of the most requested for Optimus. People assume Optimus can do manual switching like Hybrid Graphics when it really can't. Making the Nvidia GPU configurable on/off would be the closest thing to switching that is possible.

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I have been looking into Optimus a bit more and to update the information that was posted.

nvinit.dll = Nvidia Shim Initialization
nvdet.dll = Detours Package
nvd3d9wrap.dll = D3D Shim Driver
nvdxgiwrap.dll = D3D Shim Driver
nvumdshim.dll = D3D Shim Driver

They are the same on 64bit with x after the name.

"Detours is a library for instrumenting arbitrary Win32 functions on x86, x64, and IA64 machines. Detours intercepts Win32 functions by re-writing the in-memory code for target functions. The Detours package also contains utilities to attach arbitrary DLLs and data segments (called payloads) to any Win32 binary." - Microsoft Research

"In computer programming, a shim is a small library that transparently intercepts an API, changing the parameters passed, handling the operation itself, or redirecting the operation elsewhere." - Wikipedia

nvdet.dll gets renamed to detours.dll upon installing.
"If you distribute programs which use Detours, you must also distribute a copy of DETOURED.DLL, which is required for your program to execute.
DETOURED.DLL is built when you build the libraries." and more info - coderrr

 

Forcing the GPU on and off can be done with "r-w everything" or baredit performing the equivalent PCI write as explained here. If switching the NVidia GPU off then ensure it's been disabled in Device Manager first.

However for Optimus to engage I believe both the IGP and NVidia gpu must be enabled on Win7 startup. If the NVidia gpu isn't enabled by the bios, then can enable it pre-boot using the DIY ViDock Setup 1.x software as linked.

This also begs the question.. can we enable+configure a dormant X4500 or HD graphics on systems with dedicated NVidia graphics and then start Win7 with Optimus active? Ie: does the IGP (8086:2a42 or 8086:0046) need to be scanned on the PCI bus for Optimus to engage? It may make no sense to do so other than the potential for some performance improvements like shown in the DIY ViDock thread AND to prove a point as to what conditions need to be met to engage Optimus.

 

In that case isn't the VAIO Z 3-way better? Cause you can set it to use the video card you want.

What would be perfect is this:
Staminsa=only Intel
Speed+Only Nvidia
Auto=Optimus chooses based on the task.

But the more I think about it, the more I see that optimus just means less controll. Am I missing something?

 

Indeed. I was a bit vague in my explanation, I meant in the context of Optimus. On = Nvidia GPU being used to render everything it is capable of. Off = Intel GPU is the only one used for everything. I guess if the Nvidia GPU is disabled it ant really be used can it. So the question is, if the Nvidia GPU is disabled or missing on an Optimus system how do the drivers handle it? The only thing left to figure out would be a global/forced use nvidia for everything setting with Optimus.

AFAIK this is correct. Both IGP ans dGPU must be detectable by Win7 on startup in order for Optimus to function. It would be a great thing for notebooks, desktops not so much. For something like ViDock it basically makes Optimus an upgrade option on notebooks that don't already have it or Hybrid Graphics.

I guess we need to probe some people who have actual Optimus notebooks for some real answers on how it works. I wonder more and more about the power issues and why it doesn't seem to be working correctly.

 

the big win in making them work wouldn't so much be optimus (IMO) but the fact that we'd have much more up to date drivers.

 

Exactly, for stability and performance.

 

Crossing fingers on working updated Hybrid Graphics drivers soon for the VPCZ11/12. With the latest Intel update they might just work. Now if only I can finish them.

Not only updated drivers but easier to update drivers. In most cases the INF mod process for Optimus is just a couple of lines. For Hybrid Graphics it is two complete driver packages, two additional files, and numerous lines in the INF.

 

Hmm.. watch this video and jump to 3:40. Optimus with a switch to turn it off and an indicator led. Wee.

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From the Cuda Developers Guide for Optimus Platforms

 

That actually looks pretty cool xD

 

This is really disconcerting, I mean I cant understand why Sony wont update the 330m driver honestly if I knew this going in, I may have a different opinion with regards to this purchase.

 

You almost don't notice it during most real life performance test i did. Did a install of 258.96 drivers, but it got 99% the same performance as 188.80/189.92 did (With CoD4, CoD6, UT3 and Dirt 2).

 

I have GT130M GPU... It isn't on nVidia's Optimus' compatibility listing... Can I still use/install it without any issue??

 

No, i though only the GT3xx and GT4xx had optimus support.

 

I have uploaded INFs for 259.12 and 258.96 (slightly updated with fixes for 64bit). I have also linked the driver downloads from LaptopVideo2Go below. The drivers from LV2G are just the basic driver without HD Audio or PhysX. I have added a link to download and install PhysX below. I am working now on updating/uploading full 259.12 and 258.96 packages now.

Make sure to check if there are any issues with Video Decoding on the 64bit drivers as I have adjusted the settings for it.

Universal Optimus - USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

259.12
-32bit - Drivers
-64bit - Drivers
Universal Optimus INFs for 259.12 [Contains both 32bit and 64bit INFs, use the one for your version of windows 7]
Note: Still in testing. Wont work 100% overlay and powerdown bugs still present, others may be too.

258.69
-32bit - Drivers
-64bit - Drivers
Universal Optimus INFs (V2) for 258.96 [Contains both 32bit and 64bit INFs, use the one for your version of windows 7]
Note: Still in testing. Wont work 100% overlay and powerdown bugs still present, others may be too.

I also recommend downloading PhysX 9.10.0224 and installing it as it has foxes for working with Optimus properly.

Loose Instructions
Click the Drivers link of the version you want to try above.
When at LV2G choose the "Click here to download the requested driver." link to download the driver.
Download the INF package of the same version drivers you just downloaded. (Note: The INF packages include both 32bit and 64bit INFs.)
Extract the Drivers and INF package.
Delete all original INFs from the driver folder.
Copy the Universal Optimus INF (the one from the folder that matches the driver you downloaded either 32bit or 64bit) to the driver folder you just deleted the other INFs from.
Install the Drivers.
Install PhysX.

 

nautis I appreciate your efforts but I don't see the point in updating since it's useless with the overlay?

 

These packages are a bit different they are meant to cover all Optimus/Optimus capable notebooks. There are official Optimus notebooks that Nvidia does not include in Verde and projects like ViDock and my 'Optimus on Hybrid Graphics' which cover many more systems than just the Vaio Z.

I continue to update for the people who are working on getting the overlay removed and Optimus fully working. Optimus is extremely easy to mod for.

AFAIK the overlay does not appear if an external monitor is plugged in to the notebook. This mixed with the fact that the overlay is not due to the multiplexer makes me wonder. There doesn't seem to be any extra hardware for Optimus which seems to make it an issue of either:
1.) something in the vbios
2.) some form of hardware id detection in the drivers
3.) something to do with the fact that the nvidia gpu is connected to outputs while with optimus it isn't

Anyone have any other ideas?

 

Just a report

258.96 optimus - couldn't get it to work correctly
259.12 optimus - works great, brightness control, properly switches to nvidia (and back) according to optimustool. All there is left is the Optimus ''overlay''

And a major issue (for me) HDMI not working since it doesn't know it should switch to nvidia to use it.

 

Not sure why 258.96 will not work correctly for you, the INF is essentially the same on both 258.96 and 259.12.

Hmm.. HDMI on the Z is only hooked up to the Nvidia GPU AFAIK. Since Optimus outputs using the Intel GPU I guess the HDMI connection is disabled. Let me look at some things and see if there is anything that jumps out.

Thanks for testing btw.

 

anyone tried to dump the bios to see whether the overlay is actually from nvidia bios? or something that read the bios code to make it overlay...

 

nautis discovered that nvapi64.dll (64-bit) and nvapi.dll (32-bit) contains some PCI IDS which appear to be the basis for Optimus switching on. Unfortunately replacing 8086:2a42 (4500MHD) with 8086:2a02 (X3100) did not switch on Optimus in my X3100+GTX470 setup even though it works with the 4500MHD+GTX470 setup OK.

Code:

0018a7c0h: D8 00 00 00 CD CC 8C 3F 86 80 42 2A 00 00 00 00 ; Ø...ÍÌŒ?†€B*....
0018a7d0h: 86 80 42 00 00 00 00 00 86 80 46 00 00 00 00 00 ; †€B.....†€F.....
0018a7e0h: 86 80 72 27 00 00 00 00 86 80 AE 27 00 00 00 00 ; †€r'....†€®'....
0018a7f0h: 86 80 01 40 00 00 00 00 86 80 11 A0 00 00 00 00 ; †€.@....†€.....

8086:2a42 - Intel 4500MHD IGP
8086:0042 - Intel 945GM/Clarksdale IGP
8086:0046 - Intel HD IGP
8086:2772 - Intel 82945G/GZ IGP
8086:27AE - Intel 945GME IGP
8086:4001 - Intel memory controller hub
8086:A011 - Intel GMA3150 (Pine Trail) IGP

Code:

00195030h: 56 45 4E 5F 38 30 38 36 26 44 45 56 5F 30 30 34 ; VEN_8086&DEV_004
00195040h: 36 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 56 45 4E 5F 38 30 38 36 ; 6.......VEN_8086
00195050h: 26 44 45 56 5F 32 41 34 32 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ; &DEV_2A42.......

nvcpl.dll contains entry "NvCplSetOptimusOverlayRegistry" which I predict is the watermark feature that is being seen. "NvCplApiIsIntelHybrid" probably switches on the Optimus??

 

Did you patch your 'live' driver? Then maybe the unmodified version has been restored from driver cache. I think it has to be patched before installation, then probably resigned and installed.

 

i am not talking about the .dll file, i am thinking about modifying the bios.

 

Cool find! It would be interesting to see if hacking the .DLL file could force Optimus support on a non-Intel IGP/GPU....

 

I downloaded the GenL 1.04ff hybrid Physx patch. It enables hardware PhysX support for NVIDIA GPU when non-NVIDIA GPU is used as a primary display.

Still wasn't able to get Optimus enhancements activated using my X3100+GTX470 setup on my 2510P but at least it's clear that PCI IDs are being used to filter out functions.

I'm wondering if we could recruit GenL to do some hacking of the Optimus drivers for us?

More info

Found registry keys which appear with the Optimus enhancements in red below.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\CoprocManager]
"OptimusEnhancements"=dword:00000001
"ShowContextMenu"=dword:00000001
"ChipsetMatchID"="80862A40102802CF"
"CoprocFlags"=hex:19,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
"AutoDownload"=dword:00000001
"DisplayName"="C:\\Windows\\system32\\NV\\igdumd64.dll"
"OtherDriverDate"="5-6-2009"

Two additional files are loaded into c:\windows\system32\NV when the Optimus enhancements are activated.

* igdumd64.dll
* igd10umd64.dll

These are about 500KB in size and NOT the same as the ones loaded in c:\windows\system32 which are used by the Intel IGP. It looks like the Installer must do checks for an Optimus-certified system and only then load these files. So if retrofitting this solution it looks like these files would need to be manually copied from a certified solution setup.

The ChipsetMatchID above matches the Inspiron 1440's PCI Bridge device (8086:2a40), with subvendor ID 1028.

 

great idea.

 

Have same solution for my Z114GX/S ?
I dont know my Z114GX is Z1 or Z11
Regards

 

@luxubu : Z1 is the first vaio Z. Yours is Z11, wich is similar to Z12 and is also reffered as VPC-Z.

Every research made in this topic concern your vaio too.

 

Anyone knows if can i put Optimus in VPCF series ?

 

@donis: How would you do that? The F only has one GPU build in.

 

thanks for your reply. I have tried but unable to install NVIDIA driver (its said that not found the hardware...).
Can anyone let me know to install Optimus on my Z114GX/S ?
Thanks

 

You can find some instructions on the first page of this thread, but I don't know is this page is up to date, if not, newers instructions could be found in the later pages of this thread. I think you didn't st your switch on "speed" before your test, that should explain the error "hardware not found".

 

I have tried

but failed while trying to install Nvidia drivers

 

Has anyone tried to uncheck the Show Optimus Overlay in the NVIDIA Optimus GPU State Viewer to get rid of the watermark?

 

As shown in this post from Nautis, this "show optimus overlay" is unchecked. I don't know if it is the same overlay that the one we care about, but it is true that learning the way the Optimus State Viewer can show/hide an optimus overlay may bring interesting data on this problem.

 

I do not understand why people want the nvidia optimus on the Vaio!!! Go read the alienware m11x forum... it is NOTHING but problems, trust me...

 

Actually, the best would be : hybrid graphics + optimus when switch to "Auto".
But this will not be achieved latest drivers do not work properly as hybrid graphics AND optimus is not working properly...

 

Crus-T yeah in an ideal world it would be like that. But for now, Hybrid is way better than optimus.

 

I agree with you, but research have to explore every ways, and optimus is the only one that allow to use 25X.XX drivers branch right now. As some people have to use it for CUDA latest version or something like that, it is necessary.

And noboody knows, if optimus get better in the future we'll be happy to use thanks to the great job done here.

 

thats the spirit!

 

@ Nautis
I'm wondering is there any progress on 260.xx series? I'm looking forward to put my hands on cuda 3.2 on sony z11 and THANK YOU for your continuous efforts in bringing us the latest drivers!

 

i am not nautis but i can tell you that the optimus didn't change at all, as for hybrid graphic, cuda will work only if you boot it speed mode and never change to stamina.

 

Does anyone know the latest status of the optimus driver for the VPC-Z1?

I hope to see an optimus driver that can
- force using the intel GPU when in stamina mode
- force using the nvidia GPU when in speed mode
- the general optimus style of gpu swtiching when in auto mode
- fully functional brightness button/hdmi/etc..?

could anyone tell me how far are we at the moment?

thanks!!

 

Some things you're saying here aren't possible. You want to combine both Hybrid + Optimus, and that's not precisely how Optimus was made .
Forcing in specific modes (aka the triangle switch) is an Hybrid Graphics ''thing'' not an Optimus ''thing". Optimus was made so you don't have to use a switch, aka the computer does it for you. So as you might see, they work against eachother.

2nd, you can force a specific graphics card standard using Optimus, which you most likely want (aka always intel, expect gaming nvidia) although not using the switch, which should ALWAYS be in speed mode, else optimus won't even work on the Z.

And last but not least; there is the Watermarking/overlay issue, which displays an ''optimus confidential'' text on the top of the screen, which we can't seem to be able to turn off.

Brightness and all works just fine.

 

Thanks for the details
Actually does optimis consumes more power compare to sony's solution?

Since both intel and nvidia GPU must be on when
Using nvidia's GPU to process

 

Quick question:

My drivers for my Z12 are on 190.24. Is it up to date?

 

Check the Sony site for the latest. There is only one version, but the beta drivers seem to be working for me quite well.

In other news, I received my GTX 580 yesterday. Crazy fast card and a suitable replacement for my GTX 295.

 

Sounds like the biggest electricity consuming device on the planet hehe

 

In Sony's implementation the Intel graphics are always powered/enabled as well...even when using the nvidia card. The Intel chip "owns" the backlight control in DSDT.