Vaio Z Inf-Modded Driver Collection?

Just curious, is there a collection of inf-modded driver for the i5/i7 Vaio Z somewhere? I selected Static switching from the modded BIOS, and would like to have the latest Nvidia driver, if somebody can mod it, similar to the 270.61 version that computercowboy did. Thanks!

 

Download 275.27 beta driver for notebooks here: NVIDIA DRIVERS 275.27 BETA, replace nvam.inf in Display.Driver directory with attached file and enjoy.

Features:
- Brightness control support
- Optimus enabled for dynamic switching (and users w/o BIOS hack)

Please give feedback if this works for you, for me this driver rocks.

 

I can confirm the driver doesn't work without BIOS hack so now my Z is all messed up because the original driver doesn't want to install and i made a full uninstall from device manager result..nothing,anyway i'm waiting for a full working driver which doesn't need the BIOS hack hope one will be posted here soon

 

Works fine for me in optimus. In fact works great! Ran Shogun 2 with much smoother FPS.

 

Profy_X, read that (!):

This driver is NO hybrid driver and works only w/ optimus (no BIOS hack required but issues - see http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/469747-sony-z11-nvidia-optimus-43.html) or w/ BIOS hack and switch set to speed mode. Latter is the best option if you want to get everything out of your Z - and taking into account that this doesn't have power consumption nor HDMI bug.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I also enabled brightness controls (available through Fn+F5/F6 or in Windows power management) in the driver for both running in Optimus and static SPEED mode.

 

Works fine for me too, except for the known issues.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...vaio-z-s-hybrid-graphics-289.html#post7531016

LOL pyr0; beat me to it!

 

So i can use that driver with my VGN-Z21 model?

 

If you are willing to run in Optimus mode (automatic switching of graphics adapter based on applications list downloaded from nvidia) and don't mind the known issues (higher power consumption, no HDMI, no auto brightness control), then yes. Instructions are in the thread linked above.

Save the inf from your current (working) driver for reference, in case the modded inf doesn't work for you and you have to do it yourself.

 

This is suitable for the VPC-Z1x only, you can add two lines with your hardware IDs to it tho and make it work with your laptop as well.

 

I have a VPC Z13 with no BIOS hack and after install it gives me error 43 in the device manager so i have no idea how to make it work or what have i done wrong i had install it with graphic mode on speed...

 

Did you uninstall the old drivers first and run driver sweeper or NFR? You have to have both adapters showing VGA after rebooting; then install the new drivers and reboot. Suggest you stay disconnected from the net while you are doing all this so Windows doesn't try to be 'helpful' and look for drivers on its own.

 

Yes, correct.
1. Deinstall all old drivers first and use Driver Sweeper if something remains in your system
2. Reboot
3. Windows detects 2 Generic VGA Display Adapters and installs drivers. Avoid Windoze surfing around on Windoze Update.
4. Install Intel HD Graphics drivers
5. Reboot
6. Intel should show up in device manager, desktop should show in your native resolution. Now install NVidia driver package with supplied inf file (see instructions above).
7. Reboot
8. Check device manager, both cards should be there and you should be able to access both Intel HD Graphics and NVidia control panels from your desktop. Go to NVidia control panel and activate GPU stuff in menu Desktop. You should now be able to use your optimus setup.

Sidenotes: If anything goes wrong, try running those setup applications with admin privileges. Deactivate UAC. If all that fails, get some computer geek and buy this.

 

Pyr0, can you direct me/give me instructions on installing the bios hack with the new 275 drivers?

I was combing through threads last night but I couldn't find exact instructions.
I would prefer the bios hack because I want hdmi and I also want the latest drivers. Thanks

-----------------------

Nevermind, I figured it out. Used the Insyde Hacking thread and all is good now.
Thanks.

 

I have done with the procedure you've given but the same problem error code 43 in device manager but next week i will try to reinstall the OS again and see if it works after.i had tried at least 5 times and the same thing.
PS:I installed the nVidia driver with setup and not by device manager,i will try also to install by device manager to see if it works

 

1. The WHQL driver is out. Use that instead of the beta version.
http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/28456-v27527-windows-7vista-64bit-nvidia-oem-mobile/

2. Delete the other infs in the 'display.driver' folder. If the installer finds a better match for your hardware in one of the other infs, it will use that instead.

3. Are you sure the modded inf (nvam.inf) is correctly modded for your system? This is the one I made for my system (VPCZ115GG). Note the section number - Section057.

4. Check the inf of the previous modded driver which worked. See which other models share the same section number (will be different), and then look in the current inf to see which section these devices are using now, and change your device's section number accordingly.

 

No i don't have a Z11 i have a Z13..if someone could help me by posting a modded inf for Z13 please

 

Oh dear, there is NO difference between Z13 and Z11 - at least when it comes to the GPU stuff!

Dude, please dont get me wrong, but why don't you just get someone who can do that for you? You obviously don't know what you are doing at all, do you?

 

Hey it's not the first time that i installed a driver on a notebook/PC it's just that it doesn't work for me an that's all

 

1. Which driver are you trying to install? Post link to download page. If in doubt, download it again. Remember, there are several flavours. Only the oem mobile 64 bit version will work for you.

2. Which inf are you using it with? Post link to download page. I notice you still haven't downloaded the inf that I posted.

3. It is a common mistake that after putting the modded inf in the display.driver folder, people try to run the setup that is in that folder. That is incorrect. Go back/up to the main folder and run the setup file there.

 

With the new .inf that you last post here and the WHQL driver it works like a charm!+1 reputation
note:I did a fresh install of windows and drivers so maybe this influenced the drivers also,it's good that works

 

Great! Glad you got it working.

Note that there are known issues, (which are because we are running optimus on hybrid graphics), like increased power consumption (means lower battery life) and no or poor HDMI support. People are trying to fix those - stay tuned.

People are also trying to make a hybrid drivers package with 275.27. If that works, then these problems will go away.

 

Super late response, but thanks pyr0. Just what I need
Driver is installed just fine, and yes, you do need modded BIOS, and enable static switching (vs. dynamic switching). This means that if you need to switch graphic processor, you need to restart your computer. A little hassle to enable you to use the latest and greatest.

 

Your brightness function keys working? Mine aren't on the latest drivers w/ static switching.

 

Yup, Fn+F5 and Fn+F6 work fine.

 

Ok, i'll uninstall and driver sweep and reinstall. See if that helps.

 

Pyr0 , any ideas why brightness controls don't work in Speed Mode? I driver swept, reinstalled and included the inf that anytimer posted but no dice.

Any suggestions?

 

I can't support anytimer's driver mod any further, but I saw that he did not add brightness support in his inf file. Just give my nvam.inf a try: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/580835-vaio-z-inf-modded-driver-collection.html#post7524998?

Brightness does work with that one, tested with a Z11 and a Z13. BTW: The driver anytimer suggested is the same 257.27 beta driver as on NVIDIA website - no WHQL.

 

Seems you guys are running with modded BIOS. I'm not. Not sure what brightness support you are referring to. On my system Fn+F5 and Fn+F6 are the function keys used to change brightness. They work just fine, both when the Intel HD graphics is on and when nVidia GT 330M is on. The part that is not working is the automatic brightness control in which a light sensor measures the ambient light and adjusts brightness accordingly.

 

When you run optimus, intel outputs to the screen and nvidia just renders and copies into intels framebuffer when activated. (Thats why also hdmi doed not work with optimus since it is connected to the 330 only.) So your brightness contols are only done throigh the intel driver which works fine out of the box. When you have static mode activated in hacked bios and running 330m only, brightness controls do only work with an additional registry key which I also added to my provided inf. This key is missing in your inf thats why it doesnt work for mfpreach. All optimus only users are not affected. I prefer this kind of setup because with a single change in bios setup i can select my optimus or single gpu whenever i need it.

 

Thanks pyr0, it works now.

 

Great, have fun with that!

 

Hey guys,

I've been just reading through this thread and I really sounds nice!
However, before I'll try this on my Z13 (BIOS not hacked) I got some questions left:
- How much shorter battery life are we talking about?
- Will the ambient light sensor work?
- Does the DVI port (docking station) work?

thanks!

silent

 

Z13 (BIOS not hacked):
- How much shorter battery life are we talking about? About half.
- Will the ambient light sensor work? Yes, but only the keyboard will light up when it is dark; no automatic screen brightness change.
- Does the DVI port (docking station) work? Don't have one; can't say.

 

Thank you for these very helpfull answers. As I got no backlit keyboard and battery life is quite important to me, I think I won't do this though :/

 

Instead of Optimus drivers, why not go with the latest stable hybrid drivers prepared by Andrew08? Nvidia 26314 - Intel 2266 signed. Streets better than the stock drivers that your laptop came with.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...vaio-z-s-hybrid-graphics-252.html#post7176699

 

good idea, thanks. Works fine so far - though Windows still warns that the drivers are unsigned. But I dont see any problem with that?!

 

Nope, no problem. The modded inf isn't signed (its been modded!) but the driver files themselves are.

 

Here's a question for the ignorant, idiots on this thread...what is broken with the stock drivers that this hack is trying to fix? Other than screwing up the HDMI output and, possibly, the screen brightness controls, what advantages are there to performing these changes? I don't think Optimus adds any real value to the experience, so it that's the only noticeable change, I'm inclined to stick with stock drivers. But I am a relative plebian when it comes to these matters so, if you would be so kind, please state in English, why one should bother tampering with the drivers as described in this thread? Thanks.

 

Sony's official drivers are old. If you want to use Cuda stuff or play games, newer drivers give you better performance and/or functionality and stability. Functionality-wise the bios hack approach with native intel/nvidia drivers is superior. Optimus is an option with flaws (mostly due to sony's implementation of the hybrid system instead of a real optimus system) because there seems to be no support for hybrid in newer drivers anymore. There is no thing like losing functionality like HDMI with drivers discussed in this thread (with native driver and bios hack) - it is just not discovered good enough yet how we can resolve optimus issues. If we could resolve those issues, an optimus system on a z would be far better than those old, stock drivers that don't get updated by sony anymore. Atm, all this optimus stuff is a work in progress, with some issues, concept as is is working well. If you dont worry about doing the bios hack, you can just use native drivers and they run really great. If you dont do anything except office and web browsing, youll be fine with sonys drivers.

 

Thanks. I don't really game much, but I do use other programs that make use of the gpu, including video streaming/encoding. Are there any updated Sony/Nvidia drivers beyond what are found on the Z11 driver page, as there are for other drivers, useful updates for which are found on the Z13 driver pages? Is is just me, or is this an entirely fxxed way to keep drivers updated? I have never ever seen such a convulted way to update drivers in a mainstream product.

 

I really like nVidia 3D Vision, and soon I'll also be using 3DTVPlay, you can't do that with the stock drivers... you can do it with the community hybrid drivers, but like pyr0 said the best bet for performance and features working perfectly is the BIOS hack + the official nVidia drivers.

With 3DVision they continue to add support for more programs and displays with every release.

@pyr0: I've messed with CUDA encoding a little bit, but I don't get the results that I get with x624, can you suggest some software for CUDA h.264 encoding that works well and supports AVISynth?

 

Hello pyr0,

could you provide us the registry keys that have to be changed to get the brightness control working?

I´ve made the bios hack and installed the Nvidia drivers 285.62 for 3DVision and 3DTVPlay on my Vaio Z13. With ComputerCowboy`s patch that works now but without brightness control via function keys in speed mode. I could not use your inf because of the different driver versions. I´ve tried to find out the difference between your inf and a standard inf from Nvidia, but changing the values to yours didn´t make brightness control avaiable.

It would be cool if you coud help me with the registry edit to get the brightness function keys working with the latest Nvidia drivers.

Thanks in advance
Jpcony


edit:
Just found the other thread "Latest VPC-Z1/330M Drivers for the BIOS Hack People" where the solution is explained. Thanks to everybody working on this solution, now I´m on 295.51 with working brightness control and 3DTVPlay on my 65" plasma with the Z13.
I had to add the hardware ID line (copied from the patcher-changed nvszc.inf, thanks ComputerCowboy) manually to nvam.inf to get the link to the correct Section where the brightness line was added before (the explanation from Nautis about the structure of the inf was very helpful to find the correct relationships). Now everything is working (despite automatic brightness control via light sensor).
Thanks a lot!