Vaio Z11 Windows 8 Graphics Issue

I recently upgraded my Vaio Z11 from Windows 7 to 8, and though I'm generally satisfied, there have been several issues with the transition. The big one is that Windows 8 doesn't seem to see the second graphics card, the Nvidia 330M. I know that there are several driver packages floating around to solve the GPU issue, but I haven't been successful in installing them, I believe because Windows 8 simply doesn't recognize that the second graphics card exists.

When I go to Device Manager -> Display Adapters, I see "Intel(R) Display Graphics" and "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter". I don't see any other category where I can find the GPU, though there is an "Unknown Device" under "Other Devices" that might be it.

What steps would I take to get the second GPU working? It's not a huge deal for me, but I occasionally do game, and I'd like to get the second GPU working.

Thanks.

 

i suggest you to install Andrew's driver package. put the switch on auto so it can work, and don't forget to disable driver signature enforcement, if not the installation process will always fail (charms bar settings > change pc settings > general (scroll down) > advanced restart (restart now) > troubleshoot > advanced options > startup settings > restart) if everything is right you will be welcomed with a menu after restart and you just need to type F7 to disable the driver signature enforcement. once the pc boot, install the driver ( custom install > perform clean install) and you should be OK. Make sure you uninstall previous driver and if you check device setting it should say "microsoft generic display adapter" or something similar, i can't recall

Another thing you should keep in mind is that after a restart, your screen might turn totally black after the windows logo shows up, don't panic, just shutdown and turn the pc on again and all should be fine. Just make sure fast startup is enabled ( power option > choose what closing the lid does > change settings that are currently unavailable > check fast startup) it should be checked by default though, and make sure to use the power button on the pc to shutdown.

Here is the link to Andrew's driver Nvidia 26314 - Intel 2281 signed: http://forum.notebookreview.com/att...cs-nvidia-26314-intel-2266-signed-4shared.txt
link is in the txt file


Another solution if you don't need both card is to hack the bios and use only static, you can read more about it here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/602497-latest-vpc-z1-330m-drivers-bios-hack-people.html

it's a great solution and battery drain is not that high with only the nvidia card working, but there is the advantage of having the latest driver, drawback is the need to switch manually and restart to use the other card, also the loss of fn+F5/F6 on the nvidia card (i posted a little program on that thread to use Win+F5/F6 as an alternative)

 

Thank you very much! I'd looked around for a guide like this, but didn't find something this detailed. It seems to require a restart to work, but that's but a minor inconvenience.

I'll just throw another issue at you, since you may know: I used to use extensively the middle additional button (between assist and VAIO) for hardware throttling - I'd press, and the computer would alternate between "silent", "balanced" and "power" (or something like that). Silent was particularly useful in class, for instance. Would it be possible to get this functionality back?

 

Glad i could help you, for the middle button, you definitely can use it, just make sure you install sony notebook utilities (if you didn't already), which includes control center and event service. If you haven't done it yet, follow this order to install sony's software

Sony Firmware Extension Parser Device
Sony Shared Library
Sony Notebook utilities
Intel Management
Vaio MetaData

you can find those software here: Sony eSupport - VPCZ112GX - Support

if all is fine, you should get back all the functions you use, i guess only the vaio button won't unless you install media gallery, otherwise you can find a hack in the forum that let's you use it with any application you want.

Just in case, if you want the touchpad to have all Windows 8 gesture, install the latest synaptics driver and patch it with this registry file: left_fix.reg

After a restart and another shutdown (if the screen blacks out) you should have left edge swipe in addition to top/right edge swipe which is already working