Z1 + ViDock + GTX 570 > FTW (the Z2/PMD killer)

Sorry I didn't see this sooner. You need to switch the tri-switch to stamina before you power up.

Then just install the new 280.26 Drivers
My modded 330M drivers won't help with your GTX570

 

no need to say sorry dude, I'm quite nervous about whether all the expense will actually pay off! so very grateful for any help ;o)

When booting on stamina, and then trying to install the new 280.26 Drivers from your link I get a "NVIDEA installer cannot continue. The graphics driver could not be loaded" error. The only time I got the 280.26 drivers to get past that error was running your .inf modifying c# program (ran it via VS2010)

 

Which graphics adapters do you see in device manager?

 

Intel HD Graphics 8.15.10.2302

 

Uninstall all graphics drivers from programs and features in the control panel, unintalll all drivers from the device manager. Get it all cleaned up then boot in stamina mode with the ViDock plugged in at boot, try to install the latest nVidia drivers first.

Basically see if you can install it from scratch. When you uninstall from the device manager check the "delete drivers for this device" option if there is one.

Someone else was having a problem with the latest 280.26 drivers also and uninstalling all drivers seemed to clear it up. Once you get the nVidia drivers installed try installing the latest Intel drivers

Once you have the ViDock working and the Intel HD graphics working, you can boot in speed with the ViDock unplugged and install my 280.26 driver pack for the 330M

 

Following the steps but unable to install the latest nVidia drivers. Get the same error, it's twisting my melons, and 5am here, so will get a couple of hours in the sack and try again after later. ;o) Cheers guys

 

Is the nVidia card properly seated in the ViDock? Do you have the 4+ version? If so do you have all the power plugs (three of them) plugged in?

 

ComputerCowboy, you hit the nail on the head ya legend! Was an issue with one of the connections! ;O)

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I'm glad it worked. When I heard the break down of what was wrong I knew it had to be some sort of connection issue, it will work if it can connect.

Looks like I need to get my processor upgraded to a 640M to boost my score just a little bit more. I just upgraded my SSDs to 512GB Crucial C300 and boosted my Disk score to 7.9

 

One thing that does not work is a reboot. Have removed both jumpers for 8 sec delay, but don't hear any delay, still get a black screen on boot with the vidock plugged in. Have to cold boot then plug to get it to work. Not the end of the world.

dell u3011 x 2 are being delivered in the morning. wonder if the setup can drive both + a dell 24" 1900x1200 as well.....

 

The GTX 570 can drive only two displays. There was some discussion a few pages back about some special GeForce cards that could drive three displays... but they couldn't do dual WQXGA and another display.

You could run in speed mode and have the ViDock attached which would allow you to run your 1920x1200 monitor off the laptop HDMI port or the Docking station's DVI port... but your performance would be poor if you use the 330M and the ViDock at the same time. I am all for excess... but I think you will be fine with Dual WQXGA U3011s

 

That is super strange, I can reboot no problem. You are running the BIOS hack with static VGA and stamina mode right?

 

I'm a bit hazy on this rebooting thing (I don't have a ViDock). Does it entail power cycling the ViDock?

 

No, I don't have to power cycle the ViDock ever, it turns on when the computer turns on. If I reboot it powers off then back on itself.

 

The result!

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That is awesome! I can't wait to have two as well.

 

Correct. BIOS hack with static VGA and in stamina mode. Jumpers x 2 removed from the ViDock4+ card.

When I power the laptop on the blue lights on the vidock and video card fan (fairly quiet) start up immediately, but the laptop screen stays black. I have to then power off the laptop, pull the express card out, power on and the plug the express card in after a few secs to get it to work. Sleep/Hibernate seems to screw things up too. Have to power off and start again. Bit of a pain in the harris.

 

Cheers ComputerCowboy, the picture does not really do the 3011s justice. They are monsters! Have to wheel/swivel my chair around when moving from work on one screen to work on the other, but it's good to get a bit of exercise . Funny that in no time at all, have become accustomed to using all the extra real estate and it just seems normal, and am dreading going back to work and having to use 2 x 24" for massive spreadsheets, project plans, developer tools etc.

Would never have dreamed that this was possible (Vaio Z1 driving multiple external monitors, let alone multiple WQXVGA!!) had it not been for the info you had posted on this site. Thank you

Raised a ticket with village support about the vidock boot issue, waiting for a response. Seems that it is boot or hibernate (not sleep) that causes grief, so have set the power plan to only hibernate after 1 week (when on power), and just sleep the Z1 when not using it, and that seems a reasonable workaround for now.

 

I thought the U3011s looked kinda small in your picture, but then again I had a 40" HDTV as my monitor before. They are amazing monitors, I can't wait to get a second one.

I am really glad that it worked out as well for you as it did for me. I think you should be able to get your reboot issue ironed out with a little time and fiddling. I am not sure what could be causing it.

 

@cyclone5
When you restart the computer with the ViDock does the ViDock power cycle? Does the blue light in the ViDock turn off for a short time?

 

Yes. But the laptop never gets to the black screen with the vaio logo.
Have tried all possible combinations of vidock jumper settings to no avail. Have to power off the z1, pull out the card, power on the z1, plug in the card at the vaio screen to get it to work. Interesting that I can put the z1 into sleep mode, and the vidock lights go off, and awake from sleep, the vidock lights come back on and everything works.

 

That is really weird, it is just the opposite for me. If the computer goes to sleep it wakes up with a BSOD pointing at some nvidia dll file, but I can reboot without a problem.

 

Taking an inspiration from this thread I got a ViDock + Z12 + U3011 setup too and no regrets.
It took a little time to find out that it only works when plugging in ViDock at the boot time when vaio logo appears. It is easier than it may sound but still not a process I would like to do daily.
With cold plugging the system won't start (black screen) and removing ViDock jumpers does not delay the ViDock start for me. Hot plugging (if not done at the vaio logo time) doesn't work either.
I have it with GTX 560 zotac (plain) card inside that is similar to GTX 460 mentioned in this thread and get 7.6 WEI score for graphics and gaming graphics.
One more issue is that the card fan was revving up and getting loud inside the ViDock case even at fairly light use. With no case at light use its absolutely quiet. I think this issue is because the fan, that is facing down, is too close to the bottom side of the case which has ventilation holes in it but still prevents the necessary flow of air. There came some air baffles with the ViDock and I haven't tried them out yet but I suspect I may end up cutting out the piece of the bottom panel under the fan to make the case usable. Also the card was rather loose inside the case IMO kept in place only with the long connector on its side and I had to prop it up a bit on the other side from the bottom.
So with all the power bricks and wires the setup is maybe not the most aesthetic but it has some punch and I can appreciate the U3011's performance

 

That is weird that the jumpers don't work for delay... have you contacted ViDock support, they were very quick and helpful with me.

 

No, I haven't contacted ViDock support. Maybe I'll do it.
CC, sorry for the stupid question but do you virtually see this 8 second delay like ViDock light goes on and the fan starts after 8 seconds or the light and fan start immediately and it just survives the boot somehow?
For cyclone5 just above the jumpers apparently do not work as well...

 

No, the blue ViDock light comes on when the green VAIO power light comes on
if I do a warn reboot then the ViDock light shuts of for a second

 

lol nice vaio UX UMPC

 

Yes... I am quite fond of the UX

 

As am I to my Viliv N5. Not as much power but nice battery life and size. Excellent work on the Z series. Have you done any modifications to your UX? CPU, Ram, ect. mods?

 

We have been trying to upgrade the RAM to 2GB, but it isn't going very well
I need your helping hands for 2GB RAM project. - Micro PC Talk Forums

I have the CPU modded from a CoreSolo to a Core2Duo
I have installed a Broadcom HD decoder
I've unlocked the WWAN modem
Hacked the BIOS
I'm not done yet

 

I contacted ViDock support last Friday (using the same support ticket that they created on purchase), and not had a response yet. Followed up with an email on Monday. No response from that either.


Do you think there could there be another BIOS setting that effects the delayed start?

 

I am not sure about the BIOS... but I think not.
I somewhat recently reset the BIOS and then enabled only three things
Static VGA
VT-x
VT-d

I guess you could try that, but I don't know if it will help, Virtualization has got nothing to do with this

 

Yes I have static VGA, VT-x and VT-d (need to run 64 bit vmware machines). I also tried disabling/enabling external boot device and changing the boot priorities. No luck. There are some PCI express settings, but don't consider the BIOS to be a good place to fiddle unless I know what I'm fiddling with.

 

I fiddled with some of those PCI settings also, but I think I did a default reset since then. I'll do another reset and see if mine starts acting up... then if it does I'll go back and figure out what PCI setting worked.

 

I rigged the Dell U2412M UltraSharp 24” via vaio hdmi port, in addition to the 2 x Dell U3011s running via ViDock DVI, and it seems to work quite well. Yes (after running the BIOS hack with static VGA) I have to run in speed mode. The graphics and gaming index has dropped from 7.9 to 6.2, but I don't game so loving the extra real estate

 

That is awesome.... but you can go even bigger
You could actually run another U3011 of the Z1 HDMI port check out my new thread. WQXGA (2560x1600) on Z1 WITHOUT ViDock 100% working!!!

 

OMG! Kudos in abundance! That is very cool. 3 x 2560x1600 is a dream. I'm going to be broke. Anyone want to buy a U2412M?

 

regarding the vidock boot issue when plugged in, village support got back to me and said:



Glad you got the ViDock to work and sorry the trouble with the delay timer. Removing the jumper should really work. We had several customer using it.

Would you mind and open up ViDock again and to remove the piggy back PCB and see if all is assembled OK. Was maybe one Pin header pin broken or bend and not inserted into the jacks of the piggy back PCB? Was maybe the piggy back inserted shifted by one pin?

Let me know if you could find something like that and if you could fix the problem.

If still can not, please tell me how many seconds delay minimum is necessary between pressing the power button on your Vaio and inserting the ViDock Express Card Module.

Good hunting,




Was quite excited about the prospect of resolving the boot issue, and hoped that I had seated the PCB incorrectly, but alas I checked and all the PCB pins were fine, and it had been seated properly.







So I emailed them back to let them know all this, and then went out and shot some kangaroos.

 

Are you serious? That is hilarious!

 

Nah just kidding.

Have had a couple of crashes/blue screens on this setup so far, where the U3011s running off the vidock go off, the 24" gets a blue screen and the sony LCD freezes. Just been 2 crashes over about 10 hours of use, but not sure how stable this setup is going to be in the long run. Seemed more stable when running in stamina and 2 x U3011s via the vidock

 

Yea it seems the the 330M doesn't like the external card, what card do you have again? Was it the 560Ti? If I end up going tripple WQXGA I am probably just going to get a card that supports all those monitors, like a GTX590. I have heard that the GTX590 might not work due to PCIe resources, but I feel like I am going to have to try it.

On another note I have a strong feeling that the EDID hack would allow the Z2+PMD to run two WQXGA monitors. I am waiting for the Z2 to come out in gold in the USA, maybe I should pony up for another u3011 while I wait.

 

EVGA GeForce GTX 570

On another note too, I found to my surprise that I could VPN into work and get all 4 screens working via remote desktop with impressive performance. Which makes me think that if its just max monitors and max resolution that you are after, another option could be to just pack a dumb desktop with graphics cards and remote desktop to your laptop over a local network.

 

I know you hate ATI but for 3+ screens, they are a better choice than a GTX590. E.g. a HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition.

 

The ATI cards won't give you PCI compression like NVidia Optimus does so any FHD movies would suffer. If wanting 3+ screens then there are the following NVidia options:

• ZOTAC GTX 550 Ti Multiview (3 displays)
• Zotac GTX460 3DP (4 displays)
• KFA2 GTX560Ti MDT X5 (5 displays)

The first can be easily driven by a 150W power setup. The second and third requiring the 225W power setup.

 

don't think any of those would do 3 x WQXGA (2560×1600)‎

 

^ I think they do, at least they have DP and DVI-D.

Thanks Nando, great info for all that like Optimus.

 

Well, if you look at the last link (for the KFA2 GTX560Ti):

 

The 560Ti is the most promising... but look at the link KFA2 - Premium Nvidia Graphic cards

Seems like that one tops out at WSXGA+ (1680x1050) when three screens are in use.

The other Zotac card mentioned here a while back can do three 1080P screens.

The only nVidia card that I know of that can do 3x WQXGA is the GTX590

EDIT: LOL on posting the same thing at the same time!

 

This thread makes me want to spend lots of lots of monies :|

 

Well if all you need is one WQXGA or WQHD monitor then you don't need the ViDock. I made a driver for the DELL U3011 that runs it right off the Z1 HDMI port or the Z1 Dock DVI port.