My discoveries on Vaio Z’s Hybrid Graphics

[rcs_brz]

No worries I havent forgoten about you. I am trying some things to see if we can get the nvidia part to identify in a way the matrox software will work with it. I cant promise anything though.

Thank you very much for your efforts, Nautis. If you can come up with a solution, that will be great. I was thinking that maybe it is easier to cook a driver that completely segregates the video cards (like the XP driver). In this case, we would loose the ability to hot-swap (have to boot to change from one video card to another), but it would be possible to correct both issues, as you mentioned.

Maybe the XP driver for Nvidia is a good starting point. This driver keeps the intel card completely "silent". It doesn't even appear in the device manager. I am not a programmer, but maybe if you can give me a few hints on where to look for this in the XP driver set, I can help.

Anyway, thanks a lot (again).

[Nautis]

so, besides (4), everything else looks ok. (4) can be corrected by editing string. I could made it, but i'm lazy to do this for every language. So i left it as is

Yeah it looks good and functions exactly the way you say. That is true I forgot about the other languages. I would think its ok as is it. The configurable power options part seems to be an sli only feature. So if it is left the way they want it, the only way to adjust hybrid power is by changing between the different vista power plans (Balanced, Power Saver, High Performance.) We should be able to configure other options for the Sony specific VAIO Optimised and VAIO Maximum Battery also (though these should really just echo the Balanced and Power Saver options.) I don't see any problem leaving it the way it is now with everything configurable through power options with the sli stuff though. IMHO the whole hybrid power feature is a bit quirky to begin with and should really only be used by people who absolutely want or need it.

I was thinking that maybe it is easier to cook a driver that completely segregates the video cards (like the XP driver). In this case, we would loose the ability to hot-swap (have to boot to change from one video card to another), but it would be possible to correct both issues, as you mentioned.

This is pretty much the option I was looking into, though I am not sure how or if switching would work. Here is the problem as I see it. Matrox only identifies the first video driver on your system. As Gibbo mentioned, if you look a display settings (when switched to nvidia/speed) you will notice it lists display 3 as enabled. In order to get the Matrox stuff working correctly we would have to force the nvidia part to identify as 1 (where the integrated/intel part is.)

-

I am going to reinstall the old sony drivers and take another look at the whole display settings thing. If I remember correctly it listed 4 displays but they listed as 1, 2 / 1, 2 when the switch was on nvidia and just 1, 2 when it was on intel. Very curious indeed. Are these new drivers just identifying things differently or are they using both the intel and nvidia parts at the same time (sli?) when it is switched to nvidia? Has anyone noticed a drop in battery life with these new drivers (when switched to speed only) vs before with the sony drivers?

[Eddy2]

I've just noticed that Sony seem to have released an nVidia Graphics Driver update today. I don't know if it's of any use, it might not even actually be a newer nVidia version than the original one at all, and I can't try it myself right now because I'm in the middle of setting up Windows 7 on my Z (I noticed it while looking for the original driver downloads).

All it says on the page is:

Graphics Driver (NVIDIA) 090108_Sus - 6.14.11.7698

What is this?
This is an updated graphics driver

Is this relevant for you?
This is a recommended update, as it fixes some graphic stability issues.

What does it fix?
Switching monitors may not be possible by using the Function keys.

http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/downl...0000173097.htm

[potpeye]

hey Sorg can you make a driver install for Vista 64? I know you mention about sign drivers but you can put Vista 64 into test mode and sign your own drivers. So if you willing to make a Vista64 drivers I can make it work in test mode. My Vista 64 atm is currently running in test mode all the time so I can use unsign drivers that I sign myself without a problem.

By the way test mode is just a mode you put regular Windows Vista 64 (this mode also works in Windows 7) any version into when it boots up. Only thing it changes is it allows you to use drivers by signing them yourself on that machine. Nothing else changes on my machine and it still regular Vista 64 in test mode.

[arth1]

I've just noticed that Sony seem to have released an nVidia Graphics Driver update today. I don't know if it's of any use, it might not even actually be a newer nVidia version than the original one at all, and I can't try it myself right now because I'm in the middle of setting up Windows 7 on my Z (I noticed it while looking for the original driver downloads).

The original Z driver is 174.49
Shifting the digits from 6.14.11.7698 gives 176.98, so yeah, it should be newer. But not enough to give CUDA and PhysX.

[pardes3]

I am now addicted to this upgrade your driver fever. Nautilus/Sorg any new update scheduled for today?

[Eddy2]

The original Z driver is 174.49
Shifting the digits from 6.14.11.7698 gives 176.98, so yeah, it should be newer. But not enough to give CUDA and PhysX.

Ahh, so that's how you figure out the version number. Thanks

I'm currently wondering which drivers to install for Windows 7... I think I'm gonna go with the original Sony version for now, so I can compare the performance with Vista, but do we know whether the latest version put together in this post should work on Windows 7?

[williamd]

i believe that the 6.14.11.7698 update driver is a updated driver for xp for downgrades .the one for vista is at 7.15.11.7449 .

[Nautis]

hey Sorg can you make a driver install for Vista 64?

I can put together a package for 64bit but I would not be able to test it. I don't know if sorg has access to 64bit either. That is the only difficulty with a 64bit package, for me at least.

I am now addicted to this upgrade your driver fever. Nautilus/Sorg any new update scheduled for today?

I have some things I am working on but nothing major like we have been. I don't personally like the way the drivers are packaged so I am making a new package with the intel and nvidia drivers separate. This will have the added benefit of being able to upgrade the drivers as easily as dropping the new files in the intel or nvidia folder (assuming there are no file name or other major differences.) It also allows for intel to have the proper version in device manager rather than the version number of the nvidia drivers (not a huge deal.) Nice to see others as addicted as we are btw. I am also looking at the display settings issue and if there is a way to make the matrox triple head stuff work. PS. I am sure you know about the updated physx drivers at laptopvideo2go.

i believe that the 6.14.11.7698 update driver is a updated driver for xp for downgrades .the one for vista is at 7.15.11.7449 .

That is correct.

I just posted up a Vista 64bit package for testing (since I can not.) I will post it here as soon as I hear word it is working. Vista x64 has the added difficulty of requiring signed drivers so for those of you who know how to get around that we may have updated drivers for you too.

[potpeye]

Thanks Nautis/Sorg I got the test package for Vista 64 drivers that you sent me.

I got the new drivers working for Vista 64 and so far my stamina\speed switch still works for switching without a reboot. Intel drivers is 1608 and Nvidia drivers is 185.20.

Only problem I had was with the setup.exe you provided it gave a error and didn't work so I end up installing the drivers manually through device manager.

Will do some further testing and will provide you a write up on how to apply these drivers for Vista x64 and Windows 7 x64.