[INFO] Bill's Driver Recommendation Thread

[Bill]

64bit drivers?

Never had to recommend those before.

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?dr...=2&type=1&dir=1

Those are all of the current 8x series 64bit XP drivers we have, 81.98 or 84.21 with Pieter's mod INF should be good, can find links for both on that page to make it easier.

To who13, I would recommend the 84.25 driver with Pieter's mod INF.

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?showtopic=9175

The first 2 links in that topic have what you are looking for.

You just downlaod the driver, unzip it, then replace the INF with Pieter's mod INF.

You can then zip it back up and stick on a CD for yourself for the fresh install if you want.

To install just go to the device manager and use the have disk method.

The link to have disk install instructions in the first post in this topic is what you should read, also have a video too.

Or instead of scrolling up you could just click this page.

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?showtopic=33

Edit: To bigmacca777: I don't know if there is a technical name for that glitch or not, but I do know it is a somewhat common problem (have seen it many times), and usually only results from bad drivers, DX, or game configeration. (not bad graphics cards)

[jeanbom]

from Jeanbom to Bill

Insp 8200-Video Thermistor - Temp Sensor

DELL rep's just don't know shyt. Either motherboard or graphics card - but without any kind of credibility.

I will never buy another Dell.

Nowhere can I get assurance that faulty component is located 1) on motherboard ("mobo"); 2) on Video card; 3) elsewhere. So - just trying to get info on which card / board to change.

installed FanGUI - chich gives for CPU 85°C, and GPU 0°C. Which is unconclusive as to which thermistor is faulty - if there are 2.

+ note: Dell diangostics runs on eCPU thermistor test which goes OK, & one GPU thermistor test (called "Video Thermistor" test) which fails - apparently implying there is a thermistor on graphics card & that it this one failing. => failed thermistor would be on graphics card Nvidia Geforce 4.

Cheers,

Jeanbom

Graphics card pilot NVIDIA 2.8.3.5.

All working well until 2 weeks ago, message on boot: M1004.

Running Dell resource CD & tests gives Video thermistor : FAIL - details below. YES, I opened, blow cleaned everything from CPU heat dissipator to video card,etc. Fans blocked in full speed & CPU slowed down from 2,2 Ghz to 717 MHz. Super slow operation though everything still works.

Question is: DO I NEED TO CHANGE THE NVIDIA GRAPHICS BOARD? WILL THAT SOLVE THE PROBLEM (I couldn't identify anything looking like a thermistor on the board).

Operating System: Windows XP

Error Text: Diagnostics build: 1102

Video thermistor : FAIL

Code 9900-0626

Temp sensor out of range Temp 255°C - Min 10°C Max 100°C

Diagnostic with CD Dell Ressource - Video thermistor : FAIL

Code 9900-0626

Trouble Shooting Steps: Diagnostics build: 1102

Video thermistor : FAIL

Code 9900-0626

result is CPU clocked down to 700 MHz instead of 2,2 GHz - super slowed down: graphic card thinks it is overloaded & is going idle.

Edited April 9, 2006 by jeanbom

[bmcpherran]

I recently purchased a new nvidia geforce go5200 64MB. I have a Dell Inspiron 5150 with a 32MB geforce go5200 and I tried to install the new one.

When I put it in and powered up, the laptop beeped several times on start-up but started Windows.

I tried using Windows hardware wizard but it only shows the ATI cards as options when adding a new display adapter not nvidia. Is there any way to have Windows view the nvidia card as an option in the wizard?

I didn't get any drivers with the card but I had read on www.bay-wolf.com that driver version 53.03 with a modified INF worked. I downloaded the 53.03 driver from nvidia and installed it. On reboot the computer still didn't recognize the card.

I tried to get the Windows Add Hardware wizard to look in the directory for c:/nvidia/win2kxp/53.03 but it still wouldn't use it and I don't know how to modify the INF anyhow.

The card works only in a very basic fashion.

Then when I pull it out and put the old 32MB one back in, the computer starts normally like I never pulled it out.

Any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Bill]

To bmcpherran:

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?showtopic=7755

Larry there makes a custom INF for your machine, you should use his.

Go ask in that topic which INF you should try, I don't keep up with nor am I a total expert on 5150s, he knows better.

What you will do is download the driver, replace the inf in the driver with a moddified one (adds support for your hardware) then it will install.

So I take it you upgraded from an ATI card or something? (or just older nv card?)

You really should uninstall the drivers from the old card first, maybe stick it back in, uninstall from device manager, then swap back out.

Having 2 drivers installed with different driver versions isn't a good idea.

To jeanbom: I still say contact the guy that made fangui, if anybody knows he does.

Now that I think about the design inside this laptop, it might be on the graphics card after all.... (how else would they have a temp sensor right next to the chip?

Funny thing is only Dell sees it, not the nvidia drivers like newer cards. (if it is on the card)

If the fangui guy doesn't answer you should look for a cheap GF4 dell card on ebay or something.

Just make sure you get a compatible card.

Anyway I'll get back to you on this one, I have to go right now.

[Oblina]

First, Thank you SO MUCH for such a helpful site. Long time listener, first time caller.

I'm using Pieter's inf from this thread & mod for Samsung screen.

Now, on to my silly story. :)

I upgraded my vid drivers to the latest since the previous ones (don't remember what version I had) were a tad unstable. Once I did so, I could no longer run Water Desktop (www.waterdesktop.com). I know, I know, it's not an important app, but it's nice sometimes when I'm having a bitter day. Anyhow, when I ran it before, it would go for awhile then flash for about a minute, then run again. Annoying at best. Now, it won't even launch since it thinks some other video app is running- it needs to run "first".

So... what I've done (just to see if it'd work) is put Water Desktop in my startup group and then I took all the NVIDIA stuff out of it (I'll put it back later). I've reinstalled DirectX, too.

Any ideas anyone?

Edited April 10, 2006 by Bill

[Bill]

It said on the site a newer version of waterdesktop fixes the issues, have you tried the latest of that?

Also what driver are you currently using?

Do you actually pay for that thing?

[Oblina]

It said on the site a newer version of waterdesktop fixes the issues, have you tried the latest of that?

Yes, I'm "running" the latest version of Water Desktop.

Also what driver are you currently using?

I'm currently using the 84.21 driver with Pieter's INF.

Do you actually pay for that thing?

LOL- not yet. I'd like to use it for awhile (it's hardly necessary)- it's pretty and I'm trying to actively de-stress these days. :)

I'm mostly interested in what it thinks might be loaded video-wise right on boot. I'm a developer myself (although I know _very_ little about drivers) so I'd like to think I'm generally fairly savvy, but I'm not understanding what's going on with this. Here's my steps:

1. With the old drivers (don't remember what version I was using- they weren't working that great otherwise, anyway), Water Desktop sort of worked- I got flashing intermittently.

2. I re-installed DirectX - same result.

3. Uninstalled old drivers - reboot - install new drivers (with modded inf for my screen- no other changes from Pieter's inf) - reboot.

4. Ran Water Desktop - got this message: "The software doesn't affect other softwares, but it need to be run before vedio softwares, such as Realplayer, Windows Media Player. Please close them or reboot to make it run." (that's as far as it'll go- no options, nothing)

5. Re-installed DirectX, reboot, same result.

6. I killed all the NVIDIA stuff in the startup (using startupcpl) and made sure there wasn't anything wierd like Realplayer, etc. in the startup group.

7. I put Water Desktop in the startup group.

8. Reboot. - same result.

So... I'm perplexed. What vedio softwares are running with this new driver? Again, I certainly don't need to make this work at any level, I'd just really like to understand it a little better.

Thanks for your response- you guys have literally saved me and other driver n00bs DAYS (weeks?) by running this site and getting the drivers/inf files out there!

[Bill]

I think there is a conspiracy for you guys to see who can ask me the strangest questions, everything from temp sensors failing to help with some strange waterdesktop program. :)

Are you aware about the VMR option in the nvidia control panel? (video overlay page)

Turning that on might fix the issue, although I was not aware it affected our cards... :)

You might also want to try John's INF with 82.10 and 84.21.

Make sure you uninstall the drivers first, especially before you downgrade.

[Oblina]

You da man, Bill!

I unchecked the VMR box (it was checked) and... voila! It now works (and no flashing!)!!!

So, of course I just now looked up VMR and found this:

Hardware overlay uses special, dedicated video hardware to display a video image, such as a DVD. The Video Mixing Renderer (VMR), however, uses the 3D graphics hardware to render the video to the screen.

Hardware overlay is a limited resource, typically allowing use on only a single display. If running on multiple displays, then VMR should be used to avoid this limitation.

I'm only running my laptop display, so no biggie there. Just so I understand, VMR uses a different part of my video card than the hardware overlay??

As for the conspiracy...

Usually I try to do an hour or so of research before posting a question to someone else- being in software myself, it's so frustrating to go through the motions that the user could have found out themselves with 5 minutes of their own effort using a search engine. That and I learn tons from researching. :)

Thanks again for your time.

Edited April 11, 2006 by Oblina

[who13]

64bit drivers?

Never had to recommend those before.

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?dr...=2&type=1&dir=1

Those are all of the current 8x series 64bit XP drivers we have, 81.98 or 84.21 with Pieter's mod INF should be good, can find links for both on that page to make it easier.

To who13, I would recommend the 84.25 driver with Pieter's mod INF.

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?showtopic=9175

The first 2 links in that topic have what you are looking for.

You just downlaod the driver, unzip it, then replace the INF with Pieter's mod INF.

You can then zip it back up and stick on a CD for yourself for the fresh install if you want.

To install just go to the device manager and use the have disk method.

The link to have disk install instructions in the first post in this topic is what you should read, also have a video too.

Or instead of scrolling up you could just click this page.

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?showtopic=33

Edit: To bigmacca777: I don't know if there is a technical name for that glitch or not, but I do know it is a somewhat common problem (have seen it many times), and usually only results from bad drivers, DX, or game configeration. (not bad graphics cards)

thanx for making the time for the reply...i grabbed the driver and unzipped,replaced inf and zippid it back up...(what is the inf..what does this modded inf do??)

will give it a shot now with my current setup....now i have to go on the quest to grab ALL the latest drivers before i do my big format.. :)

ill make a post here to see if some members here can help me out with this task.....

thanx again man!!! :(

update...i installed this driver you reccomended..works perfectly..actually some game i had in here is running even better now than before.. :)

what is this modded inf for?? still wondering but all is good!!

thanx BILL!!! :P

Edited April 12, 2006 by Bill

[Bill]

(what is the inf..what does this modded inf do??)...

what is this modded inf for?? still wondering but all is good!!

thanx BILL!!! :)

Thanks for the thank yous, :P but you guys are killing me here, the first post in this topic isn't for decoration. :P

The very first link in this topic has the answer to your question. :)

If his answer isn't good enough and you ask nicely I'll provide my own answer. :(

Guess you guys are so excited about this site you forget to read the details and jump right into the INFs huh? :(

[who13]

My bad Bill...

you are correct..its very clear..lol

i never look at peoples sig.. :)

thanx again

[duo2400]

I have posted this on another thread but I think this might be the better place to post...Sorry for putting this in 2 sections but I really need this to work.

Hello, I was wondering if anyone was able to get any of the drivers to work on a sony SZ120P Duo with Avid Xpress Pro? I have tried the the inf hacks on this post and none of them are alowing the Avid to use the video overlay. However the overlay is working just fine in windows media player with vrm enabled or disabled.

Is there a certain thing that needs to be done to the inf to make it work with the sony laptops? I understand the hacked inf is working on the hp laptops with the same video card but for some reason no luck on my sony.

The sony has a ton of rediculous redundant software that came with it. I was thinking maybe one of those programs is causing a conflict with the avid software?

My current setup is

Sony SZ120P

T2400 Duo 1.86

Nvidia 7400 go 128

1 gig ram

Windows XP SP2

Avid Xpress 5.2.0

Current Nvidia Force Ware version 84.21 I have also tried 84.25, 84.12, 81.94, I also tut Iried the hacked 77.77 but I get nothing but a blue screen on start up and constent reboots until I choose safe mode etc..

Any help on this matter for this particular laptop would be most appriciated! I figure if anyone can help this is the place.

I am willing to try any driver or any solution that someone thinks will work.

Thanks!

[bmcpherran]

Thanks for the reply Bill. :)

It was indeed an upgrade from the same nvidia card type, just going from 32MB to 64MB.

Larry says he thinks I may have done it right, that(unless I didn't seat it properly) the card should have went in with no need for driver changes. The eBay 64MB card had the pull-tab ripped off, I could imagine that it might have been beaten up. :)

I sent it back to the guy I bought it from on eBay today, I'm going to try the Dell Spare Parts Department on Monday to get another one.

Any other ideas on suppliers of the card?

Thanks again,

Ben

[who13]

Bill whats your thoughts on this

_http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_downloads_winxp_2k_32bit_84.43.html

ForceWare Release 80

Version: 84.43

Release Date: April 12, 2006

BETA Driver

GeForce 6800

GeForce 6800 LE

GeForce 6800 XE

GeForce 6800 XT

GeForce 6800 GS

GeForce 6800 GT

GeForce 6800 Ultra

i have a geforce 6800 go...

will this work or should i stick with what you told me to install before..84.25 with inf ?

thanx mate

[kboldham]

I not sure if this is correct place to ask but I running out of ideas. I am trying to find a driver that will update my video card's driver. I've been told there isn't a newer driver than I already have. I running version # 4.5.8.6 with a nvidia geforce fx 5200. My OS is fully updated and my Bios was updated 2 days ago from A34 to A38. If you have any other Ideas also besides driver how I can make this laptop run games/video better please post that also thanks..

Edited April 16, 2006 by Bill

[Guest Ben]

512MB more RAM won't break the bank. I had a solid improvement from 256MB to 768MB. A little less but still helpful was when I went from 768MB to 1.5BG lately.

[Bill]

Kboldham, while I normally don't like pointing people somewhere else like this, Larry makes a custom INF for your machine right here.

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?showtopic=7755

You will grab one of his INFs and use that in combination with one of the drivers, he might recommend one of the 84.xx drivers for you.

To who13, if you want to try the driver look here.

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?showtopic=9445

There were some early issues with it, but nvidia did release it on their nzone site and Pieter has fixed the INF three times or something, so it might work decently. (only one way to find out if it is good)

If you don't like it you can do a driver rollback from the device manager.

Also its not hard to upgrade the RAM like Ben said, can get a 1 GB stick of PC2700 for your 5150 from newegg or something for around or less than $100, you can PM or email me about that if you want.

Crucial has a RAM selector thing if you don't know how to find or want RAM that is garrunteed to work on your laptop.

http://www.crucial.com/store/listmfgr.asp?cat=RAM

Their prices occasionally go up a good bit though, can usually find the same crucial RAM on newegg for a lot less as of late.

[dela]

hello,

i have a GeForce FX Go5200 that apparently has a driver dating 3 years back. my machine is a toshiba satellite p-15 laptop... what is the best 32 bit driver for me? out of naivity i couldn't seem to locate the right one. thank you for your assistance.

-brad

[Bill]

Try 84.25, can get it here.

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?drivers

Sooner or later I will update the first post in this.

Read the first post for links to the installation instructions.

[Guest Kat]

Hey there, I'm kinda new to this whole driver thing, so try to be patient with me.. :)

I already downloaded a TON of drivers and they all give me the whole "no hardware compatible" junk, so I came here, and I'm really thankful for this site. Unfortunately, being a noob, I don't know how to do the INF exchange, and the folder I'm looking at doesn't even appear to have an INF file for the driver 84.21. How do I exchange the info?

Thanks for your time! :)

~Kat

[mobilenvidia]

Hey there, I'm kinda new to this whole driver thing, so try to be patient with me.. :)

I already downloaded a TON of drivers and they all give me the whole "no hardware compatible" junk, so I came here, and I'm really thankful for this site. Unfortunately, being a noob, I don't know how to do the INF exchange, and the folder I'm looking at doesn't even appear to have an INF file for the driver 84.21. How do I exchange the info?

Thanks for your time! :)

~Kat

Grab driver and extract somewhere (as you already have)

Now grab the modded INF and place this in the folder where the driver is, it will either replace or if there isn't an INF it will now have one.

Now install either unistall driver then reboot way, update driver way or setup.exe way.

After reboot you should have an updated driver.

Hope I wasn't too harsh :P

[GaryY]

Hi all,

Just got my Dell XPS M170 2.2 Intel version with the GO 6800 Ultra Card.

I'm still getting confused about which driver is best to use. My current driver is 7.8.5.1 according to 'My Computer', but folks on here are talking 84.25 driver as best at moment. Has Dell shipped me this laptop with a really old driver or is mine ok and I'm not quite reading this forum properly yet !!? :)

[Bill]

Its not THAT old, atleast not yet. (Dells driver for mine is a 42 driver, for comparison)

If it works fine and say BF2 actually runs on it you shouldn't upgrade just yet.

If you run certain games like Oblivion you might want a newer driver.

Eventually Dell will probably drop graphics driver support for you and you won't get any new drivers.

84.25 should be good but what games do you currently play on your laptop?

[GaryY]

Its not THAT old, atleast not yet. (Dells driver for mine is a 42 driver, for comparison)

If it works fine and say BF2 actually runs on it you shouldn't upgrade just yet.

If you run certain games like Oblivion you might want a newer driver.

Eventually Dell will probably drop graphics driver support for you and you won't get any new drivers.

84.25 should be good but what games do you currently play on your laptop?

Thanks for reply Bill,

I've not yet had chance to play any games on it as yet, still getting everything transferred and running from my desktop. Probably be games such as Halo, Call of Duty 2 and Tiger Woods golf. Will be loading and trying these this weekend probably. Dvd works fine though. I tried viewing your video for downloading driver inf files but that dosnt seem to what to run. I get the video progress slider at the bottom which runs but can't see no screen!!?? I've updated Quick Time player but no joy. Probably missing something, will play around and see what I can do.

I'm sure I'll be back on this forum for more tips !!!

Thanks again. :)