63 responses to “HOW TO: Modify and install Nvidia drivers for mobile graphics chipsets in Windows 7 when all else fails”

1. Halvard Halvorsen’s tumblelog » Modify and install Nvidia drivers for mobile graphics chipsets in Windows 7 when all else fails @ The Experience Blog October 22nd, 2009 at 00:55

   [...] Modify and install Nvidia drivers for mobile graphics chipsets in Windows 7 when all else fails @ Th… This entry was written by hal and posted on 2009-10-21 at 23:54 and filed under Url. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL. « http://twitpic.com/meq7k – The… [...]

2. 

   Wilkie October 30th, 2009 at 14:58

   I’m a little confused on your instructions. I understand that I download the file, then open the inf file and type in

   NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT (Sony Vaio FZ38M)”
   %NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01% = Section012, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9005104D

   But I’m unclear exactly where. Am I replacing the text that you said is similar, or typing it after that text or what?

3. 

   Andreas Stenhall October 30th, 2009 at 22:00

   Add these two lines in the approriate section in the INF file. Replace in this example NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT (Sony Vaio FZ38M)” with the device name of the card but also change the 0426 part to the corresponding device you find in the hardware ID (in this example PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9005104D). Replace this string with the hardware ID of your card and also change the 0426 part on the second line.

4. 

   NickG November 2nd, 2009 at 00:30

   Hi there, I’m not a TERRIBLY technical person, but I’m wondering if this fix would work for an issue which seems pretty common (from trawling other forums) – I’ve got a Sony Vaio running vista 32bit and the Windows 7 advisor says that the drivers for my NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT are not compatible for Windows 7.

   Apparently, NVIDIA don’t have a solution and have been sending people to Sony, and Sony say that they haven’t upgraded the drivers yet for Windows 7 and don’t know when they expect to do so…

   What do you think?

5. 

   Andreas Stenhall November 2nd, 2009 at 08:16

   NickG, you are so right. I have a Sony laptop myself and the only solution to get the Nvidia drivers into the system is by following the steps in my article. I have been running it for months without any problems whatsoever!

6. 

   Ken November 2nd, 2009 at 21:49

   My wife has a Sony Vaio laptop that uses the GeForce 8400M GT graphics card and has the same Windows 7 upgrade issue.
   I understand the idea of adding the appropriate code for this graphics card in the nvam.inf file. The problem is that the latest NVIDIA driver update has changed to 186.81 and the nvam.inf file looks different. For example, I can’t find a sections anywhere that has lines that look similar to this:
   NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT (Sony Vaio FZ38M)”
   Is it possible to give an example that relates to the 186.81 driver update nvam.inf file?
   Thanks!

7. 

   Andreas Stenhall November 2nd, 2009 at 22:10

   Ken, the necessary sections are there in the Nvidia 186.81 driver in nvam.inf. Look at line 168 for the first section and 3021 and forward for the second section. Add the corresponding information for your video card on those two lines. As you have a Sony laptop and the same video card as I do it might be the same hardware ID but make sure first before you add the lines. In Device Manager choose Properties on the video card and then go to Details and choose HardwareID in the dropdown menu.

8. 

   Ken November 3rd, 2009 at 21:12

   Andreas, thank you for your reply. I am learning a lot as I work to resolve this issue. I found the places in the inf file to add the lines, thanks to your help. I have a question regarding the correct hardware ID for my graphics card. The first line that shows in the “Value” box in the Hardware ID is: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9016104D&REV_A1
   Below is the same value minus the “&REV_A1″ at the end.
   What should the line look like that goes in the second section? Should it include the “&REV_A1″ at the end? I just wanted to be clear on this.
   If it’s not too much trouble, I’d also be interested to know why you knew to assign this second line to “Section012″ as opposed to some other “Section” value. Just curious.
   Thanks again for your help!

9. 

   Andreas Stenhall November 3rd, 2009 at 22:35

   Ken, glad to help!
   The hardware ID PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9016104D without the “rev” part is enough. The second line should then look like:
   %NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01% = Section012, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9016104D

   I chose Section12 as it was the closest to the other family of 8400M G range of cards.

10. 

    Ken Loderick November 4th, 2009 at 05:04

    Andreas, once I add these two lines to the “inf” file can I run the setup.exe in Vista and update my driver or should I wait until I upgrade to Windows 7? My thought is that the 186.81 version is good for both Vista and Windows 7 so I should be able to test it while running Vista.
    I’m curious about what was the driver update sequence when you upgraded your Sony Vaio to Windows 7.
    This is the first time I’m doing anything like this so I want to be certain of the sequence of events BEFORE I begin.
    Thanks!

11. 

    Andreas Stenhall November 4th, 2009 at 08:05

    I did a clean installation so I practically installed Windows 7 and noticed that there was no driver for the Nvidia card, after which I did what’s in the guide above. If you are planning on doing a so called in-place upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 I would wait with installing the drive this way until after you have upgraded to Windows 7 to avoid potential problems with the upgrade process.

12. 

    Martain November 4th, 2009 at 10:40

    Hi,

    I want to try that solution, but the problem is that I can’t install the driver so I don’t see it in the device manager… SO I can’t check the ID…
    I have a vaio vgn fe41m – windows7 64 bit.
    Can somebody help me?

    thanks

13. 

    Martain November 4th, 2009 at 11:36

    It’s not possible, but it works!!

    I just planted the ID of the VGA card into the inf file and after an error, just say go on and it works fine!!

14. 

    jay6600 November 8th, 2009 at 06:07

    Andreas, I could use a little help if possible. Here is what I have done so far.
    My hardware Id’s are:
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9016104D&REV_A1
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9005104D
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9016104D
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&CC_030000
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&CC_0300

    Pasted inside nvam.inf file
    NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT (Sony Vaio)”
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01% = Section012, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9016104D

    After I run setup.exe I get a message saying The system has not been modified. To install this program at a later time, run the installation again.

    I am trying to do a win7 64 bit clean install. Thanks in advance.

15. 

    jay6600 November 8th, 2009 at 06:18

    Sorry I forgot to list that I have a Sony Vaio VGNAR520E With a video card NVIDIA GeForce
    8400M GT that win7 does not see.

16. 

    Andreas Stenhall November 8th, 2009 at 08:28

    @jay6600. Does it work better if you enter 9005104D instead of 9016104D on the second line?

17. 

    jay6600 November 8th, 2009 at 09:16

    I don’t know how that got pasted in there. It should not even be there.
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9016104D&REV_A1
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9016104D
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&CC_030000
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&CC_0300

    I am currently up and running but using an older vista 64 bit driver from http://www.laptopvideo2go.com

18. 

    liltis November 10th, 2009 at 07:40

    Andreas, I have the All-in-one Sony Vaio VGC LT19U with the same NVIDIA adapter
    GeForce 8400M GT GPU. I would like to modify the NVAM.inf file, but I don’t know where to copy the device ID information.
    Should I search and replace something, or just insert a new line, and if so where?
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9018104D&REV_A1
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9018104D
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&CC_030000
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&CC_0300
    Should it come on the first line after the bracketed section:
    [NVIDIA_SetA_Devices.NTamd64.6.0]
    like this?
    NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT (Sony Vaio VGC LT19U)”
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01% = Section012, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9018104D

    Also, once it is saved, how do you install manually? Do you double click NvCplSetupInt.exe file in windows explorer?

    Thanks in advance for your help on this!

    Linda

19. 

    Andreas Stenhall November 10th, 2009 at 12:02

    @Linda: Each line is to be placed in the file where each line resembles what is already there. You place the line “NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT (Sony Vaio VGC LT19U)”” almost at the bottom of the file and to find where to enter the line “%NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01% = Section012, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9018104D” do a search for “%Nvidia_Dev”.

    Once this is done you can run setup.exe and the installation will succeed.

20. 

    Ken Loderick November 11th, 2009 at 23:55

    Hi. Here is an update on my upgrade to Windows 7 on my wife’s Sony Vaio laptop model VGN-AR520E. I ran the “in place” upgrade first and expected to then update the driver as we discussed but it was not necessary! The current graphics driver from Sony, version 7.15.11.117, works fine under Windows 7 even though the Microsoft Upgrade Advisor says it is not compatible. My wife has been using the laptop for several days and it is working like a charm – faster than under Vista and no issues with the display.
    For now, I don’t plan on updating the driver using the modified nvam.inf file as there appears to be no need. I hope this is helpful to other Sony Vaio owners. Thanks for all of your help Andreas.
    Ken

21. 

    jay6600 November 13th, 2009 at 16:58

    That won’t work for me because I am going from 32 to 64 bit.

22. 

    mima08 November 28th, 2009 at 01:29

    Hiya, I was really glad to find this thread, but unfortunately, when i try to implement the changes, I get an error when running setup.exe, saying: the nvidia set up programme could not locate any drivers compatible with your current hardware.
    I have recently upgraded from vista business 32 to windows 7 home premium 64 (clean upgrade) on a sony vaio vgn with a nvidia geforce go 7400 which is no longer recognised by the system. Any suggestion would be hugely appreciated!
    thanks
    Miriam

23. 

    mima08 November 28th, 2009 at 02:01

    Quick update: I just managed to make the driver work! The difference to all previous attempts were:
    - i entered the relevant lines directly under the logically preceding line in the .inf file (i.e. if it is a 7series card, don’t enter the info at the end, but before the 8series start)
    - i ignored the section part but inserted something aligned to the closed _dev XXX line (i.e. if your dev code is _01D8, i copied from a similar line into the part following %NVIDIA_DEV.xxx.01% = )
    - i created a line saying: nvidia_g74. followed by the hardware id as there was no such line previously.
    I am not sure which one of the above helped but it appear to be working now – so hopefully this may help other
    rgds
    Miriam

24. 

    rr0123 November 30th, 2009 at 00:53

    Mima, can you provide more information about what you did? Which INF file did you modify? I found at least a dozen that include the 7400 chip.

25. 

    rr0123 November 30th, 2009 at 04:46

    Further update: I got it working! Here’s what I did. I have a Sony SZ390P with a Geforce Go 7400.

    1. I followed the instructions for the driver heaven modification, except that I removed all inf files except for the NAMF.inf file, so that only that file would be modified and I could keep track of it. When I ran the setup (step 4), it told me that it was not able to make any change.

    2. I went to the NAMF file and added this right after the similar entry for the “G73,”:

    %NVIDIA_G74.DEV_01D8.1% = nv_NV3x_G7x, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_81E6104D

    3. I found this entry in the inf: NVIDIA_DEV_01D8.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400″

    Right after that entry I added this one:
    NVIDIA_DEV_01D8.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 (Sony Vaio SZ390P)”

    I did not see any other manufacturer names like that, but I just added it anyway.

    4. I ran the setup.exe again that was in the Display subfolder a few levels down from the main Nvidia folder. This time it said it was successful, and I restarted and it worked.

26. 

    rr0123 November 30th, 2009 at 04:48

    OOops, the Driver Heaven instructions are here:

    http://www.driverheaven.net/nvmodtool.php

27. 

    hartman32 January 1st, 2010 at 18:52

    I followed the instructions above. Then launched the .exe and it loaded successfully. However after the restart the driver still shows the old driver date and the same revision in the NVIDIA control panel. Is this normal or did it not succesfully install?

28. 

    search37 February 9th, 2010 at 17:06

    I have SonyVaio VGN-FE41M, could you please help me Andreas how to update the NVIDIA Driver, I downloaded the latest one wich is 179.48, for Go 7400,I have the Windows7 Ultimate x86, If you could post clear advice for me here please, step by step, i will be very pleased, this are my hrdware ids ;
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_81EF104D&REV_A1
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_81EF104D
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&CC_030000
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&CC_0300

    Thanks a Lot
    Kind Regards

29. 

    Andreas Stenhall February 9th, 2010 at 20:28

    @search37: You need to add the below two lines to the corresponding section in nvam.inf and then run setup to install the driver (successfully) :)

    NVIDIA_DEV.01D8.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 7400 Go (Sony Vaio VGN-FE41M)”

    %NVIDIA_DEV.01D8.01% = Section012, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_81EF104D

30. 

    search37 February 10th, 2010 at 15:50

    Thanks Andreas yes it worked fine with this, very kind of you

    Kind Regards

31. 

    chris2212 February 12th, 2010 at 03:29

    Hi, I’ve followed your steps, but it keeps saying “The system has not been modified. To install this program at a later time, run the installation again.” Any ideas on what to do?

32. 

    alcapone_il_mafioso February 14th, 2010 at 17:19

    HI,

    I have tried all, but ther is no way. I have a LG M1-JDGFG with the Nvidia Go 7400.
    1400×1050 resolution is executable with only 16 Bit Color (oh oh my eyes), my installed OS is Windows 7 64 Bit. I can not connect my LCD TV, because the driver does not recognize it. The switching on the external VGA Port is not possible

    I have downloaded the Win7 driver from the Nvidia Homepage (179.48_notebook_winvista_win7_64bit_beta.exe), I wanted to edit the NVAM File, but i can not find the String:

    NVIDIA_DEV.01D8.01

    I found that one instead:

    %NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.1% = nv_NV3x_G7x, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_12111043

    Since my Hardware ID is: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_00401854

    I typed in:

    %NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.1% = nv_NV3x_G7x, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_00401854

    There ist no “section012″ :-(

    I think I am wrong.

    An where I have to put: NVIDIA_DEV.01D8.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 7400 Go (LG M1-JDGFG)”?

    Can someone help me?
    here is the unmodified INF: http://www.pennella.de/NVAM.INF

    Thanx

33. 

    withakick February 19th, 2010 at 00:03

    Hi Andreas,

    I can generally figure out these problems with so much advice but this one truly has me stumped.

    I am trying to install the Geforce 8400M GS on my Sony Vaio SZ58GN. I have tried countless times with the instructions posted but I seem to keep getting the same result as chris2212 has posted above. The message reading..

    “The system has not been modified. To install this program at a later time, run the installation again.” …I hate it!

    I’ve pasted the 2 lines in between the lines above and below.

    %NVIDIA_DEV.0427.01% = Section015, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0427&SUBSYS_17C21043

    NVIDIA_DEV.0427.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS (Sony Vaio SZ58GN)”

    %NVIDIA_DEV.0427.01% = Section012, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0427&SUBSYS_9008104D

    %NVIDIA_DEV.0427.02% = Section017, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0427&SUBSYS_3D7A17AA

    As I found the 0427 strings twice in the nvam file I inserted the lines twice.

    Am I doing something wrong or is it just an unfortunate case?

34. 

    Andreas Stenhall February 19th, 2010 at 00:21

    @chris2212: Try to install the driver manually by not using the setup.exe instead using Device Manager to right click the device and choose Update driver. Then browse to the files and choose the latest driver.

35. 

    Andreas Stenhall February 19th, 2010 at 00:25

    @alcapone_il_mafioso: Adding this line should workd

    %NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.1% = nv_NV3x_G7x, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_00401854

    and then place this line almost at the bottom of the file:

    NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.1 = “NVIDIA GeForce 7400 Go (LG M1-JDGFG”

36. 

    Andreas Stenhall February 19th, 2010 at 00:27

    @whitakick: Does it make a difference if you put the line

    NVIDIA_DEV.0427.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS (Sony Vaio SZ58GN)”

    at the similar looking section at the bottom of the file?

37. 

    withakick February 19th, 2010 at 12:27

    Nope, afraid not.

    I have even gone so far as to add the 2 extra lines in every one of the other N***.inf files where I have found the 8400M GS lines. It runs and always tells me that no changes were made at the end of the setup.

    I just cant figure it out.

38. 

    chachodci May 4th, 2010 at 09:44

    I can’t get my graphic card’s hardware ID. I downloaded Everest but can’t figure out where to get it.

    Thanks

39. 

    Andreas Stenhall May 9th, 2010 at 21:45

    @chachodci: Start “Device Manager” then expand the section “Display adapters” and then right click the video card and choose Properties. Then go to the “Details” tab and finally choose “Hardware IDs” in the dropdown menu. There you will find what you are looking for.

40. 

    WinterAce May 18th, 2010 at 16:22

    Hi,

    I modified the INF just as said here (except for placing the “%NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01%…” twice) and installed the latest driver 197.16. But Upgrade Advisor still says its not compatible with Win7. I’ve also verified the ID, etc.

    Am I doing something wrong?

    Please help. Thanks.

41. 

    Andreas Stenhall May 28th, 2010 at 11:24

    @WinterAce: This trick will not change anything related to WIndows 7 Upgrade Advisor as it bases its information on centrally stored information and matches it if it find the corresponding hardware on your machine.

42. 

    fcm94 June 15th, 2010 at 21:24

    have a sony vgn-fz348e im running windows 7 and have tried every combo of drivers for the 8400m gt if anybody has it running or has a driver for it contact me at fcm94@yahoo.com

43. Spike » Install nVidia drivers 179.48 beta on a Sony Vaio June 17th, 2010 at 16:31

    [...] HOW TO: Modify and install Nvidia drivers for mobile graphics chipsets in Windows 7 when all else fa… Categorie:Microsoft Windows Tag: 179.48 beta, nvidia drivers, Sony Vaio, VGN-FE31M [...]

44. 

    fcm94 June 21st, 2010 at 02:58

    i have the device id for my vga card can someone put this in a modified ini file for the geforce 8400m gt sony vaio vgn-fz348e running windows 7 pro,i tried doing it myself but it kept messing up thanks
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9005104D&REV_A1\4&12A31CFE&0&0008

45. 

    Andreas Stenhall June 21st, 2010 at 15:24

    @fcm94, check your email and please have a look at what I did in the file :)

46. 

    theycallmepapu July 15th, 2010 at 10:31

    Andreas , please help me… I Have a laptop Sony Vaio VGN-FZ21E ….i tried all your possibilities…but still won`t work… it sais ” The system has not been modified. To install this program at a later time, run the installation again.” …if you could help me… what can i do…i think i don`t put ”
    NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT (Sony Vaio FZ21e)”
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0426.01% = Section012, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0426&SUBSYS_9005104D , in the right place…i tried to install from device manager by select the folder nividia ,but still didn`t work…THx…I need urgently

47. 

    Andreas Stenhall August 11th, 2010 at 13:41

    @theycallmepapu: Did you get this resolved already? I’m a bit late I know, due to vacation. It seems you have copied my settings right off, only changing the model within the brackets. Did you look up what the HardwareID for your video card is?

48. 

    Ahmad Fadhil September 8th, 2010 at 12:38

    Hi Andreas Stenhall,
    I am from Indonesia. I use a Vaio VGN-SZ670N. I’ve been stuck with Sony’s famous drivers are rarely updated. now, I can use nvidia drivers after following the tutorial. I am very happy. You’re very nice. thanks.

49. 

    hieu September 22nd, 2010 at 17:18

    Hi Andreas Stenhall,

    Im using sz320cp and running win7. I can not check my Driver ID through the Device Manager in the Display Adapter. Instead of running the nvidia 7400, it is running the Mobile Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset Family. Any suggestion? Further, im kind of messing up the .inf file. Pls Help?

50. 

    Andreas Stenhall September 24th, 2010 at 09:04

    @hieu: According to the specs provided by Sony your machine has a Nvidia 7400 Go card. Do I understand you correctly if you do not see this card in “Display adapters” in Device Manager but instead you see the Intel 945 Integrated video card there?

51. 

    hieu September 24th, 2010 at 15:44

    @andreas: yes.I ran AIDA32 to search for the NVIDIA and could not found any but the 945.

52. 

    Andreas Stenhall October 7th, 2010 at 13:03

    @hieu: That sounds really strange, might I suggest that you contact Sony to get supprt on this issue?

53. 

    Nobby301 October 11th, 2010 at 00:17

    Andreas Stenhall

    could you please help me im running a clean installation of Windows 7 Ultimate om my Sony Vaio VGN-FE31H but can not install the offical driver

    i’m trying to understand all the lines and .inf files but i just dont i cant even find the file!

    i have a Go 7400 card and i was wondering if you could send me the modifyd .inf file and tell me where to put it my ID’s are

    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_81EF104D&REV_A1
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_81EF104D
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&CC_030000
    PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&CC_0300

    You would save my life xD

54. Top three posts of 2010 + six favorites @ The Experience Blog January 9th, 2011 at 21:14

    [...] were actually from 2009. How to clean out the WindowsInstaller folder along with the guide on how to install Nvidia drivers on laptops when all else fails were the most popular ones. The guide on how to troubleshoot blue screens of death is as always [...]

55. 

    Te4ehue January 30th, 2011 at 23:18

    Thank you Andreas Stenhall !!!
    It works :-)

56. 

    Red5hark April 20th, 2011 at 14:51

    This is an old thread a but a good resource for people needing to update their mobile gfx drivers due to an ‘inability’ by the manufacturers of the laptop to just do the paperwork…so cheers for starting this topic.

    I have additions specifically for the SONY VAIO VGN-AR61ZU which sorely needed an update due to games like WoW and Rift gfx changes.

    Using your guide, unpack the driver files, back up a copy of the NVAM.INF file found in the unpacked folder;

    266.58_notebook_winvista_win7_32bit_international_whql\Display.Driver

    The folder is named as such as these are the latest drivers for my card namely GeForce 8600M GT;

    Card information and type is found in HardwareDeviceID under Windows Device Manager;

    DEV_0407&SUBSYS_9016104D “NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT”

    using this info having looked at the following segments of the NVAM.INF file, for the closest matches;

    …at the top of the file, I found

    [Manufacturer]
    %NVIDIA_A% = NVIDIA_SetA_Devices,NTx86.6.0,NTx86.6.1

    [NVIDIA_SetA_Devices.NTx86.6.0]
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0405.01% = Section001, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0405&SUBSYS_15D21043
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0405.02% = Section001, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0405&SUBSYS_16341043
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0407.01% = Section003, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0407&SUBSYS_15881043
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0407.02% = Section005, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0407&SUBSYS_16181043
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0407.03% = Section007, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0407&SUBSYS_16321043
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0407.04% = Section001, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0407&SUBSYS_17A21043
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0408.01% = Section001, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0408&SUBSYS_19021043
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0409.01% = Section001, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0409&SUBSYS_15841043
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0409.02% = Section005, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0409&SUBSYS_16191043
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0409.03% = Section001, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0409&SUBSYS_18321043

    …at the bottom of the file

    [Strings]
    DiskID1 = “NVIDIA Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 bit) Driver Library Installation Disk 1″
    NVIDIA = “NVIDIA”
    NVIDIA_A = “NVIDIA”
    NVIDIA_DEV.0405.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS”
    NVIDIA_DEV.0405.02 = “NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS ”
    NVIDIA_DEV.0407.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT”
    NVIDIA_DEV.0407.02 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT ”
    NVIDIA_DEV.0407.03 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT ”
    NVIDIA_DEV.0407.04 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT ”
    NVIDIA_DEV.0408.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 9650M GS”
    NVIDIA_DEV.0409.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT”

    After looking through this, I added the following lines in between the other lines of the file closest to my driver information;

    …to the top part of the file;

    %NVIDIA_DEV.0407.05% = Section001, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0407&SUBSYS_9016104D

    …to the bottom part of the file;

    NVIDIA_DEV.0407.05 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (Sony VAIO)”

    So I ended up with;

    …top part of file

    %NVIDIA_DEV.0407.04% = Section001, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0407&SUBSYS_17A21043
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0407.05% = Section001, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0407&SUBSYS_9016104D
    %NVIDIA_DEV.0408.01% = Section001, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0408&SUBSYS_19021043

    …bottom part of file

    NVIDIA_DEV.0407.04 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT ”
    NVIDIA_DEV.0407.05 = “NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (Sony VAIO)”
    NVIDIA_DEV.0408.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce 9650M GS”

    Save the file and run the SETTUP.EXE, the computer doesnt even require a restart.

    TY NVIDIA and Sony…you suck.

    Happy days
    Red5hark

57. 

    jff_santos June 7th, 2011 at 06:09

    hi andreas can you help me my video card is nvidia geforce 8400m gt gpu and my unit is sony vaio VGN-FZ71B i have a driver here in my laptop the version is 270.61 but is not work !?
    i follow your inst. but noy work !? can u help me plssss

58. 

    Birin July 4th, 2011 at 18:57

    Great article, thanks a lot!

59. 

    John McFarlin August 15th, 2011 at 19:14

    I concur with Red5hark. I found the instructions to be spot on, and concisely written.

    By adding the appropriate lines in the appropriate spots in the nVidia NVAM.INF file, I was able to update my new Sony Vaio VPCL2190X from version 266.18 to version 280.26. I also executed the same procedure on an older VGN AR670 that has been a soldier for me and was running 185.68. Both machines are doing better now.

    Thanks very much for posting this information on the internet.

    Best,

    John

60. 

    John McFarlin August 16th, 2011 at 06:26

    Sony has also blocked out the “Device Settings” functionality from the nVidia Control Panel.

    I offer these instructions (cribbed from TweakGuides.com) as a way to obtain the “Device Settings” options–or at least some of them.

    1. Install nVidia System Tools (available at the nVidia website).
    2. Run RegEdit.
    3. Go to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak
    4. Right click in the open space under the various keys and create a new keyword titled coolbits.
    5. Set its value to 3.

    You should now have the Device Settings dialogue available under Performance. You should be careful with it; I suspect Sony disabled it from the standpoint of “wanting to protect the consumer from themselves.”

    Best,

    John

61. 

    datneovn October 8th, 2011 at 16:28

    Hi.
    I have a Sony Vaio VGN-Sz340P with the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 Graphics. I couldn’t find my id, so i can’t update my NVIDIA driver
    Please help me, i hava the windown XP 32bit.
    i need 2 lines for adding to NVAM.INF.
    Thanks so much!!!

62. 

    datneovn October 8th, 2011 at 18:24

    @Andreas: i finish install succesfully nvidia driver for my laptop with your instructions. Then i check it in manage/decice Manager/Display adapter.
    But, it only has 2 lines with the same content “Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family”
    I tried to remove one of them and restart, reinstalling nvidia but nothing change
    By the way, i also can’t switch my laptop to SPEED mode(by button switch – the lights of SPEED mode does not show up, of STAMINA mode still on)
    Now i can’t do anything with my laptop :( it’s so terrible with me
    Hopes u’ll answer as soon as possible
    Thanks so so so much.
    Best
    Neo (sorry about my English – cause i’m vietnamese)

63. 

    RigasW January 19th, 2012 at 21:56

    Hi Andreas,

    thank you so much for this perfect description.

    The standard VGA driver worked fine for my, till I noticed that it cannot be used when you want to use an external monitor or projector.

    I searched the web for hours till I finally found this site.

    Greetings from Munich,

    RigasW