venerdì 18 ottobre 2013

Windows 8.1 on Sony Vaio VGN-Z650N/B Hybrid Graphic

I bought my Vaio VGN-Z650 notebook on April 2009. It's a Core2Duo@2.53Ghz Notebook with an Hybrid graphic (intel integrated + nVidia 9300M discrete)
Unfortunately this notebook came with Windows Vista Professional preinstalled and when Windows 8 came out I choose to update the OS to get rid of it.
Sony made the drivers for Windows 7 (32/64 bit) and most of them work fine except the video card one.
You can always leave the nVidia card unrecognized and default to the Intel integrated drivers pre installed by Windows but this Notebook is a bit outdated and maybe you want to use it at "full power" to keep it a bit longer.

In this short post I'll show how to set up only the graphic card both on Windows 8 and 8.1 to help you be up and running without wasting time.

For further details and to find the drivers please refer to this thread which solved all my problems.

The Drivers
Please be sure to download the right driver for the system: for the VGN-Z with 9300M card are the one made by Andrew08 (to which we are all grateful) named "26308 2020 101112".
before starting the "Stamina - Speed" switch should be set on Speed.

Installation
In order to use this driver you have to disable the unsigned driver enforcement which is by default active in windows 8 and then install the driver:

  1. Press + R to open a Run Window
  2. Enter shutdown.exe /r /o /f /t 00
  3. Click the "OK" button
  4. System will restart to a "Choose an option" screen
  5. Select "Troubleshoot" from "Choose an option" screen
  6. Select "Advanced options" from "Troubleshoot" screen
  7. Select "Windows Startup Settings" from "Advanced options" screen
  8. Click "Restart" button
  9. System will restart to "Advanced Boot Options" screen
  10. Select "Disable Driver Signature Enforcement" (option number 7)
  11. Once the system starts, install the drivers (it may take some time)
  12. Open a Command Prompt as Administrator
  13. In the Command Window type:

bcdedit -set loadoptions DISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS

bcdedit -set testsigning ON

  1. Reboot
  2. If all is ok this time when you log in Windows the Speed light near the switch should be on
While working you should note some annoying flashing of the display, to solve this problem:

  1. Open the Nvidia Control Panel Client
    "C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\Control Panel Client\nvcplui.exe"
  2. Click Customize
  3. Click Create Custom Resolution...
  4. Open Timing
  5. Select CVT
  1. Click Test
  2. Save this configuration, exit the Control Panel Client and reboot
  3. The flickering should be gone

8 commenti:

Unknown ha detto...

Blimey - I had completely given up on getting the HDMI to work on my vgn-z51xg ...... Thanks very much for sharing that - shame about the 4shared hosted link - utter bollocks trying to download it - I shall host elsewhere and post a link once I know it. Thx again!

Terenzio Berni ha detto...

Hi Mark,
I haven't tried the HDMI but I've connected the Vaio to an external projector using the standard VGA port.
The VGA output worked only on the Intel driver (Stamina mode) while when using the 9300m no output was sent to the VGA

Francisco Javier Santana Cisneros ha detto...

You've found a way to install these drivers in Windows 10?

Terenzio Berni ha detto...

No sorry, I'm still using 8.1. I still use this notebook for some of my work so I can't just format it and try.
If I find some free time I'll try Windows 10 on an external USB Drive setting it up as a WinToGo.
I'll post an update if the driver that is working for Windows 8.1 still works on 10.
I think there will be no problem with the standard intel graphics card and that the problem will be the nVidia card as usual.

Anonimo ha detto...

I tried to install on Windows 10 using a USB installation (WintoUSB). The graphics driver did install using your instruction, but on reboot, both NVIDIA and INtel had the yellow exclamation mark. Then, I couldn't uninstall the driver (even in safe mode).... it kept saying restart needed.

Before trying these driver, it just went to the basic Microsoft display adaptor at 1024x768, so the notebook is not really usable. :(

If you find a way to install and get it working on Windows 10, that would be amazing!

Thanks.

Terenzio Berni ha detto...

I've tested Windows 10 on my Vaio VGN-Z this weekend. a post update will follow shortly.
thanks for your replies.
Terenzio

Anonimo ha detto...

Hello Terenzio, I've closely read your findings and as I am trying to upgrade my VGN-Z31WN machine to Win10 I am very curious to know if there is any news on the behaviour of the driver in Win10. Are any updates to be expected anytime soon?

Thanks // AvdL // Netherlands

Terenzio Berni ha detto...

Ho nice to hear you. I'm on holiday right know and in Italy it's really hot so I don't use my notebook very much.
I've tried Windows 10 only for two weeks and it works but I've had some minor problems with the nvidia card (the Intel works out of the box).
I also had some problems during the boot but this sometime happened also with 8 and 8.1.
I'll try to do my best and post something more detailed this week.