m9700 - WIN 7 - SLI 7900 GS - Issues

[mrkuenning]

m9700 - WIN 7 - SLI 7900 GS - Issues - (Solved)

I have an Alienware m9700 with SLI 7900 GS.

After installing Windows 7 32bit (Retail) I am able to install every driver with no issues except the video drivers. Sound works, web-cam works...

The strange thing is when I install the (vista 32bit) drivers they install fine it restarts and I get a black screen. I have found that plugging in a monitor works.

So the cards work the driver loads, it boots fine, it just refuses to display on the laptop screen. I reboot in safe-mode and the screen shows up and I can uninstall the driver and restart just fine. But the process repeats itself upon reinstalling a driver.

Windows update has a go 7900 GS driver that fails when it tries to install. I am curious if this is a Hardware fault. Or if its a laptop SLI issue. Is there anyway to disable the SLI via BIOS or does anyone have any Ideas. I have found forms where people say they have gotten windows 7 to run fine on their m9700. But I don't know if they have SLI in theirs.

Thanks.

 

[whest]

If your running W7 32BIT - it says in your specs your running 7 64 bit ultimate - anyhow here's a link to the alien site with the sli driver for vista 32 bit whql or a beta driver - to get it to install correctly you may need to install it in compatibility mode with vista because of the OS mismatch :
To install a driver OR program in compatibility mode - right click the setup.exe file - click properties - click compatibility - check run in compatibility with vista/xp etc - check run as administrator - leave the rest blank. Start setup.exe and install.
Link : Alienware : The Ultimate Gaming Machineâ„¢

Hope you havent already tried these drivers - good luck!

 

[mrkuenning]

Yeah, I have Windows 7 on 4 diffrent computers. This laptop is my wife's.

I tried two drivers using compatibility mode. One was the latest Vista 32 driver for the 7900 GS version 179 I think and the other was the one from the Alienware site. Both drivers blue screened when installed via compatibility mode.

I installed the 179.76 driver regularly and the computer booted to an external display flawlessly. SLI enabled and AERO Glass... However it did not see my laptop display listed anywhere. Device manager, NVIDIA Panel...

I closed and reopened my laptop and the display switched from the external to the laptop, for a second, then popped up something about driver unstable and the screen flickered on and off and then blue screened. So it would appear I am very close, but I need the correct driver.

Nvidias site doesnt list a windows 7 driver for the Go 7xxx cards. But I knowticed that the nvidia panel stated it was running DirectX10 (being a vista driver). I was wondering about a hacked windows 7 driver.

 

[thefabe]

Their is a third party site for laptops most people will tell you to go to the nvidia site or the manufacturers site for the drivers I agree. But when this has failed before sites drivers have succeeded it's Worth a shot IMO Fabe Download NVIDIA drivers | drivers for mobile cards and laptops | laptopvideo2go.com do you know where to find your video card ID? Go to My computer right click the manage> device mngr> display adapter>properties>details> drop down menu click hardware Id.

 

[mrkuenning]

Yeah, I had used that years ago.

I installed a modified 186.81 and forced it to install.
It did the same thing at first where it still only showed up on the external display. But It showed DirectX 11 this time and when I closed and opened the screen it didn't crash. I don't know if it will remember the screen is there or if I will need to close and reopen the screen every time. I might try a newer driver and see if it fixes it.

So far so good. At least it runs fine with tweaking. Does anyone know a good driver version to try. Or whether nvidia will develop windows 7 drivers for the GO7xxx series cards. They aren't that old.

 

[ibreakayouface]

i have the same issue and when i close and open it, it doesn't freeze, the screen works but my keyboard and touch pad do not. i'm using 64bit

 

[ibreakayouface]

Yeah, I had used that years ago.

I installed a modified 186.81 and forced it to install.

what method did you use to modify it?

 

[mrkuenning]

I am using 191.07
v191.07 Windows 7/Vista 32bit | NVIDIA - NVISION

I used the modified INI file to install. I still have to close and open the list after the initial boot. Everything works fine after that unless it goes to sleep, then the keyboard and mouse die.

 

[smarteyeball]

Don't use that driver version. Apparently people are having a lot of problems with this driver.

 

[ibreakayouface]

where did you get sound drivers for the m9700?

 

[mrkuenning]

I downloaded the vista drivers from the Alienware support page.

 

[purplehayes]

Hey All,

Just in case anyone comes to this forum with similar installation issues... here is what I did and where I found what was required to make my M9700 work happily with Win7 after upgrading from win xp(all 32bit).

First off this took about 6 hours or more of debugging but here you go:

I ended up with the same issue of black screen after booting up, booting into the windows login screen... (read previous examples) The screen would turn off, keyboard would work but nothing else, I could put it to sleep with the keyboard and then wake it up with the button to then have a screen working but not the keyboard... it would not work... SOLUTION:

1) download the new win 7 go series drivers from Nvidia's website and install... computer will still not work right... with second computer ....
2) download the bios update from Alienware's site, for me it was the same version as what I was running but..., create disk and then flash the bios (this should get your screen working properly)
3) for the sound I downloaded the drivers located at this site: XP/Vista Drivers for ALX, Aurora m9700, Ar ... ... XP/Vista Resource and Support drivers (including Vista SLI) for Hanger 18, Workstation, m7700, ALX, Aurora m9 ...
I used the drivers Audio 5.12.01.5500
4) I also had to download and use the camera drivers from this page but they worked as well.

Hope this helps

 

[JPC123]

I have got the same problem but the fix mentioned about has not solved this problem for me.

 

[mrkuenning]

The issue ended up being my BIOS version. Updated the BIOS and everything works great!

 

[JPC123]

Well i thought i used the latest bio update, can you post a link to the newest one you used pleas,thanks.

 

[mrkuenning]

Took me a while to find it, its not in the drivers section of the alienware site. Its in the support hive part. Go to your order and click on the laptop (AURORA-M 9700 17" WUXGA W/ CAM) and there is a BIOS update link. System BIOS 3.18

http://support.alienware.com/Suppor...nloads/Mobile/m9700/BIOS/m9700_Bios_v3.18.zip

 

[bobqmccracken]

I just had to register to say thank you, this worked great for me! Solved a problem that was driving me crazy!

 

[JPC123]

wow I had forgotten all about this seeing as I have a different laptop now but still have the alienware one.

I will try this bios and see what happens, thanks for the reply even if it is old.