utopian201

Will this still work with the Windows 10 Anniversary update which requires drivers be signed? When you go to device manager and look at events, what driver inf file is it using? I have a similar guide here But instead of adding lines to nvdispi.inf, I removed the desktop driver so that it HAS to use the notebook drivers. I think what you have done is add capabilities to the desktop driver. If your device manager says it is using nv_dispi.inf, you can skip the first part modifying notebook vendor inf and just go straight to modifying nv_dispi.inf.

This means it is STILL using the desktop drivers, not the optimus drivers. Comment out all instances of GTX 960 (two lines for each id; one under strings, one that refers to the section). If the drivers have been modified correctly, it would be using nvami.inf (the file where you added the lines), not nv_dispi.inf. As it is using nv_dispi.it means it is ignoring the changes you've made in nvami.inf.

It is necessary to comment out the lines in the dispi file - this disables the non optimus drivers. When you add the lines with a section that refers to NVSupportOptimus = 1, you are telling the installer to use an optimus enabld driver for your card. I have it running on my internal screen on windows 10, so it IS possible to get it working.

Were you in safemode?

So you mean the driver installation succeeded with the 840 disabled? Does it now work on your internal screen?

Ok this means that everything except optimus is working. Now you KNOW the drivers you have are working. Modify the working drivers (delete the ones you modified before, that package is not working). Only comment out the 960 lines, leave the 840m lines. Try: - disable 840m, install the new modified drivers. if that doesn't work, - enable 840m, install the new modified drivers.

hhmm.... So now you have the normal unmodified drivers installed for your 960. If you plug an external monitor/tv into your 960's video output, do you get an image?

can you click on the events page and scroll down to the bottom so it shows which inf it is using?

fails at what step? driver installation? so the 960 shows up in device manager with no errors? (error 12 etc) And the driver installs correctly for BOTH the 960 and 840m when the 840m is enabled?

1. remove all drivers with ddu 2. when you plug in your 960, does it show up as Microsoft basic adaptor with no errors? 3. disable 840m 4. install drivers You have done all this and it fails?

hhmm, ok so that means something else is wrong. How did you originally get the drivers installed for your 960 so that it would run Total War Atilla?

In the above post you said "edit1: Ok, I tried to install the driver with the lines commented out, and it ... didn't work. Actually. I did work, but the 840M and not for the 960 which is normal since I only commented out lines that refer the 960. Talking about that, should I try to deactivate the 840M while trying to install the modified drivers ?" If it was deactivated, would it still try to install the drivers for it? Or do you mean deactivate the 840m drivers in the inf?

Also deactivate your 840m, no harm in trying right?

No, there is no bug as far as I'm aware - I got it to work. Did you try step 1? Download the drivers again and install? The ones you are currently using are corrupt because it fails to install the drivers.

As far as I'm aware, the EXP GDC beast can have trouble running at PCI-e 2.0 speeds due to the mini hdmi cable quality. If you are limited to PCI-e 1.0 speeds, you may experience stuttering or micro lags due to the restricted bandwith (depending on what game you play). In terms of problems you will face in the future, it could be any of the ones in this forum (error 12, card not detected, etc) in device manager Any GPU and PSU will work, not really any different to making the same decision for a desktop. I use a 660Ti and a small form factor PSU (Corsair SF600) to reduce space but it is quite expensive.

What about if you downloaded the same version of the drivers and tried installed them without modifying them? Uncommenting out the line and it still fails means the driver package would have failed before we modified them. I'd try: 1. Download the same driver package to make sure the unmodified drivers work 2. Comment out the lines - the driver package should not work 3. Add the lines to nvami.inf and it should work again. Are you using DDU (Display driver uninstaller) to ensure the drivers are removed? Oh one other thing I forgot to mention! Are you using windows 10? When you go to install the modified driver, you will need to hold down shift when you restart, this will give you the menu to start windows in diagnostic mode. You will need to start windows with "Allow unsigned driver installation". In windows 10, it pops up a warning saying the driver is unsigned, but in Windows 7 etc, it may just fail, so your errors could be due to that.

What happens when you uncomment those lines (ie reenable the lines in nv_dispi.inf)? That should make it work again (but not the internal screen). If that is the case, I can only assume there is an error in the nvami.inf - it means the installer cannot find a driver for your card. Maybe paste the lines you've added and commented out as well has your hardware ID?

after you install the driver, go to device manager and then your graphics card. On the events tab, what is the last line when it says "Device Installed"? Does it say nvami.inf or something else?

Ok, the instructions are quite long winded but here goes: 1. Go to Device manager and go to your GTX 960 2. On the details tab, go to Hardware IDs. The second line will be something like PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1183&SUBSYS_28451462 And make a note of the bolded numbers. Your ones will be different. I will name these three numbers like this: A: 1183 B: 2845 C: 1462 3. Use DDU driver uninstaller to remove your nvidia drivers. 4. Go to your nvidia driver package. You may need to unzip them. 5. Go to the Display.Driver folder and open up nv_dispi.inf 6. Search for all lines starting with %NVIDIA_DEV.(A) In my case, I searched for all lines starting with %NVIDIA_DEV.1183 In my case (because I am using a 660Ti) there were two lines; %NVIDIA_DEV.1183% = Section009, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1183 (line 400 in my file) NVIDIA_DEV.1183 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti" (line 7959 in my file) There may be more or less depending on what version drivers you use and what your card is. Comment both of them out by placing a semi colon at the start like this: ;%NVIDIA_DEV.1183% = Section009, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1183 ;NVIDIA_DEV.1183 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti" This disables the desktop drivers (which don't support optimus) for the 660Ti. If you tried to now install this driver package, it would say no supported hardware found (because we have disabled the driver for the 660Ti) 7. Open up nvami.inf and search for the [Strings] section. On nvidia drivers 368.22, it is on line 9235. 8. Place this line in that section underneath "NVIDIA_A = "NVIDIA": NVIDIA_A = "NVIDIA" NVIDIA_DEV.(A).(B).(C) = "(your graphics card)" In my one I did this: NVIDIA_A = "NVIDIA" NVIDIA_DEV.1183.2845.1462 = "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti" 8. In the same file, search for [Section and look for one that has the key line NVSupportOptimus = 1 This is a driver that will support optimus. In my one, [Section001] had that line. 9. In the same file, search for the [NVIDIA_Devices.NTamd64.10.0] section. On my one it is line 283. 10. Place this line underneath that section: %NVIDIA_DEV.(A).(B).(C)% = Section001, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_(A)&SUBSYS_(B)(C) In my one, it looks like %NVIDIA_DEV.1183.2845.1462% = Section001, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1183&SUBSYS_28451462 I used Section001 because in my driver, Section001 supported Optimus. Your Section001 may not, so find a Section00X that does. This tells the installer that, if it finds a 660Ti, use the driver at Section001 which supports optimus. 11. With your graphics card plugged in, install the driver. And then you should have it working on the internal screen! Let me know how you get on.

Was the GPU usage 0% when you were outputting to the TV? To me it is sounding like an optimus issue which I can help with, but it is not exactly straight forward.

Do you have a TV you could output to? Having it running on an external monitor at least will let you know that it is all working correctly, just not the internal monitor.

I followed this guide But also did a few extra things, I detailed it here And got it working on the internal laptop screen without setup 1.3

I'm assuming it shows up in device manager correctly? And have you tried disabling your 840M?

Have you enabled the option to show "Run on..." in context menu in the nvidia drivers? And does it work with an external monitor? This will help narrow down what is going wrong.

are you using an external monitor?