64-bit Vista iMac problems!

[losingground]

I know this topic has been thrown around, but I seem to be having problems that other's haven't addressed. Let me get my specs out of the way:

iMac 3.06GHz, 512 GeForce 8800GS, 4Gb of RAM.

I recently bought a non refundable OEM copy of Windows Vista 64-bit, and had a few snags with drivers, but thanks to others sharing the Mac Pro system disc drivers, a lot of my problems have been fixed.

Unfortunately, my graphic's card is totally undetectable to Vista, and this is bugging the crap out of me. My system profile in Windows reads: "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter"-- instead of my GeForce card. This reduces my Windows Experience Rating to 1.0.

Are others having this problem? How can I fix it.

I've already downloaded the 2.1 Bootcamp Update from Apple.com, and the Mac Pro drivers that users uploaded to Rapidshare.

Help

 

[bytodaystandrds]

Hi!
Why not visit nVidia's drivers website and download exactly what you need, then?
I have a 20"iMac with the ATIx1600 and that's what i did in order to have the latest driver on bootcamp.
Just make sure the exact model your iMac carries...

 

[TBi]

Get the newest version of nVidia drivers for your graphics card from online and get this:

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

Or go to

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/

Or find out how to modify the nVidia inf... it's not hard. Just takes time

 

[losingground]

Hi!
Why not visit nVidia's drivers website and download exactly what you need, then?
I have a 20"iMac with the ATIx1600 and that's what i did in order to have the latest driver on bootcamp.
Just make sure the exact model your iMac carries...

I tried this, and the Nvidia installer said it couldn't find any compatible drivers for my hardware. For some reason my video card isn't being recognized.

 

[TBi]

For some reason my video card isn't being recognized.

Drivers come with a .inf file which contains the 'names' of the graphics cards it can install onto. This makes sure you don't install the wrong driver on the wrong card. Almost every single 8600GT out there has the same 'name', however Apple (for reasons of their own) change the name so the driver can't recognize it.

All you really have to do is find out the name from the Apple driver (or system settings) and add it to the new drivers so they can recognize the card.

 

[losingground]

Drivers come with a .inf file which contains the 'names' of the graphics cards it can install onto. This makes sure you don't install the wrong driver on the wrong card. Almost every single 8600GT out there has the same 'name', however Apple (for reasons of their own) change the name so the driver can't recognize it.

All you really have to do is find out the name from the Apple driver (or system settings) and add it to the new drivers so they can recognize the card.

I'm sorry, I know this must seem really simple to you; but how would I go about doing this? Do I do this from Windows, from Mac OS X? How do I search for something that isn't being recognized?

 

[TBi]

I'm sorry, I know this must seem really simple to you; but how would I go about doing this? Do I do this from Windows, from Mac OS X? How do I search for something that isn't being recognized?

The .inf file is a text file. You an modify it from windows or OSX or linux or unix or any text editor

You could take the easy route and download premodified drivers. There are surely a tonne of people who wanted this driver and have modified them already. Those two websites i mentioned earlier provide either drivers or a modifier for the driver.

As for modifying the .inf yourself. It takes too long to explain and it's something you really have to figure out yourself to be able to do it for the next drivers.

However just as a starter to give you an idea of what you have to do.

When you install nVidia drivers on windows they extract to c:\nvidia\<driver version>

Go in there and find the .inf file. It will be called something like nvdm.inf (lets call it nvinf)

You will also need the bootcamp drivers for your system, 32bit will do. There are guides online of how to extract the driver set. You also need to find the .inf for your nvidia graphics card here (lets call it bcinf).

Anyways...

Go to the bottom of bcinf and find these lines

; Localizable Strings
NVIDIA                  = "NVIDIA"
NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D7.1   = "NVIDIA Quadro NVS 110M"
NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D7.2   = "NVIDIA Quadro NVS 110M "

This will be different for your inf.

Now look up the bcinf file for 'NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D7.1' (or the equivalent in your inf file)
and you'll find something like this

[NVIDIA.Mfg.NTx86.5.1]
%NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D7.1%   = nv4_WSApps_G72_WinXP_LP1,          PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D7&SUBSYS_01C21028
%NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D7.2%   = nv4_WSApps_G72_WinXP_LP2,          PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D7&SUBSYS_01CC1028
%NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.1%   = nv4_WSApps_G72_WinXP_LP2,          PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_01CC1028
%NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01DC.3%   = nv4_WSApps_G72_WinXP_StdCP,        PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01DC&SUBSYS_01C81028

[NVIDIA.Mfg]
%NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D7.1%   = nv4_WSApps_G72_LP1,                PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D7&SUBSYS_01C21028
%NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D7.2%   = nv4_WSApps_G72_LP2,                PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D7&SUBSYS_01CC1028
%NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.1%   = nv4_WSApps_G72_LP2,                PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_01CC1028
%NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01DC.3%   = nv4_WSApps_G72_StdCP,              PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01DC&SUBSYS_01C81028

"PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01DC&SUBSYS_01C81028" Is the 'name' of the card. (Scroll the box above right if you don't see it)

Just copy anything which contains this, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01DC&SUBSYS_01C81028, or 'NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D7.1'

To your nVidia inf and then it will install.

Hope that all makes sense

The inf files are all quite logical, so with a little thought anyone can do this.

 

[goolash]

Just run the installer in windows. The error message you report " it couldn't find any compatible drivers for my hardware" does not make sense to me.

What happens when you run the installer ? Does it give you an error message.

Alternatively return to the Nvidia site in Windows and run the program on the driver selection page to "Automatically find drivers for my NVIDIA products" and see how Nvidia identifies your card.

Best of luck.

 

[TBi]

Just run the installer in windows. The error message you report " it couldn't find any compatible drivers for my hardware" does not make sense to me.

What happens when you run the installer ? Does it give you an error message.

nVidia only supports desktop cards which have nVidia I.D.'s. Apple changed the device I.D., the drivers don't know the new I.D. and subsequently refuse to install stating the error above. This is standard behavior for drivers to make sure you don't install the wrong driver for the wrong device.

The same happens with standard ATi drivers on an Apple ATi card.