NVIDIA drivers' labels

Could anyone tell me how NVIDIA labels its drivers, and what each digit in that label means? Maybe it looks silly that I’m interested in those numbers, but the answer to this question might be a solution for my problem. And the problem is that I cannot install new drivers on my notebook, although the video card is in the list of supported ones.

I have a GX600 notebook with NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT (512 MB). OS is Windows Vista (32 bit). In the ListDevices.txt file that video-card is always present at the beginning of the list. But when I try to install new drivers, installation is always stopped with the following message:

The NVIDIA Setup program could not locate any drivers that are
compatible with your current hardware. Setup will now exit.

The last drivers that I have successfully installed were 185.81 (or to be more precise 7.15.11.8581). After that I have tried to install every higher version that was available for download, but without success. Today I have downloaded the latest drivers for notebooks - 186.81. Again in vain. So, I decided to take a closer look at files containing the drivers hoping that somewhere I would find labels telling they are not for Windows Vista 32 or something similar. And I have found something very interesting!

[185.81 *.INF]
; NVIDIA Windows Vista (32 bit) Display INF file
; Copyright (c) NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved.

[Version]
Signature = “Windows NT
Provider = %NVIDIA%
ClassGUID = {4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Class = Display
DriverVer = 04/28/2009, 7.15.11.8581

//------------------------------------------------
[185.85 *.INF]
; NVIDIA Windows Vista (32 bit) Display INF file
; Copyright (c) NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved.

[Version]
Signature = “Windows NT
Provider = %NVIDIA%
ClassGUID = {4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Class = Display
DriverVer = 04/30/2009, 8.15.11.8585

//------------------------------------------------
[186.03 *.INF]
; NVIDIA Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 bit) Display INF file
; Copyright (c) NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved.

[Version]
Signature = “Windows NT
Provider = %NVIDIA%
ClassGUID = {4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Class = Display
DriverVer = 05/27/2009, 8.15.11.8603

//------------------------------------------------
[186.81 *.INF]
; NVIDIA Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 bit) Display INF file
; Copyright (c) NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved.

[Version]
Signature = “Windows NT
Provider = %NVIDIA%
ClassGUID = {4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Class = Display
DriverVer = 08/19/2009, 8.16.11.8681

The last drivers I successfully installed have a 7 as the first digit in the drivers’ version label, and all others have 8!

Does anyone know why the drivers cannot be installed, and how the problem can be related to the version of the drivers?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Oh, I guess that everything in the world I have to learn by my self… :frowning:
The first digit is OS support (6 - XP, 7 - Vista, 8 - Windows 7), and that was not the problem.

The problem is that VEN_10DE&DEV_0407&SUBSYS_3FAD1462 is really NOT SUPPORTED by current drivers. Files NVMI.INF and NVMI.CAT are missing, and also an entry in the ListDevices.txt.

So, I have to reformulate the question:

Will NVIDIA support DEV_0407&SUBSYS_3FAD1462 in the next drivers, and if not, what is the SUBSYS ID of the most similar device?

I will try to tweak the drivers, but the suggestion of the most similar device that is still in the list will prevent greater harm.

Try drivers from http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/
They have modified original Nvidia drivers, so that they supports all subsys id numbers for mobile GPUs.

Thank you, martinsm!

It is an excellent site, but the latest drivers for my video-card (for Vista 32bit) are 185.81, which are already installed (downloaded from the official site four months ago). Or I don’t know how to use the site.

Before changing the operating system, I should try a little bit more with the current. :wink:

Hmm, no. Latest drivers are 190.62: http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/24925-v19062-windows-7vista-32bit-nvidia/
You should download driver (from this site or from nvidia) and then replace nv_disp.inf file from this site before installing it. Now driver should install on any 8x or 9x (or others) mobile gpus.

I have exactly this driver installed on my laptop with 8400M. Official nvidia drivers doesn’t install on it, says the same message that driver is not compatible with current hardware.

Thank you!

If something went wrong, you would be guilty! :wink:

I’m just preparing the backup, to prevent disaster, and crossing my fingers…

Nope! It doesn’t work! :frowning:

I got the same message. Maybe it is a destiny to be bound to 185.18 drivers.

I am a little bit disappointed. :frowning:

I have spent the whole day trying to make 186.81 drivers to work on my notebook, and when I finally succeeded I discovered that I didn’t get even one new OpenGL extension. At least I have some experience and know how to accommodate new drivers (of course, only if they support DEV_0407).

Strange. Replacing nv_disp.inf should help get rid of that error message. Are you sure you replaced correct file?

I am getting all the latest OpenGL extensions (and 3.2 core version) on my 8400M with 190.56 driver. v190.62 has no 3.2 version available though.

Maybe I made some mistake. Yesterday, I tried various things at the same time, with various versions of the drivers. If you mean nv_disp.inf that is already in the self-extracting archive (19062_win7x32.exe), I didn’t change it. Just started the installation.

And another thing scares me. NVIDIA clearly states:


There are many companies that use NVIDIA technology to create their own graphics cards, motherboards, and other products. While they all have chosen NVIDIA’s technology as a core component of their solutions, each of them implements our technology differently and, therefore, it is not possible for us at NVIDIA to directly support these products.

However, if you have a notebook computer, you must typically get driver updates directly from the manufacturer of your notebook. Notebook graphics cards are highly specialized and the reference drivers provided on the www.nvidia.com website may not work unless indicated.

So, it is unlikely that generic desktop drivers would work smooth with notebooks graphics cards. But if you say so, I’ll certainly try. :wink:

Thank you!

No, not in archive. nv_disp.inf should be download separately from that link which I have you. Look for “INF Modified” link: http://laptopvideo2go.com/infs/190series/19062_win7x32/nv_disp.inf

19062_win7x32.exe is just original Nvidia driver repacked with 7z archive to take less space. You should replace nv_disp.inf in it with modified inf file.

I had downloaded it, but didn’t replace original one, because driver version in it is 6.14.11.9062 (which means “for XP”). OK! I’ll try! Thanks!

P.S. Do 190.57 drivers work on your notebook? In fact it will be wonderful if they work, because they implement more functionality than 190.62.

I have only tried 190.56 version. I guess 190.57 should work also, I’ve never encountered driver (with modded inf) from laptopvideo2go that doesn’t work on my laptop (on all three OS’es - XP/Vista/Win7).

OK! I’ll wait until laptopvideo2go releases inf file for 190.57. Currently it is not available.

Thank you!