nForce 123/WinXP Chipset Drivers and Remixes

[xero84]

GREAT JOB


IT WORKS v67.7.2 11/17/2007

[AdvModDev]

Don't worry about NAM, because the use of it is not recommended at all: Nearly all versions are broken and users get the problems instead of solving them.
I will remove NAM from all future AIO nForce chipset driver packs, because it is useless and the package size will be quite small without NAM.

Yeah, you're right about the infamous NAM. I have updated the first post to include both NF2-3 remixes w/ NAM stripped out. The difference is about 25 MB.

IT WORKS v67.7.2 11/17/2007

Good to see you got that sorted out

[compstuff]

I've been rereading old posts by Unbreakable and Squall concerning Audio driver v4.65 and comparing it to v4.66 and WHQL v4.62 (the last official NF2/WinXP driver). Turns out that v4.65 was released solely due to Vista. One other significant Vista change was that NV decided to lower the maximim number of allowed 3D sounds (Unbreakable speculated that it was due to performance reasons). The same change is also present in v4.66. So WinXP users of either of these drivers should get slightly better performance at the cost of quality. I don't believe the trade-off is worth it for WinXP users.

Anyways, I've decided to update "NVlatestRemix" with Squall's v4.66 Vista driver because it is essentially the same as v4.65 which MSFT Update Catalog has tagged as being WinXP compatible. But I have modified the INFs in both v4.65 and v4.66 to the same max allowed 3D sound parameters as the WHQL v4.62 so that quality is not sacrificed.

I've been testing your WHQL Remix in new slipstreamed XPSP2 install CD's and using them with an OEM install. They work perfectly and I run the AudioUtl from a RunOnceEx command and it installs perfectly... I've been installing on an Asus A7N8X Deluxe with no SATA just PATA for now... when I run MS Update it wants to push out the 4.65 audio driver so I tried it but I have no speakers on this system now so I can't really hear any audio but the logs and device manger are all fine.

I'm wondering if I should just use the MS 4.65, your 4.65 or your 4.66 in my next OEM folder??? I already have driver signing turned off so no issue their...

One last question: I've been wondering if the updated drivers are more for performance, stability, features etc... do you have any info or benchmarks on performance? I wouldn't want to sacrifice stability for performance but who wouldn't want a little extra edge

[AdvModDev]

and I run the AudioUtl from a RunOnceEx command and it installs perfectly

Why the need for the command? The NV International Installer v4.46 used in all the remixes should install all audio components properly (driver and utility) whether updating from old versions or on a fresh install. I've tested many Installers and found that version (which came from the last official NF1-3 packages) to be the most reliable.

I'm wondering if I should just use the MS 4.65, your 4.65 or your 4.66 in my next OEM folder??? I already have driver signing turned off so no issue their

My rule of thumb is to never allow MSFT to install any drivers for any device. The audio drivers, especially, because in the past MSFT Update always failed to install all 3 audio components. Anyways, the MSFT 4.65 is missing deviceIDs for NF1-3. There was an entire thread about this screwup and people complaining that nothing was installed. So you may want to check the versions of all 3 audio components in Device Manager and see if it is indeed 4.65. The 4.65 that is at my Google page is the exact same driver as MSFT with 2 differences. First, the NF1-3 deviceIDs have been added to all INFs (so it can actually be installed on NF1-3 boards). Second, the "max allowed 3D sounds" parameters have been increased back to what they were in 4.62 WHQL so as to not sacrifice quality for a negligible performance increase. And because anytime you alter the INF(s) of any driver, you automatically break WHQL. So, that is why I have labled them as "beta" when in reality it was WHQL. Many of the drivers at my Google page were actually WHQL to begin with but needed modified INFs to work for NF1-3 boards.

I've been wondering if the updated drivers are more for performance, stability, features etc

Like I said above, many of the drivers that are labled "beta" were actually WHQL but since the INFs have been modified to work for NF1-3 the WHQL certification is broken. So that may make people "feel better" about installing "beta" versions knowing that they were once WHQL. There were many threads here measuring performance done by Squall and Unbreakable just do a search. I can say that the latest versions of the IDE driver, for example, is more stable than the last official WHQL version 4.46. The Ethernet driver for NF2-3 boards w/ Gigabit Ethernet has changed considerably since the last official WHQL version 4.82, but I have no idea what performance/new features there are because I don't own any boards w/ Gigabit Ethernet. All of my Abit NF2 boards have basic 10/100 PreNRM Ethernet, PATA IDE, and SiI 3112 SATARAID. I've been using all the latest drivers (what's in the NF12LR1.0 remix) and have had no problems.

Edit: I have labeled all those "beta" nForce drivers at my page with a "*" to note which ones are actually "beta" status. The ones that don't have a "*" were orginally WHQL status but have lost certification due to modified INFs (inorder to add support for NF1-3 boards).

[AdvModDev]

I have uploaded another 67.xx Gigabit NRM Ethernet driver v67.58 dated 07/30/2007 to my Google page. It's from the Asus package v14.17 and was WHQL for only NF6. I have added NF2-3 deviceIDs and labled them as "beta". I think I now have all the 67.xx drivers ever released.

Also, I have uploaded 2 versions of NVRAID IDE v6.99 to my eSnips test directory: http://www.esnips.com/web/nf23xptest
The first version includes RAIDTool v10.1.0.26 and the second version includes RAIDTool v9.99. Those are the latest versions of the RAIDTool available but I'm not sure if they will work on non-AHCI drivers (like 6.99). The NVRAID IDE driver v9.xx and 10.1.0.xx are the new generation of IDE drivers w/ AHCI support and those are where the latest RAIDTools came from.

I have tryed to mod the AHCI drivers to support NF2 PATA IDE but it's simply not compatible. It may be compatible for NF2-3 SATA NVRAID though. If anyone would like to try it, post here and I'll try to mod it for those boards.

[inkol]

This is an interesting topic for those of us who have computers based on the Nforce 3 chip sets and feel neglected by Nvidia.

I noticed that the NF23LWRnoNAM1.0.zip remix NF3 driver packages use the 4.82 ethernet driver. This appears to be the same one as was used in the official Nvidia 5.11 driver package. I recall having nasty experiences with several NF3 motherboards that I installed the 5.11 driver package on. The driver would appear to install and work, but any attempt to change ethernet settings or uninstall the driver would result in a BSOD. This problem was reported elsewhere (e.g., http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?show ... entry57187 ). Curiously, the 5.11 driver package somehow received WHQL approval and still appears on the Nvidia website as the latest Nforce 3 compatible driver..

Has anybody run into these problems with the NF23LWRnoNAM1.0.zip remix?

Robert

[AdvModDev]

The Ethernet driver 4.82 in "NF23LWRnoNAM1.0" is the exact same one that was used in the last official NF3 package v5.11. Believe me, I have tried to find a newer driver w/ your board's deviceIDs in both INF files (nvenetfd and nvnetbus) and WHQL certified. There are none. Some newer WHQL versions (such as 50.25) have it in one INF but not both. Both are required to have matching deviceIDs or the driver will not work properly. Why does NV do this? I would suspect laziness so that they don't have to test the driver w/ every single chipset that needs to be WHQL certified. Kind of like when they release Forceware that supports only 1 card.

The latest Ethernet 67.72 will work for your board. It was orginally WHQL but since I have modified the INFs to include deviceIDs for NF2-3, the certification is broken. If WHQL is important to you, then I'm afraid you're gonna be stuck w/ 4.82.

Edit: BTW, I'm gonna be uploading NF12LWR1.1 and NF23LWR1.1 in a few hours because I have finished testing a new WHQL IDE driver v5.18 that will replace v4.46.

Edit2: If 4.82 WHQL is indeed problematic (and it certainly seems that way from the thread you linked), then I'll downgrade it to the next lower WHQL version, which is 4.75. But 4.82 was used in alot of different official packages for various chipsets...maybe it's an NF3-specific problem. Apparently xero84 had no problem using it, but he's got an NF2 w/ Gigabit Ethernet.

[compstuff]

and I run the AudioUtl from a RunOnceEx command and it installs perfectly

Why the need for the command? The NV International Installer v4.46 used in all the remixes should install all audio components properly (driver and utility) whether updating from old versions or on a fresh install. I've tested many Installers and found that version (which came from the last official NF1-3 packages) to be the most reliable.

Hmmm... this confused me somewhat and makes me wonder if I am doing something wrong or at least making things hard for myself... what I have been doing is taking all the new drivers and placing them in a single folder with the following structure:
\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\nvidia\latest or
\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\nvidia\whql

then I just create the winnt.sif entry:
OemPnPDriversPath="drivers\nvidia\latest or OemPnPDriversPath="drivers\nvidia\whql

but to install the AudioCtl I place that in my $OEM$\$1\Install folder along with a setup.iss and a cmd file:
%systemdrive%\install\AudioUtl\setup.exe /s /a /s /sms /f1%systemdrive%\install\AudioUtl\temp\audio.iss that runs from RunOnceEx

This has been working for the Unified 5.1 version that I have been running until I noticed your remixes and I installed your WHQL remix with this... but my 1st attempt with you "latest" version actually didn't install properly but I'm not sure why just yet... I will hold off burning any further CD's until I get your comments

By the way, after reading the info you directed me to I have decided to just use the "latest" drivers for my NF1-2 boards

[compstuff]

After doing more research on my failed driver problem I took a look at the setupapi.log and sure enough XP is insisting on installing it's own drivers despite the fact that I have DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore and NonDriverSigningPolicy=Ignore in my winnt.sif...

After reading:
http://www.msfn.org/board/OemInfFiles-t49374.html
http://www.msfn.org/board/OemPnPDrivers ... 51515.html
about adding an OemInfFiles section when I get a chance maybe I will try that... man this is frustrating sometimes

[AdvModDev]

This has been working for the Unified 5.1 version that I have been running

All right, I see that you're slipstreaming the entire package, I usually just integrate only the Ethernet driver so I can get to MSFT Update to download whatever updates came after SP2 before installing anything else. Whatever commands you used to get the official 5.10 package to install correctly will work for my remixes because the directory structures are identical as well as the Installer version used. I'm not sure how to get around the WHQL thing either. In WinXP, even w/ driver signing disabled, notice there are certain drivers (such as audio and IDE) that bypass it and force a popup "unsigned driver" window. I bet this default behavior has something to do w/ it (during slipstream installation). Anyways, they said SP3 will arrive shortly after Vista SP1 (already released to the OEMs) so expect to go through this again soon.