NVIDIA Drivers. Cannot update.

[frankcarrington]

I have a Sony all in one pc the VPC13S1E.   Have tried to run a couple of games, Battlefield 3 etc, and they all say the display driver is outdated and needs to be updated.

So I check my drivers details and its 8.16.11.8950 version, last updated 2010.  So I go to NVIDIA site and download the latest drivers and installers but the Sony promptly rejects them and the NVIDIA software says that the relevant hardware is not found.   Though I am 100% sure I am downloading the right driver for the right card.

Having then looked all over the internet I see that I am , by far, not the only one having this problem.  The Sony just will not allow itself to be updated.

After my past experiance with Sony I dont hold out any hope of them solving this problem.   Seems to be a case of you have bought it now and the warrenty has expired if you dont like it just buy another of our computers.

So any suggestions?  (I am not upto altering BOIS as some on the net have had to do)

I am sure that one of you clever guys out there knows the solution.  How do I update the NVIDIA GeForce 330M drivers on my Sony VPC13S1E?

Thanks!!

PS Please dont say go to control panel, device manager-display drivers-update driver as I have been there and done that as they say.   That just says I have the latest driver, which I dont.

[rich912]

Hi frankcarrington,

Leaving aside the issue of Sony not updating graphics drivers as often as a lot of users would like, the only way to install NVIDIA drivers (other than those released by Sony) is to use a modified INF file.

Have a look at the following link:

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/9243-forceware-updaters-quickstart-guide/

Needless to say that installing any driver other than those tested and released by Sony is entirely at your own risk.

Rich

[danhague]

Hi Frank. When you try to install the latest driver that you download from the Sony site, do you get a specific error message?

All I could think of in this case is a wrong driver which you double checked already. So I would be interested to see the specific error code.

[frankcarrington]

Thanks for taking the time to reply Rich.

Had a look at the website and picking the correct driver would just be a bit of a guess.  The last thing I want to do it make things worse.

I bought a Sony product because I thought, obviously wrongly, that their products would be good quality and I would get good support and backup.  Every computer I have either made or bought in my lifetime, and there has been quite a few, has had at least basic support.  I could update and 'tweek' as needed. Alas this is not the case with my all-in-one.  It went seriously wrong just a month out of warrenty Sony did not want to know and it cost £729 and a lot of hassle to get it fixed.  The mother board Ram holders went wrong.  I had it done through a authorised Sony repairer.  I should just have scrapped it and bought a tower!

Having a computer that cost over £1,400 ( $2,400 ) I thought I would be buying quality etc.

Now I cannot even run the games that I want or update my Graphics card driver.    Not very good is it?

Sony wont be getting my money anymore and when my sister in law nearly bought a Sony Tv I put her wise. She has done the same and passed on the bad news to a couple of her friends at the Golf Club.  So sony has dipped out on a few grand of sales now.  This is how companys get bad reputations.  I need a new camera, a DSLR, normally I would buy Sony but not anymore.

Now I am stuck with a computer that I cant update.  😞

So thanks for trying Rich!   Sony get your finger out and support your products!!

Message was edited by: frankcarrington

Message was edited by: frankcarrington

[rich912]

Hi frankcarrington,

Actually, selecting the correct driver is not as difficult as it would first seem as all NVIDIA drivers use Unified Driver Architecture. Therefore any driver will work as long as it is supported by your operating system. The most recent would probably be appropriate in your case.

To identify the supported drivers have a look at the following link:

http://laptopvideo2go.com/drivers

It is simply a matter of entering the correct hardware ID in the ‘Search terms’ field (which can be found in the device properties in Device Manager > Details tab > Hardware Ids (from the drop down menu). Then check your operating system.

You can of course roll back to, or reinstall the original, driver the if you encounter problems...

Rich

[rich912]

Hi frankcarrington,

Can you please confirm your model number – is it perhaps VPCF13S1E/B not VPC13S1E? If so there is a Sony update available - Graphics Driver (NVIDIA) - 8.17.12.6672 dated 01/07/2011.

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/VPCF13S1E_B/updates

Rich

[frankcarrington]

Yes I am sure

This is taken straight from Sonys information software.

I wonder if that update would work anyway?

Isn't B a laptop?

Message was edited by: frankcarrington

Message was edited by: frankcarrington

[frankcarrington]

Thanks Rich. If  you look at my original post I put down exactly what card I have and what driver.  I got the details from the driver info details through control panel.

[rich912]

Hi frankcarrington,

The reason I ask is that Sony Vaio do not list a VPC13S1E model as far as I can see and yes the VPCF13S1E/B is a notebook. I assume that this is a European model?

Can you check on the screen surround or in the BIOS for a model number? Without this it is impossible to check whether a Sony approved update for your machine has been released.

BTW the driver for the VPCF13S1E/B will probably not work as it uses the NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 425M GPU.

Rich

[rich912]

Is this your model?

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/VPCL13S1E_S/updates