HP Firebird 802 Drivers

[Newcombc7]

Thank you again for your response.

- On the Set SLI and PhysX Config page, I am able to select Maximize 3D performance, but beneath that, it simply says "SLI Disabled". I also have the option to Disable SLI beneath Maximize 3D performance. Applying either setting or switching between the two still results in SLI Disabled.

-I do not have the SLI UI appear in my system tray. Prior to updating to Windows 7, back when I had Vista installed and everything running smoothly, I specifically remember that button in the system tray, with the three different options of Boost Performance, Save Power, and Additional Displays mode. I remember it separate from the Nvidia control panel as well. However after deleting my information and reformatting, I have no been able to find this program or feature anywhere. It is not listed on HP's drivers download page, and I could not find it on Nvidia's website. - Admittedly though, I probably don't know what it is that I was looking for in the first place. 

-Also, in the Nvidia control panel, under 3D settings, The option to display visual SLI indicator is greyed out. (probably due to the fact my SLI is disabled). A PhysX visual indicator is present. 

- Where might I come across the Hybrid SLI UI?

[Dunsany]

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Newcombc7 wrote:

Thank you again for your response.

- On the Set SLI and PhysX Config page, I am able to select Maximize 3D performance, but beneath that, it simply says "SLI Disabled". I also have the option to Disable SLI beneath Maximize 3D performance. Applying either setting or switching between the two still results in SLI Disabled.

-I do not have the SLI UI appear in my system tray. Prior to updating to Windows 7, back when I had Vista installed and everything running smoothly, I specifically remember that button in the system tray, with the three different options of Boost Performance, Save Power, and Additional Displays mode. I remember it separate from the Nvidia control panel as well. However after deleting my information and reformatting, I have no been able to find this program or feature anywhere. It is not listed on HP's drivers download page, and I could not find it on Nvidia's website. - Admittedly though, I probably don't know what it is that I was looking for in the first place. 

-Also, in the Nvidia control panel, under 3D settings, The option to display visual SLI indicator is greyed out. (probably due to the fact my SLI is disabled). A PhysX visual indicator is present. 

- Where might I come across the Hybrid SLI UI?

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You're welcome. I appreciate your persistence and positive attitude. There's no good reason for all the confusion about Firebird drivers. I know I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what works best for me since I bought my first Firebird.

The Hybrid SLI UI is part of the display driver installation. It's not a separate file that needs to be downloaded and/or installed. I think it installs automatically unless the installer thinks there is some problem with the Firebird's three GPU's.

After you reformatted your hard disk and installed Windows 7 did you let Windows Update try to install one or both of the Nvidia display drivers (9800 S and 760i SLI)? Neither one installs correctly on my Firebirds and sometimes have caused problems similar to yours. Now everytime a Nvidia driver shows up in Windows Update I right click on it and select Hide.

When you installed the nForce Driver Version 15.56 did you install all options including the display driver? After installing and rebooting do you remember if the Hybrid SLI UI appeared or not? Did you happen to look in Device Manager to see if all three GPU's were working properly?

[Newcombc7]

Amazingly, I fixed the issue. My Firebird has been not running right for about 4 months now. It had little to do with the graphics drivers and settings, and more to do with the BIOS settings. The drivers were installing the SLI UI, but the problem was that my BIOS was not enabling it as such. I confirmed this byIchecking my registry, and found that under NVIDIA CORP, there was a Hybrid folder, but with no information in it. 

Before I switched over to Windows 7, I updated my BIOS from the hp drivers website, doing as instructed in HP's tutorial on switching an HP machine from Vista to Windows 7, but in the process it messed with vital Hybrid SLI settings. 

-The fix was very very simple. I went into BIOS and reset settings to default.  I booted back up, and the Hybrid SLI UI displayed in taskbar. I now am running SLI on 266.58 with 15.56 chipset drivers. I am so happy this ordeal is done with. 

Thanks for all your help, Merry Christmas. 

[Dunsany]

I'm glad you're ordeal is finally over. Four months is a long time. It's too bad that HP pulled the plug on the old Voodoo forums. There were many more active Firebird owners and questions were asked and answered a lot quicker than here.

[Dunsany]

I noticed that Nvidia takes Notebook Display Driver Requests in its Official BETA NVIDIA 290.36 Display Driver Feedback Thread For NVIDIA Geforce Desktop/Notebook/ION G...

So I posted the following request to put support for the Firebird back into the newest display driver. I don't know if it takes more than one request but more might be better.

Notebook Display Driver Request:

1) Make and model of notebook

HP Firebird 802
HP Firebird 803

2) NVIDIA GPU model

NVIDIA GeForce 9800 S

3) Device ID of GPU

PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_062F&SUBSYS_060E10DE&REV_A1

The Firebird is a small form factor desktop system that uses two notebook style MXM videocards in two way SLI mode. 

[JAGERBOMBS]

Bought a Firebird about 2 yrs ago and have had lots of fun with it.  Recently I have been having issues installing graphics drivers.  Don't know if its the machine or just the installer.  Everytime I install one, it tells me that the installer has failed, but then i look at my installed programs it shows that it has been installed.  Am i doing something wrong?  Computer was working just fine until i felt the need to update my drivers to play Arkham City.  Tried getting help from Nvidia but they don't seem to care, had some tech support guy i talked to have me re-install windows 7.  Also this msg comes up in my device manager regarding the 9800s:

Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)

Another question I have is why doesn't the 9800s show up when I download drivers from nvidia and is their a similar driver that I could use instead, like the 9800GT version (which is what i usually download).  Currently using the 275.33 version.

Also just wondering if anyone is playing MW3 and what settings they use and also Arkham City.

Look forward to the replies. 

[Newcombc7]

As I know from past experience, uodating drivers can be a pain in the ass on the FB802's. You're not able to install drivers most likely because the NVIDIA drivers install package does not detect something relevant. This could be because:

- You are trying to install 32 bit drivers for a 64 bit system

-You are trying to install laptop drivers (M series)

- The drivers do not recognize the 9800 s. 

The best up to date drivers that I have found are 266.58 http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-64bit-266.58-whql-driver.html

  Try installing them. At the install screen, go to advanced installation options and click the one that says "perform clean install" you will have to restart a few times. Let me know if this helped.

[Dunsany]

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JAGERBOMBS wrote:

Bought a Firebird about 2 yrs ago and have had lots of fun with it.  Recently I have been having issues installing graphics drivers.  Don't know if its the machine or just the installer.  Everytime I install one, it tells me that the installer has failed, but then i look at my installed programs it shows that it has been installed.  Am i doing something wrong?  Computer was working just fine until i felt the need to update my drivers to play Arkham City.  Tried getting help from Nvidia but they don't seem to care, had some tech support guy i talked to have me re-install windows 7.  Also this msg comes up in my device manager regarding the 9800s:

Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)

Another question I have is why doesn't the 9800s show up when I download drivers from nvidia and is their a similar driver that I could use instead, like the 9800GT version (which is what i usually download).  Currently using the 275.33 version.

Also just wondering if anyone is playing MW3 and what settings they use and also Arkham City.

Look forward to the replies. 

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The Firebird has three Nvidia GPU's, two named GeForce 9800 S and one named nForce 760i SLI. These need to be identified by their Hardware ID's in an INF file included with the driver installation file in order for the driver to install correctly on all three GPU's.

Sometime after the release of GeForce driver version 266.58 Nvidia removed the 9800 S Hardware ID from the newer driver installation files but left the 760i SLI Hardware ID in there. The newer drivers will still install because they recognize the 760i SLI GPU but the 9800 S GPU's will only work by accident or by trickery. I'll save some tricks for another post.

According to the following link, and some of the driver Release Notes I've read, I think Nvidia removed the Firebird's 9800 S GPU's because they don't want to support Hybrid SLI anymore.

Official BETA NVIDIA 290.36 Display Driver Feedback Thread For NVIDIA Geforce Desktop/Notebook/ION G...

Please Note: Beginning with NVIDIA's R285 display driver branch, older laptops with NVIDIA's Hybrid SLI technology are no longer supported by the NVIDIA Verde display driver program. If you have an older laptop that uses NVIDIA's Hybrid SLI technology, please visit our software archive downloads page to download NVIDIA display driver 280.26 or older version: 

It doesn't make any difference if you select 9800GT or GeForce 6 Series or GeForce 500 Series to download. Nvidia uses Unified Driver Architecture (UDA) to rule them all. I've even installed the newest Notebook 285.62 WHQL driver on my Firebirds using a modified INF file. The driver appears to work perfectly with all my usual programs but the Nvidia Control Panel is missing several important task selections.

 I recommend most Firebird owners should install GeForce driver version 266.58. It's very easy to add your own SLI Profiles for new games by opening the Nvidia Control Panel, Manage 3D Settings, Program Settings and selecting Add, etc.

[Dunsany]

If there are any Firebird owners lurking who are interested in testing the newest GeForce Driver Version 290.53 BETA on their Firebirds, and perhaps constructively trying to convince Nvidia to restore support for the Firebird's 9800 S GPU, I'll try to summarize a lot of what I've learned modifying INF files to test different driver versions and post it here sometime today or this weekend.

[JAGERBOMBS]

Will tr the older driver but I am interested in tricks in getting the newer drivers to work as well.  Thanks again.