How To: Enable SLI on pre-i7/i5 hardware

[Motorhd]

try 260.99 drivers please

260.99 , 1.0 final.Just one click , restart and it works
2xGTX465 1GB , ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe Wi-Fi@AP , Q9650@3.0 Ghz , Win7 32bit.
But some times there found a unexpected restart (not a bsod , simply black screen and machine restarts).It happens , when i try to change something in driver settings while running game ( turn on/off vsync and other).Never seen this without sli (patch) on one GTX465.System with one card permit to do everything with driver settings without bugs or hangs..
Nevertheless , all the games work good for long time at 1920x1080.
sorry for my english if there is faults or errors ))
anatolymik , thanks a lot for this work!!

 

[lajarnette]

Merry christmas everybody

 

[Triton.se]

Hell yes ! Merry Christmas to all with SLI (even them WITH certified SLI mobos !)

Thanks dev team (and nvidia!) for a very adventerous fall/winter ! GGA !

2-1 to dev team

 

[soundood]

Merry Xmas From the Soundood Family ​

special thanks to the Dev team, for all your hard work this year

 

[donkeybanana]

Merry Christmas all! And great work on the patch.

I am having issues myself, running GTX460 in SLI on a GA-P55A-UD3.

I have read a lot of the tips posted to others having similar issues and still have no luck getting the patch to work.

I have followed the process correctly, each time doing the following:

1) Disable any SLIPatch
2) Uninstall Forceware
3) Reboot to Safe Mode
4) Run Driver Sweeper
5) Reboot to Windows and install Forceware XXX
6) Reboot to Windows and install SLIPatch 0/1.X

I have tried the following combinations:

1.a) 258.96 + 0.8b
1.b) 258.96 + 0.9b
1.c) 258.96 + 0.91b
1.d) 258.96 + 1.0
2.a) 260.99 + 0.9b
2.b) 260.99 + 0.91b
2.c) 260.99 + 1.0
3.x) 265.90 + N/A

The 265.90 drivers simply run through a constant kernel crash/restart loop - the drivers, not the PC - until I have to hard-reset.

The rest of my attempts all end with the exact same issue; Once Windows has finished loading, all I get is a black screen and no desktop. There is no startup sound, so the desktop is not loaded, and swapping the DVI connection does nothing to help.

Are there any particular BIOS settings I need to enable/disable?

Cannot use the 257.15 drivers with my card.

 

[aXeL_UK]

Merry Christmas all! And great work on the patch.

I am having issues myself, running GTX460 in SLI on a GA-P55A-UD3.

I have read a lot of the tips posted to others having similar issues and still have no luck getting the patch to work.

I have followed the process correctly, each time doing the following:

1) Disable any SLIPatch
2) Uninstall Forceware
3) Reboot to Safe Mode
4) Run Driver Sweeper
5) Reboot to Windows and install Forceware XXX
6) Reboot to Windows and install SLIPatch 0/1.X

I have tried the following combinations:

1.a) 258.96 + 0.8b
1.b) 258.96 + 0.9b
1.c) 258.96 + 0.91b
1.d) 258.96 + 1.0
2.a) 260.99 + 0.9b
2.b) 260.99 + 0.91b
2.c) 260.99 + 1.0
3.x) 265.90 + N/A

The 265.90 drivers simply run through a constant kernel crash/restart loop - the drivers, not the PC - until I have to hard-reset.

The rest of my attempts all end with the exact same issue; Once Windows has finished loading, all I get is a black screen and no desktop. There is no startup sound, so the desktop is not loaded, and swapping the DVI connection does nothing to help.

Are there any particular BIOS settings I need to enable/disable?

Cannot use the 257.15 drivers with my card.

Do you have PnP set to yes in your BIOS and ACPI 2.0 enabled? Also, which of the Administrator accounts are you using to install the patch? For me it helped to use the 'real' one. When you uninstall the drivers, do you remember to delete c:\nvidia? Driver Sweeper does NOT do this by default unless you set it to. If the directory isn't removed before you reboot, Windows will 'notice' the two devices without drivers and kindly re-install them!

In the BIOS, if you enabled ACPI where it wasn't enabled before then you need to reinstall windows. Some people have got away without this but I didn't. If you enable ACPI and NOT PnP you might find, like I did, that windows install wouldn't even run.

Also, my antivirus software wrecked my whole driver/SLI config where it noticed that key files had been changed. Had to remove it.

Like you, the 265.90 drivers just won't work for me. I'm using a couple of EVGA GTX 480s on an ASUS X48 MB. I suspect ACPI just hasn't been implemented the same way for all our motherboards and therefore SLI won't be reliable. I'm beginning to see why NV might need a certification programme beyond just propaganda.

BTW currently I'm using the 260.99 drivers with a test release of the patch Anatoly sent me. So far it seems to be working fine but then the rig has only been back up and running for a day. Furmark and Oblivion seem happy so far.

 

[Thiesi]

New version. Link below. Please test

Hi there,

First of all Merry Christmas!

Just a quick update from my side: Even with the new version of the patch nothing has changed here, i. e. my system still reboots before reaching the logon screen when I try to boot with the patch enabled. This happens with the 265.90 drivers.

Bye, K&K,
T-Zee

 

[Solaris17]

hmmm just a buig report. I thank you for the efforts!

p7p55d
win 7 x64
2x GTX260's

pci-e 1 @16x
pci-e 2 @4x (Max for board)

tried 265.xx with 1.0 nothing

tried 260.xx with 1.0 nothing

tried 260.xx with .9b nothing

tried with 1 and 2 sli cables (with the 1 being moved from connectors 1&2 to 2&4 before trying 2 all 3 options to no avail)

I just cant get it. tried fresh installs of the drivers etc. GPU-z says disabled and nvcp simply says physx with no SLI option.

 

[Velvet Wafer]

hmmm just a buig report. I thank you for the efforts!

p7p55d
win 7 x64
2x GTX260's

pci-e 1 @16x
pci-e 2 @4x (Max for board)

tried 265.xx with 1.0 nothing

tried 260.xx with 1.0 nothing

tried 260.xx with .9b nothing

tried with 1 and 2 sli cables (with the 1 being moved from connectors 1&2 to 2&4 before trying 2 all 3 options to no avail)

I just cant get it. tried fresh installs of the drivers etc. GPU-z says disabled and nvcp simply says physx with no SLI option.

the second pcie is most probably connected to the NB via the southbridge, therefore it is only x4 most times, and doesnt get recognized.
Anatolymik mentioned once they could trick the driver in working with boards built like this, but i dont know if he has ever brougt it to its end. you may have to ask him yourself, if you want answers, i guess

 

[Solaris17]

the second pcie is most probably connected to the NB via the southbridge, therefore it is only x4 most times, and doesnt get recognized.
Anatolymik mentioned once they could trick the driver in working with boards built like this, but i dont know if he has ever brougt it to its end. you may have to ask him yourself, if you want answers, i guess

i figured that was part of the problem but was wishful in my thinking their both pci-e 2.0 so the 4x probably wont hurt that much.

 

[donkeybanana]

Do you have PnP set to yes in your BIOS and ACPI 2.0 enabled? Also, which of the Administrator accounts are you using to install the patch? For me it helped to use the 'real' one. When you uninstall the drivers, do you remember to delete c:\nvidia? Driver Sweeper does NOT do this by default unless you set it to. If the directory isn't removed before you reboot, Windows will 'notice' the two devices without drivers and kindly re-install them!

In the BIOS, if you enabled ACPI where it wasn't enabled before then you need to reinstall windows. Some people have got away without this but I didn't. If you enable ACPI and NOT PnP you might find, like I did, that windows install wouldn't even run.

Also, my antivirus software wrecked my whole driver/SLI config where it noticed that key files had been changed. Had to remove it.

Like you, the 265.90 drivers just won't work for me. I'm using a couple of EVGA GTX 480s on an ASUS X48 MB. I suspect ACPI just hasn't been implemented the same way for all our motherboards and therefore SLI won't be reliable. I'm beginning to see why NV might need a certification programme beyond just propaganda.

BTW currently I'm using the 260.99 drivers with a test release of the patch Anatoly sent me. So far it seems to be working fine but then the rig has only been back up and running for a day. Furmark and Oblivion seem happy so far.

I knew I'd be missing something simple, will take a look at ACPI settings when I get home.

I did delete the temp nVidia directories before rebooting to safe mode, and I also checked Device Manager to make sure the cards we're not recognised as 460s. Each time the main card would be a fully-working Standard VGA Device, and the second card would be the same but showing an error icon.

Anatoly when you read this could I be of any use trying the test patch?

 

[anatolymik]

i wasn't here for 2 days. i keep working. i hope to solve all problems before new year.

 

[donkeybanana]

I can't seen to find options for ACPI or PnP anywhere in my BIOS.

GA-P55A-UD3 Rev 1.0 F11

 

[ich71092]

Has anyone tried with 263.09 ?
I will test it this week when i get a 2nd 570, so i will report the result.

Merry Christmas to all



ps: sry for english , germans can´t speak it just btw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dbRg25dWvc&feature=channel

 

[Solaris17]

take your time man. youve pushed leaps and bounds over my original project years ago. Go get drunk on new years with the new wife and work on it when the hangover is gone.

 

[aXeL_UK]

I did delete the temp nVidia directories before rebooting to safe mode, and I also checked Device Manager to make sure the cards we're not recognised as 460s. Each time the main card would be a fully-working Standard VGA Device, and the second card would be the same but showing an error icon.

The error icon on the second card is perfectly normal when there are no drivers installed or if windows has tried to install the standard VGA driver. I get this now and again but as soon as the NV drivers go in, 9 times out of 10 the error vanishes once the driver install is complete. If it remains I just use Device Manager to uninstall for that particular card (don't delete the drivers) and reboot. When the system comes back up the 2nd card shows without errors.

Re. ACPI and your motherboard: I was afraid of that. I'll wager it's called something else in your BIOS

I did some digging and I suspect your MB only supports ACPI 1.0b whereas 2.0 is advised for this tool. Doesn't mean it won't work though. Before I enabled ACPI 2.0 I had the SLI patch working perfectly, gaming every day, for a whole week before there were problems so it's by no means a blocker IMO.

 

[donkeybanana]

Yeah I bought the board in a rush on Christmas Eve, without checking SLI support. I just assumed it would be supported, forgetting the differences between X58 and P55.

Will most likely go and buy a new board tomorrow, and will pay more attention to those supporting ACPI 2.0 and the like.

 

[donkeybanana]

Also, I am not currently using an SLI bridge because of the spacing of the x16 slots of this board - The only SLI bridge I have to hand is the one from an EVGA 680i board.

Should I try to source a bridge before I ditch this board? Just had a look around and flexible bridges are rare.

Found a place close to me that sells flexible bridges, but they are closed over the holidays I think.

Is the bridge necessary?

 

[Lethalrise750]

For those needing a lengthy and flexible SLi bridge, EVGA has one for $10..

http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=401-MB-0013-01&family=Accessories - Hardware&sw=4

 

[mpb]

Afr

did some more testing, 258.96 with 0.91b seems to be best in terms of performance with GTX 460s, however I am unable to get AFR to work at all.

anytime i set AFR to either mode 1 or mode 2, i get about 10 seconds into loading my 3d app before it goes to black screens and requires a hard reboot. other than that everything has been perfect.

 

[elbubi]

take your time man. youve pushed leaps and bounds over my original project years ago. Go get drunk on new years with the new wife and work on it when the hangover is gone.

+1

 

[YukonCornelius]

Intel S5520SC

So, tried every combination of driver that works for the 580's and every SLI patch and was never able to get "Enable SLI"

I saw a few others were attempting SLI in the Intel S5520SC board - just wondering if anyone ever had any luck...

 

[elbubi]

New BSOD while runing 3dMark11 (v260.99 + v1.0)

This is the first time I get this error type

Just to inform and try to help this great project

Kind Regards!!!

 

[aXeL_UK]

New BSOD while runing 3dMark11 (v260.99 + v1.0)

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/4296/bsod10.jpg

This is the first time I get this error type

Just to inform and try to help this great project

Kind Regards!!!

Sometimes caused by a driver error this. Have you tried to run this to check the drivers?

verifier.exe

If it returns a STOP error then you have a driver problem in which case you'll need to boot into safe mode and do

verifier.exe /reset

to clear it.

 

[aXeL_UK]

BTW ntoskrnp.exe is created by the SLI Patch (along with halsli.dll), so uninstalling it should fix that error. I'll wager it was the graphics driver!

I'm going to take backups of those files and, if there's a problem, see if anything has been changed. What's interesting is that for me personally, once these problems start they keep happening continuously so some configuration setting is obviously being changed somewhere, I'll bet in the graphics driver or the system reg but I am TOTALLY guessing!!!