No 8700m SLI Support? Disappointed.

[SaguratuS]

Just got my Dell M1730 SLI notebook earlier, but found that SLI is outright unsupported - hopefully due to a bug.

Invalid SLI configureation 1 of 1:
GPUs:
1) NVIDIA GPU at PCI:3:0:0
2) NVIDIA GPU at PCI:4:0:0
Errors:
- Chipset not approved for SLI
- Unsupported GPU video BIOS

Will attach a bug report if needed, meanwhile here's the detailed card information:

/proc/driver/nvidia/cards/0
Model: Geforce 8700M GT
IRQ: 16
Video BIOS: 60.84.62.00.06
Card Type: PCI-E
DMA Size: 40 bits
DMA Mask: 0xffffffff
Bus Location: 03.00.0

/proc/driver/nvidia/cards/1
Model: Geforce 8700M GT
IRQ: 17
Video BIOS: 60.84.62.00.07
Card Type: PCI-E
DMA Size: 40 bits
DMA Mask: 0xffffffff
Bus Location: 04.00.0

[xbobmx]

It'd be helpful if you generated & attached an nvidia-bug-report.log file (run nvidia-bug-report.sh as root).

[SaguratuS]

Fresh install of Ubuntu Gutsy, same problem - attached bug report to original post.

[eguy]

The drivers you need can be downloaded from DV Nation without BS driver detective or any crap. These drivers work great! They are for the Clevo D900 and D901C with dual nVidia 8700M GT SLI graphics cards. This notebook is used by Sager, Alienware, Dell, Falcon Nortwest, Maingear, Smooth Creations, DV Nation (who uses screamin MTRON solid state disks in theirs, quad core, etc), and any other maker that uses a 17" notebook with 3 SATA drive slots. link:

http://www.dvnation.com/Clevo-D900C-...0M-GT-SLI.html

[JackieBrown]

you realize that this is the linux section?

[SaguratuS]

Originally Posted by eguy

The drivers you need can be downloaded from DV Nation without BS driver detective or any crap. These drivers work great! They are for the Clevo D900 and D901C with dual nVidia 8700M GT SLI graphics cards. This notebook is used by Sager, Alienware, Dell, Falcon Nortwest, Maingear, Smooth Creations, DV Nation (who uses screamin MTRON solid state disks in theirs, quad core, etc), and any other maker that uses a 17" notebook with 3 SATA drive slots. link:

http://www.dvnation.com/Clevo-D900C-...0M-GT-SLI.html

Spam for dvnation?

Anyway, I think this is actually an issue with chipset support (Intel PM965) - can anyone confirm?

[SaguratuS]

Well, unfortunately only one of the two problems can have a potential fix without help from nvidia

- Chipset not approved for SLI
- Unsupported GPU video BIOS

It may be possible to resolve the GPU bios compatibility by reflashing the cards with a modified bios that the drivers recognize, however the chipset issue is out of reach.

[newfiejudd]

Ok here is teh Skinny on the M1730. I have had several XPS systems over teh years, I was looking forward to this system. Until I started hearing all the issues with SLI. Basically this board has a special chip that allows and INTEL board to run SLI, the only problem is that only Nvidia can write the drivers for these cards. There are many Discussions regarding this on

www.laptopvideo2go.com
www.notebookforums.com

As far as I know many owners have petitioned Nvidia/dell and Alienware to get soem newer drivers. I am not sure if any have been updated (all OS's)

The M1730is a true beast with a lame ass GPU. The only good news is are talks of a single and better GPU solution on the Horizon. Maybe in time for a christmas launch. If I were you I would get on the pettition to dell or have the system returned and explain why, you may get lucky and get a deal on the upgrade path.

Best of luck.

[SaguratuS]

Fixed in 169.04 beta drivers -- Thanks NVIDIA!