HOW TO MOD WINDOWS INF FILES - INSTALL DRIVERS FOR UNSUPPORTED HARDWARE - Sony Vaio VGN-SZ3HP - Nvidia GeForce Go 7400 Windows 7 64bit
### HOW TO MOD WINDOWS INF FILES - INSTALL DRIVERS FOR UNSUPPORTED HARDWARE ###
Example: Install Nvidia GeForce Go 7400 Windows 7 64bit driver on 2006 Sony Vaio VGN-SZ3HP
- Windows 7 -> Device Manager -> VGA-Adapter -> Details -> Hardware-IDs:
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_81E6104D&REF_A1
device id = DEV_01D8 = the device (Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)
subsystem id = SUBSYS_81E6104 = more or less the oem specification, e.g. for the sony vaio
If the subsystem id does not match, windows won't install the driver.
- Download original driver
https://www.nvidia.de/Download/driverResults.aspx/9026/de
- Extract 179.48_notebook_winvista_win7_64bit_beta.exe
In my case it contains a folder "Display"
- There are multiple .inf files which contain important information
- Search through the .inf files for your device id, and idealy for the subsystem id.
I used grep "DEV_01D8" * on Ubuntu linux for that.
The inf files are name-coded after the vendor. E.g. the correct file for my Sony was
- Open e.g. "nvsm.inf" in text editor
Search for the device id.
Example:
%NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.2% = nv_G72, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_C026144D
Replace the SUBSYS id of the first match with your SUBSYS id
Example: replace "SUBSYS_C026144D" with "SUBSYS_81E6104D"
Additionally I had to change the windows version from Vista to Windows 7
Replaced "NTamd64.6.0" (Vista) with "NTamd64.6.1" (Windows7)
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/install/inf-manufacturer-section
- To limit the number of available driver options, I deleted all other .inf files
- Finally got to the device manager and install the driver by disk method
Windows 7 -> Device Manager -> VGA-Adapter -> Install driver -> Manual -> by disk -> select modded .inf file
### ADDITIONAL NOTES FROM RECHERCHE
NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.1 = "NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400"
DEV_01D8
NVSZ.INF
From windows device manager: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_81E6104D&REF_A1
NTamd64.6.1 = Windows7
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/install/inf-manufacturer-section
https://www.nvidia.de/Download/driverResults.aspx/9026/de
grep "DEV_01D8" *
nvsm.inf:%NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.2% = nv_G72, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_C024144D
nvsm.inf:%NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.3% = nv_G72, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_C026144D
nvsm.inf:%NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.4% = nv_G72, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_B03C144D
nvsm.inf:%NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.5% = nv_G72, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D8&SUBSYS_8062144D
nvsm.inf:NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.2 = "NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400"
nvsm.inf:NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.3 = "NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 "
nvsm.inf:NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.4 = "NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 "
nvsm.inf:NVIDIA_G72.DEV_01D8.5 = "NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 "
What is a modded INF?
https://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/8128-what-is-a-modded-inf-what-is-the-performance-and-quality-inf/
Have-Disk method for Windows 7 / Vista
https://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/11997-have-disk-method-for-windows-7-vista/
ForceWare Updater's Quickstart Guide
https://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/9243-forceware-updaters-quickstart-guide/
Reference List of NVIDIA's ODM/OEM INF naming scheme
https://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/9243-forceware-updaters-quickstart-guide/