Nvidia Geforce 650m driver problem for windows 8.1 on macbook pro

im on a mid 2012 retina macbook pro. gpu switching works fine in osx, but apple did not provide ms with any drivers for their dual gpu hardware setup, which is why i cant use a windows 8.1 efi install correctly

yes it does. and once you install the correct geforce drivers, usually the screen goes blank because it thinks you are on a dual monitor setup and you cant change anything. sometimes you can get it to boot up properly, but it still thinks you have 2 monitors (it thinks you are on monitor 2) and the sound wont work because the intel hd 4000 drivers go a bit crazy.

DemetriAA wrote:

yes it does. and once you install the correct geforce drivers, usually the screen goes blank because it thinks you are on a dual monitor setup and you cant change anything. sometimes you can get it to boot up properly, but it still thinks you have 2 monitors (it thinks you are on monitor 2) and the sound wont work because the intel hd 4000 drivers go a bit crazy.

Is this using Bootcamp drivers or nVidia drivers? This also implies that Windows GPU switching is not working as desired. The OS should be able to handle this scenario correctly, as OS X does, by relinquishing the nVidia GPU when only the internal display is connected. There is some discussion regarding this in reference to nVidia CUDA toolkit on nVidia Dev forums which you can look at.

The Sound issue is related to the Intel drivers, not Bootcamp drivers.

i think i am also in the same boat (mid 2012 rMBP 15" with Intel4000/650M). the install was previously BIOS based using Windows 7 and then upgraded to version 8.1 and transferred uisng Winclone to a external EFI boot drive, which boots fine. then sometime later i had the occasion/need to get the Nvidia 650m working in Windows, and like doofus i went to Nvidia's site and downloaded the driver which black-screened just after starting installation.

after agonizing hours recovering from that (basically trying to time the F8 Boot menu keystroke on startup when booting it (it's on an SSD), but not impossible to do - just really really tricky), i removed the driver files, then i went and downloaded the latest BootCamp version mentioned previously, which then also black screened during install.

after several more agonizing hours recovering and wiping every trace of that previous driver install via Regedit and other tools, i tried installing the older 5.0.5033 Bootcamp, that at least didn't black screen but the NVIDIA driver failed install (refused) even doing it manually after the fact. still have no sound either, but at this point i'm giving up. it's not a primary machine or install, but it really irks me nonetheless. i avoided getting one of the Iris Pro MBPs because of the cost and non-upgradability but this isn't a much better situation either.

anyway, just saying that i'm in the same boat as everybody else. wish there was a better/more reliable solution.

scott

Your 2012 MBP is preUEFI. Devices are not exposed correctly via EFI, but they are, when using CSM-BIOS. On a 2012 13 MBP, this is what a BT-paired headset looks like.

I have issue like this as well, but still not quite like it. My screen doesn't go black, but other things go dark (and text and apps are very, very small).

Another thing that concerns me is that neither my Nvidia Geforce 650M or intel hd 4000 are visible in my Device Manager's Display Adapter.
I have installed Windows 8.1. I have a MBP Retina 15" - early 2013.

I installed Windows because I wanted to play Sims 3, but the game is dark and lags all the time. A message keeps popping up says that the game can't recognize my graphic card. But it's not even visible in my Display Adapter! Does anyone have a clue what to do?

People also say that this is an issue in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. Was it not like this with Windows 7? If that is the case I will install Windows 7 instead, but I would appreciate if someone knew (so I don't do it without being necessary, so to speak), and could let me know.

Thanks guys!

Update: I checked my Display Adapter now. When I start Windows in VMware-mode I have "VMware SVGA 3D" in my Display Adapter-folder. When I start Windows in the Alt key-mode (from where I am going to run Sims 3, so this is what matters) I have "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter" in my Display Adapter. What's up with that? I saw one of the pictures you guys (Van Thu, i think it was) uploaded, and there were Nvidia visible. How did you do that??

The brightness issue is probably windows 8 adaptive brightness, here is a guide to disable it

http://acer--uk.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/34067/~/enable-or-disable-a daptive-brightness-in-windows-8-and-8.1

Your windows are small because windows supports higher resolutions than osx. You can magnify the windows in the display settings of the control panel. 125-150x should mosty fix it but some apps will look messed up

As for missing hardware devices, the Bootcamp drivers should fix it, if not than try getting the drivers from nvidia and Intel online. If that doesn't fix it than maybe give up on the efi boot and go mbr instead

Thanks for a quick answer, DemetriAA.
I know exactly nothing about Windows - even less about Windows 8 - since I haven't used it since the XP-version. I am trying to learn. It annoys me a lot that my game can't find my graphic cards and that it is not visible in the Display Adapter. Despite that the apps and the text are small (mostly in the VMware-mode) the graphics runs great on Windows, it's just in my game.

I am mostly worrying about my missing graphic cards, though. They are hiding from me, and I don't like it. My brother tried to download the drivers from Nvidia, but when he ran them the installation stopped. He looked in Devicer Manager, and was confused when he couldn't find anything in the Display Adapter.

I don't have access to internet either, only when I run windows with VMware (with OS X in the background). When I run windows without OS X (opening it up with the alt key) I have no internet connection. Windows can not locate either mine nor my neighbors wi-fi. There is just... nothing. Do I need drivers for internet as well, or what's going on there?? As said earlier; I know pretty much NOTHING about Windows...
Its just so annoying.

Well, I will check your link and tips up, DemetriAA. Thanks!

Ps. The most stupid question of them all; efi boot and mbr? What's that? (Yes, I know NOTHING about this technological stuff.... especially not some of the english expressions. Swedish, you see...) 🙂

Edit:

I went to Nvidias site to check the drives. I did this "Auto-detect your GPU". The scan searched my Windows 8-system and detected none Nvidia-products. Is that normal???

You can change Font and DPI in the Display and Resolutions. I would not recommend nVidia drivers yet. Please test with the BC drivers that you currently have. If you run into any issues, then you should try the Game Ready drivers for the 650M. Apple mostly uses the M(obility) drivers in most of their Macs. The new MacPro (and older MPs) and some iMacs may use different GPUs.

Please test your audio.

Okay, thanks! I will wait with the Nvidia-drivers then.
I tried the game and it's still dark and lagging ALOT, but I'm working on it. Some guys from the Sims-forum is trying to help me make the game recognize the graphic card.
You have been very helpful and I am most grateful. I have struggled for 3 days with getting internet to Windows and I have been scared that something is seriously wrong when I couldn't find the graphic card in Display Adapter. But now I do 🙂
Thanks and have a great weekend!

Installing nVidia 306.37 from Bootcamp 5.0.5033 package partially worked. After doing it, I could finally see the interface (no blank display), nVidia settings show opens and looks ok, but there's some very ugly color banding going on. I can see it on the windows 8.1 start screen, the gradient backgrounds are not smooth. I can see the same on 3DS Max viewport. The background should be a very smooth grey to black gradient, but shows these steps, also known as banding.

I'm still in search for the right driver. The one in bootcamp 5.1.5621 doesn't really work. Blank screen, always.

This a mid 2012 15" Macbook Pro, non-retina, with a 650m.

Any suggestion?

Thanks

Do you want to consider trying these?

Still having banding issues, which I don't have on OSX. I think it may be related to the actual display (screen) drive (not the graphics card driver). When I try to install AppleDisplayInstaller64, it gives me a "this program might not have installed correctly" message. Regardless of what I try, Device Manager always shows a Generic PNP Monitor. Any Idea about this?

Regarding the blank screen issue, these are the ones that worked forme:

306.37 (from Bootcamp 5.0.5033)

306.97 (from nvidia site, windows vista 64 bit page)

310.90 (from nvidia site, windows vista 64 bit page)

The following gave me a blank screen:

307.83, 344.48, 347.09, 347.25, 347.52, 350.12 and the one that comes with BootCamp 5.1.5621.

I stopped testing driver versions.

Had the exact same issue on my mid-2012 pro retina model.

If I installed it on a MBR disk instead of a GPT+EFI disk, it did work though because only the nVidia GPU is exposed then by the "BIOS".

Even with the latest nvidia drivers ... no problem

I used wintousb to install win8.1 on an external USB3 SSD. Works smooth!

A Windows install via UEFI on a mid-2012 MacBook Pro isn't going to work. I have tried multiple times and it always ended up with a blank screen. Even if you could get it work, you'd have no sound. The legacy BIOS method is the way to go. See my last message in this thread with the VirtualBox install method. Slightly convoluted, but it works.