Solved Intel 915GM Mobile drivers -- do NOT work. Period

Mark Phelps

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I'm primarily posting this to head off the avalance of posts down the road with folks begging for info on how to get the old laptops, the ones that have the Infamous Intel 915GM chipset, to load the Intel drivers under Win8.

And ... the answer is simple -- you DON'T!!

I've spend the last two hours attempting this on my Tablet PC. Ive gone though nearly a dozen driver downloads I've accumulated over the years. I first tried the ones that I know wordek with Win7. Failed.

Then, I tried others that had worked in Vista. Failed.

Then, I tried others that worked in XP. Failed.

Tried the following different approaches:
1) Updating using Device Manager -- ALL failed. Some simply said wrong windows version. Others said items were missing. Others said, and this is the BEST, Unknown Error!! But, none of them worked.
2) Tried running the installers in compatibilty mode:
2a) Win7 -- nothing happened
2b) Vista -- nothing happened
2c) Windows XP -- made LOTS more progress, even got into installing -- but in every case -- FAILED. Usuall got the Uknown Error.

Even tried a few "frankenstein" approaches -- by copying the installer program into directories where the was no program. They all failed, too -- usually with an error indicating incompatible versions.

So basically, it looks like the time has run out on the Infamous Intel 915GM chipset.

And, yes, the default Microsoft Basic Display adapter drive does work, and it give 1024x768 res, and, of course, NO aero.

So, I'm sticking with Win7 on it and, when it comes time to really replace it, will probably just get some kind of new Tablet with Win8 preloaded.
 

My Computer

Windows 8 uses WDDM 1.20 and the support to install XP Drivers (XDDM) is completely removed. So in short as of now this chipset will not work in Windows 8 nor will it ever. Sorry.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge @5.00 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z LGA 1155
    Memory
    2 x Corsair Dominator 2GB DDR3 @1866 (Old DDR3 1600 Sticks, plan to upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI 4850 (I know it's old, plan to upgrade, taking donations)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC889
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia KDL-32EX500
    Screen Resolution
    1980x1080P
    Hard Drives
    1 x Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F60GBGT-BK Windows
    2 x Western Digital Caviar Black Sata III 750GB (Raid 0)Programs
    1 x Western Digital Caviar Black Sata III 1TB - Media
    2 x Western Digital Caviar Black Sata II 640GB (Raid 0) Mac OS X
    PSU
    Corsair Professional Series Gold AX850
    Case
    Corsair 800D
    Cooling
    Corsair H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
    Keyboard
    HP Wireless Elite Keyboard
    Mouse
    HP Wireless Elite Mouse
    Internet Speed
    DSL, VisionTek Bigfoot Killer 2100 Gaming Network Card and Internaly Installed Linksys WUSB600N
    Other Info
    4 x GELID Solutions FN-TX12-15 120mm Case Fan with Superior Temperature Control
    1 x Corsair 140mm Case Fan
    1 x SilverStone FP55B Aluminum front panel 5.25" to a 3.5" bay converter
    1 x Ultra Card Reader
    1 x Sony Blu-ray Burner BD-5300S-0B
    1 x 2GB Internaly Installed Flash Drive For Mac OS X Boot
    1 x Internal USB 3.0 Header to 2 USB 3.0 Female Adaptor
    1 x ATI TV Wonder™ Digital Cable Tuner
Well, that as least explained WHY none of the attempts worked. Would have been nice if MS would have simply said that in their error messages -- instead of the useless "Unknown Error".

Thanks for letting me know.
 

My Computer

Windows 8 uses WDDM 1.20 and the support to install XP Drivers (XDDM) is completely removed. So in short as of now this chipset will not work in Windows 8 nor will it ever. Sorry.

Using the WDDM driver is fine for the display. Unfortunately however it means that both sleep and hibernate disappear from the power menu. Not good for a laptop.
Cheers,
Hans
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win 8
I was have a LOT of trouble installing the GMA500 driver -- I got the same error messages, etc -- but then I ran driver max and it found and installed the latest GMA500 driver for me.

The difference is, I then tried running them in compatibility mode for win7, and it did launch. It might be worth trying driver max anyway though -- you can run it for free.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Viliv S10 3G
    CPU
    Atom Z530 (1.6GHz)
    Memory
    1GB DDR2 SDRAM (533MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel GMA 500
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Screen Resolution
    1366/768
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk 64GB SSD
    Internet Speed
    6.41/5.47 MBPS
    Other Info
    WiFi 802.11 b/g
    Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
    Internal 3G (Huawei EM770W:
    HSPA/UMTS 850/900/1900/2100MHz,
    HSUPA: 5.76Mbps (UL) / HSDPA: 7.2Mbps (DL))
I was have a LOT of trouble installing the GMA500 driver ...

GMA500 is not the same as 915GM chipset. First may work when second will not.

Also, what version does Win8 report when you check Device Manager? Simply because DM claims it installed a new driver, does not mean that it actually DID. Worth checking the driver version to find out.
 

My Computer

-- but then I ran driver max and it found and installed the latest GMA500 driver for me.
-- you can run it for free.

Thought I would check this out -- and while the SCAN is free (like all the other driver update apps), the driver updates are severely restricted to only two per day, and the downloading is painfully slow. Which is fine if you only need two drivers and are willing to wait. Also, I checked a forum about this and there were many complaints about being SPAMMED after registering with them, and then being nagged every couple of days to update the drivers AGAIN!
 

My Computer

-- but then I ran driver max and it found and installed the latest GMA500 driver for me.
-- you can run it for free.

Thought I would check this out -- and while the SCAN is free (like all the other driver update apps), the driver updates are severely restricted to only two per day, and the downloading is painfully slow. Which is fine if you only need two drivers and are willing to wait. Also, I checked a forum about this and there were many complaints about being SPAMMED after registering with them, and then being nagged every couple of days to update the drivers AGAIN!


Can't help about the INTEL drivers but IMO DriverMax is just SNEAKERWARE -- Avoid at all costs. They sucker you in with FREE this and that -- and then you have to PAY for stuff that *might* but probably isn't useful -- then you can get spammed for days via email -- and even horror of horrors -- spam is beginning to appear via TEXTS. !!! Thankyou Android Dumb OS -- never again an ANDROID phone. !!!.

There's no reason why they should have any more success than you at sourcing drivers -- all of which are "Public Domain" software only and certainly NOT CHARGEABLE.

For "Proprietary" software - for example say drivers for Sony's Duo Pro sticks etc these should in any case NOT be hosted on these types of sites. The drivers are available from the relevant manufacturers sites.

For Unknown drivers this FREE database lookup might help you to source stuff without using those other type of sites.

PCI Vendor and Device Lists

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-2500k
    Motherboard
    ASRock z77 Extreme 4
    Memory
    Team Elite 8GB (4 x 2GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 3000 & Nvidia GT 530
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC892
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Caviar Black 750 GB SATA III 7200 RPM
    PSU
    Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W
    Case
    NZXT GAMMA Classic Series
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
    Keyboard
    i-rocks RF-6570
    Mouse
    i-rocks RF-7550A
    Internet Speed
    17Mbps
Windows 8 uses WDDM 1.20 and the support to install XP Drivers (XDDM) is completely removed. So in short as of now this chipset will not work in Windows 8 nor will it ever. Sorry.

Using the WDDM driver is fine for the display. Unfortunately however it means that both sleep and hibernate disappear from the power menu. Not good for a laptop.
Cheers,
Hans

Hi there
in all the years I've been using laptops I've NEVER bothered with Sleep or Hibernate -- re-boot times are usually pretty decent and unlike a DESKTOP computer which sometimes people have on 24 hours a day (server etc) I'll just switch the thing off when I'm done with it.

I don't think that's a deal breaker.

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)

My Computer

Try these. I'm experimenting. Maybe it will work or maybe not. It's worth a shot.

http://www.eightforums.com/hardware...er-problem-windows-developer-2.html#post84624

Based on the driver version number, those are the same XPDM drivers that used to work in Win7, but don't work in Win8. But, I have not tried this Custom Certificate stuff. So, that might change things. I'll give this a shot and report back.
I have changed the version number. The driver was modified and self signed so the custom certificate is needed to install or try to install these drivers.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-2500k
    Motherboard
    ASRock z77 Extreme 4
    Memory
    Team Elite 8GB (4 x 2GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 3000 & Nvidia GT 530
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC892
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Caviar Black 750 GB SATA III 7200 RPM
    PSU
    Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W
    Case
    NZXT GAMMA Classic Series
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
    Keyboard
    i-rocks RF-6570
    Mouse
    i-rocks RF-7550A
    Internet Speed
    17Mbps
Download the latest drivers and then rename them drivers. Open a command prompt with admin privileges and go to the directory the drives are in and type "drivers.exe -overwrite" See if that makes a difference. I've found that forcing the drives to overwrite whatever is their before hand sometimes is the only way to get the intended intel drive to install.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built by me
    CPU
    QX9770 @ 4.3ghz
    Motherboard
    EVGA 780i A1
    Memory
    4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR800 @ 1.0ghz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 8800GT SSC SLI
    Sound Card
    Soundblaster Live Xtreme Gamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" Samsung LED LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 150GB WD Raptors in Raid 0 (OS)
    1 x 750GB Hitachi (Storage)
    PSU
    Enermax Galaxy 1000watt
    Case
    Lian Li Extended ATX
    Cooling
    Thermalright Ultra 120 with 2 x 120MM fans
    Keyboard
    Dell Soft touch USB
    Mouse
    Dell Optical USB
    Internet Speed
    FIOS 40Mb down / 40Mb Up
Try these. I'm experimenting. Maybe it will work or maybe not. It's worth a shot.

http://www.eightforums.com/hardware...er-problem-windows-developer-2.html#post84624

Based on the driver version number, those are the same XPDM drivers that used to work in Win7, but don't work in Win8. But, I have not tried this Custom Certificate stuff. So, that might change things. I'll give this a shot and report back.
I have changed the version number. The driver was modified and self signed so the custom certificate is needed to install or try to install these drivers.

Sorry, replied in the wrong thread but basically -- did the certificate stuff and now get the 0037 error -- as reported in the other thread.
 

My Computer

Download the latest drivers and then rename them drivers.
What does this mean? The download is a self-expanding archive. It makes no sense to rename it anything.

Open a command prompt with admin privileges and go to the directory the drives are in and type "drivers.exe -overwrite" See if that makes a difference.
There is no drivers.exe file.

Are we even talking about the same drivers? If not, please don't post instructions that make no sense -- just to post.
 

My Computer

Download the latest drivers and then rename them drivers.
What does this mean? The download is a self-expanding archive. It makes no sense to rename it anything.

Open a command prompt with admin privileges and go to the directory the drives are in and type "drivers.exe -overwrite" See if that makes a difference.
There is no drivers.exe file.

Are we even talking about the same drivers? If not, please don't post instructions that make no sense -- just to post.
Change the name of the drivers after they extract to something simple so you don't have to type it all out in the command prompt.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built by me
    CPU
    QX9770 @ 4.3ghz
    Motherboard
    EVGA 780i A1
    Memory
    4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR800 @ 1.0ghz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 8800GT SSC SLI
    Sound Card
    Soundblaster Live Xtreme Gamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" Samsung LED LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 150GB WD Raptors in Raid 0 (OS)
    1 x 750GB Hitachi (Storage)
    PSU
    Enermax Galaxy 1000watt
    Case
    Lian Li Extended ATX
    Cooling
    Thermalright Ultra 120 with 2 x 120MM fans
    Keyboard
    Dell Soft touch USB
    Mouse
    Dell Optical USB
    Internet Speed
    FIOS 40Mb down / 40Mb Up
Download the latest drivers and then rename them drivers.
What does this mean? The download is a self-expanding archive. It makes no sense to rename it anything.

Open a command prompt with admin privileges and go to the directory the drives are in and type "drivers.exe -overwrite" See if that makes a difference.
There is no drivers.exe file.

Are we even talking about the same drivers? If not, please don't post instructions that make no sense -- just to post.
Change the name of the drivers after they extract to something simple so you don't have to type it all out in the command prompt.
or you can drag and drop.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-2500k
    Motherboard
    ASRock z77 Extreme 4
    Memory
    Team Elite 8GB (4 x 2GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 3000 & Nvidia GT 530
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC892
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Caviar Black 750 GB SATA III 7200 RPM
    PSU
    Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W
    Case
    NZXT GAMMA Classic Series
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
    Keyboard
    i-rocks RF-6570
    Mouse
    i-rocks RF-7550A
    Internet Speed
    17Mbps
Change the name of the drivers after they extract to something simple so you don't have to type it all out in the command prompt.

The drivers compressed archive extracts to a complex hierarchy of directories and files.

There is NO drivers.exe file -- period! I tried what you said and it indicated that it could not find that.

Did you even READ what I wrote?
 

My Computer

Change the name of the drivers after they extract to something simple so you don't have to type it all out in the command prompt.

The drivers compressed archive extracts to a complex hierarchy of directories and files.

There is NO drivers.exe file -- period! I tried what you said and it indicated that it could not find that.

Did you even READ what I wrote?
I think he means the setup executable.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-2500k
    Motherboard
    ASRock z77 Extreme 4
    Memory
    Team Elite 8GB (4 x 2GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 3000 & Nvidia GT 530
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC892
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Caviar Black 750 GB SATA III 7200 RPM
    PSU
    Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W
    Case
    NZXT GAMMA Classic Series
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
    Keyboard
    i-rocks RF-6570
    Mouse
    i-rocks RF-7550A
    Internet Speed
    17Mbps
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