Download the file directly. Originally posted at the Intel Software Network blog.
I get this question a LOT: “Why hasn’t Intel released WDDM drivers for the 915 integrated graphics chipset? I can’t run the fancy visual effects in Windows Vista, like Aero Glass, without one!”
This page brought to you by…
Do you need the best video editing software? If you are on your computer for editing purposes, make sure you have the best software available to you! If you want to find cheap computer software, the internet is your best source. Sign online today and browse the huge selection of computer software!
People hardest hit by this issue include virtually all Tablet PC and UMPC users, along with lots and lots of people using laptops with that particular Intel integrated graphics chipset. I personally have two systems, a Lenovo X41 Tablet PC and an Asus R2H UMPC, that are affected. The Intel Software Network forum is full of complaints, rants, and even veiled threats on the topic - implying that we, Intel, are sitting on the driver, or not releasing it for some unknown reason (most speculate that it’s because we want to force people to upgrade to a newer, more powerful graphics solution).
In this video, I sat down with Intel’s Chuck DeSylva, right after he gave a presentation at GDC 2007 on the topic of optimizing your games to take advantage of the Intel G965 graphics chip. I asked him the million dollar question: Why are there no WDDM drivers for Intel 915 graphics?
Watch the video for the answer. It’s about 3.5 minutes long, and weighs in at 22MB if you want to download it directly.
The short version (if you’re impatient): The WDDM Vista driver spec came out long after the 915 design was complete and in production, and even though it has advanced features like Pixel Shader 2.0, there is a missing hardware feature, called the Hardware Scheduler, that 915 lacks, and without that, it doesn’t meet the WDDM spec from Microsoft, and we (Intel) can’t release a WDDM driver for it.
There. It’s done. I hope that answers your questions. Please link your friends and associates to this video/post for the “definitive” answer.
As always, we’re open to your feedback, so please feel free to post a comment, respond in the ISN forums, or contact me directly if you have any more questions or issues.
TinyScreenfuls Feed (this blog)
And how he explains then that Aero was working on this chipset in the first beta of Vista?
I’ll ask him, but it’s my understanding that Vista didn’t have the requirement that the video driver be WDDM during early betas.
You”d have to ask Microsoft why that changed.
I agree, it’s not just Intel’s fault. It’s like Movie Maker 2.0 which was working in XP and now is not working in Vista. Reason: according to Vista our UMPCs suddenly do not have enough resources to run Movie Maker 2.0
Someone senior at Intel told me in October that Aero would not work on Intel 915 graphics, so this does not surprise me. What I’m waiting for is an update to the 915 graphics drivers that allows external monitors to work properly.
The problem is documented in this account of installing Vista on the Motion Computing LS800:
http://mobilepcwiki.com/mpc/index.php?title=Motion/LS800/Windows_Vista_Clean_Install_Notes
I didn’t know enough in October to ask about this, but it would be good to know if and when this will be fixed.
Aero works fine in my MacBook with (and without) the apple drivers!
Is this for real? (the video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE
Heh. it appears that Microsoft is being sued over their Windows Vista advertising, because machines that are merely “Vista Capable” (like machines with Intel 915 graphics) aren’t capable of running Vista’s “signature features”.
http://www.techmeme.com/070403/p67#a070403p67
Maybe you guys are barking up the wrong tree here?
OK, guys, here’s the deal.
There’s “Vista Ready” and “Vista Premium Capable”. Microsoft decides which is which:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/capable.mspx
The 915 graphics chip is “Vista Ready”. It runs Vista just fine. It is NOT “Vista Premium Ready”. From the above Microsoft site:
Some Windows Vista Capable PCs have been designated Premium Ready. These PCs will provide an even better Windows Vista experience, including the Windows Aero user experience. Features available in specific premium editions of Windows Vista, such as the ability to watch and record live TV, may require additional hardware.
Confusing? Yes. Deceptive? Well, some people think so, and have brought a lawsuit against Microsoft for this exact issue:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2007/04/04/microsoft-accused-of-deceptive-marketing-bait-and-switch-tactics-over-vista
In fact, since that lawsuit, Microsoft has gone back and made a change to that paragraph I quoted. Read about what it used to say:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2007/04/09/microsoft-redefines-vista-capable
So.
To everyone who bought a laptop with Intel 915 graphics, because it was labelled “Vista Ready”, you were NOT deceived. It IS “Vista Ready”. It runs Vista just fine.
But.
If you somehow thought that “Vista Ready” meant that you could run the cool 3D tab flipper, and the fancy “Aero Glass” high end 3D interface, you were wrong.
I’m sorry you didn’t understand what you were getting when you bought a system with an old, low end, legacy graphics chip. I’m sorry the Microsoft marketing material and logo labels confused you. I really am. I wish none of us had to deal with this.
Is Intel ever going to release a “beta”/unofficial driver for 915 graphics?
I’m not the “official” person to answer this, but I’d say “no”.
Why?
Because it’s an old, low end, “legacy” part. There aren’t any people at Intel dedicated to writing new drivers for this part. Intel laid off 10% of its workforce last year - 10,000 people. Ten thousand. The rest of us that are left are trying to get all the work done. Obviously, we can’t do the same amount of work. Some things have to get dropped. Decisions have to be made about what projects are going to happen, and which ones are going to get cut. Like I said, I’m not the “official” person to say, but my guess is that there just aren’t people sitting around, collecting a paycheck, that could be thrown at writing an unofficial “beta” driver. Wouldn’t it cool if it happened? Of course. Would Intel like to do it if we had the resources? Certainly! But we live in the same reality that you do, and we have to make our budget balance just like you do. We can’t always do everything that we’d like to do.
I hope this serves as a “final word” on this discussion. If you have more questions, please do continue to discuss it here, email me, whatever. But I’m hiding anything or holding anything back - I’ve laid it all out on the line, here, and I hope it helps you guys understand.
And if I could buy everyone a drink to make you feel better, or a brand new “Vista Premium Ready” computer to run the Vista eye-candy, I would. But there’s that whole “reality” thing…
Josh, just reading your last post. Yeah, there are probably many of us out there that want the WDDM driver, most of us are obviously unhappy, and yes many of us in frustration are throwing up our hands and having a drink as you suggest. Most of us probably dont care about Intel’s internal woes…..seems they may be creating them themselves by not reacting to what the public clearly wants. The 915 chipset was still being sold when I bought my machine less than a year ago. Interesting to hear you rant and call it so substandard….perhaps in another year the 945 and 965 will also enjoy the same sentiment. Realizing that technology is and must always move forward is one thing, calling your own product substandard when so many other manufacturers can pull it off with even older equipment is puzzling. Just confirms to me again that this is my last piece of intel technology. You guys really dont get it do you? You have really damaged your brand. A brand that until now was the crown jewel in the eyes of the world. Its a little trnished now and will probably need a change and focus in leadership and consumer focus direction for a positive rebulid. No wonder your stock is falling………listen to your consumer, not the boardroom presentations of a budget riddled executive committee that has obviously lost touch with the end user….the people that keep the brand alive.
a drink dosent replace my £400 plus laptop how much of that is intel profit i don’t care mr Josh Bancroft dosen’t realy care. how much of my intel faith in there product i have lost about 60% i Have disposible funds so will buy another product without intel inside i will also soon consider another operating system other than microsoft when i can spend some time getting trained on one.Thanks Intel
As someone else mentioned before if there isn’t a shipping Vista Premium driver at least ship a driver that allows for external monitor support. During the beta of Vista previous (I think it was called) Extreme Graphics 2 software for using an external display worked even in rotation displays that support portait. There is no way to do this in the RTM build of Vista. “No display attached” is the only thing that appears when connecting a second display using Vistas Display settings. You can use extended desktop, but cloning isn’t supported and makes a 915 equipped laptop or Tablet PC that has been upgraded to Vista useless for presentations using projectors or secondary displays.
This is so unfair….Microsoft or intel doesnt have any right to stick Vista Capable sticker.Capable means it can do what Xp can do.
This is just another way of dumping old products on the customers.People should sue the hell out of both companies..
I just installed Call of Duty2 on my HP m7060n which uses the 915 chipset but I can’t get DirectX to run even though we have the nvidea graphics card.I just keep getting unrecoverable error.. Doesn’t the 915 chipset work with DirectX?
Help!
@jalvarez - if you have an Nvidia graphics card, you probably don’t have the Intel 915 graphics chip that we’re talking about. I’m not sure what your problem could be, but it sounds like a good issue for HP support. Good luck!
Oh, please. It was running in beta. It was running in RC. The WDDM drivers were in early RC’s. They were called “Lakeview” or some such nonsense. Those drivers, originally intended for the 945, also worked for the 915, and ran Aero Glass just fine.
The current drivers, shipped with RTM Vista, don’t detect the 915. These drivers are from Intel, not Microsoft. That says to me that Intel has purposely forced the drivers to no longer support the 915. So say what you will about missing hardware schedulers, point in fact is the drivers were working (WDDM) and now they aren’t.
Don’t say that there aren’t any WDDM drivers - because there are. Vista just won’t load RC drivers in RTM. Someone will eventually hack that, but for now Intel is pretty much sitting on the drivers, despite any insistence by them that they aren’t. C’mon Josh, get with the program here.
OK! No Aero for 915….what is with video… Move Maker?DVD Maker???a???ny driver for Vista intel 915 or i will use driver for XP forever
The problem isnt about aero, its the fact intel havent botherd to release any kind of vista drivers at all so we are all left with a rating of just “1.0″ for the system and cannot run DVD maker or movie maker which is just crazy.
I’ve found a way to enable Aero Glass on my GMA900 Notebook.
The idea is to modify GMA950’s driver and install in my GMA900 Notebook. By this way, you can cheat in Vista, and enable Aero Glass. But something I must to say is that I can’t guarantee on the stability.
1. find out the hardware ID of your GMA900 in WINXP. (you can view this information in dxdiag)
2. download a latest Vista driver for GMA950 (i945GM chipset) from anywhere you want. (it’s a good choice to download form intel’s website. down the .zip one, not the .exe)
3. uncompress the driver.
4. edit a file \Graphics\igdlh.inf, find out the section [Intel.Mfg], and find the hardware ID of 945GM, replace the ID to your GMA900’s.
find this one:
%iCLGD0% = i945GM0, PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27A2
change to
%iCLGD0% = i945GM0, PCI\YOUR_GMA900_HARDWRAE_ID
5. save this file, and install this modified driver, reboot your system.
6. and then…enjoy the Aero Glass… Y^_^Y.
I feel that i waste my money for nothing becase that intel they cant release a WDDM driver for 915 design
next time i will surlly not to buy eany thing from intel
I feel that i waste my money for nothing because intel can’t release a WDDM driver for 915 design next time i will not buy anything from intel
it’s all f*** m$, they think that 915 is below Vista standard, and they decided for us that it would be better to buy a new laptop if you want to use Vista and it’s features >:(
It’s not M$, it’s not Intel. It’s just the way platform development works, or rather doesn’t work. Intel produce a GPU chip pre vista that they speculativly design to support Aero, by making it pixel shader 2.0 capable. However, the GPU design is finalised before M$ release the full requirements for Aero support, which include hardware schedualler support. Intel’s ‘gamble’ does not pay off and the chipset is not Aero capable, as it does not meet the subsequently released spec. This kind of thing happens all the time.
Beta drivers work as they are not yet optimised are do not take advantage of the hardware scedualer. The job of the hardware schedualer can be implimented in software (and presumdely is in the beta driver), but it’s far from optimised and M$ won’t certify a driver that doesn’t meet spec, and underperforms.
No one has been ‘conned’ or ‘tricked’ here. We are all victims of an industry that has to take occasional design risks due to the comercial pressures that require the leaders to bring products to market as early as possible. Who drives these pressures? The consumer does (you do!). Face it, if the chipset were not ‘vista ready’ when you bought it you’d have bought someone elses product (and the chipset certainly would not have been brought to market when it was if intel had waited for the aero spec to be fully defined before designing the chipset..)
If intel cared, the would have a driver…
need to make a driver no excuses. I payed alot of money for a brand new pc. I was reluctant to go with the gma 900 but i did not assume that it would have these problems and accepted it the way it was. Im not into cosmetic stuff of vista if i wanted sfx i would go get linux and install beryl. i just want open gl to work. Theres no reason for it not being workable. Without it half my programs are unusuable and its a very big turn off for me using vista. Fix it or i will switch to a mac or a linux system.
THIS SUCKS. I will ****NEVER**** knowingly buy another Intel product again.
Hey Ruanlu…do you know of a way to make the formula you posted work for a Dell(Inspiron B130) Or can you point me in the right direction? If so…you can e-mail me. perez.ozzie@gmail.com Thanx
I followed the advice on how to modify the 945GM driver to work with the 915GM chip, and the driver appears to sucessfully install, but then after reboot, still no aero, and in device manager it says: Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)
Click ‘Check for solutions’ to send data about this device to Microsoft and to see if there is a solution available.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE could someone help, as I also can no longer get Standby or Hibernation modes! Thankyou!
it does not work properly…i wouldnt care if it didnt run aero. the problem is theres no open gl support in vista with this thing and that is a disgrace especially since like everything has opengl now. wont be buying another intel graphics chip…wasted my money…
Does anyone know if there’s an external Graphics Card that supports aero that I can buy for my Dell Laptop? I’m assuming something that I can plug into my PCI slot….Can anyone help?
Oz……..
Hi All,
I have the problem of not being able to use the AERO Theme and Visual Effects, My Graphics chipset is the 915GM/GMS 910GML and I was wondering if anyone could upload the LAKEVIEW driver that was in RC1. I have been through Google with a fine tooth comb (2 Months of searching after school) and I cannot turn up anything. This really sucks as I wanted the AERO effects.
Thanks.
Acer Aspire 3618AWLCi
Intel Pentium M 1.73GHz
2048 Mb RAM
256Mb Graphics Memory (Shared)
Windows Vista Ultimate (X86) (32 Bit in other words)
@Shaun - The driver from the Vista beta to the final version of Vista did not change. It’s the same XPDM driver that you’re using now.
What changed is the rest of the code in Vista to not allow Aero Glass, Movie Maker, and DVD Maker (the “Premium” features) to work with an XPDM driver. They now require a WDDM driver, which 915 does not and will not have, because it doesn’t meet the WDDM hardware spec that Microsoft requires.
I don’t really care about Aero myself, the most important problem I have with the lack of a decent driver for my chipset is the absence of OpenGL!! This is what is really tempting me to throw my laptop out the window everytime I want to play a game that run just fine in XP, but because it is OpenGL based, now it doesn’t even start!!!