nVidia SMBus Drivers

[Glen]

Just wondering, do nf4sys.inf and nvsmbus.inf do anything other than changing device names to "nForce4 HyperTransport Bridge" and "nVidia nForce PCI System Management"?

The logical explanation to me would be to do with the Athlon 64/X2's inbuilt memory controller, which Windows doesn't know about, so the names are just changed to stop the infamous yellow exclamation mark in device manager and any prompts to install drivers.

Assuming that's true, why are they otherwise different, in that nf4sys.inf installs a "null" service and nvsmbus.inf references machine.inf and what do these respective changes do?

Thanks.

[bilemke]

Nope, they just give names and put the devices in a category in device manager instead of leaving them as "Unknown".. Otherwise, no performance gain, no functionality gain.

[ozone_pilot]

Just wondering, do nf4sys.inf and nvsmbus.inf do anything other than changing device names to "nForce4 HyperTransport Bridge" and "nVidia nForce PCI System Management"?

The logical explanation to me would be to do with the Athlon 64/X2's inbuilt memory controller, which Windows doesn't know about, so the names are just changed to stop the infamous yellow exclamation mark in device manager and any prompts to install drivers.

Assuming that's true, why are they otherwise different, in that nf4sys.inf installs a "null" service and nvsmbus.inf references machine.inf and what do these respective changes do?

Thanks.

I'm having a problem here with nVidia drivers, and I think it's possible that your post would explain my dilema, except for one. Please be patient, I'm a newbie at this.

When making my unattended CD, I noticed that all my nVidia drivers _except_ the SMBus drivers installed i.e. audio/video/ethernet/display drivers. I didn't really take notice of the device in the *system devices*, but only looked at add/remove programs and noticed the NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management drivers wasn't listed in the options to be removed, only the other drivers had that option. When installing them all manually, after installing an nLited XP SP2[without drivers], the SMBus drivers appeared in the add/remove programs..........then being more curious, I did take notice in the System devices, and noticed both entries for nForce4 HyperTransport Bridge and nVidia nForce PCI System Management. I'm assuming by being a *null* service as you mentioned, that you mean when looking at the properties section of those drivers where it says that "no drivers are required or have been loaded for this device", when making a query on the driver details???

So if the SMBus drivers are not loaded, why when I install them manually after a fresh nLite install, does it show up in add/remove programs? When I first made an nLite with adding the drivers, I was concerned about this, so I remade it without a driver installation. Is it therefore correct to add the drivers into an nLited install and not be concerned whether or not it shows in add/remove programs, but makes those changes in the system devices??

Thanks!

My system is

ASUS A8N-SLI nForce4

AMD Athlon64 3500+

1GB OCZ DDR

eVGA GeForce 6800GS

74GB WD Raptor sATA

250GB Seagate sATA

[bilemke]

Just wondering, do nf4sys.inf and nvsmbus.inf do anything other than changing device names to "nForce4 HyperTransport Bridge" and "nVidia nForce PCI System Management"?

The logical explanation to me would be to do with the Athlon 64/X2's inbuilt memory controller, which Windows doesn't know about, so the names are just changed to stop the infamous yellow exclamation mark in device manager and any prompts to install drivers.

Assuming that's true, why are they otherwise different, in that nf4sys.inf installs a "null" service and nvsmbus.inf references machine.inf and what do these respective changes do?

Thanks.

I'm having a problem here with nVidia drivers, and I think it's possible that your post would explain my dilema, except for one. Please be patient, I'm a newbie at this.

When making my unattended CD, I noticed that all my nVidia drivers _except_ the SMBus drivers installed i.e. audio/video/ethernet/display drivers. I didn't really take notice of the device in the *system devices*, but only looked at add/remove programs and noticed the NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management drivers wasn't listed in the options to be removed, only the other drivers had that option. When installing them all manually, after installing an nLited XP SP2[without drivers], the SMBus drivers appeared in the add/remove programs..........then being more curious, I did take notice in the System devices, and noticed both entries for nForce4 HyperTransport Bridge and nVidia nForce PCI System Management. I'm assuming by being a *null* service as you mentioned, that you mean when looking at the properties section of those drivers where it says that "no drivers are required or have been loaded for this device", when making a query on the driver details???

So if the SMBus drivers are not loaded, why when I install them manually after a fresh nLite install, does it show up in add/remove programs? When I first made an nLite with adding the drivers, I was concerned about this, so I remade it without a driver installation. Is it therefore correct to add the drivers into an nLited install and not be concerned whether or not it shows in add/remove programs, but makes those changes in the system devices??

Thanks!

My system is

ASUS A8N-SLI nForce4

AMD Athlon64 3500+

1GB OCZ DDR

eVGA GeForce 6800GS

74GB WD Raptor sATA

250GB Seagate sATA

I see you PMed me even though you replied to a post by Glen.. This is why I didnt notice this sooner.. Couple things, being they are simply for the sake of a name in device manager, I wouldnt even both with them. But, if you do, I would not be concerned about the Add/Remove Program entry..

It is probably not there because the driver installer program from nvidia probably adds it.. Since you are not running the installer, it doesnt show up..

I usually only integrate the drivers need to get the install done (IDE/RAID in particulair).. Beyond that, they are updated so often and I like to have the very latest drivers, so I just install the rest after I am in Windows.. I know some may have a purpose for installing them from a integrated source though.

Either way, at a minimum, dont bother with the Add/Remove.. If you install a new driver without uninstalling them it wont hurt anyway.. Not saying you might not run in to trouble if you dont uninstall the other drivers though..

[Blub]

Typically updating drivers with newer versions doesn't lead to install problems. Even if you haven't done an uninstall first.But never say never in the wonderful world of complex software

If you use installers, normally they add additional programs besides the actual driver. This utilities you don't need for windows to run at all.They can be diagnosis utilities for example or simply manuals etc etc, It's up to you to decide if you want those. If not, it's no problem to integrate drivers and there's no need to worry about uninstall options not being available.

[ozone_pilot]

Just wondering, do nf4sys.inf and nvsmbus.inf do anything other than changing device names to "nForce4 HyperTransport Bridge" and "nVidia nForce PCI System Management"?

The logical explanation to me would be to do with the Athlon 64/X2's inbuilt memory controller, which Windows doesn't know about, so the names are just changed to stop the infamous yellow exclamation mark in device manager and any prompts to install drivers.

Assuming that's true, why are they otherwise different, in that nf4sys.inf installs a "null" service and nvsmbus.inf references machine.inf and what do these respective changes do?

Thanks.

I'm having a problem here with nVidia drivers, and I think it's possible that your post would explain my dilema, except for one. Please be patient, I'm a newbie at this.

When making my unattended CD, I noticed that all my nVidia drivers _except_ the SMBus drivers installed i.e. audio/video/ethernet/display drivers. I didn't really take notice of the device in the *system devices*, but only looked at add/remove programs and noticed the NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management drivers wasn't listed in the options to be removed, only the other drivers had that option. When installing them all manually, after installing an nLited XP SP2[without drivers], the SMBus drivers appeared in the add/remove programs..........then being more curious, I did take notice in the System devices, and noticed both entries for nForce4 HyperTransport Bridge and nVidia nForce PCI System Management. I'm assuming by being a *null* service as you mentioned, that you mean when looking at the properties section of those drivers where it says that "no drivers are required or have been loaded for this device", when making a query on the driver details???

So if the SMBus drivers are not loaded, why when I install them manually after a fresh nLite install, does it show up in add/remove programs? When I first made an nLite with adding the drivers, I was concerned about this, so I remade it without a driver installation. Is it therefore correct to add the drivers into an nLited install and not be concerned whether or not it shows in add/remove programs, but makes those changes in the system devices??

Thanks!

I see you PMed me even though you replied to a post by Glen.. This is why I didnt notice this sooner.. Couple things, being they are simply for the sake of a name in device manager, I wouldnt even both with them. But, if you do, I would not be concerned about the Add/Remove Program entry..

It is probably not there because the driver installer program from nvidia probably adds it.. Since you are not running the installer, it doesnt show up..

I usually only integrate the drivers need to get the install done (IDE/RAID in particulair).. Beyond that, they are updated so often and I like to have the very latest drivers, so I just install the rest after I am in Windows.. I know some may have a purpose for installing them from a integrated source though.

Either way, at a minimum, dont bother with the Add/Remove.. If you install a new driver without uninstalling them it wont hurt anyway.. Not saying you might not run in to trouble if you dont uninstall the other drivers though..

It's kinda funny to intall them in the first place, if it's only for the sake of a name change with a *no drivers loaded* dialog box showing up in the drivers details page. And as you say, they are updated frequently enough, so it's not so important to have them installed as an unattended install, it just was a concern of mine......to have nLite be more complete in the installation............in other words, I wanted to get this working. I just didn't realize it was a *null* device. I'll keep an eye out on *uninstalling* them at a future date. Thanks for your info!!!

Typically updating drivers with newer versions doesn't lead to install problems. Even if you haven't done an uninstall first.But never say never in the wonderful world of complex software

If you use installers, normally they add additional programs besides the actual driver. This utilities you don't need for windows to run at all.They can be diagnosis utilities for example or simply manuals etc etc, It's up to you to decide if you want those. If not, it's no problem to integrate drivers and there's no need to worry about uninstall options not being available.

I'm glad both you and bilemke have put my mind at ease, and you're absolutely correct in saying that there's always some *garbage* installed besides the driver you only wanted to install in the first place. Thanks for your input!!