Intel HD Graphics (Arrandale i5-520M) - BSOD on installing driver

[kambala]

Hi. I'm having an issue with iGPU driver on MacbookPro mid-2010 (MacBookPro6,2) running Windows in UEFI mode. I know that officially this laptop supports Windows only in legacy mode where only dGPU is visible to the OS (Nvidia GT 330M), but in UEFI mode everything works fine except the iGPU driver.

No matter which driver version I try install - from Bootcamp software or from Windows Update - I get immediate BSOD pointing to the same address in driver: igdkmd64.sys+1ae72f. Tried it on Windows 8.1 and 10 with the same result, the laptop officially supports only 8.1.

I hoped that you could give me a hint what the driver doesn't like - maybe there's only a simple adjustment required to make it work, like set some CPU register (for example, just a few registers need to be tweaked for dGPU to work properly in Windows UEFI mode). Please find crash dump from Windows 10 attached

The reason I need this: my dGPU started malfunctioning (produces visual artifacts on screen that make it impossible to work on the laptop), so the only way is to utilize iGPU. And I'd like to have its hardware acceleration (OS works fine on MS Basic Display driver, but that's software rendering).

P.S. iGPU driver for macOS and Linux work perfectly.

[kambala]

please also find attached:

• minidumps from Windows 8.1, they also show another crash address - igdkmd64.sys+1ab6f4 (maybe because it's from a different driver version)
• report generated by Intel SSU tool
• dump of intel_reg tool taken on a Linux OS (not sure how useful it is though)

I'm ready to provide any other info in order to debug / fix the issue.

[AlHill]

Apple has requested they be contacted for support of their hardware

Doc (not an Intel employee or contractor)
[Maybe Windows 12 will be better]

[kambala]

Apple isn't going to help because:

• this laptop model is no longer supported
• running Windows in UEFI mode on this laptop has never been supported

But for me UEFI Windows + iGPU is the only way to make Windows usable (because dGPU is broken). That's why I hope that Intel specialists could at least give a hint about the error causing the crash (it's Intel chipset and CPU after all), I'm not asking to release new driver version or so.

[AlHill]

And, Intel's answer will be that the processor is not longer supported and you should contact Apple for support.

You need to start seriously considering a hardware upgrade.

Doc (not an Intel employee or contractor)
[Maybe Windows 12 will be better]

[kambala]

Well, IMO hardware should be replaced when it no longer satisfies the needs, and this is not the case for me.

I still hope that a kind Intel engineer would appear here and provide a hint 🙂

[AlHill]

"hardware should be replaced when it no longer satisfies the needs"

You have reached that point.   You are dealing with hardware that is 13 years old.   The processor is no longer supported and, as you say, Apple no longer supports the laptop.  You yourself said that UEFI was not supported.

So, you are experiencing crashes on unsupported hardware, that Intel does not support, and Apple does not support, and hardware that no longer satisfies your needs (because of the BSODs), and you want a kind Intel engineer to help you when they are already overwhelmed with issues on supported hardware.   Does that sound about right?   Where are the kind Apple engineers to support their hardware?  Oh, that's right, they have already abandoned you.

Look, it is time you faced reality and get new/newer hardware.   How many times in the past 13 years have you replaced your iphone?  Skip the next iphone and get a new laptop already.

Doc (not an Intel employee or contractor)
[Maybe Windows 12 will be better]

[kambala]

---

@AlHill wrote:

hardware that no longer satisfies your needs (because of the BSODs)

---

please re-read my first post more attentively: BSOD happens only on attempt to install iGPU driver. Windows (both 8.1 and 10) runs on the MS Basic Display driver just fine and this already satisfies my needs, and other OSs have working drivers. But I'd like to actually solve the driver problem/riddle, best if it's done with some help from someone who actually understands stuff. Otherwise I'm left alone with Ghidra / IDA to try figuring it out on my own, pretty sure that writing my own driver would take much longer.

---

@AlHill wrote:

Look, it is time you faced reality and get new/newer hardware.   How many times in the past 13 years have you replaced your iphone?  Skip the next iphone and get a new laptop already.

---

after such words it's clear that it's time to stop the conversation 😉

[AlHill]

Your processor is not supported on Windows 10.  Read:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-10-21h2-supported-intel-processors

As I said, your processor is discontinued and not supported:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/47341/intel-core-i5520m-processor-3m-cache-2-40-ghz.html

The graphic drivers for your processor are here:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/products/81503/graphics/intel-hd-graphics-family/intel-hd-graphics-for-previous-generation-intel-processors.html

You will not see one for Windows 8.x.

Yes, it is time for you to stop the conversation, and upgrade your hardware to a supported platform.

Or, continue to live in the past with hardware that Apple and Intel no longer support.  Your choice.

Doc (not an Intel employee or contractor)
[Maybe Windows 12 will be better]

[STi410]

Don't let him discourage you kambala! Excellent work reverse engineering the AppleGraphicsPolicy EFI driver. Your GfxMode=4 fix works great. I am using it on a 2011 Macbook Pro with a failed dGPU. Running Windows 10 I get the same results, works fine on the basic Microsoft driver. As soon as the HD3000 driver is installed, black screen and no boot. Hopefully you continue to work on finding a fix. I know the displayport is hardwired to the dGPU only, maybe some functionaliy that looks for an external display needs to be removed for the driver to work?