Hi all, This came about after I installed a program called "Driver Reviver" which scans for out of date drivers. It detected 10 of my chipset devices are out of date. The driver is dated 2006 and issued from Microsoft for these devices: Intel(R) Management Engine Interface Intel(R) 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1,5,6,8 Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) Processor Family PCI Express Controller etc etc... This led me to think I hadn't run the INF update from Intel, so I went and downloaded the latest version but that doesn't actually install/update anything when it runs. It just finishes and reports nothing was changed. The package I downloaded is: http://downloadmirror.intel.com/20775/eng/ReleaseNotes_9.3.0.1026.htm The notes say it supports Windows 8 64, and the 6 Series. Why isn't it updating my devices? Thanks
The Intel chipset driver is nothing more than .inf Text files that lets Windows know what's what. Since Windows knows those devices, the chipset driver INF does nothing. If you did update to the latest INF, the only thing that would change is the driver date (and maybe name etc). For instance, the following is the INF file containing the PCI Express port you listed. Code: ; ******************************************************************************** ; ******************************************************************************** ; ** FileName: IvyBridg.inf ** ; ** Abstract: Ivy Bridge ** ; ** Last Update: October 5, 2012 (Version 9.3.0 Build 1025) ** ; ******************************************************************************** ; ******************************************************************************** [Version] Signature="$WINDOWS NT$" Class=System ClassGUID={4D36E97D-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} Provider=%INTEL% CatalogFile=IvyBridg.cat DriverVer=10/05/2012, 9.3.0.1025 [SourceDisksNames] [SourceDisksFiles] [ControlFlags] ExcludeFromSelect=* [PackageInfo] Name=Chipset Condition=Provider(Microsoft)||InstalledDriverName(Chipset)||Provider() [Manufacturer] %INTEL%=INTEL,NTamd64 [INTEL] %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0150.DeviceDesc%=NO_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0150 %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0154.DeviceDesc%=NO_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0154 %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0158.DeviceDesc%=NO_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0158 %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_015C.DeviceDesc%=NO_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_015C %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0151.DeviceDesc%=PCI_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0151 %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0155.DeviceDesc%=PCI_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0155 %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0159.DeviceDesc%=PCI_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0159 %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_015D.DeviceDesc%=PCI_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_015D [INTEL.NTamd64] %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0150.DeviceDesc%=NO_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0150 %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0154.DeviceDesc%=NO_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0154 %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0158.DeviceDesc%=NO_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0158 %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_015C.DeviceDesc%=NO_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_015C %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0151.DeviceDesc%=PCI_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0151 %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0155.DeviceDesc%=PCI_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0155 %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0159.DeviceDesc%=PCI_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0159 %PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_015D.DeviceDesc%=PCI_DRV,PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_015D [NO_DRV] Include=machine.inf Needs=NO_DRV [NO_DRV.Services] Include=machine.inf Needs=NO_DRV.Services [PCI_DRV] Include=machine.inf Needs=PCI_DRV [PCI_DRV.Services] Include=machine.inf Needs=PCI_DRV.Services [PCI_DRV.HW] Include=machine.inf Needs=PCI_DRV.HW [Strings] INTEL="Intel" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0150.DeviceDesc="Xeon(R) processor E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller - 0150" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0154.DeviceDesc="3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller - 0154" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0158.DeviceDesc="Xeon(R) processor E3-1200 v2 DRAM Controller - 0158" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_015C.DeviceDesc="Xeon(R) processor E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller - 015C" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0151.DeviceDesc="Xeon(R) processor E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor PCI Express Root Port - 0151" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0155.DeviceDesc="Xeon(R) processor E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor PCI Express Root Port - 0155" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0159.DeviceDesc="Xeon(R) processor E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor PCI Express Root Port - 0159" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_015D.DeviceDesc="Xeon(R) processor E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor PCI Express Root Port - 015D" REG_DWORD =0x00010001 ; Copyright (c) 2003-2012 Intel Corporation ; ; ******************************************************************************** ; Intel is making no claims of usability, efficacy or warranty. ; ******************************************************************************** ; Information in this document is provided in connection with Intel products. No ; license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any intellectual ; property rights is granted by this document. Intel assumes no liability ; whatsoever, and Intel disclaims any express or implied warranty, relating to ; sale and/or use of Intel products including liability or warranties relating to ; fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability, or infringement of any ; patent, copyright or other intellectual property right. Intel products are not ; intended for use in medical, life saving, or life sustaining applications. ; ******************************************************************************** ; Intel Corporation disclaims all warranties and liabilities for the use of this ; document and the information contained herein, and assumes no responsibility for ; any errors which may appear in this document, nor does Intel make a commitment ; to update the information contained herein. Intel reserves the right to make ; changes to this document at any time, without notice. ; ******************************************************************************** ; ******************************************************************************** ; ; * Third-party brands and names are the property of their respective owners. Note 'Driverver'. This is what driver reviver etc thinks is old. You could have that as version 1.0.0.0 dated 2004 (I made this up to make the point), and it wouldn't change the action of the flle below it. So below it you have the device descriptor, and the device name info. It also called 'machine.inf', which also has the same devices listed. Under Windows 7 these device descriptors aren't listed in machine INF, which is why you need the chipset driver, but under Windows 8 it is already listed there. The date at the top of the machine.inf is a generic date, Windows 6.2.9200.16384 certainly wasn't out on 21 June 2006... that date is carried over from Windows Vista build. Now, you still need to have the device detected so Windows can function it correctly, it does actually use pci.sys etc I believe (as listed in machine.inf), but the functioning is not changed by the inf file, and pci.sys is a generic Microsoft driver. There are devices that have both generic drivers and proper Intel drivers, the most important of which is the AHCI driver. For best performance you don't use the AHCI driver from the INF! The other device to have a proper driver is the Intel(R) Management Engine Interface. The MEI is a different issue, and if you really want that up to date it's a two step process. On a home machine though, there is no benefit from doing so. So, don't worry about the INF installation doing nothing, as the devices are already detected. If the Intel driver did 'update' these drivers, it would actually have no effect on the system apart from changing the device info in device manager. Some will insist that the performance is better, but that is complete bull, any change (very unlikely) isn't due to changing to the Intel INF. So basically, what you want for Intel drivers is the AHCI driver, the latest of which is 11.7.0.1003, and the MEI driver (not really 'essential').