I know this is an older discussion, but I noticed the earlier posts about getting newer NVIDIA drivers such as 472.12 working on Windows 10 2016 LTSB (1607). Is anyone here still interested in this? I've been working on the same problem recently and managed to get NVIDIA 556.12 working with physical display output and hardware acceleration on both Windows 10 2015 LTSB (1507) and 2016 LTSB (1607). This also allows these older Windows 10 releases to use newer NVIDIA GPUs, with 556.12 supporting up through the RTX 40 series. If there's interest, I can share the thread where I documented the modifications and testing.
472.12 already works with Windows 10 1607. But it does not work with recent Nvidia GPUs like my RTX 3050. Sure, if there is a way to allow Windows 10 1507 LTSB and Windows 10 1607 LTSB to run newer Nvidia drivers (with the Nvidia Control Panel perhaps?) so that they can then use newer Nvidia GPUs such as the RTX 3000 / 4000 series, I would definitely like to see it. I did try some Nvidia drivers on these older Windows 10 versions before and I still remember that the 472.12 driver would cause a BSOD on one of my older computers with 1507. I used 431.60 with that.
Correct, with my pre-patched 556.12 package in its current form, I am using Test Mode to install and run it, because nvlddmkm.sys has been modified and no longer retains NVIDIA's original valid signature. However, I am actually working on exactly what you described: getting the modified 556.12 driver to continue loading in normal mode after installation, without having to leave Windows in Test Mode. I know some of canonkong's previous modifications could operate this way, and I would like to achieve the same with 556.12. For now, though, I don't want to claim that it works until I have reproduced and tested it myself. For my current pre-patched package, assume Test Mode is required for both installation and operation. If I get normal-mode operation working reliably, I will update the package/instructions. I'm also investigating newer NVIDIA branches. From my testing so far, there appears to be another compatibility boundary starting with 560.70. 560.70 and newer drivers that I have tested can be made to load on Windows 10 1507–1607, but they currently run headless. Windows 10 1703 or newer is currently required for physical display output with these newer branches. Interestingly, headless does not necessarily mean that the GPU is nonfunctional. I patched 610.74 and got an RTX 5060 Ti running headless on Windows 10 1511. The driver loads, and the GPU can actually perform accelerated workloads. I was able to run FurMark at around 97% GPU utilization, but there is still no physical NVIDIA display output. On Windows 10 1703–1709, I have 610.74 working with physical display output and hardware acceleration, including the RTX 5060 Ti. So currently, 556.12 is the newest driver I have working with physical display output on 1507–1607, while newer branches such as 610.74 still need more investigation to determine what changed in the display path. And yes, if you get a chance to test your RTX 3050 with 556.12 on 1507 or 1607, I would be very interested in the results.
Thanks for testing it. This is useful confirmation, especially with the RTX 3050. It's good to know that my pre-patched 556.12 package is working on Windows 10 1607 LTSB with physical DisplayPort output and hardware acceleration. Regarding the NVIDIA Control Panel, there is one useful difference between these Windows versions: on Windows 10 1607 and newer, the NVIDIA Control Panel AppX can be installed normally, so extracting the AppX and running nvcplui.exe directly isn't necessary. I use the extraction/direct-launch method specifically for Windows 10 1507 and 1511. Your 537.58 result is also very interesting, especially since you confirmed that it can be installed in Test Mode and then continue working after returning Windows to normal mode. I'm currently investigating the signing side of 556.12 to see if I can achieve the same behavior. My goal is to have Test Mode required only during installation, and then allow the modified driver to continue working after returning to normal mode. I haven't found a reliable method for 556.12 yet, so for now my package still requires Test Mode. I'm going to continue experimenting with signing methods myself. If I can get 556.12 reliably loading in normal mode, I'll update the package and instructions.
I have neglected to mention one minor detail which may or may not be important. I always run Windows in Legacy / CSM mode, never in UEFI mode. All the pictures I have captured here shows Windows running in CSM mode. Here is a picture of the RTX 3050 under Windows 10 1607 LTSB (Traditional Chinese) with your Nvidia 556.12 driver mod, in Test mode : You said that appx packages can be installed normally on Windows 10 1607 and later. How do I do that? On my test installation of 1607 LTSB the Nvidia Control Panel appx package is not recognized by Windows at all. Is this capability only present in "normal" versions of Windows 10 and not in LTSB / LTSC versions, which does not have the Store?
Thanks for mentioning the Legacy/CSM boot mode. That may be relevant to the driver-signing behavior, so I’ll keep that in mind when I reproduce the normal-mode tests. Regarding the NVIDIA Control Panel AppX: on Windows 10 1607 the AppX deployment system is supported, but 1607 LTSB does not include the same App Installer / Store integration as normal consumer editions. That is why double-clicking the .appx package may not work or may not be recognized. On 1607 LTSB, you can install the NVIDIA Control Panel AppX through PowerShell instead: Code: Add-AppxPackage -Path "C:\Path\To\NVIDIAControlPanel.appx" If the package requires dependency AppX files, those need to be installed as well. On normal Windows 10 1607 and newer editions, App Installer may allow installing the package through the GUI. The direct nvcplui.exe extraction method is mainly useful for 1507 and 1511, where the newer AppX package itself cannot be deployed normally. Also, thanks for the new screenshot. It confirms your RTX 3050 is running my 556.12 mod correctly on 1607 LTSB in Test Mode.
There were already discussions about modding Nvidia drivers in the Windows 10 Enterprise (N) LTSB 2016 thread, that started HERE