Multiple reports of nVidia laptop driver version 465.89 being broken

[OOZ662]

I post this in hopes of Egosoft reaching out to nVidia to make them aware of the issue if they aren't already, and to help other users who may be suffering under the same issues.

TL;DR: If you're trying to play on a laptop with an nVidia GPU which you've updated to 465.89 and the game refuses to start with Exit Code 212, try uninstalling the drivers and replacing them with the previous version, 461.92. I would personally highly recommend using DDU to completely wipe them before the reinstall since drivers aren't usually meant to "update" backwards, however you should fully understand how to use the tool before doing so.

I generally play on my desktop with a GTX1660S, however when it's time to sit around and "play spreadsheets" I'll often swap to my laptop in bed with a GTX1650.
The desktop is running the Desktop version of 465.89 flawlessly. However attempts to run the game with the Laptop version of 465.89 (they are separate installer files!) results in the game failing to start. This appears to be due to a failed install of Vulkan, which should be installed alongside the driver.

On the Egosoft troubleshooting page for Exit Code 212 there are multiple laptop users reporting similar issues. In troubleshooting my own, I ran the vulkaninfo command which only returned two lines, the important one being that my video device ID "0" was not valid (I apologize that I didn't save the logs and am not willing to re-break my system to get "fresh copies") and none of the data that implies that Vulkan is properly installed. I uninstalled the driver via the OS Settings panel and reinstalled it; same issue. I re-downloaded a fresh copy of the installer, completely wiped the driver using Display Driver Uninstaller, and installed it fresh without an internet connection; same issue. I then used DDU to wipe the driver again and installed nVidia Laptop driver version 461.92; running vulkaninfo then returned the huge wall of responses expected of it when working properly and the game runs fine.

[nalim27]

Hello,
I think you should put that information to NVidia support - not here to Egosoft forum.

[OOZ662]

If their forum weren't the absolute hottest of messes, I would.