odd video problem
 

I just purchased a new laptop and it's been working just fine with Hoster but for one intermittent problem. On occasion, the video of BOTH the preview window and the singer's display will freeze, then slowly fade out, while the audio continues on as normal. Then maybe 20 or 30 seconds later, the words will start appearing again (from the excat point it left off - now well behind the audio), and they will get highlighted and scrolled through really quickly until eventually the video catches up with where the audio is and things then start working correctly. This seems to happen early on in a show, maybe for a couple of songs (not all in succession, necessarily), then seems to be OK for the duration. The other oddity is that it (so far) seems to only be appearing when there's an instrumental break or at the end of a verse - it's never happened right in the middle of highlighting a line, or in the middle of displaying a new set of lines. Note that this is not just the second display - it's the preview windows on the hosting display as well. I'm running Hoster 4.06 and the laptop is as follows:

Compaq CQ60-212US
Windows Vista Premium 32-bit
2.00 GHz AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core Processor
1MB L2 Processor Cache
4 GB memory
NVIDIA GeForce 8200M graphics
1919 MB video memory

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

The first thing to do is upgrade to Hoster 4.09D, and see if the problem persists. Also, this does sound like a video card issue, but not 100% sure. Make sure you have the most recent video card driver for the 8200. Check the nVidea upgrade site for that.

I'll do these as suggested and report back if resolved or still issues. Thanks.

I take it you have followed all the vista recommendations as shown here:
http://www.mtu.com/upgrades/hoster/v...de-hoster4.htm

Especially the Uac and visual effects.

Yes, I did (prior to installation). The only ones that threw me a bit were:

9. In the “Visual Effects” tab, left click Adjust for best performance
10. Scroll the very last item on the List, and put a check beside Use visual styles on windows and buttons

If I did item #10, it "undid" item #9; I could either select "Adjust for best performance", or it would select the next radio button down if I clicked anything in the list (such as "use visual styles on windows and buttons"). One other "issue" was that I couldn't find any "enable transparency" checkbox in order to uncheck it (for aero themes). According to the list, my OS is one of those that should have this setting, but I never saw it anywhere. Other than these 2 things, all instructions were followed to the letter. If you know how to "correct" either of these 2 issues, I would be happy to do so. Thanks.

When you set for best performance (#9) it makes all the settings below change for best performance. Then when you do the next step it will change only that function and leave the rest set for best performance. This will also change the upper setting to custom, but doesn't change any of the other settings below. So follow the steps exactly and it will be right.
I don't have any Vista so I don't know about the "Aero" themes. Maybe someone else can help with that.

Dale, I found that when Aero Theme is on, Lyrics are out of sync. I found this problem when all of a sudden lyrics were out of sync and the only thing I had changed was Aero Theme. When I turned it back off lyrics were back in sync.

That is why it is in the list of things to do. :g

I never found transparency checkbox on my Vista home premium computer so that shouldn't be an issue.

Afraid I haven't come up with a solution yet :m

If your problem persists keep us posted someone may have the answer.

maybe success??
 

Well, I made that one additional change in the display settings, upgraded to 4.09d (I goofed in my previous statement - I was on 4.08, not 4.06), and downloaded a newer video driver from NVIDIA. I've played about a half dozen songs so far without any video problems. I think it's too early in the game to swear that the issue is resolved, but one can hope. :t Since it seems to mostly be a problem shortly after startup, I have to trying it multiple times of the course of the next few days and see if things consistently continue to keep working. I'll post back to let everyone know. Thanks to all of you for your help - much appreciated! (That's why we love MTU's forums!)

Dale, I found that when Aero Theme is on, Lyrics are out of sync.


I'm still looking for Aero Theme on my Vista Home Premium since last october, i haven't found it yet.:?

As I said at the beginning, I don't know about the Aero settings. I do not have Vista in any version thank goodness so I do not know anything about Vista specific settings.:?
you should be able to find it using the list in the link however as far as the Transparency part, Admin may be wrong that Home Premium has this transparency setting. At least that is what I am getting from all the posts in here.

Thanks dale, because Areo Theme is NOT on my version of Vista, and i'm not sure about the transparasy thing either.....:?

1. right click on deskstop & choose personalize
2.click the " windows color and appearance link", and
on the next screen
3. click the link near the bottom for " open classic appearance properties for more color option"
4. you should be able to disable aero all together by choosing " window vista basic "

Way ahead of you Billy...thats right off the mtu website as well..not there my friend.:)

It's not in your version of Vista because the NVIDIA GeForce 8200M is a value line, shared memory card and is not capable of displaying Aero. The other thing I would suggest is 16 bit color if you haven't already done so. If the problem persists, post back and there are a few more "tricks up my sleeve":g

Not really having a problem with it, just thought i would mention that Areo Theme is not on my computer is all. I am at 16 Bit Color?????:?

I, too, am running 16-bit color as recommended. I did boot it up and run a few songs through several times yesterday after the driver update, and it's really looking promising - I haven't seen the issue yet (knock on wood).

Sorry, wrong quote. That was for songpony.:s

Mark, thanks for this tip. I've added it to our "Vista upgrades" page as a note to possibly avoid this question in the future by those with the 8200.

I assume by "value line" you mean heapy cheapy since it also shares memor versus has its own.