Preview Window Disappears

[dbeland50]

Occurs randomly, but I'll be running a show & have my little Preview window resized & positioned in the lower right corner. All goes well, then suddenly, boink...window gone! I have to reset everything, resize, etc. Sometimes lasts, sometimes doesn't. Very strange. Any ideas?

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by dbeland50

Occurs randomly, but I'll be running a show & have my little Preview window resized & positioned in the lower right corner. All goes well, then suddenly, boink...window gone! I have to reset everything, resize, etc. Sometimes lasts, sometimes doesn't. Very strange. Any ideas?

What version are you using? If it is version 5.04 then please post in the thread for problems with that version. We are trying to keep any problems with the latest version together to make it easier to troubleshoot.

[dbeland50]

It has done it with all versions, including the most recent updated version.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by dbeland50

It has done it with all versions, including the most recent updated version.

This is the first I have ever heard of that. Since you are the only one who has reported it makes me think it is something isolated to your computer that is losing the preview location.
I suggest you submit a Support email tacket and see if they can figure out what is going on.

[aznetbear]

nope, preview window has disappeared on me too and i am running hoster 5.04. not sure what causes it to happen but, do know it happens when it's undocked/floating.

when it occurs, i just reset the displays via tools option and rearrange the windows again.

[dbeland50]

I initially thought it might be the laptop because its a 4 yo Dell running XP, 320G HD, but not much RAM, and thought lack of RAM was the culprit, but AZ has much better systems with same probablem. Thanks for acknhowledging that I'm not alone here. BTW,,,not sure how ticket submittal works.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by dbeland50

I initially thought it might be the laptop because its a 4 yo Dell running XP, 320G HD, but not much RAM, and thought lack of RAM was the culprit, but AZ has much better systems with same probablem. Thanks for acknhowledging that I'm not alone here. BTW,,,not sure how ticket submittal works.

Ok, then repost (both of you) in the Hoster 5.04 Bug Reports thread so we have this all in one place.
http://forum.mtu.com/showthread.php?t=12784

Thanks Aznetbear for confirming this.

[admin]

Originally Posted by aznetbear

nope, preview window has disappeared on me too and i am running hoster 5.04. not sure what causes it to happen but, do know it happens when it's undocked/floating.

when it occurs, i just reset the displays via tools option and rearrange the windows again.

We'll look at this in Hoster 5.05. There may be something that broke in all the 5.0x upgrades.

[KenKelley]

Originally Posted by aznetbear

nope, preview window has disappeared on me too and i am running hoster 5.04. not sure what causes it to happen but, do know it happens when it's undocked/floating.

when it occurs, i just reset the displays via tools option and rearrange the windows again.

Although I have not experienced the preview screen disapearing, I have had the both screens covered in black if I did the wrong thing (such as open a new window to multitask). The work around for this was selecting "Always on Top". Have you tried that by chance?

There is another possibility.....

NVidia just released a new driver for your card (GeForce 8600M) on Oct 24 (same driver for my card). The Verde 285.62 Driver

This driver is the only one that shows in the "Other Details" notes, "Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, DirectX 11, and OpenGL". (I think NVidia finally wised up)

I have been running this driver since it was a Beta (August this year), no longer needing to use the "Always on Top" option with the computer running much cooler and enjoying excelent results!

Might be worth a try.

[admin]

Originally Posted by KenKelley

Although I have not experienced the preview screen disapearing, I have had the both screens covered in black if I did the wrong thing (such as open a new window to multitask). The work around for this was selecting "Always on Top". Have you tried that by chance?

There is another possibility.....

NVidia just released a new driver for your card (GeForce 8600M) on Oct 24 (same driver for my card). The Verde 285.62 Driver

This driver is the only one that shows in the "Other Details" notes, "Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, DirectX 11, and OpenGL". (I think NVidia finally wised up)

I have been running this driver since it was a Beta (August this year), no longer needing to use the "Always on Top" option with the computer running much cooler and enjoying excelent results!

Might be worth a try.

MTUSUPPORT tested that new NVidia driver and is still experiencing problems. He and our lead programmer worked on diagnosing this, with some results I'm not told of yet. We hope to have a fix in 5.05, but given all the "bad history" we have experienced with NVidia, I'm not holding my breath.

We believe we must rewrite our code that writes to the display to solve NVidia's problems. We used the Microsoft RECOMMENDED coding method, but today that is out of date. We're trying to identify the true problem first, then design a fix.

[KenKelley]

Originally Posted by admin

MTUSUPPORT tested that new NVidia driver and is still experiencing problems. He and our lead programmer worked on diagnosing this, with some results I'm not told of yet. We hope to have a fix in 5.05, but given all the "bad history" we have experienced with NVidia, I'm not holding my breath.

We believe we must rewrite our code that writes to the display to solve NVidia's problems. We used the Microsoft RECOMMENDED coding method, but today that is out of date. We're trying to identify the true problem first, then design a fix.

I am a little puzzled that the MTU staff is experiencing problems with the new driver.

On my machine, the performance is fantastic! No crashes, no black boxes, no black ovelays, no more having to use "Always On Top" and most importantly... the computer does not get as hot as it use too!

For the problems being experience by the staff I can only think of a couple of things to look at;

1. At any time have the driver(s) been rolled back using the Windows Driver Roll Back feature?

NVidia indicates on their web site that to "Roll Back" to an earlier driver, the current driver must be uninstalled utilizing the Uninstall Programs under Control Panel, then install the earlier driver. The Windows Driver Roll Back feature does not work for NVidia as it leaves corrupted/unneeded files behind.

2. Considering the above, does the staff utilize Iolo's System Mechanic to keep the thier computer cleaned up?

I was experiencing problems with other programs such as just being plain slow to open (weather it was initial boot or applications) and battery running down quickly. I went to Dell Support's web site and was redirected to System Mechanic. Great program! Every thing has been running quick and smooth since.

Hope this helps!

Again, "Thanks Much for Great Products!"

[admin]

We found a fixed a problem that could allow the undocked Preview Window to take on the size and location of the Show Display. This would make it appear as it disappeared.

This is fixed in 5.05, which is now released.