TGTP5 crashes when opening navigation window

Started by stuck, August 14, 2008, 08:27:17 AM

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stuck

I won't be surprised if this is not really a bug just the limitaions of my old PC:
P4, 1.6Ghz, 640Mb RAM, Win 2Ksp4
but if open TG2TP5free1991 and click on the Navigation window toggle in the top right of the preview, TG dies instantly.  Or if I try the other way, via the View menu, I get the navigation window displayed and then it dies.

It makes no difference if I wait for the preview of the default empty terrain to finish rendering or not.

This is only my second foray into TG2.  I last dabbled with TG2TP1free18640 but soon gave up because even a very simple render  preview took 30mins to complete.

And before anyone says upgrade your PC, that's not an option.

stuck

normhol

I have the same problem. Sometimes I get as far as adding colour to a surface layer [not using the nav bar to make the scene] before it crashes. I sent a message to Planetside support almost two weeks ago, but have not had a reply from them.
Norm.

Oshyan

Stuck, what is your graphics card? Do you have the latest drivers? Can you give any more information on the crash such as error messages?

Norm, where did you send your support request?

- Oshyan

normhol

Hi Oshyan,
Yes, I updated my graphic card. I sent the crash details to Planetside support on the advice of "John" at Planetside.
It is strange that after my visitors had gone last night, I decided to try again. Lo and behold, I created a scene, zooming etc just with the mouse, right through to rendering 600X800..6hrs 41min.[without touching the navigation wheel] and everything was great.
I started a new project and decided to try the nav wheel again....wrong move....crash. I tried several times after that with the same result.
I got two messages, the last one something about debugging[?]
If an error log is being made, where is it filed?
Hope you can help.
Norm.

normhol

Further to above, the latest crashes were with and without using the nav wheel. I couldn't even get as far as adding anything to terrain or shaders.

Oshyan

Normhol, what operating system are you using? You can find crash logs by referencing this FAQ: http://www.vfxpedia.com/index.php?title=FAQ/Dr.Watson_log

- Oshyan

normhol

Oshyan,
Thanks for replying. I look forward to your looking into the problem with Windows 2000 pro pack4 system. I hope you can find the solution and make an old man happy..LOL.
Norm.


stuck

Oshyan,

My apologies for the delay in replying, been on holiday.

The PC is question actually the PC on my desk at work, which is why I mentioned in my original post that upgrading is not an option.  Also, I can only tinker with TG on this machine while I munch my lunch so I'm not going to fret over not being able to use it for TG2 but if it helps...

It is a dual monitor set up.  The Device Manager reports the main video card as a "16Mb ATI Rage 128 Ultra" when the second on is a "Nvidia Riva TNT2 Model 64".

stuck

Oshyan

I have tested in Windows 2000 successful and was not able to duplicate any crashes. In the case of Stuck's problems I am wondering if the dual graphics card setup might be part of the problem. That's an unusual setup and it may be causing problems with rendering TG2's UI. They're both also quite old cards so the drivers may not be up to par for modern OpenGL support. I will do a little more testing with Windows 2000 but I think it may simply be that these old machines are below the reasonable minimum spec for TG2 at this point.

- Oshyan

stuck

Dual monitor unusual?  I knew there was something odd about where I work  ;D Many of us already work with two monitors and we are gradually moving everyone over to dual monitors.  Must be odd at home too because, although limited desk space prevents me doing it on a daily basis, even my domestic ancient Win98 box has two graphics cards and can run two monitors.  Or do you just mean the particular mix of an ATI (AGP) card and Nvidia (PCI) card is an odd combination?

I think you are correct about the graphics being below spec.  As I mentioned earlier, my first forray with TG2 was with TG2TP1Free18640.  That ran on this PC (with its dual monitors) but was very slow.  TP5 has obviously added added an extra load to the graphics with the Navigation window so it is logical to conclude TP5 is beyond the reach of this system.

stuck

Oshyan

Dual monitor setups are not unusual, but dual *graphics card* setups are because for the past several years the majority of graphics cards have included 2 video out ports and have gracefully handled multi-monitor output. Historically with 2 graphics cards there tended to be more configuration issues as there were potential IRC conflicts, driver conflicts, etc. having to cards in the same system doing the same tasks. The single card, dual output scenario tends to work much smoother.

Anyway it may not be related, but something to think about. I doubt using TG2 on such a system would be pleasant even if it did run so it's hopefully not too much of a loss. ;)

- Oshyan