10 replies to this topic

[jbayless]

Hello,

This is new to me:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/gha...lidworks_07.png

Things were working as usual (COSMOS and 1:30 crashing aside), but just recently, I've been getting this odd behaviour.

Essentially, at certain times (when I move my mouse in front of an object, for example), the screen becomes covered in this white noise. Also, as you can see, some numbers and lines leave trails as I move them around the screen.

I'm using a driver and video card combination that has been certified by SolidWorks, on XP 32-bit, running SolidWorks 2007.

Has anyone else seen this happen before?

Oh, and now the "Use Software OpenGL" box is greyed out.

Thanks,

Jacob

[jbayless]

Oops, sorry. Ignore this reply...

[jbayless]

This problem still hasn't been fixed. It's really impairing my ability to use SolidWorks.

I've made sure that my graphics drivers are up-to-date and that they meet SolidWorks' specifications...

Attached Files

•  GraphicsProblem.JPG   222.23K   3 downloads

[Annika Nauheimer]

Hey  Jbayless,

You are using a Laptop, r u? Could you please post your Computer details, graphiccard sytstem etc?
This really looks like a graphiccard issue, you wrote you can't use open GL? Have you tried to
turn down hardware acceleration?

1. Right mouse button select in the PC's desktop
2. Select properties
3. Select the settings tab
4. Select the advance button
5. Select the troubleshooting tab
6. Take the hardware acceleration tab and slide it to none
7. Then select the apply tab
8. Try to launch SolidWorks

Then retest the problem. Does it still occur?

Annika

[jbayless]

Hey Annika,

Have I ever thanked you,  by the way? I really should. You always seem to be the one here who tries to find solutions for the rest of us!

Sure, here's my details...
Lenovo ThinkPad W500 406236U
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3
Graphics Card: ATI MobilityFireGL V5700
Main driver: ati2dvag.dll
Version: 6.14.0010.6891

I think I can use OpenGL, or at least I should be able to. The ATI FireGL card is supposed to be an OpenGL card; at least that's what I paid for! But the option "Use Software OpenGL" in Solidworks is greyed out. So does that mean that I can't use software openGL?

I haven't tried turning down hardware acceleration. In fact, I didn't even know I could do that

I'll try that out on various settings and let you know if I have any success.

As a possibly related issue, I frequently run into a "Blue Screen Of Death" crash while running SolidWorks; according to the error report, my driver ati2dvag.dll is getting stuck in an infinite loop. I have tried both the driver version on the SolidWorks website (certified for my graphics card) and the most recent version from Lenovo; they both encounter this problem. I don't think it's SolidWorks' fault; ATI seems to be to blame... But I don't know how they ever got their driver certified.

Anyway, I don't know if it's the same problem. But I really hope that they have the same solution!

Thanks Annika,

Jacob

[jbayless]

I set hardware acceleration to "none", and that bug is gone. Also, I haven't experienced any crashes yet.

It's a little bit laggy though, and the texture quality is poor, especially for transparent parts. But even this is a vast improvement over what I had before.

I hope I will soon be able to run it with hardware acceleration! But at least for now, you may have saved me a good deal of pain already.

Let me know if there's a "next step."

[Annika Nauheimer]

Hi Jacob,

hehe thanks for the nice words!!
The first thing to be aware of is that the status of the "Use Software OpenGL" option can only be changed when NO files are open within SolidWorks.

If the "Use Software OpenGL" option is checked and grayed out such that unchecking the option is not possible, then that condition is usually caused by one of two situations.

1.  If the Hardware Acceleration slider that is located in the Windows Display Properties under Settings>Advanced>Troubleshooting is set to a position less than Full, then that can cause the "Use Software OpenGL" to be forced on in SolidWorks.   Setting the slider to the Full position when SolidWorks is closed and then reopening SolidWorks will cause "Use Software OpenGL" setting to be accessible if the Hardware Acceleration slider was causing the issue.

2.  If the Hardware Acceleration slider is not the cause of the "Use Software OpenGL" being unchangeable, then that usually indicates the graphics card does not support hardware acceleration, or does not support it for the current combination of resolution, number of colors, refresh rate, and so forth.

Its strange I checked the your driver again and I think you should use one of them:
Lenovo/ ThinkPad W500/ ATI Mobility FireGL V5700
WinXP
8.543
2007 
or
WinXP
8.523
2007 

Could you please double check?
http://www.solidworks.com/sw/videocardtesting.html

Annika

[jbayless]

Ok, I must have had a file open... I can check and uncheck "Use Software OpenGL" now just fine!

I've tried every version of the drivers, including the ones on the Solidworks site, and the most recent one from Lenovo released just a few days ago (Aug. 17). So far I've had no more "Blue Screens of Death", but the graphical bug is still there. It only goes away if I turn hardware acceleration down to the lowest notch, or to one notch above that.

Also, the main reason for the discrepancy between the driver version I posted (6.14xx) and the ones you referred to (8.5xx) is because 8.5xx is the "packaging version" and 6.14xx is the version of the individual driver files. Sorry for the confusion!

[Annika Nauheimer]

Hi Jacob,

This card and driver should support Hardware OpenGL and be supported for use with SolidWorks.
It's difficult to know what is causing this problem. It could be that another application or update has triggered the problem…
If the hardware acceleration is not set to zero and you have tried different combinations of resolution, number of colors, refresh rate,
etc then it would certainly be worth trying to remove and reinstall the driver.
Please also try renaming the following registry key to SolidWorks_old:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Solidworks
If all this does not really help I think you should try a clean reinstall. I couldn't find any records
that there are issues like this with your graphic card. If the issue still exists after reinstalling
the software and the driver (use the certified one!) I would suggest to contact the SolidWorks
student support for further investigations.
Sorry I couldn't help more….

Annika

[jbayless]

Hi Annika,

I'm going to contact Lenovo about this issue. For the meantime, thanks to you I can at least get my work done. I owe you a lot!

I'll try reinstalling the drivers and changing the registry keys. If Lenovo has no idea, then I'll do a clean reinstall of Solidworks. But to be honest, I think that Solidworks is not the issue - it really seems to be the graphics drivers.

Thanks for trying your best! I really appreciate the help.

Jacob

[jbayless]

Hey,

Just thought I'd say that I updated my graphics drivers to the most recent version (6.14.0010.7060) and now everything seems to work PROPERLY.



Jacob