Black/disappearing textures? Some bizarre news ...

[Guest Stroman81]

Hi Guthrie,Last weekend I've been testing with my newly acquired Soundblaster Audigy SE card (which doesn't support the lower setting either) and Creative Alchemy installed (search for Creative Alchemy on google if you don't know what this program does). First of all, with Alchemy installed, I haven't been able to reproduce the graphic corruption issue which this topic is about. Downside was that two other "sound"-addons I use in combination with the MD-11 (Aerosoft PFE and FS2Crew) now have issues. PFE sometimes leaves numbers out of phrases and FS2Crew voices completely disappear after the departure briefing. For the moment, I've lowered my Alchemy settings to 4 buffers, 20 ms duration and 128 max voice count. This has resolved the issues regarding PFE, but not the FS2Crew issue. On sunday, I just wanted to enjoy a full flight again, so I switched to the Captain Sim 757 (on which I also experienced the black screens) in combination with PFE and FDC Live. I experienced no issues at all, both sound-addons and the onboard CS 757 sound work fine and I completed the flight and a replay after landing without black screen. Ofcourse, a lot more testing is required to be able to have a guarantee that with these settings the black screen issue is of the table, but I'm lacking the time for the moment. Next on the list of testflights is a PMDG MD-11 flight with FS2Crew and PFE, lowered Alchemy settings to 4 buffers 15 ms duration 128 max voice count, at dawn and in rainy weather. Won't be able to do this until next weekend though...Hope this helps,Nico :(edit: I must add that I've asked for help in finding drivers that support 16 bit 16kHz sample ratefor Realtek onboard sound or Soundblaster Audigy cards on NGOHQ.com and the Creative forum. But they seem non existant.

[jaybird1nyc 24]

Gentlmen, I am about ready to pack it in..... A month ago I decided once and for all to take the plunge and upgrade to FS-X. I built a brand new machine:Core i7-920Asus PT6V2 mobo6GB DDR3 RAM2 150GB Velociraptor HD'sEVGA 9800 GTXVista Home Ultimate 64 bitI installed the latest (185.85) nVidia drivers and then went ahead and installed FS-X and the Acceleration Pack. I was flying the default aircraft for two weeks with no problems and great frame rates. Then I installed the PMDG 747-X.... and my troubles started.I've been experiencing pretty much every problem listed in the last 6 pages of messages..... loss of textures, missing panels, black screens, distorted screens, problems with "ALT" anything.... For example, I was going through a couple of tutorials I downloaded, everything was fine until I hit the "ALT" key to bring up the FS menu, and all hell broke loose. Happened again 3-4 times. No ability to use the "replay" feature either.Kyle pointed me to this message thread. Since I am using the onboard Soundmax chip, I will attempt to use Jay's solution of lowering the audio quality and report back... I really hate to think that I wasted $80 on this software. The FS-X scenery is awesome but I only ever used FS2004 with PMDG products.Phil

Phil,The 'fix' is still working working for me @ 16 bit, 8000Hz (Telephone Quality). If you're able to select that setting would you let everyone here know if you have success or not.Oh, btw, I had terrible results using the nVidia 185.85s. I have since gone back to the 182.50s, they seem to be the smoothest driver I've tried in my setup.Good Luck!Jay

[Flightsim Phil 0]

Jay:Looks like I'm going to have to do quite a bit of cleanup work... I am using nHancer 2.51 with the 185.85 drivers. BTW, NickN over at SimForums is also really down on the 185 series drivers. I downloaded Driver Sweeper and the 182.50 drivers so I can have a clean install. What other changes are you still using? Are you running FS-X in the XP-compatibility mode? Are you using the nVidia control panel or FS-X to control AF and AA??Thanks,Phil R.

[jaybird1nyc 24]

Jay:Looks like I'm going to have to do quite a bit of cleanup work... I am using nHancer 2.51 with the 185.85 drivers. BTW, NickN over at SimForums is also really down on the 185 series drivers. I downloaded Driver Sweeper and the 182.50 drivers so I can have a clean install. What other changes are you still using? Are you running FS-X in the XP-compatibility mode? Are you using the nVidia control panel or FS-X to control AF and AA??Thanks,Phil R.

Phil,Ok, lemme see... I have the 182.50s set up thru nHancer as per Nick's instructions. I do not run FSX in XP compatibility mode, as that didn't have any effect in fixing the graphic issues we were having. In the CFG I have TBM @90, BufferPools @ 350mb (big YMMV on this one), Disable_Preload=1, I have tried the AffinityMask tweaks but haven't really noticed any difference, I run the FPS Limiter tool @ 30 and the frame lock in FSX @ Unlimited. Almost everything in FSX is set to max except I have Autogen @ Very Dense, and Water @ Low 2x.Let us know how the sound quality fix works out for you.Jay

[usmc3073 3]

Phil,Ok, lemme see... I have the 182.50s set up thru nHancer as per Nick's instructions. I do not run FSX in XP compatibility mode, as that didn't have any effect in fixing the graphic issues we were having. In the CFG I have TBM @90, BufferPools @ 350mb (big YMMV on this one), Disable_Preload=1, I have tried the AffinityMask tweaks but haven't really noticed any difference, I run the FPS Limiter tool @ 30 and the frame lock in FSX @ Unlimited. Almost everything in FSX is set to max except I have Autogen @ Very Dense, and Water @ Low 2x.Let us know how the sound quality fix works out for you.Jay

Since I am unable to lower my audio resolution settings beyond "CD Quality" I have decided to abandon the 747x and fly the PMDG MD-11 exclusively in DX10 preview mode since this is the only way to avoid the dx9 corruption. DX10 mode is a compromise because there are z buffer issues and flickering as well as no progressive taxi. I really enjoy the pmdg products and I wish that I could fly the 747x since it is my favorite add on. But for now this is my only choice...On a side note I really hope that someone takes on the task of devoloping a new flight simulator that utelizes current technology. Since Microsoft is out of the game now it seems that this is a great opportunity for a company to capitalize on this niche.Guthrie Zuehlke

[Bread Hammer 1]

Add me to the list of users with the disappearing plane textures. For me it didn't do this right away. I flew with the MD11 a couple of times and all seemed fine. Tried to do the SWR801: London Heathrow - Z

[Tabs 2,790]

Guys, I'm really sorry you're all having these issues but I think it's been conclusively shown that the issue isn't with our code/product. People have seen it with other aircraft, the sound fix has worked for some people etc - there's just nothing we can do here unfortunately. Believe me, if we knew what the cause was and it was fixable we'd do it.To Gino,A Radeon 9800 Pro is an ancient video card with only 128MB of RAM - I'm pretty sure what you're seeing is starvation of your video memory, not the other issue people are discussing here. It's time for a new PC man... A P4 with 2GB of RAM and a Radeon 9800 is basically below minimums for FSX.

[Flightsim Phil 0]

Phil,Ok, lemme see... I have the 182.50s set up thru nHancer as per Nick's instructions. I do not run FSX in XP compatibility mode, as that didn't have any effect in fixing the graphic issues we were having. In the CFG I have TBM @90, BufferPools @ 350mb (big YMMV on this one), Disable_Preload=1, I have tried the AffinityMask tweaks but haven't really noticed any difference, I run the FPS Limiter tool @ 30 and the frame lock in FSX @ Unlimited. Almost everything in FSX is set to max except I have Autogen @ Very Dense, and Water @ Low 2x.Let us know how the sound quality fix works out for you.Jay

Jay:I uninstalled the 747-X, nHancer 2.5 and the 185.85 drivers, ran Driver Sweeper, installed the 182.50 drivers and flew around a bit in FS-X with some default a/c. Seems like I am back to where are started pre-PMDG... no problems and consistantly great frame rates. Tonight I plan on installing nHancer 2.45 and configuring per NickN, then I will re-install the 747-X. I already lowered my sound quality per your instructions to "telephone" quality. I agree with you.... no real perceived difference in sound quality.BTW, are there any particular settings I need for the nVidia Control Panel or does nHancer pretty much take care of everything?Phil R.

[jaybird1nyc 24]

Jay:I uninstalled the 747-X, nHancer 2.5 and the 185.85 drivers, ran Driver Sweeper, installed the 182.50 drivers and flew around a bit in FS-X with some default a/c. Seems like I am back to where are started pre-PMDG... no problems and consistantly great frame rates. Tonight I plan on installing nHancer 2.45 and configuring per NickN, then I will re-install the 747-X. I already lowered my sound quality per your instructions to "telephone" quality. I agree with you.... no real perceived difference in sound quality.BTW, are there any particular settings I need for the nVidia Control Panel or does nHancer pretty much take care of everything?Phil R.

Phil,I have nHancer set up according to Nick's instructions, it will override the Control Panel settings (leave in-game AA unchecked & Filtering set to Trilinear).I think the 182.50s are the way to go. Only other thing I do is run FSX frame lock @ unlimited and run the FPS_Limiter tool @ 30. You can experiment with and without it, but it does work well in my setup.Hope it all works out for you,Jay

[Flightsim Phil 0]

Phil,I have nHancer set up according to Nick's instructions, it will override the Control Panel settings (leave in-game AA unchecked & Filtering set to Trilinear).I think the 182.50s are the way to go. Only other thing I do is run FSX frame lock @ unlimited and run the FPS_Limiter tool @ 30. You can experiment with and without it, but it does work well in my setup.Hope it all works out for you,Jay

Which version of nHancer are you usign? The website recommends 2.51 for the 182.50 drivers or newer...Phil

[Kobradelta1000 0]

Which version of nHancer are you usign? The website recommends 2.51 for the 182.50 drivers or newer...Phil

Thats true- i am also back to 182.50 drivers-- with the 185.x my sim crashes every 5~10 min. after i switches from vc to a 2d panel... was very strange and nervy for me, the last thing i tried was the driver swap back, and thnx god it was the clue- +so there where no great troubles in the last months by the graphiccard drivers i havent thought on it in the first moment.I used driver cleaner pro for a clean driver installation.The sound prob, i think, will not be solved in the near time, so the probs exist now for a year or so (for me). I have an i920 quad, a asus p6t se board with the famous jmicron controller on it- and a creative xfi xtreme sndcard- i spotted in the inet, that jmicron and the sndcard chip "hates" anyhow thereselves :( , and are the case for so much soundtroubles out there- e.g. sound carckling, disappeared sounds a.s.o. .I had also the probs with the md-11 sounds at the beginn- PMDG helped me out, as they say i should limit the f.p.s. in the sim- this works for the first moment, but it seems the prob is only delayed- now after ~~3 hours of flight (~20 mins. before the fps limit) the sound "can" (not must) begin crackling or disappear.... :( For ex.:http://www.media-addicted.de/asus-p5b-deluxe-probleme-mit-soundblaster-x-fi-und-onboard-sound-soundmax/276/

[Flightsim Phil 0]

Jay:I re-installed 747-X and haven't installed nHancer yet.... I enabled AA & AF in FS-X. After taking off from Heathrow on my way to KLAX, I am halfway across the ocean and I'm happy to report everything is going great!! I've been "alt-tab"-ing every few minutes, changing views (spot, flyby, vc, etc...) and going in and out of the FS menu with absolutely no problems. I have frame rates set to 26 and it is as smooth as can be.... no stuttering, missing textures, corrupt display.... Assuming I can complete the flight with no problems, I will probably attempt to install nHancer, configure it per NickN's instructions, and go at it again. So the big change for me so far has been: 1) go back to the 182.50 drivers 2) reduce sound quality to 16 bit/8000hz 3) configure AF & AA through FS-X, not nHancer. The result so far has been smooth flying, no graphics issues, and no real difference in sound quality (then again I did listen to alot of loud music over the past 20 years and my hearing isn't the best!).I will report if anything changes....Phil R.

[jaybird1nyc 24]

Jay:I re-installed 747-X and haven't installed nHancer yet.... I enabled AA & AF in FS-X. After taking off from Heathrow on my way to KLAX, I am halfway across the ocean and I'm happy to report everything is going great!! I've been "alt-tab"-ing every few minutes, changing views (spot, flyby, vc, etc...) and going in and out of the FS menu with absolutely no problems. I have frame rates set to 26 and it is as smooth as can be.... no stuttering, missing textures, corrupt display.... Assuming I can complete the flight with no problems, I will probably attempt to install nHancer, configure it per NickN's instructions, and go at it again. So the big change for me so far has been: 1) go back to the 182.50 drivers 2) reduce sound quality to 16 bit/8000hz 3) configure AF & AA through FS-X, not nHancer. The result so far has been smooth flying, no graphics issues, and no real difference in sound quality (then again I did listen to alot of loud music over the past 20 years and my hearing isn't the best!).I will report if anything changes....Phil R.

:( :( :( That's awesome news, Phil. I'm so happy to hear that the sound quality fix is working for you. It's still been 100% rock solid for me as well. Greatest thing has been not having to worry about something popping up at exactly the wrong time and ruining an otherwise enjoyable flight. I'm back to having an absolute blast flying my 2 favorite a/c B) I think you can go ahead and install nHancer now, it should not have a negative effect regarding the graphics corruption issue. Ive been running it all along my testing phase and it's been fine, and you will see improved image quality, as long as you set up EXACTLY as NickN recommends. Oh, and don't forget to uncheck AA within FSX and set filtering to Trilinear.Happy Flying,Jay

[Flightsim Phil 0]

:( :( :( That's awesome news, Phil. I'm so happy to hear that the sound quality fix is working for you. It's still been 100% rock solid for me as well. Greatest thing has been not having to worry about something popping up at exactly the wrong time and ruining an otherwise enjoyable flight. I'm back to having an absolute blast flying my 2 favorite a/c B) I think you can go ahead and install nHancer now, it should not have a negative effect regarding the graphics corruption issue. Ive been running it all along my testing phase and it's been fine, and you will see improved image quality, as long as you set up EXACTLY as NickN recommends. Oh, and don't forget to uncheck AA within FSX and set filtering to Trilinear.Happy Flying,Jay

Thanks again Jay for your diligence in coming up with this solution in the first place. If things work out (based on some add'l testing) I plan on buying the MD-11 for FS-X too.... B) BTW, which version of nHancer are you using with the 182.50 drivers??Phil R.

[Bread Hammer 1]

Well not sure why, but without changing anything I was able to fly the training flight without disappearing texture problems... And stranger still, I had REX running this time too.... Sorry Mr. PMDG for my rant, I was (i hope understandably) very frustrated and when I saw other ppl having the same issues... which I'd never had before, so I jumped to conclusions. If I have this same problem crop up again I'll check back. Otherwise, happy flying :(