Black/disappearing textures? Some bizarre news ...

[Turbine777 13]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/se...C7BBTkwCjCECjCEBetter get it quick, haha.

[tubbsds1 41]

I got mine from CompUSA. I don't know about others... I am just telling you that I tried everything for a year and a half and my problems are completely gone. The hardware is completely the same. The ONLY thing I changed this time to make it work was converting to XP64.

[MMartinov 48]

Going back to XP from Win7 is not an easy step... At least for me. There must be more stylish solution than going back to stone age :(

[gman! 1]

Going back to XP from Win7 is not an easy step... At least for me. There must be more stylish solution than going back to stone age :(

If gone back to XP too many times on Vista, not going to do the same with Win 7. Read all the posts on the previous page in this thread...Read this as well: http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=271292&hl=John. U

[MMartinov 48]

I tried several times MD-11F+ASA+UT Europe+REX2 textures+MyTraffic 2010 @ EDDF - weather heavy snows, overcast.Situation 1: Bufferpools @ 500,000 - going through Alt-menu gave me completely black screenSituation 2: Bufferpools @ 400,000 - going through Alt-menu gave me corrupted graphics (plane without outer skin)Situation 3: Bufferpools @ 350,000 - going through Alt-menu was flawless. Managed to complete the flight to EHAM. On arrival everything was fine except the terminal buildings were missing.......I don't want to jinx the bufferpools solution, but it looks like it is going somewhere. Anyway I'll try 300,000 later on and will post back the results

[Guest Wedge2566]

I tried the following to resolve the black screen problem:RIGHT CLICK the FSX icon PROPERTIES then the COMPATIBILITY tab under SETTINGS select DISABLE VISUAL THEMES and DISABLE DESKTOP COMPOSITION then click apply.The above solution seems to have worked so far with my black screens - I do not know what the solution does to FSX negatively though.Initially I did try lowering the sound quality to 8000 Hz, but I did notice a drop in sound quality and wanted to try something different. If for some reason I start getting the black screens again I will settle for a drop in sound quality - I hope it does not come to that.I'm running the following:OS: Vista x64MB: ASUS with Onboard Sound - using the SoundMax driver of course.GPU: Nvidia GeForce 260 512MBFSX Gold EditionAddons: GEX, UTX, REX2, PMDG 747, Super 80 Pro, UT2, Air HaulerJust to recap the various solutions:1. Reduce sound settings to 8000 Hz.2. FSX icon - check DISABLE VISUAL THEMES and DISABLE DESKTOP COMPOSITION 3. Use WinXP x64 OS4. Adjust bufferpools anywhere from 500000 to 300000.5. Possibly disable onboard sound and install a new sound card - worked for one forum member, but has not worked for others using extensive testing.6. Adjust RAM settings/speed.7. Use DX10 Preview Mode.

[Turbine777 13]

Best solution so far is converting to XP64. I have tried everything in this post and many others and am finally free of this and other issues thanks to XP64. Now to get one of my lesser comps installed with Win7 so I can enjoy the DX11 titles when they come out, and of course after the next series of Nvidia cards :(

[MMartinov 48]

Best solution so far is converting to XP64. ...........

Dan, I tried the Bufferpools solution - I have mine @ 300,000 - the sim runs smooth and no black screens so far. Well I'm still kinda afraid to Alt+Ent the sim but at least everything runs @ <20FPS now...

[Turbine777 13]

Dan, I tried the Bufferpools solution - I have mine @ 300,000 - the sim runs smooth and no black screens so far. Well I'm still kinda afraid to Alt+Ent the sim but at least everything runs @ <20FPS now...

Nice to hear Martin. I had great results with the bufferpools as far as the textures staying on the plane. I didn't like the trade off that I got though with terrain detail taking the hit it did. Also, I got a couple PM's after I posted about bufferpools a while back, saying it didn't work for them, although my results were great. So I would say that was the best workaround I did, but am still happy I switched, at least for now that is, hehe.

[Guest Wedge2566]

I was able to use prop addon aircraft (Quest Kodiak) extensively day and night flying without having to deal with any texture/black screen issues - note: I did not modify bufferpools, the sound or check mark anything in the FSX icon.So I can only conclude (and this has probably already been mentioned) that you have to have the following setup in order to experience the frustrating black screens/texture issue:1. Windows Vista or Windows 7 (doesnt matter if it is 32 bit or 64 bit version?)2. Using any highly detailed AIRLINE addon aircraft. Exp: PMDG, Captain Sim, Flight1/Ultimate Airlines, Level D, Wilco, ect.3. ASUS Motherboard doesn't matter if you are using onboard sound or a sound card.You would think dev teams for these addons could come up with a solution - since you would think most people have gone to Vista and now from either Vista/XP to Win7. Personaly I came to Vista x64 from XP x32 16 months ago. I really do not like the idea of having to purchase another OS just to run FSX without frustration.Or at least put a warning label on the product stating that the addon is not compatible with ASUS motherboard in conjuction with Vista/Win7.

[Turbine777 13]

To further explain why this might be happening and add some information to Davids post above to why it is only Vista and Win7 users that see this strange behavior, and of course why the sound settings may help.DX9 and below also has Direct Sound support, from what I've learned from other posters Microsoft(in the head) removed this direct sound support in DX10. That is the only thing that makes sense to me why XP doesn't see this issue and probably never will.

[Guest Wedge2566]

Dan,Now that you mentioned direct sound and the Vista issue I did some research about direct sound 3D/HAL and how to get this functionality back into Windows Vista using Creative Labs ALchemy Project (I think someone mentioned this before way earlier in this massive thread I cant remember?)So in theory for those of us who want to try and "fix" the issue without having to buy another OS this would be an option?1. Disable ASUS onboard sound from the BIOS and uninstall the driver - SoundMax.2. Install a Creative Labs/Sound Blaster sound card (Audigy or X-Fi)3. Install the latest hardware driver for the SB sound card for Vista/Win74. Install ALchemy for Audigy or ALchemy for X-Fi depending upon what sound card you have.http://connect.creativelabs.com/alchemy/default.aspx

[Turbine777 13]

Nice thread David, quite informative. I am now using XP64 but would like to hear of any results. It still seams though that the CPU will still be taking the load of the sound but who knows. As they said in the movie war games,,, "I'd pi-- on a spark plug if i thought it'd do any good" ;-)

[cshark172 20]

I used Alchemy a while back and it did succeed in stopping the texture problems in both Vista and Windows 7 (system specs below--notably Asus P6T MB, Nvidia video, and high-end XFI soundcard). Unfortunately, some addons, most notably the A2A piper cub that have extensive custom sounds have problems. The cub would not play any sounds at all when alchemy was enabled. I also saw that some people had problems using alchemy and airports with environment sounds. The fact that it completely solved the textuer issues for me point to the loss of Direct Sound hardware acceleration in Vista and subsequently Windows 7. I made multiple 8+ hour flights with the 747 and MD11 using alchemy. Without alchemy, I can cause texture loss immediately after engine start by just going to the menu and saving the flight. I got sick of swithcing Alchemy on and off depending on what aircraft I am going to fly, so once again, I am back to XP64 and enjoying flying wiht no crash/texture issues. I was impresed with the peformance and smoothness in Windows 7 but would rather have my aircraft stay together through an entire flight.While running 7, I did some checking, and it seems all my aircraft with custom sounds have the texture issue. Even the A2A Cub would loose textures after a few minutes and menu accesses.

Nice thread David, quite informative. I am now using XP64 but would like to hear of any results. It still seams though that the CPU will still be taking the load of the sound but who knows. As they said in the movie war games,,, "I'd pi-- on a spark plug if i thought it'd do any good" ;-)

[Turbine777 13]

I used Alchemy a while back and it did succeed in stopping the texture problems in both Vista and Windows 7 (system specs below--notably Asus P6T MB, Nvidia video, and high-end XFI soundcard). Unfortunately, some addons, most notably the A2A piper cub that have extensive custom sounds have problems. The cub would not play any sounds at all when alchemy was enabled. I also saw that some people had problems using alchemy and airports with environment sounds. The fact that it completely solved the textuer issues for me point to the loss of Direct Sound hardware acceleration in Vista and subsequently Windows 7. I made multiple 8+ hour flights with the 747 and MD11 using alchemy. Without alchemy, I can cause texture loss immediately after engine start by just going to the menu and saving the flight. I got sick of swithcing Alchemy on and off depending on what aircraft I am going to fly, so once again, I am back to XP64 and enjoying flying wiht no crash/texture issues. I was impresed with the peformance and smoothness in Windows 7 but would rather have my aircraft stay together through an entire flight.While running 7, I did some checking, and it seems all my aircraft with custom sounds have the texture issue. Even the A2A Cub would loose textures after a few minutes and menu accesses.

That's great. Well I mean we made a lot of progress today I think for people that have high end cards and are running their sound at 800hz (or whatever their lowest is). I now have the XFI also and using it is my goal and 800hz is not an option as is the case with many. Hopefully we'll get some others to try Alchemy and see what the averages tell us and we'll finally have this issue confirmed.Tim (TFM), if your out there, perhaps you can give this a whirl and also let us know how it works for you. If memory serves me right, you are still running at 800hz.