Software Orbiter 2010P1 display problems with Win7

[N_Molson]

Hello, :tiphat:

I recently upgraded my computer with a new hard drive and Win7 (64), and everything works much better than before... except Orbiter

I encounter various display problems, that seem focused around Earth. For example the scenarios starting on Brighton Beach give the expected performance. LEO scenarios tend to give low performance (much lower than before the upgrade). Scenarios that start on KSC give a marmelade of pink and white coloured small rectangles. I have never seen anything like that.

The log is clean. The very same problems happen with the D3D9 client. Other 3D-heavy games work perfectly and give much better performance than they did under WinXP. I tried the "WinXP compatibility mode", without success.

CPU : AMD Athlon II 64 (3 Ghz)
GPU : Nvidia GT240
RAM : 4GB DDR3
HDD : 2 x SATA/II 500GB

 

[jarmonik]

Screen shots might help to diagnose the problem. Must be an installation problem of some kind. The inline DX7 engine won't run well under Win 7. Simply, because DX7 is too old for new OS and it isn't properly supported anymore.

 

[Ripley]

Welcome to the future!
Seriously, I'm sorry to hear of your problems, but I'm sure we'll sort them out.

 

[N_Molson]

OK I've installed the D3Dx redistibutable package from Microsoft's site and now the D3D9 client runs nicely. :thumbup:

However, that D3D7 problem could be a threat to Orbiter's future, the way I see it. External clients are very nice to further improve graphical enjoyement and performance but the basic version should be able to run on any configuration. Is Martins aware of it ?

Now I'm going to try the hi-res texture packs.

 

[jarmonik]

However, that D3D7 problem could be a threat to Orbiter's future, the way I see it. External clients are very nice to further improve graphical enjoyement and performance but the basic version should be able to run on any configuration. Is Martins aware of it ?

Martin is aware of the problem of DX7 under Win 7 and Vista. I installed Win 7 on my computer about two years ago and that is what started the D3D9Client project. Also, Martin has stated years ago that he has no interest to start upgrading the inline engine and that led to a creation of the OVP.

These are also the reasons why I have been trying to stabilize the client and trying keep it compatible with the existing addons instead of implementing 3D terrain or any other fancy stuff at this point of development.

I haven't spoken with Martin but it's possible that the D3D9Client could be distributed with the Orbiter but the GPL license doesn't allow us to do that. It's kinda idiotic that the GPL license has been selected from the first place, since it will only prevent authors and developper from doing their job.

 

[N_Molson]

Yeah, I only hope it won't discourage new people with new computer to try Orbiter. The installation of the D3D9 client isn't complex, but there are still basic things you have to know. And IMHO such an educational tool should be as simple to install as possible.

 

[Ripley]

Martin is aware of the problem of DX7 under Win 7 and Vista...

Doesn't he have a Win7 pc himself?
I seem to remember he wrote something like this some months ago...

 

[asbjos]

If I remember right, he wrote that he was forced to change from XP to 7, and therefore wanted to work more with Win7-compatibility in the future

 

[Hielor]

If you're interested in technical details, see this article from a few years back.