Experiencing black outs

[Scribe]

I've been downloading and enjoying presentations, both from this forum and from Beechbrook Cottage, for a couple of years now. I am really impressed with the quality of shows I have seen.

Out of all the many shows I have seen, I have experienced very few problems. Most of the time, it is something relatively minor, like stuttering in the audio portion, etc. I have always assumed these were flaws that occurred in making the presentation, rather than something my computer was introducing.

However, I have just recently started experiencing a major problem in playing back a number of shows, and I have no idea what is causing this problem, let alone what the solution would be. I am hoping some experienced member of this forum, or several of you, might have some insight into this dilemma, along with a fix.

Simply put, the problem occurs when I start the presentation. The music starts, and plays, fine, but my screen immediately goes totally black and remains that way. Further confusing this issue is the fact that this is happening to some of the recent presentations, but not all of them.

In case it might help, here is a list of the recent presentations that give me only a black screen:

Colorado Through My Lens

Roma, black and white

Vger2

Towns of Spain

The Doll's House, Beta 3 (this was the first one in which I discovered the problem.)

Another new one, "Florida Pampered Plumes" plays just fine. I have also gone back and played several of the older presentations I have saved, and they work fine as they always did.

Like I mentioned, some of these (above) shows were downloaded from this forum, and some from Beechbrook Cottage. While I cannot be sure, I believe that all of those from Beechbrook were created using some version of PTE.

Any ideas as to what may be going on? Any suggestions?

Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to read this plea for help, and responds.

Peter (Scribe)

[Ken Cox]

Peter your video card is quite likely not big enough for beta 5 shows

do a forum search for video card

see

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4327

and download Igors test shows etc

ken

[Lin Evans]

I've been downloading and enjoying presentations, both from this forum and from Beechbrook Cottage, for a couple of years now. I am really impressed with the quality of shows I have seen.

Out of all the many shows I have seen, I have experienced very few problems. Most of the time, it is something relatively minor, like stuttering in the audio portion, etc. I have always assumed these were flaws that occurred in making the presentation, rather than something my computer was introducing.

However, I have just recently started experiencing a major problem in playing back a number of shows, and I have no idea what is causing this problem, let alone what the solution would be. I am hoping some experienced member of this forum, or several of you, might have some insight into this dilemma, along with a fix.

Simply put, the problem occurs when I start the presentation. The music starts, and plays, fine, but my screen immediately goes totally black and remains that way. Further confusing this issue is the fact that this is happening to some of the recent presentations, but not all of them.

In case it might help, here is a list of the recent presentations that give me only a black screen:

Colorado Through My Lens

Roma, black and white

Vger2

Towns of Spain

The Doll's House, Beta 3 (this was the first one in which I discovered the problem.)

Another new one, "Florida Pampered Plumes" plays just fine. I have also gone back and played several of the older presentations I have saved, and they work fine as they always did.

Like I mentioned, some of these (above) shows were downloaded from this forum, and some from Beechbrook Cottage. While I cannot be sure, I believe that all of those from Beechbrook were created using some version of PTE.

Any ideas as to what may be going on? Any suggestions?

Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to read this plea for help, and responds.

Peter (Scribe)

Hi Peter,

There is a very simple test - follow the link below and download these two puzzle files. If the low resolution one "puzzlesmallRAM.exe" plays fine and the other causes a black screen, you can pretty well be assured that you need a different video card. Check to see which iteration of DirectX you have installed also by clicking on RUN then enter dxdiag and press O.K. -

Here's the thread with the links to the high and low RAM puzzle....

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4604

Lin

[Ken Cox]

Peter

couple more to help you sort out things

see

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=wood+f...=cr%3DcountryCA

and

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4325

ken

[Scribe]

Thank you to you both, Lin and Ken. Unfortunately, your suggestions did not lead me to understand what might be causing the problem. However, I did apparently discover a solution. Sadly, this only deepens the mystery as to the real cause of the problem, but at least I can now watch the presentations.

Some specific replies to you both:

Ken: I suspect the first of the two links you supplied in your second response was in error (a typo, maybe). That link takes me to a Google search results page regarding "wood furnaces."

As to the second link, I tried the DirectX diagnostic tool and it did not indicate any errors.

At first, I thought you both (Lin and Ken) might be right - that this could be arising because I did not have enough RAM. However, the more I thought about it I realised, just as a friend pointed out to me, that I had a gig of RAM and that should have been enough. I was not running any other applications when I tried to run the slide shows.

In any event, Lin, I decided to try your RAM test. The small one ran fine and, as you expected, the large one only resulted in a black screen.

However............along the way, I discovered quite by accident a way to see the video portion of the presentations, including your large "puzzle" test presentation.

I would click on the presentation, as I always do. And, as it has been doing of late, the show would start and I would hear the music begin but the screen would go totally black. Quite by accident, I clicked the left mouse button when the black screen had appeared. Lo and behold, the video image now appeared!

So now, when I want to play one of these newer presentations (mind you, this is not necessary for all of the new ones I have viewed), I click to start it and then click again to make the black screen go away and the images appear.

While this solves my immediate problem of trying to view these shows, I still have no clue as to why this is happening. I gather, by the lack of any similar entries in this forum, that I am the only one who is experiencing this problem. The fear that I am being singled out by the computer gods aside, I am simply perplexed as to why this glitch is showing up now.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know what the results were based on your responses to my query. Thank you, again, for your help in this matter.

Peter

[Lin Evans]

Thank you to you both, Lin and Ken. Unfortunately, your suggestions did not lead me to understand what might be causing the problem. However, I did apparently discover a solution. Sadly, this only deepens the mystery as to the real cause of the problem, but at least I can now watch the presentations.

Some specific replies to you both:

Ken: I suspect the first of the two links you supplied in your second response was in error (a typo, maybe). That link takes me to a Google search results page regarding "wood furnaces."

As to the second link, I tried the DirectX diagnostic tool and it did not indicate any errors.

At first, I thought you both (Lin and Ken) might be right - that this could be arising because I did not have enough RAM. However, the more I thought about it I realised, just as a friend pointed out to me, that I had a gig of RAM and that should have been enough. I was not running any other applications when I tried to run the slide shows.

In any event, Lin, I decided to try your RAM test. The small one ran fine and, as you expected, the large one only resulted in a black screen.

However............along the way, I discovered quite by accident a way to see the video portion of the presentations, including your large "puzzle" test presentation.

I would click on the presentation, as I always do. And, as it has been doing of late, the show would start and I would hear the music begin but the screen would go totally black. Quite by accident, I clicked the left mouse button when the black screen had appeared. Lo and behold, the video image now appeared!

So now, when I want to play one of these newer presentations (mind you, this is not necessary for all of the new ones I have viewed), I click to start it and then click again to make the black screen go away and the images appear.

While this solves my immediate problem of trying to view these shows, I still have no clue as to why this is happening. I gather, by the lack of any similar entries in this forum, that I am the only one who is experiencing this problem. The fear that I am being singled out by the computer gods aside, I am simply perplexed as to why this glitch is showing up now.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know what the results were based on your responses to my query. Thank you, again, for your help in this matter.

Peter

Hi Peter,

Some slight misunderstanding - the issue at question isn't the amount of system RAM, but rather the amount of RAM on the video card itself. What the high RAM use puzzle tests is the video card not the system. The new version of P2E (version 5 beta 3) depends almost entirely on video card performance rather than the user RAM in the system.

Ken's suggestion to test the DirectX is designed to see if the version you are using is the latest up-to date version available. Could you tell us which version of Direct X the test revealed? So you don't need to look it up again - just click on RUN then type in - dxdiag - and click on O.K. When the diagnostic runs you will see a version number (Direct X version ........ ) which is what we need to know. The latest version I believe is 9.0c . Anything smaller than 8 is probably not going to work properly and "could" explain the problems. Of course the important thing is that you can now see the shows, but if you run the "dxdiag" again, get the version number then clilck on the "Display" tab it will tell you the brand Video card and the amount of video RAM it has. This information could be also vital to figuring this out.

Best regards,

Lin

[Ken Cox]

hopefully this is the right one -- guess the old clipboard did not flush the wood furnace

this thread might clear things up

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4298

ken

[Scribe]

Hi Lin,

Yes, I realized after I had sent my previous message that I had misunderstood what RAM was being referred to.

I did check the DirectX version and it is up to date - version 9.0c

The diagnostic tool tells me that I have an NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64 video card, with integrated RAMDAC, and 32 MB memory.

[Ken Cox]

peter

i have 64 mb on my ati card and it struggles to play Lin's big tester

and on my 2nd system with only 16mb vid card i can not play igor's test demos

so

you are going to be limited to playing standard shows successfully unless you update

ken

[Lin Evans]

Hi Lin,

Yes, I realized after I had sent my previous message that I had misunderstood what RAM was being referred to.

I did check the DirectX version and it is up to date - version 9.0c

The diagnostic tool tells me that I have an NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64 video card, with integrated RAMDAC, and 32 MB memory.

Ahh, that pretty well explains part of the issue. The 32 meg RAM on the video card is marginal at best and though some slideshows will work well ones with high RAM requirements will not. If you plan to use the pan, zoom, rotate features along with several objects on some slides, it might be best to think seriously about upgrading the card. There are a number of good video cards available, some of the older ones (not necessarily less-powerful) such as the ATI RADEON 9800 Pro card (the one I use) can sometimes be found on the web for as low as $100 (original cost well over $500 U.S. Dollars) and these are dynamite video cards which can run about anything.

Others could perhaps make suggestions here as well......

Best regards,

Lin

[Scribe]

Thank you, Lin and Ken.

Both of you have been very responsive and helpful.

I have been realizing for some time now that my whole system was in need of a serious upgrade. This latest experience further affirms my decision to do just that. It will take a little while to make it happen, but at least I might be able to enjoy some the newer slide shows in the meantime. Eventually, I hope to be able to contribute some of my own.

Thank you again, to you both.

Namas-te,

Peter