Silicon Graphics Problem -- please help!

jaronbrass · 05-03-2002, 07:01 PM

Hi!

I recently downloaded the demo of Aquarium 1.1 to see how it would run on my system. Unfortunately, I can't even get the program to start.

Here's a breakdown of my configuration. Hopefully, someone can help me out:

I'm running a Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation, Quad PIII Xeon 550MHz processors, 4GB system RAM (with 256MB dedicated to graphics), SGI Cobalt Graphics adapter (on board) and 3DLabs Oxygen VX1 card (32MB PCI for second monitor), screen resolution is 1600x1024 with multi-head support for two Silicon Graphics 1600SW widescreen flat panels, and color depth is 32-bit. OS (on primary partition) is Windows 2000 Professional with all of the latest drivers installed, including DirectX 8.1.

Here's my problem:

Upon starting the software I can hear the bubbles sound in the background and then an error with the title "Bad Video Mode" is displayed with the error text "Attempting to switch to software rasterizer." After the message is displayed, the program quits entirely and displays the Windows 2000 error prompt indicating that an error log is being generated. The program will not start after that.

From what it appears is that the program is attempting to switch my screen's resolution from 1600x1024 to another resolution. Since the graphics cards and flat panels I am using are designed to work together, the only resolution supported is 1600x1024 with 60hz refresh rate. Color depth can be changed.

I'm a bit puzzled by all of this because of the high level of 3D authoring and design I do on this machine. The system is one of the most powerful graphics workstations on the market and I am curious as to why this may be happening.

I'd love to purchase this software, so if anyone has any ideas, please help!

Thanks,

Jaron L. Brass
brass_j@bellsouth.net

feldon34 · 05-03-2002, 07:41 PM

That's such an incredibly customized video subsystem, I'm not sure what it will take to run the Aquarium properly. I think you have a point on trying to change resolution. Sounds like a job for SuperJim.

jaronbrass · 05-03-2002, 08:43 PM

Perhaps the widescreen version? I was reading on SereneScreen.com that this is now available. So I went ahead and bought a keycode. Hopefully the $21.95 will be well spent. Does anyone on this forum use the widescreen version? And if yes, does it support a resolution of 1600x1024? I would think so... but you never know.

Thanks,

Jaron L. Brass
brass_j@bellsouth.net

Jav400 · 05-03-2002, 09:10 PM

Yes, it does support that resolution.

jaronbrass · 05-03-2002, 09:17 PM

Terrific! How long does it generally take to get access to the Widescreen download area? I'm anxious to try this out and see if it works!

Jaron L. Brass
brass_j@bellsouth.net

Jim Sachs · 05-03-2002, 09:54 PM

I wish you had gotten it running before purchasing, because if the regular version won't run, then the widescreen won't either.

If the Aquarium screen size is set to "Desktop Resolution", then it will simply stretch itself to fit whatever your desktop is set to.

There are several possibilites here. If anyone out there is using the Aquarium with an Oxygen card, please speak up. 3DLabs was extremely uncooperative when I approached them at Comdex. They said they only supported OpenGL, and wouldn't let me try the Aquarium out on any of thier machines.

Have you been running any other Direct3D programs successfully?

You mentioned 32-bit. Can you set the Desktop to 16-bit?

jaronbrass · 05-03-2002, 10:01 PM

Jim,

Thanks for the post. I don't mind spending the money... after all, it goes to the development of a great piece of software.

As for the 3dLabs card... their support is just as uncooperative. When I run dxdiag, it says the card supports Direct3D and I have used several applications that support it.

This problem beguiles me and is stretching to the limit of my technical expertise.

And yes -- I can switch to 16-bit color. I will give that a shot now. **Crosses Fingers**

Best,

Jaron L. Brass
brass_j@bellsouth.net

jaronbrass · 05-03-2002, 10:06 PM

Actually,

I take that back... I can switch to 15-bit color???? Very odd.

In any case, I did the switch and the results were not quite as expected -- I can see the fish moving but the colors are all distorted. Averaging about 1 fps...

- Jaron

Jim Sachs · 05-03-2002, 11:08 PM

15-bit --- man, that's one weird card.

If you press "s", you will probably find that the Aquarium is using RGB Emulation, which would explain the extremely low frame rate.

When you ran DXDIAG, did you run the D3D tests (spinning cube, etc)?

feldon34 · 05-04-2002, 12:33 AM

Jaron got it sorted out by turning off all the extraneous 3D hardware acceleration on the card which is outside of what Direct3D already does.

I guess he hasn't had a chance to post his success running the Aquarium on 2 screens yet (It already worked in his laptop, he was just trying to get it to work on the SGI box).

He also found a friend in the chatroom, our resident Silicon Graphics junkie, BeefJerky.

gwiseman · 07-15-2002, 04:54 AM

Aquarium seems to run fine with my Number Nine Revolution IV PCI 32MB graphics card hooked up to my SGI 1600SW (Win 98, AMD K62 450MHz, 64MB RAM, ASUS mobo).

Running at 1600X1024 X16, frame Rate (full size) is about 12fps. Smaller windowed Aquariums, or black border sizes give better frame rates. At 16bit colpur, I am getting approx 23fps (800X600), about 30 fps (640X480) or 37fps (320X240).

Using Hawk Eye control panel to double desktop does not allow the Aquarium to load.

I am using 2.14 drivers downloaded from www.nine.com.

Note: I experienced display corruption with the 'latest' performance driver (download is called 06062218.exe), but have seen no corruption with the Win 95/98 WHQL certified driver (download 06062214.exe).

Hope this is useful for any SGI 1600SW fans.

(I also have an Oxygen VX-1 1600SW which I will only be able to test on a new AGP motherboard (in perhaps one month).

G.

05-03-2002, 07:01 PM	#1
jaronbrass Registered Join Date: May 2002 Location: Aventura, FL, USA Posts: 5	Silicon Graphics Problem -- please help! Hi! I recently downloaded the demo of Aquarium 1.1 to see how it would run on my system. Unfortunately, I can't even get the program to start. Here's a breakdown of my configuration. Hopefully, someone can help me out: I'm running a Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation, Quad PIII Xeon 550MHz processors, 4GB system RAM (with 256MB dedicated to graphics), SGI Cobalt Graphics adapter (on board) and 3DLabs Oxygen VX1 card (32MB PCI for second monitor), screen resolution is 1600x1024 with multi-head support for two Silicon Graphics 1600SW widescreen flat panels, and color depth is 32-bit. OS (on primary partition) is Windows 2000 Professional with all of the latest drivers installed, including DirectX 8.1. Here's my problem: Upon starting the software I can hear the bubbles sound in the background and then an error with the title "Bad Video Mode" is displayed with the error text "Attempting to switch to software rasterizer." After the message is displayed, the program quits entirely and displays the Windows 2000 error prompt indicating that an error log is being generated. The program will not start after that. From what it appears is that the program is attempting to switch my screen's resolution from 1600x1024 to another resolution. Since the graphics cards and flat panels I am using are designed to work together, the only resolution supported is 1600x1024 with 60hz refresh rate. Color depth can be changed. I'm a bit puzzled by all of this because of the high level of 3D authoring and design I do on this machine. The system is one of the most powerful graphics workstations on the market and I am curious as to why this may be happening. I'd love to purchase this software, so if anyone has any ideas, please help! Thanks, Jaron L. Brass brass_j@bellsouth.net

05-03-2002, 07:41 PM	#2
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	That's such an incredibly customized video subsystem, I'm not sure what it will take to run the Aquarium properly. I think you have a point on trying to change resolution. Sounds like a job for SuperJim. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman Last edited by feldon34; 05-03-2002 at 07:46 PM.

05-03-2002, 09:10 PM	#4
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	Yes, it does support that resolution. Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

05-03-2002, 09:54 PM	#6
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,816	I wish you had gotten it running before purchasing, because if the regular version won't run, then the widescreen won't either. If the Aquarium screen size is set to "Desktop Resolution", then it will simply stretch itself to fit whatever your desktop is set to. There are several possibilites here. If anyone out there is using the Aquarium with an Oxygen card, please speak up. 3DLabs was extremely uncooperative when I approached them at Comdex. They said they only supported OpenGL, and wouldn't let me try the Aquarium out on any of thier machines. Have you been running any other Direct3D programs successfully? You mentioned 32-bit. Can you set the Desktop to 16-bit? Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

05-03-2002, 11:08 PM	#9
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,816	15-bit --- man, that's one weird card. If you press "s", you will probably find that the Aquarium is using RGB Emulation, which would explain the extremely low frame rate. When you ran DXDIAG, did you run the D3D tests (spinning cube, etc)? Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

05-03-2002, 08:43 PM	#3
jaronbrass Registered Join Date: May 2002 Location: Aventura, FL, USA Posts: 5	Perhaps the widescreen version? I was reading on SereneScreen.com that this is now available. So I went ahead and bought a keycode. Hopefully the $21.95 will be well spent. Does anyone on this forum use the widescreen version? And if yes, does it support a resolution of 1600x1024? I would think so... but you never know. Thanks, Jaron L. Brass brass_j@bellsouth.net

05-03-2002, 09:17 PM	#5
jaronbrass Registered Join Date: May 2002 Location: Aventura, FL, USA Posts: 5	Terrific! How long does it generally take to get access to the Widescreen download area? I'm anxious to try this out and see if it works! Jaron L. Brass brass_j@bellsouth.net

05-03-2002, 10:01 PM	#7
jaronbrass Registered Join Date: May 2002 Location: Aventura, FL, USA Posts: 5	Jim, Thanks for the post. I don't mind spending the money... after all, it goes to the development of a great piece of software. As for the 3dLabs card... their support is just as uncooperative. When I run dxdiag, it says the card supports Direct3D and I have used several applications that support it. This problem beguiles me and is stretching to the limit of my technical expertise. And yes -- I can switch to 16-bit color. I will give that a shot now. Crosses Fingers Best, Jaron L. Brass brass_j@bellsouth.net

05-03-2002, 10:06 PM	#8
jaronbrass Registered Join Date: May 2002 Location: Aventura, FL, USA Posts: 5	Actually, I take that back... I can switch to 15-bit color???? Very odd. In any case, I did the switch and the results were not quite as expected -- I can see the fish moving but the colors are all distorted. Averaging about 1 fps... - Jaron

05-04-2002, 12:33 AM	#10
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	Jaron got it sorted out by turning off all the extraneous 3D hardware acceleration on the card which is outside of what Direct3D already does. I guess he hasn't had a chance to post his success running the Aquarium on 2 screens yet (It already worked in his laptop, he was just trying to get it to work on the SGI box). He also found a friend in the chatroom, our resident Silicon Graphics junkie, BeefJerky. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman

07-15-2002, 04:54 AM	#11
gwiseman Registered Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1	Aquarium seems to run fine with my Number Nine Revolution IV PCI 32MB graphics card hooked up to my SGI 1600SW (Win 98, AMD K62 450MHz, 64MB RAM, ASUS mobo). Running at 1600X1024 X16, frame Rate (full size) is about 12fps. Smaller windowed Aquariums, or black border sizes give better frame rates. At 16bit colpur, I am getting approx 23fps (800X600), about 30 fps (640X480) or 37fps (320X240). Using Hawk Eye control panel to double desktop does not allow the Aquarium to load. I am using 2.14 drivers downloaded from www.nine.com. Note: I experienced display corruption with the 'latest' performance driver (download is called 06062218.exe), but have seen no corruption with the Win 95/98 WHQL certified driver (download 06062214.exe). Hope this is useful for any SGI 1600SW fans. (I also have an Oxygen VX-1 1600SW which I will only be able to test on a new AGP motherboard (in perhaps one month). G.