Graphic problem any idea?

I have met the system requirements, updated all drivers, uninstalled SL, reinstalled SL, VBO is off and quality is on medium. Nothing has helped. The issue isn't everytime I log in but it's frequent. Once it starts it doesn't want to stop. Suddenly the graphics distort like lightening bolts then begins to flicker in and out sometimes a little sometimes so badly all you can do is log off and walk away. The link below is what some of it looks like. Anyone have any idea what I can do to fix this? I play online games and have no issues with graphics anywhere but SL.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y132/Josettee/Image4.jpg

What graphic card are you using? (And operating system?)

You might start by downloading Hardware Monitor and checking temperatures.
http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

In graphics preferences go to the hardware options and uncheck the box for VBO.

NIVIDIA GeForce GO 7900 GS with XP operating system.

I already unchecked VBO.

I see where Veritable is headed and I agree, it does sound like a heat issue. It would be a good idea to get some sort of hardware monitoring software so you can see if things are getting too hot.........most video cards at the performance level of the x9xx series of nVidia have a threshold of about 105 degrees celius (which is quite high). That threshold is the temp that the card will simply shut down in an attempt to avoid distroying itself. That graphic distortion you are seeing could be the early signs of getting close to that magic temperture. You really don't want to reach the threshold so something to tell you when you are getting close is always something good to have. I use PC Wizard 2008 which does basically the same thing.

Having said all that I believe your computer is a laptop. Laptops are more prone to heat issues than desktops for a variety or reasons most of which stems from their compact size where heat can build up more quickly and/or heat being trapped causing internal devices to get hotter than the same device would in a desktop with more room for air flow. One of the easiest and perhaps best solutions for that heat build up in laptops is a "cool pad" to set the computer on while using any program that is graphically/computationally intensive such as SL. And a can of compressed air blown through all your ventlation holes to blow out as much dust as possible is not a bad thing to do either. Laptops are quite a bit harder to clean than desktops since they are extremely difficult to take apart without running the chance of breaking something.....desktops are not nearly as difficult. A professional cleaning would probably be something to consider doing at least once a year or so.

I've always used a cool pad. I can play WoW and EQ and run up to three clients at the same time without issue. However at times I can't run SL even for a minute then I can run it for multiple days without an issue.

Yes it's a laptop.

What version of SL viewer are you using?

What version video driver are you using? Where's you get the update from?

Then I would definitely get some software to monitor the temps. I think the software Veritable linked is free...........I know PC Wizard is free:

http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

Those other games you can run are not a good comparison to SL. Not only are they DirectX based where SL is OpenGL but they do not have amatuer created graphics like SL does............and the graphics are not preloaded like in those games. They are constantly being send to your client from the servers to be rendered constantly by your graphics card. A ton more work for you card and CPU..........which produces heat.

And as Suezanne asks......what driver are you using and where did you download it from? NVidia site would be the place for the most recent instead of the computer manufacturer site. And when you last updated your driver did you uninstall the older one first? That's a pretty important first step in any driver update......especially a graphics driver. There are third party driver cleaners that many here recommend over a simple uninstallation........but to tell you the truth I just uninstall myself and have never had a problem. At the very least, uninstall first though.

I'm definitely not computer techy. I contacted Dell they connected to my computer uninstalled the driver and updated to the most recent while I watched them.

I had this all done Tuesday because I instantly figured I needed updated drivers.

For the other information you asked if you could tell me how to locate it then I would post it here.

I also just got off the phone with Dell again and they ran a diagnostic on my system and everything checked out fine. Saying that may mean nothing since I don't know enough to question them.

They said my next step would be fore them to reinstall the operating system and if that didn't fix it them possibly replacing the video card but I would have to redo the OS first.

I don't know if this helps but I can camera up into the sky and look at the graphics fine. It just seems to be shooting from my avatars head and goes haywire. So if it were my video card wound't it be all graphics not just my avatar? Also when take a SS typically I get a great picture without the distortion even though I see the distortion like a fourth of July show.

Ok I'm stretching here. On the NVIDIA site if I looked it up right the current driver is.

Version: 191.07 WHQL
Release Date: 2009.10.05
Operating System: Windows XP
Language: English (U.S.)
File Size: 82.4 MB


If I have looked up what they have on my computer it is 6.14.11.119? Does that sound even right it's dated 4/28/07 or am I looking in the wrong spot?

If you are asking how to find your graphics card driver version:

Open your device manager. On the hardware tab click to expand "Display Adapters". Double click on your video card. On "driver" tab in the box that opens you'll find your driver version.

To find what viewer you are using:

Launch SL and on the log in page at the bottom right corner you well see the viewer version.

I don't want to question your Dell techs (afterall they are supposed to be the experts) but what in the world does reinstalling the OS have to do with replacing a video card? Or any other hardware device for that matter? And, in all those tests they performed remotely did they monitor any temps while the GPU was under load? I can't see how anyone can arrive at any conclusion about heat until it's tested under the same load as when the problem presents itself.............such as when you have SL running.

It appears you are using the older driver that seems to be over two years old. The current driver on the website looks like the most recent but I'll go check once I submit this reply and come back and edit to add what I find

This is what I found:

Version: 179.48 BETA
Release Date: 2009.02.11
Operating System: Windows XP
Language: English (U.S.)
File Size: 116 MB

It is a beta driver but most beta drivers work very well.

I'm with you on that but sometimes you are on a phone call where questioning that person is a mute point. I asked and it was obvious he was going down a trouble shooting list not talking to me from knowledge. When i asked about the card over heating he told me a card can't over heat that only the laptop could if a fan went bad. I'm not computer savvy but I am smart enough to know that isn't the case but having a discussion with that tech wasn't going to happen.

I am wondering now if they even put the right update on. SL log in is down atm but I will find the viewer as soon as it comes back up. Feel free to question the Dell tech it won't hurt my feelings in the least.

The one I posted is 10/5 is it the wrong one then?

that's the one I came up with in my search.............I assumed you are using XP 32 bit?

Just searched again.......same driver. I got a question........did you use option 2 and let the nVidia site query your computer to find the driver? That might explain the difference. I can't do that to check since my card is a 9800GTX+ and it will give me the driver for my card instead of your card. Though the same driver would probably work.

editing again to add.....

I searched my card and came up with the same driver you came up with. Looking at the supported products your card is listed:

GeForce 7 series:
7900 GTX, 7500 LE, 7900 GS, 7050 PV / NVIDIA nForce 630a, 7550 LE, 7025 / NVIDIA nForce 630a, 7600 GT, 7950 GX2, 7800 GS, 7050 / NVIDIA nForce 630i, 7300 GT, 7150 / NVIDIA nForce 630i, 7300 GS, 7800 SLI, 7950 GT, 7600 GS, 7300 SE / 7200 GS, 7600 LE, 7900 GT/GTO, 7350 LE, 7050 / NVIDIA nForce 610i, 7100 GS, 7100 / NVIDIA nForce 620i, 7800 GTX, 7300 LE, 7100 / NVIDIA nForce 630i, 7650 GS

It does not state specifically the GO 7900 but I'm not sure it matters much. Worse that will happen is you'll have to uninstall it and try the other. But, that's up to you.

No I am going to go back and let that happen. I'm just so mad atm over them putting that old driver on I could hurt someone. Thank you for your help and all the time you put in I will post more on this as I have questions or figure it out. That one driver directly addresses the openGL so hopefully getting the right driver will help my situation.

Good luck...........but, please, get one of those hardware monitoring programs. They are extremely easy to use and for heat problems indispensible.

I will download the one you suggested. Unfortunately I have to go raid in EQ, much rather work on this issue. I will post later on.

Update:

I let NVIDIA search and it came back with this.

Product Current
Installed Driver Latest Driver
Update
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS 101.19 GeForce Release 179 for Notebooks

Version: 179.48
Release Date: February 11, 2009
Learn More

SL viewer version: 1.23.4 10/14/09 Built with MSVC version 1400

That does appear to be the correct driver. The Dell people are running a diagnostic, but it may be better to run a stress test on your GPU. Download hwmonitor (free program) and start it. Then run Furmark on your laptop. It is an OpenGl stress test, which is as close to running Second Life as a test program will get. Let it run and let us know what the temps hit.

On older laptops, it may help to get a can of compressed air and blow out the cooling fans. They can get jammed up and reduce the amount of air getting through the system, which will cause overheating. I would try that first.

You can try downloading Driver Sweeper and installing it, and then boot into safe mode. Use Driver Sweeper to uninstall your old graphics driver. Then reboot and reinstall the latest version. This may clean up problems that the Windows uninstaller is missing. This is what the Dell techs are trying to do by reinstalling the OS...they will get a clean version of the driver, and hopefully remove any conflicts. But it's not the easiest way to do it.

Driver Sweeper
http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/

Latest Nvidia Driver
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_notebook_winxp_179.48_beta.html

Furmark
http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

HWMonitor
http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

I want to thank each of you for all your help. My problem took a different route. I called Dell back again as a very unhappy customer. They tried to reinstall the driver everyone said was the update. During the install a fatal error occured and when I rebooted it rolled back to the 2007 again. End result they are now replacing the card which hopefully will fix the error.

I plan to still use the monitoring sites both of you suggested and I appreciate the time you have taken.

are they going to come to your house to replace the card? I've heard Dell does that......but I have never owned one so I'm not sure. If they do insist they obtain the current driver from the nVidia website. If they simply install the card, boot up, and let windows find the new hardware you'll wind up with the same driver again. In other words all this grief could be for nothing. And, once everything is done and working you will have to go back in your preferrrences and make sure VBO is diabled.

Hopefully that fatal error was your card finally giving it's last breath after showing the signs that you discribed.

Yes it will be onsite installation by a local vendor. They won't leave till all my games are working properly from my home!

Glad to hear they are replacing it. They will set you up with the older driver version, as Dell essentially stops testing older hardware against newer drivers. But it did sound like the first signs of a failing video card, since you were getting artifacts under high stress.

scary.

Will you have a friend there with you?

Update:

Video card replaced, Dell guy actually put the latest Dell driver on my system since Dell's most updated is back in 2007. They won't support anything beyond that which is crazy but he was very good about making it work.

I really hadn't realized how much the quality had digressed over the years. It's like looking at a new computer.

Thanks to you all that gave me information, ideas and suggestions.