[Chimera-users] Problem with Chimera under Windows XP

[Peter Girard]

Thanks for the suggestions (from Greg Couch, Elaine Meng, Greg Pintilie). 
It sounds like a graphics driver bug or hardware bug  (I already had the A05 
version of the BIOS).  My graphics card is an 'ATI Mobility Radeon X300' and 
I found a slightly later driver on the Dell website (Sept 2005 rather than 
March 2005); and I've tried it but unfortunately the problem has not gone 
away.  There don't seem to be any later drivers recommended by Dell for the 
Inspiron 9300;  so perhaps I should contact Dell for advice.  I haven't yet 
tried the other suggestions in the 'Graphics Driver Bugs' document, but will 
do so, as it looks likely I will have to live with this problem as well as 
possible.

Thanks again for the help and suggestions.  At least I know what sort of 
problem it is now.
Peter Girard.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Greg Couch" <gregc at cgl.ucsf.edu>
To: "Peter Girard" <pmg7 at lineone.net>
Cc: <chimera-users at cgl.ucsf.edu>
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2007 6:17 PM
Subject: Re: [Chimera-users] Problem with Chimera under Windows XP


> On Sun, 16 Dec 2007, Peter Girard wrote:
>
>> I am running release 2304 of Chimera under Windows XP with service pack 2
>> on a Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop.  The image disappears from the screen for
>> no apparent reason.  With the structures I am currently working on, this
>> has become frequent and often occurs after just a few seconds when I
>> click anywhere in the Chimera window.
>>
>> I have found that if I use Model Panel, I can get the picture back by
>> clicking the 'Shown' box to remove the tick mark, then clicking it again
>> to re-insert the tick.  But the picture soon disappears again.
>> Occasionally, it doesn't disappear completely, but part of it collapses,
>> or spurious long lines appear.
>>
>> I had the same problem with a previous release, 2184, and was
>> disappointed that upgrading didn't fix it.  I can find no mention of
>> anything similar in the documentation or email archive.  Can anyone
>> suggest a possible cause?
>>
>> Peter Girard
>> (University of Nottingham, UK)
>
> I am 99.99999% sure that this is not a chimera bug.  This is most likely a
> graphics driver bug, but it could also be a hardware bug or a BIOS bug. So
> you should first update the graphics driver.  There is also a newer BIOS,
> A05, that "addresses some NMI and blue screen issues seen by some
> customers using intensive 3D applications and games."  And please update
> your chimera as well to 1.2470.
>
>  Good luck,
>
>  Greg Couch
>  UCSF Computer Graphics Lab