incompatible with newer versions of win7-64 nvidia drivers

[GoogleCodeExporter]

This is an issue which I posted in 
http://tasvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11499 already.  It still applies to 
r81 and the current nVidia drivers.  nVidia driver versions after 266.58 
(current version is 285.79) cause Hourglass not to be able to start rendering, 
freezing the child process.  For example, Cave Story set to windowed 640×480 
will run, but the video is frozen grey (grey?  might be a hint).  See 
screenshot: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/35695760/0000015E.png

I personally have to use the latest driver because it contains a fix for system 
stability with my video card (EVGA GTX 570 HD).

Original issue reported on code.google.com by lexlexlex@gmail.com on 13 Nov 2011 at 3:28

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Original comment by lexlexlex@gmail.com on 13 Nov 2011 at 3:29

• Changed state: New

[GoogleCodeExporter]

What happens if you set the multithreading to Allow (via the radio button) 
before running?
What about if you allow display changes in the Graphics menu?
Another thing to try is setting Runtime > Message Sync Mode to Unchecked (but 
expect desyncs).

It would be very strange if none of the above fix it, because the game is 
simply running its graphics code normally (you are able to run Cave Story 
outside of Hourglass, right?), and with all three of those options changed, 
there should be no possibility of interference with the rendering.

Original comment by nitsuja-@hotmail.com on 13 Nov 2011 at 7:01

[GoogleCodeExporter]

None of those 3 options fixed it; not even with all 3 enabled.  I just went 
through all the options in the "Runtime" menu and enabled the most permissive 
ones and it still showed the same issue.  Yes, it runs normally without 
Hourglass.  I agree that it's strange.

Original comment by lexlexlex@gmail.com on 14 Nov 2011 at 1:29

[GoogleCodeExporter]

"Wait until sub-process creation", which I hadn't tried until just now, is the 
only option that changes the behavior, and that doesn't even let it run.  With 
that enabled, the Cave Story window doesn't even appear.

Original comment by lexlexlex@gmail.com on 14 Nov 2011 at 1:49

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Another simple test you could do if you haven't already: enable Graphics > 
Surface Memory > System Memory.

And, could you try one more thing?
1: open the Hourglass Visual Studio solution
2: open print.h in the wintasee project source files
3: change "#define ddrawdebugprintf verbosedebugprintf" to "#define 
ddrawdebugprintf debugprintf" on line 11
4: run the wintaser project by hitting F5
5: in Hourglass, set those three settings I suggested before
6: also enable Runtime > Debug Logging > Print Categories > directdraw
7: start running Cave Story from Hourglass (and I assume you're using windowed 
640x480 mode)
8: wait a few dozen frames on the gray screen, then click the stop button in 
Hourglass and close Hourglass
9: attach the debug log as a file here or otherwise send it to me. If you can't 
find the log file, the same text should be in Visual Studio's output window too.

Original comment by nitsuja-@hotmail.com on 14 Nov 2011 at 2:53

[GoogleCodeExporter]

OK!  I did that, using your Cave Story TAS and the latest revision in svn with 
VS2010, and following your instructions verbatim.  Attached is the resulting 
hourglasslog.txt file.

Sorry it took so long for me to get around to this.  I'm now using the latest 
nvidia driver, 296.10, in Windows 7.

I was experiencing a similar issue to this with Rosenkreuzstilette, so I 
figured I'd look into it further.  Rosenkreuzstilette freezes with a blank 
white screen on frame 4, unless I set "Message Sync Mode" to "Unchecked", in 
which case, it freezes on a black screen on frame 17.  I assume this is due to 
the same issue as the Cave Story freeze, but that freezes on frame 0, so it 
might be different.  With both games, I can see the window appear before the 
process freezes.

Original comment by lexlexlex@gmail.com on 18 Mar 2012 at 9:53

Attachments:

• hourglasslog.txt

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I just tested installing nvidia driver version 266.58 and trying both games.  
It caused Hourglass to run Cave Story, but not Rosenkreuzstilette, which shows 
the same white screen.  Hourglass + Rosenkreuzstilette has a different issue, 
then.

Original comment by lexlexlex@gmail.com on 18 Mar 2012 at 11:32