is anyone having issues with windows aero? LFS seems to make it crash and only a reboot brings it back. LFS is the only game on my system that does this too.

Quote from dadge :

is anyone having issues with windows aero? LFS seems to make it crash and only a reboot brings it back. LFS is the only game on my system that does this too.

Not here, although the task bar is visible for a few seconds after launching LFS.

Win7 x64 with Aero on ATI 4850

Quote from dadge :

is anyone having issues with windows aero? LFS seems to make it crash and only a reboot brings it back. LFS is the only game on my system that does this too.

No probs here either, Win 7 x64 Ultimate

Win 7 Ultimate 64bit ( at work ) - no issue
Win 7 Ultimate 32 Bit ( at home ) - no issue

Quote from dadge :

is anyone having issues with windows aero? LFS seems to make it crash and only a reboot brings it back. LFS is the only game on my system that does this too.

W7 x64 here, no probs. But sometimes my aero crashes when my audio player is running and then windows asks for admin rights

i'm on win7 home x64. my gpu is a NVGTX470. it's the only game that i'm having this issue with. i've searched the bugs section of the forum and there isn't much to go on.

Quote from dadge :

i'm on win7 home x64. my gpu is a NVGTX470. it's the only game that i'm having this issue with. i've searched the bugs section of the forum and there isn't much to go on.

Do you run LFS with different priority?
Any fancy desktop plugins/enhancements?
Has this happened since Z28? Have you tested under Z28 even?

There have been loads of Windows updates the last few weeks. I had my first BSOD ever under Win7 yesterday. It seems one of my wheels causes a crash when trying to render ffb. It might be related to recent updates in OS is the point I'm trying to make.

it's only been happening since i upgraded my gpu. on all drivers. it's nothing major and i'm sure it'll sort itself out lol. it's not like a can't play the game at all.

You should be able to bring it back by restarting the Desktop Window Manager. Task Manager -> Processes -> dwm.exe -> End Process
It should restart automatically.

E: And no, I don't experience any issues with it on either of my W7 (x64 Ultimate) machines.

Quote from dadge :

it's only been happening since i upgraded my gpu. on all drivers. it's nothing major and i'm sure it'll sort itself out lol. it's not like a can't play the game at all.

This has been split from the test patch thread, I was about to suggest and report it as well.

Apart from the GPU update, does it do it under Z28? I can't imagine what the test patches do that might affect Aero, but its worth making sure.

Also, does it behave the same windowed and full screen? If it's FS only, run DXDiag to see if there are any problems. A GPU update can be problematical if remnants of the old drivers are hanging around.

Quote from morpha :

You should be able to bring it back by restarting the Desktop Window Manager. Task Manager -> Processes -> dwm.exe -> End Process
It should restart automatically.

E: And no, I don't experience any issues with it on either of my W7 (x64 Ultimate) machines.

dwm.exe didn't restart.

Quote from Squelch :

This has been split from the test patch thread, I was about to suggest and report it as well.

Apart from the GPU update, does it do it under Z28? I can't imagine what the test patches do that might affect Aero, but its worth making sure.

Also, does it behave the same windowed and full screen? If it's FS only, run DXDiag to see if there are any problems. A GPU update can be problematical if remnants of the old drivers are hanging around.

LFS is the only game that causes this problem. i can play richard burn rally with no issues, i can play GTA4 again no problems. from low stress, right through to high stress, no problems. LFS even runs fine. it just crashes aero when i launch it.
even tried running in xp (sp2) mode. same result.

Also not a problem using Windows 7 Enterprise Edition (x64), and Intel HD graphics (Built into the i3-2100T).

Quote from dadge :

... it just crashes aero when i launch it.
even tried running in xp (sp2) mode. same result.

XP doesn't have nor ever had Aero, so shouldn't figure in the equation. You still haven't answered the Z28 query, or the windowed full screen questions. From the test patch standpoint, it's important to find out if this is new, and the windowed/FS should point to driver problems.

Do you get an error when Aero crashes, what does your eventlog say?

Quote from Squelch :

XP doesn't have nor ever had Aero, so shouldn't figure in the equation. You still haven't answered the Z28 query, or the windowed full screen questions. From the test patch standpoint, it's important to find out if this is new, and the windowed/FS should point to driver problems.

Do you get an error when Aero crashes, what does your eventlog say?

LFS was out when XP was out and i was checking if changing compatibility to something that didn't have aero might help resolve the issue.

it happened when i upgraded my gpu. so it's been happening on Z28. after checking the events, on LFS launch i get this info

Quote :

"Log Name: Application
Source: Desktop Window Manager
Date: 27/05/2011 3:59:51 PM
Event ID: 9013
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Dadge-PC
Description:
The Desktop Window Manager was unable to start because composition was disabled by a running application
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Desktop Window Manager" />
<EventID Qualifiers="16384">9013</EventID>
<Level>4</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2011-05-27T14:59:51.000000000Z" />
<EventRecordID>6951</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>Dadge-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
</EventData>
</Event>".

and on exit i get this infor

Quote :

"Log Name: Application
Source: Desktop Window Manager
Date: 27/05/2011 3:59:57 PM
Event ID: 9002
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Dadge-PC
Description:
The Desktop Window Manager was unable to start
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Desktop Window Manager" />
<EventID Qualifiers="16384">9002</EventID>
<Level>4</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2011-05-27T14:59:57.000000000Z" />
<EventRecordID>6952</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>Dadge-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
</EventData>
</Event>".

i'll have to get a reboot to get aero back so i can test in windowed mode. i'll do that later. as i said, it's no biggy. it doesn't affect my performance at all. and i don't mind rebooting my system every now and then.

If the problem appeared after installing the graphics drivers...didn't you thought of reinstalling again to be sure the installation is ok?

Well if the DWM is actually the cause, that explains why it didn't restart

Quote from Whiskey :

If the problem appeared after installing the graphics drivers...didn't you thought of reinstalling again to be sure the installation is ok?

multiple installs of multiple drivers. same outcome. same for windowed mode. it only happens with LFS. the drivers are fine.

Hmm, that report doesn't say what the "running application" is, so is no help whatsoever.

Instead of rebooting, you might try ending explorer.exe from processes tab and restart it via file>run in task manager. This should reload all of the necessary processes attached to the desktop.

Quote from Squelch :

Hmm, that report doesn't say what the "running application" is, so is no help whatsoever.

Instead of rebooting, you might try ending explorer.exe from processes tab and restart it via file>run in task manager. This should reload all of the necessary processes attached to the desktop.

i think it's safe to assume the the running program is LFS. restarting explorer.exe didn't help either.

Quote from dadge :

i think it's safe to assume the the running program is LFS. restarting explorer.exe didn't help either.

Assumptions are always dangerous when windows is involved.

I checked my eventlog and found similar entries. Double entries with the same timestamp reading


So your assumption may be correct after all. These entries are informational only, so do not indicate any particular problem.

Have you tried the Aero wizard found in control panel? It should highlight any problems, but not always.

This blog entry describes why the event is being logged, but the question is why your system is not recovering the desktop composition after LFS is closed.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/kamved ... ve/2006/04/02/566788.aspx

Do you run LFS in 16bit colour? - Options>Screen

The blog says that applications that use the front buffer via directDraw will trigger this event, and goes onto explain how to fix it in iTunes. If the directDraw method cannot be used, then GDI is chosen. This should happen at the graphics driver level, and I really do suspect you have a bad/cross install of your drivers.

Do you have a restore point prior to installing your new GPU? If so, it might be worth rolling back, and making sure you remove the old drivers completely. I think there are tools for this, check 3DGuru pages and look for driver sweeper

One last thought - LFS is a DirectX8 game. How about going a grabbing DirectX 9c and installing, Its just a stab in the dark, but it does provide a certain backwards compatibility that DirectX10 lacks. It won't replace DX10 but compliments it. Do you have any older titles that were meant for DX8? You may find the same issue happens with them.

lol. i'm running dx11. rbr is dx8 i think.

Quote from dadge :

lol. i'm running dx11. rbr is dx8 i think.

Lol, I meant 10 upwards ya nerk

RBR is DX9 it says on the box.

Any title written for 9 will run on 10 upwards, but there is a compatibility problem going down. 9c was/is the version that is most stable, and runs everything before without problems.

[edit]
Anyway it is just a stab in the dark and your problem is more likely bad drivers
[/edit]

DX10 is not backwards compatable (for code simplification/performance reasons). DX9 and earlier games run on a seperate DX9 API.


FWIW, I've never had aero get disabled by LFS. I generally only get that happen with old DirectX overlay methods - I don't actually remember any games disabling aero, only videos/media players.

However, I have had the occasional graphics driver crash in the past with other games which will knock out aero in the process.
The problem could easily be a broken driver which doesn't play nice with LFS for whatever reason - I have heard a few cases of the newer nVidia cards not being too stable with older games, this may or may not be related.


Do you use any overlays? (Steam/Xfire/gauges etc) I know Steam's isn't (or wasn't) too stable with LFS.


Has anyone else got this issue? If so, post full OS, graphics specs and driver version(s) - might help narrow down the cause.

Quote from dadge :

lol. i'm running dx11. rbr is dx8 i think.

Hi, one question....to your grafik settings for the NVGF....do you use "Supersampling"?
Open NV Sys Settings and look at 3D settings...

I had this too...but only if i use "Supersampling" if i reduce it to "Multisampling" every thing was good....

...hope it helps...