A lot of you have reported sometimes getting a black screen, when you change from windowed to full screen (using SHIFT+F4 etc). It's possibly more frequent in U23 but it was reported in U20 as well. I need to fix this, so we need to try and narrow down the causes of it. I can't reproduce this bug on my computer. I was able to do so with an earlier test patch, and I can reproduce that by changing the program to initialise DirectInput before Direct3D. However, that is not the case in the recent test patches (U20 to U23 at least) so I cannot reproduce the black screen.

Some have reported that it can come up after using ALT+TAB, before they use SHIFT+F4. But others have said they never used ALT+TAB at all.

There is a possibility that it's related to the HANDLEEXISTS error that comers up sometimes now. Again, we don't know any way to reproduce either of these reliably. There seems to be some kinf of conflict between Direct3D (graphics interface) and DirectInput (game controller interface).

If you know a sequence of events that can cause either of these bugs, or think you can see some kind of pattern, please report it here. Here are some questions you may like to answer in your report.

- What graphics card (and drivers) do you have?
- Was LFS in full screen when you started up?
- Did you use ALT+TAB before you recreated the bug?
- Did you ever get this before the U test patches?
- Can you reproduce it every time?
- Any other info that seems relevant...

[ EDIT : See below for a reliable way to get the bug http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?p=244576#post244576 ]

- What graphics card (and drivers) do you have?
6600GT, ForceWare 91.47

- Was LFS in full screen when you started up?
Yes, but it also works when starting up in windowed mode

- Did you use ALT+TAB before you recreated the bug?
No

- Did you ever get this before the U test patches?
No, but I wasn't "trying" to get it with the old test patches, either

- Can you reproduce it every time?
Yes

- Any other info that seems relevant..
I don't experience the black screen bug during normal LFS use at all, I've just found a way to easily recreate it on my machine. It's actually nothing out of the ordinary, just hit Shift-F4 really fast. I have no problems when I wait till I see the image again before switching, but when I just hit Shift-F4 like a madman it stays black at some point everytime.

- What graphics card (and drivers) do you have?
ATi RADEON x800 GTO, Catalist 6.9

- Was LFS in full screen when you started up?
Yes

- Did you use ALT+TAB before you recreated the bug?
No

- Did you ever get this before the U test patches?
No

- Can you reproduce it every time?
Yes and no.

- Any other info that seems relevant...
Start the game in full screen, go to multiplayer then set "Window while connecting" to YES. Click Display list of game and join any server. Sometimes its a black screen, sometimes its fine. Also, i could click things while on the black screen (not sure if thats been said about before) and i was able to exit to the menu (heard the BGM)

- What graphics card (and drivers) do you have?
- nVidia 6600 GT, ForceWare 91.31
- Was LFS in full screen when you started up?
- Sometimes full screen, sometimes window mod.
- Did you use ALT+TAB before you recreated the bug?
- no
- Did you ever get this before the U test patches?
- no
- Can you reproduce it every time?
- no
- Any other info that seems relevant...
- I see this "bug" only once (in multiplayer).

Quote :

- What graphics card (and drivers) do you have?
- Was LFS in full screen when you started up?
- Did you use ALT+TAB before you recreated the bug?
- Did you ever get this before the U test patches?
- Can you reproduce it every time?
- Any other info that seems relevant...

- Radeon X800GTO (Catalyst 6.8 based DHzer0point 0.68 drivers)
- Yes
- No
- No
- No
- I have found a way to replicate the bug on my machine:

1) Start LFS in FS
2) Make sure the 'Window while connecting' option is set to 'Yes'
3) Join a host and wait till all the loading business is complete
4) Press shift-f4 to go to windowed mode
5) Press shift-f4 again to go back to FS
6) Bug occurs

Additionally: Bug occurs only when LFS is started in FS and 'Window while connecting' option is set to 'Yes'. No other combination of starting with FS/windowed or Yes/no causes the bug to occur.

Tested only with demo hosts, LFS Patch U23

Quote from NotAnIllusion :

- I have found a way to replicate the bug on my machine:

1) Start LFS in FS
2) Make sure the 'Window while connecting' option is set to 'Yes'
3) Join a host and wait till all the loading business is complete
4) Press shift-f4 (few times) to go to windowed mode
5) Press shift-f4 again (few times) to go back to FS
6) Bug occurs

Additionally: Bug occurs only when LFS is started in FS and 'Window while connecting' option is set to 'Yes'. No other combination of starting with FS/windowed or Yes/no causes the bug to occur.

Tested only with demo hosts, LFS Patch U23

Yeah, this way replicate the bug and on my PC.
I am tested on S2 host...(host version U).

What graphics card (and drivers) do you have?
Gforce 5600 Pro (I guess)

- Was LFS in full screen when you started up?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
- Did you use ALT+TAB before you recreated the bug?
No.

- Did you ever get this before the U test patches?
No, not that I remember. I guess the first time was since U20... It also happened in U22 (not tested U23 yet)
- Can you reproduce it every time?
No...

- Any other info that seems relevant..
From full to small screen, and small to full screen I sometimes get this bug...
I guess it only shows up when there are more programs active here...

Edited = Red

Yes! I can reproduce it that way too!

I can simplify the reproduction method slightly :

1) Start LFS (windowed or full screen, doesn't matter)
2) If you started windowed, go to full screen
3) Window while connecting : set to ON
4) Click for a list of games (LFS goes to window - now you can stop the list)
5) Press back (LFS goes back to fullscreen)
6) Now, SHIFT+F4 to window (LFS still OK in window)
7) SHIFT+F4 back to full screen (Now you have a black screen)

Strangely enough, automatic windowing must be switched on. If I just start LFS and keep pressing SHIFT+F4, it doesn't go wrong. Apparently, LFS must have at one point, automatically gone full screen (i.e. coming out of an auto-windowed state). After that, you will never successfully go to full screen from windowed again.

[ EDIT : I'd like to know if this doesn't cause the bug for anyone, or if you can get it if LFS hasn't auto-returned-to-full-screen at some point ]

Quote from Scawen :

I can simplify the reproduction method slightly :

1) Start LFS (windowed or full screen, doesn't matter)
2) If you started windowed, go to full screen
3) Window while connecting : set to ON
4) Click for a list of games (LFS goes to window - now you can stop the list)
5) Press back (LFS goes back to fullscreen)
6) Now, SHIFT+F4 to window (LFS still OK in window)
7) SHIFT+F4 back to full screen (Now you have a black screen)

Yeah.

maybe it works here too then... (didn't try today, brother busy on LFS PC )

- What graphics card (and drivers) do you have?
Geforce 7800GT & Forceware 84.21
- Was LFS in full screen when you started up?
yes and no, no difference, see down below
- Did you use ALT+TAB before you recreated the bug?
No
- Did you ever get this before the U test patches?
See down below
- Can you reproduce it every time?
Yes, here's what I just did:

With Q version (started fullscreen):
kept pressing shift-F4 fast = holding the shift and tapping the F4 key
No blackscreen

With U version (started fullscreen):
kept pressing shift-F4 fast = holding the shift and tapping the F4 key
No blackscreen

With U23 (started fullscreen)
kept pressing shift-F4 fast = holding the shift and tapping the F4 key
Blackscreen
"Automatic windowing" has no effect to this whether on or off.

Managed to do it all the time, so it is reproduceable (spelling). Starting with fullscreen or in windows made no difference. And it seems that if I keep pressing shift-F4 repeatedly but not fast enough LFS doesn't go blackscreen. But if I do it quickly enough, blackscreen. So something has changed after U version but for me it hasn't caused any problems (pretty much never).

Not sure if this has anything to do with the bug, feels more like forcing LFS to go nuts with repeatedly pressing the shift-F4 Though, the strange thing is that Q and U versions didn't go blackscreen...


EDIT:

Quote from Scawen :

Yes! I can reproduce it that way too!

I can simplify the reproduction method slightly :

1) Start LFS (windowed or full screen, doesn't matter)
2) If you started windowed, go to full screen
3) Window while connecting : set to ON
4) Click for a list of games (LFS goes to window - now you can stop the list)
5) Press back (LFS goes back to fullscreen)
6) Now, SHIFT+F4 to window (LFS still OK in window)
7) SHIFT+F4 back to full screen (Now you have a black screen)

Strangely enough, automatic windowing must be switched on. If I just start LFS and keep pressing SHIFT+F4, it doesn't go wrong. Apparently, LFS must have at one point, automatically gone full screen (i.e. coming out of an auto-windowed state). After that, you will never successfully go to full screen from windowed again.

[ EDIT : I'd like to know if this doesn't cause the bug for anyone, or if you can get it if LFS hasn't auto-returned-to-full-screen at some point ]

I just did those 1-7 steps and got blackscreen in U23. With U version LFS was ok, no blackscreen.

- What graphics card (and drivers) do you have?
ATI Radeon 9600XT [6.14.10.6614 (Should be Catalyst 6.5)] + ATI Tray Tools
- Was LFS in full screen when you started up?
Yes
- Did you use ALT+TAB before you recreated the bug?
No
- Did you ever get this before the U test patches?
No, not that I remember
- Can you reproduce it every time?
No
- Any other info that seems relevant..
I've never ever experienced any problems with ALt+TAB although I don't use it anymore. Additional to my yesterdays experience with U23 and black screen (described here) I went back there, FusionRacing S2, later and I got the black screen again. Then I put window while connecting - no and I could enter the server ok again. The problem with FusionRacing S2 server seems to be related to only me, because the server was almost full all day/evening and only I'm reporting it.
EDIT: Just tried to connect to that server with window while connecting - yes 2 times and no black screen.

Before U23 it occured once with U20. Before a league race, the server admin was starting to align the grid I used SHIFT+F4 to get into windowed mode to check that my VGA gards fan was on max speed (from windows tray). The black screen occured while going from windowed mode to full screen.

I've just tried it with U19: No blackscreen

What graphics card (and drivers) do you have?
ATI Radeon 9800PRO (Catalyst 6.2)] + ATI Control Center
- Was LFS in full screen when you started up?
Yes
- Did you use ALT+TAB before you recreated the bug?
Tried both
- Did you ever get this before the U test patches?
No I never had the bug, but tried if I could have it
- Can you reproduce it every time?
No


EDIT

Just entered a server. LFS was full screen but not selected as activ window. Still showed up. I've Alt-tabbed it as active again. After that i pushed shift+f4 and bang: Blackscreen

Quote from Scawen :

I'd like to know if this doesn't cause the bug for anyone, or if you can get it if LFS hasn't auto-returned-to-full-screen at some point

I tried the seven steps in U23 but it did not cause black screen, also hitting shift+f4 like a maniac doesn't result in black screen.

Tried both methods with vsync on and off, different resolutions at different Hz and still no black screen.

Used to get one occasionally in the earlier (U1x -> U20) patches.

NV 7800GT 91.28

Quote from Scawen :

Yes! I can reproduce it that way too!

I can simplify the reproduction method slightly :

1) Start LFS (windowed or full screen, doesn't matter)
2) If you started windowed, go to full screen
3) Window while connecting : set to ON
4) Click for a list of games (LFS goes to window - now you can stop the list)
5) Press back (LFS goes back to fullscreen)
6) Now, SHIFT+F4 to window (LFS still OK in window)
7) SHIFT+F4 back to full screen (Now you have a black screen)

Strangely enough, automatic windowing must be switched on. If I just start LFS and keep pressing SHIFT+F4, it doesn't go wrong. Apparently, LFS must have at one point, automatically gone full screen (i.e. coming out of an auto-windowed state). After that, you will never successfully go to full screen from windowed again.

[ EDIT : I'd like to know if this doesn't cause the bug for anyone, or if you can get it if LFS hasn't auto-returned-to-full-screen at some point ]

No black screen for me. XP, U23, 6600 GT AGP, 84.43 drivers.

Quote from Scawen :

Yes! I can reproduce it that way too!

Yes, black screen also appears that way for me.

Quote from Scawen :

1) Start LFS (windowed or full screen, doesn't matter)
2) If you started windowed, go to full screen
3) Window while connecting : set to ON
4) Click for a list of games (LFS goes to window - now you can stop the list)
5) Press back (LFS goes back to fullscreen)
6) Now, SHIFT+F4 to window (LFS still OK in window)
7) SHIFT+F4 back to full screen (Now you have a black screen)

no black screen here
78gtx 84.43 drivers

will try later tonight with the latest drivers

black screen with Radeon 9600 with NGO Ati optimized drivers (1.6.4)

Quote from Scawen :

I'd like to know if this doesn't cause the bug for anyone, or if you can get it if LFS hasn't auto-returned-to-full-screen at some point ]

The bug works here, but I couldn't reproduce it without window while connecting yet.

I also get Blackscreen with windowed on Connecting [as described above] first time it works, the second time I get a Blackscreen.

XFX GeForce 6800GS
Forceware 91.47
U23
Windows XP Sp2

I also would like to mention that my monitor flickers black everytime I Enter Nvidia Controll panel, or the system generates Thumbnails for Video-Files.
If I quit the game after each join, I get no blackscreen...

Hope it helps you to track the problem....

Test patch U24 was just released, it seems to fix the black screen bug quite well

(just fyi)

Yeah, no more Black Screen (with U24).

Yes.

Thank you very much for the tests. I just had to investigate after the reproduction method was found. And it looks like the fix was successful!

http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?p=244955#post244955

I will now close this thread.