Screenshot Problem

a_civilian · April 2005

<div class="IPBDescription">Graphical errors in screenshots</div> Screenshots that I take in NS come out with graphical errors.

Here is an example:
<img src='http://www.team-exigent.net/files/team/downloads/ns_eon_v80000.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

This happens to every screenshot that I take using an ingame command (snapshot or screenshot). However, screen captures taken in NS using printscreen + paste come out fine.

I get the same problem in Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat, and therefore presumably any game on the HL engine. I do not, however, get the problem in Half-Life 2, the only other game I've tested.

I've run NS at 1024*768 (at 85Hz and 100Hz) and 800*600 (at 150Hz); all modes suffered from this problem.

This problem began appearing after I installed a GeForce 6800 graphics card.

I'm using ForceWare 66.93 drivers because when I update to the latest version (71.89), I get massive graphical problems in Windows itself.

I should also mention I'm running the GeForce 6800 with a small overclock and the 6th vertex unit unlocked. However, I tried disabling these, and it did not fix the problem.

Other system specifications, in case they might have some relevance:
Operating System: Windows XP
Motherboard: Soyo SY-K7VMP2 (if such alphanumeric designations actually mean anything to anyone...)
Processer: AMD Athlon XP 3000+
512 megabytes of RAM

Oh and I'm running DirectX 9.0c, and my motherboard drivers are up-to-date.

Zephor · April 2005

turn your refresh rate down and see if it makes the same problem.

a_civilian · April 2005

Tried 60Hz and 100Hz in 800*600, no improvement.

Swiftspear · April 2005

Do the bmps look the same as this if you use the recordvideo thing or whatever it is called? Based on the type of image distruction you are getting there it looks like your most likely problem is that somehow your HL install has corrupted and it just isn't coding BMPs properly anymore.

If you have a CD key to do so, try a fresh HL install on a new steam account. To me it doesn't look like a hardware problem (not that I am a massive expert on the issue, I just know the smallest ammount about how BMPs are encoded).

Menes · April 2005

Have you tried to take a screenshot in D3D mode? I assume you are using openGL right now and most of the recent games like half-life 2 don't use openGL anymore, so it might or might not explain why it works in other games.

JazzX · April 2005

I'm guessing you already saw this, but if not there are a handful of people with the same problem on the Steam Forums (<a href='http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=240655' target='_blank'>here</a>, <a href='http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=168124' target='_blank'>here</a>, <a href='http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=164728' target='_blank'>here</a>) and they all seem to have a GeForce 6800 and using 66.93 Forceware drivers (the Omega Drivers are based on the 66.93s as well). I know there are people running 6800s without problems (I can't find a single person having issues with their Screen Shots in the CAL-CS forums), so my only suggestion would be to try either the <a href='http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_61.77.html' target='_blank'>61.77s</a> or the <a href='http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_71.84.html' target='_blank'>71.84s</a> and see if they are any better.

a_civilian · April 2005

SwiftSpear: Yes, same thing happens with startmovie. Also, I got the same problems with CS and DoD, which unless I am mistaken are technically separate Half-Life installs under Steam.

JazzX: Tried the 61.77s just now, no fix. I also installed the 71.84s a few weeks ago but reverted back to the 66.93s before trying a screenshot because I got the same massive graphical glitches that I got yesterday when trying the 71.89s.

Menes: Just tried taking a screenshot in D3D mode; it worked. So that part is explained...

Switching to D3D permanently isn't an enticing option though because it gives me significantly fewer frames.

slipknotkthx · April 2005

stop hacking

Menes · April 2005

Have you tried tweaking your card's opengl settings and could you list all the current settings they have?

Also, try downloading the doom 3 demo and take a screenshot, see if it does the same thing. Doom 3 runs in opengl too while hl2 runs in direct3d with the directx 9 features.

I also suggest to keep the your card's drivers up to date as it's a relatively new card and problems may get fixed as quickly as they come.

pinkeye · April 2005

cheats

a_civilian · April 2005

Menes:
The control panel doesn't differentiate between OpenGL and Direct3D settings, but here is the list:
Antialiasing settings - Off
Anisotropic filtering - Off
Vertical Sync - Off
Force mipmaps - None
Conformant texture clamp - On
Extension limit - Off
Trilinear optimization - On
Anisotropic mip filter optimization - On
Anisotropic sample optimization - On

I've tried changing most of those settings, though not individually, with no success.

I tried taking a screenshot in the Doom 3 demo as you suggested, and it suffered from the same problem.

As for keeping the drivers up to date, the latest drivers cause many more problems (massive graphical problems in Windows itself) without fixing this one. However, I'll keep trying new versions as they come.

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (slipknotkthx @ Apr 20 2005, 04:42 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>stop hacking</td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
Now that's a thought!

Holden · April 2005

That IS a very odd looking screenshot, I have never seen anyone have one quite like that.

Svenpa · April 2005

For me it looks like overclocking damage, the worst kind. But if it doesn't happen in other games it shouldn't be a factor. Have you tried alternative drivers? like the omega ones?

Menes · April 2005

It does seem to be a specific opengl problem with your card's drivers. If I am not mistaken, you mentioned that you once installed the latest forceware drivers (<a href='http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_71.89.html' target='_blank'>71.89</a>) and got graphical glitches in windows, but have not attempted to take a screenshot in-game with them. What are those graphical glitches in windows and could you attempt to test those drivers in-game if possible?

There seems to have been numerous opengl issues fixed and listed in the release notes, as well as some opengl fixes for the 6800 series. So I'd personally put my bet on more recent drivers, but you'd need to fix those windows glitches before.

a_civilian · April 2005

Svenpa: Tried the Omega drivers, no fix.

Menes: The 71.89s didn't fix the problem (I did take a screenshot with them; it was the 71.84s several weeks ago that I didn't test with).

The graphical glitches were messed up graphics in windows icons, desktop image, and generally images within any aspect of Windows (such as in the display properties window).

Menes · April 2005

Windows XP SP1 or SP2?

DaJMasta · April 2005

maybe try vsync, just cause its there and it seems to be a vertical timing problem. I would also jack up the resolution, turn on AA and AF, and run all high, your graphics can surely take it, and if it reduces the problem (same smear of frames, but fewer for pictures) it may be like the framerate is not being limited correctly, and the screenshot is being taken from several frames rendered in VERY quick succession.

It does look a little like there is some artifacts present too though, so maybe download a program to check for artifacts(I use ArtifactTester5).

a_civilian · April 2005

Menes: SP1

DaJMasta:
I've used vertical sync, and it didn't correct the problem. Also, I'm not exactly crazy about reducing my framerate; otherwise I'd just use D3D (which fixes the problem). A screenshot taken in 20 fps suffered from the same problem anyway.

Tried ArtifactTester5; it didn't detect anything.

JazzX · April 2005

Have you given <a href='http://www.guru3d.com/rivatuner/' target='_blank'>RivaTuner</a> a shot? It is supposed to be the most complete tweak utility for nVidia based cards available. I know people have reported fixing graphical issues in EQ2 and Sims stemming from their 6800s with it.

And just out of curiosity do .tga files created by the "screenshot" command (as opposed to .bmps created by "snapshot") come out corrupted as well?

Menes · April 2005

What card did you have before you installed your 6800 and did you completely remove its drivers? Also, what is your agp aperture size set to in your bios?

This may not be desirable for you, but if all fails I'd suggest to give a shot to SP2.

DaJMasta · April 2005

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (a civilian @ Apr 23 2005, 12:21 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Menes: SP1

DaJMasta:
I've used vertical sync, and it didn't correct the problem. Also, I'm not exactly crazy about reducing my framerate; otherwise I'd just use D3D (which fixes the problem). A screenshot taken in 20 fps suffered from the same problem anyway.

Tried ArtifactTester5; it didn't detect anything.  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
alright, not reducing the framerate is good and all, but is it really noticable?

I would think a 6800 would max framerate continuously, being that my 9600 pro maxes every so often.

And actually drivers, especially any WDM components are important to check, I updated my ATi drivers once with a WDM driver install problem, and it gave me simmilar looking random lines on my desktop and in CS:S.

a_civilian · April 2005

Sorry for the late response, I've been a bit busy as of late.

JazzX:
I have RivaTuner, but I haven't really explored its numerous options. Perhaps I will do so when I find the time.

.tga files created with "screenshot" suffer from the same problem.

Menes:
My previous graphics card was a Radeon 9200. I uninstalled its drivers, though it's possible that remnants might remain. My AGP aperture size is 128M.

Speaking of my old Radeon 9200, it also encountered an unusual problem. Every few minutes (or tens of minutes), the computer would lock up, usually with a black screen but sometimes with graphical errors (of the sort shown in the screenshot) apparent on the screen, and I would have to restart my computer. I only fixed this problem by trying various Catalyst versions and finding that the 4.3's did not suffer from the problem (current version at the time was something like 4.6).

If all else fails, I may try SP2...

DaJMasta:
My framerate often drops below 100 in heavy fighting (where I need it most) and in bases.

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>And actually drivers, especially any WDM components are important to check, I updated my ATi drivers once with a WDM driver install problem, and it gave me simmilar looking random lines on my desktop and in CS:S.</td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
I'm not familiar with WDM; could you clarify on what you mean here (or just what I should do)?

Menes · April 2005

Yes, I have experienced the black screen freeze as well in the past and had passed a lot of time trying different things to fix it. I had experienced it on both a geforce 4 mx440 and a radeon 9600se. The problem was actually caused by a lack of power to the cpu and raising the vcore a little bit fixed it. Anyway...

Your card could support 256mb if I'm correct, you could attempt to raise the agp aperture size to 256, it might at the least raise the performance a bit.

I'm referring you to this geforce 6800 tweaking guide, more specifically check out the bios tweaks and see how it goes for you:
<a href='http://3dgpu.com/archives/2004/08/09/geforce-6800-tweak-guide/#bios' target='_blank'>http://3dgpu.com/archives/2004/08/09/gefor...eak-guide/#bios</a>

A good thing would be to find a person who has a 6800 and has not this problem. Anyhow, I suggest to give a try to those tweaks and if all fails, sp2.

DaJMasta · April 2005

<a href='http://www.download.com/nVidia-WDM-Driver-VIVO-/3000-2108_4-10265519.html' target='_blank'>WDM drivers</a>

I do not recall what WDM actually stands for, but it seemed to be the root of my related problems. No idea actually why though since the more desciptions I see of WDM drivers, the more I think they only deal with video inputs.....

Thats a versio released in 2004, the latest ones on download.com

coris · May 2005

Did you reformat when you installed the new card? If you didnt, have you tried a drivercleaner utility before you installed the new drivers?

Screenshot Problem

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