Question

Display issues with SolidWorks and Nvidia FX3700

Asked by: knobbylowboy

We are experiencing some intermittent display issues when using SolidWorks with several identical specification systems.

System configuration:
Intel S5000XVN Motherboard; Intel Xeon Quad Core X5460 CPU; 4Gb ECC DDR2 RAM; SAS HDD; Nvidia FX3700 Hewlett Packard Display Adaptor; Windows XP Pro (32-bit); Solid Works 2008 SP5.0.

The following problems happen intermittently when using Solid Works but are hard to reproduce on demand.

* Solid Works toolbar icons turn black
* Solidwork background turns black (ie. what is displayed when no drawings are open) and Solid Works logo is not displayed
* Acrobat documents appear behind Solid Works window, but Acrobat window borders appear in front
* When rotating objects in Solid Works it sometimes fails to repaint them but partial object appears below mouse pointer when moved

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Asked On
2009-03-18 at 23:29:26ID24244619
Topics

SolidWorks CAD Software

,

Video Cards

Participating Experts
2
Points
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Comments
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Answers

 

by: knobbylowboyPosted on 2009-03-18 at 23:53:44ID: 23926941

here's an example of one of the issues... see image

 

by: NeilParbrookPosted on 2009-03-24 at 08:46:42ID: 23969581

This would sound like a graphics driver problem.

Are you using the certified solidworks drivers?

 

by: NeilParbrookPosted on 2009-03-24 at 08:51:07ID: 23969647

Try Checking the "Use Software OpenGL" Under Tools>Options>System options>performance.

You must do this before you open any files or it will be greyed out.  If stable with this option on then probally a video card issue.
If you are using the certified driver try downloading the latest driver from the cards manufacturer and try that.

 

by: knobbylowboyPosted on 2009-03-29 at 22:42:12ID: 24016205

Drivers currently in use are the most recent drivers for this card from the Solidworks website.

When "Use Software OpenGL" is checked the system is extremely slow and not very usable so we have not been able to test in this mode for very long.

 

by: NeilParbrookPosted on 2009-03-30 at 01:05:26ID: 24016751

Yes that's right it would be very slow as it would be trying to use software for graphics acceleration and not the card.

However if the problem goes away during the test then it is more than likely a grphics card driver issue.

I would also try and use the card vendors latest driver as the certified solidworks drivers are not always good.

We have a machine here that up untill recently crashed every five seconds with the solidworks driver but worked fine for 3 years with the ATI driver.

I would if I were you give it a go as you can always uninstall and roll back to the old driver if you want to.

Cheers

Neil

 

by: NeilParbrookPosted on 2009-04-07 at 01:19:52ID: 24084914

Any Luck with this issue?

 

by: knobbylowboyPosted on 2009-04-07 at 16:27:11ID: 24092874

Our customer does not wish to run in "Use Software OpenGL" mode as it is too slow for them to work.

We did try downloading the latest drivers from Nvidia (dated Feb 2009) and the problem still occurs.

We are going to swap the cards to see if it is a hardware fault but that seems unlikely.

 

by: ShineOnPosted on 2009-04-11 at 09:23:21ID: 24122566

The "Use Software OpenGL" mode is generally used for diagnostic purposes only.  As has been said.

If they use software-based OpenGL and have no problems, then it's likely a driver issue.

When you install the driver, do you choose the software-specific settings for SolidWorks from the nVidia menu?

 

by: knobbylowboyPosted on 2009-04-23 at 21:06:44ID: 24221650

>When you install the driver, do you choose the software-specific settings for SolidWorks from the nVidia menu?
Yes this has been done.

We swapped video card hardware and the problem persisted.

Presently we are testing the system with Microsoft IntelliMouse drivers removed as this has been suggested as a possible cause.

 

by: knobbylowboyPosted on 2009-05-26 at 21:32:34ID: 24479880

It appears removing the Microsoft IntelliMouse drivers has resolved the issue!

 

by: NeilParbrookPosted on 2009-05-27 at 01:39:59ID: 24480875

Good,  glad it's OK.

Should have thought of that as I have had that very issue myself.

Cheers

Neil

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