Screen blinks, brain balks, what gives?

[JHEarcht]

I posted this before but got no sympathy. The problem continues, so here goes again.

VW2008, SP3 on Win XP

Since I updated to SP3, I have noticed that the screen blinks from time to time. It doesn't seem to hurt anything, but it is disconcerting.

It looks like a quick eyeblink, probably due to a random screen redraw. Sometimes it blinks several times in a row. This is different from the blue title bar blinking, and docking the OIP has no effect. It happens in a new empty drawing with no other activity going on. Vectorcache, Hardware Acceleration, and GDI are turned off. It happens with different workspaces. Only the drawing area blinks. Toolbars on the same display, and the Palettes on the second display are not affected.

Is this a new feature to keep us awake? For the susceptible, it might cause mini-seizures. Am I the only one whose drawing is winking stochastically???

PS---Since then I have updated the Video driver, and updated Quicktime to v7.5. I also discovered the same thing now happens in VW12, so the cause must be something common to both.

[Ray Libby]

I would first suggest more ram, 1GB is pretty low. You never know, it might help.

[brudgers]

Probably QuickTime

Versions above 7.2 are not recommended (IMO, BS).

http://www.nemetschek.net/architect/sysreq.php

[Ray Libby]

QuickTime 7.5 is working fine here, but it might be worth uninstalling and going with the version on the installer disk.

[brudgers]

The OP is running XP and a Quadro FX rather than vista and a gaming oriented card.

I see some graphic weirdness with my QFX1700 in general (not VW specific).

And over the years my experience with quicktime on the PC has been less than impressive.

Regarding VW under XP, I experienced problems with later versions of QT on my previous computer. It was with 2008 SP2.

I suspect, given Apple's ideology, that they are not really focused on XP reliablity in current QT releases.

In the interest of full diclosure, I hate having to have QT on my computer in order to use VW. I don't own anything that starts with "i."

What's particularly irritating is that twice I've mistakenly upgraded QT and created additional problems with VW.

Backtracking to version 7.2 is a pita, particularly given the way previous versions are buried in Apple site.

And of course running a old version of QT is a security risk given Apple's attitude toward disclosure of threat vectors to end users.

[Ray Libby]

I also have never been happy about having to install quicktime. At least it's much more stable now than it was in the 90s, it used to be really buggy.

[altoids]

You'll are kidding me, right? VW requires QT on the PC?

QT was released by Apple for the PC for iTunes, but QT is primarily a collection video and music playback routines, that happens to include Apple's graphic libraries. VW is using the libraries to avoid re-writting their code for the PC (I am presuming). NOt surprising if they are not as stable as the native PC calls.

[brudgers]

Not kidding.

After I purchased Vectorworks and watched what passes for training Videos, I deleted Quicktime...who wants a third media app?

Then when Vectorworks wouldn't run, I took the obvious step of downloading the latest verision of Quicktime from Apple.

When it proved to be incompatible (see above) I had to uninstall it, and reinstall the previous version from the VW DVD...

???I think actually I had to uninstall and reinstall all of Vectorworks because QT was not a separate install, but I am not certain????

The first time I screwed up and accidentally updated QT, I managed to find old versions on Apple's website.

Still a pita, though.

[JHEarcht]

Thanks for the hint. But I rolled back to Quicktime 7.1.6, and the drawing still blinks. Any other suggestions?

Maybe I need to roll-back to an earlier video driver while I'm grasping at straws.

Maybe an upgrade to VW 2009 will fix it.

[IanH]

What mouse drivers are you using? Some people have reported issues with some manufacturers mice.

I had a problem with Illustrator until I updated to the latest Logitech drivers. The Microsoft iPoint drivers are also known to cause flickering in some apps.

[JHEarcht]

I have now tried just about everything I can think of---several times over---but VW still blinks, blinks, b-b-b-blinks. It's not the same as flicker, though. It's driving me batty---which I suppose is appropriate considering the season. I'll go trick or treating dressed as a twitchy, blinking bat.

The blinking stops in SAFE MODE. But who wants to draw in Safe Mode, or with the generic VGA driver? Changing video driver versions doesn't change anything. Turning off all special video modes (hardware acceleration etc.) doesn't help. So I can't blame it on the video card or driver.

Both VW 12.5 and VW2008 have the same tic. So it must be something common to both VWs, but not to all other apps. Such as QuickTime. Changing QT versions doesn't help. What does QT do in 2D drawing mode anyway?

Is it possible that some QT glitch (DLL???) is causing VW to blink randomly and erratically in the drawing area, while the menus and palettes and all other apps are stable?

Come to think of it, I haven't tried drawing while hanging upside-down.

[michael john williams]

This is a screen flicker problem reported to NNA some 2 years ago and still not fixed in 2009 and its recent update. Whilst recognised by NNA as a bug which flickers the screen in XP and Vista they forgot to fix it in 2009 and say to now fix it would break the system.

The temporary solution, which is not fully successful, is to keep the object info pallet fully open at all times.

As said previously, NNA should be concentrating on getting the basics right before advancing the system every year. This is a health and safety issue, affecting those with epilepsy, and should not be sold without that warning. Up to now I have strongly supported Vectorworks but not now as I am very disappointed that a problem identified over 2 years ago has still not been fixed, we were mis sold 2008 by NNA as they claimed it had resolved the problem, have not been kept up to date with investigations and, to be frank, do not believe that such a bug would break the system, especially as the system goes through some fundamental changes each year.

[Jeffrey W Ouellette]

Michael,

Please refer to my response to this issue here:

http://techboard.vectorworks.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=114407#Post114407

I would also ask that you refrain from cross-posting this issue so many times. It makes it difficult to track down problems and resolutions.

[mar schrammeyer]

we had screen flicker as a problem a year ago on a XP machine with newly installed VW2008, Julian Carr suggestion was mouse driver and it fixed the problem (disable in start up folder if I remember correctly)

Edited December 4, 2008 by mar schrammeyer