Dark Rectangles in TahitiX and DillinghamX

[howboi 0]

Hello all,

I've been reading the Aerosoft forums for a year or so now, but have never posted. I have a problem that keeps popping up. In TahitiX and DillinghamX, the porpoises jump out of dark rectangles in the water. This seems to happen as I fly closer to the porpoises, and they jump and swim within the rectangles. I know the answer will be "update your video driver," but I have been trying various methods to update, to no avail. I have a Dell 630i, XP Pro, Core Duo E8500, 4 GB, 8800 GT, with last year's Nvidia 8800 GT driver. I'm getting excellent framerates with Autogen turned off and everything else in the high range. I have tried updating the driver using instructions from Dell, from the Flightsim forums, etc, etc, but cannot update my driver. What am I missing?

I'm enjoying the TahitiX scenery very much, thanks Aerosoft for some very fine products.

Howard

[Shaun Fletcher 570]

Hello Howard,

Can you attach a screenshot of the problem you are seeing please.

[Seadog 2]

Howard - You can download the latest driver for your card here -

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_180.48_whql.html

Here are Nvidia's instructions on how to remove a video driver, which should be done first before installing a new one -

http://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nvidia....amp;p_topview=1

Once you have completed those steps, then simply double click the newly downloaded driver file and it will proceed to install itself. Hope that solves your problem.

-Doug

[howboi 0]

Hello Howard,

Can you attach a screenshot of the problem you are seeing please.

Hello Shaun,

I've updated my Nvidia driver to the latest (180.48). Am using Anisoptropic filtering, 60 HZ refresh rate (changed to 75, haven't checked FSX after change), and am still getting the squares as shown. This is also happening in DillinghamX. The porpoises are seen OK from a distance, but when flying close, the dark rectangles appear. I also get dark squares on the water randomly, with no dolphins in the squares.

Am using a Dell 630i, Nvidia 650i chipset, Core Duo E8500 (not overclocked), 4 GB, Nvidia 8800 GT with 512 MB, no exotic add-ons (I only use Megascenery and Aerosoft products). I turn off Autogen, have my sliders set medium to high, and am getting high framerates. I do not run anti-virus when using FSX.

Am very happy with TahitiX, just discovered the guy taking flash photos yesterday.

Thanks Shaun,

Howard

[Bene0402 7]

Hello Shaun,

I've updated my Nvidia driver to the latest (180.48). Am using Anisoptropic filtering, 60 HZ refresh rate (changed to 75, haven't checked FSX after change), and am still getting the squares as shown. This is also happening in DillinghamX. The porpoises are seen OK from a distance, but when flying close, the dark rectangles appear. I also get dark squares on the water randomly, with no dolphins in the squares.

Am using a Dell 630i, Nvidia 650i chipset, Core Duo E8500 (not overclocked), 4 GB, Nvidia 8800 GT with 512 MB, no exotic add-ons (I only use Megascenery and Aerosoft products). I turn off Autogen, have my sliders set medium to high, and am getting high framerates. I do not run anti-virus when using FSX.

Am very happy with TahitiX, just discovered the guy taking flash photos yesterday.

Thanks Shaun,

Howard

That's strainge. I've the same graphic card..but never had such rectangles in FSX I'm using Nvidia graphics driver 178.24

[Shaun Fletcher 570]

Hello Howard,

I'll check mine as well as I use Nvidia.

[howboi 0]

Hello Howard,

I'll check mine as well as I use Nvidia.

Hello Shaun,

Here's a few more screenshots. In the past few days, I've updated my Nvidia driver, defragged my drive, removed TahitiX and reinstalled via my Aerosoft account, and made sure my real-time anti-virus was off while downloading and installing. I also have configured my anti-virus software to ignore FSX files.

After reinstalling, I still have the same problem, on both TahitiX and DillinghamX. On DillinghamX, I only see the rectangles where the dolphins are. On TahitiX, I see random squares both over land and water, and the rectangles where dolphins are. I also have Aerosoft Lord HoweX, HelgolandX, and LuklaX, and do not have this problem.

I have recently found out that my Dell 630i has a Dell motherboard that has PCI-E lanes of 8 per slot (permanent) instead of the usual 16 lanes. I believe this negatively affects performance, but could it be causing the rectangle problem? I am getting good FSX performance with good framerates. I have been turning off Autogen, but still get the squares and rectangles with Autogen set to Normal.

Thanks again, Shaun,

Howard

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

Hello Shaun,

Here's a few more screenshots. In the past few days, I've updated my Nvidia driver, defragged my drive, removed TahitiX and reinstalled via my Aerosoft account, and made sure my real-time anti-virus was off while downloading and installing. I also have configured my anti-virus software to ignore FSX files.

After reinstalling, I still have the same problem, on both TahitiX and DillinghamX. On DillinghamX, I only see the rectangles where the dolphins are. On TahitiX, I see random squares both over land and water, and the rectangles where dolphins are. I also have Aerosoft Lord HoweX, HelgolandX, and LuklaX, and do not have this problem.

I have recently found out that my Dell 630i has a Dell motherboard that has PCI-E lanes of 8 per slot (permanent) instead of the usual 16 lanes. I believe this negatively affects performance, but could it be causing the rectangle problem? I am getting good FSX performance with good framerates. I have been turning off Autogen, but still get the squares and rectangles with Autogen set to Normal.

Thanks again, Shaun,

Howard

You got all animation sliders and tick boxes activated?

[etien 16]

Just updated Tahiti X 1.02 as well. Geting some funy black rectangle in front of the lights of a parked car in ulturoa. Latest Nvidia drivers.

[etien 16]

Only in Direct X, its in front on the number plates. Maybe not linked to this product though

[Bene0402 7]

Only in Direct X, its in front on the number plates. Maybe not linked to this product though

It's not linked to the product, indeed. I checked this during beta testing 2 months ago.

Btw the 1.02 version doesn't change anything in this part of the scenery (3D parking cars).

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

Only in Direct X, its in front on the number plates. Maybe not linked to this product though

You mean in DX10?

[Seadog 2]

A possible solution worth experimenting with is to adjust the Texture Resolution on the Settings > Display > Scenery Tab. Keep raising the number, thus reducing the degree of fineness of the resolution, and see if it cures the problem. I suggest this in light of a vaguely similar issue that this technique resolved in Hawaii as discussed in this Ultimate Terrain forum thread from three months ago -

http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=27814

As described in my post there, 17th one down, I found the issue went away at settings of 60 cm and greater (numerically). I don't have TahitiX yet, or I would try it myself before offering the possibility of a solution, but it's easy enough to try for those experiencing the difficulty.

-Doug

[howboi 0]

You got all animation sliders and tick boxes activated?

Hello Mathijs

Yes, sliders and animation are activated. I also have TahitiX on my old faithful standby computer, a Dell 4700 with P4-HT 2.8 Ghz, 8800 GTS with 640 MB, and 4 GB memory. TahitiX runs great on this computer, no problems at all, performing better than on my Dell 630i with E8500.

I've pretty much determined that there is a problem with my Dell 630i system, possibly with my dual monitor drivers (Dell SP2008WFP and SP2009W). I will install my 21 inch CRT monitor on next days off and see if that cures the problem. The 630i, unfortunately, is known for certain problems including the 8-lane PCI-E restriction.

I have megascenery Las Vegas installed on both computers also, and on the 630i have bad flickering on such surfaces as Hoover Dam, but no such problems with my older computer.

So, I know the problem is not with TahitiX or DillinghamX, but with my 630i system. I'll keep you posted on what I determine, maybe it will help others.

Thanks again,

Howard

[howboi 0]

Hello again, just a final update on my problem.

After much experimenting with defragging, reinstalling TahitiX, a new video card, swapping monitors, disabling my anti-virus, yadda yadda, I found a simple solution to the dark squares and rectangles in TahitiX and DillinghamX.

The problem: Ground Scenery Shadows was enabled. I experimented with Lens Flare, Light Bloom, Aircraft Ground Shadows, Aircraft Shadows on Itself, Winds Aloft, and Ground Scenery Shadows. Through elimination, my problem was Ground Scenery Shadows. Disabling Ground Scenery Shadows on both TahitiX and DillinghamX solved the problem. What's interesting, though, was this problem seemed to be associated with the animated porpoises in both TahitiX and DillinghamX. I did not have the black squares and rectangles on any other scenery or aircraft add-on.

Of further interest, disabling Ground Scenery Shadows eliminated the flickering I was having with buildings and other flat surfaces in FSX in general. Approaching a non-flickering Hoover Dam in my R-22 is now a pleasure.

Thanks,

Howard

[Shaun Fletcher 570]

Hello Howard,

Can you attach a saved flight file with a default aircraft that is pointing at one of these patches please to make it easier to find.

As I normally dont use ground shadows but will check them with it on.