Direct X Help

This page is the help our customers with any questions or display issues they may have with SURFCAM 2005. Surfware has changed the Display Technology used in SURFCAM 2005 to DirectX, previous versions used Open GL. What is means for our customers? 64 display colors, up from 16. Custom colors for Rapid and Feed moves More elements for Verification Selecting shaded surfaces What is DirectX? Microsoft's DirectX has primarily been used for Video Games, but now CAD/CAM companies are switching from Open GL to DirectX and taking advantage of the newer features found in the latest Graphic Cards. The DirectX Technology relies heavily on Software (Graphic Card Driver) and the Hardware (Graphic Card Chipset) Want to know more about DirectX? Go here http://www.programmersheaven.com/2/DIRECT-X-FAQ Will my Graphics Card work with SURFCAM 2005? Yes, most Graphic Cards produced within the past 5 years will work with SURFCAM 2005. DirectX uses two drivers and therefore can take two paths, if supported it will use the faster hardware abstraction layer (HAL) and if not supported it will bypass the hardware and use the slower software (REF) emulated path. Compliant (Hardware Path) vs. Compatible (Software Path) as stated above, a Hardware supported Card will outperform and be less likely to have issue compared to a Software supported Card. Hardware - Graphic Cards Compliant Graphic Cards, these Cards have the necessary Hardware/Chipset to handle the instructions being issued from the DirectX API being used by SURFCAM 2005 and should function without any issues. Nvidia Chipsets that support DirectX 9.0c, with proper driver. GeForce 6 series GeForce FX series ATI Chipsets that support DirectX 9.0c, with proper driver. 9800 series 9700 Pro series 9600 series 9550 series FireGL X series 3D Labs Chipsets that support DirectX 9.0c, with proper driver. Wildcat Realizm series Compatible Cards, these Cards lack the necessary Hardware/Chipset to handle the instructions being issued from the DirectX API being used by SURFCAM 2005 and may have unknown issues. Nvidia Chipsets that support DirectX 8.1 GeForce4 MX series Quadro4 series Geforce3 series ATI Chipsets that support DirectX 8.1 9250 series 9200 series 9000 series 7500 series 7000 series Windows* Graphics Driver Versioning Methodology Example - Nvidia FX series driver is 77.72 or 6.14.0010.7772 N.ZZ.01.XXXX, where N indicates operating system version. 4 = Windows 95/98/98SE/Me or Windows NT 4.0 5 = Windows 2000 only 6 = Windows 2000 and Windows XP ZZ indicates DirectX* support. 14 = DirectX 9.x 13 = DirectX 8.x 12 = DirectX 7.x 11 = DirectX 6.x XXXX indicates the build number.   Troubleshooting Display Issue Color Quality When shading a model a color setting of Highest(32 bit) will provide the desired quality. A lower setting will appear as if there are distinct bands of color. A gradient background will also reflect this. To change the color quality: 1)     Right-click on the desktop and selecting Properties from the menu. 2)     Select the Settings tab from the Display Properties dialog. 3)     Select the Highest (32 bit) selection from the Color Quality list of choices. 4)     Select OK. * These steps apply to Windows XP®. Windows 2000® may differ slightly. Hardware Acceleration Windows XP® Professional uses hardware acceleration to improve display performance. If SURFCAM® fails to start or the graphics are slow to react increasing the hardware acceleration can resolve the problem. Hardware acceleration for your graphics hardware has six settings. The following table shows the settings and their meanings: Setting Description None Disables all accelerations. Use this setting only if your computer frequently stops responding or has other severe problems. 1 Disables all but basic accelerations. User this setting to correct more severe problems. 2 Disables all DirectX® Graphics accelerations, as well as all cursor and advanced drawing accelerations. Use this setting to correct severe problems with DirectX accelerated applications. 3 Disables all cursor and advanced drawing accelerations. Use this setting to correct drawing problems. 4 Disables cursor and bitmap accelerations. Use this setting to troubleshoot mouse pointer problems or corrupt images. Full Enables all acceleration features. This setting is recommended if your computer has no problems. To change hardware acceleration: 1)     Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties. 2)     In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab, and then click the Advanced button. 3)     Click the Troubleshoot tab, and then choose the desired level of hardware acceleration. For best results choose Full. * These steps apply to Windows XP®. Windows 2000® may differ slightly.  NOTE: If you use multiple monitors, changing hardware acceleration settings affects all monitors. Video Card Drivers The color card must be DirectX® 9.0c compatible. The latest video drivers should be installed. Most video card manufacturers provide the ability to download drivers from their website. If you know which card you are using you can, in most cases, access driver updates by answering a few simple questions. nVIDIA® chipset drivers can be downloaded from: http://www.nvidia.com ATI® chipset drivers can be downloaded from: http://www.ati.com If unsure about how to update the video drivers there are other steps available that can automatically update the system: 1)     Select start. 2)     Select Control Panel 3)     Switch to Classic View 4)     Select Administrative Tools 5)     Select Computer Management 6)     From the tree in the dialog that has opened select Device Manager 7)     Expand Display Adapters 8)     Right-click on the current adapter 9)     Select Properties   10) From the Driver tab the Update Driver… button can be chosen to install the current Microsoft provided driver. * These steps apply to Windows XP®. Windows 2000® may differ slightly. Another method available that can automatically update the system: 1)     Select start. 2)     Select Control Panel 3)     Switch to Classic View 4)     Select Display 5)     Select the Settings tab in dialog that has opened 6)     Select the Advanced button Depending on your video card and existing driver setup there may be a tab specifically suited for configuring maintaining it. From this tab it may be possible to update the driver from the supplier’s web site.     7)   From the Driver tab the Update Driver… button can be chosen to install the current Microsoft provided driver. * These steps apply to Windows XP®. Windows 2000® may differ slightly.   Diagnostics The Microsoft DirectX® Diagnostic Tool gives information about the DirectX® application programming interface (API) components and drivers on your system. It enables you to test sound and graphics output and Microsoft DirectPlay service providers. It also enables you to disable some hardware acceleration features. You can use the diagnostic tool to gather information for a technician during a support call. You can save the information gathered by the tool and paste it into an e-mail message. To run the Microsoft DirectX Diagnostic Tool: 1)     Click start. 2)     Click Run…. 3)     A dialog will appear. Type “dxdiag” and select the OK button.   The Diagnostic tool will load and scan the system for information. When finished it will display similar information as in figure 1.In most cases it would be best to review what version of DirectX® is installed, 4.09.0000.0904 or later is required.                       Figure 1  The second tab in the diagnostic tool dialog checks the validity of the DirectX® file set. Optimally the Notes at the bottom of the dialog should report that there are no problems found as show in Figure 2. If problems are found, it is recommended, depending on the note itself, that DirectX® be reinstalled.   Figure 2 The third tab in the diagnostic tool dialog checks the color card device, its driver, and provides testing tools. Optimally the Notes at the bottom of the dialog should report that there are no problems found as show in Figure 3. From this dialog it is important to verify that the minimum video requirements are met. Direct3D® should also be tested. When the Test Direct3D button is pressed the system will offer to test the three different hardware-accelerated interfaces. Although interface 9 is the requirement, testing interface 7 and 8 is recommended. At the bottom of the dialog the test results will be listed offering useful information.   Figure 3 The last tab in the diagnostic tool dialog offers additional troubleshooting tools Figure 4. Selecting the Troubleshoot button will attempt to diagnose problems using a wizard-style process. If all the diagnostics fail to offer a solution then it is recommended that the Save All Information button be chosen to generate a detailed system description that can be sent to the appropriate support provider to evaluate. Figure 4 Questions and Answers Q: “SURFCAM won’t start.” A: Install the latest version of DirectX®. Q: “My gradient background appears to be in distinct bands of colors.” A: Change the Color Quality setting to Highest (32 bit). Q: “I receive the following error when trying to start SURFCAM: SURFCAM executable has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.” A: Increase the graphics hardware acceleration. Q: “My graphics respond slowly.” A: Increase the graphics hardware acceleration. Q: “I receive the following error when trying to start SURFCAM: A: The video card driver needs to be updated. A: Increase the graphics hardware acceleration. A: The video card isn’t DirectX compliant. Q: “I receive the following error when trying to start SURFCAM: surfcam.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You will need to restart the program.” A: Install the latest version of DirectX®