Fonts are scrambled/just basically wrong... (1 Viewer)

[markshanks]

Hi,

I've just started using mediaportal, and absolutely love it. There has only been one problem... and that is that the fonts are practically unreadable (see attached). The fonts appear like this when I first start mediaportal. Very occasionally, when I return from another program launched from mediaportal, the fonts will appear normal. However, once a key is pressed to change the menu options, they again appear like this.

Usually I run mediaportal full-screen. Changing to a window does not correct the problem. However, once when I changed to the window, something happened and the fonts were displayed correctly. When I then went back to full-screen, they continued to display correctly. I shut down mediaportal and restarted it, and they still looked fine. When I rebooted the computer and again started mediaportal, the problem returned. I have since been unable to reproduce the "fix", but it suggests that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the hardware (I also have mediaportal installed on a much newer computer for experimentation (core 2 duo and ati X1900), and it works fine there.

I have also tried the following without success:
* change screen resolution.
* change font size.
* change dpi setting.
* turn off font smoothing.
* reduce display acceleration settings - this did not have an effect even to the point that mediaportal was no longer being rendered.
* using not just the BlueTwoWide skin, but also BlueTwo and Spinsafe Resolve skins.
* disabling animations and toggling the Exclusive DirectX mode in the mediaportal setup.

In addition to two screen shots, I have attached the mediaportal log and the dxdiag printout from my computer (Direct X 9.0c is installed).

Any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark


TV-Server Version: Not using
MediaPortal Version: Latest public release 0.2.2
MediaPortal Skin: Blue Two Wide, but problem also occurs with Blue Two and Spinsafe Resolve Skin
Windows Version: XP Home
CPU Type: P3-800
HDD: Seagate
Memory:
Motherboard: Asus
Motherboard Chipset: Intel
Motherboard Bios:
Video Card: Nvidia 6600GT AGP
Video Card Driver: Nvidia 93.71
Sound Card:
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card:
1. TV Card Type:
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card:
2. TV Card Type:
2. TV Card Driver:
3. TV Card:
3. TV Card Type:
3. TV Card Driver:
4. TV Card:
4. TV Card Type:
4. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec:
MPEG2 Audio Codec:
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case:
Cooling:
Power Supply:
Remote:
TV:
TV - HTPC Connection:

 

[Taipan]

Hi Mark,

I think that similar problems have been reported here before, and if I remember correctly, the cause was the video card. Do you have another video card that you could try?

 

[markshanks]

Hi Mark,

I think that similar problems have been reported here before, and if I remember correctly, the cause was the video card. Do you have another video card that you could try?

I don't have another video card to test. Still, the fact that it did work for a bit indicates that it isn't fundamental to the hardware, and a software solution exists. It might be that I just have to roll back to an earlier nvidia graphics card driver. However, I have no idea which driver I should try.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

83 - 89 series of nvidia drivers were pretty good, and actually did some things newer drivers screwed up.

Drivers available here http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?cat=10&sort=&page=2

You will have to most probably use a driver removal tool like driver sweeper found here http://www.guru3d.com/index.php?page=driversweeper

Good luck

 

[markshanks]

83 - 89 series of nvidia drivers were pretty good, and actually did some things newer drivers screwed up.

Drivers available here http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?cat=10&sort=&page=2

You will have to most probably use a driver removal tool like driver sweeper found here http://www.guru3d.com/index.php?page=driversweeper

Good luck

I downloaded the 83.91 drivers and installed them after uninstalling the previous drivers and cleaning the registry. Still exactly the same problem exists!

Maybe it is a conflict with the directx version I have downloaded. How easy is it to roll back to an earlier version of direct x. What version should I look at installing?

 

[markshanks]

Since the fonts do appear okay with stationary text, eg, the top right label when you are in sub-menus, is there a way to make the text on the front page not animated? Maybe that will fix it? Or just simply specify a different font?

 

[Taipan]

I still think that the problem is with your video card (since you seem to have eliminated the drivers) - is there no way that you can try another video card (borrowed from another PC, or from a friend), even for a short period, just to prove me wrong ...