Refreshing after minimizing

[Sivodsi]

Hi there,

Hope I can get some help on this problem. I have a dell latitude P3 850MHz with 384 RAM, and the problem comes if I minimize CM or hottab to another application (eg an internet browser). When I try to get back into CM I have just a black screen.

The only way I can get the game going again is by using the task manager to force CM to quit and start all over again.

How can I get CM going again after minimizing or hottabbing to anther application?

Looking forward to your answer

David

[Blue Streak]

Hi David,

I have a similar problem when i do the same but when i get back it's very dark (not black).

Try pushing ALT G it brightens the screen for me.

Hope this helps

[hoolaman]

This has happened to me a few times too.

I prevented it by making sure whatever I was doing in windows besides CM was closed and not running the processor too much before returning to the game.

So just wait for everything to settle before loading CM back.

[Schrullenhaft]

What Windows version are you running and what specific Dell Latitude model do you have ? Another piece of info we'll probably need is to find out what is actually installed in your laptop for video (some models have variations, so it is hard to tell from websites). Go to the Control Panel > System control panel > Hardware tab (if you're running Windows 2000/XP) > Device Manager button > open up the Display item in the list and tell us what the videocard is.

Potentiall your problem could be with the video drivers. Do you hear sound in CM when you re-maximize it ? That would suggest that CM has come back, but the video has been unable to redraw the screen.

Depending on your laptop and the built-in videocard, there may be no complete solution for you regarding this. Laptop video drivers rarely get updated, even if they're from a major manufacturer. With some video chips it is possible to hack a desktop driver to support the laptop chipsets (in the case of ATI and Nvidia). Other chipsets have hardly any support for them from their original manufacturers and you're left with whatever the laptop manufacturer provides.

[Sivodsi]

Thanks for the words of wisdom!

Blue Streak, great tip for dark screens. I'm using it for the bridge and mental asylum scenarios.

Hoolaman: it doesn't seem to matter what the other applications are doing or not, if I minimize and then maximize the screen is black.

Schrullenhaft: My latitude C610 runs XP and has the ATI radeon mobility (the one that sucks because it doesn't show fog). I know it is possible to remaximize and get CM running again because I could do it before I reformatted the hard drive. The question is what changes can be made to make it work on again on after minimising & then maximising?

Is there a way to hack the ATI Radeon?

cheers

David

[Schrullenhaft]

Though this may have no direct bearing on CM, the latest BIOS for the Latitude C610 A16 updates the Video BIOS (though that may mostly affect power saving or external monitors).

The latest video driver for the ATI Radeon Mobility that is offered by Dell is v. 6.14.10.6430 which is the Catalyst 4.3.

There are some hacked drivers available, though I don't know which particular Catalyst may be best for your Radeon Mobility and CM. The Omega & NGO Optimized Catalysts have support for the Radeon Mobility line. The latest NGO is based on Catalyst 5.4, while the latest Omega is based on Catalyst 5.2. The Omegas have been around a bit longer, but I don't know which one may be better (they're both still ATI drivers based on their respective Catalysts).

Hopefully one of these drivers may solve your issue. It's also possible that using a much older driver may be the actual answer, but unforutnately I don't know which one is best.

[Sivodsi]

Thanks, I'll check them out. I thought that I had downloaded the latest drivers after reinstalling Xp, but I'll have a look.