Black Boxes When Approaching Earth

[Seano]

I've recently got a new rig and Vista. I've noticed that when approaching earth using the older VT, black boxes appear near the horizon, and then the system crashes as I get close to 9 KM from the surface. When I took levels 9 -12 out of the directory, wierd things still happen, but it doesn't crash.
Tried 1.4.1, and I get blocks but no crashes.

Indian Ocean 1.jpg

Seattle.jpg

Seattle 2.jpg

I've put Vista Ultimate in the old rig too, and the same problem occurs. Driver Issue? I updated the drivers ( a month old,) and updated OpenGL as well.
It's a shame, because I went out and spent the money on a new sys FOR Celestia


System: Q6600 Quad Core
4 DDR2 Memory
512 Mb NVidia 9600GT
Windows Vista Ultimate
Celestia Version - 1.4.1 - 1.5.1 - 1.6.0

[selden]

Exactly where are you getting your graphics drivers?

You seem to be claiming that you're updating "drivers" separately from "OpenGL". That implies that you are not using the correct drivers.

When you update the graphics drivers by using drivers that you download from Nvidia, OpenGL is included. There is no separate OpenGL option.

Drivers provided by Microsoft do not include a functioning OpenGL. You must use the ones from Nvidia.

[Seano]

Yes, I realize now that I sounded like a total noob there...
What I had downloaded was OpenGL for Windows 95 - totally useless.

Like the scene from the movie "Zoolander" - "Oh,... it's IN the computer...."

Yah, so I updated the NVidia drivers from their website, and the issues were still occuring. Going back to version 1.4.1, these problems don't arise. So it has to be that versions 1.5.0 and higher don't like the more widely availible JMII DDS VT or 16k jpgs (yup, had an issue with them too.) Maybe that's one of the reasons everyone else has gravitated to the new BMNG textures.

Has anyone else had a problem running 16k jpeg textures or JMII DDS VT? I finally have a machine that doesn't choke on 16k's - would not be cool if I had to be resigned to 1.4.1

NOT that I'm complaining: I've followed Celestia's development since ver 1.25 -
AND I am appreciative of all the volunteer help on this forum. Without you guys, most of us would not have the beautiful program we love today.

[AstroNut]

I have Jekoz's USA: Hawaii: Pearl Harbor installed.
I don't get black boxes, but when I try to zoom in below 11 Km
above Pearl, Celestia crashes. I am currently running 1.5.1 and 1.6.0 SVN r4542
and it happens in both.

I am running Celestia on a Sony VAIO with 4GB DDR memory
1GB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT
Intel Core2 Duo CPU T8300 @ 2.4 GHz

Pearl.jpg

BTW I forgot to mention that I have the JMII DDS VT's installed.
After removing Levels 6-12, no more crashes.

[AstroNut]

Did some more investigation.
Cycled through all 5 render paths: crashes at
8.479 Km, 9.211 Km, 9.616 Km, 9.378 Km and 11.129 Km
Similar results when I have atmosphere and clouds turned off.

[John Van Vliet]

--- edit ---

[Seano]

Sorry for the confusion, John...

No, I didn't install any Microsoft Driver (except what came on the Vista Install DVD.)

I only updated drivers from the NVidia website. Also to correct my first post... 1.4.1 does NOT show any black boxes as you get closer than 9km. I looked at a fresh install of 1.5.1, and noticed something that may (or may not) be part of the puzzle.

As one has enjoyed the many years of Celestia and its numerous addons, you begin to THINK you know how to update to a new version. For instance, when 1.4.1 came out, I simply copied my old solarsys.ssc file in the old version, dropped into 1.4.1, and made some minor adjustments.

Looking at the solarsys.ssc file for 1.5.1, I see that it looks quite different from older versions (not neatly spaced out, etc.)
There is also some new code that produces the lovely atmospheric effects. Could the act of simply copying the "old" solarsys.ssc file from 1.4.1 and dropping it into 1.5.1 produce these black boxes that are appearing as you get close to the surface?

[John Van Vliet]

--- edit ---

[Seano]

Okay, I've installed a fresh copy of 1.5.1, and gone through its solarsys.ssc file to add in the JMII DSS info. When I start Celestia, beautiful Earth pops up. As I get close to the surface, the black boxes still appear. When I went back into solarsys.ssc and comment out the "Oblateness" data, then go back in to Celestia, the black boxes do not show up.

Hmmm...

So the black boxes appearing and the whole thing crashing as you get close to the surface are two unrelated issues.

Not seeing Earth's minute oblateness - No Big Deal
System crashing as you approach the surface - Big, BIG deal.

If I take out folders level9 through level12, the program does not crash. I've gone through each of those folders, trying to see if it was something in them that was creating the problem. But even with those folders completely empty sitting in the directory, the program will crash. It's almost as if Celestia 1.5.1 doesn't like VT over level8. Is this a possibility? I have quite a few closeups, and really would like to zoom in as I did with 1.4.1.

Any suggestions?

[cartrite]

It sounds like your problem is with the JMII DSS addon and the way you installed it.
You say that you have folders level9 through 12, but I only see that addon going to level 10. So you must have some other addons installed in the upper levels also. You may want to check that these extra textures have the same file type and size. Could you post the ctx file for this addon?
cartrite

[BobHegwood]

Just for your further information here, I too ran into problems with Celestia
crashing at levels 11-12. I cannot say what the problem is, but you should verify
that ALL of your VT's are of the same types and size. In other words, if you are
using Jestr's 2k DDS textures, then I would suggest that your level 11 textures
are also 2k DDS files.

Just a thought...

Please pardon my incoherence at the moment too. I just booted up another
brand new PC, and I haven't figured out all of its peculiarities yet.

My damned HP computer lost itself in a hardware video error. It was 14
months old and I am pissed at HP. Went and bought another Gateway
today, since my old one lasted 8 years.

Thanks, Brain-Dead

[Seano]

Yes, JMII DDS may only go to level 10, and there may be addons from other sourses with other file sizes...

But 1.4.1 ran them with no issue.

There was no problem before switching to 1.5.1. And as I said before, even with EMPTY folders, the program crashes if you have folders marked levels 9 - 12. If it were a problem with file sizes, wouldn't the program be stable with empty folders?

Anyway, maybe someone with more experience can decipher what "Vista" is trying to tell me - here's what pops up when the program crashes...

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: celestia1.5.1.exe
Application Version: 1.5.1.0
Application Timestamp: 47dacb79
Fault Module Name: StackHash_1703
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 04d7e9c8
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 1703
Additional Information 2: 2264db07e74365624c50317d7b856ae9
Additional Information 3: 1344
Additional Information 4: 875fa2ef9d2bdca96466e8af55d1ae6e

Probably just Windows gobbledy-gook...

Cartite, you asked to see the ctx file for JMII DDS addon, so here it is...

VirtualTexture
{
ImageDirectory "JMII DDS"
BaseSplit 0
TileSize 512
TileType "dds"
}

Hope this helps someone figure out this mystery...

[cartrite]

Seano,
I was able to crash Celestia when I put empty level11 and level12 folders in my earth VT directory. It did not matter what file format it was either. I put the empty folders in the dds VT and the png VT. Both created a crash when I got close enough. I was able to use Celestia 1.5.0 with these folders present without crashing Celestia. I seemed to remember that Chris started using the 2008 compiler before 1.5.1 was released but that may not be the case.

Anyhow, I was only able to crash Celestia with svn builds from the 2008 compiler. So I went through some trials and tribulations with the 2005 compiler and was able to build a svn r4565 executable with makerelease.bat and the command line VC++2005 compiler. This does not crash. I've updated both of my web sites with this executable.

You'll have to read the read me files and make some changes to your celestia.cfg file to use this executable. Let me know if this works for you.
cartrite

[cartrite]

I've found something to look for when trying to debug this bug that causes Celestia to crash with level11 and level12 folders in a VT. I can build executables with the vc++2008 and vc++2005 compilers but I must use makerelease.bat to build with. If I use the VC project file and the GUI to build with it always crashes when trying to load a level11 texture. One thing that I do differently when building with makerelease.bat is use different winlibs. So either the winlibs are causing this or some option is present/not present in makerelease files that is or is not being used in the VC project.

I've also noticed something else. When I'm viewing a level11 or level12 texture and I have sync orbit enabled, the view is jittered and bounces around. I need to pause time to get the view to steady itself.
cartrite

[Seano]

Cartite,

You are a SUPERGENIUS!!!!!

You have fixed the errors that I was experiencing with the program.
Your patch on your website worked like a charm!! Many thanks.

And thank you to all who tried to fix (and continue to fix) bugs like these. When noobs like me come across them and wig out, we know that there are skilled individuals like yourselves, taking the time to help us muddle through. All your hard work is much appreciated.

And now, back to the show...

[cartrite]

You must have got svn 4565. I'm glad you got it before it was updated and changed. The last update I did was 4580 and that probably won't work. I had to build the way I normally do because it was causing problems elsewhere. So save the one you got "r4565". Chris is looking into the real cause of this and may have a real patch soon.
cartrite

[jogad]

Hello

I had svn465 and no problem.
I loaded version 480 and again no problem!
Whatever the version, everything is fine for me! I have tested with Jestr JMII textures and the Jekoz’ Perl Harbor and Andrea’s Venice addons.

The only little worry is that on these days in Venice night textures are shown, even at noon. This is not very realistic in Italy and somewhat spoils the view.