Celestia Forums

Hello,

I've just downloaded the newest version of Celestia, but unfortunately it's not running properly: After a few (mostly laggy) minutes, the programm does not respond anymore and my hole screen turns black.

Just in case you need to know a little about my computer:
ATI Radeon Xpress 1100
Processor: 3400+
1.79 GHz 448 MB RAM

I would be most grateful for helpful answers.

With best regards,

Jonas

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The usual cause of these kinds of symptoms are obsolete and buggy graphics drivers. You should try downloading and installing the most recent drivers available from the Web site of the manufacturer of your computer.

If you're running Windows or Linux, they're free. If you have a Mac, you'll have to spend the money to upgrade to the most recent release of MacOS, I'm sorry to say.

I am running Windows XP and I already installed the latest updates via the Windows hardware-manager. It should have the same effect as downloading it manually from the site of the manufacturer, i guess? But anyway, i'll give it a shot.

Thanks so far for your advice.

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First of all, thanks for your efforts. But having not the faintest idea of how a computer works, I do not really understand what I am supposed to do. Which of the updates on the site of Nvidia shall i choose? I don't know my graphic driver and I wasn't even able to find one in my control panel.

I am sorry for my dumb questions...

Since you reported having an ATI card, going to the NVIDIA website for a driver update will be pointless and a waste of time. You should go to the ATI/Radeon Xpress web site and look for a driver for your make and model card. Then install it. Be sure to look for instructions on how to do so when downloading the driver update. I use an NVIDIA card so I can't help further.
cartrite

--- edit ---

Hi!

Celestia is running properly now and I'm stunnend by the possiblities this programm offers.
BUT^^
as always, there's a new problem: I'm forced to use the 800x600 resolution and I cannot set the system back to 1024x600. Every time I try, the screen turns... weird, it flickers and displays everthing way to large...

Can anyone help me one last time?

Thanks in advance,
Jonas

Zacharias wrote:... But having not the faintest idea of how a computer works, I do not really understand what I am supposed to do.

...which is precisely the reason why Celestia doesn't run on your machine ...

How about learning a bit how to use a computer? Not quite unimportant these days...
With 448 MB of RAM and Windows installed (300 MB) you can hardly do more than emailing...

Fridger

t00fri wrote:

Zacharias wrote:... But having not the faintest idea of how a computer works, I do not really understand what I am supposed to do.

...which is precisely the reason why Celestia doesn't run on your machine ...

How about learning a bit how to use a computer? Not quite unimportant these days...
With 448 MB of RAM and Windows installed (300 MB) you can hardly do more than emailing...

Fridger

LOL

Guys,

If you don't want to help, please don't insult people. Just ignore it and go on to the next posting.


Zacharias,

Display problems like you describe are almost always caused by defective graphics drivers.
Celestia tries to use the highest level of capability that the driver claims to have.
Too often, that is the buggiest part of the driver.

If you are uncomfortable upgrading the drivers yourself, you might ask one of your more computer savvy friends to help. Another option is to take it to an independent computer store and ask them to do it for you. Of course, the latter will cost money.

Thanks for everyone who helped me! Everything's fine now.

and guess what, I managed to do it ALL BY MYSELF. I haven't felt this independent since I moved out.^^

Besides, I'm not at all interested in reading such dumb comments. Either the language and the content of your post just show me, that you obviously had a bad day - not more. Always remember: Nobody's perfect and perhaps it will be me who will be helping you some day with a problem concerning another subject.

Greetings and thanks again,
Jonas