DirectX 8 is really really messed up on my computer.
Author
Ok, I have been developing in DirectDraw with directx 7 for a while now, and I just decided to learn Direct3d. I hear DX 8 is better for that, so I download the sdk for version 8.1.
Major problems. For some reason, whenever I run the example programs, even the precompiled ones, it says no direct3d hardware accelerator can be found, and proceeds to use the rasterizer, which runs at around a frame every five seconds.
Oddly enough, the old Direct3d samples from DirectX 7 run just fine, even though I am using the directX 8.1 runtime.
This is really annoying, and unless I can find a way to fix it, I will have to give up trying to program DirectX8.
By the way, my video card is a Chromatic Research Mpact media proccesor with 4 mb of ram, integrated into the motherboard. Crappy, I know, but it is a graphics accelerator card, and the precompiled demos from Directx 7 do run at over 100 fps on it.
Oddly enough, I cannot find any place on the net to download updated drivers for this card, in case that may have any effect.
My guess is that this small, obselete card, which was bought preinstalled in my Gateway comp 3.5 years ago, is no longer supported by DirectX. But that would be very wierd, as version 7 and down all supported it without any problem, and programs made in those versions of directX still run under the 8.1 runtime.
Thanks for any help you may be able to offer.
Your diagnosis sounds right to me. Don''t blame microsoft though, its the fault of the card manufacturer - they''re the ones who are supposed to make the directX drivers for their card. Oh, and blame gateway... I don''t know why, just blame them anyway 
If you''re wondering why the old DX7 samples work fine, that''s down to the design of DirectX. Its supposed to be completely backward compatible, so if a DX7 app tries to run on a DX8 setup, it effectively is running on DX7.
If you''re wondering why the old DX7 samples work fine, that''s down to the design of DirectX. Its supposed to be completely backward compatible, so if a DX7 app tries to run on a DX8 setup, it effectively is running on DX7.
Author
Drat. A question, though. To get this to work, is it possible that at some point Chromatic will release new drivers for the card, and I just install them, and everything is OK? Or do they make them for Microsoft, who bundles them with directX, and then ships it, and if DX8 dosn''t have them, it probably never will? Because they are not going to release an update to include one more graphics card.
And, another question. Does this mean that no new games will work on my comp? It would seem to. Oh well. I guess I cannot keep this old pII 266 forever.
And, another question. Does this mean that no new games will work on my comp? It would seem to. Oh well. I guess I cannot keep this old pII 266 forever.
I''m not really sure about how it works. My general impression was that the card designers make the drivers available to their customers direct (usually on their website). If a card is particularly popular/common, drivers for it get bundled with the latest version of DX. That''s all speculation though.
If you hunt around some you might be able to dig up some drivers, if you''re lucky. See if the company designed the chip on the card or just bought one off the shelf. In my old PC, the graphics card was made by a no-name manufacturer, but they had just used an S3 virge DX chip. Reference drivers from S3 kept me going for a good while.
In response to your second question, you CAN keep the old pII 266 forever (until it falls to bits, anyway). Keep it so if you write any games, you''ll have an old system to test them on. My P200MMX is gone now an I wish I had it to test things out on every now and then.
If you hunt around some you might be able to dig up some drivers, if you''re lucky. See if the company designed the chip on the card or just bought one off the shelf. In my old PC, the graphics card was made by a no-name manufacturer, but they had just used an S3 virge DX chip. Reference drivers from S3 kept me going for a good while.
In response to your second question, you CAN keep the old pII 266 forever (until it falls to bits, anyway
). Keep it so if you write any games, you''ll have an old system to test them on. My P200MMX is gone now an I wish I had it to test things out on every now and then.
First of all - what samples u ran, DDraw or D3D ones?
I''ve seen Direct3D7 running (with HAL inialization) on old (don''t remember name) 1Mb video card (and it ran somehow fast!)
My guess is that D3D7 goes so software rasterizer on non-capable cards even if u specify HAL, however speed is a mystery... I don''t think it''s a driver issue though... but who knows
I''ve seen Direct3D7 running (with HAL inialization) on old (don''t remember name) 1Mb video card (and it ran somehow fast!)
My guess is that D3D7 goes so software rasterizer on non-capable cards even if u specify HAL, however speed is a mystery... I don''t think it''s a driver issue though... but who knows
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