[cdressel]

copperpen, on 12 June 2018 - 01:20 AM, said:

Are you absolutely sure that when MSTS or OR are running that the Nvidia system is used instead of the Intel one. Some laptops have an auto system that switches between the two, others have to be done manually following manufacturers instructions.

Well, no, I'm not sure. I have all the settings correct for MSTS and OR to use the nVidia GPU but I'm not sure how to verify it. nVidia is the default/preferred graphics processor. In the nVidia Control Panel, I've checked that MSTS and OR are set to run with the nVidia GPU. However, when I run the nVidia icon in the system tray, it never shows MSTS or OR as running, while other programs are shown.

Another issue is that whether or not I'm using the nVidia GPU, the integrated Intel HD 630 graphics would seem to be able to run MSTS just fine. It's a lot better than what we used to have.

Can you offer and suggestions as to how to force MSTS to use the nVidia GPU? Although the nVidia Control Panel says I'm supposed to be using it, apparently I'm not.

Thanks for any help you can offer.
Chuck

[ckawahara]

Doesn't the nvidia control panel offer a gpu activity view option? This view will only display your nvidia gpu activity. You stated that you were using nvidia earlier on...was this thru the 3D setting option of the nvidia control panel?

[cdressel]

ckawahara, on 12 June 2018 - 12:18 PM, said:

Doesn't the nvidia control panel offer a gpu activity view option? This view will only display your nvidia gpu activity. You stated that you were using nvidia earlier on...was this thru the 3D setting option of the nvidia control panel?

Yes. In the nVidia Control Panel, I tell Trains.exe and Openrails.exe to use the nVidia GPU. Openrails.exe does just fine. I can watch the nVidia start working when I start Open rails. If I start MSTS with Trains.exe, however, there is no nVidia GPU activity. Before, I thought there was but I was mistaken. MSTS does not seem to run on the nVidia GPU. I've gone back to the nVidia Control Panel and it says for MSTS to use the nVidia GPU but for some reason it doesn't. Although I'm confused, your (and other) question are helping me better understand what's happening (or, not).


I'm trying to understand why the Control Panel doesn't do what I think it's supposed to.
Thanks
Chuck

[Mike B]

I'm not surprised at minimal nVidia activity with MSTS - it uses the GPU essentially as a dumb VGA board. Rendering and other graphics work is done on the CPU, as was common when MSTS was written in the late 1990s. ORTS does use the GPU, so it should trigger signs (in the Task Manager I presume) of GPU activity.

[cdressel]

Mike B, on 12 June 2018 - 04:48 PM, said:

I'm not surprised at minimal nVidia activity with MSTS - it uses the GPU essentially as a dumb VGA board. Rendering and other graphics work is done on the CPU, as was common when MSTS was written in the late 1990s. ORTS does use the GPU, so it should trigger signs (in the Task Manager I presume) of GPU activity.

OK, I'm going to go beat my head against a wall now. Everything I've read says that the nVidia GPU is compatible with MSTS. In fact the nVidia driver loads with automatic defaults for MSTS. But, I just can't figure out how to make it work.

Back to the main issue - MSTS seems to allow any steam locomotive Cabview to work properly. Open Rails will not let the mouse control the (most) steam locomotive reverser levers. I have to use the 'W' and 'S' keys. The only steam loco Reverser levers that work in my Open Rails installation is the original steam locos that came with MSTS. That's why I was trying to understand certain things about MSTS running on the nVidia. I was hoping that was the problem. I guess not. When I want to run steam, I'll just have to use MSTS and not Open rails.

Thanks to everyone giving me help, ideas and getting me stated down the right track (pun intended). :sign_thanks:
Chuck

[ckawahara]

Might give using older driver(s) a try. You did compare the OR wag & cvf files of the original MSTS steam loco's against the ones for the engine you are trying to get to work? It sure sounds to me that it's an issue with your engine setup.

Still have your old machine...did the engines work on it?

Have access to another pc to test OR and the engine(s) on?

Have you check other sites to see if your particular engine/OR issues have been reported?

I'm going back to read everything again, but why do you think it's a pc issue? The driver appears to be working, that is you say it loads, and the default MSTS stuff functions. The nvidia control panel says you have activity and you say that it's properly configured to use nvidia.

It's difficult to troubleshoot without having the actual machine. Good Luck!

[Hobo]

Seems to me that " way back when " there were some cvf files for that cab that had an error in the reverser and throttle sections - - - make sure they say " NOT_SPRUNG "
Just a Thought !

[cdressel]

Hobo, on 14 June 2018 - 08:16 AM, said:

Seems to me that " way back when " there were some cvf files for that cab that had an error in the reverser and throttle sections - - - make sure they say " NOT_SPRUNG "
Just a Thought !

Well, some of my files are from, "way back when". Thanks for the tip. I'll go looking.
(I'm learning way more than I thought I needed to know about engine files.)
Thanks again.
Chuck

[EricF]

Just my 2 cents' worth on the MSTS side -- If MSTS starts and runs correctly, there aren't any scrambled characters/text on the menu screens, and when you run a route the ground textures look OK, then MSTS' graphic output is successfully being passed through the Nvidia chipset. (Most of the recent Intel graphics chipsets and drivers don't correctly support the very outdated DirectX calls used by MSTS and generate all kinds of artifacts.) As already mentioned, MSTS does all its graphics processing on the CPU and then uses DirectX and the GPU mostly as a "dumb pipe" to put the graphics on the screen. The GPU is essentially idle under MSTS as far as any real processing goes.

I'd go with the suggestions to look more deeply into your .cvf file, as some older ones do contain "mistakes" in their syntax which will cause incorrect or missing control animations in Open Rails. They work in MSTS because of the way MSTS tends to ignore obvious errors and just follow some basic hard-coded behavior -- which masks the error. Open Rails uses strict interpretation of inputs -- which means bad configuration in will show up as error messages or bad output results.

There are a few specific cases where specific "bad" MSTS configuration lines in cabs and in braking became so commonplace that Open Rails now has additional programming to recognize these and substitute correct behavior, but this is an exception for legacy files and not the rule. Most individual mis-configurations will reveal themselves in Open Rails and have to be fixed case-by-case.

[cdressel]

Hobo, on 14 June 2018 - 08:16 AM, said:

Seems to me that " way back when " there were some cvf files for that cab that had an error in the reverser and throttle sections - - - make sure they say " NOT_SPRUNG "
Just a Thought !

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

That was the answer as to why I couldn't get the Reverser/Cut-Off lever to appear to move. The cvf file had the Cut-Off Lever as " NONE ". When I changed it to " NOT_SPRUNG ", it worked as it should.

It looks like a cvf file was copied and copied from engine to engine. Unfortunately, the original file had the error. Every one I've fixed so far has worked great.

Thanks again.

Chuck