Windows 10 and Stellarium OpenGL problem

[Tommohawk]

Hi all

Just a heads-up re a possible problem. My laptop with Win 7 doesn't support the latest OpenGL required for Stellarium, (2.1 or above I  believe) so I run an earlier version - v12.4.

I updated to win 10, and then when I tried to run Stellarium it wouldn't run - got the message "OpenGL version 1.2 or above required". So it seems that after the update to win 10 all Open GL capability was lost. So Ive reverted to Win 7 and Stellarium 12.4. The whole OpenGL thing is a bit freaky - you cant even find out what version you have without installing a (flakey) utility.

 

[Cornelius Varley]

The latest version of Stellarium also has the option to run under Direct3d mode which should solve the problems with windows 10. From the start menu go to "All Apps" and then Stellarium > Stellarium (Angle Direct3d 9 mode). This works for me running Stellarium 0.14.2

[Tommohawk]

Peter thanks for that.

But does this not require OpenGl at all? I know there is a MESA version which has Open GL emulator, but from what I read its slow. My laptop doesnt have dedicated graphics card - will it work with Direct3d mode? 

The obvious answer is to try it, but going to Win 10 and reverting was pretty tortuous!

[Cornelius Varley]

14 minutes ago, Tommohawk said:

Peter thanks for that.

But does this not require OpenGl at all? I know there is a MESA version which has Open GL emulator, but from what I read its slow. My laptop doesnt have dedicated graphics card - will it work with Direct3d mode? 

The obvious answer is to try it, but going to Win 10 and reverting was pretty tortuous!

You can download the latest version of Stellarium and install it in a separate location to your current version and try it in Direct 3d mode.

[Tommohawk]

Thanks - I'll give that a go. TBH I'm happy as I am, but would prefer to upate to Win 10 if poss.

I'll try the dir3d version in another folder and if that works I'll try Win 10 update again and see what happens.

 

Regards

TOm

 

[Dr_Ju_ju]

As Peter has already said, If you are running the latest version of Stellarium this doesn't have a reliance on OpenGL, and will even run correctly in a remote desktop session..

[Tommohawk]

OK thanks for that. However....

I've installed the latest version and the ANGLE version seems fine, but now Stellarium scope appears not to work and I use this extensively. Do you know if theres a work-around or fix for this? I uninstalled the previous version of S before installing the new one.

 

[Tommohawk]

Quick follow on - I've also re-installed the latest version of Stellarium Scope and this causes even more problems. A virus shows on the very latest version, and the previous version doesnt run at all - I get an error at the outset. 

[Tommohawk]

Further follow on in case anyone else has this problem.

I now have Stellarium 14.3 working in ANGLE mode and its great. Most folk with a more modern PC or laptop might not need this as their Open GL support will be better. 

I suspect the earlier MESA mode will become redundant because many folk seem to report it's slow to render and ANGLE is now being used for graphics rendering on a number of common browsers. In fact I cant get MESA version working at all on mine.

Also, I found that StellariumScope v2013.8.9.68 also works OK on Stellarium 14.3, even though its a rather out of date version. The problem is that I had S.Scope set to auto start Stellarium, and of course it was pointing to the Vanilla version which crashes, rather than the ANGLE version. The solution is to uncheck the "auto-start Stellarium" box in S.Scope, and open the ANGLE verison manually once S.Scope has fired up.

Thanks for the pointers!

Next step, reload Win 10 and see if it all works OK still.  Here we go again.......!

 

[nightvision]

Did it work OK on 10?

[Tommohawk]

31 minutes ago, nightvision said:

Did it work OK on 10?

Haven't had time to try it yet. I've been taking my chances imaging Mars and not keen to end up with risky set-up that causes problems. I'll post again when I've got round to it - something to look forward to when its cloudy... probably not too long!

 

[Tommohawk]

Right - slightly later than advertised, as they say...!

Windows 10 now installed, and runs Stellarium v14.3 in ANGLE mode, with Stellarium Scope v2013.8.9.68.

BUT! 

Then I had a problem with the Serial/USB cable drivers used to connect to the mount (which I do via the Synscan handset). There are other threads about this but is seems Win 10 requires an older driver. This is fiddly to install because Win 10 by default keeps re-installing the latest drivers.

TBH I spent a long time on this and was about to give up, but somehow I did succeed in the end using Prolific driver v3.3.5.122. It seem odd that such an early (2009) driver would work but it does. I installed using: Update driver/browse my computer/let me pick from a list of drivers  

Out of curiosity I then tried installing the other driver options again subsequently in case some other setting had been changed and they both failed again, so back to the early one again and all OK.

So all I need now is some clear sky... good luck with that to all!

[Tommohawk]

Yet another follow on regarding windows 10 and Stellarium + Stellarium scope.... in case anyone's interested!

Windows 10 recent update included added security features which can prevent COM port communications. When connecting the mount using S Scope, a warning window pops up advising thats comms are blocked unless you tick the "allow access" box. That's fine, but for some reason it tried to reinstall the drivers - and you need to ensure you get the correct driver version - see earlier post.

Also, on my set up, Stellarium v15 will not work with S Scope connected via the handset. Mount control operates, but the scope position doesnt show and no "goto" is possible using CTRL1.

It may be OK via EQDIR cable, but I don't have that to try.

I reverted to S. v14.3 and all is well again (2 hours of clear sky later, just in time for the cloud!! Grrr)