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 Post subject: Games and Resolution changing
PostPosted: Sun Mar 28, 2004 10:08 pm 
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Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2004 9:51 pm
Posts: 7
Hi!

I tired Winstep about a year ago when it came complete (ver 2.8 ) on a magazine cover and, used it for a little while but then moved on to using Litestep then Hoverdesk and now ages later, I've given the new ver of WinStep a spin and, have to say, very impressed. Can't remember why I went off it all that time ago. Really like the WinShelf too which I didn't actually think I would, but am using it all the time now.

One thing that has caught me now a few times though, is NextStep "half" crashing. What I mean is, I lose the menu and the tasks but the systray stays?

It happens after playing a game that grabs full screen and that has a 800x600 menu screen (I think this is where the problem lies anyhow?), in this case "Halo" - which I meanged to pick up cheap recently.

When I come out of the game, if I ctrl-alt-del into task manager, NextStep is still there running but, as I say, all the functionality is gone basically. I can end it there and immediately "create a new task..." which will bring back its functionality no problem (though I'll probably make the system a bit unstable continually doing that?)

I'm on XP using a TFT Monitor which limits me to 1028 x 768 res: a GeForce Ti4200 card and 512 DDR Ram, so I'm not stressing the machine or anything...

Do you know of this happening and have any recommendations for a smoother solution than forcing re-starts of NextStep?

Thanks.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Mar 28, 2004 10:11 pm 
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Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2004 9:51 pm
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Just an addendum to that - I've just noticed that when I re-started NextStep, I got the menu back but lost the systray! :? :roll:

So, restarting ain't really a solution after all...


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 9:41 am 
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When NextSTART (WorkShelf does the same, by the way) detects a screen resolution change, it checks to see if you are running a full screen application - which usually means you are running a game. In order not to interfere with it, NextSTART kind of 'disables' itself.

When you finish your game the screen resolution goes back to what it previously was - NextSTART again detects this change and automatically 'returns to life'.

In your case something seems to be interfering with NextSTART re-enabling itself, probably because the actual game (not the game menu) runs at the same resolution you normally use. There are other safeguards to prevent NextSTART from remaining in 'limbo' - for instance, moving your mouse over the NextSTART startbar should be enough to force it to 'wake up'. Don't you have the NextSTART startbar visible when you return from the game?

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Jorge Coelho
Winstep Xtreme - Xtreme Power!
http://www.winstep.net - Winstep Software Technologies


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 9:15 pm 
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Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2004 9:51 pm
Posts: 7
Hi again,

thanks for the prompt reply.

The theme I had been using was "unlighted ns" which had no normal start bar but I've switched now to one with a start bar and basically have the same problem. When I come out of the game, right-clicking on desktop produces no response and left or right-clicking on start bar does nothing either.

What I have discovered though is if I leave a folder open, then go into the game, when I come back out again, the task bar responds to clicking on the open folder and then NextStart comes back alive too! So, at least that is a solution - I'll do that now in future.

If you're concerned about this problem though and want me to try something else or give you more info, etc, I'd be happy to oblige :)


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