Windows* 7 Driver (32-bit) - Version 1091 - Intel® GMA 3600

[NICHOLAS_F_Intel]

Hello again everyone. Following in the same spirit as the last Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3600 driver feedback thread, I'm making a new one to announce our latest driver release. Version 1091 just went live today, and I would again like to ask everyone to provide constructive feedback on it.

The link to the download is here; http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=3468&DwnldID=22633&ProductFamily=Graphics&ProductLine=Netbook+and+Tablet+Graphics&ProductProduct=Intel%c2%ae+Graphics+Media+Accelerator+3600+Series&DownloadType=Drivers&lang=eng Download Center

The same rules apply for this thread as did apply for the last one. This thread is dedicated specifically to this driver and the feedback for this driver. This thread is not a discussion place for Windows* 8 GMA 3600 driver questions/complaints, nor is it for Windows* 7 GMA (64-bit) driver requests/complaints. Any such comments will be promptly deleted. However, please feel free to use any of the already-existing threads of that topic to discuss and provide feedback there.

Along with the feedback, if there are any new issues that resulted from the new driver, please provide detailed information on where you saw them, how it happened, and what steps to reproduce.

Thank you,

-Nicics_media_

[VCian]

I noticed that on some sites with videos, when I try to watch them in full screen they begin to have green flickering, even if the video links to youtube, but then when i watch the same video directly from Youtube, it works normally, this is strange.

[KHans13]

Sazer wrote:

Hi Nic , i want to know if you can make this driver support with OpenGl 2.0, before i update the driver its only support OpenGl 2.0 for 50%, when i done update the driver it went to 68%, i wonder if you can make it 100% .

How did you find those percentages? I ran OpenGL Extensions Viewer 4.1.1 and it claims that there is full, 100% support for OpenGL 1.1-3.0 and 12% for 3.1.

On the other hand, everything under the "Functions" section for each OGL version has a red dot by it. Perhaps this is why FRAPS doesn't cooperate with OGL.

I also put the GMA 3600 through the program's rendering tests, and every one except the OGL 2.0 test passed with radial fog and user clip plane disabled. Enabling one or both of the previous 2 options allowed the 2.0 test to complete, even though it and the 2.1 test didn't actually show the fog (I can take screenshot if needed). There also seems to be no anisotropic filtering available. Enabling 4x multisampling reduces performance a little, but doesn't do anything else. There's no smoothing of the "jaggies" or any other effect. Quincunx multisampling also does nothing, albeit with no performance impact.

Overall, very interesting results, to say the least.

[VWija]

well, i using old version of opengl extension viewer, well here you are

well if i use the latest versions yes, its the same as your image

[NICHOLAS_F_Intel]

Hi everyone,

I need some assistance with identifying flickering. I've seen the YouTube* video on page 2 that detailed some very intense flickering, however I do not have access to a lot of games currently. I tried to find flickering with the Kerbal Space Program* game and was only able to identify intense latency (no flickering). Additionally I've tested numerous videos and have also been unsuccessful in identifying any flickering (some on YouTube*, some linked from other sites, etc). Are there any freeware games or other reliable examples of flickering that you feel are consistently showing the flickering issue?

Thank you,

-Nic

[agree11]

Hi Nic,

Thanks for the comment here, it's good to see progress. Could you explain what you mean by extreme latency? I think you mean that the refresh rate is very low? If so I have never experienced this, well only on my Atom N270. I'm running a N2800 so maybe that helps the situation. Flickering in Kerbal is particularly bad in the entrance screen (when it shows the rocket has crashed into the Mun). If you need an example I'll see if I can put a video of this up on youtube for you. Many thanks again for the informative responses.

Alasdair

[NICHOLAS_F_Intel]

Hi Alasdair,

I'm running a system with D2700 - extreme latency would be any interaction within the game taking a while to register. It could be that because I'm using the demo, I do not get to see this movie you're referring to. What I get after the publisher logo is the option screen for starting game, settings, etc. In addition to the Mun crashing scene you are referring to, can you also provide a section for flickering that can be experienced during gameplay as well?

Thanks again,

-Nic

[agree11]

Hi Nic,

I'm also using the demo, so that is not the issue. Could you give some more info on your system set up? I'll get that sorted as soon as possible (and as soon as I work out how to do that ). Thanks again for your time.

Regards,

Alasdair

[NICHOLAS_F_Intel]

CPU: D2700

OS: Windows* 7 32-bit

Memory: 2GB

Driver: 1091

Are you using the latest demo they provide on the website? Do you see the crash scene every time you start the game, or just the first time?

Thanks,

-Nic

[agree11]

Hi Nic,

As far as I am aware I'm using the latest demo version. It depends, sometimes there is this crash scene, other times there is some Kerbals floating in space. I have a previous post on here describing the issues in that situation (green faces becoming black and red). Youtube video of a loading and launch should be up shortly at this address, if anything is not entirely clear, just reply and I will try and get better shots etc. http://youtu.be/yT4uj0-WmxY http://youtu.be/yT4uj0-WmxY

Thanks again,

Alasdair

[agree11]

I would also suggest that the 2GB might be an issue, I'm no computer expert but I know that with 1GB this computer was unusable, 4GB has been a significant improvement, I wonder if that is also improving my gameplay?

[KHans13]

First off, a big thank-you to Nic for showing interest in fixing the driver. I believe it's not pointless to be excited about some real progress anymore.

So far, I've found 2 freeware games in my library that have a flickering problem, Driving Speed 2 and the Driving Speed Pro demo. When Specular Bloom is enabled, there is a ridiculous amount of flickering all over the screen, even if no 3D rendering is being done. Also, whether or not bloom is turned on, there is flickering when any 3D rendering is being done outside of a race, i.e. when displaying car models in "Career Mode - Home". In Driving Speed 2, any transition where the screen fades to black (like when you click Options) is accompanied by a brief period of flickering. This doesn't happen in DSP.

In Source engine games, there is a lot of flickering, but that can be fixed by turning on V-Sync. That decreases performance, though, so I really don't like doing it.

[agree11]

Hi Nic,

I saw you posting on this topic, I wonder if a similar scheme might not help with the issues we are having with the GMA 3600. I for one would be more than happy for Intel to have access to my computer for an extended period. Could you let us know if this is possible.

Regards,

Alasdair

[NICHOLAS_F_Intel]

Hi Alasdair,

In regards to doing the same process for GMA 3600 that we are for the black-screen issue, this might become a possibility in the future if needed. Fortunately for this issue (unlike the black screen) we are able to reproduce the majority of the issues being seen (not game specific though because I do not have a library of games to access!). That being said, you have been able to reproduce a flickering issue that I have been unable to so far - so I would like to keep working with you all on getting that straightened out.

I will be testing out the F2P games Kory stated had the flickering issue above. The other issue I am having issues reproducing is the VC-1 decode failure reported on page 3 and 7 in this thread. Without using Windows Media Player Classic*, does anyone here have detailed repro steps on how to recreate the problem?

Thanks again for your patience,

-Nic

[agree11]

Hi Nic,

Thanks for the update, glad to see things are moving along. Sadly I have very few games either, apart from Kerbal. I'll have a look at the VC-1 decode issue. I might also have an issue with BBC video player, but I need to check this further to see if this is a computer or video specific issue.

Thanks again for your work and replies,

Alasdair

[agree11]

Hi Nic,

In reference to the page 3 issue I can report that I have bigger problems with Media player classic (http://sourceforge.net/projects/mpc-hc/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/mpc-hc/). The video plays the first frame and then stops completely. In addition I have similar problems with vlc player. However this only happens with some WMV files, in particular I have checked the file listed in the previous post and this produces these results, but one that I converted myself from an MP4 file works just fine. I could not find the post on this page (page 7) could you highlight who posted and maybe the date etc?

If you need any further information please let me know,

Thanks,

Alasdair

[LAlve2]

Nic,

The issue shown in page 3 of this thread has been experienced with Media Classic Player Home Cinema (version to date), with the MPC-HC internal video decoder enabled which is supposed to use the hardware acceleration to decode videos, when possible. This can be configured when installing the software.

I suppose that the artifacts cannot be seen if the video is not hardware decoded. I do not have other VC-1 videos so I cannot tell if this is an issue specific to this kind of video, but the VC-1 WinSAT video is not properly rendered under the above mentioned settings.

The other WinSAT videos might flicker or glitch so I would suggest trying them all so you can see by yourself.

Regards, Lio.

[KHans13]

Hi Nic,

Thank you so much for what you've done thus far; it's refreshing to be able to cooperate with an Intel employee.

I've never encountered the VC-1 corruption on my netbook, so I won't be able to be of much help there. As for the flickering, I'll look diligently for free, downloadable games that exhibit it. I haven't found any since my last post, but rest assured, I'm looking.

[NICHOLAS_F_Intel]

Thanks for the info everyone!

@Kory: I have reproduced the flickering with Driving Speed 2*, that should be enough to prove there is an issue. I will let you know if more evidence is needed.

I also believe I have found a reliable source for the VC-1 decoding issue, but am verifying it with others.

As usual, I will provide an update in this thread when I have new information.

Thanks all,

-Nic

[agree11]

Hi Nic,

Thanks for the update, I've been looking through the forum today and found some posts that might have some relevance to this post.

First of all a post about flickering on the z2670: http://communities.intel.com/message/198575# 198575 http://communities.intel.com/message/198575# 19857

Secondly is there any difference in setup between our (mostly) N2600/2800 and the D2700 you are using? I think not but maybe that could be affecting some of your diagnostic work.

Thirdly I believe that the current drivers are using Imagination technologies 1.7 DDK, is it possible and are there any potential advantages to use the later (latest?) version 1.9?

Thanks again,

Alasdair

[KHans13]

Awesome news, Nic, I can't wait to see where this gets us.

I tried playing WinSAT's VC-1 video in MPC-HC, and I get the same corruption mentioned previously. Playback from Windows Media Player is slower than from MPC-HC, but otherwise OK.

[agree11]

Is anyone able to replicate my crash after opening this video? Or possibly this is an issue with the N2800 or the N2600? Do I need to change settings on MPC-HC?

Thanks, Alasdair