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Corrupt Tooltip Text ?

R

RCAF_Gunner

Charter Member 2012
I've run into a strange problem. From internet searchs I don't think I'm alone but its not really common and I haven't found a solution either. Hopefully someone here knows how to fix it.

Background: Through a series of events, I messed up my system and have done a full rebuild but with a new twist. Since I was doing it all over again, I decided to create a dual boot system with XP and Vista (I was running just Vista before). I got really tired of the UAC nags while doing my FS tinkering in Vista (even when you disable it, UAC nags you everytime you boot) so I thought I'd install FSX on the XP partition this time: one to get rid of the annoying nags and two to see if I could gain some FPS since XP is somewhat leaner then Vista when it comes to underlying services, etc.

So, previously I was running FSX Accel under Vista Ultimate SP1 32bit and now I'm running it under XP Pro SP3 32bit. Both systems were/are up to date with the latest MS patches, video drivers, etc.

The issue I'm having is with any of the FS9 ported aircraft (or FSX "compatible" FS9 models) the tooltip text is garbled. If you squint you can tell the right text is being displayed but the font is not rendering properly. (See the attached image.) This did not happen when I was running the same aircraft on the previous install under Vista. Any of the FSX SDK built aircraft are fine. I've installed FS9 on the XP drive and the aircraft that have trouble in FSX do display the tooltips correctly in FS9 so I believe XP has the necessary fonts.

Has anyone else run into this? If so, how did you fix it?

Thanks,
Rick
 
That started happening to me after the XP SP3 was installed which did something to the windows fonts that interfered with FS.
 
I see that too on the few portovers that I have installed.
Never bothered to look for a fix but would be all ear if someone knows how to adress it. :wavey:
 
Mathias said:
Yep, XP SP3.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mathias.

Hopefully someone has a post-SP3 fix already figured out. I'll definitely let everyone know if I can figure it out in the mean time. I've tried several things such as re-registering my fonts, substituting the fonts that came with FS9 for the ones that came with FSX, etc, but no luck so far. :banghead:
 
I had the same problem a while back, and I vaguely recall being able to correct it by fiddling with the antialiasing, or some of the other video settings. Unfortunately I can't remember where I fiddled - the card or FS.

But it is correctable, I think. I don't see it anymore, at any rate.
 
kilo delta said:
Have you tried updating your GFX drivers and are you running the latest DX9 patch?
Click to expand...

I'm running the latest nVidia WHQL drivers (180.48) and I also grabbed the Nov' 08 DirectX installer while doing the clean install. It's the first time I've done a new XP install with SP3 early in the process vs adding it well after the fact.

Given the first couple of replies regarding SP3, I decided to unintall it and then repatch at the SP2 level. Guess what ~ the problem still exists so I don't think it's strictly a SP3 issue unless what ever SP3 messed up didn't really get removed. (So much for my clean install :costumes:)

Thanks for the link to the other thread Bjoern. It seems it either works or doesn't for some people. I've got to get them back though 'cause I'm just to used to using them to tell me what the gauges do or if the switches are off, etc.

I was using the same version of DX under Vista when things were working. I'm not sure if it's strictly an XP Pro issue or perhaps my video drivers are too new. I'm going to try some older ones. In for a penny...

It's no wonder developers go mad trying to keep track of things like FSX compatible vs true FSX, etc. :mixedsmi:
 
I have yet to see this happen in a certified FSX model. For instance, the older ported Carenado models did this before the certified FSX models were released. Hint.
 
I might be one step closer to understanding the problem. If I change from Full Screen mode to Windowed mode the tooltip text displays correctly. :isadizzy:
 
Craig Taylor said:
My bad - it's never been corrected in my portovers either. :redf: Sorry for the bad gouge.
Click to expand...

Craig, just to confirm... are you running XP as well? If so, which service pack?

The frustrating thing is the tooltips worked fine for any FS9 mdl files when I was running under Vista. I've narrowed it down to just the 3D cockpit in full screen mode. The gauges on the 2D panel are fine and the the 3D gauges display the tooltips properly in windowed mode. Unfortunately, I prefer to fly in the VC and full screen.

Anyhow, if it was a simple matter of replacing the FS9 mdls with FSX SP2 mdls then I would but the aircraft I've ported over, or purchased as FSX SP2 compatible, aren't available in the native format. In some cases they likely never will be.

:kilroy:
 
RCAF_Gunner said:
I might be one step closer to understanding the problem. If I change from Full Screen mode to Windowed mode the tooltip text displays correctly. :isadizzy:
Click to expand...

That has been my experience also. Running XP-SP2, FSX Acelleration.

In full screen I see those PORKED tooltips but a switch to
windowed mode puts them back to readable.

I have my desktop text set to "oversized"...don't know if
this somehow may be causing a problem in FSX.

My desktop and FSX screen reso;utions are the same,
1280 x 1024...the max for my monitor.

Paul
 
Hi everybody!
I had exactly the same problem when I installed my Acceleration Pack (I was running windows XP-SP2 at this moment).
I solved this issue by flying in a windowing mode.
I don't know why this fix it but I never use the full-screen mode and everthing is now OK...
Regards
Sylvain

EDIT : Paul you're too fast for me!! :)
 
My guess was that it was a Font file in your FSX installation that was perhaps either deleted or corrupted.

Tooltips are programmed into the gauge and model codes. Then, the actual Font is located in the FSX font folder. Some guys specify a different Font in their gauges.

So........ You might see if replacing the Fonts might 'restore' things back to normal.

(Perhaps Fonts have 'variable ratio' settings/resolutions like Icons do).



Bill
 
Lionheart said:
My guess was that it was a Font file in your FSX installation that was perhaps either deleted or corrupted.

Tooltips are programmed into the gauge and model codes. Then, the actual Font is located in the FSX font folder. Some guys specify a different Font in their gauges.

So........ You might see if replacing the Fonts might 'restore' things back to normal.

(Perhaps Fonts have 'variable ratio' settings/resolutions like Icons do).



Bill
Click to expand...

Thanks Bill. That got me another step closer and makes me also believe it might still be able to be fixed.

I still have the remnants of the wrecked FSX install on my Vista partition. I renamed the XP copy of FSX's font folder to font.old then copied the font folder from the old install. It did have a few more font files in it. I also re-registerted all those fonts.

So now, in full screen mode, at night some of the FS9 mdl aircraft are displaying their tooltips correctly. A couple of them still don't display the text correctly at night. The same aircraft that now display the tooltip text properly at night go back to being garbled during the day. :isadizzy:

So, I'm wondering could the model be calling different fonts for the daytime vs the nighttime?
 
RCAF_Gunner said:
Craig, just to confirm... are you running XP as well? If so, which service pack?

:kilroy:
Click to expand...

I'm running XP Home with SP3 and FSX with Acceleration -- but I seem to recall having the tooltip text problem on portovers as far back as FSX SP1. It seems to be happening with every portover I have, but not with Accel/SP2 native aircraft.

The corrupted-font issue occurred to me late last night just before I'd gone to bed. Are the fonts specified in a .cfg somewhere, and might it be possible to just specify a different font by editing the file? Just an idle thought...
 
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