Post by Deftware in Help launching PixelCNC

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1.948 GL_VENDOR: Microsoft Corporation <--- this should say 'Intel'
1.948 GL_VERSION: 1.1.0

It is still saying that you're running the default Windows driver for OpenGL, which is just a placeholder/last-resort/fallback when either there's no graphics hardware present, or no proper driver for graphics hardware that's present. I suggest trying to install the 'Intel GMA' driver that I mentioned previously instead. It might just do the trick.

Also, I did find a forum post where a guy explained a solution for people with Dell Latitude laptops that couldn't get their Intel HD drivers to install properly to play Minecraft because of OpenGL problems just like you are having. His solution was to manually install the drivers instead of letting the downloaded EXE file install them automatically.

So there's two things I suggest you try. First see if the Intel HD 'GMA' driver solves the OpenGL problem: (https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER01284336M/1/Video_Driver_W33X5_WN_8.15.10.2993_...)

If that still does not work then I believe that this guy's forum thread he started about fixing OpenGL support on Intel HD for Dell laptops might be the key. He said that instead of installing it using the driver download EXE's built-in driver installer, he said to go for the 'extract only' option beneath that - where it simply writes the files out to a user-specified destination (i.e. a folder on your desktop). From there you can go into device-manager and into the Intel HD display adapter properties, and click the 'Update Driver' button (which is visible on the last screenshot you posted). From there you can direct Windows where it should seek for the drivers you want it to install, pointing it to the files extracted from the downloaded driver EXE package. He says that after hours of trying to install drivers to play Minecraft it was the only thing that worked, and several other people replied saying that it worked for them too. I believe this sounds promising.

Similar to PixelCNC, Minecraft also has a minimum OpenGL version that it requires (and so do a lot of other OpenGL programs) so it stands to reason that perhaps the Dell driver installer for your laptop (or the specific Intel HD hardware it includes drivers for) does not work properly when it comes to making sure it sets up an installed OpenGL portion of the driver.

I believe that it's worth trying both installing the GMA driver, to see if that works, and also trying the manual installation of the driver via the 'Driver' tab's "Update Driver" button that I explained above ...and I just remembered, I read that there's also (potentially) an Nvidia GPU in your laptop - which makes Intel HD look amateur by comparison, performance-wise and in its functionality. I assumed that what I read about your laptop meant that there are certain versions of it which either include the Nvidia GPU or the Intel HD, but not both, but maybe your laptop actually has an Nvidia GPU in combination with Intel HD (Intel for 2D, Nvidia for OpenGL/DirectX graphics) and it could be the "Unknown Device" listed in your Device Manager? You could try downloading the Nvidia driver on the Dell drivers page for your laptop. There seems to be two of them, one just named 'Nvidia Graphics Driver' and then another called 'Nvidia Quadro FX .... NVS 3100 ...' Perhaps they might be worth a shot too. You're definitely going to want to figure out how to get legitimate 3D software running on your machine one way or another, otherwise the laptop as a whole will not be able to run anything but 90's 3D software :(

"Nvidia Graphics Driver" https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER02343131M/2/E6410_Video_Driver_RHRXX_WN_9.18.13...
"Nvidia Quadro FX... NVS 3100M" https://downloads.dell.com/video/nVidia_multi-device_A08_R285549.exe

The big clue is that it still says 'Microsoft Corporation' as the driver provider, which means that there has yet to be an actual legitimate Intel OpenGL driver installed for the graphics hardware, so to my mind it's a matter of figuring out how to wrestle the proper driver in there. I think that the guy who claimed that manually installing the drivers from the Device Manager might be on to something, because I know for a fact that even the version driver you were running in Windows 10 supports GL 2.1, but it still said you were running a Microsoft OpenGL driver, so perhaps his 'trick' is the only way to get the OpenGL component of the driver to properly install for your system. (Here's the Minecraft forum thread: https://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/archive/legacy-support/1735258-dell-interg...)

Between the GMA driver, the manual driver-update, and the possibility of an Nvidia GPU hiding under your keyboard, I believe that there's a high probability that all of your efforts will pay off and you'll finally be able to use PixelCNC (among other 3D software). After you try these last ideas I can think of, and it proves unsuccessful, we can discuss what options there are for your compensation or reimbursement - for your purchase that you're unable to use. You could always hold on to your copy until you find a way to get it running, whether on a new machine, or by managing to find a way to get the driver situation figured out. But, I cannot in good conscience keep your money if you're unable to use PixelCNC, not unless you were to otherwise agree to some kind of new terms or conditions, or we come up with another specially-tailored peripheral deal first. I think that one of these ideas has to work, and that you'll be generating toolpaths like it's going out of style soon. My fingers are crossed! :D

Good luck, and godspeed!

MacboyCanada6 years ago

Okay, the manual method just told me that "The best driver for your computer is already installed" and then it listed "Intel HD Graphics". I used the same properties panel to uninstall and trash the driver which reverted it to the Standard VGA driver and retried the manual method. The computer this time said "You already have the best driver installed and it listed "Standard VGA". WTF?!

I restarted to be sure all old anything was gone and then used the automatic install. It ran through the process but never did install the driver. Now, when using the auto install of the file referenced in your message below it tells me
"The setup program will install the following components:
- Intel Turbo Boost Technology Driver"

Is this the graphics driver? It does not say GMA or Graphics or anything of the sort. In any case, it goes through it's paces as before but does not install any driver. If I scan the hard drive for available drivers, none come up.

I then tried the older one (the R297600 or whatever it was) and the setup screen on this one said "This will install:- Intel HD Graphics Driver, Intel Display Audio Driver and the same turbo boost thing as above". Computer restarted and when it came back, the display resolution had changed and the driver listed in the device manager said Intel HD Graphics (no mention of GMA).

So then I Googled Intel GMA driver but, having read the Minecraft thing about how Dell forces you to use customized drivers I then Googled Intel GMA Driver Dell Latitude 6410 and got the driver you had already pointed me to - the 296701 one. Thinking I might have something here I uninstalled the previous Intel, which took me back to the Standard VGA but then when I went to install the 296701 driver all it was going to install was the Intel Turbo Boost Technology Driver. I reinstalled the 296700 driver package and then the 296701 on top of that and with fingers crossed, launched PixelCNC.

No dice. But I have now made the connection that GMA must be the same ting as the Turbo Boost stuff?

Ultimately I guess we've gone in a big circle and are back where we were. Is there a way to determine if there is an NVIDIA hiding in this machine or should I just try the drivers? I should note, the manual install wasn't that straightforward. Anything I tried after clicking the "Have Disk" option failed. The only way to see any sort of install was to click "Browse for a list of available drivers installed on this computer" and then select the Intel HD Driver. But that's when the above "You already have the best driver installed" happened.

So frustrating.....PixelCNC looks like exactly the solution for me - I have seen image2Code and other methods and techniques and they pale in comparison I'm pretty certain. I'm determined to keep at this until you tell me "I think we're screwed". I hope we get it.....

Deftware6 years ago (1 edit)

Dang! EDIT: I think that your system does not have the GMA, and therefore wasn't going to install the drivers for it. The Intel Turbo Boost is just a CPU feature that's unrelated. You either have an Nvidia 3d gfx built in ontop of your Intel HD, or we need to try drivers straight from Intel.

I did just find this: https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops-General-Read-Only/Latitude-E6510-Intel-Gr...

It's not the exact same as your laptop, but apparently some people have had better luck installing drivers directly from Intel, instead of from Dell. I also just realized that the Minecraft forum guy also says to download the drivers directly from Intel, and not the Dell website. I wonder if this would've worked for you with Win10 installed still (Win7 is still better).

I suppose you could use the auto-detect utility they have on their site: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/detect.html

You might already have perfectly usable drivers for everything else already, so I'd suggest just manually seeking whatever graphics/video driver is listed by the auto-detect results. Then go ahead and try a manual extract/install like you were doing before with the Have Disk route. This *has* to work.

Fingers are crossed!

MacboyCanada6 years ago

Well, the auto detect told me I must go to Dell so I searched through until I found one that would install. It happened to be an Intel GMA driver - Version: 15.22.58.2993. No dice though. How would I go about finding out what NVIDIA driver I should look for?

Deftware6 years ago (2 edits)

I would try manually downloading the drivers on Intel's website if their auto-detect just directed you to the Dell website. At first glance it looks like there's a couple viable options, but you're going to want to go back to the oldest Intel version they have (i.e. definitely not 4th gen). The driver that will work is probably also either only Windows 7 or a combo of Windows 7/8.1. You might want to try just downloading a couple of them that look like they might be right, I'd start with the oldest one they offer and work your way forward in time, trying each one.

MacboyCanada6 years ago

Okay. Well we do know that the processor is an i5-M520. I didn't really know how the version numbering went in terms of older / newer. We also know that none of the drivers had the desired outcome.....here's what I've tried:
8.15.10.2555
8.15.10.2827
15.22.57.2827
8.15.10.2993

The NVIDIA ones were not compatible at all.

These, in addition to the ones we've tried to this point. I'm not sure what else to do short of buying a different PC? I don't understand why this can be so problematic (and I know it's not your software that's the issue here, truly). There was one other driver I was able to find listed for Win7 32 bit but when I launched it it said my system didn't meet the minimum requirements.

I found another thread and it recommended installing chipset drivers (whatever they are/do). Tried that. Thread Link

I also found this one:

Oddly, when I look for the Driver version it shows N/A?? So now I'm thoroughly confused.....Link

My wife is going to borrow a co-workers laptop (also a Dell) tomorrow so I'll try that one tomorrow evening. I'll also try the neighbour's PC. At worst if it works on his machine I can at least go drink beer with him while I process images and generate the gcode. Not ideal but if it works and makes me money I can then justify buying another PC and ditching this one. Who knew Dells would be such pains. I went through this years ago with the Mac Performa line (the predecessor to the iMacs). Everything was "special to the Performas". Brutal.

Deftware6 years ago

Ah, the chipset drivers may play an important role: they support the underlying system. Considering that your 'GPU' is actually a piece of the CPU I think that maybe it's a good idea to make sure you have all of those drivers up-to-date. I know that you already updated your BIOS to the latest version, and there's a distinct possibility that updating your BIOS without running up-to-date chipset drivers could lead to something like other devices not operating properly (like the integrated GPU). From what I've read a lot of people have had problems getting drivers to work right on older laptops, especially when it comes to getting OpenGL to work, which is something I've never had problems with.

I suppose you could go back to the Dell support page for your laptop and have it auto-detect all the drivers you need, and download/install them. Be sure to reboot between driver installs!

Drivers can be finicky, and they take some finesse. I know that it's possible to get your laptop running properly, it just takes time and persistence.

The GL extensions viewer won't work if you don't have the right OpenGL driver installed - it works by interacting with OpenGL, which in your case will be stuck dealing with the Microsoft GDI/Software rendering driver, and will not show you anything about your Intel GPU.

Visit the Dell website and let the auto-detect tell you everything that you need to install. Install the chipset drivers to make sure that Windows isn't unable to control the low level hardware systems.

Also, yes, the 32-bit drivers will not work because you're running a 64-bit version of Windows. You could install a 32-bit version, and then only be able to run 32-bit drivers/software. Windows 64-bit can run 32-bit software just fine, so there's really no reason to run a 32-bit version unless your CPU is 32-bit, at which point you'd have no recourse anyway.

There's always the option of emailing Dell, and telling them you had Windows 10 but decided to downgrade back to Windows 7 because your OpenGL drivers weren't working, and you still haven't been able to get them working. I don't know if they'd help someone with an older laptop that was bought second-hand, but you never know!

I'm a bit baffled that no driver has managed to make the Microsoft OpenGL driver budge at all. There must be something we are missing, or something that you could be overlooking simply due to being less experienced with PCs. I can't imagine what it could be, but it seems like there must be something. Right now it sounds like there's a very good chance the chipset drivers could be the issue. Be sure to install them and *then* install the graphics driver afterwards. I'd suggest sticking with the newest graphics driver that pops up for your i5-520M CPU on the Intel website.

MacboyCanada6 years ago

Um...wait a second. Is it as simple as I'm running 32 bit, not 64?

Deftware6 years ago

Maybe? But you wouldn't have been able to run the 64-bit driver packages if you were running a 32-bit windows, unless for some reason the driver packages were just 32-bit extractor/installers and you've been installing 64-bit drivers on a 32-bit OS. You can right-click the My Computer icon on the desktop and click Properties, or open System from the Control Panel.

MacboyCanada6 years ago(+1)

Okay. I'm back. The neighbor completely rebuilt this thing from scratch for me, updated it to Win7 64 bit so I'm back at square one with a new OS once again. Still getting gthe ActiveTexture error (or whatever it was) an still showing OpenGL 1.0 in the log file. Oddly though, I was poking around with Repetier when reinstalling that software and noticed in the Active log that OpenGL 2.1.0 was registering for it? (Screen grab attached).

So now I'm not sure where I should start again here. What would you recommend as maybe my first three attempts here? If we can't get this I guess it's time for me to give up, try to sell this laptop and get one that I know will run the software.

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MacboyCanada6 years ago

Update. Downloaded the trial and ran it without problem at all on the neighbour's laptop. Ironically a Dell. More ironically, a Dell Latitude. I've left my laptop with him to tear into and see if he can get things rolling. I'll keep you posted.

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