I just did an upgrade on my computer and am having a bit of a problem. I've added an NVIDIA GeForce2 MX MX 400 graphics card and whenever I try to work in Poser 4 of Pro Pack my system will do a complete lock up. I have some things worked out and I think that I have narrowed it down to a problem with Poser and the new video card as all my other apps seem to be running fine. Im' running Windows 98SE with an AuthenticAMD AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2200+ for the motherboard and 512MB RAM. I have already tried turning down the hardware acceleration with some pretty unsatisfactory results to say the least. Can anyone recommend either a graphics card that won't cause these lock ups or perhaps have an idea what else I can try to correct this situation? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The card probably isn't causing any problems, since Poser doesn't make use of hardware acceleration. But stranger things have happened, so I won't rule it out entirely. Check your fans and heatsinks; be certain everything is mounted and running properly, and that your case has unobstructed airflow. Poser makes a pretty good stress test ... I haven't seen many applications that can heat up a CPU faster. When I upgraded to an Athlon processor I had all manner of problems that only appeared when I ran Poser, and it turned out to be a heat issue caused by an improperly-mounted heatsink. Luckily, my new motherboard had failsafes to power-down the system in such a situation, so no damage was done.

You should IMMEDIATELY ditch the Windows 98 and get Windows XP (or Win2000) You have what sounds like a fairly good computer- but you're wasting it using Windows 98...

I'd second the suggestion to upgrade your OS. You should get better stability overall with 2K/XP. I don't know that it's the cause of your problem though. I have a Creative GeForce2 MX running a dual boot system with 2K/98SE and Poser 4 runs fine under either OS. The issue may well be heat related. You might see if you can find one of the utilities that display your CPU temperature to help diagnose it. I have one of the old Slot A Athlons and it overheated badly until I added a better fan system. Of course, you also might check to see if you have the latest drivers for your video card. As LD said, Poser doesn't use acceleration but indeed, stranger things have happened.

I had a similar problem a couple of computers ago. I had to turn off Hardware Accelleration completely to use Poser at all. Then I installed the latest Poser Updates from the CL site, and the latest drivers for my video card, and discovered I could turn Hardware Accel on again with no problems since. I'd suggest the Updates. Good luck getting it resolved.

I think I may just have to bump up the OS. I checked the temp of the CPU and it is holding steady between 125 and 128...not sure if that is too high or not. I'm not so sure it is a heat issue as the temp is about the same when I have say Dreamweaver or Photoshop running and I am not experiencing any probs with them. A friend of mine said that the problem could be linked to a file called Tpkd.vxd. Anyone have any info on this file and how that could affect Poser?

Attached Link: http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:3ky7CuHQYnoJ:www.paceap.com/docs/InterLok_for_Windows.pdf+Tpkd

According to a Google search, Tpkd.vxd is part of PACE Interlock software protection. You probably need to know what application installed this driver. Was this the protection scheme they had on the early versions of Poser 5? I don't have Poser 5 but I seem to recall that the copy protection caused stability problems for some people. If that's it, I imagine you need to get the latest Poser 5 updates.

Was this the protection scheme they had on the early versions of Poser 5?

Yes, it was. And it had some known problems with Win98. Do a keyword search here in the forum for "tpkd.sys".

Message edited on: 10/10/2004 02:52

Or just search for "tpkd" -- I think the sys version is is 2K/XP and the virtual device driver (vxd) is for 98/ME systems.

You've spent the money to get a really good system. Now buy Windows XP, and you'll be amazed at how much better everything works.

Upgrade to Win2000/XP. Win98 can't handle more than 128 Mb of memory, the rest is used as disk cache. You've got a good system, don't cripple it with an outdated OS that can't put it to work. 125 F, that's less than 55 C, it's a nice working temperature for your CPU. No problem there. I strongly recommend a clean install, not an upgrade over an existing Win98. You can use the upgrade version of Win2K/XP for clean installs. All your programs will work better, not only Poser.

I have a message posted about a similar problem, many kind people are offering suggestions.. I'm using XP with a G-Force FX5500... all versions (P3, P4 and P5) work fine for a while then my system goes, I get a black screen with 'input not supported' floating about... you only get this message on LCD monitors.. All my other apps work fine... maybe there is a Poser G-Force problem!

I use Poser 5 on an Athlon 2700 /Geforce Ti4200 /WinXP, never had any problem. But I use a CRT, not an LCD.

Maybe not a poser/Geforce problem then! I get my problem with CRT and LCD... just didn't get the message with the CRT, screen just went black!

I use XP, GeForce, & 2 LCD Monitors. I experience no display problems with P4, PPro, or P5 at all. "input not supported"? - I'd make sure the drivers were installed for my monitor, then check to make sure the Monitor cable is securely fastened at both ends, or swap it out entirely. I've seen cables where the pins lose contact after a while due to heat/expansion. Except for a thermal-related Graphics adapter failure (wouldn't hurt to make sure the card is securely seated in it's slot), an intermittent cable is the likeliest cause of such an error message that I've seen.