I have a very good new PC... AMD Athlon 3.2XP, Jetway V600DAP Motherboard, 512MB RAM, 160GB Hard Drive, G-Force FX 5500 Video Card, Soundblaster Live platinum sound card, 17" AOC LCD Monitor, DVD writer, Broadband etc... it's fast and good with everything except Poser... and I mean Poser...3, 4 and 5.. all three versions cause a system shut down (it works fine for a while!) and "Input not supported" to appear on the monitor... This is my second message on this and I thank those that replied to my first.. since then my PC has been back to the shop and everything updated and tested... I'm at the end of my tether now... Curious Labs don't seem to be bothered replying and I'm at the stage where I think I should take the PC back and demand another one.. I've tried everything..settings, speeds, resolutions, refresh rates!... I can't believe I'm the only person in the world that has this problem! I haven't been able to produce anything on poser for weeks!!... Poser 3 and 4 worked fine on my old PC!.. just very slow! Please help! Frustrated Bob

What is your OS? If it's XP you shouldn't have any trouble with that, although I've heard of problems with SR2 and other software. Don't know about Poser.

Next, I'd look at your video card driver. "The shop" might not have checked for an updated version.

I don't know anything about LCD monitors, but maybe a driver update for that?

And, although this probably isn't the trouble, I'd update the RAM to at least a gig.

I also don't know anything about AMD chips, but I do know certain ones can cause trouble with software.

That's about all. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Message edited on: 10/09/2004 17:13

Message edited on: 10/09/2004 17:14 Oh, and I take it you have installed all the SR's for the various versions of Poser?

Message edited on: 10/09/2004 17:16

What's running in the background? for instance, macaffee anti- virus was shutting my computer down almost daily for weeks only whenever I used photoshop, finally figured out that happened when it was done downloading updates, and turned the updater off. So check for some type of software conflict or something like that, maybe.

AMD chips are fine I've been running a dual-athlon for over 2 years and still don't need to upgrade.

Get more ram, I think 512MB is kind of borderline. If Poser worked fine (you said you couldn't get anything done for weeks) previously, think about what you've installed since it worked fine. Defrag your hdd. Poser also likes to be on its own drive so maybe partition your drive and put Poser on its own partition. But I'd still get more ram. Your time is valuable :) If you're referring to Poser 5, IMHO its just slow, that's why I use Poser 4 PP

Message edited on: 10/09/2004 18:02

I don't know that I'd rush out and buy more memory. The ammount of RAM will affect performance but what you are saying is that it won't even run. I only have 392MB in my system and before that 256MB. Poser 4 runs fine with either configuration. 512MB should be more than enough for Poser 4 and for sure Poser 3 to run normally. OS is more important. 98/98SE is going to be flakier than XP/2000 but that in itself shouldn't keep Poser from running. I think it's more likely to be a conflict with either a driver or a background application or a setting. I seem to recall someone a few weeks ago posted something similar about the input error message and an LCD monitor (perhaps it was you?). I'd try to set up a boot configuration that's as bare bones as possible to eliminate possible conflicts and try that. Did you have broadband before? I don't know if that's a possibility as well.

I had a memory problem that happened whenever I tried to render anything in Firefly. I had pc2700 sticks on my MB, which could only take pc2100 RAM (even if the PC2700 was suppoosed to be backwards compatible). Whenever I tried to render using P5's Firefly, it would reboot my computer. I solved it by getting some PC2100 RAM.

Try and search google for the error message you're getting. There's also a USENET newsgroup for NVidia cards. Those are places to look for that error message and see if you find anything??? I probably wouldn't get the ram either until I figured out what the problem was :)

Hi. Haven't seen the previous thread, but your description of your problem isn't detailed enough for 'at a distance' trouble shooting. Please .. talk us through what you do that leads to the problem. And don't leave out any steps. So, for instance:-

• Start pc, XP loads with/without any error messages
• Screen resolution is X by Z, Y-bit colours
• I have A, B and C programs loading automatically from my Start Up menu
• Now I think of it, I installed Q program shortly before the Poser problem surfaced.
• I start Poser4 (use P4 as it's probably the most stable version, and certainly easier to diagnose problems for than P5), and my default set up opens. Describe your default setting.
• I do 'this' then 'that' and 'the other' happens (detail is important here)
• My 'preferred' render settings are (size and resolution). My screen and video card allow this (check with PS or PSP).
• Ctrl+Alt+Del > Processes > CPU > the following programs are using system resources
• I have/haven't tried rolling back to a previously known good configuration in my OS.
  etc etc etc. You never know what tiny clue might lead to the answer, so don't be shy. Tell all.

Message edited on: 10/10/2004 04:53

I'd suspect you have a hardware problem, nothing to do with Poser, I'd try slowing down things like memory access and CPU speed in the BIOs settings, if your up to that. I had a bad memory chip that did about the same thing, once it ran awhile and got hot, see if you can swap the memory chip(s) with some other.

Thanks for all your suggestions... Last nite I downloaded the proper AOC driver for my monitor, I was told it didn't need it... I tried anyway and it hasn't fixed it, just opened P4 added a Vickie 3 and started texturing, did a test render, started adjusting the pose and it went! Input not supported is generated by the monitor when the computer tries to do something it can't support, something in Poser (all versions) is triggering this! none of my other programmes do it!.. I'm at the stage where I'm gonna take the PC back... something inside doesn't like Poser!! I have been put in touch with a computer 'wizard', I'll show him your suggestions and if he can't suss it the shop who built the PC are gonna have to start changing things.. it seems the system I have just isn't compatible with Poser, or one of the components is faulty!!... and for me the thing that stays is Poser!...the rest can be changed! Bob

Take a look at the motherboard manual and see what memory it needs. My computer used to reboot whenever I tried to do a render with too many Millenium 3 characters in a scene. The only thing I could figure out was that I was using PC2700 memory when the manual said my motherboard took PC2100 memory. Shouldn't have made a difference... but when I got the PC2100 sticks, my problems went away.

Attached Link: http://www.sylvania-displays.com/Support/manuals/Input_Not_Supported_Win2K_XP.pdf

I found several references to the error message on Google. The one thing the ones I glanced at all refer to the resolution/refresh rate you have set. From the AOC Europe site: "This means the computer is sending an incompatible display mode to your monitor. Please check the users manual for supported display mode or input and configure your computer to those settings. The recommended setting for LCD panel is 1024x768 resolution and you may need to change the refresh rate of the monitor to 60Hz." You said you'd already played with these though. One thing everyone seems to say is use 60Hz for LCDs.

I don't recall any mention of your operating system? Do you have Windows XP? If not, get it. Start with a fresh hard drive, install Windows XP, then all your other software.

Message edited on: 10/11/2004 23:18

It is XP... I am in discussion with the shop that built this PC, unfortunatley they suggest we wait to hear from Curious Labs... I've had nothing from them in 2 months despite numerous e-mails and forms to technical support... Is anybody aware of any hardware that poser doesn't like? for example my Nvidea G-Force FX5500 graphic card... that is the component that is sending the input to the monitor! Searching the net I have found a few gamers who experience similar problems with nvidea products... I would have thought poser is a lot less demanding on the graphics than most games!.. (I tried turning the acceleration down/off... it didn't chamge anything..)

Out of curiousity, has anyone tried any elementary trouble-shooting? Have you tried running Poser with a different monitor? Have you tried replacing the video card?

It also happened with my old CRT monitor, except it just went black with no message, only LCD monitors produce the message... I am discussing the video card with the shop... I searched the internet and it seems NVIDEA cards on XP can lock a lot of games!.. might not be the same, but it's a start.. and at least trying out a new card rules that out!

"and at least trying out a new card rules that out!" Yep. Then I'd try swapping out the memory. The strange thing is that it happens with Poser 4 and 5. Are you using the P4 render mode in 5 or FireFly? Does it always happen in the same sequence? Are you rendering to the main window or a new one? Does it happen if you try rendering a bare bones scene, say with one of the default P4 figures? If it happens only or sooner with larger scenes/render sizes then that might poubt to memory but who knows. Let us know how you get on. You might have to call CL to get any response from them.

Thanks for all the suggestions... it's looking like a hardware problem... It happens to all three versions... 3, 4 and 5... They all start, run great.. then it goes... rendering doesn't seem to affect it.. it can go before I do a render, when I'm just mesing about with poses etc,, or I can do several, firefly or P4, main window or new (and it renders in seconds!!the reason why I bought a new PC!)... content makes no difference either... my version of 5 has no 3rd party installed and the 'basic' P4 was the first program I loaded on the new PC... vickie or P4 figures, high res textures or simple primatives... it can go anytime! I think it's a matter of deduction... it's not the programs, all 3 can't have the same problem and 3 and 4 worked fine on my old PC (just slowly!), something in my new PC doesn't like the poser 'engine' which I think is similar to all 3... it runs fast and fine for a while then suddenly a signal is sent to the monitor that it can't handle... it isn't the monitor, I've used 2... so next down the chain is the graphic card...

Just a wild idea: Poser probably uses the full power of your CPU more than any other program. Do you think you may have a heat problem? The problem only occurs after you've been using Poser for awhile? Why do you even bother with Poser 3? Is it possible somehow the different Poser versions are interfering with each other?

Really, it sounds like your computer experts haven't done any of the basic troubleshooting steps.

Message edited on: 10/12/2004 15:03

Heat problem is a new angle, worth adding to my list... but it can happen after only a very short while.. that's the most frustrating aspect.. there is no real pattern to it. The only pattern is it will happen, when can vary... 2 mins, 10 mins, 30 mins.. I know poser crashes for all sorts of reasons but this is too regular to be acceptable... I reinstalled P3 out of curiosity... I wondered if it would instigate the same problem... surprisingly and annoyingly it did! I wouldn't think they interfere, they are on different directories, anyway I only had P4 installed at first..one reason I upgraded to P5 was to see if it cured the problem and was most annoyed when it went after just 10 mins!!! after I installed the SR4 to P5 it ran for nearly an hour, thought I had cured it..then it went! rebooted opened P5 again and it went again after 5 mins!.. tried later and it went after 15 mins.. see what I mean! unfortunatley while the shop that built the pc is familiar with PC's in general they have no experience with poser...

The computer shop needs no experience in Poser, but they need the ability to do elementary troubleshooting, and to fix things. There isn't really anything more I can add, except "Good Luck."

Final thoughts. Really unusual problems (in my experience) often have a "D'Oh!" cause. Check the following:-

• have you got a cheap PSU, or one with a low output capacity?
• is your video card seated firmly in its slot? Ditto with your ram.
• you changed monitors to check the problem, but did you change the leads too?
• you downloaded the correct driver, but did you actually install it?
• have you run a full system diagnostic with something like SiSoft, and checked with XPs admin tools that all hardware is happy?
• did you follow up imckenzie's points in post 12, to check Google (there are pages of broadly similar errors reported there) and reduce your vertical refresh rate to 60-70mhtz?
• have you got defrag, a ram cleaner or other prog running in the background?
• when moving Poser models around, do you have full tracking and Texture Shaded settings selected? Try less memory intensive settings.
  Good luck. I'd refer you back to my original post .. we really do need a detailed breakdown of what's happening, or troubleshooting is going to be a continual list of 'best guesses'. Oh yeh .. and what settings have you got for your virtual memory?

Message edited on: 10/13/2004 02:44