Hi, I'm new here and just got Vue4 in the mail today...I installed it and started trying to work through the tutorial...I picked the same atmosphere as in the tutorial clicked ok to select it and then my puter freezes and ctl/alt/del doesn't even work so I have to shut the power off and then go through the scan disk thing when it restarts...this just kept happening every time I try to use the program... I went to the website and read the faq and it could be a problem with the OpenGl thingie...I can't find anywhere to download an update to my S3 Inc. Savage 4 driver...this computer is only a few months old and the driver came installed...IBM, AMD 700, winME, 192 RAM Any ideas...I was so excited when it came now I am depressed!!! I did email eonsupport but I imagine that they are pretty busy with the new release... Thanks for any help you can give... Dawn

heyas; go to file: options and turn off the opengl. if that was the problem, this'll fix it :)

Thank you bloodsong that seems to have fixed it :) Looking forward to getting to know ya'll. Dawn

The S3 Savage 4 is a mess because of the company change from S3 to SONICblue, and then the split off of the graphics card end into a separate company, S3 Graphics. (www.s3graphics.com) IF your card is an S3 Savage 4 compatible, say from Diamond Multimedia, you're ok, you can get drivers. But if it's an actual card from S3, you're in trouble because they're in trouble. Last I heard their site was down, and you can't get new drivers anywhere. I would definitely suggest switching to a different card. -SMT

Looks like I'm in trouble then, it's an actual card from S3 :( I found this website http://www.opengl.org/users/about/index.html and it looks like they may have drivers for my savage 4 but reading the GLsetup release notes has me a little afraid to try it as I'm not all that computer savy (I just like to make pretty pictures). Has anyone else tried this program for installing drivers? Dawn

I doubt its a card from S3. Its probably a generic card using the S3 chipset. These generic cards don't have any manufacturer markings on them except whats on the chipset so people get confused easily. However, generic drivers often can do more harm then good. You need to find out exacty who the manufacturer is for the graphic adapter that is in your computer. S3 Savage 4 is the chipset that is used on the adapter. Any number of companies used it to make their own versions. So you need to get a driver from the same company that made your video card not necessarily from the chip maker. The Open GL instructional set must be integrated properly with the driver for it to work properly and only the company making the card can do that. Replacing the card is probably your best bet. That particular chipset really isn't the best for handling 3D graphics. There are other cards out there that will give you a much better screen. Your running either an early Athlon or a Duron processor. It will give you very good performance yet its saddled with a lowend video card. So it doesn't matter how good your monitor is or the rest of the computer is. What you see is limited by how good the graphic adapter is. If your like most of us your on a tight budget, but you don't need to spend mega bucks to get a decent card. The Matrox G400 or G450 can be had for well under $100 and with 32MB of RAM on it, You can run at 32bit color depth and avoid those annoying gradients you sometimes see. For a few dollars more but still under $100 you can get a nVidia GeForce2 card and get a bit better performance. Several companies use the nVidia chipset in their cards. Stick with a name brand and the Open GL support in the driver will work fine. In California these (Matrox and nVidia) cards can be had at retail prices of $60-$80 if you shop around.

If your computer is still fairly new, contact your seller, make them give you a reliable card.....when did you get it? Do you have a warranty? They are bound to you by law for a minimum of 90 days. Sharen:)

heyas; dont feel bad if you have a sucky video card. i do, too :/ i get along okay. (make 'em give you a geoforce thingy doodle!) ;D

A slight aside: You don't have to sit through scandisk every time your computer shuts down irregularly. When scandisk starts on reboot, just hit the key then hit when it asks if you want to skip it. But you should periodically run it and defrag. Also do a search for *.tmp files to get rid of 'em.

Some of my words disappeared in the above post. I guess it's because I surrounded them in the Less Than and Greater Than signs. I meant to say: When scandisk starts on reboot, just hit the ESC key then hit ENTER when it asks if you want to skip it.

Attached Link: http://www.windrivers.com

Thanks for all your replies, much appreciated :) I ended up going and buying a Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 64 MB I haven't installed it yet but I'm hoping it will do the trick, says on the box that it supports OpenGL... Dawn