[vtkusers] Win2K refresh problem

[Nigel Nunn]

Greg [G.Johnson at rl.ac.uk] wrote: 
 
> I've just installed Win2K (no flames, please) and am 
> trying to get my VolumePro board up and running again 
> (under Matlab via VTK/Java - vtk is amaazing...).  
> Things seem to work, but whenever there is an open 
> rendering window, then the Windows refresh takes several 
> seconds (things like updating the file list in Explorer, 
> or repainting the icons in Matlab - all the bog standard 
> stuff).  I would guess this could either be 
>   a) a problem with vtk under Win2K 
>   b) a problem with the openGL in general under Win2K 
>   c) a problem with my (GVX1) graphics card under Win2K 
> 
> Can anyone give me any suggestions, or help me narrow 
> down the possibilities?  The problem is reproducable 
> just by calling a Tcl example like cone.tcl. 
 
When the problem manifests, call up the task manager and 
check how much memory is currently allocated.  On certain 
multiprocessor boxes, we found that enormous amounts of 
memory were being lost whenever an OpenGL app was run. We 
reinstalled WinNT 4 to avoid the problem, which I guess is 
driver-related.  Suspect the problem is related to the way 
memory is allocated by drivers for high-speed texture 
mapping... not getting deallocated on some configurations? 
 
Re: Win2K flames... 
When folks realize that NT/2000 began life as the OS for 
the DEC Alpha-21064, some begin to see it as impressive, 
even well-engineered, rather than as an expensive Win9X. 

cheers, 
Nigel