Video is red

[Rob]

Windows XP Home with all service packs and updated.

All videos play with a dull reddish image, regardless of player used
(Windows MP, VLC, Media Player Classic). The preview in Windows Explorer is
correctly coloured.
Videos play fine on the same machine in a Linux installation, and also on
an XP guest installation in VirtualBox hosted on the Linux. Video also was
fine in the old main XP installation before reinstalling.
I believe the fault has been there since reinstallation, but cannot be
sure.

 

[JS]

Have reinstalled the video drivers after you created a fresh/new install of
XP?
If not, then download the drivers from your PC manufacture's or Video card
manufacture's web site.

The same goes for your motherboard, sound card, net card, Etc.

JS

 

[Andrew E.]

Try run,typeXDIAG Run the Direct X tests...

 

[RobHK]

Have reinstalled the video drivers after you created a fresh/new install of
XP?
If not, then download the drivers from your PC manufacture's or Video card
manufacture's web site.

The same goes for your motherboard, sound card, net card, Etc.

JS

I've reinstalled everything that was on the original driver
installation disc. This was fine for the previous installation and for
the currrent one on VirtualBox. But it hasn't helped this main
installation. The system is five years old, and over that period I
have reinstalled quite a few times, but this is the first time I have
had this problem.

 

[RobHK]

Try run,typeXDIAG Run the Direct X tests...

I did this and got a message that there were no problems.

 

[Alec S.]

Rob wrote (in

Windows XP Home with all service packs and updated.

All videos play with a dull reddish image, regardless of player used
(Windows MP, VLC, Media Player Classic). The preview in Windows Explorer is
correctly coloured.
Videos play fine on the same machine in a Linux installation, and also on
an XP guest installation in VirtualBox hosted on the Linux. Video also was
fine in the old main XP installation before reinstalling.
I believe the fault has been there since reinstallation, but cannot be sure.

Try something for me: get a copy of Karsten Sperling’s Alpha
(http://spiff.de/alpha.html) and run it. Aside from the cool intended feature,
it is a great troubleshooting aid. It occupies the overlay surface of the video
card, which means that videos and such have to be rendered in software instead
of hardware.

Run Alpha (make sure it actually runs and does not give an error) and then play
a video to see if it still does it. If it is fine, then there is a problem with
the overlay surface. You will need to use your video card’s control panel to
adjust the overlay colors (reset them to defaults). If it is still red, then
there is something else going on; probably some sort of codec problem. Did you
install a codec pack or something recently?

 

[Rob]

Rob wrote (in


Try something for me: get a copy of Karsten Sperling’s Alpha
(http://spiff.de/alpha.html) and run it. Aside from the cool intended
feature, it is a great troubleshooting aid. It occupies the overlay
surface of the video card, which means that videos and such have to be
rendered in software instead of hardware.

Run Alpha (make sure it actually runs and does not give an error) and
then play a video to see if it still does it. If it is fine, then
there is a problem with the overlay surface. You will need to use your
video card’s control panel to adjust the overlay colors (reset them to
defaults). If it is still red, then there is something else going on;
probably some sort of codec problem. Did you install a codec pack or
something recently?

Thanks. It's now late where I am, but I'll try it tomorrow and let you
know how it goes.

 

[Rob]

Rob wrote (in


Try something for me: get a copy of Karsten Sperling’s Alpha
(http://spiff.de/alpha.html) and run it. Aside from the cool intended
feature, it is a great troubleshooting aid. It occupies the overlay
surface of the video card, which means that videos and such have to be
rendered in software instead of hardware.

Run Alpha (make sure it actually runs and does not give an error) and
then play a video to see if it still does it. If it is fine, then
there is a problem with the overlay surface. You will need to use your
video card’s control panel to adjust the overlay colors (reset them to
defaults). If it is still red, then there is something else going on;
probably some sort of codec problem. Did you install a codec pack or
something recently?

Thanks very much for this advice. Here's what happened:

I ran your software and the video was OK.
I went to the Nvidia Control Panel, but the window was blank.
I decided to update the drivers, not simply reinstall the original ones,
as earlier. After the update all was well.

I guess the solution was simple in the end, but I'm only a naive user,
not a specialist.

Anyway, thanks again.

 

[Rob]

Thanks very much for this advice. Here's what happened:

I ran your software and the video was OK.
I went to the Nvidia Control Panel, but the window was blank.
I decided to update the drivers, not simply reinstall the original ones,
as earlier. After the update all was well.

I guess the solution was simple in the end, but I'm only a naive user,
not a specialist.

Anyway, thanks again.

It didn't last. It's back again. I tried looking in Nvidia control panel
and it says "Overlay is disabled". (I rebooted after running Alpha so it
shouldn't be that.)

 

[Alec S.]

Rob wrote (in

It didn't last. It's back again. I tried looking in Nvidia control panel
and it says "Overlay is disabled". (I rebooted after running Alpha so it
shouldn't be that.)

I often use Alpha as a quick and easy way to test if the overlay surface is
already occupied or not. What happens if you run Alpha when the Nvidia panel
says that the overlay is disabled? If it gives an error, then there is something
else that is occupying it, in which case the video should be playing correctly
like you said it did earlier. If it runs without error, then there is a problem
with your drivers if the driver itself can’t access the overlay—did you
uninstall the old ones before installing the new ones? I believe there is a
cleaner for Nvidia drivers, and if not, Driver Cleaner should do it.

--
Alec S.
news/alec->synetech/cjb/net

 

[Rob]

Rob wrote (in


I often use Alpha as a quick and easy way to test if the overlay
surface is already occupied or not. What happens if you run Alpha when
the Nvidia panel says that the overlay is disabled? If it gives an
error, then there is something else that is occupying it, in which
case the video should be playing correctly like you said it did
earlier. If it runs without error, then there is a problem with your
drivers if the driver itself can’t access the overlay—did you
uninstall the old ones before installing the new ones? I believe there
is a cleaner for Nvidia drivers, and if not, Driver Cleaner should do
it.

Sometimes when I boot NV Control Panel has the disabled message,
sometimes not. But it appears if I run a video. Running Alpha when the
disabled mesage is there appears to work, but as the behaviour is
inconsistent I can't be sure it always does.

I downloaded Driver Cleaner, but I don't really understand how to use
it.

 

[Rob]

Sometimes when I boot NV Control Panel has the disabled message,
sometimes not. But it appears if I run a video. Running Alpha when the
disabled mesage is there appears to work, but as the behaviour is
inconsistent I can't be sure it always does.

I downloaded Driver Cleaner, but I don't really understand how to use
it.

I bit the bullet, although I wasn't 100% sure what I was doing. I
cleaned the drivers, unistalled Nvidia from the Add/Remove programs and
it worked. So i went to the Nvidia site and reinstalled, and all works
fine.

Thank you very much indeed for your help.

 

[Unknown]

CRT or LCD monitor??

I bit the bullet, although I wasn't 100% sure what I was doing. I
cleaned the drivers, unistalled Nvidia from the Add/Remove programs and
it worked. So i went to the Nvidia site and reinstalled, and all works
fine.

Thank you very much indeed for your help.