pixelated/ flashing boxes on clouds

[boeingornotgoing]

hey guys any idea what this issue is, and how to fix it?

 

it is not my imac at fault,  if i uninstall smp, theres no issue and theres no issue with the imac anywhere else-    thanks        

xp 11   , 2015 retina high end 27" imac, 

[sundog]

What other add-ons do you have installed? It may be a conflict with some other plugin that is interfering with the OpenGL state behind our back.

SMP 4.5, which should be out soon, has some extra protection built into it for this sort of thing - so that may clear it up.

This is also a symptom of a known hardware issue on some iMac models; it may only occur when your system is being pushed hard.

[boeingornotgoing]

A fair amount of others. I was planning on removing them abd testing 1x1.   However, this did not occur until recently. Ive had this setup for months.   I will wait on the smp update too, and my imac has AMD ,gpu , is that impacted by heavy work load? Like i said tho, ive been using the same work load +32gb ram for months. 

[Ben Russell]

9 hours ago, boeingornotgoing said:

A fair amount of others. I was planning on removing them abd testing 1x1.   However, this did not occur until recently. Ive had this setup for months.   I will wait on the smp update too, and my imac has AMD ,gpu , is that impacted by heavy work load? Like i said tho, ive been using the same work load +32gb ram for months. 

have you been having hotter than usual weather lately?

[boeingornotgoing]

Hi Ben,

funny, it's chicago. nope.

I'm about to do some testing now

----

[boeingornotgoing]

15 hours ago, sundog said:

What other add-ons do you have installed? It may be a conflict with some other plugin that is interfering with the OpenGL state behind our back.

SMP 4.5, which should be out soon, has some extra protection built into it for this sort of thing - so that may clear it up.

This is also a symptom of a known hardware issue on some iMac models; it may only occur when your system is being pushed hard.

ok i removed other plugins except soundmax , however i also tested between real weather turned on vs make your own weather,    & i am not using rwc.    results:

 

real weather vs default weather = no difference-same issue

default  vs 3rd party plane= no difference

 

--- for now,  i will go back to default x-plane non smp weather,   my imac fans also runs higher with smp, even on initial loading.   

 

 

xp 11, imac. defaut 737, payware ksfo.  HDR off

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2017 by boeingornotgoing

[boeingornotgoing]

Hello, Frank did you see my reply to you? Thanks 

[sundog]

Yes. The fact that your fan is running higher suggests you may be pushing your video card harder than it can go, exposing a hardware issue. Drawing all those clouds can be demanding.

I would wait until SkyMaxx Pro 4.5 is released, and then try it again. If it is in fact a software problem that should clear it up.

[boeingornotgoing]

ok thanks for getting back to me.  

[boeingornotgoing]

hi Frank,  this is still occurring in 4.5

 

i removed my other plugins,  toggled shadows ON and OFF, no difference. real bummer, all was fine many months.  i hope i am not out a paid product 

 

im on the most up to date v11 and smp

 

 

Log.txt

[boeingornotgoing]

my imac fans are running super high. upon loading with smp installed but less with default laminar weather

 

i am going to lower the cloud distance amount and see if that helps/ i also noticed quite a lag time when moving the slider bars on the smp menu to change items

Edited May 28, 2017 by boeingornotgoing

[sundog]

Yes, unfortunately I am leaning toward a hardware issue at this point. SMP 4.5 has some very aggressive protection against OpenGL state changes that might cause this sort of thing from a software standpoint. Not much we can do other than trying to reduce the load on your system.

[boeingornotgoing]

cloud reflections on water- also makes the cloud shadows flicker on the water

[boeingornotgoing]

I think it is software, it is a high end iMac with 0 issues with anything else I do

 

as in i don't see my gpu being in failure, perhaps just being over used.

Edited May 28, 2017 by boeingornotgoing

[boeingornotgoing]

6 minutes ago, sundog said:

Yes, unfortunately I am leaning toward a hardware issue at this point. SMP 4.5 has some very aggressive protection against OpenGL state changes that might cause this sort of thing from a software standpoint. Not much we can do other than trying to reduce the load on your system.

i have 32gb ram now, would more help?

[sundog]

5 minutes ago, boeingornotgoing said:

i have 32gb ram now, would more help?

I doubt it. If I'm right, the issue is your video card, which on a Mac can't be replaced as far as I know.

One shred of hope would be an installation issue. Did you try completely uninstalling and removing SMP 4.01 before installing 4.5?

Edited May 28, 2017 by sundog

[boeingornotgoing]

27 minutes ago, sundog said:

I doubt it. If I'm right, the issue is your video card, which on a Mac can't be replaced as far as I know.

One shred of hope would be an installation issue. Did you try completely uninstalling and removing SMP 4.01 before installing 4.5?

Yes I havent had smp installed for weeksdue to this issue. 

 

Correct, gpu can not be replaced aside from a new logic board. 

 

However, I do not think it is Hardware issue.  without smp installed I experience zero x-plane issues nor any other visual issues on osx.          plus the imac is big and heavy to lug to apple and wait a week for a repair.   

[sundog]

1 hour ago, boeingornotgoing said:

Yes I havent had smp installed for weeksdue to this issue. 

 

Correct, gpu can not be replaced aside from a new logic board. 

 

However, I do not think it is Hardware issue.  without smp installed I experience zero x-plane issues nor any other visual issues on osx.          plus the imac is big and heavy to lug to apple and wait a week for a repair.   

I'm not sure what else it could be; if it were a software issue, every user with your hardware configuration would be reporting similar problems. But as far as I know, you're one of maybe 3 people who have reported something like this. I wish I could help!

[boeingornotgoing]

hmmmmmm.  maybe the os sierra version is goofy.  ill keep trying. thanks tho for replying on a holiday weekend 

[boeingornotgoing]

i kept trying but no luck,  i had to uninstall it,  

[FlyAgi2]

This imac... what graphics card does it use and how much VRAM comes with it? 

The screenshot I could read properly states about 300MB VRAM unused but this could also mean that there is more VRAM used but a part of it is transferred to the system ram so it is not counted as used vram. If this is the case your gpu and cpu times should go up also and this could make the fans spin faster. So I suggest to try reducing texture quality and antialias to lowest setting temporarily and see if the artifacts are still there. If they are gone you are most likely out of vram. 

Edit: I had another thought... You said the problem suddenly occured and the fans are spinning faster than before so it could be a problem with hardware tempertures, especially memory temperatures. I have experienced faulty video memory before and graphical artifacts like those on the screenshots can be an indicator for broken memory or memory that is running beyond it's specs. Because of this I suggest cleaning the macs cooling components and fans to bring temps down and avoiding a sudden hardware fail if this did not happen already. If there is a way to measure the cpu and gpu temeratures on a mac (I just did this on windows and linux) you can possibly get more information about this. Given the fact the mac is about two years old and it is build to be small and compact, it is about time to at least care about cleaning the coolers in my opinion. I also know from experience that notebooks start making troubles after about two years because the cooling needs cleaning. The imac is not a notebook of course but it is build in a similar way, small, compact, integrated with less space for cooling than a 'normal' computer.

 

Edited May 28, 2017 by FlyAgi

[boeingornotgoing]

AMD Radeon R9 M395X 4096 MB

 

 

27" imac not small,   and I'll never be cleaning the fans etc, Idk how to do that on an imac and dont want to risk damage,     i am confident on how to do it on macbooks with a removable bottom shell, thats it

 

this imac is refurbished,from Apple, i got in january- so there is not 2 yrs + of dust inside.

 

problem is, like i said a few x, ALL other usages i get ZERO graphics or fan issues,  its only x-plane 11 with smp installed,  remove smp and all is well-

fans rev high on initial load, then die down

 

i am stumped

Edited May 29, 2017 by boeingornotgoing

[FlyAgi2]

X-Plane 11 is heavily utilizing your CPU and your GPU and assuming the cooling block and fans are combined as it is in notebooks they should rev up under high load. And, of course, SMP is also pushing the graphics card harder than the default clouds but your GPU should be able to handle that almost as good as my GTX 1060 and my older GTX 970 do, but with 4 GB of memory you can run into troubles with XP11 and certain addons. So, if your imac is not faulty and there is a softwre/performance related problem, I suggest to lower vram usage like described in my previous post or set the clouds in SMP to fast to check if that runs better. Fast clouds should also use less vram than soft or crisp. 

With 'small' I don't adress the complete imac but the type the computing hardware is build into it. It is designed for using less space than a standard pc with its own case and this way the cooling is less powerfull and gets dusted much easier. On notebooks I usually recommend basic cleaning (just blowing inside the cooling outlets heavily is enough in most cases if one does that regularly) at least after every six months for not letting the cooling components get too dusty and avoid the need for a more professional cleaning approach as long as possible. 

 

Edited May 29, 2017 by FlyAgi

[boeingornotgoing]

thanks for your input man, appreciate it

[boeingornotgoing]

frank- just fyi. the pdf documentation of smp still says v 4.1