VUMeter Plugin

[phred]

I couldn't resist.

A quick wipe and reinstall of MB and another attempt at adding the plugin.
- restarted MB and got the "no skins found" message before I even tried to add the panel
- clicked 'ok' and MB closed with an error window that I couldn't see and nothing in the error log
- I noticed the .dll in the plugins directory and in AppData\Plugins\VUMeter was the settings xml and an empty VUSkins directory

That's it for now,

[BoringName]

and this from a little earlier

This indicates the system can't handle OpenGL 3.3

If you have already updated the video drivers the only other option is to install a video card or give up. Pretty much any card newer than 2010 should work so it shouldn't be too costly.

I'll try and set it up to exit gracefully if 3.3 isn't supported but I don't like my chances as I'm using a library for OpenGL and it's all loaded up at runtime. The fact the plugin wasn't even successfully reporting if a file exists makes me think everything is unstable from the get go which will make checking the OpenGL version a problem. I also don't have a system to test it on.

[sveakul]

I couldn't resist.

A quick wipe and reinstall of MB and another attempt at adding the plugin.
- restarted MB and got the "no skins found" message before I even tried to add the panel
- clicked 'ok' and MB closed with an error window that I couldn't see and nothing in the error log
- I noticed the .dll in the plugins directory and in AppData\Plugins\VUMeter was the settings xml and an empty VUSkins directory

That's it for now,

phred OpenGL is delivered by the video drivers.  You need to manually update them to the ones that match your system (OS and bit level) from here:
https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/nl/en/products/desktops-and-all-in-ones/thinkcentre-m-series-desktops/thinkcentre-m90p/5536/5536a86/downloads/driver-list/component?name=Display%20and%20Video%20Graphics&id=635380F4-448F-4129-AA77-265289D96F6F

If you install this tool it will tell you what version of OpenGL you have:
https://www.realtech-vr.com/home/?page_id=1402

If your version is too low, like BoringName said you would need to install a new video card.

At least we have finally found the problem.

[BoringName]

So I can check what version of OpenGL is installed but that requires waiting until the OpenGL library is initialised. The issue is what to do once I've determined the version is too low. Any attempts I made to close it gracefully ended up emulating the behaviour Phred saw when trying to load the plugin.

Errors with SetPivotOffset which is just flat out bizarre. There is no code path for it to run and even if it does there are at least 5 environmental checks that should be failing and preventing it, but somehow they are all passing.... I think messing with the OpenGL initialisation just completely screws the application environment  because of how it's designed.

If it was a standalone app it wouldn't be a problem to sort out but it's not, so it is, at least for me.

So I'm giving up on that. I have added the OpenGL 3.3 requirement to the addon page. Any device running a graphics chip older than 2010 is not supported. And probably some after 2010 if the vendors were too lazy to add support in their drivers.

[phred]

@sveakul
@BoringName

Do y'all believe in euthanasia? It's time to put the two of you, and me, out of our collective misery. We're beating a dead horse. I have run the OpenGL viewer linked to by sveakul. The current version crashed while scanning. I went to v6 and it scanned successfully. The test PC is running OpenGL driver version 8.15.10.29 from November 26, 2012. It is the latest version for the test PC per OpenGL. It also shows that I'm using the latest version of the display drivers for my on-board video. This was confirmed when I went to the Lenovo site from sveakul's link and there are no drivers for this PC for Win10. Most are for XP, and a few are for W7.

The DirectX version per DxDiag is 12.

You guys put enough time into this and I appreciate that. I'm not going to spend a dime on the test PC so a stand-alone video card is not going to happen. I'm not using the PC for test CAD software. I don't need a high-powered new(er) machine. It runs fine as long as I don't try to install the wonderful VUMeter plugin.

I think we're done here.

[BoringName]

The test PC is running OpenGL driver version 8.15.10.29 from November 26, 2012.

Just for posterity, this driver only supports OpenGL 2.1. Considering the date of the driver and the computer being 2009? it would suggest the hardware is not able to support any higher versions of OpenGL ie) it's not a driver problem and there is no way to make it work.

Getting an old cheap second hand video card is probably best solution. Locally I can get a brand new low spec fanless one for $45AUD ($29US) but drivers might be an issue on an old machine.

I'm not going to spend a dime on the test PC

Fair enough. It's not a great return on investment most of the time, better off putting that money towards new hardware. The test machines I have here are like kids clothes, mostly running off hand me downs as my main machine is upgraded.

[sveakul]

I have run the OpenGL viewer linked to by sveakul. The current version crashed while scanning. I went to v6 and it scanned successfully. The test PC is running OpenGL driver version 8.15.10.29 from November 26, 2012. It is the latest version for the test PC per OpenGL. It also shows that I'm using the latest version of the display drivers for my on-board video. This was confirmed when I went to the Lenovo site from sveakul's link and there are no drivers for this PC for Win10. Most are for XP, and a few are for W7.

Not to beat a dead horse phred, but did that OpenGL viewer NOT give you a page that straight-out shows the OpenGL version as opposed to the "driver version"--like the below shows from the website.  I didn't mean to confuse things more!

[phred]

[sveakul]

Yikes!  "Too low for zero" (humor!).  No wonder it gave you that struggle.

[phred]

Yikes!  "Too low for zero" (humor!).  No wonder it gave you that struggle.

You mean zero isn't good? :-)

[Bee-liever]

@ Phred
There was supposed to be an updated driver for the Q57 chipset provided by Windows.
If you haven't already, turn on optional updates in windows update to see if it finds that new driver.
Alternatively there is the OpenCL™, OpenGL®, and Vulkan® Compatibility Pack available from https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nqpsl29bfff?hl=en-US&gl=US

[phred]

Thanks Bee-liever. I just ran Windows updates and there is no Q57 chipset update. The only driver update available is for Western Digital, which is a portable drive attached to the test machine.

As for the OpenGL Compatibility Pack, I really feel like I'm done trying. But the masochist in me says "keep going." So I've downloaded it and will give it a try shortly and report back.
 

[sveakul]

@ Phred
There was supposed to be an updated driver for the Q57 chipset provided by Windows.
If you haven't already, turn on optional updates in windows update to see if it finds that new driver.
Alternatively there is the OpenCL™, OpenGL®, and Vulkan® Compatibility Pack available from https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nqpsl29bfff?hl=en-US&gl=US

Do try Bee-liever's package first which sounds promising:

"This compatibility pack allows more of your favorite OpenCL™, OpenGL®, and Vulkan® apps to run on a Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC that doesn't have these hardware drivers installed by default. If a DirectX 12 driver is installed, supported apps will run with hardware acceleration for better performance. This package supports apps that use OpenCL version 3.0 and earlier, OpenGL version 3.3 and earlier, and Vulkan version 1.2 and earlier."

If we're still going, there's this too, referred to from www.opengl.org:

If your system does not contain a GPU, or the GPU vendor delivers graphics drivers providing OpenGL support that's so old as to be useless to you, you might want to consider installing the Mesa3D OpenGL library on your system to provide OpenGL support.
Mesa3D is a graphics library that provides an OpenGL implementation for multiple platforms. GPU hardware acceleration is supported on some GPUs, with a software (CPU) rendering pipeline generally available as a fallback or alternative rendering method (see Mesa3D Support Matrix).

For beginning developers and others which don't have the time or desire to build Mesa3D libraries from source, here are some pre-built Windows installer (EXE) images. Options are provided to install the Mesa3D OpenGL libraries either system-wide or per-application:
https://github.com/pal1000/mesa-dist-win/releases

At this point though I would have chosen the "what is my time worth?" option here:
https://www.amazon.com/QTHREE-Geforce-210-Graphics-Computer/dp/B0CGV2MP7Z

[BoringName]

I wouldn't bother with the other solutions. The graphics chip doesn't support 3.3 so anything that does provide that functionality, if it's even possible, will do it via software (CPU) and it will run like an absolute dog, especially on something that old.

Get a graphics card or forget about running VUMeter on that machine, it won't be worth the hassle.

[phred]

...or forget about running VUMeter on that machine, it won't be worth the hassle.

I'm pretty sure this is the correct answer.

While I have downloaded the compatibility pack Bee-liever linked to, I have yet to install it. And after a good night's sleep, I'm pretty sure I won't. At least not until I run out of other things to do.

The pack is there and waiting for me to feel inspired, or to punish myself one more time, but now isn't the time.