Help Needed: Sync Failure

1
Hello.
I'm a beginner with psychtoolbox. I installed version 3.0.8 on Matlab
7.0 with Windows Vista and Intel integrated graphics. The
installation was successful except a warning 'PTB-WARNING: Failed to
create DirectDraw interface for primary display. Won't be able to
generate high-precision 'Flip' timestamps'. A VBLSyncTest run failed
with
'>> VBLSyncTest
PTB-WARNING: Failed to create DirectDraw interface for primary
display. Won't be able to generate high-precision 'Flip' timestamps.

screenwidth =

1400


screenheight =

1050



PTB-INFO: This is the OpenGL-Psychtoolbox for Microsoft Windows,
version 3.0.8. (Build date: Aug 15 2008)
PTB-INFO: Type 'PsychtoolboxVersion' for more detailed version
information.
PTB-INFO: Psychtoolbox is licensed to you under terms of the GNU
General Public License (GPL). See file 'License.txt' in the
PTB-INFO: Psychtoolbox root folder for a copy of the GPL license.



OpenGL-Extensions are: GL_EXT_blend_minmax GL_EXT_blend_subtract
GL_EXT_blend_color GL_EXT_abgr GL_EXT_texture3D
GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array
GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap
GL_EXT_draw_range_elements GL_SGIS_texture_lod GL_EXT_rescale_normal
GL_EXT_packed_pixels GL_EXT_separate_specular_color
GL_ARB_multitexture GL_EXT_texture_env_combine GL_EXT_bgra
GL_EXT_blend_func_separate GL_EXT_secondary_color GL_EXT_fog_coord
GL_EXT_texture_env_add GL_ARB_texture_cube_map
GL_ARB_transpose_matrix GL_ARB_texture_env_add
GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays
GL_NV_blend_square GL_ARB_texture_compression
GL_3DFX_texture_compression_FXT1 GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic
GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp GL_ARB_point_parameters
GL_ARB_texture_env_combine GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3
GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc
GL_ARB_shadow GL_ARB_window_pos GL_EXT_shadow_funcs
GL_EXT_stencil_wrap GL_ARB_vertex_program GL_EXT_texture_rectangle
GL_ARB_fragment_program GL_EXT_stencil_two_side
GL_ATI_separate_stencil GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object
GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias GL_ARB_occlusion_query GL_ARB_fragment_shader
GL_ARB_shader_objects GL_ARB_shading_language_100
GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two GL_ARB_vertex_shader
GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_ARB_point_sprite
GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate GL_ARB_depth_texture
GL_ARB_texture_rectangle GL_ARB_draw_buffers
GL_ARB_pixel_buffer_object GL_WIN_swap_hint GL_EXT_framebuffer_object

PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval
sample! Sanity range checks failed!
PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL
sync failure!
PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval
sample! Sanity range checks failed!
PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL
sync failure!
PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval
sample! Sanity range checks failed!
PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL
sync failure!


PTB-INFO: OpenGL-Renderer is Intel :: Intel 965/963 Graphics Media
Accelerator :: 2.0.0 - Build 7.15.10.1554
PTB-Info: VBL startline = 1050 , VBL Endline = -1
PTB-Info: Beamposition queries unsupported or defective on this
system. Using basic timestamping as fallback: Timestamps returned by
Screen('Flip') will be less robust and accurate.
PTB-Info: Measured monitor refresh interval from VBLsync = 0.000000
ms [1.#INF00 Hz]. (0 valid samples taken, stddev=1000000000.000000
ms.)
PTB-Info: Reported monitor refresh interval from operating system =
16.666667 ms [60.000000 Hz].
PTB-Info: Small deviations between reported values are normal and no
reason to worry.
PTB-INFO: Using OpenGL GL_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE_EXT extension for
efficient high-performance texture mapping...

WARNING: Couldn't compute a reliable estimate of monitor refresh
interval! Trouble with VBL syncing?!?

WARNING: Mismatch between measured monitor refresh interval and
interval reported by operating system.
This indicates massive problems with VBL sync.

WARNING: Measured monitor refresh interval indicates a display
refresh of less than 25 Hz or more than 250 Hz?!?
This indicates massive problems with VBL sync.


----- ! PTB - ERROR: SYNCHRONIZATION FAILURE ! ----

One or more internal checks (see Warnings above) indicate that
synchronization
of Psychtoolbox to the vertical retrace (VBL) is not working on your
setup.

This will seriously impair proper stimulus presentation and stimulus
presentation timing!
Please read 'help SyncTrouble' for information about how to solve or
work-around the problem.
You can force Psychtoolbox to continue, despite the severe problems,
by adding the command
Screen('Preference', 'SkipSyncTests', 1); at the top of your script,
if you really know what you are doing.'

I updated my graphics driver and disabled triple buffering in 3D
settings with no effect to the problem. I don't know if I must use
discrete grapics to run the toolbox. Does anyone know how to solve
the problem? Help is much appreciated.
2
Looks as if either the whole display update doesn't
sync to the vertical refresh cycle of your display.

A few things to try:

1. In the display settings, somewhere around the
place where you found the triple-buffer settings,
there must be some switch or slider that selects
if double buffer swaps / display updates are
to be synchronized to the vertical retrace of your
display. Make sure that slider is set to "application
controlled, default to on" or some similar wording.

2. PerceptualVBLSyncTest should show some uniform
flickering grayish square on the screen if the setting
of 1 is correct. Otherwise you'll see massive tearing.

3. On Vista it might help to disable the aero desktop
compositor - the thing that wastes tremendous amounts
of GPU ressources in order to copy the look and feel
of Mac OS/X. See the bottom of our Wiki FAQ entry:
<http://psychtoolbox.org/wikka.php?wakka=FaqVista>
on how to do that.

I usually recommend discrete graphics cards from
NVidia or ATI/AMD, because they are optimized for
serious graphics and gaming applications, both
feature wise and wrt. performance.

However, many modern/recent integrated graphics cards
do have the same or at least similar features as discrete
GPUs and only lack performance, so they should work
for tasks that are not too demanding.

The problem with recent Intel chips - at least on
MS-Windows - is that while their current hardware
isn't bad, their drivers often lack in quality, so what
should work in theory often doesn't in practice. That's
why if i had to choose an integrated chip i'd probably
try to get a NVidia part. ATI hardware seems to have
high quality drivers on OS/X, but not so much on
Windows or Linux, although ATI drivers on Linux are
improving at a pretty high pace on Linux at the moment,
so i'm quite confident for Linux + ATI.

Oh, and Vista is still a bad choice for serious work,
as far as i can see, compared to WindowsXP.

-mario


--- In psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com, "Fang Chao" <fangchaohere@...> wrote:
>
> Hello.
> I'm a beginner with psychtoolbox. I installed version 3.0.8 on Matlab
> 7.0 with Windows Vista and Intel integrated graphics. The
> installation was successful except a warning 'PTB-WARNING: Failed to
> create DirectDraw interface for primary display. Won't be able to
> generate high-precision 'Flip' timestamps'. A VBLSyncTest run failed
> with
> '>> VBLSyncTest
> PTB-WARNING: Failed to create DirectDraw interface for primary
> display. Won't be able to generate high-precision 'Flip' timestamps.
>
> screenwidth =
>
> 1400
>
>
> screenheight =
>
> 1050
>
>
>
> PTB-INFO: This is the OpenGL-Psychtoolbox for Microsoft Windows,
> version 3.0.8. (Build date: Aug 15 2008)
> PTB-INFO: Type 'PsychtoolboxVersion' for more detailed version
> information.
> PTB-INFO: Psychtoolbox is licensed to you under terms of the GNU
> General Public License (GPL). See file 'License.txt' in the
> PTB-INFO: Psychtoolbox root folder for a copy of the GPL license.
>
>
>
> OpenGL-Extensions are: GL_EXT_blend_minmax GL_EXT_blend_subtract
> GL_EXT_blend_color GL_EXT_abgr GL_EXT_texture3D
> GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array
> GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap
> GL_EXT_draw_range_elements GL_SGIS_texture_lod GL_EXT_rescale_normal
> GL_EXT_packed_pixels GL_EXT_separate_specular_color
> GL_ARB_multitexture GL_EXT_texture_env_combine GL_EXT_bgra
> GL_EXT_blend_func_separate GL_EXT_secondary_color GL_EXT_fog_coord
> GL_EXT_texture_env_add GL_ARB_texture_cube_map
> GL_ARB_transpose_matrix GL_ARB_texture_env_add
> GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays
> GL_NV_blend_square GL_ARB_texture_compression
> GL_3DFX_texture_compression_FXT1 GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic
> GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp GL_ARB_point_parameters
> GL_ARB_texture_env_combine GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3
> GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc
> GL_ARB_shadow GL_ARB_window_pos GL_EXT_shadow_funcs
> GL_EXT_stencil_wrap GL_ARB_vertex_program GL_EXT_texture_rectangle
> GL_ARB_fragment_program GL_EXT_stencil_two_side
> GL_ATI_separate_stencil GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object
> GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias GL_ARB_occlusion_query GL_ARB_fragment_shader
> GL_ARB_shader_objects GL_ARB_shading_language_100
> GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two GL_ARB_vertex_shader
> GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_ARB_point_sprite
> GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate GL_ARB_depth_texture
> GL_ARB_texture_rectangle GL_ARB_draw_buffers
> GL_ARB_pixel_buffer_object GL_WIN_swap_hint GL_EXT_framebuffer_object
>
> PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval
> sample! Sanity range checks failed!
> PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL
> sync failure!
> PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval
> sample! Sanity range checks failed!
> PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL
> sync failure!
> PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval
> sample! Sanity range checks failed!
> PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL
> sync failure!
>
>
> PTB-INFO: OpenGL-Renderer is Intel :: Intel 965/963 Graphics Media
> Accelerator :: 2.0.0 - Build 7.15.10.1554
> PTB-Info: VBL startline = 1050 , VBL Endline = -1
> PTB-Info: Beamposition queries unsupported or defective on this
> system. Using basic timestamping as fallback: Timestamps returned by
> Screen('Flip') will be less robust and accurate.
> PTB-Info: Measured monitor refresh interval from VBLsync = 0.000000
> ms [1.#INF00 Hz]. (0 valid samples taken, stddev=1000000000.000000
> ms.)
> PTB-Info: Reported monitor refresh interval from operating system =
> 16.666667 ms [60.000000 Hz].
> PTB-Info: Small deviations between reported values are normal and no
> reason to worry.
> PTB-INFO: Using OpenGL GL_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE_EXT extension for
> efficient high-performance texture mapping...
>
> WARNING: Couldn't compute a reliable estimate of monitor refresh
> interval! Trouble with VBL syncing?!?
>
> WARNING: Mismatch between measured monitor refresh interval and
> interval reported by operating system.
> This indicates massive problems with VBL sync.
>
> WARNING: Measured monitor refresh interval indicates a display
> refresh of less than 25 Hz or more than 250 Hz?!?
> This indicates massive problems with VBL sync.
>
>
> ----- ! PTB - ERROR: SYNCHRONIZATION FAILURE ! ----
>
> One or more internal checks (see Warnings above) indicate that
> synchronization
> of Psychtoolbox to the vertical retrace (VBL) is not working on your
> setup.
>
> This will seriously impair proper stimulus presentation and stimulus
> presentation timing!
> Please read 'help SyncTrouble' for information about how to solve or
> work-around the problem.
> You can force Psychtoolbox to continue, despite the severe problems,
> by adding the command
> Screen('Preference', 'SkipSyncTests', 1); at the top of your script,
> if you really know what you are doing.'
>
> I updated my graphics driver and disabled triple buffering in 3D
> settings with no effect to the problem. I don't know if I must use
> discrete grapics to run the toolbox. Does anyone know how to solve
> the problem? Help is much appreciated.
>
3
--- In psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com, "ian.greenhouse" <ian.greenhouse@...> wrote:
>
> I am confronting the same problem, and I have not been successful
> using the suggestions below. I am using a very similar setup to that
> described in the error report, but I am using a more recent PTB
> version (build date: January 9, 2009).
>
> Was this ever resolved?

Who knows, if the person didn't report back
the results?

are all error messages the same?

So this means you didn't find the slider or button
from step 1, or you did find it but it didn't help?

Did the perceptualvblsynctest show tearing or not?

it's either a wrong setting or a buggy driver or both.

-mario

>
> Thanks for your help,
> Ian
>
> P.S. I am helping someone else who happens to be running Vista. I am
> not a Vista user.
>
> --- In psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com, "Mario Kleiner"
> <mario.kleiner@> wrote:
> >
> > Looks as if either the whole display update doesn't
> > sync to the vertical refresh cycle of your display.
> >
> > A few things to try:
> >
> > 1. In the display settings, somewhere around the
> > place where you found the triple-buffer settings,
> > there must be some switch or slider that selects
> > if double buffer swaps / display updates are
> > to be synchronized to the vertical retrace of your
> > display. Make sure that slider is set to "application
> > controlled, default to on" or some similar wording.
> >
> > 2. PerceptualVBLSyncTest should show some uniform
> > flickering grayish square on the screen if the setting
> > of 1 is correct. Otherwise you'll see massive tearing.
> >
> > 3. On Vista it might help to disable the aero desktop
> > compositor - the thing that wastes tremendous amounts
> > of GPU ressources in order to copy the look and feel
> > of Mac OS/X. See the bottom of our Wiki FAQ entry:
> > <http://psychtoolbox.org/wikka.php?wakka=FaqVista>
> > on how to do that.
> >
> > I usually recommend discrete graphics cards from
> > NVidia or ATI/AMD, because they are optimized for
> > serious graphics and gaming applications, both
> > feature wise and wrt. performance.
> >
> > However, many modern/recent integrated graphics cards
> > do have the same or at least similar features as discrete
> > GPUs and only lack performance, so they should work
> > for tasks that are not too demanding.
> >
> > The problem with recent Intel chips - at least on
> > MS-Windows - is that while their current hardware
> > isn't bad, their drivers often lack in quality, so what
> > should work in theory often doesn't in practice. That's
> > why if i had to choose an integrated chip i'd probably
> > try to get a NVidia part. ATI hardware seems to have
> > high quality drivers on OS/X, but not so much on
> > Windows or Linux, although ATI drivers on Linux are
> > improving at a pretty high pace on Linux at the moment,
> > so i'm quite confident for Linux + ATI.
> >
> > Oh, and Vista is still a bad choice for serious work,
> > as far as i can see, compared to WindowsXP.
> >
> > -mario
> >
> >
> > --- In psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com, "Fang Chao" <fangchaohere@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hello.
> > > I'm a beginner with psychtoolbox. I installed version 3.0.8 on Matlab
> > > 7.0 with Windows Vista and Intel integrated graphics. The
> > > installation was successful except a warning 'PTB-WARNING: Failed to
> > > create DirectDraw interface for primary display. Won't be able to
> > > generate high-precision 'Flip' timestamps'. A VBLSyncTest run failed
> > > with
> > > '>> VBLSyncTest
> > > PTB-WARNING: Failed to create DirectDraw interface for primary
> > > display. Won't be able to generate high-precision 'Flip' timestamps.
> > >
> > > screenwidth =
> > >
> > > 1400
> > >
> > >
> > > screenheight =
> > >
> > > 1050
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > PTB-INFO: This is the OpenGL-Psychtoolbox for Microsoft Windows,
> > > version 3.0.8. (Build date: Aug 15 2008)
> > > PTB-INFO: Type 'PsychtoolboxVersion' for more detailed version
> > > information.
> > > PTB-INFO: Psychtoolbox is licensed to you under terms of the GNU
> > > General Public License (GPL). See file 'License.txt' in the
> > > PTB-INFO: Psychtoolbox root folder for a copy of the GPL license.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > OpenGL-Extensions are: GL_EXT_blend_minmax GL_EXT_blend_subtract
> > > GL_EXT_blend_color GL_EXT_abgr GL_EXT_texture3D
> > > GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array
> > > GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap
> > > GL_EXT_draw_range_elements GL_SGIS_texture_lod GL_EXT_rescale_normal
> > > GL_EXT_packed_pixels GL_EXT_separate_specular_color
> > > GL_ARB_multitexture GL_EXT_texture_env_combine GL_EXT_bgra
> > > GL_EXT_blend_func_separate GL_EXT_secondary_color GL_EXT_fog_coord
> > > GL_EXT_texture_env_add GL_ARB_texture_cube_map
> > > GL_ARB_transpose_matrix GL_ARB_texture_env_add
> > > GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays
> > > GL_NV_blend_square GL_ARB_texture_compression
> > > GL_3DFX_texture_compression_FXT1 GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic
> > > GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp GL_ARB_point_parameters
> > > GL_ARB_texture_env_combine GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3
> > > GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc
> > > GL_ARB_shadow GL_ARB_window_pos GL_EXT_shadow_funcs
> > > GL_EXT_stencil_wrap GL_ARB_vertex_program GL_EXT_texture_rectangle
> > > GL_ARB_fragment_program GL_EXT_stencil_two_side
> > > GL_ATI_separate_stencil GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object
> > > GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias GL_ARB_occlusion_query GL_ARB_fragment_shader
> > > GL_ARB_shader_objects GL_ARB_shading_language_100
> > > GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two GL_ARB_vertex_shader
> > > GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_ARB_point_sprite
> > > GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate GL_ARB_depth_texture
> > > GL_ARB_texture_rectangle GL_ARB_draw_buffers
> > > GL_ARB_pixel_buffer_object GL_WIN_swap_hint GL_EXT_framebuffer_object
> > >
> > > PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval
> > > sample! Sanity range checks failed!
> > > PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL
> > > sync failure!
> > > PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval
> > > sample! Sanity range checks failed!
> > > PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL
> > > sync failure!
> > > PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval
> > > sample! Sanity range checks failed!
> > > PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL
> > > sync failure!
> > >
> > >
> > > PTB-INFO: OpenGL-Renderer is Intel :: Intel 965/963 Graphics Media
> > > Accelerator :: 2.0.0 - Build 7.15.10.1554
> > > PTB-Info: VBL startline = 1050 , VBL Endline = -1
> > > PTB-Info: Beamposition queries unsupported or defective on this
> > > system. Using basic timestamping as fallback: Timestamps returned by
> > > Screen('Flip') will be less robust and accurate.
> > > PTB-Info: Measured monitor refresh interval from VBLsync = 0.000000
> > > ms [1.#INF00 Hz]. (0 valid samples taken, stddev=1000000000.000000
> > > ms.)
> > > PTB-Info: Reported monitor refresh interval from operating system =
> > > 16.666667 ms [60.000000 Hz].
> > > PTB-Info: Small deviations between reported values are normal and no
> > > reason to worry.
> > > PTB-INFO: Using OpenGL GL_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE_EXT extension for
> > > efficient high-performance texture mapping...
> > >
> > > WARNING: Couldn't compute a reliable estimate of monitor refresh
> > > interval! Trouble with VBL syncing?!?
> > >
> > > WARNING: Mismatch between measured monitor refresh interval and
> > > interval reported by operating system.
> > > This indicates massive problems with VBL sync.
> > >
> > > WARNING: Measured monitor refresh interval indicates a display
> > > refresh of less than 25 Hz or more than 250 Hz?!?
> > > This indicates massive problems with VBL sync.
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- ! PTB - ERROR: SYNCHRONIZATION FAILURE ! ----
> > >
> > > One or more internal checks (see Warnings above) indicate that
> > > synchronization
> > > of Psychtoolbox to the vertical retrace (VBL) is not working on your
> > > setup.
> > >
> > > This will seriously impair proper stimulus presentation and stimulus
> > > presentation timing!
> > > Please read 'help SyncTrouble' for information about how to solve or
> > > work-around the problem.
> > > You can force Psychtoolbox to continue, despite the severe problems,
> > > by adding the command
> > > Screen('Preference', 'SkipSyncTests', 1); at the top of your script,
> > > if you really know what you are doing.'
> > >
> > > I updated my graphics driver and disabled triple buffering in 3D
> > > settings with no effect to the problem. I don't know if I must use
> > > discrete grapics to run the toolbox. Does anyone know how to solve
> > > the problem? Help is much appreciated.
> > >
> >
>
4
I am using an intel based laptop with the same integrated graphics card as the previous posters. As with the others, I have not been able to solve this problem. Has anyone been able to use psychtoolbox on an intel based machine that uses any integrated graphics card in the GMA series? If so, what are your 3D Graphics settings?
Thanks,
Joel


PTB-INFO: This is the OpenGL-Psychtoolbox for Microsoft Windows, version 3.0.8. (Build date: Feb 3 2009)
PTB-INFO: Type 'PsychtoolboxVersion' for more detailed version information.
PTB-INFO: Psychtoolbox is licensed to you under terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). See file 'License.txt' in the
PTB-INFO: Psychtoolbox root folder for a copy of the GPL license.



OpenGL-Extensions are: GL_EXT_blend_minmax GL_EXT_blend_subtract GL_EXT_blend_color GL_EXT_abgr GL_EXT_texture3D GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap GL_EXT_draw_range_elements GL_SGIS_texture_lod GL_EXT_rescale_normal GL_EXT_packed_pixels GL_EXT_separate_specular_color GL_ARB_multitexture GL_EXT_texture_env_combine GL_EXT_bgra GL_EXT_blend_func_separate GL_EXT_secondary_color GL_EXT_fog_coord GL_EXT_texture_env_add GL_ARB_texture_cube_map GL_ARB_transpose_matrix GL_ARB_texture_env_add GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays GL_NV_blend_square GL_ARB_texture_compression GL_3DFX_texture_compression_FXT1 GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp GL_ARB_point_parameters GL_ARB_texture_env_combine GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3 GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc GL_ARB_shadow GL_ARB_window_pos GL_EXT_shadow_funcs GL_EXT_stencil_wrap GL_ARB_vertex_program GL_EXT_texture_rectangle GL_ARB_fragment_program GL_EXT_stencil_two_side GL_ATI_separate_stencil GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias GL_ARB_occlusion_query GL_ARB_fragment_shader GL_ARB_shader_objects GL_ARB_shading_language_100 GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two GL_ARB_vertex_shader GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_ARB_point_sprite GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate GL_ARB_depth_texture GL_ARB_texture_rectangle GL_ARB_draw_buffers GL_ARB_pixel_buffer_object GL_WIN_swap_hint GL_EXT_framebuffer_object

PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval sample! Sanity range checks failed!
PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL sync failure!
PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval sample! Sanity range checks failed!
PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL sync failure!
PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval sample! Sanity range checks failed!
PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL sync failure!


PTB-INFO: OpenGL-Renderer is Intel :: Intel Cantiga :: 2.0.0 - Build 7.15.10.1545
PTB-Info: VBL startline = 800 , VBL Endline = 800
PTB-Info: Measured monitor refresh interval from beamposition = 16.123318 ms [62.021973 Hz].
PTB-Info: Will use beamposition query for accurate Flip time stamping.
PTB-Info: Measured monitor refresh interval from VBLsync = 0.000000 ms [1.#INF00 Hz]. (0 valid samples taken, stddev=1000000000.000000 ms.)
PTB-Info: Reported monitor refresh interval from operating system = 16.666667 ms [60.000000 Hz].
PTB-Info: Small deviations between reported values are normal and no reason to worry.

WARNING: Couldn't compute a reliable estimate of monitor refresh interval! Trouble with VBL syncing?!?

WARNING: Mismatch between measured monitor refresh interval and interval reported by operating system.
This indicates massive problems with VBL sync.

WARNING: Measured monitor refresh interval indicates a display refresh of less than 25 Hz or more than 250 Hz?!?
This indicates massive problems with VBL sync.


----- ! PTB - ERROR: SYNCHRONIZATION FAILURE ! ----

One or more internal checks (see Warnings above) indicate that synchronization
of Psychtoolbox to the vertical retrace (VBL) is not working on your setup.

This will seriously impair proper stimulus presentation and stimulus presentation timing!
Please read 'help SyncTrouble' for information about how to solve or work-around the problem.
You can force Psychtoolbox to continue, despite the severe problems, by adding the command
Screen('Preference', 'SkipSyncTests', 1); at the top of your script, if you really know what you are doing.--- In psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com, "ian.greenhouse" <ian.greenhouse@...> wrote:
>
> I am confronting the same problem, and I have not been successful
> using the suggestions below. I am using a very similar setup to that
> described in the error report, but I am using a more recent PTB
> version (build date: January 9, 2009).
>
> Was this ever resolved?
>
> Thanks for your help,
> Ian
>
> P.S. I am helping someone else who happens to be running Vista. I am
> not a Vista user.
>
> --- In psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com, "Mario Kleiner"
> <mario.kleiner@> wrote:
> >
> > Looks as if either the whole display update doesn't
> > sync to the vertical refresh cycle of your display.
> >
> > A few things to try:
> >
> > 1. In the display settings, somewhere around the
> > place where you found the triple-buffer settings,
> > there must be some switch or slider that selects
> > if double buffer swaps / display updates are
> > to be synchronized to the vertical retrace of your
> > display. Make sure that slider is set to "application
> > controlled, default to on" or some similar wording.
> >
> > 2. PerceptualVBLSyncTest should show some uniform
> > flickering grayish square on the screen if the setting
> > of 1 is correct. Otherwise you'll see massive tearing.
> >
> > 3. On Vista it might help to disable the aero desktop
> > compositor - the thing that wastes tremendous amounts
> > of GPU ressources in order to copy the look and feel
> > of Mac OS/X. See the bottom of our Wiki FAQ entry:
> > <http://psychtoolbox.org/wikka.php?wakka=FaqVista>
> > on how to do that.
> >
> > I usually recommend discrete graphics cards from
> > NVidia or ATI/AMD, because they are optimized for
> > serious graphics and gaming applications, both
> > feature wise and wrt. performance.
> >
> > However, many modern/recent integrated graphics cards
> > do have the same or at least similar features as discrete
> > GPUs and only lack performance, so they should work
> > for tasks that are not too demanding.
> >
> > The problem with recent Intel chips - at least on
> > MS-Windows - is that while their current hardware
> > isn't bad, their drivers often lack in quality, so what
> > should work in theory often doesn't in practice. That's
> > why if i had to choose an integrated chip i'd probably
> > try to get a NVidia part. ATI hardware seems to have
> > high quality drivers on OS/X, but not so much on
> > Windows or Linux, although ATI drivers on Linux are
> > improving at a pretty high pace on Linux at the moment,
> > so i'm quite confident for Linux + ATI.
> >
> > Oh, and Vista is still a bad choice for serious work,
> > as far as i can see, compared to WindowsXP.
> >
> > -mario
> >
> >
> > --- In psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com, "Fang Chao" <fangchaohere@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hello.
> > > I'm a beginner with psychtoolbox. I installed version 3.0.8 on Matlab
> > > 7.0 with Windows Vista and Intel integrated graphics. The
> > > installation was successful except a warning 'PTB-WARNING: Failed to
> > > create DirectDraw interface for primary display. Won't be able to
> > > generate high-precision 'Flip' timestamps'. A VBLSyncTest run failed
> > > with
> > > '>> VBLSyncTest
> > > PTB-WARNING: Failed to create DirectDraw interface for primary
> > > display. Won't be able to generate high-precision 'Flip' timestamps.
> > >
> > > screenwidth =
> > >
> > > 1400
> > >
> > >
> > > screenheight =
> > >
> > > 1050
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > PTB-INFO: This is the OpenGL-Psychtoolbox for Microsoft Windows,
> > > version 3.0.8. (Build date: Aug 15 2008)
> > > PTB-INFO: Type 'PsychtoolboxVersion' for more detailed version
> > > information.
> > > PTB-INFO: Psychtoolbox is licensed to you under terms of the GNU
> > > General Public License (GPL). See file 'License.txt' in the
> > > PTB-INFO: Psychtoolbox root folder for a copy of the GPL license.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > OpenGL-Extensions are: GL_EXT_blend_minmax GL_EXT_blend_subtract
> > > GL_EXT_blend_color GL_EXT_abgr GL_EXT_texture3D
> > > GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array
> > > GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap
> > > GL_EXT_draw_range_elements GL_SGIS_texture_lod GL_EXT_rescale_normal
> > > GL_EXT_packed_pixels GL_EXT_separate_specular_color
> > > GL_ARB_multitexture GL_EXT_texture_env_combine GL_EXT_bgra
> > > GL_EXT_blend_func_separate GL_EXT_secondary_color GL_EXT_fog_coord
> > > GL_EXT_texture_env_add GL_ARB_texture_cube_map
> > > GL_ARB_transpose_matrix GL_ARB_texture_env_add
> > > GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays
> > > GL_NV_blend_square GL_ARB_texture_compression
> > > GL_3DFX_texture_compression_FXT1 GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic
> > > GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp GL_ARB_point_parameters
> > > GL_ARB_texture_env_combine GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3
> > > GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc
> > > GL_ARB_shadow GL_ARB_window_pos GL_EXT_shadow_funcs
> > > GL_EXT_stencil_wrap GL_ARB_vertex_program GL_EXT_texture_rectangle
> > > GL_ARB_fragment_program GL_EXT_stencil_two_side
> > > GL_ATI_separate_stencil GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object
> > > GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias GL_ARB_occlusion_query GL_ARB_fragment_shader
> > > GL_ARB_shader_objects GL_ARB_shading_language_100
> > > GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two GL_ARB_vertex_shader
> > > GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_ARB_point_sprite
> > > GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate GL_ARB_depth_texture
> > > GL_ARB_texture_rectangle GL_ARB_draw_buffers
> > > GL_ARB_pixel_buffer_object GL_WIN_swap_hint GL_EXT_framebuffer_object
> > >
> > > PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval
> > > sample! Sanity range checks failed!
> > > PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL
> > > sync failure!
> > > PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval
> > > sample! Sanity range checks failed!
> > > PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL
> > > sync failure!
> > > PTB-WARNING: Couldn't even collect one single valid flip interval
> > > sample! Sanity range checks failed!
> > > PTB-WARNING: Couldn't collect valid flip interval samples! Fatal VBL
> > > sync failure!
> > >
> > >
> > > PTB-INFO: OpenGL-Renderer is Intel :: Intel 965/963 Graphics Media
> > > Accelerator :: 2.0.0 - Build 7.15.10.1554
> > > PTB-Info: VBL startline = 1050 , VBL Endline = -1
> > > PTB-Info: Beamposition queries unsupported or defective on this
> > > system. Using basic timestamping as fallback: Timestamps returned by
> > > Screen('Flip') will be less robust and accurate.
> > > PTB-Info: Measured monitor refresh interval from VBLsync = 0.000000
> > > ms [1.#INF00 Hz]. (0 valid samples taken, stddev=1000000000.000000
> > > ms.)
> > > PTB-Info: Reported monitor refresh interval from operating system =
> > > 16.666667 ms [60.000000 Hz].
> > > PTB-Info: Small deviations between reported values are normal and no
> > > reason to worry.
> > > PTB-INFO: Using OpenGL GL_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE_EXT extension for
> > > efficient high-performance texture mapping...
> > >
> > > WARNING: Couldn't compute a reliable estimate of monitor refresh
> > > interval! Trouble with VBL syncing?!?
> > >
> > > WARNING: Mismatch between measured monitor refresh interval and
> > > interval reported by operating system.
> > > This indicates massive problems with VBL sync.
> > >
> > > WARNING: Measured monitor refresh interval indicates a display
> > > refresh of less than 25 Hz or more than 250 Hz?!?
> > > This indicates massive problems with VBL sync.
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- ! PTB - ERROR: SYNCHRONIZATION FAILURE ! ----
> > >
> > > One or more internal checks (see Warnings above) indicate that
> > > synchronization
> > > of Psychtoolbox to the vertical retrace (VBL) is not working on your
> > > setup.
> > >
> > > This will seriously impair proper stimulus presentation and stimulus
> > > presentation timing!
> > > Please read 'help SyncTrouble' for information about how to solve or
> > > work-around the problem.
> > > You can force Psychtoolbox to continue, despite the severe problems,
> > > by adding the command
> > > Screen('Preference', 'SkipSyncTests', 1); at the top of your script,
> > > if you really know what you are doing.'
> > >
> > > I updated my graphics driver and disabled triple buffering in 3D
> > > settings with no effect to the problem. I don't know if I must use
> > > discrete grapics to run the toolbox. Does anyone know how to solve
> > > the problem? Help is much appreciated.
> > >
> >
>