flicker around mouse (Windows)
#1
I'm having a problem where there is a box around the mouse cursor, and it's not drawing correctly. Even if i disable the mouse cursor, i still have the cursor, it's just different (it looks like the default X Windows cursor on Linux).
I am on Windows XP. The box is visible on moving text on the first screen, and when i go into a music there is a black box (around 64x64px) around the mouse all the time, no matter where it is. Sometimes it disappears, but later appears again. The box also flickers.

If the mouse IS enabled, then the cursor flickers all the time (green cursor this time), and also when it's over any moving text or animation, it the box around it (even larger here) flickers all the time.

Any solution to this?
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#2
I heard this happened for a minority of users but we can't reproduce it.
Do you have any SDL runtime installed beside XBMC. XBMC brings its own version and doesn't need any extra SDL libs?
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
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#3
it would help if you provide more data about your setup.....

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=42708
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#4
Actually i used to have this problem too but it went away at some point. Wish I would have taken more notice of what revision or what I changed that fixed it..
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#5
I don't have SDL manually installed, and the only thing i can think of is that i am using ATI Remote Wonder with it's official Windows drivers (and their app). I tried it on two computers with Windows XP SP3 and it happens on both.
Let me know what else i can do to help figure out what's going on.

I also tried without having the remote plugged in (and also closed ATI's app for the remote), but the problem persists. When the mouse is disabled (even though there is still an X-like cursor, but clicking doesn't work in this case), the only problem is a flickering square (around 64x64) in the bottom right corner of the screen, and it flickers between what should be displayed and what is below the app (a black wallpaper on my desktop in my case). When the mouse is enabled on the other hand, the cursor constantly flickers and a box (like described before) also flickers and keeps following the mouse (so around the mouse is around 64x64 box which keeps flickering). Even when the mouse is disabled, the box still follows it, but it's only visible on any moving parts or animations. It looks kind of like, if you take an animation, record the part that is animating, and switch every 2nd or 3rd frame with a black image (or whatever the wallpaper or program beneath XBMC looks like).
Also, on the scrolling text at the bottom for example, the black box is only flickering (coming trough) on the far right part of the screen, but if i move the mouse to another part over the text, it only keeps flickering the "old" state trough (like take what was there 2 sec ago and show that instead of what should be there now, but there is no black color coming trough here). Also i noticed that until i move the mouse, the same content keeps flickering over (so if i moved the mouse over the text "Trackers moved from", as long as i don't move the mose, it keeps flickering this text, even though the text is moving, or even when the text runs out and there's only gray background).
I could not move the mouse, but still i have this black box on the far bottom left corner which keeps flickering with my background (i.e. wallpaper), even when i don't move the mouse, or the cursor is somewhere else. When the cursor is there, it flickers faster, but when it's somewhere else it still flickers, just slower.

This is a video of the problem: http://zeta.mrbrdo.net/test.avi (~2MB)
The framerate is very low, so please note it actually flickers very fast, and on the video it may seem as if the "wrong thing" is just displayed all the time, but in fact it actually flickers very fast, in all cases. Also at the very end you can see even the yellow square animation is also flickering, even though it is barely noticable on the video. This whole video is taken with mouse disabled in XBMC (so you see the X-Windows cursor). With the mouse enabled it's just worse, the cursor also flickers all the time and there is more flickering going on. The video starts just after i run XBMC, so you can see how the desktop shortcut is coming trough. But later if i move my mouse there it isn't coming trough anymore, since there is no animation or moving parts at that part of the screen. I am using the release version of XBMC for Windows, i downloaded it around 2 days ago.
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#6
still not good description? Tongue
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#7
The description is ok but as long we can't reproduce it we aren't able to fix it if it is even a XBMC bug.
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
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#8
It is definately an XBMC bug, since there are more reports about this. Also I've been able to reproduce this on two completely different PCs (one is an AMD proc. with Nvidia graphics, one is the Asus EEE 701 notebook with an Intel graphics card), both running Windows XP SP3 (one was a totally clean nLited install, other is the regular WinXP, not nLited).
Other reports of a similar problem:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=40746
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?p=244205

I am willing to test any devel/debug builds, I am also a (mainly Windows) developer so I could try to help figure out the problem if you give me some directions (or just a special build).
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#9
Your help is appreciated. Please go ahead and try to find it.
I have two PCs with XP Sp3 (intel and ati) and one with Vista (nvidia) and never had this kind of problem.
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
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#10
Before i start digging around, does this bring anything to mind:
I tried XBMC on my dekstop PC aswell (using same ATI Remote drivers), and here i don't have the flicker problem. The problem, coincidently, happens only on my 2 laptop computers. Do you have any idea why the problem is only manifesting on my laptops but not on my desktop PC? I'm not saying it's necessarily related, but it could be. Note: desktop PC = nvidia, laptop1 = ATI, laptop2 = Intel.
EDIT: nevermind, now i have the glitch on the PC aswell, i don't know why though. running the debug SDL build also has the glitch.
One more thing - where can i find the code that does drawing of the cursor, background and such?
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#11
you could try to disable all programs at startup.

incase you don't know how:

start > run > msconfig > tab startup > uncheck everything


it could be a favourite background running app you installed on all machines. if it solves the problem you could try enabling programs one by one.
if you happen to find any conflicting programs ofcourse please report back.
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#12
With a little testing, i've been able to figure this out on my PC:
- it works fine in fullscreen
- it works like on my laptops in windowed (flickering)
- it still flickers in fullscreen on my laptops
Issue could be:
http://www.libsdl.org/faq.php?action=lis...egory=2#67
"I'm using SDL_DOUBLEBUF and I still get tearing.
...
If you are in windowed mode, you need to run in fullscreen mode."
Even though i personally think this is a lol answer, even in fullscreen i get this effect on the laptop. On the PC it does indeed fix it (nvidia card).
I can reproduce it like this. My native resolution is 1920x1200, i put XBMC in windowed mode, 800x600 (@56Hz). It's an LCD btw so it doesn't have a refresh rate like that. Anyway, when in this windowed mode, just hover the mouse over the scrolling text on the bottom, instantly see if the problem is occuring. For me it's reproducable on this PC 100% of the time.

Also:
Playing a video also has this flickering problem. When i hover the mouse over the video it flickers all the time. When i stop moving the mouse, it "remembers" a tile under the mouse (around 64x64), and that area flickers between the real output of the video and this "remembered" tile. the tile never changes, it is the copy of what was under the mouse when it last moved, and it stays that forever, until the mouse is moved.
I'm thinking this could be a SDL bug? How old is the SDL version that comes with XBMC's source?

What do you use to draw? I didn't find SDL_Flip anywhere.. You are drawing double-buffered, right? (probably yes since what i get is not tearing but flickering)
Is it currently possible to compile without HAS_SDL? I tried removing the preprocessor define but i get some errors which i didn't even try to fix, assuming i would encounter even more of them (it was just about some types missing like int16_t).
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#13
bitflusher i don't like such programs Tongue i don't have any installed on one laptop at least, it was a totally clean winxp install, first thing after was i installed chrome and then XBMC. that's all.
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#14
Could someone enlighten me in the areas i've asked about in my post 2 posts up? I'm trying to help, but i need some help as well Smile
Thank you
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#15
Just my 2 cents to confirm the connection to ATi Remote Wonder:
I had the exact same problem as described in the original post. I then unistalled the ATI RW driver software, rebooted and the flickering problem was gone.
Additional info: I'm running a Abit IL-90MV motherboard with the Intel 945GT graphics chipset and Intel drivers (so I guess it's their OpenGl drivers if that can be part of this problem)
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