[Solved, NVidia Optimus strikes again] Windows 8.1: Black Screen when opening PPSSPP

[Finalfencer]

Hi I'm new here.

My first version of PPSSPP was 0.9.5 and I noticed that it started up in a black screen. My friend's always had a nice blue screen with an intro of sorts. I ALT+ Entered and it corrected this glitch and allowed me to play normally. A single crash in almost a month of play. I recently updated to windows 8.1 from normal 8 (I guess) and now it won't change this black screen regardless if I'm full screen or not. I can't hear sound and even if I load from the menu on top, I still can't get it to load anything.

I thought it might be my drivers so I updated them, which was needed, and still no change. I went and downloaded the newest version of PPSSPP 0.9.6, no change. Tried in x64 mode: No change. There is no lag, and it's responsive with all the menu options (I can select and deselect anything in the menu) but the emulator won't let me past the screen. I'm at my wit's end. Been at this for hours.

ACER Nplify 802.11a/g/n +BT 4.0
Intel Core i5-3230M 2.6GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M with 2GB Dedicated VRAM
8 GB DDR3 Memory

If you guys need anymore information, I'll respond as swiftly as I'm able. I'm good at a lot of things on a computer troubleshooting is not my strong suit. Thanks for your time.

Edit: Sound is working. Just no video. Going to explore divx and opengl options for further results.
Edit 2: Drivers fully updated, opengl updated, directx updated; Still no fix. I had my suspicions, but whatever Windows did in the update must have messed this up. I've seen a lot of people having issues with games in general with this update but the only problem I've come across so far is with ppsspp. If anyone has any ideas in what direction I should take to fix this, I'll work with it and see if I can make some progress.

[fuhuan416]

Now try the lastest PPSSPP's version, my machine's hardware level low than your machine
But i uesed lastest PPSSPP, it haven't blackscreen issue

[The Phoenix]

Have you tried the latest Beta build from http://buildbot.orphis.net/ppsspp/index.php
Which at time of writing this would be: v0.9.6-190-gca0fd61

Try both versions of PPSSPP x64 & x32 Bit.

Which game or games are you testing & Have you got Buffered Rendering selected.
As Non Buffered Rendering can cause black screens in some games.

[Finalfencer]

I downloaded both and they give me the same problem. Made sure to delete each previous version to clear the .ini file. Tried in buffered and non-buffered mode. Sound still works, just no visuals.

It's not even the games though. The emulator itself has no start up screen. I have to load games manually then I hear the game menu in the background. Games I'm using though are Dissida 012 (eur un-dubbed) and monster hunter portable 3rd hd. Tried running these ideas through comparability mode too and it gives me the same thing. I'm willing to bet that windows 8 update to 8.1 had something to do with it. It was the only thing that changed on my computer between it working and not.

[TheDax]

I think this is something on your PC's end, or Windows 8.1's end; on Windows 7, the game is booting up fine with the PC in my sig.

Also, Divx (saw you mention this in the first post) won't solve anything (or shouldn't..), PPSSPP doesn't use Divx.

[Finalfencer]

Oops. Meant direct x. I'm sure you're right, it's definitely on my PC or windows end though I'm leaning towards windows 8.1 because it worked before the update. Thanks for the help guys! I'll post again if I have any updates or fixes.

[mr.chya]

You might want to try updating the drivers for your graphics card as the openGL compatibility between the current driver and windows 8.1 may be different with the compatibility it had with windows 8

[Finalfencer]

Update: My friend is in IT and is great at troubleshooting. (It's his job.) He looked into the program and the consensus is that the emulator in combination with windows 8.1 is at fault. The communication between the emulator and windows 8.1 is not functioning correctly.

To iterate, we discovered that we could get an image on screen that remembers the pixel location of the click but is not updated until the window is selected again via tools option, re-sizing, or moving the screen. A background screen refresh via right click screen "refresh screen" by windows operating system does not affect the emulator therefore it is not a screen refreshing issue. My screen is refreshing correctly because I can run every other program efficiently.

If you go to the GE debugger in the emulator menu, it is blank. Under all tabs, all values are N/A. In short, the screen only updates when I interact with the program window. Also we did basic screen refreshing trouble shooting on the program itself. We also tried hi-priority settings with no results. I will posts a video if necessary. Until then, this program is unusable.

[abrac]

Try changing compatibility settings and running as administrator, if you haven't already.

[Finalfencer]

I have. Tried windows 7 compatibility mode and windows 8 compatibility.

[abrac]

Strange. I also use ppsspp on windows 8.1, and it works fine on my PC...

[Finalfencer]

Hmmm. What are your computer specs? I wonder if different video cards could be the culprit.

[abrac]

Nvidia gtx 460
Intel pentium dual core.
My specs are clearly much worse than yours though...

[Finalfencer]

Worse or not, you've shown a new development. We both have windows 8.1, both have Nvidia cards, but ppsspp works on your rig but not mine. This is bizarre. I'll investigate further. I'll take any advice posted and report back my findings.

[TheDax]

Edited thread's title to contain more helpful info.