Problem with MicroStation SS3 in Windows10

I just updated to Windows 10 and MicroStation and Bentley Map are behaving quite strangely.

Before I continue I should tell you that my colleague also updated to Windows 10 and everything works fine.

What has happened in my case is that suddenly all MicroStation and Map icons have administrator badge attached even though I'm working on a user with administrator priviledges.

Another thing, and more annoying, is that when a design file is opened in MicroStation or Map all kinds of lines appear:

These seem to be some kind of "ghost" lines as they do not appear when printed and cannot be selected or worked with. It's like the can be seen but aren't there. When all levels are turned off the lines disappear.

Is there anyone who has had a similar problem or is there a known solution?

Regards,

Bjorn

Parents
  • The Windows 10 upgrade will upgrade your Graphics Drivers. For many NVidia cards this means you'll have to set  QV_D3DVERSION=9 to get it to work again.

    link (either as an environment variable or in the MicroStation configuration somewhere, user-level is fine).

    You can try other options as suggested by Bentley, but I wouldn't even bother with those.

    You won't be able to install an old driver to the new OS.

    Answer Verified By: Bjorn Magnus Arnason 

  • It is only recommended to use the "QV_D3DVERSION=9" configuration settings as a temporary measure in identifying what may be the cause of your graphics display issue. Many times that this has occurred it is related to an old graphics card or the driver needs to be upgraded. Go through the checks on the Wiki provided and then try locating the newest drivers.

    communities.bentley.com/.../13543.troubleshooting-graphics-display-issues

    Regards
    Andrew Bell
    Technical Support
    Bentley Systems

  • Andrew,

    New Drivers won't correct the problem and old Drivers can't be installed on Win10.
    "QV_D3DVERSION=9" is the only way to solve this without writing your own Driver, getting a new Graphics card or downgrading back to whatever version you upgraded from.
    If you want to try to force NVidia to accept a 5 to 10% performance loss on their Drivers just to remain compatible with MicroStation on older graphics cards, be my guest.
    But please stop rehashing the same old "temporary measure" story that doesn't solve anything.

    Please stop sending people on a wild goose chase by pointing to a wiki that won't solve their problem and doesn't even mention "QV_D3DVERSION=9" as a fix. That is really a waste of time and no fun at all.

    Or while you're at it, maybe update that wiki! SS4 is out now, how about an update that also talks about Windows10?
    The Win10 update, forces an update of your graphics drivers, which causes the issue with MicroStation on older cards. Win10 will not allow you to install an older Driver that did not have the issue, because those Drivers aren't supported on Win10.

    Thank you!

  • Thanks for all the response.
    Turns out it was the graphics card. We disabled it and the lines disappeared.
    I think we'll buy a new one.

    I was not aware that SS4 has been released. I will definitely update.
  • Hello Bjorn,

    you don't need to disable the Graphics Card entirely, but if you prefer to buy a new card because Graphics performance was already problematic on the previous OS, you most certainly can do that.

    If you search Win10 for "environment variables"
    You should be able to create a new variable QV_D3DVERSION and set that to value 9 (if you have Admin privileges at least and it might require a reboot before this comes into effect).
    There should be little, if any, performance penalty to Graphics on your old card by doing so. It should have no effect at all on non-Bentley software either.

    Note that if you ever upgrade to CONNECT Edition, and you still want to keep the old card, you'll need to set QV_DISABLE_D3D11 to 1 instead of QV_D3DVERSION to 9.

    You can set the variable until you (or IT) can get a new card up and running. Don't forget to remove the variable afterwards once you have the new card in, or it would nerf the performance of the new card. If you're happy with the integrated graphics on the motherboard, no need to even get a new card at all.

    Good luck!

    Answer Verified By: Bjorn Magnus Arnason 

  • Hello Koert.

    Many thanks for this information. I'm in the process of upgrading my MicroStation and Bentley Map versions. We'll see what that'll do.
    Othervise I'll try this QV_D3DVERSION to 9 solution. And thanks for that process describtion. I had no idea how to do that.

    Regards, Bjorn
Reply Children
  • Upgrading MicroStation and Bentley Map to V8i SS4 or even CONNECT versions won't solve the problem, but at least those versions are officially supported on Windows 10. That's one less excuse available.

    The dialog where you set those variables might look a bit different depending on Windows Display Language, but a search on "environment variables" without quotes should point you in the right direction in any language. No reboot required on this system. Set variable, OK, OK. Restart MicroStation, problem solved.

    Even CONNECT Edition with QV_DISABLE_D3D11 not set to 1:

    CONNECT with QV_DISABLE_D3D11 = 1

    All V8i versions need QV_D3DVERSION=9 on Win10 if your card suffers from this problem with the latest Drivers.