
Hello Chimera Users, I am trying to view molecules in sequential stereo in Chimera (v 1.5.3). When I choose Camera -> Sequential Stereo, I get an error that says: "Unable to turn on stereo viewing (Unable to find hardware support / couldn't choose pixel format / Couldn't configure tool widget)". Here is a little bit of the background: The machine is a new Dell desktop running 64-bit Windows 7. I installed a Quadro 600 graphic cards, and I am using the Nvidia 3D vision wireless glasses kit. The version of the Nvidia driver is 275.36, which I believe is the latest version. I should also note that I was able to successfully configure VMD and MOE to work in Stereo with set up described, so I know that 3D should work, I just can't get it to work in Chimera. Previous messages in the mailing archive seem to indicate that the specific type of graphics card or the version of the driver is usually the problem. From what I have read, the Quadro 600 should be compatible. I guess my only concern is the version of the driver. It seems there was some bugs in the 197.x, 258.x, and 259.x versions of the driver, and 266.45 was reported to work. I have version 275.36, should I be worried about a bug or is there something else I missed? Than you for your help, William Allen

It's should be a driver configuration issue. There are two different 3D graphics APIs on Windows, Direct3D and OpenGL, and most Windows applications use the former and Chimera uses the latter (because it works on Linux and Mac OS X too). To configure OpenGL stereo in the Quadro driver on Windows, bring up the NVIDIA Control Panel, navigate to 3D Settings, then Manage 3D Settings. And in those options, set "Stereo - Enable" to on, and "Stereo - Display mode" to the appropriate type of stereo, in your case, my guess would be "On-board DIN connector (with NVIDIA 3D Vision)". HTH, Greg On 06/27/2011 08:02 AM, William Joseph Allen wrote:
Hello Chimera Users,
I am trying to view molecules in sequential stereo in Chimera (v 1.5.3). When I choose Camera -> Sequential Stereo, I get an error that says: "Unable to turn on stereo viewing (Unable to find hardware support / couldn't choose pixel format / Couldn't configure tool widget)".
Here is a little bit of the background:
The machine is a new Dell desktop running 64-bit Windows 7. I installed a Quadro 600 graphic cards, and I am using the Nvidia 3D vision wireless glasses kit. The version of the Nvidia driver is 275.36, which I believe is the latest version. I should also note that I was able to successfully configure VMD and MOE to work in Stereo with set up described, so I know that 3D should work, I just can't get it to work in Chimera.
Previous messages in the mailing archive seem to indicate that the specific type of graphics card or the version of the driver is usually the problem. From what I have read, the Quadro 600 should be compatible. I guess my only concern is the version of the driver. It seems there was some bugs in the 197.x, 258.x, and 259.x versions of the driver, and 266.45 was reported to work. I have version 275.36, should I be worried about a bug or is there something else I missed?
Than you for your help,
William Allen

Hi Greg, Thank you very much for your quick reply. I had actually already changed those settings in the Nvidia control panel. They are as follows: Stereo - Enable: 'On' Stereo - Display mode: 'Generic active stereo (with NVIDIA 3D vision)' The display mode you mentioned in your reply was not an option in my Nvidia control panel. Although, this is the only setting that really makes sense for what I am doing, and I tried most of the other settings without success. I also tried toggling some of the other features in a non-random way, but without success. These two settings, however, are the changes that made stereo in VMD and MOE start working (both of which use OpenGL). But, for whatever reason, Chimera still gives those previously mentioned errors when I try to turn on stereo. If it helps, the monitor is an Asus 120 Hz LCD display connected by a dual-link DVI cable directly to the graphics card. No DIN connector is involved. Thanks again, William Allen On 6/27/11 1:42 PM, Greg Couch wrote:
It's should be a driver configuration issue. There are two different 3D graphics APIs on Windows, Direct3D and OpenGL, and most Windows applications use the former and Chimera uses the latter (because it works on Linux and Mac OS X too). To configure OpenGL stereo in the Quadro driver on Windows, bring up the NVIDIA Control Panel, navigate to 3D Settings, then Manage 3D Settings. And in those options, set "Stereo - Enable" to on, and "Stereo - Display mode" to the appropriate type of stereo, in your case, my guess would be "On-board DIN connector (with NVIDIA 3D Vision)".
HTH,
Greg
On 06/27/2011 08:02 AM, William Joseph Allen wrote:
Hello Chimera Users,
I am trying to view molecules in sequential stereo in Chimera (v 1.5.3). When I choose Camera -> Sequential Stereo, I get an error that says: "Unable to turn on stereo viewing (Unable to find hardware support / couldn't choose pixel format / Couldn't configure tool widget)".
Here is a little bit of the background:
The machine is a new Dell desktop running 64-bit Windows 7. I installed a Quadro 600 graphic cards, and I am using the Nvidia 3D vision wireless glasses kit. The version of the Nvidia driver is 275.36, which I believe is the latest version. I should also note that I was able to successfully configure VMD and MOE to work in Stereo with set up described, so I know that 3D should work, I just can't get it to work in Chimera.
Previous messages in the mailing archive seem to indicate that the specific type of graphics card or the version of the driver is usually the problem. From what I have read, the Quadro 600 should be compatible. I guess my only concern is the version of the driver. It seems there was some bugs in the 197.x, 258.x, and 259.x versions of the driver, and 266.45 was reported to work. I have version 275.36, should I be worried about a bug or is there something else I missed?
Than you for your help,
William Allen

Those settings should work for Chimera too. Please download http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/home/gregc/wglinfo.exe, run it in a terminal window (eg., All Programs / Accessories / Command Prompt), and send the results directly back to me. wglinfo lists all of the possible OpenGL framebuffer configurations and should confirm if OpenGL is reporting that stereo is available and with which graphics capabilities. I'll summarize what I find to chimera-users. -- Greg On 06/27/2011 12:34 PM, William Joseph Allen wrote:
Hi Greg,
Thank you very much for your quick reply.
I had actually already changed those settings in the Nvidia control panel. They are as follows:
Stereo - Enable: 'On' Stereo - Display mode: 'Generic active stereo (with NVIDIA 3D vision)'
The display mode you mentioned in your reply was not an option in my Nvidia control panel. Although, this is the only setting that really makes sense for what I am doing, and I tried most of the other settings without success. I also tried toggling some of the other features in a non-random way, but without success.
These two settings, however, are the changes that made stereo in VMD and MOE start working (both of which use OpenGL). But, for whatever reason, Chimera still gives those previously mentioned errors when I try to turn on stereo. If it helps, the monitor is an Asus 120 Hz LCD display connected by a dual-link DVI cable directly to the graphics card. No DIN connector is involved.
Thanks again,
William Allen
On 6/27/11 1:42 PM, Greg Couch wrote:
It's should be a driver configuration issue. There are two different 3D graphics APIs on Windows, Direct3D and OpenGL, and most Windows applications use the former and Chimera uses the latter (because it works on Linux and Mac OS X too). To configure OpenGL stereo in the Quadro driver on Windows, bring up the NVIDIA Control Panel, navigate to 3D Settings, then Manage 3D Settings. And in those options, set "Stereo - Enable" to on, and "Stereo - Display mode" to the appropriate type of stereo, in your case, my guess would be "On-board DIN connector (with NVIDIA 3D Vision)".
HTH,
Greg
On 06/27/2011 08:02 AM, William Joseph Allen wrote:
Hello Chimera Users,
I am trying to view molecules in sequential stereo in Chimera (v 1.5.3). When I choose Camera -> Sequential Stereo, I get an error that says: "Unable to turn on stereo viewing (Unable to find hardware support / couldn't choose pixel format / Couldn't configure tool widget)".
Here is a little bit of the background:
The machine is a new Dell desktop running 64-bit Windows 7. I installed a Quadro 600 graphic cards, and I am using the Nvidia 3D vision wireless glasses kit. The version of the Nvidia driver is 275.36, which I believe is the latest version. I should also note that I was able to successfully configure VMD and MOE to work in Stereo with set up described, so I know that 3D should work, I just can't get it to work in Chimera.
Previous messages in the mailing archive seem to indicate that the specific type of graphics card or the version of the driver is usually the problem. From what I have read, the Quadro 600 should be compatible. I guess my only concern is the version of the driver. It seems there was some bugs in the 197.x, 258.x, and 259.x versions of the driver, and 266.45 was reported to work. I have version 275.36, should I be worried about a bug or is there something else I missed?
Than you for your help,
William Allen
participants (2)
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Greg Couch
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William Joseph Allen