Glitchy screen on Mac OS X 10.7.5

[hellfire_49]

I've had some interesting problems over the time I've played OpenArena.

I originally had a problem while running Mac OS X 10.5.8 and 10.6.8 on OA 0.8.5 and 0.8.8 where I would open the game and the screen would instantly dim. I found that refreshing the graphics settings fixed it for that session but when I opened it again it would dim again. I updated my computer to OS X 10.7.5 and that problem left so I held off posting here.

Now I have a new problem. Whenever I open OpenArena 0.8.8 or OpenArena 0.8.8 r28 it has these glitchy lines like an old TV running down the screen. I downloaded the patch and replaced the old files and now I can't even open the game.

The odd thing is, I kept a copy before I updated to the patch and have now rolled back to it; the first time I open the game again it works absolutely fine, but the very next time I open it, I get those lines again.

I've tried refreshing or changing the graphics settings and updating to the patch with different settings multiple times but nothing has improved.

My specs:
2007 MacBook
2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Intel GMA 950
2.5GB RAM (512, 2048)
OS X 10.7.5
Plenty of space on HDD

I'm sure I'm missing something fairly obvious or basic and I'd really appreciate some help with fixing the problem.

[Gig]

Already tried to use a clean configuration file (e.g. renaming your q3config.cfg to something else)?

(DO NOT LINK) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/FAQ#Configuration_files_and_automatic_downloaded_files_path

[jackoverfull]

I'd say there is some sort of problem with your graphic card…The fact that on 10.7 an application can't (really) change resolution anymore may prevent it from happening…

Questions: if you run the game in a window the problem still occurs? Are you still on 10.7 or by any chance you've updated to 10.9?

[hellfire_49]

Already tried to use a clean configuration file (e.g. renaming your q3config.cfg to something else)?

(DO NOT LINK) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/FAQ#Configuration_files_and_automatic_downloaded_files_path

I did try this, yes, by downloading a new copy of OA It fixed the lines down the screen but the old problem of the screen dimming on startup came back.

I'd say there is some sort of problem with your graphic card…The fact that on 10.7 an application can't (really) change resolution anymore may prevent it from happening…

Questions: if you run the game in a window the problem still occurs? Are you still on 10.7 or by any chance you've updated to 10.9?

Now that you mention that, I think it is the problem. I had another play around with the settings and I found that changing the resolution down from my native 1280x800 resolution fixed the lines problem, but as above; the screen dimming problem is back.

If I run the game windowed, the same problems occur. And I am still on 10.7.5 as that is the furthest my model can update.

I have read some other threads detailing the dimming problem and possible fixes but I don't quite understand what to do.

Thanks for all the help anyway!

[EDIT] After trying some more things, I have found that the lines down the screen appear on startup in both windowed and fullscreen. They go away when I 'refresh' the resolution settings by changing and changing them back. When the lines go away, the screen dims, which can also be fixed by 'refreshing' the brightness settings.

So basically, the game is still playable and works fine except for the display settings refresh that I have to do on startup. I guess this is bug with the game, or something wrong with my Mac.

[Gig]

Already tried to use a clean configuration file (e.g. renaming your q3config.cfg to something else)?

(DO NOT LINK) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/FAQ#Configuration_files_and_automatic_downloaded_files_path

I did try this, yes, by downloading a new copy of OA

Downloading a new copy of OA does not mean to use a clean configuration file: OA installation folder is known as "basepath" folder, while the folder which contains your configuration (and your autodownloaded files) is known as "homepath" folder, and by default they differ (it is possible to specify a different homepath by adding a specific command line option when launching the executable).
This means that if you just download another copy of OA and start it, you will be using a clean "basepath", but not a clean "homepath", hence you will not be using a clean configuration file.
The link I gave you should mention where is the default homepath folder under OSX.

[jackoverfull]

I did try this, yes, by downloading a new copy of OA It fixed the lines down the screen but the old problem of the screen dimming on startup came back.

Downloading a new copy of OA doesn't reset the configuration file to the default (if it did you would lose all your settings every time you update the game!). To do so you must go to /Users/youruser/Library/Application Support/OpenArena/baseoa and delete q3config.cfg. If the "Library" folder is invisible (not sure what are the default settings on 10.7) you can still reach it going to your home folder, then selecting the menu item Go>Go to Folder and entering "Library" in the field.

Now that you mention that, I think it is the problem. I had another play around with the settings and I found that changing the resolution down from my native 1280x800 resolution fixed the lines problem, but as above; the screen dimming problem is back.

If I run the game windowed, the same problems occur. And I am still on 10.7.5 as that is the furthest my model can update.

I have read some other threads detailing the dimming problem and possible fixes but I don't quite understand what to do.

Thanks for all the help anyway!

[EDIT] After trying some more things, I have found that the lines down the screen appear on startup in both windowed and fullscreen. They go away when I 'refresh' the resolution settings by changing and changing them back. When the lines go away, the screen dims, which can also be fixed by 'refreshing' the brightness settings.

So basically, the game is still playable and works fine except for the display settings refresh that I have to do on startup. I guess this is bug with the game, or something wrong with my Mac.

It's a bit strange, since if the game runs in a window the original resolution shouldn't be touched at all…Does the problem go away as well if you minimize the window in the dock and deminimize it? And you have an Intel graphic card, right? If this is so it's probably a bug in the card (or in the driver), should be reproducible on a similar configuration and there's little we can do about it.