Celestia on Nvidia Hardware and Ubuntu OS difficulties

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SUMMARY

Users experience rendering issues with Celestia on Nvidia MX440 graphics cards when attempting to view satellites like Hubble and ISS, resulting in a black sphere instead of the expected visuals. The discussion highlights that while the Nvidia drivers are correctly configured and direct rendering is enabled, the limitations of the MX series graphics cards prevent proper rendering of certain features, such as shadows of rings on planets. Adjusting settings in both Celestia and the Nvidia control panel may improve performance, but users report inconsistencies with setting changes not being retained.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Celestia software and its rendering capabilities
  • Familiarity with Nvidia MX440 graphics card specifications
  • Knowledge of Nvidia driver installation and configuration
  • Basic skills in adjusting graphics settings for performance optimization
NEXT STEPS
  • Research Nvidia MX440 graphics card limitations and performance characteristics
  • Explore Celestia's settings for optimizing rendering of celestial objects
  • Learn about Nvidia control panel settings for filtering and anti-aliasing
  • Investigate potential software updates or patches for Celestia
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for users of Celestia, particularly those with older Nvidia graphics cards, as well as developers and enthusiasts looking to optimize graphics performance on legacy hardware.

vincentm
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Hello,

Celestia runs fine, except when i go to satellites ( Hubble, ISS, etc). When i hit the 'g' key it doesn't show anything for the object, instead a blackish type sphere is displayed. I'm running it on an older system:

Dell GX240
2.4Ghz Pentium4
1gb DDR 2700
Geforce MX440 64MB

I have all the Nvidia driver configurations complete, and direct rendering is enabled. I'm able to play Urban Terror 4.0 on this machine just fine, but Celestia...i don't know.
 
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vincentm said:
Hello,

Celestia runs fine, except when i go to satellites ( Hubble, ISS, etc). When i hit the 'g' key it doesn't show anything for the object, instead a blackish type sphere is displayed. I'm running it on an older system:

Dell GX240
2.4Ghz Pentium4
1gb DDR 2700
Geforce MX440 64MB

I have all the Nvidia driver configurations complete, and direct rendering is enabled. I'm able to play Urban Terror 4.0 on this machine just fine, but Celestia...i don't know.

Funny you mention that card. I installed an HP MX440 in computer just yesterday.

I just checked out Celestia's website and they did mention the MX series. Not the problem you're having though...

Some specific limitations:
-- Nvidia MX cards cannot shadows of rings on planets, although they can draw shadows of planets on rings.

So you do have the latest Nvidia drivers? That graphics card it a little lower-end considering what's out there now, but it should still have some nice effects. Try adjusting other settings in Celestia... also try playing with the filtering and anti-aliasing under Nvidias control panel settings.
 
Funny thing is that i have a Windows Machine with the same card here at my desk, and Celestia renders the satellites, just fine..weird. Setting changes don't stick in the NVIDIA configuration tool, that's another weird thing.