Troubleshooting
- Why isn't WhiteCap showing up in my media player?
- Every media player detects plugins differently, so the best general guidance is to ensure you're using the lastest version of your media player and to verify you followed the install instructions carefully. Beyond that, try running the installer again.
- Why doesn't WhiteCap respond to my keystrokes or mouse clicks?
- Some media players don't pass keystrokes or mouse clicks to visual plugins, leaving you completely unable to use WhiteCap's hot-key commands. iTunes for Windows does not pass CTRL keystrokes in a specified way (such that they can be decoded) nor does it pass mouse clicks. You are encouraged to email the creators of these media players and request they add proper keyboard and mouse support for visual plugins.
- Why do I crash, get extremely low frame rates, or have other strange problems?
- Out of date video drivers and OS packages are known to cause problems when using full screen mode, so check for updates. You should have at least Windows 98, DirectX 6, and recent video drivers. Also, try deleting your "WhiteCap Prefs" file in the case that it's become corrupted (there's an endless number of ugly things that can happen from a damaged prefs file). See the following question to generate a new prefs file.
- How do I generate a fresh or "factory" preference file?
- To create a fresh "factory" set of prefs, first make sure WhiteCap isn't running. Next, find and delete the file named "WhiteCap Prefs". The next time WhiteCap runs, it won't find its prefs file and will generate a new prefs file containing the default settings for each parameter.
- Why don't my changes in the prefs file have any effect?
- The prefs file is read when WhiteCap starts and overwritten when WhiteCap exits, so any changes made to the prefs file while WhiteCap is running will be overwritten. See the customizing section for more.
- Why does WhiteCap run slowly, stutter, or run in spurts?
- If you're running other software that uses your CPU intensively, such as a server, A/V process, and sound filters/equalizers, you will observe burps, skips, and decreases in frame rate. Quit other processes, disable intensive extensions, disable extra sound processing, and use a clean OS (ie, reboot) to maximize your frame rate. Also, Many laptops have energy saving features that reduce processor speed when they believe that if the mouse and keyboard are idle then the user isn't using the computer--ensure those features are disabled.
- Why does WhiteCap look pixelated on my display in full screen mode?
- LCD display devices basically can only display a single resolution (ex, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768) vs. CRTs that can have several resolution modes. This is because LCD displays by nature have a set physical number of pixels while CRT devices can focus and scan their electron beam differently to achieve different resolutions. Operating systems support resolutions for mono-resolution display devices by making an intermediate display frame buffer (of the dimensions requested by the software) that gets scaled to the real device frame buffer every frame. For example, Apple G3 PowerBook displays are 1024 x 768, but MacOS 8.6 is able to support programs that want to run in 640 x 480 by scaling each output frame to 1024 x 768. Since 640 x 480 isn't an integer multiple of 1024 x 768, the scaled frame appears pixelated and frame rate will be lowered (because the OS must scale each frame before it can be displayed). To avoid this problem, experiment with different full screen resolutions. From there, you'll know enough to change your full screen resolution settings to a resolution favorable with your display device.
- Why don't I see the standalone version respond when I play an audio CD?
- Your computer has to be set to play the CD digitally (ie, not set to play through the CD player's onboard analog player). Many systems play an audio CD by passing the analog (ie, non-digital) output of the CD-ROM directly to your speakers, bypassing your digital hardware. So if you don't see any output, your system is playing the CD digitally but you're visualizing the CD-ROM's analog output, or your system is playing the CD analogly but you're visualizing the CD-ROM's digital output. Also see the following question.
- Why isn't the standalone version registering any sound?
- Your default sound-in may be not set properly. The standalone version uses your default recording channel as audio input. Go into your control panel and verify that your audio input/recording source is selected correctly. It's also possible you're reading the source correctly but it's not powerful enough to see any activity. Increase the signal scale 10 to 100 times to see if a signal is there (the '-' and '+' keys scale the signal amplitude). See the WhiteCap as an Application section for more.
- Why isn't the visual response from WhiteCap in sync with the audio that I'm hearing?
- Your audio player is probably buffering enough audio that by the time it gets to the speakers it was already passed to WhiteCap a while ago. Try experimenting with smaller buffer sizes in your audio player to decrease this time delay. Also try consulting your audio player's support resources.
- Why do I hear crackling and/or stuttering whenever WhiteCap is running?
- WhiteCap is a CPU intensive program. If your system isn't fast enough, then WhiteCap's CPU demand may compete with your audio player, not allowing your audio player decode audio at a fast enough rate. An audio player's equalizer or third party software that digitally filters audio are also large CPU loads and are common causes for jumpy video in WhiteCap or audible crackles. Try making WhiteCap a lighter CPU load by either reducing the size of its window or by decreasing the 'FPS' field in the preferences (FPS is described in the customizing section).
- Why does WhiteCap say "Factory Default" when it tries load my config?
- WhiteCap falls back to an internally stored "factory" config if there's a problem loading a config. Double-check that your config has no missing/extra quotes or comment delimiters and also make sure it's not open in another application.