ChimeraX won't start - dell precision M6500

[l.sorci@…]

Hello,
I have been trying to install ChimeraX on a relatively old but still highly performant machine: DELL PRECISION laptop workstation M6500. It runs Windows 10 and an AMD ATI FirePro M7740
 graphics card. DELL has not updated its driver for 10 years. The program will not start after installation. Since I don't get any error messages, I am not sure whether system requirements are not matched or if there is another issue that can be fixed.
Suggestions are welcome in this regard. Thanks!
Leonardo Sorci

[Eric Pettersen]

Reported by Leonardo Sorci

[Greg Couch]

So what do you mean by "won't start"? Do you see any dialog at all? If not, you should be able to bring up the Windows Event Viewer and see an event logged with the error. What does that event say? If you do see a dialog, what does it say?

And check which version of Windows 10 you have. The Qt user interface toolkit, that ChimeraX uses, requires Windows 10 (1809 or later).

And you should consider upgrading your graphics driver by downloading a newer driver directly from ​https://www.amd.com/en/support. But I don't see any drivers for Windows 10, only Windows 7 from 6/20/2012. The Windows 7 driver "should" be compatible.

You might be better off swapping the system disk for a SSD, and installing Linux on it. For example, Ubuntu 22.04.

[l.sorci@…]

Hi Greg, 
Thanks a lot for your troubleshooting guide. I will follow your suggestions, starting with the Windows update. I have Windows10 2015 version on this machine, which is incompatible with ChimeraX. 
Best regards, 
Leonardo sorci


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leonardo Sorci, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Division of Bioinformatics and Biochemistry
Department of Science and Engineering of Matter, Environment and Urban Planning (SIMAU)
Polytechnic University of Marche
Via Ranieri 67(Polo Montedago), 60131, Ancona (AN), Italy
Tel: +39 071 220 4678
Fax:      +39 071 220 4677
Email:    l.sorci@staff.univpm.it
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"If you think research is expensive, try disease"



-----Original Message-----
From: ChimeraX <ChimeraX-bugs-admin@cgl.ucsf.edu> 
Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2023 11:19 PM
To: LEONARDO SORCI <l.sorci@staff.univpm.it>; gregc@cgl.ucsf.edu
Cc: goddard@cgl.ucsf.edu
Subject: Re: [ChimeraX] #9675: ChimeraX won't start - dell precision M6500

#9675: ChimeraX won't start - dell precision M6500
---------------------------------+------------------------
          Reporter:  l.sorci@\u2026   |      Owner:  Greg Couch
              Type:  defect      |     Status:  closed
          Priority:  normal      |  Milestone:
         Component:  Platform    |    Version:
        Resolution:  limitation  |   Keywords:
        Blocked By:              |   Blocking:
Notify when closed:              |   Platform:  all
           Project:  ChimeraX    |
---------------------------------+------------------------
Changes (by Greg Couch):

 * resolution:   => limitation
 * status:  assigned => closed

Comment:

 So what do you mean by "won't start"?  Do you see any dialog at all?  If  not, you should be able to bring up the Windows Event Viewer and see an
 event logged with the error.   What does that event say?  If you do see a
 dialog, what does it say?

 And check which version of Windows 10 you have.  The Qt user interface  toolkit, that ChimeraX uses, requires Windows 10 (1809 or later).

 And you should consider upgrading your graphics driver by downloading a  newer driver directly from https://www.amd.com/en/support.  But I don't  see any drivers for Windows 10, only Windows 7 from 6/20/2012.  The  Windows 7 driver "should" be compatible.

 You might be better off swapping the system disk for a SSD, and installing  Linux on it.  For example, Ubuntu 22.04.
--
Ticket URL: <https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/trac/ChimeraX/ticket/9675#comment:2>
ChimeraX <https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/>
ChimeraX Issue Tracker