No videos after upgrading to PinballX ver 6.99

[Draco1962]

19 hours ago, keithhov said:

got videos back using NVidia drivers from November...monitor positions and backglass positions all out of wack but not too hard to fix....I do have about 20 custom back glass postions because I have 4:3 backglass monitor................will check back here when it's safe to update drivers.......

First time I have ever seen Draco suggest going backwards on a driver!!! had to read it 3 times to believe it.

GPU driver and PinballX versions are different animals! So neener neener!

Nvidia driver v591.86 was released today (01/27/2026) - please update and see if this addresses the issues encountered. Thanks!

[keithhov]

updated to 591.86 on my desktop....ran pinballx.....no videos......I will try some general quick things but looks like blank/black videos still persist. 

[Draco1962]

1 hour ago, keithhov said:

updated to 591.86 on my desktop....ran pinballx.....no videos......I will try some general quick things but looks like blank/black videos still persist. 

Drats. Thanks for giving it a try.

[keithhov]

Did a full graphic driver uninstall with a program called DDU.. videos work... clean install of 591.86, back to videos not working.  Played around with LAV, no luck.  Giving up for now.

[Draco1962]

7 hours ago, keithhov said:

Did a full graphic driver uninstall with a program called DDU.. videos work... clean install of 591.86, back to videos not working.  Played around with LAV, no luck.  Giving up for now.

Thanks again for the detailed response with your triage attempt and results. 

[Mike_da_Spike]

11 hours ago, keithhov said:

Did a full graphic driver uninstall with a program called DDU.. videos work... clean install of 591.86, back to videos not working.  Played around with LAV, no luck.  Giving up for now.

It's not you. Maybe NVIDIA will fix the driver, or @Tom Speirsneeds to redesign PinballX. My guess is that Tom is using code from the past (DirectShow, DX9, VMR9) to display the videos. And if he needs to change it, it will be a hard time. Am I correct, Tom?

So for the time being, leave the old driver on your system.

 

[Rochabian]

Nvidia has abandonned some older functions with the 59x.xx branch, i don't think they will reimplement them unfortunately........Only old software are affected

As you said i think Tom has to find a workaround if it's possible
Stay for 58X.00 driver or older for now and it works

[keithhov]

10 hours ago, Mike_da_Spike said:

I just donated 40 US dollars to Tom in hopes he fixes this soon!!  I am joking that he should fix it soon, but I did donate to support his efforts, PinballX enhances the virtual pin experience so much, will patiently wait for this to get resolved.

 

 

[Mike_da_Spike]

I found a workaround that reliably restores video playback in PinballX on my system. I’ve tested it multiple times, including after several reboots. While it may not work for everyone, it’s worth trying if you have a similar hardware setup.

Prerequisites
This workaround only applies if your system includes an additional non‑NVIDIA GPU, such as an onboard Intel graphics adapter.
In my setup, all monitors are connected to the NVIDIA GPU, and none are connected to the Intel GPU.

1. Open Display Settings

• Right‑click on your desktop.
• Select Display settings.

2. Open the Graphics Settings

• Scroll down to Related settings.
• Click Graphics.

3. Add PinballX as a Desktop App

• Under Custom settings for applications, choose Add desktop app.

 

• A File Explorer window will appear.
• Navigate to your PinballX installation folder and select:
  • PinballX.exe, or
  • PinballXLite.exe (if you use the Lite version), or
  • for GameEx users it maybe works as well
• Click Add.

4. Change the GPU Preference

By default, Windows assigns the 'let Windows decide'.
 

Change this to:

• GPU preference: Power Saving (Intel® Graphics)

Even though my main display is not connected to the Intel GPU (all displays are on the NVIDIA RTX card), PinballX starts showing videos again once this setting is applied.


After changing the GPU preference, launch PinballX again.
Video playback should now be restored.

Optional: Removing the PinballX GPU Entry
n older Windows versions, you could simply delete the entry from the Graphics settings panel. Microsoft has removed that option.
If you want to remove the custom GPU assignment manually, follow these steps:

1. Open the Registry Editor
•     Run regedit.exe.
2. Navigate to the Correct Registry Key
Go to:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\DirectX\UserGpuPreferences

3. Delete the PinballX Entry
•     Locate the entry for PinballX.exe or PinballXLite.exe.
•     Delete that key.

Please let us know if this workaround is working for you as well

[Draco1962]

I have shared your post to a similar topic in GameEx. Thanks for this @Mike_da_Spike!

[Mike_da_Spike]

3 hours ago, Draco1962 said:

I have shared your post to a similar topic in GameEx. Thanks for this @Mike_da_Spike!

I hope it helps others as well. If people use an AMD processor, they probably don't have an extra video card to render (like one of my best friend has)

[Draco1962]

Some Asus laptops (like mine and my wife's laptops) have an AMD integrated GPU and an Nvidia dedicated GPU. 

Willing to bet that some desktop builds do as well.

It would be interesting to see if any with purely just one Nvidia GPU still have "Let Windows decide" and the Nvidia GPU as options, select the Nvidia GPU, and try the frontend with the latest Nvidia driver installed.

[Draco1962]

Also, are we only seeing this with Windows 11 or is Windows 10 impacted, too?

[Mike_da_Spike]

I only have W11 PCs, but my assumption is that NVIDIA broke it, and that will be on all OS types where the driver can be installed.

[Draco1962]

1 hour ago, Mike_da_Spike said:

I only have W11 PCs, but my assumption is that NVIDIA broke it, and that will be on all OS types where the driver can be installed.

MS has had some recent disastrous updates for Windows 11, so don't be too quick to rule out an MS implication either partially or in tandem with Nvidia. The GPU selection feature you surfaced, while implemented with Windows 10, it does differ slightly within Windows 11, which may make 10 immune.

[keithhov]

unfortunately, both of my setups don't have on board graphics so this is not an option for me, sticking with older nvidia drivers for now.

[Mike_da_Spike]

7 hours ago, keithhov said:

unfortunately, both of my setups don't have on board graphics so this is not an option for me, sticking with older nvidia drivers for now.

Bummer. It's just a workaround, and I hope Tom can find a good fix.

[Mike_da_Spike]

added issue to  the bugs-tracking-thread/

[TT11]

I have Windows 10 on my cabinet and it also affects Win 10 too!!!  Just went back to older NVidia driver.....

[Tom Speirs]

Thank you for your help guys. Hopefully I can get to this tomorrow.

[Tom Speirs]

I just released 7.00. It has a workaround. Look at video help under display settings. It should fix the issues but its slower and not hardware accelerated. it wont do 4k 60fps that is for sure.

[keithhov]

I tested 7.0 on my desktop, and it does play videos.   My settings are all out of wack but I did make one new video capture on one table.  Quality seemed good, 4k at 60 fps, but first test went ok for videos working with most recent nvidia drivers.     

 

[scutters]

Hi Tom, 

I'm getting mixed results, some videos play back but others don't. They may have been created at different times with different tools (with slightly different encoding?)

Attached are two examples - the 24 video plays back with the Sample Grabber setting enabled, the World Poker Tour video doesn't;

vidoes.zip

 

[Tom Speirs]

Yeah, unfortunatly it is what it is. Not much I can do without a big rewrite to Directx 11 or unity.

[Mike_da_Spike]

4 hours ago, Tom Speirs said:

Yeah, unfortunatly it is what it is. Not much I can do without a big rewrite to Directx 11 or unity.

Will that ever happen ? Unity is powerfull, but lot of re-coding, so lot of time .