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Google Earth Pro 3D view hangs, but app window and menu still work

JCook9
Beginner
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We have had issues with Intel Graphics on our Microsoft Surface Pro 3 and 4's using Google Earth Pro. By default Google Earth Pro uses DirectX for rendering, and after opening it you can browse in the 3D view and move around for a few minutes and then it hangs. The entire app does not hang, because the menu bar and side bar still respond. The workaround for this is to switch to OpenGL mode, however when opening the app it prompts (every time) to switch to DirectX with no way to override the warning. I have posted this issue to Google with no helpful response and their troubleshooting steps do not help. I have also posted this to Microsoft's Feedback Hub for Windows 10 (over a year ago). So now I am posting here, hoping that somebody from Intel may be able to reproduce this error and help get it fixed.

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idata
Employee
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TheJACV, Thank you very much for joining the Intel® Graphics communities.

 

 

I tried to replicate the issue on a surface pro 4 that we have in our lab, and after I installed the application I noticed there are 3 different ways to start it, one is start the application with DirectX, the other one is to using it with OpenGL and the other one is to open it normally. I choose to open it normally, then I select the "tools" option, then on the graphics tab I choose OpenGL, save the changes, restart the application and then I got the same warning message, when it prompts, "to have a better experienced use Direct X" I choose "no" and the applications starts and works with no problems.

 

Please let me know if after trying the steps above the problem remains.

Also, by any chance do you know the model of the processors on each laptop?

 

Any further questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto
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JCook9
Beginner
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Intel i7 CPU/Intel Graphics Iris 540 on Surface Pro 4, Intel i5 CPU/Intel Graphics on Surface Pro 3

What I mentioned was probably kind of muddled. The app does launch and work in DirectX mode, however after moving around the map for several minutes, the map part of the app freezes and does not work until you close the app and relaunch it. If I run the app in OpenGL mode it does not lock up.

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idata
Employee
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TheJACV, Thank you very much for clarifying that information.

 

 

Yes, when I tested the application, I did it for several minutes and it did not got freeze at any time.

 

 

I found a link from Microsoft to fix problems on the surface pro:

 

https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/software-repair-tool https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/software-repair-tool

 

 

We recommend to install the drivers provided by the manufacturer, in this case Microsoft:

 

Surface pro 3:

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38826 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38826

 

Surface pro 4:

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49498 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49498

 

 

If the problem remains, since the processor on the Surface Pro uses Intel® HD 540, we can try the driver below, 4664:

 

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26772/Graphics-Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-15-45-?product=88358 https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26772/Graphics-Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-15-45-?product=88358

 

 

Please make sure that you are running the latest version available of Google Earth Pro, also a BIOS update might be a good thing to do, but please verify that with Microsoft first, to make sure which is the proper BIOS version for your system:

 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/contactus/ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/contactus/

Please let me know the results of trying the steps above.

 

Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

 

Alberto R
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idata
Employee
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TheJACV: I just wanted to check if the information posted previously was useful for you and if you need further assistance on this matter?

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards,

 

Alberto R

 

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JCook9
Beginner
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I have kept up on Google Earth Pro updates hoping it would fix the issue unfortunately it still happens. Likewise, I have made sure to keep up with firmware/driver updates and Windows Updates for our Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4 devices, but this continues to happen. I'm surprised you were unable to reproduce the issue since it happens on multiple PC's for us. Was your Surface running Windows 10? I might just have to wait until Microsoft updates the Intel Display Driver for these devices and keep hoping it gets fixed.

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idata
Employee
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TheJACV: Thank you very much for providing those results.

 

 

Yes, we test it again and it does not get freeze at all. So, in this case, we installed different drivers from Microsoft and Intel and the problem remains, as you mentioned, we can wait until Microsoft updates the Intel® Display Driver to fix this issue, or the other option will be to use the application with the workaround you explained before, which is to open it with OpenGL.

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Regards

 

Alberto R
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