Millisecond Forums

. . . and oddly enough, all works well on Inquisit 3 (just downloaded).  Weird.

This is probably caused by a buggy / outdated graphics card driver. Find the latest one available for your video card and see if that resolves the issue. (The fact that Inquisit 3 and 4 behave differently is not that surprising -- Inquisit 4 uses various DirectX and graphics card features which Inquisit does not use.)

Thanks - done that, Windows Update reports that it's the latest driver, but DriverDoc utility reports it to be 3 months old.  Installing the latest driver from vendor didn'[t fix the issue.

I'm now going to try a different box with a different Video controller.

Thanks for your prompt advice.

Can you attach the script to this thread? Suspecting that there's something in there that triggers the issue (think: a stimulus sized to extend the actual screen substantially, etc.), but can be avoided.

Thanks - the script is below.  I suspect though that this won't be the problem, as the BSOD occurs even without a script being loaded, if I select Tools --> System Properties.  It is almost certainly a hardware fault with the graphics adaptor - I'm going to try a new machine this week.

cheers

<data>
/ columns=[subject, blockcode, trialcode, trialnum, latency, response, stimulusitem, stimulusnumber, stimulusitem, EEGsignalNeutral, stimulusnumber]
/ file="c:\users\greg\desktop\horse.txt"
</data>

<item practiceWords>
/1 = "    I do not like icecream   "
/2 = "    God is dead   "
/3 = "    Penquins are monocular   "
/4 = "    Women roll in mud   "
</item>

<item beliefWords>
/ 1 = "   loser   "
/ 2 = "   hopeless   "
/ 3 = "   love    "
</item>

<item oppositeWords>
/ 1 = "   success   "
/ 2 = "   hope    "
/ 3 = "   hate    "
</item>

<item neutralWords>
/ 1 = "   grey    "
/ 2 = "   car    "
/ 3 = "   top hat   "
</item>

<text pressspacebar>
/ fontstyle = ("Courier New", 24pt)
/ txcolor = (0, 0, 255)
/ position = (50, 75)
/ items = ("Press spacebar for the next word ....")
</text>

<text beliefs>
/ items = beliefWords
/ position = (50, 50)
/ txcolor = (0, 0, 255)
/ fontstyle = ("Courier New", 44pt)
</text>

<text practiceWords>
/ items = practiceWords
/ position = (50, 50)
/ txcolor = (0, 0, 255)
/ fontstyle = ("Courier New", 44pt)
</text>


<text opposites>
/ items = oppositeWords
/ position = (50, 50)
/ txcolor = (0, 0, 255)
/ fontstyle = ("Courier New", 44pt)
</text>

<text neutrals>
/ items = neutralWords
/ position = (50, 50)
/ txcolor = (0, 0, 255)
/ fontstyle = ("Courier New", 44pt)
</text>

<trial beliefsTrial>
/ stimulusframes = [1=beliefs, EEGsignalBelief]
/ validresponse = (noresponse)
/ trialduration = 3000
/ branch = [trial.spacebar]
/recorddata = true
</trial>

<trial oppositesTrial>
/ stimulusframes = [1=opposites, EEGsignalOpposite]
/ validresponse = (noresponse)
/ trialduration = 1000
/ branch = [trial.spacebar]
/recorddata = true
</trial>

<trial neutralsTrial>
/ stimulusframes = [1=neutrals, EEGsignalNeutral]
/ validresponse = (noresponse)
/ trialduration = 1000
/ branch = [trial.spacebar]
/recorddata = true
</trial>

<trial practiceTrial>
/ stimulusframes = [1=practiceWords, EEGsignalPractice]
/ validresponse = (noresponse)
/ trialduration = 1000
/ branch = [trial.spacebar]
/recorddata = true
</trial>

<trial spacebar>
/ stimulusframes = [1=pressspacebar]
/ validresponse = (57)
</trial>

<block CBM>
/ trials = [1-90 = noreplace(beliefsTrial, oppositesTrial, neutralsTrial)]
/ preinstructions = (intro)
</block>

<block practice>
/ trials = [1-6 = noreplace(practiceTrial)]
/ preinstructions = (pracStart)
/ postinstructions = (pracEnd)
</block>

<expt>
/ preinstructions = (intro)
/ postinstructions = (end)
/ blocks = [1=practice; 2=CBM]
</expt>

<instruct>
/ nextkey = ("5")
/ prevkey = ("a")
</instruct>

<defaults>
/ screencolor = (175, 175, 255)
/ fontstyle = ("Courier New", 14pt)
</defaults>

<page intro>
^^Implicit Association Test
^^This tutorial builds a simplified Implicit Attitude Task (IAT). A number of standard IAT procedures have been been omitted for the sake of illustrating basic Inquisit programming concepts. The script produced by this tutorial is provided for instructional purposes only and should not be used for research. To learn how to create a standard IAT, please see the Standard IAT Tutorial.
</page>

<page pracEnd>
^^Dress rehearsal over.
</page>

<page pracStart>
^^Dress rehearsal over.
</page>

<port EEGsignalBelief>
/ port = LPT1
/ subport = data
/ items = ("01010101")
</port>

<port EEGsignalOpposite>
/ port = LPT1
/ subport = data
/ items = ("11111111")

</port><port EEGsignalNeutral>
/ port = LPT1
/ subport = data
/ items = ("10101010")
</port>

<port EEGsignalPractice>
/ port = LPT1
/ subport = data
/ items = ("00001111")
</port>

<page end>
^^Implicit Association Test
^^This tutorial builds a simplified Implicit Attitude Task (IAT). A number of standard IAT procedures have been been omitted for the sake of illustrating basic Inquisit programming concepts. The script produced by this tutorial is provided for instructional purposes only and should not be used for research. To learn how to create a standard IAT, please see the Standard IAT Tutorial.
</page>

> the BSOD occurs even without a script being loaded, if I select Tools --> System Properties

Ah, didn't catch that. That would indeed point to a driver / other (close to) hardware issue.

If you check out the following link, it appears that lots of others are seeing the blue screen of death with various video games that use the same graphics APIs as Inquisit. 

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-system/blue-screen-in-dxgmms1sys/db3f0576-976f-4401-8793-40f01942fb9d

The solution is to visit the graphics card manufacturer's web site and download the drivers directly from there. Windows update doesn't necessarily have the latest and greatest drivers for every make of card. I believe the specific file referenced in this crash is a generic Microsoft DX graphics driver. Given the severity of the bug along with the fact that it shows up when Inquisit attempts even the most simple operations with the graphics, I think it's very likely there's a special driver available from the manufacturer for that card.

-Sean

Thanks everyone - all solved.  

As advised, used Belarc to scan the machine, which identified the exact name of the graphics adapter:
"Intel 946 GZ Express Chipset Family".

I then searched for this driver directly on Intel website, and sure enough, there was an updated set of drivers.  All this time, Windows Update had been reporting that all drivers were up to date. 

Installed the driver update package, which took over 30 minutes, and voila, problem solved.

Thanks again - great service and support!

Cool, thanks for following up.

-Sean