Problems with video performance are experienced when Cross-Trainer is run. Common symptoms include:

• inability to run one or more activity;
• crashes when entering a particular activity;
• inability to complete certain portions of the initial assessment;
• missing and/or incomplete elements in onscreen display during an activity.

The majority of performance problems seen in Cross-Trainer are related to the graphics capabilities of the machine. Problems will include covering of screen elements, general slowness, and crashes upon entry to an activity.

The current Cross-Trainer installer checks for minimum Video RAM on Windows 2000 and XP. However, the installer allows installation even if VRAM is not sufficient (less than 16 mb) – only a warning is presented. In addition, VRAM checking is not possible for Windows98 operating systems.

To check VRAM outside the installer, users should use the Lexia Utilities program found on the Cross-Trainer CD-ROM.

If the machine meets the minimum video specs, the video driver installed should be checked. Many systems are, unfortunately, shipped with outdated drivers. The Teacher’s Guide reference (6.3) has a link to our development vendor's support page for video performance issues.

Best Solution

To update a Windows system graphics drivers:

• Use the Lexia Utilities program located on the Cross-Trainer CD-ROM to get System Details. Under "Video", note the manufacturer name, video card, and driver version number.
• Click here to go to Macromedia's support page for video performance issues.
• Go to the manufacturer's web site for download and installation instructions for your machine.

Cross-Trainer Solution

If the above suggestion is not possible, or does not resolve the issue, the Lexia Admin Tool provides a method for forcing a particular graphics driver to be used in each Cross-Trainer activity. The following steps reiterate the procedure outlined in the troubleshooting section of the Cross-Trainer Teacher Guide:

• Start the Cross-Trainer application.
• Click the Admin button to go to the Admin tool.
• Select the 'Admin Options' tab.
• Click ‘Designate Graphics Driver.' Click 'Next'.
• Select a driver that will be used in all activities, then click 'Finish'.

Below is an explanation of each supported driver:

DirectX_7.0 – Windows only – best video performance, not supported by older cards
DirectX_5.2 – Windows only – supported by majority of video cards
OpenGL – Windows and Macintosh – only supported Mac hardware driver; may be suitable alternative to DirectX drivers for Windows.
Software – Windows and Macintosh – no hardware acceleration – may result in poor performance (speed) but increased reliability. This setting is not recommended for most systems, and should only be used for tech support diagnosis.
None – This setting is the default setting, and allows each activity to choose its own video driver. Cross-Trainer reads the VS\Common\prefs.txt file to determine these activity-specifics settings. This is the default setting for Cross-Trainer.