Video issue? Rollover and notifications blacked out

kendres · February 20, 2017

Ever since I installed Zotero stand alone, parts of my screen black out. Specifically, when I roll the mouse over an icon, the small white box identifying it shows up with black lines through the text. Or if a notification pops up in Word, the text part is blacked out. It affects all programs including quicken where the register lines have strike through on the text and roboform where the data is struck through.

I thought it was a video driver and reinstalled drivers. Then I figured virus and restored my laptop to a version from two months ago. The problem when away. Then I downloaded zotero and it started again.

I did a hard reset of my laptop and it seemed to disappear. Then I opened zotero and it started.

So Zotero is my prime suspect in this case. Anyone have any experience with this? For rollover data, it's not a big deal, but it affects all pop up notifications.

I appreciate any guidance. My toolbox is now empty.

Thank you.

DWL-SDCA · February 20, 2017

Before anyone can help you must report which version of Zotero you have, what operating system you use, etc.

https://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_problems

Rintze · February 20, 2017

You could try disabling hardware acceleration in Zotero Standalone. Open the Zotero preferences, go to the "Advanced" tab, then to the "General" sub-tab, and click the "Open about:config" button. Click the "I accept the risk!" button, and then set one or more of the following settings to true:

webgl.disabled
gfx.direct2d.disabled (Windows only)
layers.acceleration.disabled

You probably will have to restart Zotero Standalone after that. If it works, let us know which setting you had to change. See also

http://www.askvg.com/how-to-disable-hardware-acceleration-gpu-rendering-in-mozilla-firefox-4-0-to-fix-font-problem/
https://support.mozilla.org/t5/Problems-with-add-ons-plugins-or/Upgrade-your-graphics-drivers-to-use-hardware-acceleration-and/ta-p/15263#w_disabling-webgl

dstillman · February 20, 2017

Does this happen only when Zotero is open, or also when it's closed? If it happens when it's closed, it's almost certainly not related to Zotero. If it happens only when Zotero is open, then try what Rintze suggests.

kendres · February 21, 2017

I am using latest Zotero 402917 on Windows 10.

The problem starts when I open zotero. It stays even though the standalone is closed, but my Word and Chrome plugins are still running, no?

I changed the settings to true for all three and rebooted. So far, no lines! I opened Zotero, found an article in chrome to save to zotero. All good.

Thank you for such an insightful, specific answer. I'll work with the laptop more tonight. I appreciate your time.