I have used the XtraPivotGrid (v8.2.1) in a couple of places within my app and it worked great on every computer I ran the app on, until today.

I tested it on a couple of newer pcs with quad core intels, and while the PivotGrids load and display normally initially, as soon as I try to drag a field into the row area, the machines crash with a blue screen of death. It lets me drag the field for a fraction of a second before the crash. I haven't tried too many other operations as the users had to have their PCs back for now, but normal XtraGrids were displaying fine, as well as some charting components.

The screen on which the error occurs contains 4 tabs, with a fairly heavy load of xtrapivotgrids and xtragrids:

Tab 1 contains an xtrapivotgrid with a large dataset (approx 30k records);

Tab 2 contains 4 XtraGrids with not too many rows.

Tab 3 contains an empty XtraPivotGrid.

Tab 4 contains an empty XtraGrid and an uninitialised chart.

 

I had a look at the minidump file generated, an extract of which is as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Executable search path is:
Windows XP Kernel Version 2600 (Service Pack 2) MP (4 procs) Free x86 compatible
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS
Built by: 2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254
Kernel base = 0x804d7000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0x8055c700

BugCheck 1000007F, {8, ba3a0d70, 0, 0}
Probably caused by : win32k.sys ( win32k!EngCopyBits+b )
UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP_M (1000007f)

Arguments:
Arg1: 00000008, EXCEPTION_DOUBLE_FAULT
Arg2: ba3a0d70
Arg3: 00000000
Arg4: 00000000

BUGCHECK_STR:  0x7f_8

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  DRIVER_FAULT

PROCESS_NAME:  Pegasus.exe

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER:  from bf8b8d41 to bf83e410

FOLLOWUP_IP:
win32k!EngCopyBits+b
bf83e410 53              push    ebx

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX:  0

SYMBOL_NAME:  win32k!EngCopyBits+b

IMAGE_NAME:  win32k.sys

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  0x7f_8_win32k!EngCopyBits+b

BUCKET_ID:  0x7f_8_win32k!EngCopyBits+b

------------------------------------------------------------------------

It seems like a driver on these particular machines might be at fault, but it is a little discomforting that as of now, it is only my application that triggers the system crash on these machines. Is there any possibility that the XtraPivotGrid is not fully compatible with certain types of drivers or processor families?

Would be grateful on any input as I cannot really release anything that causes blue screens of death!

Thanks for your response.

I am unable to categorically say it's the DevExpress controls - and that's why I was wondering if anyone had ever seen a similar problem. The only reason I thought it was was that the pivotgrid seemed to trigger it. The users have been using their new PCs for other apps (that don't use any DevExpress controls) without any issues. Just trying to narrow it down to either DX, my code, or their machine.

I might post to the support center once I have investigated a little more.

On another tab, I'm creating an XtraGrid bound to the same dataset as the XtraPivotGrid. Will try drag/drop operations on that grid as well to see if it causes the same failure.

 

Hi Suanne,

It is impossible that managed code be directly responsible for a BSOD. A BSOD actually can only happen because of a driver bug. I would immediatly suspect the video driver. 99.99% chances that the video driver is at fault, especially as you are explaining that it happens during Drag and Drop operations, where video is heavily involved.

Regards,

Thanks Marc.

I bound the same datatable onto an XtraGrid, and discovered that dragging a field onto the group panel causes exactly the same failure. So as you say, it does seem like a driver issue that is specifically being triggered by drag and drop operations on grids.

Upon further investigation and experimentation, we've realised that the PC on which it fails has Direct3D not available. A DXDIAG analysis sheet returned the following:

==================================================================================================

DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
      Display Tab 1: No problems found. DirectDraw test results: Failure at step 17 (SetDisplayMode to 640x480x16): HRESULT = 0x80004001 (Not implemented) Direct3D functionality not available.  You should verify that the driver is a final version from the hardware manufacturer.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
          Music Tab: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.
        Network Tab: No problems found.

     DDraw Status: Not Available
       D3D Status: Not Available
       AGP Status: Not Available
DDraw Test Result: Failure at step 17 (SetDisplayMode to 640x480x16): HRESULT = 0x80004001 (Not implemented)
==================================================================================================

On a separate PC with the same graphics card (but with a dual core rather than a quad core processor), DDraw, D3D and AGP status were all ENABLED, and my application was working fine on this machine.

So, this leads me to believe there may be some DirectX dependencies of the DevExpress shading/transparency/etc engines that are used to make the GUI look as good as it does.

Anyone aware if these dependencies are explicitly listed anywhere?

And more importantly, is there any way to make my controls less fancy in terms of the graphical load, so that it doesn't stress the video adapter too much, but maintain field drag/drop functionaility in pivot grids?

 

Many thanks

 

 

Hi Suanne, thanks for reporting this here.

You may want to contact DevExpress Support Center directly, as your question is rather technical and deals with the deep internals of the controls.
It might even be that it has nothing to do with the DevExpress controls at all, but with the way the Framework video rendering functions interact with the video driver.

Regards,

 Thanks Marc. I have posted a question in the support center.

In the meantime, does anyone know how to turn off transparency effects on the XtraGrid or XtraPivotGrid? I tried setting style to Ultra Flat, but dragging fields still makes them semi-transparent. I think it is worth trying to simplify the screen as a temporary workaround.