External monitor loses signal and goes dark intermittently

[Hobbint]

My screen flickers with glitches and then my monitor goes dark for 3-5 seconds, like it lost the signal and immediately gets it back again. So this is not that bug where you only see the navball and everything else is black.

The game keeps running, so I quickly have to hit pause to prevent disasters when I can't see what is happening. It does not happen when there is not much going on, but flying into new biomes and especially planning maneuvers while flying a complex rocket that consists of hundreds of parts will cause the blackouts to happen almost nonstop, so I will spend more time in pause with a black screen than actually playing.

I tried adjusting graphics settings. Turning vsync off helped, but did not remove the problem. Turning all graphics settings to the lowest possible also helped a little, but only very little, and is not worth it because then everything looks like a potato.

I am playing on a laptop and an external monitor connected via HDMI (detailed specs beneath). This was not a problem a few years ago when I last played KSP. I was using a laptop and an external monitor then also, but did not experience this problem. Back then I had a different laptop and an earlier version of KSP, of course, so there must be a compatibility issue with my current hardware and the current version of KSP..?

KSP 1.12.4.3187

Asus Rog Strix G17 G713QM-HG024T

AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
Nvidia RTX3060 6Gt
16Gt RAM DDR4 3200MHz
HDMI 2.0b

All hardware running latest firmware updates.

[Scarecrow71]

First question:  Did you try disconnecting the external monitor to see if this ever happens on the laptop display?

Second question:  Did you validate that all cables and connections are appropriate, right and tight?

Third question:  Does this happen with any other software, or is it confined only to KSP?

[Hobbint]

Good questions!

1st: Yes, I tried with the laptop only, and no problem. This is clearly an issue related to having an external monitor (or an HDMI issue?), hence the subject.

2nd: Yes, cables are right and tight. I also tried turning it off and on again.

3rd: Only KSP. I play lots of other games, including VR, and I can safely say that this is confined to KSP only.

[18Watt]

My first guess would be a HDMI connection issue.  Hopefully just a bad cable, but one of the connections at the computer or monitor could be bad also.

[Hobbint]

Are you just copy-pasting responses for internet points? Did you read anything in the previous posts?

[Scarecrow71]

If it wasn't confined to KSP only, I'd say it was a cable issue.  But it is possible that KSP itself, for whatever reason, has an issue with your particular external connections.

I'd ask for the log file, but I'm not sure if that will help.  My only other advice, before asking for much smarter people than I to jump in, would be to make sure your drivers are updated and meet the minimum specs to run KSP.  After that...

[Hobbint]

Yeah, that's exactly what I am thinking, that there is an incompatibility with KSP and, say, my graphics card, for example, and that is why I came to this particular forum for help.

I use Driver Booster Pro to keep all drivers up-to-date maybe once a month or more often if it gives me notifications . So I am actually paying money to always have all the latest updates to all of my hardware. Many drivers (including Nvidia) have been updated during the time that I have been experiencing this problem with KSP. I am not saying this could not be a driver issue. I am saying this is not an issue involving out-of-date drivers.

I don't think the log will reveal anything, either. It does not feel like something that KSP is "aware of" and would record in the log. Like I said, the game keeps running like nothing is wrong.

And yes, if this happened with other games, I would obviously be posting on Asus or Nvidia forums. But it doesn't. And if it was happening on KSP just randomly anytime anywhere, I would suspect cable or connection issues. But it is clearly happening only during certain activity within the game. For example, I could be flying a rocket with no problem, but the second I start planning a maneuver, the blackouts kick in. And it works the other way around: immediately when I am happy with my planned maneuver and close maneuver mode, the blackouts stop. Yes, I tried adjusting the settings for maneuver planning (number of paths shown, how the paths are calculated). Did not help.

I can also be flying around with the view pointed in this direction and no problem, but if I point it in that direction, blackouts start happening. It seems to be related to "how much is going on in view". So, let's say there are lots of rockets orbiting Mun. If I am doing something with the view focused on Minmus, but Mun is also in view, then blackouts happen. If I point the view away from Mun, no problem. The rockets are too far away to be seen from Minmus, anyway, but if the view is in that direction, then they are "in view", do you understand what I mean?

Or, like I said, a simple rocket with only a few parts will not cause problems, but when I am flying my rocket destined for Eve (so hundreds of parts), then I have difficulty getting anything done, because the game will be constantly in blackout. That same rocket I built in the VAB for hours without a single blackout, but once I am flying it, then constant blackouts. You understand what I mean with "how much is going on in view"?

[Hobbint]

This forum is not very active, is it? Everybody focused on KSP2? Or is this just not the most popular KSP forum? That would be a bit ironic because this is the KSP forum...

[Scarecrow71]

I think the lack of response boils down to two things.

1. It's the holidays.
2. You have an issue that nobody has any ideas on.

The only other suggestion I have is to see if this replicates when running on another machine.  Beyond that, you'd have to gebe a code monkey to dive into the software to find out why this happens.

[Krazy1]

This is a long shot but I just had a problem sort of similar to this with my new 4k monitor and HDMI 2.1 connection... the problem was the Xbox game bar. Try not using any performance monitoring software, if you are. 

[Bej Kerman]

On 12/19/2022 at 8:40 PM, Hobbint said:

Are you just copy-pasting responses for internet points? Did you read anything in the previous posts?

They are only trying to help.

[Hobbint]

Bej, thank you for being a good person and a buffer. But have you not encountered this yourself? How it is just superfrustrating to write, and really invest time into thinking about how to write to best describe the problem, and then someone replies with something that is similar to "did you turn it off and on?". Yes. Yes I did. And I bothered to write about it. Did you not bother to read?

Anyway.. I have narrowed the problem down to how KSP handles the HDMI signal. Reminder, all other games work great! With KSP, however, the signal fluctuates insanely.
My monitor can display this info window that shows the current state: resolution, refresh frequency etc. With any other game the frequency will stay put, so for example 144Hz for normal use. This is not, of course, the actual fps. It is just the frequency of the signal. In any game and in a moment with intense action, the actual fps may drop, but the signal to the monitor should not. The signal should stay put at 144Hz.

In KSP,  the signal frequency jumps all over the place, and especially so when I am flying a big and complex rocket, or plotting trajectories. The monitor info window will show the signal wildly jumping from 75Hz to 48Hz to 92Hz to.. well, all over the place!

If I am guessing correctly, the monitor has built-in adjusting to frequency changes, but it just cannot keep up with the frequency going all over the place, so occasionally it falls behind, and hence the black-outs.

ONCE MORE: ALL OTHER GAMES WORK GREAT!

[Gotmachine]

KSP doesn't handle anything related to your monitor refresh rate. There are several software layers in between. Some driver settings will take precedence over the in-game settings.
This being said, your issue is likely that the NVidia driver is configured to use GSync or adaptive sync , but somehow your monitor doesn't handle it correctly.
Framerate in KSP does indeed jump all over the place because of various issues but mainly because it's a single-thread CPU bound game, and your Ryzen 9 5900HX isn't exactly shining on that front, far from it.
The solution is likely to just disable GSync/Adaptative sync in the NVidia driver for KSP.

[Hobbint]

THAT WAS IT! Thank you Gotmachine, you magnificent stand-up guy!!!
I disabled Gsync on my monitor, and problem gone!
I see I have some tweaking to do to optimize settings for both the monitor and the Nvidia software, but oh my gosh it feels good to be rid of those blackouts!
Gotmachine, if you are ever in Helsinki, I will buy you so many pints that you won't be able to differentiate between 60Hz and 144Hz anymore!