Graphics Window Not Responding on Computer with Intel Iris Xe Graphics Chip

Problem Description

I recently bought a laptop with the new Intel Iris Xe graphics chip. When I run COMSOL Multiphysics on it the Graphics window does not appear to respond to mouse movements.

Solution

There are three suggested workarounds for this issue.

Workaround 1

Update your Intel Graphics driver to at least version 30.0.100.9805. The fix for this issue is included in that version of the Graphics Drivers.

Workaround 2 - For older versions of COMSOL Multiphysics

Run the cross-platform GUI for COMSOL Multiphysics instead of the default .NET GUI. To start COMSOL Multiphysics with the cross-platform GUI, launch the file comsolxpl.exe from the bin\win64\ directory in your COMSOL Multiphysics installation directory.

Workaround 3 - For COMSOL Multiphysics 5.6 and later.

1. There is a fix for this issue included in Update 1 for COMSOL Multiphysics 5.6.
2. If you have not yet updated your installation, you can initiate the update by going to File > Help, and select Check for product updates in COMSOL Multiphysics.

The fix is also included in COMSOL Multiphysics 6.0. The approach described below would be the same, but with 5.6 and 56 replaced with 6.0 and 60 respectively.

After installing the update, you need to launch COMSOL Multiphysics with the option -disablehwacceleration. You can accomplish this by editing the COMSOL Multiphysics 5.6 icon on your desktop in the following way:

• Right-click the icon and select properties.
• On the Shortcut tab, add a space and then paste -disablehwacceleration to the Target field.
• If you have installed COMSOL Multiphysics in the default installation directory, the full text field should look like: "C:\Program Files\COMSOL\COMSOL56\Multiphysics\bin\win64\comsol.exe" -disablehwacceleration

Starting with COMSOL Multiphysics version 6.1, it is also possible to set a permanent flag in the comsol.ini file. To do that, do the following:

• Open the file C:\Program Files\COMSOL\COMSOL61\Multiphysics\bin\win64\comsol.ini in a text editor

• Add the line -Dcs.disablehwacceleration=on to the file and then save it.

• Close the text editor. The flag will now be included every time you start COMSOL Multiphysics.

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