NC Picto · Docs

On Windows, Picto starts Intel graphics on DirectX 12. If Picto closed while it was starting, start it again: it picks a safer graphics mode after a crash. On an older Intel Mac that shows a Device(Lost) error, update to 0.8.2, which fixes one cause; on Macs patched with OpenCore Legacy Patcher there is no fix yet.

Symptoms

Fix

Windows

  1. Use Picto 0.7.0 or later. Older builds do not have the steps below.
  2. Start Picto again. Double-clicking its icon or a .pcraft file works. Picto notes that the last start did not finish and uses the next safer graphics mode this time:
    • A start on Vulkan is followed by one on DirectX 12.
    • A start on DirectX 12 is followed by one on the CPU. The CPU mode does not depend on the graphics driver.
  3. If it started, nothing more to do. Picto remembers the mode that worked. You can see or reset it under Edit › Preferences › Performance… (on macOS, Picto › Settings › Performance…).

If Picto still closes on every start, force DirectX 12 from PowerShell:

  1. Open PowerShell in the folder that contains picto.exe.

  2. Run these three lines:

     $env:WGPU_BACKEND = "dx12"
 & .\picto.exe
 Remove-Item Env:WGPU_BACKEND

The last line clears the setting so later launches use the default again. You need the first two lines each time you start Picto this way. While WGPU_BACKEND is set, Picto uses it and does not step down to a safer mode by itself (issue 2320).

Intel Mac

  1. Update to Picto 0.8.2 or later. On Intel Macs it skips a set of graphics checks that macOS could not compile on older Intel graphics, such as Intel Iris Pro on macOS Monterey (issue 3107).
  2. Start Picto again.

If it still fails, there is no fix yet. This is the case reported on Macs patched with OpenCore Legacy Patcher, where setting WGPU_BACKEND, --safe-gpu and PICTO_CPU_CANVAS=1 did not change the error (issue 1859). Add your Mac model, macOS version and Picto version to that issue.

Why this happens

On Windows, Picto draws with your graphics driver. Intel's Vulkan driver (igvk64.dll) crashed Picto on a UHD 630 PC with Picto 0.6.0, and the DirectX 12 setting above avoided the crash (issue 2320). Since 0.7.0 Picto prefers DirectX 12 on Intel graphics. Before it opens the window, it writes a small file called gpu-starting.json in its settings folder and deletes it once the first frames are drawn. A start that crashed leaves the file behind, and the next start reads it and moves to the next safer mode.

Still stuck?

See Get help with a problem. Say which graphics card you have, which Picto version you use and how you started it. Add one of these: