Black splotches on graphs, after upgrading to Stata 15

[Sean Fiedler]

I just upgraded from Stata 14.2 IC to Stata 15.0 IC (both are still on my computer). A problem has immediately come up when producing graphs with Stata 15. Random little parts on the graph will be pure black, this occurs in tiny blocks all over the graph (screenshot below). If I issue the same graphing command 2 or 3 times the graph will eventually be a clean, normal graph. However once I issue a new different graphing command, these black splotches will appear again.

If I try the same in Stata 14.2 I have no problems. This has only started to happen when using Stata 15.

sysuse auto
line price weight

[Clyde Schechter]

FWIW, on my Stata 15 MP2, Windows 7 64-bit installation I cannot replicate your problem. It would be helpful if you indicated which OS you are running under, and then others running that OS and Stata 15 IC could see if they can replicate your problem, and respond. If the problem turns out to be idosyncratic to your own installation, then routine steps to try to solve the problem are:

1. Run -update query-, and, if you don't have the latest update, get it.
2. If that doesn't solve the problem, exit Stata, re-launch and try again.
3. If that doesn't solve the problem, reboot your computer and try again.
4. If that doesn't solve the problem, re-install Stata, run -update, all-, and try again.
5. If that doesn't solve the problem, contact Stata technical support.

If, however, others running Stata 15-IC on your same operating system can reproduce your problem, then you may get responses that show workarounds, and it is also likely that StataCorp already is, or will soon be aware, of this problem and will work on fixing it.

[Sean Fiedler]

Yeah I feel like the upgrade aspect of it might be a critical part of reproducing the problem. Will try the steps you mention, thanks

[Chinh Nguyen (StataCorp)]

Stata 15 switched to Direct2D, a hardware-accelerated and high-performance graphics API in Windows, for rendering graphs. This was necessary to render the smooth lines and transparency that you now see in Stata 15 graphs. We haven't had any other reported issues such as yours so the problem may be unique to your setup (perhaps a video driver needs updating).

Your issue may be beyond the scope of what Statalist can help with and I would suggest you contact Stata technical support to troubleshoot your problem.

[Sean Fiedler]

Thank you Chinh, now after a few days the problem seems to have gone away. No idea why but I'm not complaining! I will contact technical support if it comes up again