Rhino 9 Bug - Permanent black screen switching Direct3D to OpenGL

Serengeti (Rhino BETA)
1

Hello! First time posting so sorry in advance if I am posting this the wrong place.

Rhino 9 SR0 2026-9-1 (Rhino 9 BETA, 9.0.26244.12303, Git hash:master @ 5007fbd7b46c04cee8e766232af7a8896598fb4e)
License type: Educational Lab License, build 2026-09-01
License details: Cloud Zoo
Expires on: 2026-10-16

Windows 11 (10.0.26200 SR0.0) or greater (Physical RAM: 31GB)
.NET 10.0.8

Computer platform: LAPTOP  - Plugged in \[100% battery remaining\]

Non-hybrid graphics configuration using DirectX
Primary display: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU (NVidia) Memory: 16GB, Driver date: 8-24-2026 (M-D-Y). DirectX(11)
> Integrated accelerated graphics device with 4 adapter port(s)
- Laptop's primary display device

Secondary graphics devices.
AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics (AMD) Memory: 1GB, Driver date: 9-28-2022 (M-D-Y).
> Integrated accelerated graphics device with 3 adapter port(s)
- Windows Main Display is laptop's integrated screen or built-in port

DirectX Settings
Safe mode: Off

OpenBLAS: OpenBLAS 0.3.30 DYNAMIC_ARCH NO_AFFINITY Zen MAX_THREADS=64.

Rhino plugins that do not ship with Rhino
C:\\Users\\Alex\\AppData\\Roaming\\McNeel\\Rhinoceros\\packages\\9.0\\BlockEditNew\\2.1.7\\blockeditnew.rhp	"BlockEditNew"	2.0.0.0
C:\\Users\\Alex\\AppData\\Roaming\\McNeel\\Rhinoceros\\packages\\9.0\\SubstanceImporter\\2.0.7\\Substance.Win.rhp	"SubstanceImporter"	2.0.7.0

Rhino plugins that ship with Rhino
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\Commands.rhp	"Commands"	9.0.26244.12303
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\WebBrowser.rhp	"WebBrowser"	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\rdk.rhp	"Renderer Development Kit"	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\RhinoScript.rhp	"RhinoScript"	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\3dxRhino.9.rhp	"3DxRhino.9"	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\IdleProcessor.rhp	"IdleProcessor"	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\UpdatesAndStatistics\\UpdatesAndStatistics.rhp	"UpdatesAndStatistics"	9.0.26244.12303
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\RhinoRenderCycles.rhp	"Rhino Render"	9.0.26244.12303
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\rdk_etoui.rhp	"RDK_EtoUI"	9.0.26244.12303
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\NamedSnapshots.rhp	"Snapshots"	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\MeshCommands.rhp	"MeshCommands"	9.0.26244.12303
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\RhinoCycles.rhp	"RhinoCycles"	9.0.26244.12303
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\Displacement.rhp	"Displacement"	
C:\\Program Files\\Rhino 9 WIP\\Plug-ins\\SectionTools.rhp	"SectionTools"

I have downloaded newest drives today and made a clean install.
I have tried restarting the program, the PC and also uninstall and reinstall Rhino 9 Beta.

My problem:
I tried to change display settings in order to get max FPS in rendered view. I changed GPU Technology from Direct3D to OpenGL. Just to see if I got higher FPS.

When I tried to change back, it just turns black, and antialiasing option is disabled (empty) and can’t change any settings. Reinstalling the program doesn’t change this. The program is running like normal and I can do commands and move around in the world, but the viewport is just completely dark. I can change back to OpenGL but I can’t use Direct3D anymore.

I have Rhino 8 and I can change back and forth between Direct3D and OpenGL without troubles.

I did uninstall and reinstall Rhino 9 BETA but I see all my installed packages were there so probably not a clean reinstall? But I don’t know how to do a clean one.

Thanks for reading my problem! Hope somebody knows something about it because I really enjoy the new features in Rhino 9 and would love to continue!

2

Hei Alexander -

I’m pretty sure this is unlikely to make a difference, but I’d try updating the drivers for the AMD GPU as well, and disabling the 3rd party plug-ins from the Rhino Plug-ins manager.

There is no Direct3D in Rhino 8 though?

Actually, @Alexander_Øhman , please run the TestD3DErrorLog test command and post the feedback that this tool provides.
-wim

4

Hello Wim & thanks for the quick reply.

Now I’ve updated the AMD GPU and uninstalled all the plugins I had. restarted computer. Not working unfortunately.

I’m sorry! That’s correct. I thought I had edited those settings on Rhino 8 but appearantly not!

I tried now and all I got back was “StartEngine failed”.

5

Hello! I found a fix! Long story short: if you turn OpenGL level to minimum and then try to access Direct3D, it won’t work! You have to turn up OpenGL level again in order to use Direct3D.

I think it should be fixed since it’s not obvious that one would have to do this to go back to Direct3D.

Here is what I did to fix it:

I went into options > View > GPU > and changed from Direct3D to OpenGL.

I had turned down OpenGL level from “Max OpenGL Available” to OpenGL 1.1 Software Driver, then pressed “OK”.

When I opened Options > View > GPU > Tried to use Direct3D, it seems the render engine or what it is won’t start. and I can’t change Antialiasing.

Solution:
To fix it, I just changed back to OpenGL and turned the level back to “Max OpenGL level available” > pressed OK > Restart Rhino 9 Beta > Choose Direct 3D (and now it works).

I apologize for not testing further before posting on forums but it seems like a bug because this is very obvious that one would have to do that.

Thanks for the help again and let’s hope it gets addressed!

6

Hei Alexander -

Takker!
→ RH-98381 Direct3D: Black Viewports after switching to OpenGL
-wim