Windows Screen Saver may not produce desired animation or image in ICA desktop session

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Article ID: CTX678053

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Updated On:

Description

Windows Screen Saver (e.g. C:\Windows\System32\ssText3d.scr) may not be able to produce the desired animation when it is initiated in ICA desktop session. Instead, a white or black screen could be presented.

Environment

Caution! Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that might require you to reinstall your operating system. Citrix cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. Be sure to back up the registry before you edit it.

Resolution

The issue is not caused by Citrix Indirect Display Adapter, but fully depends on how a screen saver program select a display adapter. A workaround is to switch ICA session display adapter from Citrix Indirect Display Adapter to Citrix Display Only Adapter through the following registry values. This won't change the screen saver's behavior in display adapter selection, but can be a workaround because both Citrix Display Only Adapter and Microsoft Basic Display Adapter are WDDM based.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\Graphics\AdapterMerits]
CitrixDoD (DWORD) = 3
CitrixIDD (DWORD) = 2

Problem Cause

Ideally, a screen saver program is expected to select display adapter that is currently used for the user session. However, while running In ICA desktop session, Windows screen saver like 'sstext3d.scr' automatically selects Microsoft Basic Display Adapter as its video adapter for rendering purpose, instead of Citrix Indirect Display Adapter that is currently used for the user session.

Note:

Running 'dxdiag.exe' in CMD > Display shows the display adapter used for the current user session.
Running 'sstext3d.scr' in CMD > Display Settings > Video adapter shows the display adapter selected by the screen saver itself

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