When I have a tabbed chat window, the tabs are always black (no skin) (even if from time to time they are skinned normally, when a new conversation is just lanched...but it turns black again when I resize the window, for example...)

It looks like that:

Have you used the Messenger Plus! Tweak and changed the values for SideBarColour and SideBarColour2?

Did you use msgplus tweak to change the value? Or ronaldo's slate fixer patch? these change the clour of the tabbed area. If so remove then or re insatlling Messenger Plus!

When I say Rolando's Patch i am referring to this:

They turn black because the background color of the background picture you use is black. Plus! uses this color to color the background of the extra added space in the window. This is quite normal behaviour and makes that everything keeps the same color/scheme...

To change this, do as Matty suggested.
Also see http://msgpluslive.net/help/registry/







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EDIT: link updated

hi, first of all i'm sorry for topic hijacking and necroposting
(but my error is quite similar.)
secondly, i searched both manually and using search function ("tab black" was invalid coz of 3 char word, "tabs black" gave this topic)

the difference is that im using a clean msn with no addons (no "Clean Messneger" but a clean Messenger ), so its not the skin. my tabs sidebar is completely black, i cannot see anything except the presence icons. when mouse is moved over the tabs, the names are appear in the "popup" text or idk how to call that (the thing that usually used to contain short help or hints). the problem is totally independent of windows minimizing, other apps running, et c., it always occurs when 2 or more taps are open. also independent on tabs placing (left or top), tabs size.

any solution, patch is known?

(xp sp2 hungarian, updated. latest live and latest plus. vista inspirat skinpack for the windows but i guess its not that coz afair i had the problem even before it was installed, since the very moment i installed plus.)

bump? no one has any idea?

Have you tried CookieRevised's solution?

quote:

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Originally posted by CookieRevised
They turn black because the background color of the background picture you use is black. Plus! uses this color to color the background of the extra added space in the window. This is quite normal behaviour and makes that everything keeps the same color/scheme...

To change this, do as Matty suggested.Also see http://www.msgplus.net/help_registry.php

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first of al,, thx very much for you had the trouble to make an answer post for me
but secondly, i've already tried the link when first time opened and read the thread and link doesn't work, redirects to its home page (http://www.msgpluslive.net/)

Hmm good point, didn't realise how old this thread was.
The new link is http://msgpluslive.net/help/registry/

thx!
yepp when i was surfing the site searching for solution i have already saw checked that page i just didnt know that it is the same.
btw, checked again, there is no sidebarcolour in the list with ctrl-f, and when i read it thorough myself i didnt found anything even similar that would deserve a try.

Now i carefully read again this thread, and tried that "tweak" but with the same result. (not even 1 usefully-looking variable in the very brief list).

Then, i thought, why didnt i try the simplest way, regedit?
that was a good idea because i could see th full list of variables, btw, no such keys were thhere as sidebarcolour or sidebarcolour 2. the list was so long i didnt read the other keys.

the other link was the "patch" thingy, i didnt tried it yet... (ok i tried but it said it needs an unmodified wlm this means no plus! )

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sooo, i should read the whole list of variables in regedit looking for something useful, colour -related stuff, and i should remove plus, apply that tweak, and reinstall plus? im unwilling to do the latter, especially when i consider tabs are only present in plus so how can a patch for plain wlm could fix the tabs in the plus? and i dont want to remove plus anyway )

You can download and install StuffPlug 3.5 (maybe older versions as well) for WLM 8.5 (maybe older versions as well) and use its tabs feature and deactivate tabs feature of Plus! for the time being. Also, someone else reported the same problem, even for Plus! Live: Need Help With Grouped Chats. (Note that this thread was created when the new Live versions of Messenger Plus! didn't exist so solutions in here will probably not be valid for Live version)

My recommendation to you, update your graphics driver with the latest driver from the manufacturer of the card.

quote:

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Originally posted by aaa3
secondly, i searched both manually and using search function ("tab black" was invalid coz of 3 char word, "tabs black" gave this topic)

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Do this trick: black "tab " Note that there is space after tab and there are four characters in quotation marks

hehe the trick is very witty, thx for it i will use it in my searches from now on
i dl-ed stuffplug and when attempted to install it i realised (it warned me) that i wasnt using the latest 8.5 but the 8.1 version of wlm!
btw, installed 8.5 on top of all but bug is the same.
Then installed again the plus on top of all but bug is still the same.
Then installed oldskool skin (liked the 8.1 look over 8.5) but still same.
Then tried stuffplug, it had, amongst a lots of others, a nice new feature of "another style" tabs, but i dont like it and it does not fix the bug only circumvent it. i would like to use the original plus tabs... (sry if this looks nerd or unpolite i know u only wanted to help me).

i will try the driver stuff, thx. my only problem is that when i last time tried them, the newest drivers didnt work properly with wolfenstein enemy territory but who cares, i will try it again. i didnt had any reason to use the latest when the old worked better and had no problems. but if it will fix then i can live without command map icons in ET or idk but at least a try i can do.

now i could also manage to install that messpatch.... er... how exactly would it help in this situation? (anyway i dont like addons i only want wlm and plus, these 2. plus the new skin.) what should i do it with now? (before i install that grafix driver)

and to that 2 keys (sidebarcolour), how can i find them at the registry, or as i said they arent there, can i add them myself, manually in the registry? (just an idea...)

quote:

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Originally posted by aaa3
and to that 2 keys (sidebarcolour), how can i find them at the registry, or as i said they arent there, can i add them myself, manually in the registry? (just an idea...)

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quote:

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None of the values mentioned below are present by default, they have to be created manually.

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updated the driver to the latest forceware AND (twas a mistake looking back) added manually the 2 keys. i added those 2 value after the pattern of another but existing colour-related values.
now it's fixed but i dont know what of the 2 different ways did so XD
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btw if anybody will have the same problem in the future, and if it was the driver, i tell that i have a GF 6600 and had the driver installed from it's CD, but now updated to latest. so thats the possible fix.

***

i will test to remove 2 two key and restart my pc, and if everything will be ok then we know that it was the driver. Thx for everybody's replies, and i will edit this post after had the test done.


EDIT1: omg its black again!!!
EDIT2: tests show that its only blackening now when i launch a full-screen direct3d application, or at least approximately this is the situation. Thias also suggests that its a driver-related bug.
EDIT3: 2 values removed from registry and still working (except as above) so it was driver 100% sure.

quote:

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Originally posted by aaa3
EDIT2: tests show that its only blackening now when i launch a full-screen direct3d application, or at least approximately this is the situation. Thias also suggests that its a driver-related bug.

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quote:

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Originally posted by aaa3
i will test to remove 2 two key and restart my pc, and if everything will be ok then we know that it was the driver. Thx for everybody's replies, and i will edit this post after had the test done.


EDIT1: omg its black again!!!

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