Frequently Asked Questions and Purchasing

General System Requirements

What are Yenka's system requirements?

  • Windows XP or later

     

  • Pentium III, 1 GHz or higher

     

  • 256MB RAM (with virtual memory switched on)

     

  • Graphics card with OpenGL support and up-to-date drivers. We recommend at least 32MB of graphics card memory.

     

  • 16-bit soundcard optional

Is there a Mac version of Yenka?

No, Yenka only supports Windows.

Can I use Yenka on an interactive whiteboard?

Yes. Yenka has an interface that is designed to be easy to use in the classroom, especially with interactive whiteboards, and requires no special setup.

Does Yenka support my graphics card?

Yenka works with a wide range of graphics cards and on-board graphics (hardware already “built in”) from all the major manufacturers. You can read more information on graphics cards below.

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Graphic cards

Update your drivers

We use a system called OpenGL for our 3D graphics. This is an industry standard, and is already available on most computers.

However, you’ll need to make sure that you have the correct graphics card drivers to be installed on your computer. The graphics card is a piece of hardware – already inside your computer – which handles the display, and the drivers are the software programs that it runs when doing this.

Most problems viewing 3D graphics, including performance issues, are caused by having no OpenGL drivers installed for your computer’s graphics card. You can’t get OpenGL drivers separately: it has to be supported by your graphics card drivers.

Most manufacturers let you download the latest graphics card driver software free of charge from their websites, and this should include OpenGL drivers. When updating your graphics card drivers, it is important that you use the software that is specifically designed for your graphics card.

Some common manufacturers are

Laptops

If you want to run Yenka on a laptop, it is worth checking the website of your graphics card manufacturer for their recommendation. However, you may have to use drivers supplied by the manufacturer of your laptop (Dell, HP, Acer, etc) instead of those by the manufacturer of your graphics chip. Visit their websites for more information.

 

Incompatible graphics hardware

The following graphics hardware has been found to be incompatible with the Yenka 3D user interface:

VIA UniChrome Pro VN800
(supplied, for example, with Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Pro V2030 laptops)
Symptoms: Background to the main window does not appear and then the machine locks up.

Other known problems

NVIDIA graphics chipsets – 8xS anti-aliasing setting
Symptoms: Horizontal stripes across the screen
Workaround: Reduce anti-aliasing setting to 4x:

  • in the Control panel: double-click on the “NVIDIA Control Panel”. When it opens, click on “3D settings” and then select 4x from the anti-aliasing dropdown.

S3 KM400/KN400/MMX/K3D/UniChrome/DeltaChrome graphics chipsets

Symptoms: Crashes when displaying 3D graphics.

Workaround: Disable hardware acceleration:

  • open the Display control panel: under the “Settings” tab, choose “Advanced” and then choose the “Troubleshoot” tab and adjust the “Hardware acceleration” slider.

SiS 650 graphics chipsets

Symptoms: Unpredictable application crashes.

Workaround: May be fixed by upgrading to latest drivers.

SiS 650-750 graphics chipsets

Symptoms: 2D objects do not appear when dragged onto the screen.

Workaround: Disable hardware acceleration:

  • open the Display control panel: under the “Settings” tab, choose “Advanced” and then choose the “Troubleshoot” tab and adjust the “Hardware acceleration” slider.

Integrated Intel (82865G) graphics cards – Force Texture Compression setting

Symptoms: Usually occurring on model reload with Yenka Electricity & Magnetism: blackening-out or colour-swaps of textures, display driver ialmrnt5 stopping to respond, which in turn leads to a full system reboot, Windows blue-screen appearing with information about ialmrnt5 driver getting stuck in an infinite loop.

Go to Control Panel. Find and double click on “Intel (R) Extreme Graphics 2” icon. In turn, go to: “3D Settings”. Enable any form of texture compression “Force S3TC Texture Compression” or “Force FXT1 Texture Compression” or both. After that click “Apply” on both dialogs and restart Yenka.

Note: This is only necessary for newer Intel display drivers.

Integrated Intel (82865G) graphics cards – refresh issue with older drivers

Symptoms: In Yenka Statistics it can take a long time for data tables to update after information has been added.

Workaround: Install the more up to date graphics drivers (such as the 20.09.2005 version) from Intel.

ATI graphics chipsets – Catalyst AI setting

Symptoms: missing text on some 3D objects

Workaround: Disable the Catalyst AI setting:

  • Right-click on the Desktop and select “ATI Catalyst Control Center”. Click on “View”, then “Advanced View”. Expand the “3D” option and then select “ATI Catalyst AI”. Check the “Disable ATI Catalyst AI” checkbox and click “Apply”.

ATI graphics chipsets – Windows 7

Symptoms: Unpredictable crashes when using an ATI card on Windows 7.

Workaround: May be fixed by upgrading to latest drivers.

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Purchasing Yenka

How much does Yenka cost?

Please contact sales@yenka.com. In some regions we work with resellers and we will ask you to contact them for pricing

Do I have to pay an annual subscription to use Yenka?

Currently, our prices are all one-off payments. Once you’ve paid, the software is yours to keep, and you don’t need to keep paying subscriptions.

 

Do you have a Mac version?

No, we only have a Windows version. Here are the system requirements.

How do I check what licences my school has?

Please contact us at info@yenka.com.

A School Site Licence lets teachers and students use a Yenka product on all the computers at one site. If your school has over 2000 students, or for remote teaching, please contact us for prices.

How do I place an order?

Please get in touch with us at info@yenka.com

Please note...

Please make sure you read the FAQs at the top of this page about our system requirements.
All prices are recommended prices, excluding tax.
We may change our prices from time to time. Please check prices at the time you wish to order. Reseller prices may vary.
If you wish to use Yenka for commercial purposes please contact us at info@yenka.com.
For licence details, please read the End-User Licence Agreement.

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Using Yenka

Why can't I edit the model?

Yenka has two modes which can be switched between by using the Play Content and Add Objects tabs.

You are in Play mode when the Play Content tab is shown. This mode is intended for when you just want to view a model without adding or removing objects:

  • You cannot select objects.

  • Objects cannot be deleted, copied or pasted.

  • You cannot add objects from the Objects pane.

  • Presentation objects (e.g. text and pictures) are locked so that they cannot be moved or resized.

You are in Edit mode when the Add Objects tab is shown:

  • All objects can be moved and resized unless they are locked.

  • You cannot open content using the Play Content tab.

What is locking?

The Properties pane (Advanced > Lock) contains several locking options. You can lock the following aspects of an object by checking the relevant boxes:

  • All properties: Locks all properties of the object.

  • Position: Fixes the position of the object.

  • Size: Prevents resizing of the object.

  • Orientation: Prevents rotation of the object for layout purposes.

  • Other properties: Prevents editing of any other properties or controls on the object (such as sliders or editable text).

 

Why can't I open my old Crocodile product model files in Yenka?

Most models saved from past Crocodile Clips products are compatible with Yenka.

This includes previous versions of the Yenka software as well as older Crocodile products (Crocodile Chemistry, ICT, etc.). You should be able to open models with any of the following extensions:

.yka .cxt .cxi .cxp .cxc

To open other model types (.cyt .cyp) in Yenka you should install the file converter add-on. However, please note that only Electronic components from these models will be imported into Yenka.

Models saved from our discontinued product, ‘Crocodile Clips’ (with a .ckt extension) are not supported in Yenka.

Why does my imported model look different in Yenka?

The user interface in Yenka has changed significantly from earlier Crocodile simulators. This has meant that models will look different. In Yenka, 2D and 3D objects appear together in a combined view, so you might find that your 3D PCBs and mechanisms are positioned differently.

Why are there parts missing from my imported model?

While Yenka does support many older file formats, there may be objects within the model that are outdated and are no longer supported. This includes old versions of the graph object.

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Installation

How do I install Yenka?

Yenka can be installed a number of ways including on a network. If you only want to install it onto one computer then follow these steps

  1. Enter the code you received after purchasing onto the installation page.

     

  2. Download the Yenka installer.

     

  3. Save the file to a location of your choice.

     

  4. Double click on the downloaded Yenka_Setup.exe file to start the installation.

     

  5. Follow the installation instructions that appear on your screen.

     

  6. Once the installation is complete a Yenka icon will appear on your desktop. Double-click on this to start up the new software.

When I try to install the product I get a message saying "An unidentified program wants access to your computer." What does this mean?

This means that the Yenka installer is not digitally signed. If you receive this message, press ‘Allow’ to continue the installation. Please note that Yenka is fully compatible with Windows Vista and Windows XP.

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Installation

How do I install Yenka?

Yenka can be installed a number of ways including on a network. If you only want to install it onto one computer then follow these steps

  1. Enter the code you received after purchasing onto the installation page.

     

  2. Download the Yenka installer.

     

  3. Save the file to a location of your choice.

     

  4. Double click on the downloaded Yenka_Setup.exe file to start the installation.

     

  5. Follow the installation instructions that appear on your screen.

     

  6. Once the installation is complete a Yenka icon will appear on your desktop. Double-click on this to start up the new software.

When I try to install the product I get a message saying "An unidentified program wants access to your computer." What does this mean?

This means that the Yenka installer is not digitally signed. If you receive this message, press ‘Allow’ to continue the installation. Please note that Yenka is fully compatible with Windows Vista and Windows XP.

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