OpenGL example results in a black screen

My PC is a Dell Inspiron with onboard graphics, running Windows 7. I copied the program sample below from the Internet. It should draw a triangle, but a black screen results.
Can you help me to find out what went wrong, please?

#include <windows.h>                              // Header File For Windows
#include <gl\gl.h>                                // Header File For The OpenGL32 Library
#include <gl\glu.h>                               // Header File For The GLu32 Library
#include <gl\glaux.h>                             // Header File For The GLaux Library
#include <stdio.h>

HGLRC		hRC=NULL;                           // Permanent Rendering Context
HDC        	hDC=NULL;                           // Private GDI Device Context
HWND       	hWnd=NULL;                          // Holds Our Window Handle
HINSTANCE  	hInstance;                          // Holds The Instance Of The Application

BOOL keys[256]; 								// Array Used For The Keyboard Routine
BOOL active=TRUE;                             	// Window Active Flag Set To TRUE By Default
BOOL fullscreen=TRUE;                          	// Fullscreen Flag Set To Fullscreen Mode By Default

LRESULT CALLBACK WndProc(HWND, UINT, WPARAM, LPARAM);	// Declaration For WndProc

GLvoid ReSizeGLScene(GLsizei width, GLsizei height)		// Resize And Initialize The GL Window
{
    if (height == 0)						// Prevent A Divide By Zero By
        height = 1;                         // Making Height Equal One
    //
    glViewport(0, 0, width, height);		// Reset The Current Viewport
    glMatrixMode(GL_PROJECTION);			// Select The Projection Matrix
    glLoadIdentity();						// Reset The Projection Matrix
    //
    // Calculate The Aspect Ratio Of The Window
    //
    gluPerspective(45.0f,(GLfloat)width/(GLfloat)height,0.1f,100.0f);
    glMatrixMode(GL_MODELVIEW);				// Select The Modelview Matrix
    glLoadIdentity();						// Reset The Modelview Matrix
}

int InitGL(GLvoid)							// All Setup For OpenGL Goes Here
{
	glShadeModel(GL_SMOOTH);				// Enables Smooth Shading
	glClearColor(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);	// Black Background
	glClearDepth(1.0f);						// Depth Buffer Setup
	glEnable(GL_DEPTH_TEST);				// Enables Depth Testing
	glDepthFunc(GL_LEQUAL);					// The Type Of Depth Test To Do
	glHint(GL_PERSPECTIVE_CORRECTION_HINT, GL_NICEST);	// Really Nice Perspective Calculations
	return TRUE;							// Initialization Went OK
}

int DrawGLScene(GLvoid)							// Here's Where We Do All The Drawing
{
    glClear(GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT | GL_DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT);		// Clear The Screen And The Depth Buffer

    glMatrixMode(GL_MODELVIEW);
    	glPushMatrix();


    glLoadIdentity();                           // Reset The Current Modelview Matrix
    glTranslatef(-1.5f,0.0f,-6.0f);				// Move Left 1.5 Units And Into The Screen 6.0
    glBegin(GL_TRIANGLES);                      // Drawing Using Triangles
        glVertex3f( 0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f);			// Top
        glVertex3f(-1.0f,-1.0f, 0.0f);			// Bottom Left
        glVertex3f( 1.0f,-1.0f, 0.0f);			// Bottom Right
    glEnd();									// Finished Drawing The Triangle
    glTranslatef(3.0f,0.0f,0.0f);				// Move Right 3 Units
    glBegin(GL_QUADS);							// Draw A Quad
    	glVertex3f(-1.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f);			// Top Left
    	glVertex3f( 1.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f);			// Top Right
    	glVertex3f( 1.0f,-1.0f, 0.0f);			// Bottom Right
    	glVertex3f(-1.0f,-1.0f, 0.0f);			// Bottom Left
    glEnd();									// Done Drawing The Quad
    //
    return TRUE;                                // Everything Went OK
}

GLvoid KillGLWindow(GLvoid)						// Properly Kill The Window
{
	if (fullscreen)                             // Are We In Fullscreen Mode?
	{
		ChangeDisplaySettings(NULL,0);          // If So Switch Back To The Desktop
		ShowCursor(TRUE);                       // Show Mouse Pointer
	}
	if (hRC)                                	// Do We Have A Rendering Context?
	{
		if (!wglMakeCurrent(NULL,NULL))         // Are We Able To Release The DC And RC Contexts?
		{
			MessageBox(NULL,"Release Of DC And RC Failed.","SHUTDOWN ERROR",MB_OK | MB_ICONINFORMATION);
		}
		if (!wglDeleteContext(hRC))             // Are We Able To Delete The RC?
		{
			MessageBox(NULL,"Release Rendering Context Failed.","SHUTDOWN ERROR",MB_OK | MB_ICONINFORMATION);
		}
	    hRC=NULL;                           	// Set RC To NULL
	}
	if (hDC && !ReleaseDC(hWnd,hDC))            // Are We Able To Release The DC
	{
	    MessageBox(NULL,"Release Device Context Failed.","SHUTDOWN ERROR",MB_OK | MB_ICONINFORMATION);
	    hDC=NULL;                           	// Set DC To NULL
	}
	if (hWnd && !DestroyWindow(hWnd))           // Are We Able To Destroy The Window?
	{
	    MessageBox(NULL,"Could Not Release hWnd.","SHUTDOWN ERROR",MB_OK | MB_ICONINFORMATION);
	    hWnd=NULL;                          	// Set hWnd To NULL
	}
	if (!UnregisterClass("OpenGL",hInstance))   // Are We Able To Unregister Class
    {
        MessageBox(NULL,"Could Not Unregister Class.","SHUTDOWN ERROR",MB_OK | MB_ICONINFORMATION);
        hInstance=NULL;                         // Set hInstance To NULL
    }
}

BOOL CreateGLWindow(char* title, int width, int height, int bits, BOOL fullscreenflag)
{
	GLuint      PixelFormat;					// Holds The Results After Searching For A Match
	WNDCLASS    wc;                         	// Windows Class Structure
	DWORD       dwExStyle;                      // Window Extended Style
	DWORD       dwStyle;                        // Window Style
	RECT WindowRect;                            // Grabs Rectangle Upper Left / Lower Right Values
	WindowRect.left=(long)0;                    // Set Left Value To 0
	WindowRect.right=(long)width;               // Set Right Value To Requested Width
	WindowRect.top=(long)0;                     // Set Top Value To 0
	WindowRect.bottom=(long)height;             // Set Bottom Value To Requested Height
	fullscreen=fullscreenflag;                  // Set The Global Fullscreen Flag
	hInstance       = GetModuleHandle(NULL);    // Grab An Instance For Our Window
	wc.style        = CS_HREDRAW | CS_VREDRAW | CS_OWNDC;       // Redraw On Move, And Own DC For Window
	wc.lpfnWndProc      = (WNDPROC) WndProc;    // WndProc Handles Messages
	wc.cbClsExtra       = 0;                    // No Extra Window Data
	wc.cbWndExtra       = 0;                    // No Extra Window Data
	wc.hInstance        = hInstance;            // Set The Instance
	wc.hIcon        = LoadIcon(NULL, IDI_WINLOGO);          // Load The Default Icon
	wc.hCursor      = LoadCursor(NULL, IDC_ARROW);          // Load The Arrow Pointer
	wc.hbrBackground    = NULL;                 // No Background Required For GL
	wc.lpszMenuName     = NULL;                 // We Don't Want A Menu
	wc.lpszClassName    = "OpenGL";             // Set The Class Name
	if (!RegisterClass(&wc))                    // Attempt To Register The Window Class
	{
	    MessageBox(NULL,"Failed To Register The Window Class.","ERROR",MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
	    return FALSE;                           // Exit And Return FALSE
	}
	if (fullscreen)                             // Attempt Fullscreen Mode?
	{
		DEVMODE dmScreenSettings;               // Device Mode
		memset(&dmScreenSettings,0,sizeof(dmScreenSettings));       // Makes Sure Memory's Cleared
		dmScreenSettings.dmSize=sizeof(dmScreenSettings);       // Size Of The Devmode Structure
		dmScreenSettings.dmPelsWidth    = width;            // Selected Screen Width
		dmScreenSettings.dmPelsHeight   = height;           // Selected Screen Height
		dmScreenSettings.dmFields=DM_BITSPERPEL|DM_PELSWIDTH|DM_PELSHEIGHT;
		// Try To Set Selected Mode And Get Results.  NOTE: CDS_FULLSCREEN Gets Rid Of Start Bar.
		if (ChangeDisplaySettings(&dmScreenSettings,CDS_FULLSCREEN)!=DISP_CHANGE_SUCCESSFUL)
		{
			// If The Mode Fails, Offer Two Options.  Quit Or Run In A Window.
			if (MessageBox(NULL,"The Requested Fullscreen Mode Is Not Supported By\nYour Video Card. Use Windowed Mode Instead?","NeHe GL",MB_YESNO|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION)==IDYES)
			{
				fullscreen=FALSE;               // Select Windowed Mode (Fullscreen=FALSE)
			}
			else
			{
				// Pop Up A Message Box Letting User Know The Program Is Closing.
				MessageBox(NULL,"Program Will Now Close.","ERROR",MB_OK|MB_ICONSTOP);
				return FALSE;                   // Exit And Return FALSE
			}
		}
	}
	if (fullscreen)                             // Are We Still In Fullscreen Mode?
	{
		dwExStyle=WS_EX_APPWINDOW;                  // Window Extended Style
	    dwStyle=WS_POPUP;                       // Windows Style
	    ShowCursor(FALSE);                      // Hide Mouse Pointer
	}
	else
	{
		dwExStyle=WS_EX_APPWINDOW | WS_EX_WINDOWEDGE;           // Window Extended Style
		dwStyle=WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW;                    // Windows Style
	}
	AdjustWindowRectEx(&WindowRect, dwStyle, FALSE, dwExStyle);     // Adjust Window To True Requested Size
	if (!(hWnd = CreateWindowEx(dwExStyle,              // Extended Style For The Window
	                "OpenGL",               // Class Name
	                title,                  // Window Title
	                WS_CLIPSIBLINGS |           // Required Window Style
	                WS_CLIPCHILDREN |           // Required Window Style
	                dwStyle,                // Selected Window Style
	                0, 0,                   // Window Position
	                WindowRect.right-WindowRect.left,   // Calculate Adjusted Window Width
	                WindowRect.bottom-WindowRect.top,   // Calculate Adjusted Window Height
	                NULL,                   // No Parent Window
	                NULL,                   // No Menu
	                hInstance,              // Instance
	                NULL)))                 // Don't Pass Anything To WM_CREATE
	{
	    KillGLWindow();                         // Reset The Display
	    MessageBox(NULL,"Window Creation Error.","ERROR",MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
	    return FALSE;                           // Return FALSE
	}
	static  PIXELFORMATDESCRIPTOR pfd=                  // pfd Tells Windows How We Want Things To Be
	{
	    sizeof(PIXELFORMATDESCRIPTOR),		// Size Of This Pixel Format Descriptor nSize
	    1,									// Version Number						nVersion
	    PFD_DRAW_TO_WINDOW |                        // Format Must Support Window				dwFlags
	    PFD_SUPPORT_OPENGL |                        // Format Must Support OpenGL

	    PFD_DOUBLEBUFFER,                       // Must Support Double Buffering				iPixelType
	    PFD_TYPE_RGBA,                          // Request An RGBA Format						cColorBits
	    32,                               // Select Our Color Depth						cRedsBits
	    0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,                       // Color Bits Ignored							cRedBits, cRedShift, cGreenBits, cGreenShift, cBlueBits, cBlueShift
	    0,                              // No Alpha Buffer										cAlphaBits
	    0,                              // Shift Bit Ignored									cAlphaShift
	    0,                              // No Accumulation Buffer
	    0, 0, 0, 0,                         // Accumulation Bits Ignored
	    16,                             // 16Bit Z-Buffer (Depth Buffer)
	    0,                              // No Stencil Buffer
	    0,                              // No Auxiliary Buffer
	    PFD_MAIN_PLANE,                         // Main Drawing Layer
	    0,                              // Reserved
	    0, 0, 0                             // Layer Masks Ignored
	};
	if (!(hDC=GetDC(hWnd)))                         // Did We Get A Device Context?
	{
	    KillGLWindow();                         // Reset The Display
	    MessageBox(NULL,"Can't Create A GL Device Context.","ERROR",MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
	    return FALSE;                           // Return FALSE
	}
	if (!(PixelFormat=ChoosePixelFormat(hDC,&pfd)))             // Did Windows Find A Matching Pixel Format?
	{
	    KillGLWindow();                         // Reset The Display
	    MessageBox(NULL,"Can't Find A Suitable PixelFormat.","ERROR",MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
	    return FALSE;                           // Return FALSE
	}
	if(!SetPixelFormat(hDC,PixelFormat,&pfd))               // Are We Able To Set The Pixel Format?
	{
	    KillGLWindow();                         // Reset The Display
	    MessageBox(NULL,"Can't Set The PixelFormat.","ERROR",MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
	    return FALSE;                           // Return FALSE
	}
	if (!(hRC=wglCreateContext(hDC)))                   // Are We Able To Get A Rendering Context?
	{
	    KillGLWindow();                         // Reset The Display
	    MessageBox(NULL,"Can't Create A GL Rendering Context.","ERROR",MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
	    return FALSE;                           // Return FALSE
	}
	if(!wglMakeCurrent(hDC,hRC))                        // Try To Activate The Rendering Context
	{
	    KillGLWindow();                         // Reset The Display
	    MessageBox(NULL,"Can't Activate The GL Rendering Context.","ERROR",MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
	    return FALSE;                           // Return FALSE
	}
	ShowWindow(hWnd,SW_SHOW);                       // Show The Window
	SetForegroundWindow(hWnd);                      // Slightly Higher Priority
	SetFocus(hWnd);                             // Sets Keyboard Focus To The Window
	ReSizeGLScene(width, height);                       // Set Up Our Perspective GL Screen
	if (!InitGL())                              // Initialize Our Newly Created GL Window
	{
	    KillGLWindow();                         // Reset The Display
	    MessageBox(NULL,"Initialization Failed.","ERROR",MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);
	    return FALSE;                           // Return FALSE
	}
	return TRUE;                                // Success
}

LRESULT CALLBACK WndProc(HWND hWnd,				// Handle For This Window
                UINT    uMsg,                   // Message For This Window
                WPARAM  wParam,                 // Additional Message Information
                LPARAM  lParam)                 // Additional Message Information
{
	switch (uMsg)                               // Check For Windows Messages
	{
		case WM_ACTIVATE:                       // Watch For Window Activate Message
		{
			active = !HIWORD(wParam);
			return 0;                       	// Return To The Message Loop
		}
		case WM_SYSCOMMAND:                     // Intercept System Commands
		{
		    switch (wParam)                     // Check System Calls
		    {
		        case SC_SCREENSAVE:             // Screensaver Trying To Start?
		        case SC_MONITORPOWER:           // Monitor Trying To Enter Powersave?
		        return 0;                   	// Prevent From Happening
		    }
		    break;                          	// Exit
		}
		case WM_CLOSE:                          // Did We Receive A Close Message?
		{
		    PostQuitMessage(0);                 // Send A Quit Message
		    return 0;                       	// Jump Back
		}
		case WM_KEYDOWN:                        // Is A Key Being Held Down?
		{
		    keys[wParam] = TRUE;                // If So, Mark It As TRUE
		    return 0;                       	// Jump Back
		}
		case WM_KEYUP:                          // Has A Key Been Released?
		{
		    keys[wParam] = FALSE;               // If So, Mark It As FALSE
		    return 0;                       	// Jump Back
		}
		case WM_SIZE:                           // Resize The OpenGL Window
		{
			ReSizeGLScene(LOWORD(lParam),HIWORD(lParam));       // LoWord=Width, HiWord=Height
			return 0;                       	// Jump Back
		}
	}
	//
	// Pass All Unhandled Messages To DefWindowProc
	//
	return DefWindowProc(hWnd,uMsg,wParam,lParam);
}

int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance,			// Instance
            HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,			// Previous Instance
            LPSTR lpCmdLine,      		        // Command Line Parameters
            int nCmdShow)               		// Window Show State
{
	MSG msg;                                	// Windows Message Structure
	BOOL done = FALSE;                         	// BOOL Variable To Exit Loop
	//
	// Ask The User Which Screen Mode They Prefer
	//
	if (MessageBox(NULL,"Would You Like To Run In Fullscreen Mode?", "Start FullScreen?",MB_YESNO|MB_ICONQUESTION)==IDNO)
	    fullscreen=FALSE;                       // Windowed Mode
	//
	// Create Our OpenGL Window
	//
	if (!CreateGLWindow("NeHe's OpenGL Framework",640,480,16,fullscreen))
	    return 0;								// Quit If Window Was Not Created
	while(!done)                                // Loop That Runs Until done=TRUE
	{
		if (PeekMessage(&msg,NULL,0,0,PM_REMOVE))           // Is There A Message Waiting?
		{
			if (msg.message==WM_QUIT)           // Have We Received A Quit Message?
			{
			    done=TRUE;                  	// If So done=TRUE
			}
			else                            	// If Not, Deal With Window Messages
			{
				TranslateMessage(&msg);         // Translate The Message
		        DispatchMessage(&msg);          // Dispatch The Message
		    }
		}
		else                                	// If There Are No Messages
		{
			// Draw The Scene.  Watch For ESC Key And Quit Messages From DrawGLScene()
			//
			if (active)                     	// Program Active?
			{
			    if (keys[VK_ESCAPE])            // Was ESC Pressed?
			    {
			        done=TRUE;       			// ESC Signalled A Quit
			    }
			    else                        	// Not Time To Quit, Update Screen
			    {
			    	DrawGLScene();              // Draw The Scene
			    	SwapBuffers(hDC);           // Swap Buffers (Double Buffering)
			    }
			}
			if (keys[VK_F1])                    // Is F1 Being Pressed?
			{
				keys[VK_F1]=FALSE;              // If So Make Key FALSE
				KillGLWindow();                 // Kill Our Current Window
				fullscreen=!fullscreen;       	// Toggle Fullscreen / Windowed Mode
				//
				// Recreate Our OpenGL Window
				//
				if (!CreateGLWindow("NeHe's OpenGL Framework",640,480,16,fullscreen))
					return 0;               // Quit If Window Was Not Created
			}
		}
	}
	//
	// Shutdown
	//
	KillGLWindow();                             // Kill The Window
	return (msg.wParam);						// Exit The Program
}

@automaton3d
Windows does not seem to update the opengl-driver of their pcs by default. Download an extensions-viewer like
extensions-viewer
to have a look.
You do not have any error-tests of
glGetError()
involved. You should find ressources like
win-glError
to get to grips with how & what it’s about.
Finally, use
cout <<
to check variables you may question.

If you have any problems with that, here’s another good one to try:

If you find that you’re need to install the latest graphics drivers for your GPU, see:

Looks familiar :wink:

The version you copied has been hacked up a bit from NeHe’s original however. Which could be part of the problem. Beware just copying code off the Internet. You can waste a lot of time if you’re not careful.

If you’re determined to understand and debug this code, I would read and understand the original tutorial, debugging this random code you’ve picked up somewhere yourself. OR (probably the better option:) just chuck this code completely and use something like GLFW to abstract the the platform-specific window and context creation details so you can focus on learning OpenGL.

If you’re determined, and after you have first verified that you have hardware accelerated OpenGL drivers installed for your GPU (see the extension viewers above), I would start by printing these strings out at the top of your initGL() function:

glGetString( GL_VENDOR )
glGetString( GL_RENDERER )
glGetString( GL_VERSION )

If you see something like this:

OpenGL vendor string: Microsoft Corporation
OpenGL renderer string: GDI Generic
OpenGL version string: 1.1.0

then you have not created a GPU hardware-accelerated GL context. Instead, you’re falling back on an old Microsoft OpenGL version 1.1 software-emulated GL context, which can’t do anything.

The common reasons why this might occur are because either:

  1. You do not have GPU graphics drivers installed (see: Getting Started), or
  2. The Windoze PIXELFORMATDESCRIPTOR values you’re using are unsupported by your GPU graphics driver. And note: this hacked-up code you copied is not using the PIXELFORMATDESCRIPTOR values NeHe uses in his tutorial.

i compiled it with gnu compiler on win 10. had to change GLvoid to void. don’t quite understand
why someone wants to use GLvoid anyway. it runs in window mode and plots a white tria and a white quad on black background. so, no problem on my PC.

at a glance, i dont see any glColor call. try to add

glColor3f(1.0, 1.0, 1.0);

in DrawGLScene(), after the glClear() call.

Thank you. All answers were very useful. Problem resolved.

What was the solution?

(This may help others in the future with a similar problem.)

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