Program opens, then locks up

[dslocum]

I was "kicked out" of civil 3d so I re-started my machine. After re-opening Civil3d, I can see the program, but any click of the mouse produces a "Not Responding" message and it locks up. I've tried many times and get the same result. Any ideas? Do I need to re-install?

[theoneandonly13]

My advice, get rid of civil 3d altogether.  Worst software and support in the world.  I'd rather draft by hand than use it anymore.

[andrewpuller3811]

Try resetting civil 3d for your user profile by following the steps at this location

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/article/Resolving-user-specific-issues-by-resetting-AutoCAD-Civil-3D-2...

[dslocum]

I am hesitant to reset Civil 3D because I don't want to lose all of my customization. I found that if I am patient for 5-10 minutes, it will finally initialize. It seems to get locked up when loading AeciIb, AeciUiBase, and AeciIbApi, as shown at the command prompt. Does anyone know what this is and why it would take so long to load?

[andrewpuller3811]

What customisations have you done?

What version of civil 3d are you using?

You can export your current settings using the Export Custom Settings tool from the start menu, assuming it is installed, then reimport them once you have reset civil 3d.

[dgorsman]

Build your customizations outside of the OOTB files and in a separate set of folders and back them up offline.  That way if you have to do a complete system wipe, adding them back is very simple.

Not much information to go on.  Hardware specs might help, might not, same with OS version.  Try using some diagnostic tools such as Process Monitor (aka ProcMon) to see what the program is actually doing (it might not be "locked up" but instead busy looking for something that isn't there).  Another diagnostic tool to try is unplugging from any network (borrow a license first if you have to).  Also try unplugging any external devices/drives/gadgets.  Basically reduce the number of variables to test.

[dslocum]

I have tried the registry reset several times with no positive results. On a couple of occasions Civil3D opened within 1 minute immediately after the reset, but after closing and re-opening it sat for 10-15 minutes and never fully initialized. Should I do a complete re-install? I'll look for the process monitor tool that dgorsman mentioned and give that a shot.

[dslocum]

Still no luck...and I can't even log an issue in the subsciption center without an error. Is there a technical support phone number where I can actually call and talk to somone? I need help!!

[dgorsman]

Try calling your reseller - they usually include additional support with their sales.  Normal procedure would be to file a support request with the Subscription service, following which they would provide phone contact details.

[mathewkol]

Try purging the Windows User Temp folder. It often helps in situations like this. %temp% in windows explorer. Remove everything immediately after a computer restart.

What OS are you using?

[andrewpuller3811]

Are you also deleting the folders on c drive under you user profile?

located here for civil 3d 2014

C:\Users\<your user neme>\AppData\Local\Autodesk\C3D 2014

and

C:\Users\<your user neme>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\C3D 2014

[dslocum]

Yes, I am deleting those folders also. Still no luck...it's taking 10 - 15 minutes to start up. I guess I'll just have to deal with it until I get another computer and try again with a clean slate.

[andrewpuller3811]

If you get the process monitor mentioned earlier, you can run that and have a look when civil 3d starts up and maybe find where civil 3d is getting hung up.

[dslocum]

I got the process monitor, but it seems be a continuous data stream that never stops moving. I'm not quite sure how to use it to solve my problem with Civil3D.

[andrewpuller3811]

When using processmon I generally start it logging events just before starting the application I want to check out, i.e. civil 3d, wait until it hits the problem area, then stop processmon from logging events.

Then use the filter to hide all the unwanted events by filtering for acad.exe.

This will show only events that acad.exe initiates, which you can further filter or scroll through until you get to and event that takes a long time, or a whole lot of events trying to do the same thing. e.g. looking for a file that does not exist.

An interesting behaviour I found was that Civil 3d (Autocad) checks through all your support paths several times during start up for .mnl files for each of the .cuix files loaded even if they are found to not exist on the first check.

If filtering for acad.exe does not produce anything useful, check for other processes that can be traced back to civil 3d's directories. E.g. C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014\accore.dll

[AllenJessup]

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@dslocum wrote:

Still no luck...and I can't even log an issue in the subsciption center without an error. Is there a technical support phone number where I can actually call and talk to somone? I need help!!

---

Whether you have phone support depends what level of Subscription you are on. I believe it's included in the Gold and Platinum level. Why can't you start a request on the Subscription center. I've never needed a error report. Just describe the situation.

Honestly their first suggestions are probably going to involve a Repair followed by a Reinstallation.

Allen

[mathewkol]

Indeed Allen. This thread has been open for 10 days and most likely could have been solved if the OP had simply uninstalled the product and reinstalled on day 1, done.

Customization should not be a reason users don't perform a re & re. If you do customization the right way, it should take minutes to reimplement it after a reinstall.

[dslocum]

I re-installed and it fixed the problem. Thanks for all of the input and help.