Interface Problems / Missing Tools

[ke3bz]

In all of the videos/tutorials and walkthroughs I have watched for CADmep, there is an Interface overhaul that has a "Build" tab on the ribbon. I am without this on my AutoCAD MEP 2014 and cannot find a way to activate it. Anyone have any insight into why this may be? I'm stuck with the standard AutoCAD AutoDesk 2014 layout and cannot get it to change! Attached is the Layout / User Interface I am stuck with. Any information on how to activate MEP's UI would be incredibly helpful!

Sorry, I'm new to the whole CAD universe so this has left me very confused.

[ke3bz]

For more information, we're using AutoDesk's .PDF Tutorial for autoCAD MEP and on Page #14 it gets into "Tool and Tool Palettes". It mentions going to the Home Tab -> Build Panel -> Tools Drop-Down -> Tools.

Unfortunately this "Build Panel" does not exist in my User Interface. The other component missing is the "HVAC" Tool Palette when I open up the Properties portion and navigate the tool palettes.

Attached is a picture of the missing components in the Home Tab of the Ribbon and "Tool Palettes - All Palettes". ANY Information on why this would be would be awesome!

[illinoispiping]

I'm having the exact same problem you described.  I can't find any reference to the "build panel" and how to make it reappear.  Did you ever figure out how to get your build panel back?

[pothied]

It sounds like you are not using the correct profile when you are starting AutoCAD. If you just double click on a drawing or double click on the acad.exe, you are probably not starting AutoCAD MEP properly and it is just using the default AutoCAD profile. You should start AutoCAD MEP using the desktop shortcut that is created during the install that says AutoCAD MEP (US Imperial) or AutoCAD MEP (US Metric) and your profile should be setup correctly. If you don't have a desktop shortcut you can create one. If you need to create one, here is what you should paste in for your target path on the shortcut for 2013:

"C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2013\acad.exe" /ld "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2013\AecBase.dbx" /p "AutoCAD MEP (US Imperial)" /product "MEP" /language "en-US"

If you are using a different version, just replace the 2013 with the proper version number.

Also, this is the AutoCAD MEP forum which is not the same as CADMEP which is the fabrication add-on to AutoCAD. If you have specific questions about CADMEP, you should post your question here:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Autodesk-Fabrication-CADmep/bd-p/165

[illinoispiping]

Perfect.  I checked the shortcut, and for whatever reason the quotes were empty where it should've said "AutoCAD MEP (US Imperial)".  I changed the shortcut, and my build panel has returned.  Thanks for your help!