DUCT ADD ALWAYS ROUND DUCT

[Anonymous]

WHEN I 'ADD DUCT' TO AN EXISTING RECTANGLE DUCT,  ACADMEP 2012 ALWAYS DEFAULTS TO ADDING ROUND DUCT.  EVEN WHEN I SELECT RECTANGLE DUCT IN THE 'DUCT PROPERTIES' BEFORE I INSERT THE NEW BRANCH DUCT. IT IS REALLY A PAIN TO START THE RUN AND HAVE TO GO TO THE 'DUCT PROPERTIES' AND CHANGE FROM ROUND TO RECTANGLE WITH EVERY NEW RUN. WHAT SETTING AM I MISSING?  IT USED TO NOT BE THIS WAY.

[rene.sommer]

Hi,

I cannot reproduce this issue on my machine with AutoCAD MEP. Normally it stores the last used shape, so if you change it to rectangular, it should use rectangular the next time. But it seems not to do it on your MEP.
The shape setting is stored in the registry database. So it seems that on your machine this value is not saved properly in the registry and it could be related to corrupt registry.

You can try the following possibilities:

A). Create a new Windows user and then try it with this new user.

B). Set manually the value of ShapeValue to 0 (rectangular) in the registry. Then you can check if this setting is maintained when you draw the duct run.

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Warning! Problems caused by improperly editing the Windows registry could render your computer operating system unusable. Microsoft provides a wealth of critical information that you need to know about the registry in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.
Use the Microsoft® Registry Editor only at your own risk and only after backing up the registry as well as the system.dat and user.dat files as outlined for your operating system in the Microsoft Knowledge Base and in the related Autodesk solution, http://support.autodesk.com/getdoc.asp?id=TS66513. Additional information about the registry is also contained in the Help topics in the Microsoft Registry Editor.
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- Open the registry database (Windows Start > Run > regedit).
- In the registry editor, browse to the entry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.2\ACAD-A006:409\Profiles\<profilename>\Dialogs\AecbHvac60-DuctAdd\UNIT_IN (or UNIT_MM in metric)
- Change the value for ShapeValue to 0.
- Close the registry editor.

Note: The values for ShapeValue are:
0 : rectangular
1 : round
2 : oval

[Anonymous]

RENE,

AFTER CHECKING MY REGISTRY, THE SHAPE VALUE IS '0'. I START ALL MY DRAWINGS FROM ONE TEMPLATE.  I TRIED OPENING A NEW DRAWING FROM THE ACADMEP ICON ON MY DESKTOP AND PROBLEM DID NOT APPEAR ON THE NEW DRAWING.  DUCT ADDED THE WAY IT SHOULD.  I OPENED A NEW DRAWING WITH MY  TEMPLATE AND ADDED DUCT, PROBLEM IS BACK. 

[rene.sommer]

So it seems related to the template. You can try to check your template with the AUDIT command.
Otherwise would it possible to post your template file? so I can have a look at it.

[Anonymous]

AUDIT FOUND NO ERRORS.  IT WON'T LET ME ATTACH THE DWT FILE, PLEASE USE THE LINK TO DOWNLOAD THE DWT.

http://www.yousendit.com/download/T2dkeFVRaFJ3TGlybHNUQw

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP.

[rene.sommer · Accepted solution]

I checked your template and everything seems to be ok.
If I create a new drawing from this template, then the duct shape behaves like it should. So the issue seems to be a mix between the template and the machine configuration.
At this point I am not sure what is causing this behavior.
Install the AutoCAD MEP 2012 Service Pack if it is not done yet. You can find it here.
Maybe a clean installation will help: see http://support.autodesk.com/getdoc.asp?id=TS45252

[Anonymous]

I DID A CLEAN INSTALL AND PROBLEM IS SOLVED.  THANK YOU