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Links Suddenly Disappear

24 REPLIES 24
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Message 1 of 25
geisert
17307 Views, 24 Replies

Links Suddenly Disappear

Hello,

My team and I are having a problem with linked architectural and structural models disappearing. The problem can be mitigated by going to the 'Manage Links' window to reload the link, but this happens roughly every 30 minutes. I noticed one time it took place after I loaded a family into the project from the Family Editor, but at other times it is completely random. Could a link, if constantly modified by the Architect, cause this problem?

 

We are using pretty top notch PCs, but the model is about 200 MB and the two links are another 200 MB a piece. Here are the system specs:

Intel(R) Core i7 Q 820 @ 1.73GHz

8.00 GB RAM

64-bit OS

 

Thanks for your replies.

-Tim

24 REPLIES 24
Message 2 of 25
aseidel
in reply to: geisert

We have seen this happen every now and then and we do not have a clue as to what causes it. The frequency is rare for us, but it would happen at least once in every project. The last time it happened, last week in fact, a manage link reload did not work. The bad link needed to be removed and then relinked. The link file was one that had not been edited in a month.

Message 3 of 25
asommer
in reply to: geisert

Had this too.  It could be an old Local file, we had to delete all our locals and hope no one lost any work.  Opened the central and linked the file,  and then created new locals ONE AT A TIME, saving to central after each one.  Somehow, this can get fouled up with many people working at once.

 

 

Message 4 of 25
aseidel
in reply to: asommer

You touch on another subject, "old local". This disappearing link instance happened to what I would call a fresh local. This local was less than two days fresh. Yes, we also experience the old local phenomenon! How old do your locals have to be before you start to think they are old? I guess this is a function of activity. I try to open a local at least once a week during a slow period and at least every day in an active period. Locals still have to be replaced every now and then with this schedule. I would rub two chicken bones together if I thought that would help.

Message 5 of 25
geisert
in reply to: geisert

Thanks for the responses everyone. I tried your advice and clicked 'append timestamp' while opening, which made a new local file, but the problem persisted.

 

I now wonder if I have reached the limit of my video card. My 'Hardware Acceleration' is disabled (which solved another problem), but I do not know if my card is certified or not. My video card model is not explictly listed on Autodesk's website, though it is awfully close to a couple of other models (see attached screenshot).

 

Thoughts?

 

Message 6 of 25
JHenry58
in reply to: geisert

Just a thought, on the file you are linking, did you detach the file from central? I've seen that cause problems before. We usually keep the original file separate and the "detached" file as the link.

 

Hope this helps

jhenry58 (NNTP handle: John Henry)
You may recognize me from the
hundreds of previous newsreader posts
I've made over the last 10+ years
as John Henry

Message 7 of 25
geisert
in reply to: geisert

Yes, I detached the link, purged unused and reduced it down to about 100 MB. Despite all this, the link randomly disappears. The frequent need to reload the link is becoming quite annoying for my team and me.

 

Has anybody else found a work around? Thanks.

Message 8 of 25
johnccole
in reply to: geisert

Please help me, I've been strugglingwith this issue for months. Revit 2010, Win7, networked.

Let me clarify, links don't disappear, they UNLOAD for no known reason.

My IT manager told me it is a known bug in 2010. His solution? make a copy of the revit model to be linked, and then link taht copy. Did it work? noooo.

But is it a known bug? and if so, what is the fix.

Thanks in advance

John

 

Message 9 of 25
Chris.Aquino
in reply to: johnccole

We have seen this happen when some users are pathed to the linked file differently.

 

I would first make sure that everyone is pathed to the central file and the linked file the same way (mapped vs. UNC). If one person were accessing the file differently, the path would change, and when someone else opens the file, Revit won’t find the linked file.

 

I would also check that all users have all updates installed and are on the same build number.



Chris Aquino
Adoption Marketing Manager | BIM Collaborate Pro
@Aquinotecture

Message 10 of 25
johnccole
in reply to: geisert

Thanks, I'll check out your suggestion tomorrow.

Does your tip about paths relate to why the checkbox is grayed out for "Save Path"?

jc

Message 11 of 25
asommer
in reply to: geisert

Ok, now I'm on a big project that has multiple users, and I'm coming up with the links Unloading / Not Found. Chris Aquino, what did you mean by the "way" everyone is pathed? Where do you change that in Revit?
Message 12 of 25
geisert
in reply to: asommer

I used to have this problem on my project. I tried quite a few things and am not exactly sure how we solved it. If it happened to me again, this is the first thing I would do. Ask all the users to open the 'Manage Links' menu and have them send you a screen shot. Verify that the paths and files are all the same, if not, make them all the same.

 

I also played around with the 'hardware acceleration' checkbox in the Options menu. I do not think that solved the problem, but can't say for sure.

-Tim

Message 13 of 25
asommer
in reply to: geisert

I found My problem, setting up one of the new computers, the Drive we have our Revit central file on was set up as a different "Letter". The paths were different.
Message 14 of 25
Chris.Aquino
in reply to: asommer

Thank you for posting how you resolved the issue.

 

What I meant by "way" is  to make sure that the path everyone uses to access the central file and the linked file must be the same.

 

There are two ways to find network locations, mapped which uses letters for drives (which it sounds like you are doing) and UNC path. When someone accessed it differently, the path gets saved to the central file, and anyone accessing it differently won't find it.

 

As you have seen, mapped drives need to have the same letter as well.

 

The Central file location can be verified and modified if needed under Collaborate > Synchronize and Modify Settings > Central File Location.

 

Linked file paths are in Manage Links.

 


 

 

 



Chris Aquino
Adoption Marketing Manager | BIM Collaborate Pro
@Aquinotecture

Message 15 of 25
MS_jkimc65
in reply to: geisert

Another possibility which happened in the office I work in -

One individuals mapping to our server was different.  When John opened the central file and created a local file, the way his laptop was mapped couldn't find the links.  John would disregard the links, when John sync'd to central, central file recieved his changes.  Meanwhile Jerry is working in his local file from the central file sync'd and recieved John's changes, in which those links couldn't be found.  Jerry then was surprised that the model links disappeared.  Jerry reloaded links and sync'd to central and to get the model links to reappear.  Circular problem when mapping to sever is not consistent among all pc's and/or laptops.

 

J. Kim Candelario

Method-Studio Inc.

j. kim candelario
method-studio, inc.
Message 16 of 25
ryhane9VLFQ
in reply to: geisert

I had a very similar problem in Revit 2015, and the solution was different than most of the previous suggestions.

 

Summary:
I have 7 users and 10 Revit links, and each person was having different files loaded and unloaded upon the first time he/she made a new local copy from a new central model. The Reload links process seems to have needed to reestablish the relative path to the Revit files. Once the file was reloaded, then synchronized to central, the users could close and open the file without the links being lost/unloaded.

 

The step-by step solution:
1) Each user individually creates a new local file (within the "Open" dialogue window, not the copy/paste/rename method). (It seemed to be best if all worksets were open upon creating the local file).
2) Reload Latest (type RL on the keyboard, or go to the Collaborate tab to Reload Latest). (Often not required by the first user, or if no one else is in the file at the time).
3) Go to manage links (a random assortment of links may or may not be unloaded).
4) Reload all links (probably best to even reload loaded links, not just unloaded ones).
5) Click OK within the manage links dialogue window.
6) Synchronizing to central.
7) Close the file
😎 Create a new local file (use the "Open" dialogue window, not the copy/paste/rename method). (I did not attempt this using the existing local file, because that is not the protocol of our company, and wanted to be sure that the most typical way people accessed the file would return the desired results.)
9) Override the existing local file
10) Open the Manage links tab to see if all the links are loaded and remain loaded.
11) You may close and reopen for testing, but the file should be ready to work in normally.

 

Context:
It is important to note that this issue initially came up after each link was placed in it's own workset. Upon creating a new central model, there is an option to [Specify...] which worksets are Opened/Closed. That allows each user to open and close worksets, which now contain entire Revit models at their own digression, without effecting other users. Prior to this setup, users had been loading and unloading links to meet their daily needs.

Message 17 of 25
joecarter96
in reply to: geisert

When working in Revit 2017, I have tried to reload a DWG link after working on it in Microstation and after doing this it just completely disappears. Is there another way to rectify this other then adding the link again as this will mean having to edit loads of views and filters.

Message 18 of 25
asutaCWQ5T
in reply to: geisert

When opening project, don't open Central File. Open Local file every time and then save to Central. Structural link will still be there.

Message 19 of 25
RobDraw
in reply to: asutaCWQ5T


@asutaCWQ5T wrote:

Open Local file every time and then save to Central.


 

This is not a recommended workflow and has the potential to be problematic. Most office standards state to create a new local from the central.


Rob

Drafting is a breeze and Revit doesn't always work the way you think it should.
Message 20 of 25
asutaCWQ5T
in reply to: RobDraw

Yes, you have to have Central and Local file.

Every day, when you just start Revit, you open Local file, and save to central.

f you that way, structural Link will be there, then you save to Central and keep working..... You are NOT working in your Local file !

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