Exit from block editing locks up ACAD

[Anonymous]

Okay Autodesk, how about getting this persistent problem sorted out?  You've only had the entire lifetime of the product so far, so isn't it about time you pulled your finger out and got to work on it .... ?  It's a persistent, irregular bug - but when it arrives it's a productivity-killer with many hours of time lost while waiting for the software to wake up.  which it might do, eventually....

Double click on a block, or use BEDIT, or edit in place : the result is the same.  When exiting from the block - save and exit, exit without saving, BCLOSE, whatever - AutoCAD locks up and sits there thinking about things.  Sometimes it's just a couple of minutes, sometimes many minutes, sometimes hours, and occasionally I'll leave it overnight to finish thinking about the one line I added to a block, or the slight modification to a hatch, or the editing of nothing at all followed by an exit without saving.

Click anywhere in the AutoCAD window and you're in a Grey Screen Of Death scenario - see attached screenshot, taken some 15 minutes after I'd modified the transparency of a hatch in a block that comprised just a rectangle and the hatch, nothing more.

This bug is independant of AutoCAD product/version, OS version and hardware spec.  I've experienced this over numerous releases of both vanilla AutoCAD and Civil 3D, and in multiple versions of both 32- and 64-bit Windows, and with wildly different computer specs.

Perhaps I should start charging the wasted time back to Autodesk?  Perhaps sue them for selling a product that actively prevents people from working?  Perhaps just stick a rocket up their collective corporate **** and see what happens?  Any or all of these would be better than just sitting here waiting for my frozen CAD software to wake up ....

And so it goes.

[jggerth]

I don't want you to feel ignored -- but all I can really tell you is that it doesn't happen here.  So there's somthing on your end that is causing it.  Hardware,issue, software, network, - and no way to guess from your description.

If you want to find out what that somethng is, install ProcessMonitor from microsoft, and run it while reproducing the problem.  

[Anonymous]

You're right, it's a software issue.  And the software causing the issue is AutoCAD.

As stated, it's not something else causing the crash.  This is a problem that has occurred across multiple releases of AutoCAD, both vanilla and Civil 3D, on different hardware, on different OS's, on different networks, in different companies, in different countries, on different days of the week, in different timezones, wearing different socks, eating different sandwiches, ....  There is *nothing* that's consistent other than it being AutoCAD products.  I'm not going to install Process Monitor because (a) I don't want or need another bit of software running in the background, and (b) I already know that the process that's failing is the bit of code in AutoCAD that struggles to close out from block editing.

So I guess this is another instance where the Autodesk apologists will blame everything except the thing that's the obvious cause of the problem : AutoCAD itself.

I await the suggestion to uninstall and reinstall with bated breath ....

[pendean]

Did you ask in thr C3D forum? It might be more common in your variant than plain AutoCAD 2014 where you are posting. Like the other responses, no issues here in Plain AutoCAD 2014 in Win7 64bit.

is your 2014 fully patched/updated? Something change recently with your setup/server/location/hardware/OS? 2014 isn't exactly new.

PS: your screenshot is a Windows OS effect: your OS decided to freeze AutoCAD to avoid your system from crashing.

[jggerth]

Gee -- maybe you should uninstall and re-install?  

OK, now you can quit bating your greath.  (never was sure if that meant holding one's breath, breathing shallowly, or panting into a paper bag....)

If you just want to rant, fine.  I've done it multiple times (see the thread on the death of Design Review).  If you just want to blame autoCAD, that's OK too.  But -- the problem you describe does not seem to be widespread or experienced by many people.  Logically (and I hate to use that word around complex systems when the successful interaction of many vendor's products and many different versions are needed for success) if a problem is restricted to a very small set of users, and can't be replicated elsewhere, then it's _something_ unique to that group.

If you don't want to investigate via ProcessMonitor and dig into whatever it is on your end that's interacting with the BEdit close, that's your choice.  You can after all, use the BLOCK command to redefine and edit block definitions, other than dynamic blocks.

And, if you are really unsatisfied with AutoCAD, there are many competitors these days.  BricsCAD, Ares Commander, Intellicads, TurboCAD, etc.  Heck even VersaCAD is available still.  

[fella77]

I am having the same problem. AutoCAD 2016 for Architecture. Edit a block in place, click on save and close in the home ribbon, and it sits there and thinks about it....sometimes for a few minutes..sometimes for longer.It's a relatively simple window block, in a drawing with not a lot of geometry. My computer is a core i7 pro with a good video card. This is a real productivity killer...

[edezzie]

I've had the exact same problem across multiple AutoCAD versions, on different OS's, on different PCs for years now.

AutoCAD hangs when I exit block editor. It happens about once a fortnight and I have just learned to live with it. As soon as it happens I end AutoCAD and open up the Autosave version of the drawing in the Temp folder.

Once I had Autosave turned off and as I was about to lose a lot of work, I let it run. It took two days but eventually unhung itself and I was able to proceed.

I don't understand why everyone is not complaining about this.

[cadffm]

Because only a few people have this problem!

Please go this way and give feedback if it works for you:

Edit you block, use BLOCK SAVE Button (or command: BSAVE) and then close the editor with Blockeditor close (or command: BCLOSE).

Better with that way?

[pendean]

Multiple versions of AutoCAD over the years here, never had a once-fortnightly hiccup occur ever.

What version of AutoCAD are you using now? ABOUT command will tell you in detail, report what is says here.
And what is your OS?
Where do you store your files? "server" is not enough info, state OS or cloud service being used if any.

How long do you spend in BEDIT?
How often do you get into BEDIT? You state the problem only happens once every two weeks: what happens with your PC or network every two weeks?

[edezzie]

When I say once a fortnightly, it might not happen for months and then might happen 5 times in one day for a particular drawing.

I tend to copy CAD from other sources into my drawings quite a lot, pdfs, dfx, other consultants files. The more external inputs the more likely the drawing becomes problematic.

AutoCAD 2017 - No service packs

Windows 10

Linux based NAS Server - Netgear ReadyNAS

I would tend to create a lot of simple blocks.

An example of the problem can be seen in video below where I bedit a simple block of a man.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6v7o6m95v95qkej/20180104_153722.mp4?dl=0

[cadffm]

When I see the list of your block names, I have no questions anymore

BUT - Please note my answer (and give us feedback)
Which is difficult if you do not have a reproducible test situation.
But if you can reproduce the problem then try my hint.

HTH

The thing further into the details (that would be possible on the problem-system)

I do not want to fundamentally with such a basis

DWGdata & AutoCAD 2017 - No service packs

[john.vellek]

Hi @edezzie,

NAS is not actually a supported configuration as the network protocols can vary a bit in adherence to the Microsoft standards that is used in supported Windows server environments.

With that said, does this happen if the blocks are stored locally?  Instead of allowing a copy/pasted block to get an anonymous name can you rename the block and then try to edit it?

Can you attach the drawing from your video so I can try on my side to see if I can duplicate the issue?

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[kylesmith]

I have had the same problem as the OP for several months now and I finally discovered the issue was related to certain drawings with large image references which is why it appeared to affect some drawings but not others.  Turning off hardware acceleration prior to closing the block editor has solved the issue for me.  See below:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Editin...

Hope this helps.

[breasor]

I was having this same issue, when I exited block editor it would freeze, I isolated the issue to one file and tried the hardware acceleration trick with no luck. What finally fixed it was turning off the background map and then editing the block. 

[edezzie]

It turned out to be a bug in AutoCAD related to the presence  of raster images in the drawing. If you freeze the layer the raster images are on the issue does not occur.

I came across this thread about it:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-lt-forum/block-editor-close-and-crash/m-p/5151074#M121965