Measurements and O-Snap Ext jerky on high-end cert GPU

[Anonymous]

AutoCAD LT 2011

Title says it all really.

My laptop is HP 8740w with ATI FirePro M7820 which is a certified GPU (and about as powerful as you can get on a laptop for now). When I use the measurement tool, it gets very jerky and slow b/c it has a hard time updating the dynamic text. I use o-snap extension a lot and that gets jerky when it tries to use the dynamic text too.

I am using the most recent drivers released by HP for the GPU. My CPU is i7-820qm and I have 4GB RAM (at 65% utilization).

Any ideas on how this might get fixed? I'm pretty bummed this powerful of a mobile workstation is choking on AutoCAD LT.

[pendean · Accepted solution]

In Win7:

- Use Windows 7 Classic Theme (not AERO or Custom Theme). You miss some of the Aero whizz-bang features, like layout preview,  but overall performance seems better for some users.
- Win7's Aero Glass option sometimes turned on by your PC/laptop's manufacturer, turn it off for all your power options.

In LT2011:

- Turn the ribbon off by picking a classic workspace. 
- Turn off the modeless layer palette. 
- Turn off any palette transparency.
- Turn off SelectionCycling, SC button at bottom of screen
- Update your video card drivers here if any are available:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/hc?siteID=123112&id=6711853&linkID=9240618

After that, if nothing else works, you'll have to wait on patches for LT2011 like the rest of us and hope that's the fix.

[Anonymous]

Thank you! The first tip did the trick, but now my OS looks lame.

Regarding the second tip, I tried going back to Aero Theme but turnning off transperency (that's what Glass is...right?). That didn't help, so I'm back to Win7 Lame.

FYI: driver was up-to-date...same version HP had on their website for my laptop.

I guess it's easy enough to switch themes when needed, but it would be nice if Autodesk could find some way to smooth out the wrinkles imposed by Aero, whatever those may be. It's not like I'm using a 3 year old computer here. Is there anyway to open a case file or do I just have to hope and pray the Autodesk gods are watching this forum?

Also, I like your Blogg, it has been bookmarked. Thanks again for your help.

[pendean]

Hopefully the first major update for LT2011 will fix many of these Win7 issues: no idea when that is just yet though or if anything will be done about it.

[Anonymous]

Oh great, I just discovered that turning Aero off means I can't run the program that allows me to see the drawing coordinates.

see:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-LT/Increase-Size-of-Drawing-Coordinates/td-p/2707877

I also got a tip on another forum that you can turn Aero visual effects off for individual programs by right-clicking the shortcut, go to properties, then Compatibility Tab...check Disable Visual Themes. Unfortunately these settings are not selectable for LT2011.

[pendean]

Thanks for the follow up.

[Anonymous]

Apparently the full version of AutoCAD 2011 allows users to disable Aero in AutoCAD only (as do most programs). Is there any way to communicate with AutoDesk directly to request this functionality in the update?

[pendean]

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=7047344&linkID=9240817

[DouglasLauritsen]

You can leave feedback for the product managers and developers or request feature enhancements at this web page.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Douglas, I used the web page link to submit my problem and suggested fix.

[Anonymous]

I've been using LT2011 in Win7 Basic mode for a while now and it's not that much better overall. The text boxes that pop up while trying to o-snap suck really bad...how do ) turn those off without turnning off o-snap?

Also, if I measure an angle in standard position everything is fine. If I measure a non-standard position angle it always measures the "wrong side". For example, if I measure an acute angle whose legs are both in the second quadrant (using standard math terms here), the measure tool projects one of the legs out 180deg, then gives me the angle from this projected leg to the second leg (in other words, it gives me the supplementary to the angle I'm trying to find).

In my previous version (2005) once I began an angle measurement, it could flip inside or outside the legs, but in LT2011, it picks the wrong side and freezes the measurement asking if I want to do another measurement and I have to do subtraction to get my needed angle.

***EDIT*** The angle thing only happens when one of the legs is a right angle. In the example I explained above, one of the legs was at 90deg, the other at 118deg. I wanted to measure the 28deg angle between them. Instead I got 152deg as described above (project the 118deg leg out 180deg...measure angle from there to 90deg leg and you get 152deg).

The more I use LT2011, the more I dislike it. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[pendean]

An angle in one direction measuring 152-degrees will measure 28-degrees in the opposite direction.

180-28=152

Options command>Selections Tab>uncheck the last two boxes under Grips. While you are in Options (in both 2005 and 2011) why not write ddown what you used to have and repeat in the new software for all tabs, and uncheck items not found in the old program.

[Anonymous]

I understand the math perfectly. However, the angle I wanted to measure was 28 deg. The 152 deg angle doesn't even exist on the drawing (it is a byproduct of AutoCAD extending and imaginary projection of the second leg). No matter what I do I cannot get AutoCAD to measure the 28 deg angle that is actually on the drawing, it insists on measuring the non-existent 152 deg angel. I can do the math, but why in world should I have to?

I have been meaning to pull out my old laptop to play around in AutoCAD 2005 a bit to make sure AutoCAD LT2011 is actually as bad as I believe. I'll have to spend a lot of time comparing settings. I never did much to the default settings in 2005 b/c I don't what most of the stuff does. I get full drawing from architects and either draw over them (as if I was doing a red-pen markup) or I use the drawing to create a 3D model in a specialized program that doesn't play well with AutoCAD 3D models. Anyway, my point is I'm a pretty novice user, yet I rely heavily on using AutoCAD just as I have for the past 5-1/2 years. LT2011 just feels slow and clunky which I did not expect on my brand new laptop.

[pendean]

Works fine here unless you are pulling your cursor outside of the angle you want to display. See attached: if the cursor is between the lines, it shows 28, if it is outside the lines I get 152.

[Anonymous]

On your drawing it works fine. The angle thing must just be a fluke on my drawing. The main problem is still there though. Jerky performance. It is that grey text box that pops up whenever you snap or track that stops everything for 0.5seconds. I pulled out my old laptop and ran AutoCAD 2005. It is way smoother when snapping and tracking. I compared settings ansd they looked identical.

Again, my laptop is nearly maxed out in harware, it can't be a hardware issue other than GPU drivers. I wish I had access to another decent laptop with Nvidia graphics to test this out on.

[pendean]

Turn that pop-up off, since it was not there in 2005. OPTIONS command.

[Anonymous]

It was "Display Auto Track tooltip" that was killing me. I still can't beleive it kills my system with i7-820qm and Firepro M7820. I know desktops are significantly more powerful than laptops, but AutoCAD LT can't possibly be too demanding this hardware, there must be a driver issue. This is ridiculous.

Anyway, thanks for all your help. I hope Autodesk and ATI figure out how to work together.

[Kate_LT]

Have you looked up your card on the certified graphics list? I think this link will work, but if it doesn't, go here and plug in the details for your card. You need to be using one of the listed drivers in order to get the best performance.

If you are using a supported driver and are still having problems, please post back.

[Anonymous]

I had already updated my driver from HP's website. I downloaded and installed those from your website for good measure. After re-installing the certified drivers it behaves the same.

[LaneLizard]

I'm experiencing the same problem with the Display Auto Track tooltip. I just started using a new notebook HP Elitebook 8540w with an Nvidia Quadro FX880m and the cursor stops while the tooltip takes about 3 seconds to populate each time. It's positively maddening. My old system does not do this and that is with all the option settings identical. I've installed the latest video drivers from HP and the problem persists. Other than this issue Autocad LT 2011 works great on the new system. Any ideas?