2014 Plant 3D Problems...

[dzine14u]

Well, here we are again. Another new version installed and more crashes.

For the most part P3D 2014 runs fine but now when I do a right-click drag to copy or move entities I lose my cursor and lock up. The only way to get out of it is to do a CTRL-ALT-DELETE to get the Windows Task Manager and force close the program.  Unfortunately there is no recovery file to access and therefore I am losing a lot of work.

So 1 of 2 things...Is there a way to elimate the crashes when doing a right-click copy or move (OR) is there a way to disable the right-click move/copy?  Please help.

In addition, 2014 is crashing at other times for no apparent reason too.  You would think for the nearly $9000 we paid for a single seat of the design suite package that these crashing problems would get better rather than worse.  I have submitted hundreds of crash reports over the past 5 years (when they pop up) and yet we get little of no solutions. They just seem like another waste of time adding insult to injury.

[quentin.contreras]

First off, my apologies for the problems you are having with Plant 3D 2014.

Is the problem isolated to just one project? Is this a new project generated in Plant 3D 2014 or is this a project that has been migrated?

I would suggest that you first purge the data cache. If you have done this before in previous versions of Plant you will have to actaully look in a new file path location.

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2014\PLNT3D\PnPLocalDataCachePurger.exe

Before you run the exe file, close out of Plant 3D and any other AutoCAD related tools.

Also, when you open Plant 3D and open the project. I would suggest as well to AUDIT the project.

Lastly, here are a couple of things you can try to help improve performance within Plant.

Turn off the hardware acceleration located in the bottom right. The button next to the lock.

You can also go to Options and then the Display tab and turn off the Show Tool Tips and Show rollover Tool tips.

Please let me know if this helps to resolve or improve the issue you are having.

[dzine14u]

See my replies in RED

First off, my apologies for the problems you are having with Plant 3D 2014.

Thank you.  It can be frustrating when this is my primary tool that I use 40 hours plus per week.  I am a 25 year veteran user of AutoCAD now highly proficient in 3D.

Is the problem isolated to just one project? Is this a new project generated in Plant 3D 2014 or is this a project that has been migrated?

This has been going on throughout several versions of P3D & AutoCAD all the way back to 2007.  The crashes are at their worst when doing anything 3D.  Of course, the larger a drawing becomes the more crashes that occur. The particular crashes that prompted my post were the first full day I used the new P3D 2014 and experienced at least 3 crashes in my first couple hours just as has happened in previous versions. One time I was 3 commands into an existing drawing after opening. It seemed to crash for no reason. I ran recover upon reopening and audit as well. It found no errors. I always run recover and/or audit anytime there are problems. 9 out of 10 times it finds nothing.

My suggestion all along (as stated in many crash reports over the years) that AutoCAD needs a better way to manage cached data. I use a lot of copy/paste in AutoCAD and my theory is that all this data stored in the “undo bucket” (for lack of a better term) is a major contributor to the crashes. I feel this is especially true when you have 2 or more drawings open that you are working back and forth in.  However, a larger 3D drawing alone can cause multiple crashes as well.  I think this all stems from too much cache data.

I will mention that I have a Dell Precision T3500 Desktop w/Intel Xeon CPU (W3550 @ 3.07 GHz), 12.0 GB Ram, 64-bit Windows 7 Operating System, NVIDIA Quadro 2000 Video Card.  Note too that I always try to uninstall the previous versions of P3D Premium Suite Software once I am confident that the new versions are running smoothly for a few weeks. I’ve never noticed it making any difference either way though.

I would suggest that you first purge the data cache. If you have done this before in previous versions of Plant you will have to actaully look in a new file path location.

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2014\PLNT3D\PnPLocalDataCachePurger.exe

This is the first that I was aware of this. Just tried it. It said I was using 0 KB prior to purging.  I purged it anyway. I placed a shortcut to this on my desktop just in case I need it.

Before you run the exe file, close out of Plant 3D and any other AutoCAD related tools.

Did that. 

Also, when you open Plant 3D and open the project. I would suggest as well to AUDIT the project.

I do this anytime there are problems or crashes 

Lastly, here are a couple of things you can try to help improve performance within Plant.

Turn off the hardware acceleration located in the bottom right. The button next to the lock.

 Done

You can also go to Options and then the Display tab and turn off the Show Tool Tips and Show rollover Tool tips.

 Done

[dzine14u]

Hi again Quentin and thank you for your assistance.

After more than a week of use after making the subtle changes you suggested I think it has helped.  However, I have not worked in any large 3D drawings since doing so.  I will give you an update if the problems persist.

New problem though!  Instead of crashing, my crosshairs will just disappear in the drawing window for no reason at all. They will not return unless I close the drawing and reopen it.  You simply cannot work if you have no idea where you are pointing on the screen.  Any suggestions?  Thanks

[quentin.contreras]

Glad I was able to help with the crashing issue....so far! 

Now with the crosshair issue, here are some things you could try to see if this helps.

Toggle the hardware acceleration back on. Since, that is one thing I had you do in my last post I am curious if this related.

If that does not help, you can also try to:

Change the background color of your drawing area.

Change the crosshair color.

Change the VSCURRENT variable.

Double click the mouse wheel and see if that brings the crosshair back.

Check your video card for updates and update if need. Possibly if an update was done recently that you were unaware with, This might be causing the issue and you may need to revert the driver and not use the updated driver.

[dzine14u]

Quentin:

I had already turned Hardware Accel back on because the performance was considerably better.  Changing the color of the crosshairs or background is not a solution.  The funny thing is that if I have more than one drawing open and I lose the crosshair cursor in one drawing it will usually still appear in the other drawing(s).

VSCURRENT does not help.  Double clicking does not help.

The only thing that will bring it back is to close that particular drawing then reopen it.

[darrelldixon]

I have had the same issue with the disappearing cross-hairs. I'm not sure what causes it as it seems to be pretty random. However, I have found that changing the visual style to something else seems to correct it. You can then switch back to your original visual style and they will stay. It doesn't prevent it from happening, but it is at least a better workaround than re-starting plant or closing your drawing.