Autodesk Inventor 2014 Freezes When Creating New Document

[kt]

Hi everyone

I have tried searching for posts concering the problem I am experiencing, but without luck.

Since installing the 2014 edition of Inventor I have been having some troubles. The first day everything worked, but now it freezes almost everytime I create a new document. Inventor does not allow me to do anything when the problem occurs, there is not even a crash report and strangely enoough it still appears to be running in the Windows Task Manager.
I have tried to uninstall and reinstall it, but the problem is still there.

I am running the program on a MacBook Pro 13" with Windows Home 7. I have an i5 2,5 Intel Processor and 8gb of memory. I have a SSD-harddrive installed.

I have attached a photo of where it freezes.

[brockalot]

I too have been experiencing the same issue.

The only way I've been able to solve it is use Windows Task Manager to End Task. However, before pressing "end now," Inventor asks if I'd like to save changes to any open documents (just as it would if I was closing the program as a whole; an option that is NOT available without the use of Task Manager). I’ll save what I have open, and inventor shuts down without having to ever press “End Now.”

Anyone have any ideas for us?

Thanks!

[Cadmanto]

Welcome to the forum.

I do not know much about Macs, but my first thoughts are did you compare what you have to the system requirements on the Autodesk website?

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/inventor-products/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticl...

Next, do you have all of the4 latest SP's and hotfixes loaded?

When was the last time you restarted your machine?

If this solved your issue please mark this posting "Accept as Solution".

Or if you like something that was said and it was helpful, Kudos are appreciated. Thanks!!!! 

     

[andrewdw]

Has anybody had luck with fixing the "freezing" issue?

I have excatly the same issue ona at least 4 machines. There are large differences in hardware between the machines, which leads me to think it is software or network related.

It started with Inventor 2014 and we have the same issue after upgrading to 2015. I performed a clean uninstall of 2014 before upgrading to 2015, even deleting old inventor and vault preferences.

Something I can add to the behaviour:

• It is not easily reproducible (luck of the draw if the New button will work or not).
• It freezes in varying degrees from time-to-time. By that I mean, sometimes it freezes right after I click the New button, other times the new windows loads partially. Even when the new button loads partially, it is still frozen and some times it loads all of the templates except for 1 or 2, other times it barely starts opening the window before freezing.

We are a couple of guys using a networked Vault Basic server with the client. We use the same project file (saved on the Vault), which directs the template, content center and design data locations within the local Vault directory.

[wimann]

Sounds like I have a similar vault setup to you but I've never had an issue creating a new file.

Ctrl + N works every time.

Sorry if this post seems irrelevant. Maybe it has something specifically to do with clicking the "New" button? Perhaps some bug in the code that causes an endless loop? Does Ctrl + N have the same result?

Wish I could be more help but that's all I got.

[andrewdw]

Hi Will

Thanks for the quick reply. I've had Ctrl+N freeze up on me earlier today, but it doesn't freeze up nearly as much as the New button after I tried it a couple of times.

So, Ctrl+N seems to work for now.

Really hoped there was a solution to get the New button to work consistently. We have a couple of employees who are used to AutoCAD and Solidworks and they are always looking at a reason to complain about Inventor. This is hopefully the last issue for a while!

Andrew

[andrewdw]

Hi Will

I just tried Ctrl+N a couple more times now for good measure before sending the e-mail to the team, but it started freezing up as well. Still not as bad as the New buttons though...

I thought that it might have something to do with the Vault connection, but when I chose to not log into the Vault when Inventor starts up, it still froze with Ctrl+N.

Maybe there might be somebody else out there that can give an explanation/solution.

Later!

Andrew

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! Have you applied R2014 SP2 and updated graphics driver? Could you try the following?

Go to Tools -> Application Options -> Hardware -> Compatibility mode -> OK.

Then try starting a new document.

If it works, it might indicate the graphics card you are using is not compatible with Inventor.

Thanks!

[wimann]

Yeah I wasn't sure if my workaround would be a temp fix or not. And I know exactly what you mean by people looking for reasons to complain.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Good luck.

[edonline69]

Hi,

I am also experiencing the same issue as 'brockalot' with it freezing and not being able to do anything expect end task in task manager.

Oddly enough, this only started after installing SP2.

Yes I have updated my graphics card to the Autodesk recommended driver.

Happens on average 2-5 times a day.

Hope there comes a solution soon.

WIN 7 PRO

INV 2014 SP2

32G RAM

NVIDIA QUADRO 2000

3.2 GHz CPU

[andrewdw]

Hi Johnson

It happened with 2014 SP2 and now with a clean installation of 2015 (removed old installation directories etc. after uninstalling 2014) as well. I also have the latest Windows Update driver for my Nvidia Quadro K2000M. The other users having the same issue are running Quadro K2000D cards and there is one MacBook Pro user running Windows 7 with an Intel HD graphics card. All using the Windows Update driver.

There is no compatibility mode in 2015, only Conservative. I gave it a try and it still froze after the second and fifth try using the button only. When I still ran 2014 SP2, I always ran it in Compatibility mode for the graphics anyway, same issue.

I doubt it is the graphics/driver because the card is approved by Autodesk for Inventor 2014 (for which I had the same issue) using the Dell Mobile Driver for NVIDIA 311.44 [9.18.13.1144]:

Certified Hardware - NVIDIA Quadro K2000M

Looking for Inventor 2015, the K2000 is approved (they might be slow on the testing seeing that it is a new release) using the NVIDIA Driver Release - Quadro/Tesla Desktop - 331.82 64bit [9.18.13.3182]:

Certified Hardware - Inventor 2015

A search on Nvidia's website showed that the 307.45 driver is the best bet for 2014 (nothing on 2015):

Quadro certified drivers

Another post I came across mentioned that the onboard Intel card could be conflicting with the Nvidia card for access to Inventor through Nvidia Optimus technology and to check if the Nvidia card is indeed used for Inventor. I will look into it.

There are 3 "confirmed" driver releases, one through Dell and two from Nvidia itself. I will give them a go.

One thing I am starting to notice is if Inventor opens and the New button works correctly, it will continue working correctly until you restart Inventor. So it might be an add-on as well, or loading of the driver...

Andrew

[andrewdw]

No sweat Will, just hope to find a solution. Maybe the Sun and Moon should allign first...

[wimann]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

No sweat Will, just hope to find a solution. Maybe the Sun and Moon should allign first...

---

Yeah sometimes that's how it is. Sounds like you're going about it the right way though. I'm really unsure of why you're experiencing such an issue. I've never even heard of it to be honest. Well hopefully you'll have it resolved soon and there will be one less thing for others to gripe about. 😉

[andrewdw]

Yep! The Dell (I have an M4700) drivers are at 307.45 and 327.62. The latest Nvidia driver is 334.95. I am going to try the latest Nvidia driver first because I have 327.62 at the moment. I would hate to go back to 307.45 because that was released in November 2012...

[andrewdw]

Just an update.

I have tried just about every driver and still the same issue. It is a bit better though, only freezes maybe 1 in every 5 times after opening Inventor and pressing the New button. Once opened and working, it is great though.

I tried the drivers in the following order:

• 333.11 (the driver that Nvidia suggested I should use after detecting my hardware)
• 349.95 (the newest driver available from Nvidia)
• 327.62 (the Dell release for my M4700 according to my support tag)
• 331.82 (from here, which is the certified driver for a Quadro K2000 using Inventor 2015. I downloaded the mobile version)
• 311.44 (from here, which is the certified driver for my Quadro K2000M using Inventor 2014. It also turns out to be a driver release for my M4700 laptop when you look at the download link)

I opted for the Nvidia issued and suggested drivers first because I would have to follow that approach on most of the other workstations, which are identical custom builds with no vendor supplied drivers.

I have settled on 333.11 for now, still the same issue but not as frequent. I am starting to think it might be an add-on issue (I am not running anything fancy).

Also, I have had Optimus Technology disabled since day one, so no hardware assignment conflicts...

Will keep you posted...

[DannyHubbard]

Andrew,

I was hoping to get some additional information from you if you can. On one of the systems that is seeing this problem with the freezing,

Can you go to the Applicaiton Options

On the Hardware tab choose Diagnostics then OK

Go to Notepad and do a Paste, save this file.

Also on the Applicaiton Options choose Export and save the XML file.

Then can you send me these files to compare to my setups, you can either attach them in the post or select on my name and choose the Send Private Message option on the right.

Thanks,

Danny

[andrewdw]

Hi Danny

Please see attached.

I have also done a fair amount of troubleshooting, will post it next.

Andrew

[andrewdw]

Just a general update on my findings so far.

This issue was submitted as a support case with Autodesk in March 2014 and the reply was to:

1. Empty my user temp folder (c:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Temp\), which apparently solves a couple of unknown issues.
2. Repair my Inventor installation.
3. Reinstall Inventor.

Option 1 works consistently if I close all other programs that use the temp folder, otherwise you are not able to completely clean out the folder. This means closing all programs, including exiting programs running in the system bar (Skype, Box Sync, Dropbox etc.). With the programs closed and the temp folder cleaned out, Inventor runs without issues and I can create new files through the New button without it freezing (tried 10 times). Inventor does create some temp files, but that doesn't give any issues. But once I reboot, and the closed programs in the system bar start up again, the freezing issue returned.

I stayed away from options 2 and 3, knowing that I am going to upgrade to 2015 soon (back in March). Like I said, the problem persisted after upgrading to 2015.

During my internet searches I found this post that reported users using Box Sync are getting the same issue, but nothing has been reported since April. Our company uses Box as a cloud server solution and Box Sync on the client side. Knowing this, I started to do some troubleshooting to see where Box affects Inventor:

1. Close all programs and clean out temp folder.
2. Launch Inventor at least 10 times hitting the New button after every launch, freezing problem is not showing up. So all good.
3. Close Inventor, start Box sync, open Inventor once Box Sync has finished syncing and Inventor freezes up within 3 tries and hitting the new button.
4. Shut down Box Sync, leaving temp files created by Box Sync.
5. Launch Inventor at least 10 times hitting the New button after every launch. Again freezing problem is not showing up. So all good.
6. Close Inventor, start Box sync, open Inventor once Box Sync has finished syncing and Inventor again freezes up within 3 tries after launching and hitting the new button.
7. Do steps 4-6 again to be sure that Box Sync running is causing the issue.

I tried the same steps with Skype and Dropbox (both run in my system bar), no issue. During all of this I kept a close eye on the temp folder to see what files are being added and removed.

So I am pretty sure it is related to Box Sync, but whether it is the process running or the actual files in the temp folder (there are some that obviously can't be deleted when Box Sync is running) causing the freezing issue is hard to tell.

Also, one of our users is running an older version of Box Sync (v3.5) and hasn't ugraded to the completely revamped Box Sync v4 (released in December 2013). He is not having the freezing issue at all.

[andrewdw]

Hi Danny

I am also pretty much convinced that it is Box Sync now after I showed my findings to a collegue.

I shut his Box Sync down, opened up Inventor 2015 and the New button worked without issues. I kept the New window open in Inventor and started Box Sync again and the New window froze almost instantaneously.

So, not sure how much that helps or what can be done to fix it?

I also instructed one of our employees who is getting the freeze issue, but doesn't use Box Sync, to keep Box Sync shut down and see if the freeze issue persists.

Later!

Andrew

[DannyHubbard]

Andrew,

Thanks for all the information, I installed the Box Sync on my system and I am seeing the slow New dialog as well, taking around 7 minutes for the dialog to display for me.

I will look into the issue and see if I can find a workaround aside from turning off Box Sync and let you know what I find.

Thanks,

Danny