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Opening NWF is slow / not opening.

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Message 1 of 21
docsaintly
10186 Views, 20 Replies

Opening NWF is slow / not opening.

I have an NWF file with many NWDs referenced in it. It's been working fine for months now; but now when I try to open it it stops at 45%. The other strange thing is that at 45% it shows it trying to load itself. E.g. if my file is ABC.nwf, at 45% it shows it trying to load ABC.nwf and stops progressing.

 

I copied the file to my desktop (from the network share) and it now gets to 90% (processing), but it still seems to lock up and not open the file.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

20 REPLIES 20
Message 2 of 21
lee.mullin
in reply to: docsaintly

I think the loading of the NWF file appearing in the loader bar may be a red herring. that is part of the file load process where we list the individual files we are loading as part of the part NWF file, followed by the loading of NWF Navisworks specific data (viewpoints, clash data etc), then optimisation of the geometry.

 

I'd check your memory usage at the time of loading, in the Task Manager > Performance, if this is maximised you may just be running out of memory. How many files are loading, how big are the files in total? Can all the NWD's be loaded on their own (i.e. without the parent NWF)?

 

In Options > Model > Performance do you have Close NWC/NWD on load switched on. If so try switching it off, this will stream the parts of the model you need from the location rather than try and load the entire model to memory. From what you describe with the improvement in performance locally then there may be some network performance issues which need to be addressed that would be out of our control, but you should still be able to open the file locally.

 

Was this a sudden change in loading the file or had you noticed a gradual degradation?

 

Have you tried this on any other machines? What results did you get?

 

When you load the file locally, you say it locks up, what locks up, the entire machine, or just Navisworks? Does it lock up with the Loading bar still displaying?

 

Can you upload a screenshot of the System Info under Help in Navisworks?


Lee Mullin
Construction Technical Specialist
Autodesk Ltd.

Message 3 of 21
docsaintly
in reply to: docsaintly

Thank you for your response.

 

We have found a workaround (and possibly solution) to the problem, but I will get to that after I answer each of your questions.

 

I highly doubt that memory or processing power is an issue. The machines we are using have 24GB of DDR3 ram and an Intel Xeon 6 core (@ 3ghz) processor. Here is the navisworks info snapshot:

 

At first, the "close nwc/nwd" option  was not selected, but we then tried this hoping it would help performance. It did not seem to make a difference.

 

The result was the same across 2 different machines. And Just navisworks lock up. The loading bar is still displaying when it locks up.

 

I don't have all the details since the main person who was working with this is out today. But we think we found the problem:

 

We had NWDs linked in to the NWF that were snapshots of some drawings. We got new drawings, so we created new NWDs. I think we either moved or renamed the original NWDs and then referenced in the new NWDs. This is when Navisworks started "misbehaving".

 

We guessed that it was probably looking for the files that had moved or been renamed, so we moved them back to where they were originally, and then Navisworks loaded up fine. We removed the references to these NWDs, saved the model, and then moved/renamed the NWDs to an archive folder. The NWF opens fine now.

 

If the issue is that navisworks gets stuck in a loop looking for those files, then it really needs to be fixed. There may be a scenario where someone is not able to reproduce the original files that Navisworks is looking for and will need to regenerate a new NWF (thus losing all their clashes / viewports).

 

There really should be a feature in Navisworks to clean up NWFs outside of Navisworks, or a "partial load" like AutoCAD has in order to prevent issues like this from making an NWF unusable.

Message 4 of 21
tfischer
in reply to: docsaintly

UPDATE: I was running into this same problem - I would hit the 45% mark and it would seem to "freeze" or "lock" up.

 

it was also after I was "overwritten" a bunch of .dwg files that wer directly linked into my NWF.

 

 

...Long story short, it took about an hour and half, but Navisworks FINALLY opened my NWF!! I thought it was freezing, apparently was just thinking... and thinking... and thinking.

 

Just wanted to update this as it is not a "probem" per se, but you would think that taking over an hour to open the file (it IS a large NWF, my CPU is pretty good too - i7, 8GB ram)

Message 5 of 21
bscarbro
in reply to: tfischer

I am currently experiencing this problem.  I have it loading to 91% "Working ..." but it's just stopped there.

 

I have an NWF file with nwc, dwgs, and revit files appended.  Computer performance isn't the issue.  

 

I've let it load for about an hour now and am still hoping it just pops up.  But this is something that should be addressed by AutoDesk.  

Message 6 of 21
bscarbro
in reply to: bscarbro

Apparently waiting 2 hours did the trick.

 

Opens normally now.

Message 7 of 21
chris.kershaw
in reply to: docsaintly

I have experianced slow opening of NWF files here on a few PC's changing the DWG loader to 2012 solved the problem.

 

Simulate 2013

Message 8 of 21
crk4
in reply to: docsaintly

This thread has been dead for some time now, but I REALLY need some help here.

 

I am having the same problem here using Manage 2014.  This has been working for months and it really upsets me that I have to rebuild all my files and my views.  This is the second time this happened to me.  I have a twenty story building, and it currently is a 31 mb NWF file.  The NWF file references:

 

1) NWC files generated from Revit (Designer of record)

2) NWC file generated from IFC convert (Structural steel fabricator)

3) DWG master files (2 for each floor) (each one has ACAD XREF's of 2 to 4 files on the MS Sharepoint site.  These had to be created because the Curtain Wall and Metal Deck subs are drawing in 2D ACAD)

 

 

As you see with the attachment, all the files load up, and my resource monitor says I still have plenty of memory left.  It seems as if it got stuck on 45.1%.  Previously it was getting stuck on something like 90.2%, and I went in and checked the option to close NWC files upon load.  It then halved it to 45.1%.

 

Note that the files it is linking to are coming from a Microsoft Sharepoint Site.

 

Please advise if there are any fixes out there that are working.

 

Message 9 of 21
tfischer
in reply to: docsaintly

Do you have Service Pack 1 installed for Navisworks 2014?

 

Then, like others and I have stated, sometimes you must just wait it out.

 

If you are opening a file that contains "new versions" on previously linked in models, Navis will definitely bog down when loading these files. Sometimes it seems to slow much more than other times, which i don't see a common reason for.

 

I would open it, and when it gets "stuck" on 45.1% or whatever, just let it think. Even try to do it at the end of the day and then go home for the night... leaving the CPU on.

 

Wait it out... seriously. It seems the program isn't doing anything, but I have waited well over an hour or so for a Navis file to open when I had this same problem.

 

My CPU is i7, 8GB of RAM, so obviously could upgrade a little in that category too.

Message 10 of 21
dgorsman
in reply to: crk4

Are they coming *directly* from a Sharepoint site, or are you working off a local copy?

 

I can't help but think something in Sharepoint is causing Navisworks to see the file as either needing to be refreshed, or having problems updating the NWCs associated with the DWG files as it loads them.

----------------------------------
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.
"I don't know" is the beginning of knowledge, not the end.


Message 11 of 21
crk4
in reply to: dgorsman

Thanks guys for writing back so quickly. I've tried this on two different computers, i7, 16gb ram, and i5 16 gb ram. On both of these I've shut off hyperthreading since this was a recommendation from my VDC Director. Anyone else use hyperthreading off with performance success in Navis?

I have installed SP1 for Navis 2014 on both PC's. The only thing that I can imagine is I am using Autocad 2013 on one PC, and Autocad 2014 on the other, and whenever I modify files on the PC w/ Autocad 2013, and then go to open them with Navis on the PC with Autocad 2014, I get the freeze. Perhaps I need to use an older DWG converter from 2012 or so. I suppose I can try waiting it out...this is just ridiculous and I can't believe at the end of 2013 Autodesk doesn't have a quick fix for this.

As for the sharepoint, I don't necessarily think it needs to be refreshed, but since I link many DWG's from sharepoint, it actually did not update any of the NWC files as it should have. I'm guessing the NWC files for these DWG's end up getting created and pulled from temporary internet files.

Is anyone else using sharepoint to pull directly into Navis from a native format such as IFC or DWG? I know its not the smartest since it has to rebuild the NWC each time but with the amount of updating that occurs, I don't mind waiting up to 10 minutes for it to load. But 8-16 hours is quite absurd.

I'm now saving a different version of the file after every single modification I make so I never run into this problem ever again. And I'm backing them all up before I go and open it from ANY other PC.

If there are any other fixes known I'm all ears!
Message 12 of 21
Patrick_Aps_9121
in reply to: crk4

If you r source files are on SharePoint, I would advice to copy them over to your local drive first and then append them to create NWC. This would improve performance a lot and you do not "edit" the original source files that are posted by other parties.
Message 13 of 21
dgorsman
in reply to: crk4

Detailed diagnosis over the internet is spotty, at best.  When the problem cannot be readily replicated elsewhere, diagnosis *must* be done on the original system - there can be a nearly infinite variety of configurations, install methods, drivers, other software, and user procedures which makes each of our systems unique.  So you shouldn't expect AutoDesk (or most other companies) to have a "quick fix" for this type of problem when the problem hasn't been defined, just the symptoms.

----------------------------------
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.
"I don't know" is the beginning of knowledge, not the end.


Message 14 of 21
corey_schiller
in reply to: crk4

Navisworks 2014 does the same for me, hangs at 45.x% for an hour, sometimes more.  It's never completely crashed but it takes a very long time to open.

 

I've narrowed it down to one file, the only NWD file I'm loading in.  If I move or rename this NWD and then open my project, I get the warning saying missing file but the rest of the project opens extremely quickly.  I can then append the NWD back in which only takes a minute.

 

This was an OK workaround until we started using search sets and selection sets that point to the NWD, as these sets get broken after re-appending the file in this manner.

Message 15 of 21
crk4
in reply to: crk4

so i changed the memory, bumped it up to 32, i ensured that I allocated virtual memory in addition to my 16gb physical first.  I ran the opening from about 6:30pm until 8am the next day, and i came back, computer was unusable, got the navis "ran out of memory" crap.  the load was still hanging on 90.7% rather than 90.5%.

 

i can certainly try moving everything locally but this defeats the entire purpose of a shared cloud location (sharepoint) to upload raw dwg, revit, ifc files.  Another 2-5 hours to rebuild this model for the 5th time is just out of the question.  now i have usable nwd files, but the files just get larger and larger and larger each time i append these massive nwc (ifc converted for steel model) files each week.  

 

there has got to be a good way to do this

 

is there something i'm not getting here?

Message 16 of 21
dgorsman
in reply to: crk4

Navisworks isn't designed to directly access files in SharePoint.  Maybe somebody in the API forum can custom code a plug-in, or you could run a simple automation to check-out copies for use.

 

A thought occurs to me - are you actually appending or merging files in?  I've had to remind several of our users to use merge to avoid duplicate overlapping objects in the Navisworks files.

----------------------------------
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.
"I don't know" is the beginning of knowledge, not the end.


Message 17 of 21
J450NP13
in reply to: docsaintly

I am having an issue that sounds the same as this one.

 

I am running Navisworks 2015 Manage.

 

My NWF has Revit, DWG, DWFX files appended.  It had point clouds linked but I deleted them.  

 

It was loading at a normal pace before ....now for some reason it is taking entirely too long to open.  It stops at 90.2% and then slowly opens from there.

 

I tried changing the DWG loader version...I've tried to see if there was a bad model....nothing worked.

 

It is not a workstation hardware issue.

 

I thought maybe I accidentally changed a setting or something.   

Message 18 of 21
matthew.chaves
in reply to: tfischer

I have similar load times to you and i have an i7 Processor with 64Gb of DDR3 RAM. I am loading very large files but they are all local. For me it seems like Navis is hanging because it's trying to recreate the NWC files even when there have been no updates to the original models. 

 

Are you using the Vault with Navisworks? for me things got way slower after upgrading to vault 2019. I haven't been able to check in my NWF file for weeks and i've left it "loading" for over 8 hours without touching anything.

 

Good luck. 

Message 19 of 21

Are you still having the issue with Vault 2019? We need to get all files from Vault Client first....then make sure we are logged out of vault in navisworks. This allows us to update the model quickly. However logging back into vault slows it down considerably again 😞

Message 20 of 21
jitu1dange
in reply to: docsaintly

Thanks for asking this question... I also faced the similar problem... So this step helped me fix it 

So if you go to Options in Navisworks >>> Under Model >>> Performance >>> Uncheck Close NWC/NWD file on Load>>>

 

Now try reopening your file.... I hope this time it loads faster

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