topic Re: MAX is Corrupted! in 3ds Max Forum

MAX is Corrupted!

miketruly — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 16:21:52 GMT

I had this problem start yesterday and it seems huge! I have posted about it on the 3D Connexxion forum but have gotten no response yet. Here is what I posted there:

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Windows10, 3dsmax 2020/2021, 3DxWare 10.7.1.3280.

I have a workstation which is a dual-boot system... Windows 7 and Windows10. In either OS, I can choose to boot the system with various amounts of cores... up to 40 cores. MAX2020 and MAX2021 are installed on both OS.

I had installed the SME drivers on Win10 several weeks ago and used MAX2020 and MAX2021 multiple times and the SME was working fine. I have been working in Win7 for several weeks on a project and haven't booted into Win10. But now in Win10... when using MAX2020 or MAX2021... I am getting severe wackiness caused by the SME.

For example...

I open MAX2020 and create a box and a teapot. I can use all the standard MAX tools to select and move the objects or select and rotate the objects, etc... all works as expected. I can even use the knob of the SME to orbit about the objects.

But the moment I touch one of the SME keys (say for example the Select and Move function which is programmed to button1 or the Select and Rotate function which is programmed to button2)... things go wacky.

The mouse cursor in MAX changes to a white arrow with a minus sign next to it. If I had an object selected before hitting the SME button... it now will not move or rotate, etc. with the transform tools. When you try to pick a different object... it will not be selected. Many other oddities. Basically, MAX is totally non-functional at this point and I must close and reopen MAX. If I touch any SME key again... the wackiness starts again.

I have tried uninstalling the SME driver and then reinstalling but this fixes nothing. I tried booting into less cores (sometimes the 40 cores can cause issues with some older apps) but this fixed nothing.

Did a Win10 update cause the problem? It's the only thing I can think of since the driver had been working fine several weeks ago.

Any ideas?
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OK... it gets weirder. Much weirder.

Yesterday when I was troubleshooting this problem, I was in Win10 and the SpaceMouse Enterprise was corrupting MAX sessions in MAX2020 and MAX2021. (The SME on Win10 uses the 10.7.1 driver)

After I was finished troubleshooting this HUGE UNRESOLVED PROBLEM... I booted into Win7 and worked in MAX2014 all day with no problems with the SME... all worked fine. (The SME on Win7 uses the 10.6.4 driver).

But today, I booted into Win7 and started working in MAX2014 and immediately, the SME is corrupting the MAX session in the same way it does in Win10!!!! So now, the SME is totally unuseable in all versions of MAX and on all OS I have.

Any ideas?

How to I do a total/clean uninstall of all 3D Connexxion registry keys, etc?

Is 3DxWare corrupted with CIA malware?

What the hell is going on?

Thanks.
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Is this MAX malware at work or something?

Thanks for any ideas!

Re: MAX is Corrupted!

RobH2 — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 18:42:04 GMT

Interesting to see this but sorry you are having issues. Coincidentally today I went to open Max 2020 and everything was corrupt on launch. The launch error messages mentioned, the ribbon and a bunch of other critical infrastructure things that were missing or corrupt. I just used 2020 a couple of days ago and it was fine.

I had a backed up ENU from 4-days ago. I dropped that in and deleted the current one and Max is fine. I did a reboot also. Maybe try that. Even if you don't have a backup, just delete (save off to the side in case) your working ENU and let Max generate a new one. Couldn't hurt to try.

Re: MAX is Corrupted!

miketruly — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 18:55:39 GMT

Thanks very much for the ideas Rob! I will give that a try shortly.

I haven't had any MAX corruptions in the past where I needed to generate a new ENU folder... it all started yesterday and I have changed nothing about the system recently... weird.

Thanks again.

Re: MAX is Corrupted!

RobH2 — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 19:04:26 GMT

Same here, no problems for months and then today...CORRUPT... out the ying yang. ENU fixed me. I hope it does you too.

Re: MAX is Corrupted!

miketruly — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 21:04:00 GMT

Sigh...

OK, I have remembered that I don't have ENU folders because I always use the useUserProfiles=0 setting. So all my settings are down in the en-US folder.

If I delete or rename the 3dsmax.ini file in that folder... a new one is created when MAX is started (and of course any customizations are not present in the new ini file).

When I did this and then tested in MAX again... the same problem persists.

MAX functions fine as long as you don't touch the buttons on the SpaceMouse Enterprise. If you do, MAX breaks and doesn't work properly. If you change the focus from MAX to some other app (like a text editing app or whatever) and then back to MAX... MAX works fine again until you touch the SME buttons.

Not sure what is going on as the SME has worked fine for years and nothing was changed. It literally has worked fine on the two different drivers... (one in Win10 and a different one in Win7).

ARGGHH!

Re: MAX is Corrupted!

RobH2 — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 21:42:17 GMT

Oh man. What a mess!

Do this, write 3DConnexion. I had an issue a month ago and they reached out to me and were very helpful. I have the Space Pilot Pro, not the Enterprise version. Describe fully what's going on. They let me have a nightly update or one of their newer 'point' releases and it solved my issue. I was pleased with their involvement with me. I'd guess they can get you going.

Re: MAX is Corrupted!

miketruly — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 22:12:30 GMT

Thanks very much for the ideas Rob!

Looks like I may have gotten it solved but I'm not sure I totally understand how I fixed it.

Basically, when I touch any of the SME buttons (in all OS/MAX versions), the cursor changes to a white arrow with a minus sign and nothing works properly in MAX at that point. That cursor icon is the cursor you get when you hold ALT and drag to deselect.

So after getting that cursor change, I began to press the ALT key on the SME and drag the mouse to deselect whatever object I had selected... and **** if it didn't reset something and now the problem is gone!!

I have tested in different MAX versions and now the SME buttons are working normally and MAX is not going into wacked mode.

I have never had this problem before but I'm glad it's now working properly. What a waste of time!

Thanks again.

Re: MAX is Corrupted!

RobH2 — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 22:45:45 GMT

That's kind of a wacky fix. Yikes, self-fixing things...lol... Ok, take it and run while you can. Glad you are working again. I can't imagine life without my Space Pilot. If they went out of business I would too... 🙂

Re: MAX is Corrupted!

miketruly — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 02:19:53 GMT

Yeah, I also can't work without the Space Pilot... a great tool for 3D. I'm just glad it's working as it should.

Thanks again.