Can't delete anything in 3DS Max 2019

[whitebirchstudios]

MAX 2019 and I am not able to delete anything in my scene. Rebooting MAX solved it, but I shouldn't have to delete my software to delete things. The same thing happens with keyboard shortcuts; they sometimes stop working.

Your post subject line has been edited by @hagen.deloss: Can't delete

[hagen.deloss]

Hi @whitebirchstudios

That's really frustrating, can you not delete meshes and other assets. or is it only splines? Did restarting 3DS Max solve the issue? Has this happened to you multiple times using 3DS Max 2019.1.1?

I'm not seeing any issues like this logged into our system, can you pass along all the tools and steps you took leading up to not being able to delete your assets? That way I can try reproducing this issue 😄

Talk to you soon! 

[whitebirchstudios]

It is deleting anything. Not being able to delete, window crossing button sticking, selections sticking, all bugs that persist across a few generations, I think to start in MAX 2017.

[miledrizk]

Hi,

Maybe some plugins (or something else) messed up your User Settings,

You can try resetting them by:

1- Closing 3DS Max

2- Go to: C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\20xx - xxbit

3- Rename to folder called ENU to something else like ENU.old

4- Restart Max

[whitebirchstudios]

If it happened all the time that would make sense, however, I would lose all my custom settings, so I don't think it'll be worth it.

[hagen.deloss]

Hi @whitebirchstudios

Did restarting 3DS Max solve the issue?

If you would be able to pass along any tools and steps taken before this behavior starts happening, that would be greatly appreciated, it will help me try to reproduce this behavior and pass along to development!

Do you think it's just the spline selection that is causing this? have you tried using the Boolean compound object tool? 

I want to help narrow the cause down so we can explore workarounds; it sounds like this current workflow causes some slow behavior in Max.

[whitebirchstudios]

Yes, rebooting MAX usually clears it up and I can't think of anything that can reproduce it.  It is like MAX gets tired.

[Anonymous]

I recently suffered from some obscure 'bugs' and it turns out that my files where infected with some kind of Maxscript virus (ALC). Here`s the article.

So i would probably check for this.

[hagen.deloss]

@whitebirchstudios

I was about to suggest the same thing @Anonymous so thanks for jumping on that!  Here are the instructions on how to see if you have the ALC corrupted MAXScript.

1. In 3ds Max, go to the Command Panel > Utilities > MAXScript button.
2. Click on Open Listener.
3. Highlight the following line of code and copy and paste it into the Listener window:
   
   (globalVars.isGlobal #AutodeskLicSerStuckCleanBeta)
    
4. Press Enter.
5. The sequence should return the line: false. If the sequence returns: true, then the corrupted MAXScript is present on your system and needs to be removed.

Let me know what the results are and we can look into other causes, or getting the ALC issue taken care of!

Talk to you soon,

[hagen.deloss]

@whitebirchstudios

I wanted to check back and see if my post helped you with your problem. It would be super helpful if you could add a post with how you decide to proceed, and your results. That way other Community members can benefit from your process

Please select the Accept as Solution button if a post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Hwagner]

rs to be a line, not a spline. if it originated from another software and then was imported into max, you may just have to colapse it to an edit spline, then it should be able to be deleted without a reboot. Let me know if this worked or not as i have had to do this in the past. but i am not on 2019 yet.

[whitebirchstudios]

No, it was made in MAX and it was deleting any object, I just chose to record deleting the spline.

[Anonymous]

As it's an intermittent problem and no one else seems to have reported it yet, I would check out my graphics card drivers and settings.

[SiNi_Si]

Check out this post for more information on the virus.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/3ds-max-forum/3ds-max-virus/td-p/8330950

[Anonymous]

Hi, i can confirm that in 2020. not being able to delete objects from splines to poly objects to proxies. Never happened with 2015 version, where we had much more plugins running

Scenes have objects from online 3d databases, 3rd party plugins, 3rd party and inhouse scripts, all the ingredients for a "normal" visualising workflow. For that reason, can't pinpoint the moment when it happens.

when trying to delete listener records : actionMan.executeAction 0 "40020" -- Edit: Delete Objects

restarting max solves the issue.

[Anonymous]

Hi.

I'm getting the same issue with max 2021. Delete works in photoshop, but not Max. Restarting solves the issue, but my files pretty large so it's far from ideal.

The maxscript comes back as false, so no virus. Plus I've run Sini's Forensic software scan which also says no viruses present.

Would prefer not to have to reset my ENU is possible and lose all my settings.

Anyone found the solution to this issue??

[Anonymous]

I installed 2021.1 update today...maybe that's it?

Autodesk?

[jon.bell · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,

If you're still experiencing these issues, can you please try the following?

1. Reset your preferences temporarily but do not delete your ENU folder -- just rename it so you can revert back to it if you want.
2. Restart 3ds Max with the generic settings and see if the problem persists.
3. If the problem seems to have gone away, then something may have gotten corrupted in your user preferences, and I would love to get zipped copies of both your original "bad" ENU folder and the new clean ENU folder so we can compare them. (I can send you a private OneDrive link for these if you want -- just send me a private message for it.)
4. If this does fix the problem, you could close 3ds Max, copy your 3dsmax.ini file from your old ENU to the new one, and then restart Max, and you should get most (if not all) of your custom settings back.

Please let me know if this helps, and we hope to hear from you soon!

[jon.bell]

Hi @Anonymous ,

Just wanted to refresh this thread to see if you were still having these issues from last autumn, or if they had been fixed with recent 3ds Max updates. Could you please let us know? Thanks!

[jon.bell]

Hi @Anonymous,

I just wanted to check back with you to see if you were still having these issues after resetting your user preferences, and if not, if you could please mark one of our suggestions as a Solution. Thanks!