Autocad 2017 Crashing Frequently and unexpectedly

[Anonymous]

I urgently need help:

I have been an Autocad user for several years now, and have experienced very little in the way of problems and crashing while using the software. Recently, I purchased a new Windows computer to replace my "frankenmac", a MacBook Pro that ran exclusively Windows specifically to allow for use of Windows-based Autocad. I also have been running Autocad 2017 on a 6 year old Lenovo T510 that I keep around as a backup, and Autocad actually ran better on the Lenonvo than the Mac despite being several years older, and having a much slower processor. The reason for the upgrade came with the desire to integrate more 3D CAD into my work, and neither on my older machines having the balls for large 3D drawings, or really, any drawing with more than one Xrefed DWG Attached.

Currently I am engineering a theatrical production, piece by piece in AutoCad. I have master drawing that shows the whole show in 2D only, and then a separate drawing for each individual piece, each of which includes a 3D model. Here is where my problem comes in: While drafting in 3D, at some point in every drawing, I experience software crashes. What I am doing at the time is not always the same though many times it occurs while deleting an object or 2D lines, etc. Nearly every thime I atleast get the opportunity to create a recovery file, so I can reload and return to work, but it is getting more frequent, and much more frustrating, and occasionally I do not get the opportunity the save a backup, often leading to losing work. When this occurs I get an error message that says the following:

"fatal error unhandled access violation reading 0x4abde000 exception at 38ed2632h"

Initially I had suspected this was an OS issue attached to my OEM (read: bloated) version of Windows 10 (initially Home Edition, then upgraded to Education Edition). I should not that I was having some software issues with Microsoft Office as well, along with a Bluetooth Driver issue, so naturally I thought that a wipe and clean reinstall of the OS would solve all my issues. I went ahead and installed a fresh copy of Windows 10 Pro on the machine a few days ago hoping it would help, but despite an overall positive boost in system performance, have seen no change in my AutoCad Problem, and I would say it may be getting worse. 

My system specs are as follows:

Model: MSI GS63VR

Processor: Intel Core i7 6700HQ 

Graphics: Nvidia GTX 1060 with 6gb dedicated RAM (DDR5)

Memory: 16gb DDR4

On a final note, I sent a drawing to one of my professors yesterday so that he could look it over, and experienced the same crash as I was on a different machine. Whatever my issue is seems to be attached to the individual files in this case. 

Whatever is the cause here I need to solve it ASAP, as my show is mid-build, and I need to finish drafting it without having to recover my drawings constantly. 

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I urgently need help:

I have been an Autocad user for several years now, and have experienced very little in the way of problems and crashing while using the software. Recently, I purchased a new Windows computer to replace my "frankenmac", a MacBook Pro that ran exclusively Windows specifically to allow for use of Windows-based Autocad. I also have been running Autocad 2017 on a 6 year old Lenovo T510 that I keep around as a backup, and Autocad actually ran better on the Lenonvo than the Mac despite being several years older, and having a much slower processor. The reason for the upgrade came with the desire to integrate more 3D CAD into my work, and neither on my older machines having the balls for large 3D drawings, or really, any drawing with more than one Xrefed DWG Attached.

Currently I am engineering a theatrical production, piece by piece in AutoCad. I have master drawing that shows the whole show in 2D only, and then a separate drawing for each individual piece, each of which includes a 3D model. Here is where my problem comes in: While drafting in 3D, at some point in every drawing, I experience software crashes. What I am doing at the time is not always the same though many times it occurs while deleting an object or 2D lines, etc. Nearly every thime I atleast get the opportunity to create a recovery file, so I can reload and return to work, but it is getting more frequent, and much more frustrating, and occasionally I do not get the opportunity the save a backup, often leading to losing work. When this occurs I get an error message that says the following:

"fatal error unhandled access violation reading 0x4abde000 exception at 38ed2632h"

Initially I had suspected this was an OS issue attached to my OEM (read: bloated) version of Windows 10 (initially Home Edition, then upgraded to Education Edition). I should not that I was having some software issues with Microsoft Office as well, along with a Bluetooth Driver issue, so naturally I thought that a wipe and clean reinstall of the OS would solve all my issues. I went ahead and installed a fresh copy of Windows 10 Pro on the machine a few days ago hoping it would help, but despite an overall positive boost in system performance, have seen no change in my AutoCad Problem, and I would say it may be getting worse. 

My system specs are as follows:

Model: MSI GS63VR

Processor: Intel Core i7 6700HQ 

Graphics: Nvidia GTX 1060 with 6gb dedicated RAM (DDR5)

Memory: 16gb DDR4

On a final note, I sent a drawing to one of my professors yesterday so that he could look it over, and experienced the same crash as I was on a different machine. Whatever my issue is seems to be attached to the individual files in this case. 

Whatever is the cause here I need to solve it ASAP, as my show is mid-build, and I need to finish drafting it without having to recover my drawings constantly. 

Thanks.

---

Does an AUDIT turn anything up?

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

It sounds like the issue is indeed with a drawing or drawings. I suggest you run Audit, Purge, -Purge>All, _purge>Regapps.

If that doesn't improve the issue you are welcome to attach them here so I can investigate and try to duplicate on my side.

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

[Anonymous]

I tried AUDIT in a couple of the drawings, but came up with nothing. Everything seems normal...

Another Question for the group: My show's designer prefer's Vectorworks as her preferred CAD platform, and so all of the desiger drawings I received for the show I am working on came as DWGs exported from Vectorworks. I am wondering if this may be a key to my problem, as my master file has her drafting Xrefed into it, and I have copied and pasted pieces of the designer drafting into my invidual set unit files to use as a refernce. I have done this frequently in the past without much issue, despite lots of redundant geometry that slows down my system a bit. I am wondering if that has something to do with it?

Also, I pull CAD files from McMaster-Carr when I need stock parts and nuts and bolts, etc. For this project I have been pulling and importing Solidworks models from their site instead of Inventor files or STEP files, as for my purposes the Solidworks models seem to import more cleanly than the other alternatives. Previous to this project I rarely used imported 3D parts, only 2D Blocks, again never with issues. I should also note, that I experienced the same crashing problem working on a concurrent unrelated project that does include 3D models from McMaster-Carr, imported from Inventor, Solidworks, and STEP files. This file does not (or at least I think it does not) contain any material exported out of Vectorworks so that may be able to be ruled out. This last file was one where I experienced my worst AutoCad crash, where one second everything was fine, the next I was staring at my desktop image. There was no error report, no option to save a recovery, nor was one created, and I had lost about an hour's worth of work when it happened.

Any other thoughts?  

[Anonymous]

the problem is the Info Center and Autodesk is very disingenuine by not mentioning this. 

"This feature of AutoCAD actually starts an invisible background task that runs as a separate process (named either WSCommCntr1.exe or WSCommCntr2.exe), which establishes inter-process communication with the running AutoCAD. This type of inter-process communication channel is notoriously unreliable, and it’s not unusual to see the background task orphaned in memory after AutoCAD closes in an unusual way, sometimes consuming a lot of CPU cycles and sometimes preventing an AutoCAD restart until it is forcibly ended."

http://otb.manusoft.com/2010/11/disable-autocad-infocenter.htm

Funny that the Admins all try and blame the crashing issue on us when they know darn well the issue is this.

Unfortunately I have not found any way to disable it on Mac.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

If the file is from a different CAD package, I suggest that you (in addition to the steps I suggested previously) use EXPORTTOAUTOCAD. Please let me know if this helps to improve the stability.

You are welcome to attach some drawings that cause this to happen and I will investigate.

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

[Anonymous]

Here is one of my DWGs that I have been having trouble with. It includes both 3D blocks pulled from McMaster-Carr and geometry pulled from a DWG exported from Vectorworks, along with raster image references, and my own drafting and modeling. I have tried auditing and purging my drawings, but to no avail. Thanks for looking into this for me.

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

I ran Purge, -Purge>All, -Purge>Regapps, Audit, and finally Exporttoautocad. It reduced the file size a bit and the file, for me at least, seems to work fine. Give it a try and see if it behaves any better.

If it continues to crash try turning off your hardware acceleration (GRAPHICSCONFIG)

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

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

I am checking back to see if my post helped you with your problem or if you need additional assistance or information. Please add a post with how you decide to proceed and your results so other Community members may benefit.

Please hit the Accept as Solution button if my post fully solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

Hey Gw!

I'm having the exact same issue and I'm in the exact same business.  It's obviously a theatre issue! hahaha.  I haven't really connected Vector Works to the issue.  I have plenty of drawings that never see a Vector Works dwg and still have the same problem.  On top of the Fatal Exception, I have random crashing from panning and orbiting probably 5-6 times a day.  

I was having huge issues until I did a clean install of Windows 10.  I mean it was pretty much unusable.  After the reset, I can at least function.  I also still have weird random setting issues.  My Osnap settings change, my visual settings change, and my drawing opens in a different state that I left it in.  I can't place any pattern on any of it.  And as a trouble shooter/automation guy, I should be able to.

Anyway, I think Windows 10 and AutoCad 2016 are not playing nice yet.  I had very few issues with 2013 on Windows 8.  It wasn't until the upgrade to Windows 10 that the issues began.  In fact, I upgraded to 2016 because 2013 sucked so bad on Windows 10.

I know none of this helps, but it's nice to see another theatre guy on here!  If you figure anything out, please give me a shout!

[Anonymous]

Thanks marcbruyere72, you have articulated every exact problem I have been having. The Osnap  turning off along with random swaps between Polar Tracking and ORTHOMODE, and Object Snap Tracking turning on and off randomly are my latest headache starting this week. I may not always hit the exact key I am reaching for on the keyboard, but aside from F1, I usually never get close to the function keys that control any of those options. As I had stated in my first post, I did do a clean fresh install of Windows 10 Pro and that didn't help, other than to help AutoCAD crash faster. The wierd thing is that I have been running AutoCAD 2016 and 2017 on Windows 10 for almost a year now on three different computers (including on a MacBook Pro both in a Bootcamped OS, and using Parallels) and have not seen a single issue up until I started the technical drafting for my show. Previously, the only time AutoCAD would crash was when it was having trouble rendering certain materials in realistic mode. 

The idea that Vectorworks-produced DWGs may be part of the issue stems from how the exporter handles the geometry when making the conversion. It seems to create a lot of excess redundant geometry, and things like hatches get converted to lines and really load put a lot of stress on the system. Additionally, we provide the designers with master ground plans and sections for the theater spaces, so when I get a converted Vectorworks drawing all of that geometry, which would be handled as a Xref or an attached block in AutoCAD, ends up being converted to polylines, etc. A designer drawing with 4 or 5 copies of the ground plan and section pasted into it with all its layers, classes, etc. really puts a strain on even the highest performance systems. (In case you are wondering, our theater space drawings are extremely detailed and comprehensive and include pretty much any information you would ever need or want). Now, Xref in 4 or 5 versions of the designer drafting into your master TD drawing, and then things get really fun... 

As you have said though, I have not had issues with Vectorworks Drawings in the past aside from slow performance when panning around or rotating a drawing. To combat this for this show in particular I have created a separate drawing for each set piece, and have only brought in the necessary geometry for that piece to allow for less strain on my system and an easier, and more smooth experience with 3D drafting. No matter what I do, the issues still persist...

[Anonymous]

John,

I am still seeing the same problems as before, so I am beginning to think that this may be a system specific problem...

Though I have another thought: I have a default drafting template that I use for all of my drafting. It is one that I have created and copied from machine to machine, and includes all of my default layers, text, leader, and dimension styles, etc. It was created using AutoCAD 2016, and I am wondering if I may have corrupted it to some degree, or if it is maybe looking for parameters that may not exist in 2017?

I also wonder about my migrated workspaces: I still prefer tool bars to palettes, so I have created my own workspaces to maintain the default tool bars that I use along with the various custom command buttons I have added to them. These workspaces were created with AutoCAD 2014, and have been migrated to 2015, then 2016, and finally to 2017, but with the move from old computer to new, I have exported and migrated my workspaces twice within the 2017 generation. Could this also be an issue?    

[Anonymous]

I'm the same way... Running mostly all my 2013 toolbars and a template created in 2013.  I will say that these issues magnified quite a bit after the Windows 10 update a few months ago. 

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

There is an easy way to test this issue. Please create a new Windows User account with full administrator permissions. Logon using that new acocunt and start AutoCAD. Create a new EMPTY template file and then create a new drawing based upon that template. Do not add any of the customizations.

Work for a bit and see if you can create new content without errors or crashing. The next step, if this works, is to try and bring in some older drawings and see if they behave in this new user environment.

Please let me know if this is a method we can try  in order to resolve your issues.

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

[Anonymous]

YEA FOR SOMEONE WHO CAN HELP! I turned it off in my task manager and lo and behold, no more freezing, no more crashing, no more Fatal Errors. Thank you so much for that blog article, it has been exactly what Ive needed for almost 2 years now!