AutoCAD hangs/freezes when running commands, panning and zooming?

[jason.bowman]

First off, this happens with whatever version of AutoCAD I use, I have 2016 and 2018 and the same thing happens in both, so my initial guess is AutoCAD is hammering my video card...

Whenever panning, zooming or trying to move an object in AutoCAD, it tends to hang, freezing for several seconds before it starts to cooperate again. We are using blocks with attributes on with different visibility's and the hang happens worse on these blocks... The block in particular there can be hundreds if thousands on one drawing as it is one we use constantly. Changing the block is out the question as it is a company wide standard, is there anything I can do to stop AutoCAD from freezing and hanging? It happens in most drawings, doesn't matter if I am in 2018 or 2016 and happens near enough every time I try to move, pan or zoom with a selection made after so much has been added to a drawing.

Drawings are usually between 2-4Mb so isn't much data within the drawing in a sense, but with regards to the block I mentioned, this data in the block is repeated hundreds/thousands of times dependant on the drawing in question.

However, it isn't just the block it hangs on, it also happens when trying to dimension between lines, objects etc, doesn't have any effect if I use the button on the ribbon or type the command on the command line, it's always the same outcome with the program hanging. 

Have just had my C: drive changed in my PC and have gone from Windows 7 to Windows 10 so everything is fresh but am still having the same problem which is why I'm edged towards it being a hardware issue if anything?

OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

AutoCAD version: AutoCAD 2016 & 2018

Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1270 v5 @ 3.60GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.6GHz

Memory: 32768MB RAM

DirectX Version: DirectX 12

Graphics Card: NVIDIA Quadro M2000 (most up-to date)

[dgladfelter]

Are you by chance working from a Network Attached Storage (NAS) or Storage Area Network (SAN)? 

With neither of those supported by AutoCAD, I've seen each cause similar display oddities.

To test if it's the case, I would suggest copying a file to your local hard drive and then unplugging the network cable (and disconnect from WiFi). 

It's a bit of a long shot, but if you're already gone down the graphics card path, it's the next thing I would personally check.

[jason.bowman]

By SAN do you mean are we working from a dedicated server? If that's the case then yes we are working from a server in which everyone can access the project documents and drawings.
I will test the drawing now by copying it to my desktop instead and report back.

[john.vellek]

Hi @jason.bowman,

I am sorry you are having this issue.  Have you tried adjusting any of the Selection Preview options to see if that improves the performance?

Can you share a sample drawing with the block so I can try it on my side? It would be helpful to see the behavior so I might offer additional suggestions.

Please also make sure that your applications are fully up-to-date using your Autodesk Desktop App or through your account page.

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

[john.vellek]

Hi @jason.bowman,

I am checking back to see if my post or @dgladfelter's helped you with your problem. Please mark a post or posts as accepted solutions if they resolved the issue or give me a bit more detail on this issue so we can continue to work towards getting this solved.

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

[john.vellek · Accepted solution]

Hi @jason.bowman,

Thanks for the file you shared. It did find some errors when I ran AUDIT and I was able to purge out some unused content. Before I spend a lot of time working with it can you please also provide the xref files? I would like to make sure they aren't part of the problem. If you do not want to share those, please detach them from the drawing you sent and see if it still has the problem.

I notice too, that when I zoom extent, there is a lot of empty space around your model. Does cutting out the content, placing in a new file (closer to 0,0) would be good too) fix the issue?

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

[JamesMaeding]

@john.vellek

I wanted to mention, since you help a lot of people troubleshoot, I would recommend a more structured approach.

I have done this for years, it is something I have spend hundreds of hours on since release R14.

Obviously troubleshooting is an art, and there are many great artists in this forum, but all have some organized approach and it will vary some depending on the issues. Anyway, this is the process I speak of:

1) Get all files involved, as you requested from the OP so they need to provide that, and see if the problem replicates.

2) Get and use my PurgeIDs free tool posted on these DG's. What it lets you do is add drawings, then "scan properties" to see various things like app id count. It shows them in columns.

3) Clean the drawings of app ids and other things using my or others' cleaners. Never waste time opening each drawing. Normally this will not solve slow regen or sticky cursor issues, just entity related issues and drawing open times.

4) Open and audit the main drawing with problems. Purge all and reopen.

5) Start detaching xrefs and see if the problems stop. Purge all and reopen between. Detach all if needed. Whatever you detached was the issue.

6) Erase entities until the problem stops. Whatever you erased was the issue.

7) if problem still happens, block all to new drawing and see if it happens. Its really hard to know why the problem happened if you get to this point, based on experience. Its usually not some simple setting, but could be of course.

I am seeing autodesk not do this, and dismiss too many issues that are chronic for 2018 based on my 100 users in 8 teams at my offices. 2018 is sensitive to display issues. I am seeing sticky cursor on really clean files, and some crashes just while mouse wheel zooming. 2015 does not have the problems, and 2019 seems better. Bricscad is about 3x faster than all and is actually better at auditing drawings, so we use it more and more.

Either way, please take the time to at least look at the purgeids prog because you stand to get better dwg info and offer better service because of it. I'll be happy to do anything to help, screenshare or goto meeting to get it working. Once you see it, you will wonder how anyone gets along without it, as most (not all) cleaners do not show issues before you clean. Its not the ultimate tool, just one you should not be without. I'm always looking for ways to improve it too, and have a list going. The zombiekiller app has abilities I need to add to it for example. thx

[jason.bowman]

John,
Won't be able to send the XRefs due to the nature of the drawing - I have detached the XRefs and the problem is still there, I had purged and audited it myself before, always comes up with 2 errors, even if you repeat the audit after its fixed the errors. The zoom extents was due to two blocks being placed outside the area, I removed this so ZE worked better and was still having the same issue. Locating the drawing closer to the origin also didn't solve the issue.

[jason.bowman]

John,

I have pinpointed the issue, it’s the SPK block that is in the drawing I sent you (all variations 1.50, 1.75, 1.100) turning the OSMODE to 0 seems to solve it as AutoCAD tries to analyse all the grips in the block, with different visibility states in the block. There’s quite a few grips and snaps in that block.

How would be best to go around this? Separate each visibility into its own block?

[john.vellek]

Hi @jason.bowman,

Thanks for your further testing with the Xref files removed. Now that you think you have narrowed it down I can take a closer look and I will report back with suggestions.

How many OSNAPS do you have turned on while you work?

[john.vellek]

Hi @jason.bowman,

Your blocks certainly do have a lot going on in them. I found that placing a NODE (point) at the insertion point inside the block definition let me snap to the snap when placing a dimension and it was significantly faster.

I will continue to look for other options but please try that on your side and see if it helps.

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

[jason.bowman]

Probably about 5/6 depending on what I’m doing - I typed OSNAP and the number was like 5367 but I don’t know what that meant... I just changed it to zero and noticed it stopped freezing but obviously it wasn’t able to snap anymore hahah

[jason.bowman]

I’ve been meaning to tidy up our standards since I started at the company, they’re good but they’re quite bulky. I will try that Friday when I’m next in. Any other suggestions are much appreciated!!

[JamesMaeding]

@jason.bowman

good catch. If you want to send me the drawing to look at via pm, i will keep it confidential.

Not that i'm somehow better than @john.vellek at this, it can just help sometimes to have two people try their tricks.

I'm also interested to see if I am getting the same thing, though I turn off osnaps normally and always when testing.

thx

[ArchD]

I don't see the dwg file so this is a stab in the dark, but I've encountered a problem that has the same issues. 

Check to see if you are using 2D wireframe instead of 3D wireframe in the visual styles. 

[john.vellek]

Hi @jason.bowman,

I suggest looking at your OSNAP settings and turn some off. Having too many selected can cause such issues.

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

[JamesMaeding]

@john.vellekand @jason.bowman

Did this seriously come down to osnaps?

Isn't that the first thing we all learn to turn off if cursor issues happen?

I guess the 3d osnaps have made life interesting, as I don't think F3 turns them off.

Finding and possibly fixing the issue once we know its osnaps is not so trivial.

I don't want autodesk to be thinking "oh, another user with osnaps on, 2018 has no real problems".

Its got issues much deeper than osnaps.

[jason.bowman]

I only have 5 OSNAPS on, I still think its something to do with the grips and OSNAPS in the SPK block. 

[jason.bowman]

Further into it, the SPK block has a wipeout in it to produce our "Upright" visibility. This wipeout has hundreds of grips around it if you go into the block and click it. I have a feeling AutoCAD may be trying to regen the block when I hover over it to select a snapping point. 

Is there a way I can put a wipeout in as a circle rather than have it create anchors all around it as if its a polyline?

[JamesMaeding]

@jason.bowman

Ah, so you are hitting the wipeout subject. That is a common issue I have seen too, where many wipeouts are not handled when hardware accel is on. Of course turning it off is lousy as the ghosting when copying stuff gets laggy.

You cannot use arcs in wipeouts.

Now we have hit a deeper subject that is fundamental to something adesk changed between 2017 and 2018.

Does that ring any bells @john.vellek?

I forget if the display system was overhauled but do recall something about 2x faster zooms. Maybe that is 2019, and I am going to likely have to switch to it 2 months after putting us on 2018. Its messed up because people no longer beta test for adesk enough because they know their comments are rarely addressed. So we beta test a year after the release when the third parties have caught up and we can actually use a release. Here we are.