AutoCAD LT 2018 Update

[JamesPowell7164]

I have been notified that AutoCAD LT 2018 is ready for installation. I don't mind updating but is there any fundamental changes with 2018 or is it just a generic update/upgrade?

Any problems experienced with it? 

[pendean · Accepted solution]

Google Search to find answers like this http://blogs.autodesk.com/autocad/autocad-2018/

[JamesPowell7164]

It was very lonely here this morning when I came in and had a pop up saying update available lol

To Update Or Not Update - so I did but thought I would consult the oracles first. I forgot that some of the Oracles live in USA!

Thanks for your input though.

BTW

I did update and had AutoCAD LT 2018 added to my pc but then tried to migrate my 2017 settings and it came up with migration incomplete message. Do you reckon this is just a glitch?

[Emmsleys]

Let me try and test the migrate settings option on my end and I'll post back. I haven't heard of this issue yet with other user's if you do end up getting your settings migrated over successfully post back and update the thread. 

Thanks. 

[pendean]

I never use the automated migration feature: I'm organized with separate files/folders etc. to be up and running with customizations in about 20-minutes after first run of the software.

[dan908]

Do you know from the log which item failed migration? You could rerun it to see the log again. It might be something minor, but I can look and see what I know on it too.

[JamesPowell7164]

I did repeat the procedure and didn't get the same error message so I assume that they did migrate.

[JamesPowell7164]

Where would I find the log?

[Emmsleys]

@JamesPowell7164, 

Do you see all of your custom settings as you did in AutoCAD LT 2017?

You can use this AKN article as a guide to provide a log file. 

Assistance with failed installs using AIDA, the Autodesk® Installation Diagnostic Assistant:
If you have received a “Some products Failed to install” message after running the installer for an Autodesk software the AIDA is intended to provide assistance in identifying the root cause and providing a suggested solution. Log files will have been created during the install process which may provide information regarding the root cause of the failure. This utility will analyze those logs and may provide a solution to the error. Typical analysis takes 30 seconds or less. If no suggestion is available the output provided by the utility may still be useful to the Autodesk technician assisting you with your troubleshooting case by expediting the troubleshooting analysis to find the root cause of the failure quickly.  

[dan908]

After the Migration completes, you should get a pop up that asks if you want to view the log. Or, it would be in a folder like: C:\Users\xxxxxxxxxx\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2018\R22.0\enu\Migration\MigrationSummaryReport.xml

Unfortunately the second migration will remove the first one's log I believe.

I guess if there were no errors the second time, there is not much to go off of, but, like Sarah said, double check everything.

Since we are talking about LT, there are not profiles to migrate. So, probably it was a plot file or drawing template. If you customize either of those, just double check that .pc3 and .ctb files all are there. And if you use custom template files, the error might have been just that the drawing format changed to 2018 this year, so you will probably want to update your template files so they are not 2013 format based.

[Emmsleys]

@JamesPowell7164, 

Just following up with your thread, were you able to verify that AutoCAD LT 2018 is running as expected? 

Post back in the thread if you have any other questions. 

Please use the Accept as Solution for those post’s that helped. It may benefit other users who might have a similar question or issue.

[matt]

Yes there are 2 fundamental changes with Autocad 2018 LT.

1) You will have DYNMODE, which comes set to 3 and you will see ghost drawing aids following your line cursor around like the grim reaper.  You'll see a compass, numbers, offset lines, and lots of other stuff no one wants.  Good luck.

2) You'll get Chromium running the  background, which will eat up a huge portion of your CPU, even when running other programs.  I have a dual 6-core linked server-grade machine or something like that that I got because I thought it would run Enercalc's antiquated program faster, which it doesn't, learned apparently because they are in the 1980s over there in software design and their program only uses 1 of my 12 available linked processors, as it does on any machine.  Anyway, so Autocad used 20% of my super machine's CPU at times, even when I was in Word, Excel and other programs, til someone on here found a fix.

So that's what you get w/ 2018 LT.  I'm not sure what else.

Have fun!

Actually, if those are the only 2 issues, you'd have to count 2018 LT as a success, but you know .  .  .  

[pendean]

As noted in your other posts...

1) read this https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-lt-forum/autocad-2018-lt-settings-problem/m-p/7075468#M153215

2) read this https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-lt-forum/chromium-host-exutable-process/m-p/7075978#M153230

[JamesPowell7164]

I have been instructed by our Systems Manager not to use 2018 "until it is ratified" whatever that means

[matt]

Hi.

I would guess 2018 works better than any other Autocad
program.

With a huge program like Autocad, it's going to have a few
glitches with any release. The 2 glitches I've seen so
far- one is very minor and Acad will probably fix it with an
update (hot fix)- and the other one seemed to have a simple
fix, and it is probably something on my machine causing it,
but that Acad didn't design for. Other's had the same issue
but who knows how many.

You can bet that if there was a problem that cost people
money (time), they would fix it immediately. Happy
customers is what keeps Acad alive.. Although they have a
monopoly, they don't seem to be lax in making sure their
programs run well. I also think the days where a main-line
program like Acad issues a new release that has a lot of
bugs area little past. That old-school now. With either
smaller or newer firms that don't have the resources or
knowledge to do modern programing, or large firms that are
dysfunctional or don't care, that may not be the case. Not
with firms like Autocad.

To me, the more people that get on it, the faster any
glitches will be detected, and the faster they will fix
them.

[dan908]

Hi Matt,

I just wanted to double check, are the two issues you mentioned the two from your previous reply (DYNMODE and # of Cores)? Or if not, can you let us know which problems you are running into?

The dynmode problem is resolved in Update 0.2 (available for a few weeks now through manage.autodesk.com or on the Autodesk desktop application for LT. Sorry about that problem, we figured out there was a slight logic change in the Dynmode settings that checked the registry only after setting it to 3.

The # of cores used, for the most part AutoCAD would be slower and perform worse with multiple cores. There are a few specific operations that do use multiple cores, but it is during hatching mostly for LT.

Anyway, I think this thread is turning from what I originally replied on (migration), but whatever seems to be a bug let me know and I we can in fact put it in the next update, since I am following this thread. Matt you are right about how things have changed, we stopped service packs in favor of pushing out fixes as soon as they are ready. There is an Update 0.2 available right now that has about 20 fixes. We make our changes incrementally and more frequently now (2017, 2017.1, 2017.1.1, 2018, 2018.0.1, 2018.0.2) so that the risk of defects and "shock" is reduced.

[matt]

Thanks. Sounds like you guys are on top of it.

I couldn't find any updates when I went into the main Autocad site or from the program. I looked a few times. I'll try going into the site you said in your post.

The program works very very fast for me. Most things are almost instantaneous.

It would be nice if there was a fast batch plot routine for creating pdf's when you have 6 or 12 layouts in a file. The one in acad I've tried is very very slow.


Matt

[matt]

ACAD solved DYNMODE and also that chromium thing.

Just go into your account, starting from autodesk.com, and install the update for ACAD 2018 Lt. 

For me, it killed the Magic Protractor (DYNMODE) once I reset it to "0", and it doesn't seem to be coming back up at all, and now there's not a sign of chromuim anywhere either.  Neither hide nor hair.

A few years ago I went directly from ACAD 2005 Lt to ACAD 2015 Lt.  I probably wrote more unflattering letters to ACAD than they ever had from one customer.

Since then, I have become a believer.   This is a top-notch company that lives for their customers, and delivers.

[dan908]

I have to say, 2005 to 2015 is a big jump. We do the reverse when testing drawing roundtrip and it is hard to remember what to do in the older versions now. But 2005 did have a quick start up/ demand loading.

You might have the update. If you type ABOUT in a drawing, it will tell you what product version you have O072.0.0 LT 2018.0.2 is the latest bug fixes.

Anyway, good to hear it is those two problems, we hopefully got those completely resolved. But, I am always looking for the next thing to put in an update.

I do hear pdf batch plotting is an area that is slow. We made some improvements to publish 2 or 3 years ago, but even still it is a slow process (when I think of MS word to PDF). I hear the best process is ACCoreConsole for big plots. But, that only comes for ACAD I think. If you have both LT and Acad in your office, look into that as an option.

[matt]

I'll try the batch plotting again and screw around w/ it.

For as much as 2018 lt does, it's very very fast. I have a laptop that's not particularly high end, and my dual 6 core linked 3 monitor server grade or whatever it is at home, and speed seems about the same on both machines except when plotting. Very very fast.

Thnx.