Mechanical Desktop 5 to AutoCAD Mechanical

[Anonymous]

I was previously using Mechanical Desktop 5 (which has been obsolete for about 4 years) and recently upgraded to the AutoCAD Inventor Suite 2010. When we purchased the upgrade, I expressed a concern that I would have trouble opening my MDT files because of backwards compatibility. I was assured that there would not be a problem. Well it appears that there is a problem with 3D modeled assemblies. When I try to open these assemblies I get the following message:

"You cannot edit Mechanical Desktop drawings in AutoCAD Mechanical"

"All AutoCAD Mechanical commands, including save are now Disabled"

according to the tech support page I can get around this by opening the drawings in Mechanical Desktop and removing all the assembly definitions, but I no longer have MDT because I have an upgrade. Does anyone know how get past this problem?

[Sridhar-Autodesk]

Hi,
Looks like you are trying to open MDT files in AutoCAD Mechanical 2010. Hence you see the reported message.
You can download a copy of MDT 2009 from the following link.
www.autodesk.com/mdt
Thanks,
Sridhar
Software QA Engineer
Autodesk, Inc.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for help.

I downloaded Mechanical Desktop 2009. But when I try to open a file, it shuts down before it is completely open. Did I do something wrong during the installation?

[Sridhar-Autodesk]

Please try following steps;
>>Disable anti virus softwares and verify the issue.
>>Create a new drawing file>>Save>>Close>>Open this drawing and verify the issue
>>Was the installation successful without any errors? You may open Mechanical Desktop 2009 install log file from the user temp folder to see if there were any errors. (Windows start>>Run>> type %temp% to open the temp folder)
>>You may try to perform a repair install/reinstall and verify issue.
Thanks,
Sridhar

[wwagner55]

We are having the same problem but going from MDT2000 to ACAD Mechanical 2010. The work around we are using is to fire up regular old AutoCAD 2010 and open and save the problem drawing. Now you can open it in 2010 Mechanical with no errors. We have fond that it is rather random weather or not you will get the error. Some old drawings open just fine and other are a problem.

[Sridhar-Autodesk]

Hi,
Saving MDT drawings in Vanilla AutoCAD will corrupt the data (drawings). In MDT, file>>Save As>>File of type will list Not Support for Vanilla AutoCAD format.
Thanks,
Sridhar

[dpbell0319]

Without downloading newer versions of MDT (since Autodesk will eventually stop releasing updates), how can MDT files be opened and edited?

Previously, the Autodesk knowledge base provided the following:

> This warning indicates that the drawing contains part or assembly definitions that may be empty.
>
> To remove empty part or assembly definitions
> Open the drawing in Mechanical Desktop and use the command AMCATALOG.
> On the All tab, search for any part or assembly definitions.
> Remove all definitions.
> Save the drawing.
>
> You will now be able to open the drawing in AutoCAD� Mechanical.

Why has this article been removed?

What, exactly, is corrupted when opening MDT files with Vanilla AC? Both wwagner55 and I have had success with this method, so we must not be using the items that get corrupted.

[Sridhar-Autodesk]

Hi,
The complete drawing file will be corrupted, becomes non usable and non recoverable. It may also result in Fatal Error messages upon opening in AutoCAD Mechanical.
Thanks,
Sridhar

[Anonymous]

Hello,

AutoCAD Mechanical 2000i  or Powerpak crashes on launch, please see screen shot. Is there a Service Pack update?

[Rob67ert]

Hi there,
You reply on a very old treat. Best way is to start a new one.
But anyway, did you try to recover your drawing?

[Anonymous]

Hello,

Thanks for the reply. I'm not trying to load a drawing, just trying to launch the application

[Rob67ert]

There where updates, but the latest updates you can get are for the 2009 version.

I would suggest to update your version to a new one, we are currently on 2018.

The version you use is the middle of 2000...that is 17 years old...