Civil 3D 2024.2 Update

[lim.wendy]

Dear Civil 3D Community,

We'd like to inform you of an important update regarding Civil 3D 2024.2.

After its initial release, our team discovered a critical issue, leading us to temporarily remove Civil 3D 2024.2 from availability. We are actively working to address this issue and plan to reintroduce the update as soon as it's resolved.
We appreciate your patience and will keep you updated on our progress. Thank you for your continued support.

[Cadguru42]

Thank you for letting us know. But why has Autodesk had to pull updates so much? I have never heard of a software company that has to pull their updates so much because the bug fixes are themselves bugged as much as Autodesk. There is seriously something wrong with how Autodesk is developing their software.

[brian.strandberg]

I can understand having to pull updates from time to time - there are so many niches in the Civil 3d community , survey, rail, infrastructure, ACC, and I could list 10 more.

What does drive me bonkers is the release notes for the software updates often have issues themselves.  This time I decided to record me reading the release notes.  This update was better than most, but there were non-working links, circular links...

https://youtu.be/KGinni-R1Sw

[thejac]

What if users installed this update, can you provide guidance on why it was pulled? Do we need to uninstall C3D 2024 and reinstall?

[rgrainer]

You should be able to just uninstall the update and not have to do anything to the main product.

[thejac]

That used to be true, but I can't find anywhere in Windows 11 to do that. 

[lim.wendy]

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@thejac wrote:

What if users installed this update, can you provide guidance on why it was pulled? Do we need to uninstall C3D 2024 and reinstall?

---

Yes, customers who have already installed the original 2024.2 will need to uninstall it before installing the new build.

[TimYarris · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone,

Thanks everyone for the feedback. As @lim.wendy indicated, the 2024.2 Update was posted prematurely. We found an issue with it shortly after it went live, so we pulled it immediately. Ever since, we've been working on addressing the issue and retesting the build with a goal of having the new 2024.2 build posted early next week.

To answer some frequently asked questions:

• The new version will be a full build of 2024.2 -- NOT a hotfix.
• If you installed the previous 2024.2 Update:
  • you will not need to fully uninstall Civil 3D 2024.
  • you will need to uninstall the update (from Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Installed Updates) before you install the new build.
• To confirm whether you have the old build, check the Civil 3D Help > About Box. The old build is 13.6.1493.
• The What's New and release notes have been updated to correct the links and include the new features in 2024.2. 
• We're doing a thorough assessment of what went wrong with our process for building, testing, and posting this update. 

I apologize for any confusion this caused. Thanks to everyone for your patience as we sort this out.

[Cadguru42]

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@brian.strandberg wrote:

I can understand having to pull updates from time to time - there are so many niches in the Civil 3d community , survey, rail, infrastructure, ACC, and I could list 10 more.

What does drive me bonkers is the release notes for the software updates often have issues themselves.  This time I decided to record me reading the release notes.  This update was better than most, but there were non-working links, circular links...

https://youtu.be/KGinni-R1Sw

---

It's not just from time to time. It seems almost like a regular occurrence with Autodesk updates. No other software company I've heard of has as many updates pulled almost immediately after being issued than Autodesk. 

You're spot on in regards to the release notes. I still recall how when C3D 2015 came out that Autodesk changed the SQLite format of the survey database, but didn't bother to put that info in the release notes and caused all kinds of massive problems for their customers. They still have issues as you've noted. I think this "Agile" programing setup that Autodesk has moved to is ruining their products. 

[thejac]

Uninstalling specific updates in no longer an option in the current version of Windows 11 as far as I can tell (I am familiar with the process, but Control Panel no longer has this feature and it has been moved to the Settings app which only shows Microsoft Updates). Can you provide guidance on uninstall Autodesk updates in Windows 11 22H2 current with cumulative updates?

[TimYarris]

You're right that Windows 11 does not allow one to uninstall updates. There is a workaround using the UninstallString in the Windows 11 registry. I asked our install team to verify the steps to do this. Once they've verified it works as expected, I'll post the steps to this thread.

[brian.strandberg]

Thanks @TimYarris, that would be a big help.  It would also help if we had a batch file we could run to do those steps.

[rgrainer]

Better still, make an app/function that finds the bad update and either does the uninstall or walks the user through the steps, and then do the new correct update after that, with reboots if required.

Don't make you affected customers jump through any hoops to fix your mess.

[TimYarris]

Hi everyone,

After speaking to the development team, I wanted to provide an update on the Civil 3D 2024.2 Update issue:

A new build is underway and will be thoroughly tested. As I mentioned above, our goal is to have a new build available this week.

Instead of the registry edit workaround for Win 11 I mentioned earlier, we're planning for the new 2024.2 build to have the ability to install over top of the previous build, so no uninstallation should be necessary. We agree with the folks above who mentioned users should not be burdened with a complicated uninstall process. I hope the new build plan will reduce the inconvenience to you.

Thanks again for your patience and I'll keep you updated.

[brian.strandberg]

@TimYarris, I appreciate the updates on this.  When you have 100 people running Civil 3d managing all those installs can be time consuming.

I know windows 11 makes the removing of update process more complex, can your team code a solution to remove these updates?  For example, if I install the next patch (2024.3?) and it causes problems with our survey team getting them back to work will take a while.  

You mention there is a way to do it, but if it takes multiple time consuming steps, having a solution in code would be a big timesaver.

Thanks for taking the time to get it right.

[TimYarris]

Hi everyone,

As of now, we're still working on a new Civil 3D 2024.2 Update build. The development team was just about to accept a build but they caught an issue with it right at the end. We're running a new build that we will thoroughly test before posting it for you to install.

This means we didn't hit our goal of having it available this week; while this is unfortunate, we want to be sure the new build is as solid as can be before it gets to you.

Thanks again for your patience.

[bforr]

I just installed 2024 and searched for the update bc I had seen a post it was available.  So i found this thread.  When the new build comes out do I install over what I have?  And i guess the new build will include the 2024.1 updated since it isn't available.

[Missyz]

Its the same for me, I wanted to create a new deployment but only a clean Civil 3D 2024 is available. 

When 2024.2 was pulled back it seams like all updates were removed

[bforr]

yes and good thing I didn't uninstall 2023 first. my ver of 2024 gets hung up and wouldn't run LAYWALK just now. So I'll wait.

[Missyz]

Civil 2024.2 is now available again, but you haven't notified it here. Just to check up is it the new one?