Losing edits when monitor turns off (sometimes)

[jbeckmanBTYRP]

Hello,

I have had an issue for several years (and versions) now that randomly comes up and is causing a lot of lost work.  The issue is sometimes when I walk away from my computer, I come back and a lot of the work I've done is GONE.  I look at the command line and there was no "UNDO" or similar command.  This last time the last command I did was a QSAVE and then a bunch of SYSVAR has changed messages, and nothing else.  While I was gone my screen did shut off, but the computer did not (I did have to re-enter my password but all apps were open where I had them).  The screen was even zoomed to the same part I had been working on, but all of the edits are gone.

This has happened dozens of times that I have noticed in the last 3 or so years.  I was on AutoCAD Civil3D 2020 and now Civil3D 2022.  I've upgraded (recently) from Windows 10 to Windows 11.  So different versions of CAD and different operating system. 

The hardware has been unchanged:

HP Z6 G4 workstation

Xeon Silver 4116 CPU

16GB ram (2x8GB as delivered by HP)

Radeon Pro WX 5100 (driver version 31.0.12044.3 dated 10/25/2022). 

Samsung 512gb NVMe boot drive, everything else saved on network shares

My HP support assistant only shows an ethernet driver and Intel Management Engine firmware update available.  I haven't updated because the former works well and the latter I don't use.  BIOS is on latest firmware.

I'm running dual monitors at 1080p and just verified that the computer is set to NOT go to sleep, it only turned the monitor off after 5 minutes.  It does ask for a password when I come back.  I've since changed that to never go off as this last round it would have been a lot of work lost if I hadn't saved right before I walked away.  This isn't something I can recreate, it seems to happen randomly but always when my monitor shuts off.  Sometimes I lock the computer (CTRL-ALT-DEL then lock) sometimes it just automatically locks because it does so after 5-minutes when it turns monitor off.  It doesn't always do this, but it's every month or two I notice this and I wonder how many times this has happened that I didn't notice it.  Thankfully I often save, but sometimes I do lose work.

I've never had this be a problem, but in case it matters I usually run with TWO sessions of Civil3D open, one on each monitor accessing different files that aren't XREF'ed or anything like that.  Generally my files are always "base data" files and I don't have XREF's in them, they are used by Civil as XREF's in their files (though they copy over to their drive to modify so usually shouldn't be directly referencing my files anyway).

Has ANYONE seen anything like this?  I've tried google searches but can't seem to find anything like this.  I'm leaning to a hardware issue but everything works great the rest of the time.  I'm hopeful disabling the monitors sleeping will help but I hate to leave them running 24x7 since I leave my computer on so I can access remotely if needed.

Any help is appreciated

[jbeckmanBTYRP]

Hello,

I have had an issue for several years (and versions) now that randomly comes up and is causing a lot of lost work.  The issue is sometimes when I walk away from my computer, I come back and a lot of the work I've done is GONE.  I look at the command line and there was no "UNDO" or similar command.  This last time the last command I did was a QSAVE and then a bunch of SYSVAR has changed messages, and nothing else.  While I was gone my screen did shut off, but the computer did not (I did have to re-enter my password but all apps were open where I had them).  The screen was even zoomed to the same part I had been working on, but all of the edits are gone.

This has happened dozens of times that I have noticed in the last 3 or so years.  I was on AutoCAD Civil3D 2020 and now Civil3D 2022.  I've upgraded (recently) from Windows 10 to Windows 11.  So different versions of CAD and different operating system. 

The hardware has been unchanged:

HP Z6 G4 workstation

Xeon Silver 4116 CPU

16GB ram (2x8GB as delivered by HP)

Radeon Pro WX 5100 (driver version 31.0.12044.3 dated 10/25/2022). 

Samsung 512gb NVMe boot drive, everything else saved on network shares

My HP support assistant only shows an ethernet driver and Intel Management Engine firmware update available.  I haven't updated because the former works well and the latter I don't use.  BIOS is on latest firmware.

I'm running dual monitors at 1080p and just verified that the computer is set to NOT go to sleep, it only turned the monitor off after 5 minutes.  It does ask for a password when I come back.  I've since changed that to never go off as this last round it would have been a lot of work lost if I hadn't saved right before I walked away.  This isn't something I can recreate, it seems to happen randomly but always when my monitor shuts off.  Sometimes I lock the computer (CTRL-ALT-DEL then lock) sometimes it just automatically locks because it does so after 5-minutes when it turns monitor off.  It doesn't always do this, but it's every month or two I notice this and I wonder how many times this has happened that I didn't notice it.  Thankfully I often save, but sometimes I do lose work.

I've never had this be a problem, but in case it matters I usually run with TWO sessions of Civil3D open, one on each monitor accessing different files that aren't XREF'ed or anything like that.  Generally my files are always "base data" files and I don't have XREF's in them, they are used by Civil as XREF's in their files (though they copy over to their drive to modify so usually shouldn't be directly referencing my files anyway).

Has ANYONE seen anything like this?  I've tried google searches but can't seem to find anything like this.  I'm leaning to a hardware issue but everything works great the rest of the time.  I'm hopeful disabling the monitors sleeping will help but I hate to leave them running 24x7 since I leave my computer on so I can access remotely if needed.

Any help is appreciated

[jbeckmanBTYRP]

I just looked, and I found under power settings "Hybrid Sleep" was on.  I don't know what that is, but I turned it off just in case.  

[jbeckmanBTYRP]

I just looked, and I found under power settings "Hybrid Sleep" was on.  I don't know what that is, but I turned it off just in case.  

[brian.strandberg]

So CAD doesn't crash but it is loosing edits.  I'm not sure what to make of that, but I would look into:

Check your SAVETIME setting to make sure the Autosave is triggering at a regular interval. I would go into 3DCONFIG and turn off Hardware Acceleration (slider at the top).  I have seen problems with some laptops with the video card going black screen and resetting.  I have seen more issues with AMD cards than others.

I would also check your UNDOCTL system variable.  If its not 53, some setting change has been made, and you can investigate those. 

[brian.strandberg]

So CAD doesn't crash but it is loosing edits.  I'm not sure what to make of that, but I would look into:

Check your SAVETIME setting to make sure the Autosave is triggering at a regular interval. I would go into 3DCONFIG and turn off Hardware Acceleration (slider at the top).  I have seen problems with some laptops with the video card going black screen and resetting.  I have seen more issues with AMD cards than others.

I would also check your UNDOCTL system variable.  If its not 53, some setting change has been made, and you can investigate those. 

[jbeckmanBTYRP]

That is correct, CAD does not crash.  I can zoom out, move around, and if I save the drawing the edits are gone.  When I notice this I immediately go grab a copy of the .dwg and .bak file, and if I was bad about saving I go to my temp folder for my autosaves and restore from there.  Usually I have recent versions, but not always.

This is an AMD card, though not a gaming card so I always heard the reason we overpay for the workstation cards is for the better drivers.  Unfortunately, if I turn off hardware acceleration the system is all but useless.  Pans/zooms with text are unbearably slow.  Edit text with true-type fonts is a nightmare.  So, I have to leave it on for my sanity.

With that said, I do have "weird" things with my video card that I've just lived with.  Sometimes it will ignore all the draworder stuff, and things on the bottom (solid hatches for instance) show up on top and nothing will change it even if I click it and select DRAWORDER back or try to move the other stuff to the front.  However if I turn off the hardware acceleration, and then right back on, it's all fixed.  Maybe I have an issue with this card?  It's been like this since I've had the computer.  It's an HP, not a home-built so I would hope it was sorted. 

Now that I have the monitor set to not go to sleep, if it happens again I'll explore getting a new graphics card (NVidia) but I'm kinda frustrated with it right now.

[jbeckmanBTYRP]

That is correct, CAD does not crash.  I can zoom out, move around, and if I save the drawing the edits are gone.  When I notice this I immediately go grab a copy of the .dwg and .bak file, and if I was bad about saving I go to my temp folder for my autosaves and restore from there.  Usually I have recent versions, but not always.

This is an AMD card, though not a gaming card so I always heard the reason we overpay for the workstation cards is for the better drivers.  Unfortunately, if I turn off hardware acceleration the system is all but useless.  Pans/zooms with text are unbearably slow.  Edit text with true-type fonts is a nightmare.  So, I have to leave it on for my sanity.

With that said, I do have "weird" things with my video card that I've just lived with.  Sometimes it will ignore all the draworder stuff, and things on the bottom (solid hatches for instance) show up on top and nothing will change it even if I click it and select DRAWORDER back or try to move the other stuff to the front.  However if I turn off the hardware acceleration, and then right back on, it's all fixed.  Maybe I have an issue with this card?  It's been like this since I've had the computer.  It's an HP, not a home-built so I would hope it was sorted. 

Now that I have the monitor set to not go to sleep, if it happens again I'll explore getting a new graphics card (NVidia) but I'm kinda frustrated with it right now.

[brian.strandberg]

It is a really weird issue, next time this happens you may want to try COPYHIST and paste into a text editor to review if any commands are being issued.  Before that I would probably set CMDECHO to 1, just to make sure you are capturing everything. 

I would also update the graphics drivers just in case that can help, and if it doesn't do a clean reinstall of Civil 3d.

[brian.strandberg]

It is a really weird issue, next time this happens you may want to try COPYHIST and paste into a text editor to review if any commands are being issued.  Before that I would probably set CMDECHO to 1, just to make sure you are capturing everything. 

I would also update the graphics drivers just in case that can help, and if it doesn't do a clean reinstall of Civil 3d.

[AllenJessup]

The only thing I can think of is that the network is for some reason restoring a previous version of the file. Shouldn't happen especially with the drawing open. But I can't see anything reaching into the drawing and removing edits.

I have "weird" things happen with my Nvidia card. But it's always a display issue. I have to open certain drawings with Recover every time. No errors found but if I don't there will be drastic display errors.

If it does happen again. Try to remember where the edits were and select one by window. Or select by last. One issue I've had is that entities are there, just not  being displayed even with a regen.

[AllenJessup]

The only thing I can think of is that the network is for some reason restoring a previous version of the file. Shouldn't happen especially with the drawing open. But I can't see anything reaching into the drawing and removing edits.

I have "weird" things happen with my Nvidia card. But it's always a display issue. I have to open certain drawings with Recover every time. No errors found but if I don't there will be drastic display errors.

If it does happen again. Try to remember where the edits were and select one by window. Or select by last. One issue I've had is that entities are there, just not  being displayed even with a regen.