Unable to Edit or Post NC Program

[m.vangrouw]

Hi Everyone,

I have been encountering inconsistent problems with the Fusion NC Programs dialog box for a month or two now, and I thought I would try to get some help with the issues. Occasionally, when I try to edit an existing NC program or create a new one, the dialog box either does not come up, or comes up as greyed out and cannot be edited. When this happens the other NC programs/operations/toolpaths in the file become unselectable (in the case of the greyed out box, they are unselectable after I exit the dialog box.) Fusion also becomes less stable when the glitch is active and tends to crash, especially if I close the file and try to reopen it. I haven’t been able to find a consistent way to reset the glitch, and it stops me from posting code, which is very frustrating. I have tried the following with no consistent success.

• closing and opening the troublesome file
• closing and reopening fusion
• logging out and back into fusion
• restarting my computer
• uninstalling and reinstalling fusion
•  repairing fusion with the new utility dialog
• Running the network diagnostics in the new utility dialog while the glitch was active (all appeared good)
• Making edits to the setup/models/toolpaths to reset whatever causes the glitch
• Bringing my personal laptop to work and testing with that, ran into the exact same issue on both computers after the update to v2.0.12665.

The glitch has occurred across 7-10 files on different days. In each case it fixes itself eventually, and generally seems more frequent the first few times I try to post code after fusion is updated. I have never encountered it when I am using fusion at home, but that might just be because I use it much more frequently at work. (Note I use the same laptop at home that I mentioned in my last bullet point.)

I am using a highly modified Fadal post processor, but I don’t think that’s the issue because the glitches are inconsistent despite constant use of this post. This post is attached, a word doc which I have recorded some of the glitches in with my attempted solutions, and the diagnostic logs folder. The most recent file which gave me trouble is shared by the link below. Note that the way I have done my stock/model/wcs in this file is consisted with the other files which have given me trouble. Hopefully someone will have some ideas!

https://a360.co/3JgeBRm

Thanks for the help!

Sincerely,

Matthew

[viacheslav.shapilov]

Thank you for report.

Could you please let us know, do you use network folder/drive for NC program output? If yes, it is probably known issue. We recently added a check into NC program, if folder actually exists or not. In some cases Windows can do this check quite long for network folders and drives. We are aware about this issue and working on it. If not, probably it is something different and we should know more about your environment.

[m.vangrouw]

Yes, I normally post to a the company server. I will switch to posting to a local drive on my PC and moving the files  to the server manually. I'll let you know how that works. If I don't encounter the issue, I will mark the thread as solved in a week or two. Otherwise I will let you know what happens and include the details of my setup. Please let me know if there is anything specific you would like to know. 

Thanks for the help! 

[m.vangrouw]

Ok, it happened again late yesterday, after I had changed to posting into a local folder. Here are the steps which created the issue. Please ignore my choppy writing and bad grammar, I was recording things as they happened. 

1. 4/7/22 v2.0.12670
   1. Had been programming in manufacture, went to design, created a sketch containing a point to use as my WCS for an operation, went back to manufacture, made that point my WCS, selected NC operation, hit post process, nothing happened, NC programs/operations/toolpaths became unselectable. Exited file and reopened, still count not post. Attempted to exit file again, fusion crashed. Sent crash report ID 321884766
   2. Shut off pc, disconnected ethernet cable (my only connection to the internet and company server.) Turned pc back on. Reopened fusion in offline mode. Deleted recovery file of troublesome file. Opened troublesome file. Tried to edit troublesome NC program, did not succeed, same symptoms as above. Closed file, opened file I had been working on previously in day and attempted to edit NC program. Same Issue. Switched to a untitled file without closing the second file. Fusion froze, then crashed. No crash report because internet was not connected.
   3. Came in morning of 4/8/22, opened fusion, opened the troublesome file. Successfully opened the troublesome NC program. Folder was set to a local folder in my documents on my windows 10 pro pc.

I also remembered that this only started happening after the update that introduce the separate file for the NC program file name. 

If this happens again, is there anything I should try to help you troubleshoot?

[viacheslav.shapilov]

Thank you for details.

What I can think, there are only two potentially slow operations, when opening NC program: checking output folder and reading posts. If they are not in a network path, it should be pretty fast.

Another thing, that potentially can happen: NC program dialog is actually opened outside of the screen. In this case you will see that Fusion gets frozen, but NC program dialog is not visible. If this happens, you should be able to drive it with keyboard still. On Windows, you can try to move it from outside of the screen by pressing "Alt, Space, M" and than use arrow keys to move it. Or just close it by "Esc" or "Enter" key.

[m.vangrouw]

OK, I am going to reset the output folder to the fusion default just to be safe.

Of the three ways to access a custom post (cloud, local, and linked folder), which one is theoretically the fastest? I will start using that option to try and eliminate that possibility. 

If that doesn't work, I will revert to using a default fusion post for a while to see if that clears things up. 

I will also see if the dialog box opens off my screen. 

Thanks for the help! I'll keep you posted. 

[viacheslav.shapilov]

---

Of the three ways to access a custom post (cloud, local, and linked folder), which one is theoretically the fastest? I will start using that option to try and eliminate that possibility. 

All of them are usually local and equally fast.

"Linked folder" can be linked to network path. I don't know, is it your case, or not.

"Local" can be set to network path in Windows settings, if you use roaming profile at work. But it is better to ask your network administrators about it.

BTW, it could be helpful, if you can record screencast of the issue.

[m.vangrouw]

OK, it happened again for the first time since my last post. I was absorbed in my work and forgot to hit record before I initially tried to post the program, but once the bug started I started recording. All I did to trigger the bug was edit the bottom height offset on a drilling operation, then change the feeds and speeds on a tapping operation. When I hit the tried to post the NC program, the dialog box never came up. I closed the file, started recording, then reopened it. In the video, I got a "no  operation is selected error" which I have never gotten before. I also tried hitting escape to exit out of a hidden dialog window, but it didn't help. (2:04 timestamp, you can see the highlighting changing for the OP1 setup, which is what is contained in the NC program.)

The output folder is set to the default fusion output location, and I am using a linked folder to the "my documents" section of my pc. When fusion fixes itself in a few hours and I can once again edit the NC programs, I will change both folders to something directly on my C drive in case a roaming profile that I don't know about is causing the issues. 

I hope this helps to isolate the issue. 

Thanks again for the help!

PS. I just realized that there is an screencast app, Ill use that next time. I had been using OBS to record my screen. 

[viacheslav.shapilov]

Thank you for details!

To be honest, it looks weird. I cannot guess, what can go wrong internally, and cannot reproduce or simulate it. But gut feels, it can be related to operations highlighting, when NC program gets selected. It is relatively new feature. We will try to have a deeper investigation of the issue.

[m.vangrouw]

OK. I'm going to continue to try to capture the instant that the glitch occurs. I am also trying using an output folder that is in my C drive very near the top level. (Not under any users) I am trying to avoid any roaming profiles. So far it seems to be working, but its hard to tell if that actually fixed anything because the issue is so inconsistent. I'll keep you posted of any new developments or if I get any new screencast info.

Thank you for the continued help! It is much appreciated!

[m.vangrouw]

I just captured the moment that the glitch occurred as I created an NC program. I will DM you the link to the screencast. Sometimes it also happens when I go edit a NC program. I am currently updating Fusion to see if that helps. 

[m.vangrouw · Accepted solution]

Here is an update/workaround to the issue. 

I believe that I tried this early on and it did not fix it, but recently it has been successful. If I open the Fusion 360 service utility menu and reset fusion, it clears the glitch. This has consistently worked the past 5 or 6 times I have been unable to post a program. 

As a side note, if I check "keep user credential" I still need to sign in to the account again when fusion restarts, does anyone else encounter the same thing?