Fusion 360 crashes suddenly when attempting to use the "save as stl" function

[cwailes1987]

Firstly: I am wholly unable to submit any sort of error report for this bug. I have no idea why. Fusion simply does not present me with the option.

There was no software update of any sort prior to this that I am aware of. About a week ago I went through my usual workflow, right clicked on a component I wished to save as an STL, the usual box came up asking me to select refinement level etc. I clicked "save" and it began to open the file explorer dialog box to name and save the folder.

Then, the program hung up for 5-10 seconds and completely crashed leaving me no opportunity to file any sort of report.

This problem replicates any time I try to save *any* file as an stl regardless of the project, object, or component. It is not file related.

Seeking assistance, I found a thread on the forum suggesting that Fusion was trying to access a folder which did not exist. This was not true, the referenced folder absolutely existed, but I attempted the suggested fix of accessing NMachineSpecificOptions.xml and modifying the setting 'LastDirectoryOptionId' to reflect a parent folder.

This solution worked, temporarily. I was able to load the save dialog, and from there select the original referenced folder and save my work.

Obviously this is not ideal as I had to keep doing it over and over, so I decided to try the suggested clean uninstall and reinstall option, downloading the Fusion 360 clean uninstall .zip from this site and running it, then reinstalling Fusion from a fresh download.

This made the problem worse. Now, the same crash occurs, but because there is no save history, there is no 'LastDirectoryOptionId' field in my NMachineSpecificOptions.xml file.

As a result I am now unable to even work around the issue by changing the value.

Fusion 360 has become totally unusable to me and I have no way to workaround the issue. As stated, a fully clean uninstall and reinstall did not fix anything despite being attempted multiple times. This is NOT individual file related, as this happens with each and every use of "save as STL" across all projects.

I am still able to access save as dialog boxes when attempting to export as other file types such as .f3d, or exporting render images, but "save as STL" specifically has been rendered totally non-functional.

Please, someone give me a direction to at least try to move in, here.

I am attaching my most current Fusion 360 diagnostic log, though this is from a fresh reinstall so I'm not sure how helpful it can be.

[cwailes1987]

UPDATE: I have had extremely limited success at a partial work around.

My default downloads folder is on my HDD E drive rather than my SSD C: boot drive.

By changing my default save folder to my C: boot drive, I am able to use "save as STL".

If I then navigate to my E: drive I am able to access the drive, but as soon as I begin to move into my usual STL organization folders, which I use extensively and always have for Fusion 360, it then hangs and crashes in precisely the same way.

[cwailes1987]

UPDATE: 

Further exploration has yielded bizarre results. I am able to use Save as STL as long as I am accessing certain folders, but not others. The folders that cause me to crash seem to be totally arbitrary.

Nothing in these folders has changed that should cause this.

It's possible that I can work around this issue by manually moving files but this is a massive inconvenience and I'd very much like to know what is going on.

[Anonymous]

I have the same problem since yesterday.. Everything works well but yesterday when I tryed to save anything to STL it is OK until the tab with my folders open where I want to save my STL and it stucked there for few seconds and then it crashes.. 

[jerrybaffetto]

good morning, same problem for me too, when I go to work on a folder from my pc, maybe I want to upload a picture in F360 or I want to export a file in .stl, 10/15 seconds and everything crashes, I follow your treahd to understand, thanks for your help

[lance.carocci]

Hi @cwailes1987 and others impacted by this bug,

Nothing stands out in the logs related to this workflow, unfortunately, and initial testing has been unable to reproduce this. We may need to go digging for clues. If possible, please attach a DxDiag report for any affected devices to help us profile this issue.

1. Press the Windows Key+R for Run
2. Type DxDiag and press Enter
3. In the DxDiag window, click Save All Information
4. Upload the file here
   • Please note - this report contains usernames, which are often based on personally identifying information (i.e. your name). If you prefer, you can edit this out of the text file, or directly message me a hosted link.

I'd also be interested in any unique traits about the directory or folders, e.g. synced/backed up by a cloud storage application e.g. OneDrive, or configured with OS-level features like encryption, file compression, or a different "owner" in the eyes of the Windows system. The contents of the folders may be a clue, too - even if the folders are seemingly random, they might have similar content types, such as something that might generate a [corrupted] thumbnail.

We might as well consider the hardware, too - examples include whether the drive is connected in any special way such as USB/Thunderbolt/network, or the make/model/format/configuration of the physical drive itself.

The next time the crash happens, check if there is a related entry in the Windows Event Viewer, located in the Start Menu under Windows Administrative Tools, or simply search for Event Viewer. In the left column under Windows Logs are a few category pivots - the two we're most interested in are Application and System - depending on the nature of the error, a timestamped event might be logged related to Fusion 360, or the underlying Windows disk and Explorer process. If you see anything of note, please let us know.

[lance.carocci]

@cwailes1987 and others, please also check the default application handling STLs - if you were to double click on an STL file, what application opens? (If you are prompted to choose by Windows, no app is assigned by default).

[Anonymous]

Hello, so here is my DxDiag. Also for a moment helped me when I tried to ''Export'' whole model on my desktop and then I was able to make about 2-3 saves of STL on my desktop but then it went back to crashes and another whole export doesn't helped. 

[r.augusiewicz]

Here is a reddit thread of people encountering this problem - https://www.reddit.com/r/Fusion360/comments/mmfn2x/crashes_when_saving_stl_file/

I have the same issue. I wanted to work with many .svg files - I import them to fusion, work with them and save as STL. As long the .stl will be FIRST of it's kind in the folder then everything is allright, when I want to save second and any another stl Fusion 360 freezes on browse window, doesnt show any folders and I can't even change the save location - it critical exits.

The only workaround is to have each .svg in seperate folder because while saving as STL by default Fusion tries to save in the folder from which I have imported the .svg that I work with and crashes because another .STL file is already there.

Very time consuming and very annoying bug for me.

[alan.jonesXHXUF]

Same here! As soon as I tried to change the folder to where I wanted the STL to go, it died. And now I can't save STLs at all from Fusion. Not used the laptop since Friday when this was working fine!

Video of problem (when it finishes processing on youtube anyway)

http://youtu.be/utSaL3THJzI?hd=1

[alan.jonesXHXUF]

UPDATE! I've just exported STEP and used an online converter to get the STL. When I try and copy or cut the STL file in Windows Explorer then Explorer crashes. I've just set STLs back to open with paint3d instead of Photon Workshop and all appears to be well again, and Fusion is now able to export again. So look like yet another Windows 10 bug, not Fusion. Seriously guys, please bring back Windows 7 support, it was so much less hassle! 

[lance.carocci]

@alan.jonesXHXUF, that's good info, thanks - it would support the theory of the default handler for STLs being the cause. Would you be able to record that workflow in addition? If nothing else, it would be interesting to see if Fusion can be more resilient here - crashes without error reports are the worst.

For anyone else, please double-click an STL file and report back which application opens (with the default usually being Paint3D or 3D Viewer).

[lance.carocci]

Just out of curiosity, I would invite anyone impacted to try the steps in this post and confirm if it helps.

[3duke-engineering · Accepted solution]

I too have encountered this problem as of today, so came searching for answers. It appears that if you remove all stl files from the directory fusion is wanting to save in, it works... but not all the time.

I tried changing the default stl application to Paint 3D - made no change

I tried the above mentioned link to steps, with no result, other than Chitubox now doesn't work, and reversing the steps doesn't resolve the Chitubox error.

However uninstalling Chitubox seems to have solved the issue for me. I have yet to try reinstalling it to see what happens.

I imagine this issue will be heavily reported over the coming days/weeks as many people saving to stl for 3d printing will likely also have the Chitubox application installed for resin printing. 

[lance.carocci]

@3duke-engineering, I can confirm the crash behavior with Chitubox - thank you! We are still investigating the reason for the crash, but we have also had some confirmations by users that this happens outside of Fusion 360, with other applications attempting to save via the Explorer window to a folder containing multiple STLs.

Assuming it is specifically the thumbnail-generating capability, would it be possible to disable just that component? A workaround might be STL Thumbnail, based on the Marlin 3D Printer tool.

Alternately, it might be worth trying to use a different view for that folder that does not utilize these thumbnails - Explorer's "List" and "Details" views should achieve this.

For any other users affected - the quickest workaround to this issue is to uninstall Chitubox until the issue is resolved. We will continue to look for a less-invasive fix.

[cwailes1987]

UPDATE:

This isn't really a solution but...

After trying all the various recommended fixes, uninstalling Chitubox sorted the immediate crash error for me, at least for now. I have not yet attempted a reinstall of Chitubox but at least it seems the cause has been narrowed down.

[Anonymous]

Had same issue, uinstalling chitubox helps

But from windows event logs looks like issue is in QtCore

see below

Nazwa aplikacji powodującej błąd: Fusion360.exe, wersja: 10032.2.0.0, sygnatura czasowa: 0x60724ca1
Nazwa modułu powodującego błąd: Qt5Core.dll, wersja: 5.15.2.0, sygnatura czasowa: 0x603472ef
Kod wyjątku: 0xc0000409
Przesunięcie błędu: 0x00000000000204c8
Identyfikator procesu powodującego błąd: 0x13dc
Godzina uruchomienia aplikacji powodującej błąd: 0x01d735b8d59a474e
Ścieżka aplikacji powodującej błąd: C:\Users\piotr-amd\AppData\Local\Autodesk\webdeploy\production\5873edb3ce0a7ce93d3ee911f7ba68d35a7e5862\Fusion360.exe
Ścieżka modułu powodującego błąd: C:\Users\piotr-amd\AppData\Local\Autodesk\webdeploy\production\5873edb3ce0a7ce93d3ee911f7ba68d35a7e5862\Qt5Core.dll

[michaelgrosser]

I also had this same problem, and uninstalling Chitubox solved it, though Chitubox was *not* my default app for STLs, Cura was.

[Mike6158]

I don't have Chitubox installed and my very simple designs take forever to save. I ran into one that won't save at all yesterday. I deleted it. 

[olaf.krause]

Same here - deinstalling Chitu solved it. But no only export STL also import was effected. As soon any file explorer was opened Fusion crashed.