Fusion 360 does not start (offline) if not connected to internet

[PatrickH2]

I can not start Fusion 360 in offline mode when no internet service. I receive the following message:

Unable to connect to internet

Please check your network connection and sign into your Autodesk account to start Fusion 360 and try again later.

When on my boat, no services at all, I need to work offline.  It was working before.

Please help.

Thank you

Patrick

[James.Youmatz]

Hi @PatrickH2,

Welcome to the Fusion 360 Community!

I am sorry to hear that! From the sounds of it, it sounds like Fusion cannot access your profile needed to go into offline mode. I just tested this on my machine (signed into Fusion with a network connection, then closed Fusion, then turned off my Wi-fi and relaunched Fusion) and it instantly booted into offline mode. I do know if you haven't signed into Fusion for 2 weeks (online) it will not be able to authenticate your login. Is this the case? 

Do you have temporary access to the internet right now? I am curious if you sign out of Fusion, then sign back in (with an internet connection), if that will save the authentication state. Then, if you close Fusion and disable your internet, it should open in offline mode the next time you launch Fusion. I just tested this on my machine and it seemed to work. I also tested deleting my login state (so that it wouldn't cache my login info and I would be forced to sign in) and then launching Fusion with no Wi-Fi. I ended getting the same error message as you, so I have a feeling this might be what you are seeing.

Thanks,

[PatrickH2]

Hello,

I did exactly what you did and nothing change.  Also we tested on my son's computers who has a different account and same problem.

Thank you.

Patrick

[James.Youmatz]

Hi @PatrickH2,

Very strange! Just to check - do you have a stable internet connection right now to test things? I want to check on a few things, but don't want to leave you in a bad state in case you don't have internet. 

Can you please send me your application log files to james.youmatz@autodesk.com (either on your sons or your computer). To gather those, please follow the instructions on this guide here. 

Do you know if you have any network preferences stored within Fusion 360's preferences? This would be under the Network tab. One thought I had is that Fusion is trying to pull network settings that it does not detect when you are on the boat.

Thanks,

[candirsky]

Hi! I have the same issue. Fusion 360 installed on Win10. And if I try to launch Fusion360 during the absence of Internet connection program every time returns me the message: "Unable to connect to Internet Please check your network connection. You need to sign into your Autodesk Account to use Fusion 360.". Although I was logged in before. So I can't run it in offline mode at all. Can someone help me with that?

Thanks in advance, Eugene.

[James.Youmatz]

Hi @candirsky,

Just to check - you did have Fusion working successfully before, correct? If so, lets try clearing your cached login state. To do this:

Windows OS

1. (Close Fusion 360) In windows explorer browse to  C:/users/<username>/appdata/local/autodesk/web services

2. In the Web Services directory, right lick on the Login State.xml file and select delete

3. Restart Fusion 360

When you restart you should be prompted to login again. Are you able to successfully do so? If not, can you please collect your application log files and web services log files (guide here) and post them here or email them to me at james.youmatz@autodesk.com

Thanks,

[candirsky]

Hi James!

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, the recipe didn't work. I deleted the Login State.xml file in the specified location and after that I could not run Fusion 360 at all. It appeared only in the task manager but there was no splash screen and no application icon in the taskbar. I closed all possible applications and processes which could cause any possible software conflicts including antivirus software (comodo) but without any positive results. Then I reinstalled Fusion 360 completely. It started fine after that, with login screen. Then I turned off Internet connection to check how it works without Internet connection and the same again. "Unable to connect to Internet Please check your network connection". Every time I turn on Internet connection again Fusion 360 starts with login screen. I'm not sure if I had Fusion working successfully in offline mode before, on that machine, it seems I'm experiencing Fusion 360 in offline mode first time on that machine. But Fusion works well in offline mode on my secondary machine, laptop. 

It's worth adding that I stumbled with such abnormal running only for the last two weeks. Fusion 360 started to refuse from running until I delete some random process in task manager. In most cases, it's enough to kill 3dx connexion process (3d mouse driver). But sometimes Fusion 360 starts fine without killing that process. So I don't see any stable conflicts with some specific software. And that's happening only for two last weeks, I repeat. I had Fusion 360 starting completely fine before. And I don't have any similar issues with other software on that machine.

I'm attaching my Fusion 360 Diagnostic Logs. Really hope these logs will help somehow.

Thanks,

Eugene.

[James.Youmatz]

Hi @candirsky,

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you - never received an email notification 😞

From your logs I see:

20170522T191434 E 1495469674068 1495469674073 GET https://ui-dls360.autodesk.com/fusion/version.txt 6 Could not resolve host: ui-dls360.autodesk.com

These only occur on the logs where you received the error message about being unable to connect to the internet. Can you visit that URL (https://ui-dls360.autodesk.com/fusion/version.txt) in a web browser? A few strings of text should pop up if successful. The fact that this error message is sporadic makes me wonder if it is a router/ISP issue. Does resetting your router seem to cause any differences? I'll continue to dig however.

Thanks,

[candirsky]

Hi @James.Youmatz,

No worries about the delay. 

I have two browsers on my computer, Chrome and Edge. And both of them open https://ui-dls360.autodesk.com/fusion/version.txt without any issues. Here is a link to the screenshot.

I'm not clearly understood about the router reset suggestion. Do you mean hard reset by means the reset button on the back panel? Or some kind of a software reset?  Another computer with WIn7 OS installed on it and connected to the same router starts Fusion 360 in offline mode without any issues when I switch off the ethernet cable or the router. Just to be clear, I'm experiencing issues with running Fusion 360 only in offline mode, when I'm disconnected from Internet or without connection to the router. But with the Internet connection Fusion 360 starts perfectly.

Thanks,

Eugene.

[James.Youmatz]

Hi @candirsky,

Good to know about the system. That cleared a few things up for me. I agree - if another computer on the same network is not experiencing this, the router idea may be a wild goose chase. I do have a few thoughts however. Can you create a new Windows user and try to install Fusion there and see if you have the same issue? I want to try to nail down if this is something specific to that environment.

For instance, perhaps it is an Anti-Virus coming into play. This may explain the sporadic nature. I would be curious to see if the AV is capturing the request or server calls from us. Also if anything such as firewall, background file syncs, hosts file, environment variables, exist on that account.

Thanks,

[candirsky]

Hi @James.Youmatz,

I followed all your instructions but it didn't help. I uninstalled Fusion360 from my account, then I created new Windows user and installed Fusion360 from there. From the first attempt, it didn't start at all. It appeared only in task manager without appearing even splash screen. Then I closed all possible applications and Comodo antivirus (with killing all its processes in the task manager). All default Windows AV and firewall are disabled.

At the second attempt Fusion 360 returned new kind of message: "Sufficient data not found to switch to offline mode. Application will go online now. " Computer was connected to the Internet at the time. Then it closed. Fusion360 started successfully only from the third attempt on the newly created account. And the same with offline mode: "unable to connect to Internet...".

I went even further. I executed all instructions from clean Fusion 360 uninstall manual. Then installed Fusion 360 from my main account again. And nothing changed. Literally the same issues.

Here are screenshots of my system variables:

Hosts file

System environment variables

I have only Dropbox sync application working in the background. And I tried to launch Fusion 360 with AV software switched completely off. (with killing all relevant processes in the task manager).

It started to seem that it would be easier to reinstall Win10 or even revert to Win7. What do you think?

Thank you for your time,

Eugene.

[innovatenate]

@candirsky In the below forum discussion, another user reported that they needed to configure Comodo anti-virus to get Fusion running on their Windows machine. 

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/support/windows-10-update-and-fusion-will-not-open/m-p/7120881#M3350

I realize that you killed all the relevant processes in Task Manager related to Comodo. Perhaps it would be worth a try to configure the anti-virus software to run with Fusion 360? See the below links for more info:

• Configuring Exception in Comodo
• Configure Anti-Virus Software for Fusion 360

If this doesn't help, would you mind uploading a new version of the diagnostic log files? We've recently made some changes to the logging that may help.

Thanks,

[candirsky]

Hi @innovatenate,

I added Fusion 360 folder to Comodo excluded paths. (C:\Users\MyUserName\AppData\Local\Autodesk\webdeploy\)
But it didn't help again. Fusion works well with the Internet connection, but every time I pull out the ethernet cable and try to launch Fusion 360 it doesn't start in offline mode and returns the message "Unable to connect to Internet". I also tried to switch off manually Comodo antivirus and firewall. And then turned off Comodo completely. And the same again, "unable to connect to Internet" in offline mode with ethernet cable pulled out. I'm attaching an updated log files. Hope they will help somehow.

Thanks,
Eugene.

[innovatenate]

Hey Eugene,

Thanks for the log files. I'm seeing this bit:

20170601T215948 I getEntitlement
20170601T215948 I authenticate:begin
20170601T215948 I Autosave background thread started, SaveTime = 5, VersionTime = 60, crashMultiplier = 1, versionMultiplier = 12
20170601T215948 I PROXY: WindowsProxyOptionId set to Automatic		ThreadID: 13020, Function: `anonymous-namespace'::logProxyOpIfChanged, Line: 850
20170601T215948 W PROXY: failed to query IE proxy configuration - Õ• ̆©‰•≠ URL-‡§∞±†‡¢≤Ó¨†Ì©£Ì∑•Ì•™Ìæ© Ì†±Ì™ÇÌæ©Í®†Ô∞Æͱ®-Ì•óÌ∞¢Â∞†.


20170601T215948 I PROXY: proxy server set to DIRECT		ThreadID: 13020, Function: `anonymous-namespace'::logProxyUsedIfChanged, Line: 877
20170601T215948 E 1496343588053 1496343588146 GET https://ui-dls360.autodesk.com/fusion/version.txt 6 Could not resolve host: ui-dls360.autodesk.com
20170601T215948 I login start
20170601T215948 I login end 0
20170601T215948 E login failed 0.135187
20170601T215948 E MessageBox Error: Unable to connect to Internet

Please check your network connection. You need to sign into your Autodesk Account to use Fusion 360.

I believe the getEntitlment command means that Fusion 360 does not have your credentials/entitlement stored on the machine. Therefore, Fusion needs to reach out to Autodesk servers to authenticate the users credentials. 

Are you signing out of Fusion at all before the internet connection is lost? 

If so just close Fusion, don't sign out before hand. For Fusion 360 to startup in offline mode, you must be signed into Fusion 360. 

There are some limitations to what you can do while offline. You cannot switch users while offline because you will need to authenticate each user at sign-in. Fusion can run offline for a period of up to two weeks. After that period, Fusion will need to reconnect online to continue running.

I hope that helps. If you suspect something is out of the ordinary or still wrong, please let me know. I am happy to investigate further.

Thanks,

[candirsky]

Hi Nathan,

@innovatenate

I hadn't signed out of Fusion 360 before getting my connection lost. It seems some software prevents it from keeping credentials/entitlement locally. What can it be except Comodo antivirus? Default WIN10 AV software is switched off completely. Maybe I should try to uninstall Comodo completely and then try to do a complete reinstall of Fusion 360?

I'm familiar with offline mode limitations. And, fortunately, for 99% of the time, I have stable Internet connection. But unforeseen things happens sometimes and It would be great to have a working offline mode in such cases.

Thanks,

Eugene.

[innovatenate]

Thank you for the update. I am with you now. I just did a quick test on my computer, and it seems to be working okay. Fusion 360 should be able to handle a temporary loss of connection, very strange that it isn't working for you. I'll keep digging in the log files to see if I can find a clue.

The loginstate.xml file located in the below directory should be preserved. I know this stores part of what's needed to sign in.

C:\Users\***\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Web Services\loginstate.xml. 

I can see the loginstate.xml file in diagnostic log files and it appears to look okay as far as I am able to tell.

Are there any other steps that you are taking beyond this process below?

1. Launch and sign in to Fusion 360

2. Close Fusion 360

3. Disconnect Internet

4. Launch Fusion 360

Result: Error message

Expected Result: Fusion 360 launches in offline mode

Are you by any chance signing in and out of the Windows User Account after step 2 or 3 above (before step 4)? I'm wondering if signing in and out of Window may be clearing a cached file. 

Do you have settings or software that could be blocking cookies? Do you know if Comodo has any component like this that may block cookies?

Perhaps resetting the Internet Options back to the defaults on the computer may help with Comodo disabled.

Reset Internet Options:
1. Clear the browser cache (CTRL + SHIFT + DELETE while in web browser) 
2. Browse to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Internet Options
3. In the Advanced tab, select the Reset button to reset Internet Explorer's settings to the defaults
4. In the Security tab, select Reset All Zones to Default level
5. In the Content tab, select Clear SSL state
6. Select Apply

 I hope this suggestion helps and I look forward to your response.

Thanks,

[candirsky]

Hi Nathan,

@innovatenate

Thank you for trying to help me with that issue.

I don't do anything beyond the four mentioned steps.(Launch>Close>DisconnectFromInternet>ErrorMessage)
I tried step2 with offline mode switcher in both red and green states. 

And I don't do any signing out and in from Windows User Account. But I also tried to reinstall Fusion 360 from a newly created User account on this machine. The same behavior.

I have cleared all my installed browsers cache (Chrome, Edge, Iexplorer) as was suggested and even have uninstalled Comodo Internet Security completely today. Then uninstalled Fusion 360 and used Automatic clean uninstall for Autodesk Fusion 360. (by the way, this utility returned the message that uninstalling was completed with some errors) Then I installed Fusion 360 again. And got literally the same behavior with completely deleted Comodo and completely turned off default WIN10 antivirus and firewall.

I believe I don't have any other program or settings which could block cookies.

I checked for loginstate.xml file and it is where it supposed to be:

C:\Users\MyUserName\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Web Services\loginstate.xml.

I also have these programs usually running in the background:

Gigabyte motherboard APP Center.
Nvidia Geforce Experience
Dropbox
Trillian
Evernote Clipper
Daemon Tools Lite
3dconnextion driver
ManicTime time tracker.
Sharex screenshot utility.

That's all. And I tried to Reinstall and run Fusion 360 with all these programs turned off. The same behavior.

I also tested Fusion 360 in offline mode on my old laptop with WIN7 OS and it works well there while being disconnected from the Internet. So it's a problem of my main workstation solely I guess.

One more strange thing I noticed today. When I close Fusion 360 it sometimes (sporadically) continues to stay in task manager while being closed. And when I run Fusion 360 again it opens a new instance of itself in the task manager.

Is that normal? I haven't noticed such things with other programs. It happens in both cases with Comodo installed in the system and without it.

Thanks,
Eugene.

[innovatenate]

The duplicate process running in task manager sounds to another conversation I'm having over here with a similar issue:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/support/still-stuck-in-offline-mode/m-p/7126309#M3486

Could you try the suggestions I made over there and let me know if they change the behavior at all? I'm really curious if ending the other process may allow Fusion to work in offline mode.

Thanks!

[candirsky]

Hi Nathan,

@innovatenate

Thanks for hanging with me on this. 

I've tried all the suggestions by this link and they didn't help anyhow. Killing other instances of Fusion 360 in task manager don't affect on ability work in offline mode, unfortunately.

Every time I fail to launch Fusion360 in offline mode it stays hanging in task manager and if I don't end the process manually next time I launch Fusion360 again a new instance appears in the task manager.

Another strange thing I noticed that when I log into Fusion360 after failed offline mode attempts and come here on the forum then I find that I got an automatic log off here too. But not in 100% cases maybe in 80%. Pretty often I would say. So I quite sure now that log offs here are connected with events in Fusion 360. I use Chrome browser. Does it spill the light somehow?

Please use "@candirsky" tag in replies otherwise I don't receive an automatic notification about a new reply even if "EMAIL ME WHEN SOMEONE REPLIES" checkbox is on.

Thanks,

Eugene.

[innovatenate]

I can't seem to find reference to similar behavior anywhere else. I'm not sure what is causing the rogue Fusion process to linger in the background. As a diagnostic procedure, can you try running Windows in safe mode (see below link) to see if it changes the behavior at all?

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/fusion-360/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Dia...

Earlier you mentioned that the clean uninstall tool failed with some errors. The clean uninstall tool will create a log file in:

C:\users\***\AppData\Local\Autodesk

Would you mind sharing that log file here? Perhaps there is a clue there about what files are having some permissions issues.

Did you  try the hardware restart of the cable/modem and/or router? I have seen this clear up some odd network issues in past casework. Hopefully it something like that. I look forward to your next update.

Thanks,