Fusion 360 won't create modelled threads of some sizes

[dkorchagin]

What I noticed is when you try to model a thread using thread tool it fails to generate its helix path when you choose any size less than 6mm, and with 6mm and above it can only succeed with certain designation (for example it works fine with 6x1.0 but fails to generate 6x0.8). Is this a limitation or a bug?

[paul.clauss · Accepted solution]

Hi @dkorchagin

Thanks for posting! My apologies for the delay in response.

I tested this on my end and did not have any problems with the threads less than 6mm, or with the 6x0.8 designation. Have you continued to see problems?

If so, it is possible that the XML file used to create the modeled threads was somehow damaged. A clean uninstall and reinstall of Fusion should resolve this issue - it will generate a new XML file for thread definitions.

Hopefully this helps! Please let me know if you have any questions.

[dkorchagin]

Thank you Paul, clean uninstall helped fix that.

[dkorchagin]

Hello,

in fact it turns out the problem reoccurs once in a while without obvious reason. Since the last reply I had to reinstall Fusion 2 times and today it again suffers from that very same issue. I will reinstall and it will fix but now I am more interested in how to fix that permanently.

What can be the reason for corrupted thread profiles? I am not doing anything destructive on my machine and therefore it looks rather misterious that files get corrupted after some time. I successfully modelled a thread yesterday and am not able to do it today - how comes?

Any ideas?

[paul.clauss]

Hi @dkorchagin

Thanks for posting! I am surprised to hear that this problem has come back - I still have been unable to recreate the behavior you described on my system. 

Thread data is stored in the XML files at filepaths in this article, but I am unsure of why the XML files seem to be getting damaged on your machine.

Do you have any peripheral (Spacemouse, display, docking station...) drivers present on your system? If so, does the issue occur if you update them to the most recent version? How about if you remove any peripheral drivers? 

The same goes for graphics drivers - are you certain you are using the most recent drivers available for your system?

If you are working on a Mac, are you installing Fusion from the Mac App Store or from the Fusion 360 website? You could try the alternative installation to see if that resolves the problems - I have had no problems on my Mac with the website install.

It may be more helpful if, when you observe this behavior, you could gather the XML file for the type of threads that are giving problems and share it on this forum thread - we may be able to compare the XML files to see what is happening here. You could also back up all the XML files from a time when it is working properly at another location - you could clear out the XML files in the folder used by Fusion (the original location) and replace them with the back-ups. This will also work to confirm if the XML files are being damaged in some way.

We apologize for any inconveniences this may cause. Please let me know if you have any questions.

[dkorchagin]

Thank you Paul,
I am on Windows 7 and I did not update any driver, also using the latest NVIDIA one. Let me monitor those files as you suggested and see what happens. I will then post my findings.

[dkorchagin]

Hi @paul.clauss,

Now it happened again and it gets more interesting.

I did what you sugested, copied configuration files to some different location. Today it broke again and I can see no difference between my current profiles and those I backed up - they are identical. The threads, however, do not work - I can create 6x0.5 metric ISO profile and 7x1 but I cannot do below 6, including 6x0.75 and other designations despite they appear in the designation dropdown list.

Also when I select a cylindrical face it incorrectly detects its diameter and sets the minimal possible, like 0.25.

Any further ideas?

[paul.clauss]

Hi @dkorchagin

Thanks for posting! I am sorry to hear the problem is occurring again.

I would be curious to know if restarting either Fusion or your computer allows threads to be created after you see this problem.

Would you mind sharing the XML files for your back-up and the non-working threads? They may appear identical, but I would like to have a look. If you replace the non-working threads (in Fusions file location) with the back-up files, are you then able to create the threads?

Are there any issues with creating non-modeled/cosmetic threads? Also, are you using the "Remember" flag in the Thread dialogue at all?

As I have still been unable to recreate this behavior on my end, I'd like to see a video of your workflow and the behavior on your end as an aid for reproducing. Would you mind recording a screencast of your process and sharing it on this forum thread? 

[dkorchagin]

As I see the problem neither restarting Fusion, nor the whole computer won't help, only removing fusion and reinstalling it fixes the issue.

Replacing files with backed-up version won't help either. Fortunately, I don't go full clean up those, just removing it via control panel and subsequent reinstalling helps, i.e. all configuration and cached data remains intact.

I honestly can't guess what can be broken so it stops working considering the files are same.

Non-modeled, i.e. cosmetic threads appear to be non-working also as cosmetic image of the thread won't appear when the thing isn't working. This happens regardless of whether "Remember" flag is used.

Let me wait for the issue to reoccur so I can record a screen cast for you.

Attaching a backed up and the "broken" version of the XML file, appended -from-bad to its name. I believe it's not in fact broken, but anywise.

[paul.clauss]

Hi @dkorchagin

Thanks for the XML files - they do appear to be completely identical. Threads are generated from the XML files, so it seems odd that the same version works at some times and does not at other times.

When the issue does occur, please record the screencast and let me know. I think I'd also like to have a look at your diagnostic log files when this behavior does happen - when the threads fail, please clear your local cache, trigger the issue, and gather your diagnostic log files. This will truncate them so it is easier to find the thread operation.

Does this consistently occur in certain files? If so, please share one of the designs with me - it could be that this is dataset related. 

I apologize for any inconveniences this has caused! Keep me posted when you see the threads fail again and we will continue troubleshooting. I am happy to help!

[dkorchagin]

Hello @paul.clauss,

When the problem reoccurred I proceeded with clearing local cache and wanted to record a screencast of the issue and also collect log files, however I descovered that after clearing local cache the problem has gone. Any ideas?

[dkorchagin]

No, sorry,

It was something different - it hasn't yet reoccurred at all. Let my monitor further.

[dkorchagin]

@paul.clauss, now I can tell for sure. As soon as I proceed with clearing user cache data, it immediately restores thread function without the need to reinstall or replace thread XML files. Shall I send you diagnostic log files without clearing user cache data when I bump into this problem again?

[paul.clauss]

Hi @dkorchagin

Thanks for the response - good work sleuthing out this problem! I'm glad to hear that clearing the local cache data allows the threads to be created.

One question - can you create the threads after clearing the local cache data but not restarting Fusion? Or is a restart required after clearing the cache to get things working?

I ran some tests today and it does not appear that clearing the local cache directly effects the thread data folder or the XML files within it, but it appears to be making some difference on your end. Please do send over the logs before and after remedying this this behavior by clearing the cache - this may provide valuable information about the root cause of this problem!

We appreciate you bringing this to our attention! Please let me know if you have any questions.

[dkorchagin]

By executing the "clear cached user data" command it also restarts Fusion 360 as part of the process, so I cannot do it without restarting and see if it affects it in any way. Let me wait till the problem reoccurs, I will then collect diagnostic log files before and after clearing cached data. Hopefully they won't be too big.

[dkorchagin]

Hello @paul.clauss,

I bumped into this issue again, recorded a screencast and saved diagnostic logs containing the problem. Then I cleared the local user data cache, successfully modelled a thread and saved the diagnostics lof files after that. Then I discovered that my previuos diagnostic log has gone after clearing the cache 😞

So attaching the diagnostic logs containing the right thing, and waiting for next time it breaks to attach the firts one.

Here's the screen cast of the right flow: 

Screencast will be displayed here after you click Post.

42281a31-8103-47cd-98af-ce71e54097a5

[dkorchagin]

And here's the screencast of the broken flow:

[dkorchagin]

@paul.clauss, it looks my previous screencast about the right flow has gone as I inserted the wrong one. Not sure if it's expected behavior, please let me know. Basically part of the right flow appears in the last screencast when I show M6 thread creation, so leaving this as it is and waiting for next reoccurrance to upload the "bad time" diagnostic logs.

Here's the "good time" diagnostic logs just in case they are needed.

[dkorchagin]

@paul.clauss, it looks like my "good time" screencast has gone after I edited the message contained it. Let me try attach the good screencast in this reply. Yet another bug perhaps, this time in the forum software, sorry if I keep you in tention 🙂

[paul.clauss]

Hi @dkorchagin

Thanks for the response! Sometimes the screencasts can take a minute to show up on new forum posts - I've seen the "Screencast will be displayed here after you click Post" messaging before and usually a thread refresh shows the video. I'll keep an eye on this behavior.

One thing that I didn't think to check were your Windows permissions. Are you working in an Administrator account? If not, I would recommend creating one - Fusion only supports installations on Admin accounts as it needs to contact various web servers during normal operations.

Even if you are on an Admin account, it could be that the folder permissions for the thread XML files are being reset. I've shown how to set the folder permissions in the screencast below - I would recommend checking the permissions for each folder in the hierarchy, as one specific path may be causing this issue.

Hopefully this helps! Keep me posted and we will go from here - if you are working in an Admin account with full permissions for all the folders, please send over the logs if the thread problem occurs again.