AutoCAD hangs/freezes during OPEN - files with a history of trouble with Drawing Views

[Anonymous]

My install of AutoCAD 2021 has been giving me a lot of trouble with Drawing Views, even since a clean Windows 10 install about a month ago.  While working in a Layout space, AutoCAD will crash and it will actually damage the DWG file in the process.  I will have Drawing Views on the layout, but I won't necessarily be working with a Drawing View at the time of the crash.

When I attempt to open the DWG file (or recover, or import, etc...), AutoCAD will just hang there, frozen.  However, I discovered that if I go to Windows Task Manager while AutoCAD is still hanging, and I go to the Details tab, and I end the "AcIvServerHost.exe" service, then the DWG file will immediately open.  Clearly, the "AcIvServerHost.exe" service is involved in the problem, and it might be involved in what caused the initial crash to begin with - but I am nowhere near an expert in that sort of thing.  But, in short, ending the "AcIvServerHost.exe" service will allow the troubled DWG file to open.

But this creates another problem:  The "AcIvServerHost.exe" service seems to be the service that allows AutoCAD to work with Drawing Views.  If you try to work with Drawing Views without the "AcIvServerHost.exe" service running, you will get an error message that reads, "This drawing was last edited with model documentation in a newer version of AutoCAD", and it won't let you work with the Drawing Views.  So, the "AcIvServerHost.exe" service needs to be running.  If you have to stop that service in order to open a file, then I suggest that you try to clean or AUDIT that file as best you can, perhaps use WBLOCK to export the model geometry to a secondary file, save it, shut down AutoCAD, and then restart to re-activate the "AcIvServerHost.exe" service.

If anyone out there has any more helpful information about this, and how I might fix this ongoing problem of layout space crashes and corrupt DWG files that won't open properly, then please let me know!!

Good night, and good luck.

[natasha.l]

Hello @Anonymous, 

I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing this. 

The issue has been reported to development for a long term fix, your findings are correct & other users have reported the same behavior. 

The suggested workaround is documented here: 

• As a test, use the Windows Task Manager to end the service called AcIvServerHost.exe. If this allows the file to open, rename the file to AclvServerHost.exe.bad. It is located in C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 20xx\Inventor Server\Bin.

Although renaming the AcIvServerHost.exe is a workaround, it will disable the Model Documentation feature in AutoCAD.  Some users have opted to use a previous versions of AutoCAD.  

[Anonymous]

I managed to open the troublesome file last week by stopping the "AcIvServerHost.exe" service, and I was able to save it again and continue working on it.  Until, at the end of the day, AutoCAD crashed without warning.  Again, I was working in this file, in a Layout tab, and if I remember correctly, I had executed a ZOOM-ALL command with the keyboard ( <z>  <space>  <a>  <space> ).  That ZOOM command is what sent AutoCAD crashing.  

Today, I was able to open the file without any problems, and I worked on it for about 20 minutes or so when - again - the ZOOM-ALL command sent AutoCAD crashing.  Again, I was on a Layout Tab, and yes - the Layout tab had Drawing Views on it.  

So I tried renaming the "AcIvServerHost.exe" file to "AcIvServerHost.exe.bad", and I reopened the file.  I hadn't had any problems opening that file earlier today, so this didn't seem necessary, but you suggested that I try it, so I tried it.  The file opened, but as was to be expected, all of my drawing views and drawing view commands were now completely unusable.  I once again got the "Unable to perform the requested action. This drawing was last edited with model documentation in a newer version of AutoCAD" error message.  So I absolutely need the "AcIvServerHost.exe" file to be working correctly.

Which leads me to this question:  Do we know for certain that the "AcIvServerHost.exe" file is the root of all these problems?  (Not just the inability to open a file, but also the repeated crashes in a Layout Tab, in response to commands that have nothing to do with the layout tab or drawings views.)  If the "AcIvServerHost.exe" file is truly corrupt, is there another copy of that file that I can download?  Could it be that simple?

I realize that *this* particular DWG file might be corrupt, and the crashes are possibly being caused by the DWG file.  But there was a time when it *wasn't* corrupt.  Something happened to introduce this problem.  Something on the level of the AutoDesk software, or in the AutoDesk software's interaction with the hardware.  How do we find that root cause?

I can't keep having AutoCAD crashing on me every 20 minutes.

[natasha.l]

Hello @Anonymous, 

I am sorry you are still experiencing this issue.

The root cause of the "AcIvServerHost.exe" service has been investigated & a fix will be provided soon.

In the meantime, you can try to repair the AutoCAD file to see if that is the cause. Another suggestion was to use a previous version.

[Anonymous]

Thank you again for the reply.  We are already repairing the many corrupt DWG files as best we can, in the attempt to keep working and repair the damage as it continues to occur.

As for the root of the problem, if it is indeed the "AcIvServerHost.exe" service causing all of this, then we certainly look forward to a fix.

We tried installing ACAD 2019 and running it *as installed*, without any CUI changes, but the same or similar problems continued to occur.  So we reverted back to 2021.  They're both still installed, but we're only using 2021.

[Anonymous]

Yep...  Another Crash in Layout Space just now.  A virgin drawing that I worked on in Model Space yesterday and today.  And then I went into a Layout tab, created the first set of Drawing Views, zoomed in to look at them, ZOOMed-ALL to view the whole page and - like clockwork, and as expected - AutoCAD crashed and burned.

I'm glad you're working on a fix.

Work faster.

[mateusz.adamczuk3BYPH]

Is there already any solution for this problem??

[craigmcgrath]

This has been happening for years, don't hold your  breath waiting for a resolution.

I have complained and sought support for Base Views since it was first introduced.

It can be a wonderful tool... when it works.... problem is not knowing when it's going to throw a wobbly.

The problem lies with using the inventor engine to develop the views, it's been a bastardised way of introducing it to AutoCAD and has been a dog ever since.