Manipulator's axes fails to allow being selected in Maya 2016

[Anonymous]

I'm using Maya 2016. After some minutes working or certain amount of geometry modeled, it won't let me select many of the manipulator's axes (Translate, Rotate or Scale) with either the left or the middle mouse's button in some or all of the views. The axes randomly fail to allow being selected. This is extremely problematic and annoying since I cannot select the geometry when the problem pops up. I am stuck with this problem, please HELP!

[Anonymous]

You are not alone apparently.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-modeling/project-deadline-2-16-18-move-scale-and-rotate-tools-no...

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your answer. I read the other user's Thread with your input. I installed the latest Maya 2016 version and its latest Service Pack/Extension, but the problem persists and it seems like there's no way around it. I must say that I am working on a Mac as well, and that there was no problem some days ago and before, but now it's permanent. What should I do? Since I don't know how to operate Arnold and the work I was doing used Mental Ray, then the only solution I'm guessing is: to download, install and work on Maya 2018 and purchase Mental Ray?

[mspeer]

Hi!

You can't purchase Mental Ray, it's discontinued.

Does this problem also happen in a new scene, or only with your current scene-file.

[Anonymous]

Hello there.

Yes, yesterday I found out that Mental Ray will be discontinued. The manipulator axes problem is happening with ANY scene.

[mspeer]

Hi!

Based on the amount of reports about this problem in the last days it may be a problem with an OS or graphic card driver update.

1. Update graphic card driver (or re-install the old one).
2. Try different Viewport modes (in Preferences).

[Anonymous]

Hello there.

I tried both procedures and none of them worked: I downloaded and installed the latest software update for OS and changed Viewports in Maya but the problem persists. I don't know how to rollback to previous drivers, but it should be noted that the problem did not appear after a previous OS update. Should I give up, begin using Maya 2018 and learn Arnold?

[Anonymous]

I know that Maya is a very unstable program, and that most of our time always has been wasted keeping track of and applying workarounds for practically every old and new feature and function. I also knew that Maya on a Mac always has been a bad decision and it is preferable to use it on Windows (or Linux if absolutely necessary). What I didn't know was that Maya on a Mac is such a complete rip off. Oh well.

[Anonymous]

I've had issues with Maya on a Mac in the past and this one is by far the worst one. Since I'm limited to my Mac, I guess it's better to move on and just dive into Maya 2018 and Arnold. I thank you and the other advocate a.k.a. mspeer for your attention.

[Anonymous]

It's really too bad that even all the usual tricks and workarounds aren't working any more.

Every version of Maya is becoming more and more of an obstacle rather than a useful tool.

The bugs are becoming more and more stubborn and obnoxious.

Now when something is malfunctioning there's just no way around it.

It is just broken "solid".

You have to literally either toss out your entire computer or just install a completely different version and hope that it doesn't affect the axis of the earth.

Great bloody software isn't it?

[mspeer]

Hi!

If it worked before there has been any change to the system that broke it. It's very difficult to find this out by remote.

This could be an OS update (even a security update), GPU driver update, any other software update (even if not Maya) or new software installation (even if not Maya),... hardware problem (unlikely but possible),....

I recommend to find out what's the problem and not just simply switch the Maya version, but if you already planned to switch you may try Maya 2018 now of course.

Just to make sure, you really tried switching Viewport mode in Preferences and not just Viewport?

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-animation-and-rigging/can-t-select-transform-manipulator-handles...

[Anonymous]

Hi Marko. Changing Viewports doesn't work and slows down everything. But more importantly, I tried to change the Viewport 2.0 preferences and it still doesn't fix the bug. As you can see in the attached images, my options are not the same as what the mentor has and is shown in the other user's thread. More specifically, my options for Rendering engine are "Open GL" and "Open GL Core profile", while his options are "OpenGL - Legacy" (what he recommends to change to) and "OpenGL - Core Profile (Strict)". 

P.S.I have installed the SP6 as he recommends. It seems like both the user and the mentor work on a Mac.

[Anonymous]

If I were to place my bets, I would say this is 100% a system issue. OpenGL (which the locators are written in) doesn’t just start failing out of the blue unless the driver or library has been touched in some way. Any issue with OpenGL in Maya has been rectified either by a prefs reset or reinstalling of drivers in my experience.

As you are on macOS, would you mind sharing which graphics card is in your system? As Apple for the most part controls these drivers, it can be very difficult to narrow down a solution. If you have an NVIDIA card, you could try installing the Web Driver for your OS version and seeing if that solves your issue. If you have an AMD chip, they may have a similar offering. I’m not sure as I’ve never dealt with AMD cards.

Cheers,
Mike

[Anonymous]

Hi Mike.

My Mac has an AMD FirePro D500. I can't find the web driver for that in AMD's page. It looks as if they only dealt with Windows and Linux almost exclusively. I can't find it in Apple's webpage either. The only thing that resembles a patch or update is shown in the image I am attaching in this message, should I download and execute it?

[Anonymous]

Does your MAC and AMD card perform well with software other than Maya? Or do all program have issues?

[Anonymous]

It seems to perform well with the other software I'm working with.

[mspeer]

Hi!

Based on your screenshot you have 2 x D500 ?

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry, I’m not sure. I don’t currently manage any macOS machines and I haven’t for some time.

Also, when did you upgrade to High Sierra? That is not an officially supported OS for any version of Maya.

Have you tried uninstalling g and reinstalling Maya? I know it’s a pain but for macOS and Linux users it’s a relatively quick procedure. If you do, make sure you back up your prefs and Maya projects directory, have it start from a clean slate.

Cheers,
Mike

[Anonymous]

Maya 2019 will be coming out in a few months. With a little bit of luck some of the issues your particular system is experiencing will go away. Maya changes a lot from version to version so you never know. Some versions are just unusable on plenty of machines. And some are less problematic. At least that is how it has been in the past. Not so much lately.

[Anonymous]

Yes, two D500