Maya (2022) crashes when changing to custom workspace

[byAndrewsDesign]

What I do:

1. open maya
2. switch to any default workspace
3. switch back to my custom one
4. blank UI for a few moments
5. crash resulting in the following reason

Fatal Error. Attempting to save in C:/Users/{USER}/AppData/Local/Temp/{USER}.20210503.2005.ma

I'm on windows 10, 32 GB of ram with very good parts where my 2x graphics cards are probably the worst things in it (nvidia GTX 1070 TI)

• I've tried starting up new (default) prefs folder
• reinstalling my nvidia drivers using the geforce experience app
• making a new workspace from scratch (which works for the first few times I switch workspaces)

I would include an error log but I don't know how or where to get it.

I have had another program (a very old game) shut down repeatedly for a listed reason relating to a memory request. Not sure if it's related.

Any help or guidance would be great.

Thanks in advance!

[byAndrewsDesign]

found this in my crash log: Exception code: C0000005: ACCESS_VIOLATION

[byAndrewsDesign]

I've also defragged, updated my graphics drivers, reinstalled maya and run cmd > sfc /scannow

I will be running a memory test, trying maya 2020 for the same problem, 

[byAndrewsDesign]

- I have run "windows memory diagnostic", memory was cleared with no problems.
- I have run maya 2020 on the same machine where the problem was not occuring. I could make a custom workspace switch out and switch back no problem. (2020 works on dekstop)
- I have successfully run 2022 on another machine, made a custom workspace, switched to a default one and back with no problem. (works fine on other machine) both my desktop and laptop have 1070 TI graphics cards, laptop only has one.

[byAndrewsDesign]

the simplest crash log I've gotten:

//=====================================================
Maya Crash Report
//=====================================================

Exception code: C0000005: ACCESS_VIOLATION - illegal read at address 0x01000007
Fault address: 1972D2C0 in C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2022\bin\Qt5Gui.dll
0001:0004C2C0 Logical offset (see .map file for location)

Call stack:
End of stack

//crash log file name = C:\Users\{USER}\AppData\Local\Temp\MayaCrashLog210505.2127.log
//version = 22.0.0.217
//cut = 02/18/2021, 202102181415
//current scene = unDisclosed
//command history (most recent last):
//====================================================
//last tool: renderWindowSelectContextItem
//====================================================
//panel with focus: modelPanel4
//visible panels:
//
//====================================================
//Memory usage:
// 21738.359 Mb Free Memory
// 22421.594 Mb Free Swap
// 1900.824 Mb Current

//====================================================

[byAndrewsDesign]

I've also noticed the asterisk is there immediately when I start up maya 2022

[byAndrewsDesign]

I have not found a solution yet, but I have found a workaround. Do not have the arnold IPR a part of your custom workspace and it should work. It does for me. If I find a proper solution, I will update the forum post.

[byAndrewsDesign]

More specifically you can have the Arnold IPR as part of a custom workspace although it can't be docked and CLOSED. Have it docked and open, then minimize it to it's docked location and you should be good to go.

[byAndrewsDesign · Accepted solution]

An Autodesk Expert (Marko) helped me figure this out after days of troubleshooting. It looks like a bug with Maya or Arnold and will hopefully be fixed before you encounter this.

Here's what was happening that caused the crash:
1. A custom workspace was loaded first (on maya startup)
2. Arnold Render View docked and closed (as part of the custom workspace)
3. Switching to any other custom workspaces

The workaround solution:
1. Setup your custom workspace with the Arnold IPR docked BUT OPEN
2. Keep it docked if you want but close/ minimize it.

You should be good to go.

Another fix may be to open and close the docked and closed Arnold IPR but as it's an extra step, I wouldn't recommend it.

The way Arnold loads in when it's docked and closed is the issue.

[byAndrewsDesign]

Note: I had this error with both Arnold 4.2.1 and 4.2.2

[ahmed.hindy]

I can confirm that this fixed my issue

[cappellojuan]

This issue is still happening as of Maya 2023.2, I haven't downloaded 2023.3 yet because I'm in the middle of a project and don't want to risk updating mid-project, but I will do so in like a month. Still, I've checked the release notes for version 2023.3 (here: https://help.autodesk.com/view/MAYAUL/2023/ENU/?guid=MAYA_RELEASENOTES_2023_3_RELEASE_NOTES_HTML) and it doesn't really mention anything about this issue being fixed. Haven't checked Arnold release notes because I don't know yet which specific Arnold version  (mtoa.dll specifically) comes with Maya 2023.3

This is a very annoying crash by the way as switching among different workspaces is a very common thing to do while working and this makes things super unstable when doing so.