Undo queue keeps turning off

[Anonymous]

Hey guys,

I'm using Maya 2018 Student Version and got in some trouble with my undo queue.

From time to time it happens, that the undo queue turns off by no reason. I have no idea why this is happening. I have to manually enter the preferences and change it back to activated every time. Is there any known way to deactivate it without entering the preferences menu?

I work with files from other students, can it happen when I place a reference or when I copy some Nodes to another Scene?

Here are my loaded plugins:

• svgFileTranslator
• invertShape
• mayaHIK
• GamePipeline
• curveWarp
• CloudImportExport
• tiffFloatReader
• MASH
• poseInterpolator
• ATFPlugin
• hairPhysicalShader
• ikSpringSolver
• ik2Bsolver
• AbcExport
• retargeterNodes
• gameFbxExporter
• VectorRender
• OpenEXRLoader
• lookdevKit
• Unfold3D
• mayaCharacterization
• Type
• Boss
• mtoa
• meshReorder
• modelingToolkit
• rotateHelper
• MayaMuscle
• matrixNodes
• AbcImport
• autoLoader
• deformerEvaluator
• sceneAssembly
• gpuCache
• OneClick
• nearestPointOnMesh
• shaderFXPlugin
• objExport
• renderSetup
• GPUBuiltInDeformer
• ArubaTessellator
• stereoCamera
• quatNodes
• fbxmaya

Thank you for your help!

[andreas.olofsson]

Interesting, thanks for the input!!

I'm not using any custom scripts BUT I have been using Bifröst BOSS a lot. Might be some built in script that keeps turning off the undo queue. If that's the case then that's just... I don't even know what to say. Why Maya would be shipped with built in scripts that does this really baffles me. What a broken software this is...

[andreas.olofsson]

F*** this...

Right after I've reset my Maya prefs, haven't used anything out of the ordinary. All I've been doing is rendering with Arnold and still Maya insists on turning the queue off.

FIX THIS!!!!! Jesus Christ!

[newtonboyyy]

Hey #autodesk any luck? I’ve been getting these emails for awhile now   With no resolve. Can someone from the team at least respond and let us know if it’s just something we have to deal with.  Obviously we are but it feels kinda bad to be ignored for this long. If there’s anything this community can do to help I promise we’re all on board. 

[seandunderdaleBAKA7]

Yeh, I think its the lack of engagement after its erroneously ticked off as solved that is the most frustrating about all of this. 

[andreas.olofsson]

Happening really frequently, AUTODESK.

[Anonymous]

It 's not working for me...

[joshua.mills.3d]

I've notified the moderator that this thread should be reopened because clearly the issue is unresolved for many people.

Here's a dump from the script editor log showing how spontaneous and random this bug seems to be:

select -r MASH_PlacementCTRL2 ;
setAttr "MASH_PlacementCTRL2.tiltX" 9.91;
// Undo: setAttr
setAttr "MASH_PlacementCTRL2.tiltX" 3.61;
setAttr "MASH_PlacementCTRL2.tiltY" 3.61;
// Undo: setAttr
setAttr "MASH_PlacementCTRL2.tiltZ" 3.16;
// Undo: setAttr
setAttr "MASH_PlacementCTRL2.tiltZ" 4.99;
setAttr "MASH_PlacementCTRL2.tiltZ" 3;
setAttr "MASH_PlacementCTRL2.tiltZ" 2.5;
setAttr "MASH_PlacementCTRL2.nudgeX" 0.411;
setAttr "MASH_PlacementCTRL2.nudgeY" 0.411;
setAttr "MASH_PlacementCTRL2.stagger" 5.9;
// Error: line 1: The undo queue is turned off. //
setAttr "MASH_PlacementCTRL2.stagger" 0;

Just scrubbing a couple of attributes at a time seems to do it.  I've tried setting the undo cache back on hundreds of times at this point.  I've even redone the same steps seen in the log above, exactly, and it doesn't turn off.  I probably re-enable the cache every 10 minutes or so.  Very frustrating.  I also deleted my prefs early on to try and fix this.  No dice.  Hopefully autodesk bumps this thread.

[alec.andersenLP8AU]

Hello Everyone,

First off, I understand how frustrating this must be, I do however have positive news, and a request.

The Positive:

We do have eyes on this! Autodesk is certainly aware and we are trying to resolve it. The issue is exactly what this thread has shown, the error seems to occur randomly and with different levels of frequency. I would suggest that, if you're experiencing the problem, to perform a clean uninstall of Maya, following this guide:

Perform a clean uninstall | Download & Install | Autodesk Knowledge Network

Make sure that you have updated Maya to it's latest version upon re-installation.

The more current you are, the less likely you are to encounter this issue. Furthermore, if you're working with a current version of Maya and do find this issue, please let us know! Which brings me to the next point to address.

The request:

We believe that this error appears with more or less frequency based on the user's workflow, use of hotkeys, and etc. If you're experiencing this issue frequently, I would suggest analyzing your tool usage and breakdown of commands you frequently use.  We're still looking for the lynchpin on this and any information you can provide around when the issue is experienced, the better! Best yet, if you're able to create a series of steps that cause this problem reliably, I would love to hear from you! 

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for their patience. While there is a rather small percentage of users that experience this issue, I understand how frustrating it is for you to deal with, and that doesn't diminish from the lengths we'll go to see it resolved, it's been an elusive beast, and I personally appreciate the time you've all spent posting here, as well as experimenting with steps to solve it on your end.

I look forward to posting again in this thread with the good news! 🙂

[bjones9JMJJ3]

I actually don't believe this is a small percentage of users experiencing this at all, I believe it's because Maya users have given up relying on Autodesk support for anything that they don't bother complaining anymore. 14 studios over 11 years has taught me that base-level Autodesk support is pretty much non-existent and not worth bothering with. I have just asked the small team I work with who has experienced the undo-queue issue. Every single one of them. I also asked who had bothered reporting the issue - just me. This  problem with communication started with Autodesk and to my mind it's on Autodesk to change their image as a company who cares, because SideFX's johnny-on-the-spot next-day Houdini bug fixes are leaving Maya in the dust.

Furthermore, in a large studio context, 'performing a clean install' is just simply not an option. If you're saying that there's a release version in which the bug is fixed then sure, studios can get on board behind a version number - but most Maya users aren't just some home user who has the luxury of admin privileges- but operate in studios of dozens to hundreds where such decisions are out of our hands. Autodesk should know this. 

In the meantime I'll request that artists notify me whenever it happens - if nothing else maybe we can narrow it down to 'rigging' 'modeling' or 'lighting' workflows... but finding at which point it actually happens will prove to be difficult - as I've had the error tell me the undo queue is disabled when it is indeed not. (ie gone to the menu and seen that it is on). 

I'm glad this is finally getting attention, but check the original submission date for this thread - it's pretty unacceptable. Google the issue and you'll see it goes well back beyond 2017 too

[Anonymous]

I've had this issue working on Maya 2016 on OSX, Maya 2017 + 2018 on a Dell laptop, and now on Maya 2020 on a new PC workstation. It always seems to be when Maya gets a bit stressed, perhaps with IPR running, then suddenly you move an object and boom, it won't go back.  Thanks Maya. I've also had it not turn off the queue, but skip the last action and undo everything previous. Particularly annoying when you accidentally move some verts. 

I always thought it was because the computer wasn't powerful enough, I now have a TR3 machine with 128gb of RAM and it just happened again. 

I've been using Maya for over 15 years and sometimes it feels like an excruciating test of patience, I don't know why there are so many issues that persist from version to version, regardless of machine used.

I'd love a solution to this but i'm not holding my breath.

[Anonymous]

I believe the number of users who experience this is more than the "rather small percentage of users" that you think. I have been experiencing this issue and monitoring this thread since 2017, only to see more users and version of Maya affected by it.

I'm experiencing this issue since Maya 2017 and now Maya 2020 it still persist. My Maya 2020 is a fresh latest copy with no external plugins/scripts. Hotkeys used are those usual few for modeling. Is the Undo "Off" trigger by any form of hotkeys? If not i don't see why I'm still toggling it in Maya 2020.

I'm not sure if this has been stated enough..... just remove the option to toggle it OFF, no one will miss this option.

Please fix this.

[Anonymous]

Well. Yeah I can confirm that this is still an issue. No matter which Maya Version.

[siebejanssen]

It happened to me twice today! For years now, I mean.. why do you want your undo queue off in the first place??! FIX IT ALREADY!!!!!  Autodesk.. I've started this thread ages ago, I think 2 or 3 versions back. Still.no.fix.

Edited By: Discussion Admin

[bjones9JMJJ3]

The obvious solution to this problem is to cancel any and all subscriptions to maya and use Houdini or blender- both have better support, and one doesn't cost a thing.

[Anonymous]

Keeps happening to me about 1-2 times per day.

Using Maya 2020 with a student license, I'm a student who is new to Maya but has used Blender extensively. 

In terms of what might cause it, I considered that I might be using unconventional ways of working, but I don't think that's a big factor. I should also mention it happened a few times after stalled renders.

I really hope this get's fixed, this bug is super frustrating and really disrupts workflow.

[bjones9JMJJ3]

Autodesk: remove this 'feature'.

[Anonymous]

this is STILL a problem in Maya 2022.... Fix this.

[bjones9JMJJ3]

I replied that you should just use Houdini, which doesnt have a broken undo queue the way Maya has for over 15 years and not fixed. Because Sidefx wouldnt keep such crappy programming in their software. Autodesk decided it was spam. 

Seriously Autodesk, you don't care. You need to do better. 

[juan.leonMMMPW]

yeah, thats why I love Blender too, a million software company like Autodesk havent solved this issue yet from years ago, I have the same issue, and when I restar Maya, it happens the same, I have done everything that you guys speak about in this thread, also there are a lot of other issues too, like importing old files with mental ray nodes, working with ACES and when Maya doesnt find ACES or the file you were using as a reference in the same folder you had it before, it damanges the file or crashes Maya. The libraries are really bad in this software, but, unfortunately, is the software that huge companies use and love

[siebejanssen]

I think there is a tool in “bonus tools” that removes all mental ray nodes, if you run into that problem.

Blender couldn’t exist without maya, they’ve took a lot of inspiration and ideas from maya. I think people need to keep that in mind more. Blender is a great application but so is maya.

As far as the undo problem, it’s annoying as hell, I agree. I think it has something to do with shared folders or the way the undo queue is temporarily turned off during certain tasks. When running a series of commands for a function, the undo queue temporarily switches of and doesn’t turn on again or something. Sucks ass!