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Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

(OP)
When I'm modeling in Solidworks, every 10-30 seconds my screen suddenly locks up, and according to task manager, the Solidworks Process is taking up a steady 25% of CPU.  I know this b/c this is what I use to tell me if I've crashed or it's just doing it's video glitch thing.

I have over 5k hours of seat time in Solidworks.  My machine is a Dell and it's only 3 weeks old.  I would say it's "Mid range", but I can dole out specs if this will help any of you.

This problem is absolutely enfuriating and if you've ever experienced it, you know what I'm talking about.  It can take me over 10 minutes to design a part that should take under a minute?!

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!

Evol

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

If you're using SW08, try disabling Dissemination and Windows Desktop Search.

cheers

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

...and make sure the graphics card is SW approved.

Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
What did you dream?  It's all right--we told you what to dream.
    --Pink Floyd, Welcome to the Machine

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Please list your specs! This seems VC related or Driver related. Also make sure you are not working over a network. That can also something that can cause you to crash or cause it to hang.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP pc2
www.scottjbaugh.com

Quote:

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

25% CPU usage sounds like a fully loaded core in a quad core system.

Eric

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

(OP)
I'm running a Dell workstation with the following:

Intel Xeon X545 3Ghz
3.25 Gb RAM
Nvidia Quadro FX 3450
24" DVI flat screen at 1920x1200

Solidworks 2007 and I normally work off the server, but I've tried working locally and I get the same results.

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Is your opperationg system XP Pro or Vista?

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

(OP)
It's XP.

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

I just recently loaded SWX2008 (last Thursday 2/28/08) and SP3.0 (on Friday 2/29/08) and am having a similar frustration, though a bit different from Evol's description.  I did not have this problem with SWX2007 SP5.

My problem is not a black or blank screen, but one that acts locked up.  The Task Manager Performance tab shows the two cores busy for a total of 50%, while the Applications tab indicates SWX is not responding.  I have timed this and it often takes 5 minutes (a painful eternity) to complete the task.  Here's the rub - This is happening on such simple tasks/operations as changing a dimension in a sketch or unhiding a part in an assembly.

I have moved all the parts to my local hard drive.  The assembly is small with a total of 11 parts and one subassy consisting of 5 parts.  None of these parts are overly complicated.

Windows Desktop Search is off and not even loaded.  CBL, I searched for Dissemination within SWX, but came up blank.  Do you have more specifics on this?

Computer Specs:
Dell Optiplex GX620
Intel Pentium 4, 3.2 GHz
3G Ram
nVidia Quadro FX 1700 with SWX approved driver (6.14.11.6262) and settings for Dassault/SolidWorks

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

- - -Updraft

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

I forgot to add, my OS is XP Pro SP2.

- - -Updraft

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%


I read a something about this when 2008 first came out and I think the word mentioned was Dissection. I haven't taken the plunge yet so can't help further

Trevor Clarke. (R & D) Scientific Instruments.Somerset. UK

SW2007x64 SP3.0 Pentium P4 3.6Ghz, 4Gb Ram ATI FireGL V7100 Driver: 8.323.0.0
SW2007x32 SP4.0 Pentium P4 3.6Ghz, 2Gb Ram NVIDIA Quadro FX 500 Driver: 6.14.10.7756

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

(OP)
You just described my situation.

Not complicated, 10-15 parts, and it happens when doing the most simple operations, like editing a dimension, or sketch, or rotating a part.

When I first arived here I was using an older machine.  A loaner.  It had the same version of solidworks, but the machine had less of everything else (in terms of processing muscle).  I was also using a garbage CRT monitor w/ lower resolution.  The important fact, is that I didn't exhibit this problem!?!??

Then I got this new machine, with new monitor, and the first thing I did was take out the Nvidia 1700 you are talking about and go back to the old card.  That didn't do it.  Then I tried the old CRT monitor.  That didn't do it either.

I convinced I.T. to let me keep the older video card (Nvidia 3450) over the newer card (Nvidia 1700).  THe 3450 seemed a more robust card in terms of specs, although the SW benchmark test would make you think the 1700 is the better choice for a SW user.

I'm just interested in other people who have experienced this.  There's got to be a common factor.  This one thing is reducing my work output by 75% or more (no joke).

Thaks for the replies so far :)

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Sorry that should have been Dissection.
It can be turned off via Tools > Options > System Options > Search.

cheers

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

CBL,

Thanks for the clarification.  The Dissection box is and has been unchecked so I don't see that as a potential contributor to the problem.  My Windows Search is off and is not loaded on startup.  On the same system settings tab the Indexing Performance is set to "Index only when computer is idle" vs. the other option which does indicate a potential slowdown with SWX.

The problem occurs occassionally, not on every click.  (This is like trying to find the intermitent electrical short in my old '66 Impala.)  Could this be related to autosave or auto-recover, something happening in the background that siezes control and won't let go for awhile?  I just checked and my auto-recover isn't even set so that doesn't look to be the case.

Any ideas on where else to look or what to try?

Thanks in advance,

- - -Updraft

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

(OP)
I'm guessing it is hard to understand if you've never seen it.

I just had the "engineering systems engineer" (LOL... that's a real title) over here and he witnessed a good one.  The model window went black for over half a minute.  That's when I told him that, "this is way past interupting my work output".

I've found a temporary fix for the problem.  I've taken up doodling every time it happens.  I'm really improving my pencil technique.

Seriously... there's got to be a better way.  I'm wondering if it's a driver issue.  The cards look legit.

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Switch to software OpenGL mode to check if it's VC/driver related.

cheers

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

For what it's worth, I run a Dell with the 3450 as well, and over the past two months 2007 got to the point where it was basically unusable. When I went to save an assembly it would hang for over five minutes sometimes, regardless of assembly size. It crashed often. I'm not saying it was entirely an SW issue, and had we not been getting ready to switch to '08 I would have tried a clean install.

We're running SW2008 SP3.0 and I no longer have these issues.

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Hi Guys,
Being mainly a Solid Edge user I don't normally bother with the SW forum, but I thought I'd post a reply on this topic.
About 4 months ago I bought a new Intel quad core workstation and at the time the vendor told me they'd had a few issues with running Solid Works on them, and that it kept stalling and running slow. Sorry I can't remember specifically what they found as a cure but I'm sure there were some settings they had to tweak - possibly display settings, Realview?
If you think it would be worthwhile I could give them a call to find out.

bc

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

bc,

Thanks for the reply.  Evol has a quad-core with screen blanking problems so your offer may be of some value to him.  My computer is dual core and my problem is a little different from Evol's.

Until recently I had a network license on my machine, but when I went to install 2008 my IT guy was not available to give me access to the server to update the SNL so I installed a standalone license.  I have just purged my computer of any trace of SWX and am in the process of installing SWX08 network licensed version.  I expect all will be good with the world.  I'll reply here to indicate the results.

- - -Updraft

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

beachcomber,
Yes, please do call. That info could be very worthwhile.

cheers

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

(OP)
I flipped the switch on the OpenGL option on the Solidworks-tools-options-performance tab (see image below), and I haven't experience the locked up / black screen all day !!



Now what does that mean exactly?  Wrong driver?

I'll post again after a few days and different models to make sure this was the fix.  Very promissing though!

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

If the Software OpenGL option improved performance, that means that either the driver is an incorrect match for your video card ans SW version ... or that your card is crapping out.

The SW certified driver for your card and SW version is 6.14.10.7756 (for Dell) or 6.14.10.9136 (for nVidia).
https://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/videocardtesting.html

cheers

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Are you using a Microsoft mouse?

I had a very similar problem and it was related to a conflict with the mouse driver and video card.

I switched to a logitech mouse and have never looked back.

It took me a day of deep reading on the forums to find this one out.

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

A correction to my last post;

Dell Precision 670, 470, 380 = 6.14.10.7756
Dell Precision 690, 490, 390 = 6.14.10.8426
Generic Brand Computer = 6.14.10.9136

Which system and driver are you using?

cheers

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Hi Evol,
Sorry to be a while getting back, but I've just got a reply from my supplier.
This is what he says -

"The issue is related to the CPU affinity.
A quad-core system has 4x individual CPU cores that are dynamically allocated to the software by the OS. This works great if you have a multi-threaded application as it can make 100% use of all FOUR cores;
however if you don't and you use a single threaded application (like SW design) then SW can actually work slower.
Solidworks being spread dynamically (by Windows) across all four cores works slower than it being spread across just 2 or even 1x core.
This can be tried by launching SW, loading Task Manager and click processes.
From the list of processes find SWwOrks.exe (or similar I think) and right click over it, click on Set Affinity and you'll find 4x tick boxes (1x for
each Cpu Core).
Try selecting just CPU0 + CPU1 and launch the same SW command. Does it still freeze? Do the same but just tick CPU0. Any quicker?
This should allow you to determine if the freezes are CPU Core/Affinity
related. "

I don't know if any of it is relevant but it may be worth trying anyway.
Good Luck

bc

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

(OP)
That's very interesting beachcomber.

However.. the problem ended up being Nvidia driver, and this was confirmed by:

1) SW-tools-options-performance... check the box for open GL.
2) Problem went away

That told me it was either the card or the driver.  So I completely uninstalled the existing driver, installed the most up to date and approved SW video driver for the Nvidia card... and boom... I'm good to go.  I haven't experienced the sluggishness in days now.  VERY HAPPY!! :)

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Hi Evol,
Glad you've sorted it.

bc

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

If you read through the FAQ for this you would have found this issue days ago. The FAQ describes these problems, how to fix them and how to install the Nvidia drivers.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP pc2
www.scottjbaugh.com

Quote:

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Hello,
I have a similar problem with Sw 2006 as evolDiesel. Altough I am only working with parts, no assemblies, parts with rather complex geometries.  

I have new Dell computer with: 4x1G Intel Pentium III Xeon preoseccor, RAM: 4096MB, Nvidia Quadro FX 4600, 768MB.
But the CPU usage is at maximum 50% and PF usage 900MB.
It can take up to several minutes just to move a point or to set a dimension, to change a conformation or to update the part it takes approx. 10-30min.
I have set down all the options as line visibility, and so on under SW Tools-options, without any greater progress. I have even tried with adjustment of affinity from 4 CPU to 2 CPU, still the same.

But then, I talked to SW-support…
The guy told me that the SW can only use 1G as a default setting, so according to him it does not matter how powerful workstation you have it will use maximum 1G. Then he started to talk about that I need to make some changes in boot.ini file… which I have not done, couse in some way that feels like a wrong way to go...

Can anybody help me with this issue?  Isn’t there another way to solve this without changing the boot file?

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Quote:

The guy told me that the SW can only use 1G as a default setting
A default setting for what?

cheers

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

What he ment was that SW uses maximum 1G of CPU, and that this was some kind of standard setting.

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

"1G of CPU" doesn't make sense. Do you mean 1GB of RAM? If so he is wrong.

The default limit for a Windows process is 2GB of RAM. That can be increased by adding the /3GB switch to the boot.ini file (which is a very simple task).

cheers

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

(OP)
Have you tried what I did above?

Scroll up until you get to my screen shot of SW System Options - Performance.

Turn on the radio box that I have in yellow.

Close SW.
Open SW.

Did your performance improve?

If it did... then it's either your card or your driver.

Mine was the driver.  And the thing about nVidia is that you have to COMPLETELY install anything that had to do w/ the original driver, and then install the latest SW approved driver.  Don't just install over the existing driver.  I tried that, and it didn't work (as I.T. warned me, but I didn't believe them).

Now that I have the nVidia Quadro FX 3450 going, I may go back to the card that was originally supplied w/ this machine (Quadro FX 1700... which uses the new archetecture... but seems like a weak card besides the excellent SW benchmark number).

Anyway... good luck. Don't give up.  SW doesn't HAVE to run like a dog.

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

(OP)
CorBlimeyLimey - I wonder if "the guy" was saying 1Gb, b/c chalniss has a quadcore machine (4x1Gb) and SW doesn't take advantage of multicore processing (so I'm told)... therefore, when SW is smoking... you'd see your processor max out at 25% total or 1Gb.

Is there a way to keep track of RAM useage?  I look at page file, but that's not the same (I thought).

After my experience, I'm convinced he (chalniss) has the wrong driver.  He's running a Quadro FX, and his situation sounds just like mine.  The good news is that the trouble shooting only takes seconds to find out if it's the driver/card.

As far as this 1Gb argument... this is all I can think of, b/c if he talking RAM.. .then yeah... 3Gb max in XP, but unlimited in Vista 64 (as I understand).

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

(OP)
OMG... major typo above.

I meant to say "you have to COMPLETELY UNinstall anything that had to do w/ the original driver"... not "install".

Sorry.  Not enough coffee yet.

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

I can make any changes in the "Use software OpenGL", the box is gray and can not be edited.

I do know that Xp can only use 3GB, would it then help to change 3Gb patch? That is 1G for the Xp and 2G for other applications?

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%



I mean i can NOT make any changes in the "Use software OpenGL" box.


Well, thank you, I´ll try with new drivers tomorrow, now it's time for me to go home.

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

You cannot change the "Use software OpenGL" with a model open.  You should be able to change it immediately after starting SW, before opening any documents.

Eric

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

(OP)
EEnd is right.

As soon as you open SW, don't open any files... just go straight to Tools... options... performance.  You should be able to access it.  But not  able to if you have a part/assy open.

Then start working as you normally do.  If you witness remarkable improvement then it's either your driver (most likely) or the card itself (less likely).

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Hi again...

Did try with the change in the "Use software OpenGL" box. Well, it works slightly better, the update time and sketch editing time is somewhat reduced.

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

(OP)
At this point, I would look at your nVidia Quadro FX 4600 driver, and back check it to what Solidworks recomends for a driver.

If they are different, you should COMPLETELY uninstall the old driver, reboot (your graphics will look hideous), install the new driver (graphics will look great), then try solidworks again.

Also... how big are your assemblies?  5,10,100,1000 parts?

I ask b/c it can really make a difference.

My old company... nature of the product was an assembly that may have 3,000 parts.

This company... it's more like 200.

The old company... we had to switch to SW 64 bit b/c some assemblies would use more than the 3Gb of XP RAM.  You had to be very patient to work on those larger assemblies.

Depends what you're application is (of course).

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Well, I have been thinking about what you said

"SW doesn't HAVE to run like a dog."

Maybe there's something to it.. I´'m not working with assemblies only parts. But, they have really complex geometry, some of them containing 2500 x 1.5mm holes. So maybe it's not that strange that updates and editing takes a lot of machine power and time...


But I have installed new driver for NVidia, works better now. Don't get me wrong it still takes time to update, and so on, but it is a improvment in comparison.

Altough, I'm still not satisfied, there has to be a way to make it work even better.

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Large patterns have a big impact on performance. Enabling the Geometry pattern option in the patterns often lessens the impact.

cheers

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Chalniss,
Can you suppress the holes while working on the part and before saving? (to reduce opening time)

Do you really need the actual holes? Could you use a texture instead?

cheers

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

(OP)
We do our own threads, and springs, and I find that anything helical is super taxing on my parts.

Some things are hard to handle.  I imagine 2500 holes isn't easy for SW to render if you're zooming and panning.

RE: Solidworks Screen goes blank, processor 25%

Hi

If I could suppress the hole pattern, that would make it much easier, but I can't. Other features are dependent on that pattern and I would not be able to build up the rest of the modell correctly. I have tried that allready, have been keeping some features suppresed, (or as many as I'm able to supress) in order to make it a bit easier for my machine.

Is there any way I can set the amount of comp. "power" that is used by SW?

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