Possible Video Card Issue

[diamondcat]

SWX 2005 SP5.0
SWX 2006 SP1.0

System Info:
Dell Workstation PWS450
Xeon CPU 2.8GHz
2.0GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1000
Driver Version: 7.1.8.4

I was wondering if anyone has had similar problems.
I have had a problem a couple of times where when I rotate an assembly all of the parts blow up. I don't mean they go out of being mated, I mean the surfaces all change to spikes and starbursts that radiate outward, it's quite pretty in a sad way. I also have problems in assemblies (shaded with edges shown) where all of a sudden half of my parts will turn see-through and the others are still all solid. There are even parts where half of the surfaces are shaded and the other half is see through. I can't just close the model and bring it back up either, I have to get all the way out of Solidworks and re-launch it other wise the model comes up the same.

This has happened both in SWX 2005 & 2006. It happened when I had 2004 & 2005 loaded at the same time. Then I wiped both off my tube and reloaded 2005, still happened. Now I loaded 2006 in addition to 2005 and it is still happening. I have gone to the SWX site and verified that my card has passed and that I have the latest driver. I also contacted my VAR and he is looking into it. Is it possibly that my video card is slowly failing? or do I have something set wrong?

Thanks

 

[Heckler]

When was the last time you cleaned out your enclosure. I had an instance where my video card was so caked with dust that it overheated. I exhibited the same problems that you're experiencing but I was using Pro/e 2001.

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SW2005 SP 5.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NIVIDA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

"Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success." - Henry Ford

 

[diamondcat]

>>When was the last time you cleaned out your enclosure.

Ummm...That would be never.

Very interesting idea, I never thought of that. As it turns out we are moving in the next couple of days and that was one of the things we were planning to do. I just never related my problem to that.

Thanks!

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Do you have the video card Application Settings set to SolidWorks?


Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of faq559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions faq559-1091

 

[diamondcat]

Possibly, if I am looking in the right place.

Control Panel/Display/Settings/Advanced/Quadro FX 1000 Tab/OpenGL Settings
There is an area that says "Custom OpenGL applications setting"
This is set to Solidworks.

Is this what you are talking about?

 

[SBaugh]

faq559-884 - once a week minimum
faq559-1058 - Test this to see if it's your video card.


Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

diamondcat ... yes that would be the same. A quicker way to get to that menu is to RMB the nVidia icon in the start tray & select Aplication Settings, to see the list.


Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of faq559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions faq559-1091

 

[jhricm]

I have just about the same system and I also see this problem. I keep my temp files cleaned out so I do not see this as the problem. I think this is a video card issue but have not had time to do any testing. I do not recall ever seeing this in SW05.

Windows 2000 Professional Version 5.0.2195 Service Pack 4 Build 2195
Dell Precision WorkStation 450
Xeon 3.06 GHz
1G ram
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1000
Driver Version 6.14.10.7184
SWX 2006 SP1.0

 

[diamondcat]

Jhricm brought up a good point, I wonder if it has anything to do with the space left on my hard drive. I only have 6G free on a 40G drive. I will free up about 4G when I clean out the Temp under my login (thanks Scott, didn't even know that was there), plus I also have 2G in my SWX back-up directory.

I looked, and my "Use Software Open GL" was not checked so I just selected it, I am not quite sure what that option does.

So I guess I will try cleaning up the files and then blowing all the dust out of the system and see if I get the same problems.

Thanks for all the ideas!

 

[diamondcat]

I don't like how it acts since I check the "Use Software Open GL" option.
It is choppy looking and when I rotate everything turns to blocks. Plus it seems slower.

 

[SBaugh]

If you read in the Help it tells you. But what it does is it turns your Video card off and all the process is put on your CPU. The option is there to test you VC. If you VC is having a problem then checking this option then testing SW again to see if the problem is still there is a quick way to determine if it your VC, Drivers or SW.

Don't keep the option turned on as you have noticed you take a Performance hit when you do.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[diamondcat]

Thanks for the info, it will be interesting to see if the problem happens with that checked.

 

[jhricm]

diamondcat
Have you had any luck fixing your problem.
I am seeing more issues here. First time trying E-Drawings and Solidworks Explore and I have no graphics at all. I can go back and use 05 of both with no problems.
I have deleted and reloaded the display driver and do not see any difference.
JhrIcm

 

[diamondcat]

I have worked on my machine for three days since we opened it up and blew out all the dust bunnies. I have not had a blow-up yet, but I have had one see through incident today.

I talked to my VAR about the blow-up issue and he said he has had another person with the same problem. He was able to recreate the blow-ups over and over using his SolidWorks Routing and Piping and Wiring add-in's (I have never used these). He has an ATI video card but both of us having the problem have Quadro FX cards. He doesn't believe it is video card related so he has contacted Solidworks for them to take care of.

He has not been able to recreate the shading/see through issue though. The other person who was having the blow-up issue also sent a screen dump to him that looked like my shading/see-though issue. So it looks like we are both having the same problems. The only thing he thought is that maybe it has something to do with Display states. The problem with that theory is that Display states did not exist in 2005 so if that was it, I shouldn't have been having problems in both 2005 & 2006. He said that next time it happens I should click the double arrow at the top of the Feature Manager and see what it shows for each part.

He's going to let me know what Solidworks finds out on these two issues.

 

[SBaugh]

I had a customer turn this "see through issue" in and here is what SW had to say about it:

This response is after looking through the Event logs:

This makes me think that the issue is due to a bad installation.

Please follow the following instruction:

We have found that with these Anti-Virus systems if a reboot is triggered during software installation – including revised device drivers the installation does not complete properly. A reboot during installation is triggered normally to update library files that are in use at the time the software is installed. Typically these are common Microsoft library files in the System 32 directory though others can be affected as well. With some Anti-Virus systems the process of updating these files during the boot process is identified as a potential virus activity and prevented from completing. Whilst in some cases a re-installation of SolidWorks with the Anti-virus system set to not start on reboot can be necessary we have seen the following workflow correct problems:

Download the latest anti-virus signature file.
Disconnect computer from the network
Scan the computer for Viruses – take action if any are found
Set the anti-virus system to not start on reboot
Reboot the computer
Set the anti-virus system to start on reboot
Reboot the computer
Reconnect the computer to the network

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[jhricm]

Scott
Thanks for the info. I will talk to my IT guy and see what he can do for me. Do you think that this might also be the problem with E-drawings and Solidworks explorer that I am having. In E-drawings the parts are there but all I can see is a white screen. Same in SW-Explorer

diamondcat
Is your 06 E-drawings and Solidwork Explorer working OK?

JHR

 

[SBaugh]

That sounds more video card related then anything else. Have you talked to your VAR about this any?

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[jhricm]

No I have not.
This is a common card with the approved drivers so I have been trying to see if I have done something wrong.
It is strange that all my 05 Solidworks programs work OK (E-drawings and Explorer).
It seems as if 06 is just more demanding or I have a problem with the instalation (program or drivers).
The SolidWorks 06 program it's self works and I can use it. Just display issues once in a while. The E-drawings and Explorer 06 just can not be used at all.

JHR

 

[SBaugh]

Did you try toggling the Software OpenGL options yet? faq559-1058

That is such a common reply

"It worked fine in Solidworks [version], but not [next version]... why?

Ever version is always more demanding on hardware. The 1000 is an older card, because it was replaced with the 1100 1-2 years ago, which is what I am running.

If your AV was running then that could most certainly cause issues. Try the AV reboot thing I posted above after you do a clean uninstall of SW faq559-488.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[jhricm]

This came from SolidWorks support. I do not know if this will help any SolidWorks problems but this did fix Edrawings and Explorer.

This behavior has been reported before. The solution for this is;

There seems to have been a hoops viewer parameter that when set to the following value will cause this display issue: HOOPS_PICTURE="msw/window0"

To search for this hoops parameter please follow these steps:
1. Start>RMB select My Computer
2. Select Properties
3. Select the Advanced Tab
4. Select the Environmental Variables button
5. Under the System Variables list dialog box use the slider and find the HOOPS_PICTURE parameter
6. Once found select edit and change its variable value to: opengl/window0 7. Then select OK to except the new value and then OK to exit out of the System Properties

Launch eDrawings 2006 and open file you are having issues with.
It should now produce an image.
Follow the instructions below if the HOOPS_PICTURE parameter is not found in the System Variables list dialog box
To fix this issue could you please perform the following steps.

1. Start>RMB select My Computer
2. Select Properties
3. Select the Advanced Tab
4. Select the Environmental Variables button
5. Under the System Variables list dialog box please select "New"
6. Use the following variable name: HOOPS_PICTURE
7. Use the following variable value: opengl/window0
8. Then select OK to except the new value and then OK to exit out of the System Properties

Launch eDrawings 2006 and open the files you are having problems with.

It should now produce an image.