Pro Engineer freeze problem

: "Steve Jones" wrote : Hello : : I am posting this on behalf of a friend of mine. : : He has recently taken delivery of a new Dell computer with 512Mb of : memory and a 3Ghz P4. The OS is Xp Home. : : He wishes to run Pro Engineer Student edition on this machine but : after installing, the program runs but refuses to accept any input and : stops responding to mouse and keyboard. : : The same program ran on his much slower machine without any hitches : and the only difference between his old machine and the new one apart : from a faster chip and more memory is that the newer machine has a PCI : express 128 Mb ATI Radeon graphics card rather than an AGP slot in the : slower computer. : : Could this be where the problem arises? : Easily possible ~ don't know of another program that is as graphically cantankerous as Pro/e, meaning, cards and drivers play an inordinately large role in generating problems, including those which do not immediately seem graphics related.

First thing to check is the PTC website for certified/decertified graphics cards:

this card is on the decertified list, you can guarantee problems. Also, check out the type of card that is certified. For ATI/Radeon, there's only the FireGL cards. Not on this list? You've just increased your chances of problems/conflicts, many of them i/o related.

Then, even if your card is on the list of those certified/supported, check the driver this card needs to be compatible with Pro/e. The right card with the wrong driver is just as problematic.

This kind of troubleshooting boils down to a process of elimination. If these things check out OK, we'll have to try something else.

David Janes

*Think* the Radeon cards are well known for being problematic with CAD applications.

Some applications have a method of turning off OpenGL hardware acceleration which can be used as a troubleshooting tool. Is there a way to do this with Pro/E? Setting config option: graphics win32_gdi, maybe?

: "Jeff Howard" wrote : > David Janes wrote ... : >

: > Easily possible ~ don't know of another program that is as graphically : > cantankerous as Pro/e, meaning, cards and drivers play an inordinately : large : > role ...... : : *Think* the Radeon cards are well known for being problematic with CAD : applications. : : Some applications have a method of turning off OpenGL hardware acceleration : which can be used as a troubleshooting tool. Is there a way to do this : with Pro/E? Setting config option: graphics win32_gdi, maybe? : Yeah, Jeff, good suggestion. I forgot about item one on the troubleshooting check list. Definitely worth a try on XP, just to see what happens. Model movement, without OpenGL, gets sluggish, jerky. It's interesting to compare, though, with actually going into XP and turning off hardware acceleration with 'Properties>Settings>Advanced>Troubleshooting' and sliding the acceleration bar all the way to the left. With graphics set to OpenGL, model spinning stays quick, even without hardware acceleration. But selection highlighting (mouse acceleration?) bogs way down. Of course, if partially or completely turning off hardware acceleration in Windows solves the freezing problem, you can be pretty sure it's the card and not just the driver that's troubling you. Another thing to check, anyway.

David Janes

This is a problem that I can relate. My company forces me to use a Dell. We have found that it is easier just to format a Dell as soon as it comes in the door. I don't know why, but the Windows install that Dell pushes on does not play well with Pro.

Good Luck John

check

problems/conflicts,

Thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks I'll need it :-)

check

problems/conflicts,

Tried turning off hardware acceleration. No luck. A manual I managed to acquire suggested that I give the network card an IP address with a subnet mask added. No luck.

It is a program called Xtop that is crashing.

: "Steve Jones" wrote : > On Sun, 7 Nov 2004 14:27:22 -0800, "David Janes" : > wrote: : : >: "Steve Jones" wrote : >: Hello : >: : >: I am posting this on behalf of a friend of mine. : >: : >: He has recently taken delivery of a new Dell computer with 512Mb of : >: memory and a 3Ghz P4. The OS is Xp Home. : >: : >: He wishes to run Pro Engineer Student edition on this machine but : >: after installing, the program runs but refuses to accept any input and : >: stops responding to mouse and keyboard. : >: : >: The same program ran on his much slower machine without any hitches : >: and the only difference between his old machine and the new one apart : >: from a faster chip and more memory is that the newer machine has a PCI : >: express 128 Mb ATI Radeon graphics card rather than an AGP slot in the : >: slower computer. : >: : >: Could this be where the problem arises? : >: : >Easily possible ~ don't know of another program that is as graphically : >cantankerous as Pro/e, meaning, cards and drivers play an inordinately large role : >in generating problems, including those which do not immediately seem graphics : >related. : >

: >First thing to check is the PTC website for certified/decertified graphics cards: : >

>If this card is on the decertified list, you can guarantee problems. Also, check : >out the type of card that is certified. For ATI/Radeon, there's only the FireGL : >cards. Not on this list? You've just increased your chances of problems/conflicts, : >many of them i/o related. : >

: >Then, even if your card is on the list of those certified/supported, check the : >driver this card needs to be compatible with Pro/e. The right card with the wrong : >driver is just as problematic. : >

: >This kind of troubleshooting boils down to a process of elimination. If these : >things check out OK, we'll have to try something else. : >

: >David Janes : >

: : : Tried turning off hardware acceleration. No luck. A manual I managed : to acquire suggested that I give the network card an IP address with a : subnet mask added. No luck. : : It is a program called Xtop that is crashing.

Check in any of the working directories you were logged to when it crashed. You should find there a file called std.err or std.out, quite innocuous looking, really. These ascii files usually contain 1 line of text that says what error was encountered. I have discovered no other function for these files except to report errors. One is always created when the program crashes, even if no other indication is given and the program just seems to wink out, poof, it's gone, along with some minutes/hours worth of work. Usually, when it crashes, it will contain some innocuous message like "Raising signal: 00013". And that little turd in your working directory is all the 'apology' or 'help' you get. Still, you may be able to find reference to these messages on the PTC website and get some kind of hint as to what is actually causing the crashes.

David Janes

Trust me. In the last year and a half my department has purchased 8 high-end Dell workstations. Each one of them had bugs that just kept coming up. About 95% of the problems would go away as soon as we wiped out the original Windows install from Dell.

Your error message telling you Xtop is crashing. Xtop is Pro E.

John Morrison