AC 25 very slow to Start-up + Multiple .lck files created

[Rene Pahlavan]

Last few days it is taking over three and a half minutes to open AC 25 files and equally long to close projects (AC not responding in the Force Quit window). Updated to the 6000 USA Full update today, and still occurring. 

Also, yesterday when opening this one project file, AC started creating all of the .lck files for some reason (see screenshot). Even thought the Date Modified column shows a bunch of different dates for these .lck files, I watched them all suddenly populate the folder while opening this project.

I wonder what is causing this and if anyone else is experiencing this sort of thing. Or should I just get used to longer start up times and ignore/delete these multiple .lck files. 

[Karl Ottenstein]

It looks like your files are in a OneDrive (or other cloud service) folder.   I would expect poor performance, and possible corruption, working this way.  It's better to work on the file in a local folder and if you need to copy to a cloud-synched folder after quitting, that's the time to do it.

The extra lock files are indeed really weird... but notice that they are not physically on your machine (hence the OneDrive-looking cloud-download-on-demand icon).  If I were to guess, these are cloud backups from earlier days... but I've never seen any of the cloud services show their normally-hidden backup files visibly like this.

See if you copy your project to a local folder, if performance is improved when you open it from there.

[DGSketcher]

Hi Karl, slight post hijack, but possibly relevant and this does seem to be an area in which you excel ...

i keep my PLN & other files local & backup with Time Machine to a plug in drive. I am thinking of moving my PLN files to the macOS standard Documents folder which will automatically backup to icloud for additional data security. Do you know if this is likely to cause issues with AC files?

BR Trevor

[Rene Pahlavan]

Thanks for your replies Karl + DGSketcher.

First off, I have been using Google Drive to back up my work on MacBook Pros for about 10 years. Typically I keep important and current files with offline access, and this has always been no problem. Last week I updated both macOS Monterey (V12.6), Updated AC25 (6000 USA), and there seemed to be things going on with the Google Drive in my finder window (old folder stopped working in my favourites and I had to redrag the new folder). Anyhow, not sure if any of this matters as I ran the following tests opening the PLN file in various locations and under various conditions as follows (w/ approximate file opening times):

Google Drive Sync Paused - 3.25min

Google Drive Quit - 3.25min

File in my 'Local' Documents Folder (backed up on iCloud) - 3.25min

File on my 'Local' Desktop (backed up on iCloud) - 3.25min

File in a newly created folder that is not backed up on iCloud - 3.25min.

and finally, opening the file while Offline (i.e. not connected to the internet) from the My Drive (Google Drive folder in my Finder Window) - 40 seconds

I cannot draw any conclusions yet, but it seems it is something with AC25 when opening files online - whether or not the file is backed up on a cloud (iCloud or Google Drive) - it is taking a long time and I can see that in the Force Quit Applications Window that AC is not responding for a lot of that time - both when opening and closing while Online. 

The opening sequence goes like this - about 1.5min on the initial AC25 screen (with the modern oval white building pictured) showing the beachball and the watch symbol; followed by >1.5min in the AC workspace until the plans finally appear. Shut down sequence similar in that it takes a long time and the Force Quit Window show AC not responding for that time period. 

Thoughts?

[DGSketcher]

@Rene Pahlavan I need to find some time to test this with AC26 using documents with iCloud backup. I assume your timings are not caused by a large PLN file?

[Karl Ottenstein]

That's great feedback to know that using cloud-synched folders has been successful for you without corruption or, until now, slow-downs.

Opening the file while offline being so much faster suggests perhaps an issue (flaw) with license management.  Personally, I have a physical Codemeter key and I had delays as long as yours that drove me crazy.  Tech support suggested some Codemeter setting changes that helped for a few days.  It never really got better until I installed 26... since then, 25 and 26 have launched without long beachball delays.

Even the soft licenses use the same Codemeter driver (they just appear as virtual USB devices)... so it 'could' be something related to that??  Have you contacted tech support?

[Rene Pahlavan]

PLN file is a modest (imo) 171MB. I always strive to keep the Action Center tab from appearing in my projects - i.e. there are no library or drawing issues in this project. 

I have AC26 installed, but I typically finish projects in the version they were started in before upgrading. Hope AC26 behaves better. 

[Rene Pahlavan]

I have not contacted Tech Support yet. Thought I would check the forums to see if anyone else was experiencing this issue. At the end of the day, these delays are annoying, but once 'warmed up', AC seems to be performing as usual. 

Thanks for your interest and insight Karl!