Splash screen hanging AC 13 (Windows)?

[Anonymous]

[Subject was: "On behalf of my BIM manager" - changed by moderator]

I'm starting a new thread because I don't see it being addressed in a specific way, and this problem seems to have the potential to become major PNA, if we don't figure out how to head it off.

Our shop has been Autodesk for years. And years. And now, we are changing over to ArchiCAD, but that doesn't exactly mean we are newbies. We started really small, with just a couple designers in AC 11.

And NOW...BIM is all the rage and Hoopla. I have my doubts. We also have a BIM Manager. He's been under a lot of pressure lately, with trying to manage his own learning curve, and other issues. Like how all of a sudden, AC 13 (build 3600) machines hang at the splash page and won't continue to load. Re-installing DOES NOT help. This seems to be happening mostly on those systems where XP Pro has been upgraded to SP3. One by one, they are falling victim to this disease, and I don't have any answers to explain why it's happening, or what to do about it. Help from Graphisoft has been exactly nothing. I was told I installed it with the key plugged into the USB port. Uh, we don't do keys, we use a BIM server.

I will be honest and admit that I don't like Microsoft. I have my reasons, some are political, and so I'll keep them to myself. But I will say that I strongly suspect that, as on other occasions, MS updates create "unintended" compatibility issues that force everyone else to pull their forelocks, and get busy coming up with a patch or work around because of what MS has done. You know what boys and girls, I have Ubuntu machines I have been using for the last two years that have not once crashed. Not so for the Windows PCs.

Well, I would really like to get some feed back about the app hangs we are experiencing here. Has anyone else been seeing the splash page hang problem in AC 13?

[Anonymous]

What are your specs besides running WinXP SP3. Is it 32 or 64? What are the machine specs? etc....

Do they all have the same video card?

[Anonymous]

Good Morning Matthew, thank you for your reply!
We're seeing the same error on 3 systems so far with slightly different configurations, which leads me to think that it's not related to specs.

The specs overview:
2 WinXP-SP3 (which is 32 Bit; SP3 for x64 hasn't been released yet)
1 WinXP-SP2 32bit
All 3 have 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM in dual channel config.
All are dual core Pentium processors, either Pentium D or Core 2.
All have Nvidia Quadro fx display adapters, either 1500 or 1700

Ideally I think we should have 3GB of RAM installed, with the /3GB /userva=2900 switches set in boot.ini. We've tried that config on a couple other systems and it seems to really help, esp. in 3D model views

We have since received info that we should update to the latest hotfix. Easier said than done when in a busy shop, with only one BIM server- a little like herding cats. We will be deploying that hotfix for both 13 and 14 today. Wish me luck. I'll report back to let you know how that works out.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it but those look like pretty old machines.

[Link]

I'd agree with Matthew - these are bottom end specs. What GS state as minimum requirements and what is required to work efficiently and happily are two different things.

After weeks of testing, I recommended a BIM server with 16 cores and 12 gig of RAM on 64 bit Windows 7. All client machines to have quad core processors with a minimum of 6 gigs RAM, 64 bit Windows 7 (plus 768Mb nvidia cards and dual monitors including at least one widescreen). And that's all just to get started. Everything is readily expandable.

You're also not running the latest hotfix of AC13, but I'd recommend going to AC14. There are many back-end improvements given that TW2 has now had time to mature.

This may not fix the hanging on open issue, but if you're going to be serious about using TW2 the reality is that you'll need to invest in some high end equipment. You'll never look back!

In the meantime download the AC13 cleaners. Not sure where to get them from offhand, but they're very good at cleaning all traces of AC13 when reinstalling. Try a search perhaps?

Cheers,
Link.

[Anonymous]

Thank you both for your observations. Installing the latest hotfix last Friday seems to have fixed the application hang during launch. It doesn't really answer the question but I can't dwell on this any longer. BTW, we are getting newer, more robust systems specked out the way you describe essentially, which are going to arrive either today or tomorrow.

[Link]

That's great news! Will you be getting a dedicated BIM Server?

You'll definitely be in for a much better
Teamworking experience and hopefully eliminating all of your doubts.

I do seriously recommend migrating all your projects to the latest build of AC14. Not only will they run smoother but the BIM Server Manager will let you run better diagnostics and logs.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Link.