Jeff's Tool Shed

This is it, the final installment of this critically acclaimed mini-series on SolidWorks Crashes & Slowdowns. Ok, ok, fine, so it received more criticism than anything, but I liked it and that’s what really counts.

What do you do when things have come to a grinding halt and you’ve tried all the tricks that you know, that you’ve read online and that your cubicle-mate told you about? You call your VAR. Before you do, there’s a couple of things you should do. First and foremost, make sure you’re calm. Calling up and yelling at an AE isn’t going to solve your problems. Believe it or not, AEs are actual people with feelings and everything. Also, they aren’t the ones who wrote the code so they’re about as at fault as you think you are.

If you’re experiencing repeatable crashes, document the problem. Thoroughly. Be specific, too. The more specific, the better. Don’t assume that someone else has had the issue, either. When you experience repeatable crashes, it’s important to be proactive so the issue can be fixed. Use SolidWorks Rx, or pack ‘n go, to send all pertinent files. Write up the issue using clear and concise language. “Thingie”, “doo-hicky” or “whatchamalcallit” may be a little too much for technical people.

It’s your computer, it’s your responsibility to know what’s up with it. Keep track of changes to it; new software or hardware, driver updates, IT screwing around with whatever. Keep an “issues” log to track things. Details of crashes, communications with your VAR, any SPRs that were opened.

Are you a ‘Techie’? Did you hack your graphics card? Overclock your CPU? Maybe you recently had it opened up to get rid of the dust bunnies? Make sure your cards and memory are seated properly.

When you decide to contact your local AE, remember that they are there to help, and most of them actually want to help. To the best of my knowledge, there are no AEs named ‘dipwad’, ‘hey you’ or ‘chump’. Develop a professional relationship with the AEs at your VAR.  Believe me, it’ll go a long way towards expediting issues when you call in. Be sure to research the problem a little as well. Having an AE tell you “Uh…no, you can’t ’save-as’ as an older file” does little for your reputation.

Some hints for getting good support:

• Know your system

• CPU model and speed
• Installed RAM
• Operating system
• Video card and driver version
• SolidWorks version and service pack

Don’t over-extend yourself

• Technical support is NOT meant to replace training
• Use the on-line help files

There are plenty of resources out there for all SolidWorks users. The SolidWorks website has information regarding hardware requirements and video card recommendations, as well as FAQs, installation guides and best practices. On the right side of my blog are links to other bloggers, SWUGN (SolidWorks User Group Network) and various SolidWorks forums.  Don’t be afraid to get info from multiple sources, sometimes it’s the only way to get the answer to your particular question.

Thanks to Richard Doyle and Matt Lombard for providing the foundation for the info in this series/presentation.

Last week, when I started this “mini-series”, I talked mostly about your network. (Awesome post, btw. You can check it out here.) Today, let’s talk a little about crashes and what can cause them, shall we?

You have SolidWorks open and you go to insert a drawing view. You can hear your computer crunching all the 0’s and 1’s, but what you don’t know is that some bad juju is happening. A bad address, faulty driver, unavailable memory, or some other glitch and, BAM!, you get: There are some common denominators that can contribute to a crash. One is your operating system. Obviously, if you’re running SolidWorks on an unsupported OS, you’re bound to have problems. However, even the supported ones can create issues. Ever have some Microsoft patch hose your system? ‘Nuff said.

Hardware and software combinations can also cause issues. You’ll see people posting about graphics issues fairly regularly in the various forums. More often than not, it comes down to two things. Either they’re using an unsupported card or they have the wrong driver installed. The fix for the first one is pretty obvious. The second one, however, isn’t quite as obvious. Many don’t realize that the driver for an nVidia Quadro xxxxxx that is in a computer they bought from HP or Dell may be different from the driver for a home built computer. When you go to SolidWorks’ testing site, pay attention to the first drop-down menu. If you’re using a branded system, that’s who you should choose for the manufacturer. If it’s home built, then you’d choose your card’s manufacturer. Now that you’ve downloaded the correct driver, you need to uninstall the existing driver, then reboot, stare in awe of how huge your icons are, then install the new driver.

Hardware issues aren’t always just video card related. There have been issues where mice, printers or other periphery have caused problems. Granted, most of the issues could be traced back to the products drivers, but you get my gist here, right?

As far as software goes, every once in a while you’ll hear how SolidWorks doesn’t play nice with AutoCAD or some other software. This is why there are people out there who have machines dedicated solely to SolidWorks. There isn’t too much you can do about it. Sometimes things happen when it comes to software compatibility.

Next up, installation.