Hazdaz Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 Hey guys - first time posting here - even though I have been lookin around for a little bit and like what I see. Anyways... I figured I'd throw this out to you guys, cuz this issue with AutoCAD is driving me nuts (espesially on this particular file at work). OK, first off, I've been using AutoCAD from way back in the DOS days. And computers even longer than that - so I'm not even remotely a novice in either fields. OK, it seems to me that no matter how fast of a computer I am running AutoCAD on, if the file gets past a certain point, it bogs down to the point of being unusable. Right now I am workin on this one project and the computer can easily take 15 mins to switch from Modelspace to paperspace. The file is 'only' 3-4 MBs, and I am running on a fairly quick 1800 MP (only 1 processor installed at the moment) with like 768 MBs of RAM and I am running XP Pro (I kick myself for not installing 2000 on it when I ordered it). Its not a totaly top-of-the-line PC, but SHOULD be plenty quick. Anyways, the real kicker to all this is that I have waited and waited and waited many of times for AutoCAD to do one simple operation on this file, only to have the program hang on me. I know the reason its taking so long is not a HW issue, cuz when you look in Task Manager, the ACAD program is sometimes taking up less than 10% of rescources (with the PC usually 90% idle). ACAD is obvioulsy hitting some kind of wall in which it can't handle overly complex files. Also, as a side note, I ALWAYS try to keep my file sizes down by purging them, and try to keep them error free by running audit once in a while. I have run into this problem many of times before when workin on 3D solid models and always attributed the complete slow down/crashes to AutoCAD's weak 3D support. Now, however I'm running into this on 2D files and its more than aggrivating to see a $3K program handle large files so poorly (after all, you don't EXPECT a $300 program to handle complex CAD files, but you do expect the 'industry standard' to handle large CAD files well). So, while I know this all sounds like one big bitch session (and I appologize for that, but dealing with this file is QUITE aggrivating), I am just curious at what popint does AutoCAD bog down on you?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formfinder Posted April 6, 2003 Share Posted April 6, 2003 hi there everyone, and hi there hazdaz, first of all i'd like to say that it's the same for me: new here in the forums, but looking and reading at cgarchitect.com for quite a while ... hazdaz - even though i can't say anything special regarding autocad (because i'm not using it that much) - in the past i have made the experience that the handling of even up to some 60mb sized 3d-files was not really a problem - but one great problem i do have at present deals mainly and only with win xp; since i run it on my new machine the main productivity tools have gone nuts .... viz4 doesn't shut down properly unless the task is ended manually; and autocad isn't running properly too (so is PS6, by the way). i have just faced the fact, that i will have to set up win2k once again because (for me) it is the system with the highest stability ... (and i don't like xp anyway... hope to have helped at least a little ... so long Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuno Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 hi hazdaz... try to create a NEW file (clean) and insert your 'bug' file into this new one. sometimes it works for me best to you, nuno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STRAT Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 i've never experienced this in all my time of using acad. sounds like an imported xref or block is conflicting with something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerry Thompson Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 Hi Hazda I regularly use AutoCAD file of 4 to 10 Mb without any issues. The symptom you describe possibly indicates a low effective memory. What version is the AutoCAD? What operation is taking so long? (besides space switching) Does the drawing have a lot of hatching? - even small CAD files with hatching can load into AutoCAD as very big files. Got plenty of swap file space (say 1Gb, fixed) Is all of your memory available to the system? Look at using shx based fonts in the drawing. Possible helps but I will think on it further. Kerry Thompson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazdaz Posted April 7, 2003 Author Share Posted April 7, 2003 Thanks for the replies, guys... Most of what you've mentioned, I've already looked at. Like for instance, there is some hatching, but nothing really major. Concerning XP - I've unchecked off most of its "pretty interface" (to make it look more like 2000), and while its made the OS run slightly faster overall, the really bogging-down happens on certain files... and right now its one I'm trying to get out the door. I honestly have not tried inserting this file into a new CLEAN one - mostly cuz it would be a large undertaking cuz of all the pages in paperspace, BUT I might just have to do that. Concerning blocks, im already down to just the bare minimum - having purged out anything that didn't belong. And most of the blocks I have inserted are just my standard blocks (probably nothing over 100K) Right now my main system is running ACAD 2000i, but I've opened the same file in 2002 on a different system, and still have problems. Swap-file wise, theres plenty there, and I usually don't run much of anything in the background. For everything but the text I have in the title-block, its all SHX fonts. Oh, and what exactly takes so long? Basically the file will open fine, and run normally for a few minutes.. but quickly bog down. And its nothign specifically that slows it down - just about ANY command will make the whole system nearly freeze up... something as simple as SAVING can take 5 mins. And trying to flip from one Page to another?.. forget about it. OK, well off to work.. and more crashes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Steadman Posted April 7, 2003 Share Posted April 7, 2003 Hello Hazdaz, As Kerry said, have a look at your swap file space and free memory space. AutoCAD needs a lot of free space temporary page swapping. Nuno's idea of dropping the drawing into a new one usually works well if there is a mystery bug in the drawing. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazdaz Posted April 9, 2003 Author Share Posted April 9, 2003 Well if you guys are interested, here is what I found out after monitering my system carefully on Tuesday as I was getting that darn drawing completed: OK, we all know that AutoCAD is not exactly the slimmest program - in terms of memory usage, but after monitering my system, I am amazed at the amount of RAM is guzzles. OK, having the bare essential stuff running, and AutoCAD open, I was averaging ~100MBs used. Opening up that drawing bumped that up to under 150MBs - and only an average amount of CPU usage (dependant on what was being worked on obviously). Fine, no problems there - the file was running quite fast. However this is where is got nasty. Just jumping from model space to page-1 in paper space, made the system jumper 50-100 MBs in used memory. Once again, it wouldn't be a big deal, IF AutoCAD was nice enough to give up that memory after it was done swapping pages. However it wasn't. So I went from ~150MBs used to ~250MBs memory used without actually doing ANY work in the file. Even at THAT level, the system was still quick. It was the flipping to different pages or plotting that would keep on bumping that memory usage to way unreasonable levels, well beyond the physical RAM my system has. And then once it hit the pagefile, the system would be completely unusable, as expected. Maybe It's just me, but I would expect that kind of poor programming from a version 1 or possibly v1.5 piece of software. NOT something thats been around for as long as AutoCAD has been around. Seems like even if I had 2GBs of RAM, working on larger drawings would still quickly hit that limit, since AutoCAD would keep on consuming more RAM, even thought it really didn't need it. UGH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHaidar Posted April 9, 2003 Share Posted April 9, 2003 There is a note on the Autodesk support site that looks like it might apply. Free up memory when switching between layouts in AutoCAD 2000i Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazdaz Posted April 10, 2003 Author Share Posted April 10, 2003 AHAIDAR - Great catch dude!... I'm printing that page right now and gonna bring it into work to see if that solves it. (Ofcourse this is just ONE drawing that bogs down - I have had many drawings on many versions of Acad over the years that bog down eventually.. but hey, I'd be thrilled if this fixes just one issue) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siliconbauhaus Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 have you tried re-installing xp? I had problems with max and other programs hanging up as well as normal right click windows commands bringing up the hourglass. A fresh install of xp has solved all of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazdaz Posted April 10, 2003 Author Share Posted April 10, 2003 SILICONBAUHAUS - No, I have not bothered to reinstall XP on my work computer (to me that would be a last resort) - even though I have HAD to reinstall XP on my home PC atleast 3 times. Actually, at work today I tried what that link suggested in AHAIDAR's post. Before I did it, I tested the system out by flipping though a few layout-pages... and the memory usage kept on climbing... THEN I followed the directions in the link, and I immediately got back all the memory that ACAD was hoggin before. So while I didn't get to actually work on that drawing today, it APPEARS as though it should be fine now. Thanks again to AHAIDAR for finding that link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHaidar Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 You're welcome Hazdaz. I'm surprised I remembered that particular problem. I've tried very hard to forget that 2000i existed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reitveld Posted April 12, 2003 Share Posted April 12, 2003 try auditing your file Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando Lino Posted April 15, 2003 Share Posted April 15, 2003 try wblock It should be work!!! or use recover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now