VIZ2005 network render error

[quizzy]

This is what I get:

 

ERR Task error: An unexpected exception has occurred in the network renderer and it is terminating.

 

How can I find out what is causing this??

 

WIN XP pro

sp2

[BSArch98]

Michiel,

 

We've had those errors also (MAX 6)...and we've never been able to find out specifically what is wrong. We just try to clean up the file as much as possible, and perhaps split the scanlines during the rendering process to get it to render. It's a pain in the neck, and often takes a long time to render that way, but it's better to render something than to get errors all the time. I've never been able to track down anything that causes that error, no matter how much I've looked. Just trim as much stuff as you possibly can out of the file, and do anything you can to reduce the memory needed to render the file, and you should get better results....other than that, I don't know if there's anything else I can suggest.

 

Chris

[abicalho]

Can you render the file in that system manually? I would expect it to crash, as it's crashing when you netrender.

[quizzy]

Yes i can.. but only if I close all running programs like e-mail etc... So its propably a memory issue...??

[abicalho]

Yep - add more swap file space to your system and that should work.

[quizzy]

My current swap settings are: 2048 - 4096 MB

[LukeC]

Since this is a problem that I see regularly asked here on these forums I thought I would write a detailed solution to help people get their renders working properly.

 

The problem is that windows isnt allocating enough memory to viz.

Refer: Out of memory errors in VIZ

 

As mentioned in the previous document, they talk about a 3gb switch as one of the solutions.

Microsoft: By default, Windows can address a total of 4 gigabytes (GB) of virtual address space. By default, 2 GB of this is reserved for the kernel (operating system), and 2 GB is reserved for User mode programs.

 

When you put a /3GB switch into the Boot.ini file of the operating system, you reallocate the virtual address space distribution to give User mode programs 3 GB of space and limit the kernel to 1 GB.

 

The 3gb switch can be enabled in the boot.ini file.

 

An example of a boot.ini would be

 

[boot loader]

timeout=10

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro with /3GB" /fastdetect /3GB

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

 

This is how we have ours setup. This will allow you on boot to choose if you want to boot windows with the 3gb switch enabled or not. It is also suggested you have 2 boot options (as above), one with and one without the switch, incase the switch doesnt work then you can boot windows normally.

 

There is a problem we have encountered however. When working in viz (not rendering) while the 3gb switch is enabled, a "Delayed Write Failed" error has occured. This can be fixed with a patch from Microsoft

Refer: "Delayed Write Failed" errors when you use the /3GB switch in Windows XP Professional

 

XP Service Pack 1 Users Note: Although the patch is not necessary for the previous error, you do however have to apply the patch to alow the 3gb switch to work under sp1.

Refer: Windows XP SP1 May Not Start with the /3GB or /USERVA Switch

 

This has fixed all our problems with netrendering and it has been tried and sucessfully tested on over 80 machines and have had them all rendering fine on a netrender.

 

It is strongly suggested you read all the information layed out above if you are new to doing this.

 

Good Luck

 

Luke

[LukeC]

Just to note, we havent tried this method under SP2, and although Im told it works, i suggest you do some research first.

[abicalho]

It works fine under XP SP2 - that's how both my systems are setup, and I'm up to date with all current hotfixes.

[Brolloks]

Hi

 

Try disabling the firewall under SP2 on xp. I've had mixed success with it switched on, but no hassles yet when it's switched off