Solidworks 2008 Lockups

[mrvnmrshun]

I have a increasingly annoying problem with solidworks. Within 10 minutes after starting solidworks everyday it will lockup for up to 20 minutes before it will start working again. I have now started using the task manager to shutdown solidworks when it locks up because it will not always come back on its own and it is too much time to sit and wait for it to hopefully come back. There is no telling when it will lockup. Here are a few examples of times it locks up. After loading solidworks and clicking on the open button, editing features of a part, switching between parts. Has anyone been having a similar problem. I have been cleaning out my temp files about once a week and i don't run the automatic backup. Here are my system specs.

Dell
Intel core 2 Quad CPU Q6000 @ 2.40 Ghz
4096 MB Ram
XP Pro X64 edition
Quadro FX 3500 256MB
Solidworks 2008 X64 bit Version SP4.0

 

[handleman]

Are you working over a network or on your HD?

-handleman, CSWP (The new, easy test)

 

[JMirisola]

I've been experiencing lockups as well. Mine, however, are repeatable and I've been able to capture an Rx and send it off to my VAR. Highly aggravating to say the least.
It's not a memory problem as I'm running an X64 system with 8 GB of RAM. Nor is it a network problem as I'm working solely off my hard drive.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP, Certified DriveWorks AE

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

mrvnmrshun,
Is the Indexing function active?

 

[mrvnmrshun]

Yes i am running off a network. What is the indexing funtion?

 

[mrvnmrshun]

I found the indexing function and its is set to "index only when computer is idle".

 

[handleman]

Try running SW disconnected from the network. By disconnected I mean pull the ethernet plug out of the back of your machine.

-handleman, CSWP (The new, easy test)

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Also, have the Task Manager running and watch which process is hogging the CPU when the lock-up occurs.

 

[mrvnmrshun]

Well i tried unplugging my computer from the network this morning and it locked up with ten minutes when i was trying to switch back from the part i edited to the main assembly.

 

[handleman]

Did you watch the Task Manager? Was SW using all the resources, or some other program?

-handleman, CSWP (The new, easy test)

 

[mrvnmrshun]

No, i didn't have the task manager running. But i will have it running now to try and catch what is hogging the CPU.

 

[mrvnmrshun]

Ok, so i rebooted my computer and only opened task manager and solidworks. I then took a screen shot of the task manager to see what the mem usage of all apps that were running. I then opened my assembly and took a look at the task manager. It showed at this time the commmit charge at about 780M/5830M. I then opened a part and selected a feature to edit, but didn't do anything to it. Just opened and closed the edit feature. I then tried to go back to the assembly. It locked up switching between the part and assembly. I soon as i noticed that it was locking up i switched to the task manager and compared my screen shot to what was now showing in the task manager. I couldn't see any noticeable difference between the screen shot and what task manager was now showing for mem useage.

 

[Waidesworld]

I was making an assembly last week and keeping an eye on the memory, there is a leak, it's known to the developers and has been around for quite some time, yet it still hasn't been addressed. It doesn't hurt to have the Task Manager open in the background to see how much leakage is occurring. I normally restart SW2008SP4 3-4 times a day to keep it fresh.

 

[mrvnmrshun]

I can understand that there my be a memory leak that my make the program crash after a few hours of use, but from the time that i rebooted my computer started solidworks and did the open/close of the edit feature on the part was about 5 minutes.

 

[handleman]

So what was hogging the CPU? The CPU is the Central Processing Unit. It's like your "brain". This is different from memory. "Memory" is analagous to the top of your desk where you are working. Everything you're currently working on is spread out across your desk. If your desk gets full you can't pull out anything else to work on without putting some stuff away. However, if your brain gets stuck on a particularly difficult problem, it doesn't matter how much space you have used or left on your desk - you can't continue working until your brain solves the problem. If your task manager doesn't have a column headed "CPU", go to View->Select Columns and put a checkmark by "CPU Usage". Then, while SW is locked up, click on the "CPU" heading a couple of times to sort descending by CPU usage.

-handleman, CSWP (The new, easy test)

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Instead of watching the Performance section, watch the Processes which are running when SW locks up. It will help if you sort the CPU column to show the active processes at the top.

 

[mrvnmrshun]

I was watching the process tab. I have now clicked on the CPU column to show the active processes at the top. I now also have it alawys on top so i can always keep on eye on it.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

The ProcessExplorer utility from

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/0e18b180-9b7a-4c49-8120-c47c5a693683.aspx

is similar to the Task Manager, but has far more options and information.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

The Process Monitor utility is also good, but probably offers too much information.