SolidWorks crashing due to large Page File 2000/XP

[mig26]

Since we have installed SW2005 SP 3.0 on the systems in my company, a lot of users get crashes due to the fact the Page File (virtual memory) of Win2000 and XP SP1 are growing up to 1.7/1.9 Gb. Then the user gets a message "failed to save file" , followed up by a crash.

I tried to search the fora and have not found much. I also contact our supplier. He came with the tip as can be found on this forum to increase the system virtual memory to 3Gb. You need to set a switch in the ini file.

Does anyone has similar problems? We use 3.0 Mhz Xeon machines with 1 Gb internal memory, Nvidia Quadro FX 500.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

You should NOT be using the 3GB switch if you are running XP-SP1, unless you have installed the MS patch.
XP-SP2 should be used.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;328269

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx

http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htm

http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

Also upgrading to 2GB RAM would help, then VM would not be used as much.


Making the best use of this Forum. faq559-716
How to get answers to your SW questions. faq559-1091
Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of. faq559-520

 

[mig26]

It seems that SolidWorks lacks to empty the VM as any MS Windows program should do. Even creating a part the VM grows up to 1.97 Gb before crashing.

Adding extra internal memory helps, we already tested that. But 1Gb should be enough. We did not have any problems with big VM in SW2004

 

[SBaugh]

Your VM should be the same for Min and MAX. Don't let it grow in size. 3 to 4 times the RAM for Min and Max.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[mig26]

But still how large you set your VM, Windows is limited to 2 GB for applications (the other 2 GB is reserved for the operating system itself).

So the 3GB tweak would help a bit, or adding extra memory above the 1GB internal memory we already have.

Our IT department does not allow me to tweak my PC, which I can understand. There is some risk involved.

Extra memory is a problems since all memory banks of the motherboards are full with RIM.

Other users must have the same problems? Anyone?

 

[SBaugh]

What kind of Files are opening and how big are they?

If you have super large assemblies, then your IT should be working with your VAR, if you are not doing that, then you are cutting your own throats.

There have been numerous people out here that have 15,000+ component assemblies and they open them and work inside of them without crashing. So it must be Hardware, network, or software related issue.

You need to give better details of how you are opening the files, how big are the files you are opening, are they being opened over a network, have you done any repairs or alternative installed (see FAQ) on the SW installs, what have you done to fix the issue, outside of blaming it on VM.

Your Video Card may not be handling the assemblies well. a 500 FX is good for about 50-100 part assemblies, anything after that and it starts spitting out crap. This is why you must talk to your VAR to deteremine what is hte best Video Card. Anything over 100 you need the 1100 FX and I think those are good up to around 1000 part assemblies... and on up thye line you go.

You need to be talking to your VAR and they can probably help you better, because they will send someone out to help, if they care enough... if they don't threaten to leave, that might get their attention.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[mig26]

I talked together with IT to our VAR. But they say they never heard of this bug before. And after complaining a few times the told that some other customers with large assemblies had the same problems.

Their solution was the either the 3GB tweak or add extra RIM.

We work not with 15k part big assemblies, but we have complex models with a lot of external references. Our supplier labels us as a company with large assemblies. Our hardware was fine for SW2004. In fact I still have that on my machine and this version did not show any big groth of the VM with the same assemblies. I tested this with a native 2004 backup file.

I am currently testing SW2006 on my machine, and up to now my VM did not grow big at all (not tested much though).

This error occurs even when creating a part file from scratch, that the strange thing.

 

[AccessoryGuy]

This sounds very similar to a problem two of my engineers just experienced with new machines and a new install of Solidworks Professional; We have two machines operating under XP SP2 using P4 processors. One is using an installation of Solidworks Office without a hitch. The seat of Solidworks we just purchased had to be Solidworks Professional, as apparently they have discontinued the lesser equipped Office SKU. My new girl selected "Professional" as her installation, and experienced crashes and lock ups when trying to edit large part sketches.

We ran a comparison using the same file on both machines while watching system resources and discovered larger file sizes when opening sketches in Professional. For some reason, the Professional version added about 50-75k to the file size and caused severe lag times in response to commands. Solidworks was unable to correct the problem with their suggestions. I suggested installing the new seat of Solidworks and NOT select "Professional" as the option on install. This fixed the problem. Another good suggestion is to use the XP option to free up more RAM by eliminating the fancy icon shadows and crap that XP adds to your interface.

Further, we discovered that our contracted IT person installed 4gb of RAM into these machines without changing the INI in the BIOS to tell the Windows XP system it had this extra RAM. DO NOT USE MICROSOFT'S HELP FOR DOING THIS- YOU WILL EXPERIENCE BOOT PROBLEMS. We had our UG rep suggest a solution that worked. My engineer on the 2nd XP SP2 machine experienced serious boot problems when she tried Microsoft's help on doing this herself. We ended up wiping out the hard drive and reloading everything. :-(

-Scott

 

[ctopher]

If you didn't purchase SW Pro, do not install that option.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

 

[SBaugh]

If you have all the Add-ins turned on in Pro that takes memory away. DOn't turn on any add-ins you are not using.

ctopher is right, if you didn't purchase Pro only office, then you use office as the install suggests. Just because it was discontinued doens't mean it still isn't supported and you can't install it. It just means it isn't sold anymore.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[mig26]

I talked to our reseller again about this problem. He strongly recommended the 3GB setting for WindowsXP. We are going to try it. About the Win2K SP4.0 workstations they were not sure. Anybody tried it with Win2K?

In the meantime I made a "mickey mouse" solution. A small VB program which warns the engineers when their VM becomes too large. With our 1GB/Intel Xeon 2.8 - 3.2Mhz workstations 1,5GB VM seems to be a safe limit in which you still can save your file and close SolidWorks.

Since we have a lot of order pressure is high. Users forget to save and monitor Task Manager. This solutions helps for now.

I also tested SW2006 SP 0.0 to see how fast the VM grows. It seems to handle memory much better, but I have not tested it comprehensive though.