SW 2009 SP 0 is out 3

[Jarery2000]

2009 runs fine with no crashes so far on my work pc. Running a separate install on some test assemblies.

Disappointed in a few things.

Laughed at the claiming of support for dual monitors when of the left hand feature/property/config manager that takes up large real estate on the left side, you can now undock the property manager. Unfortunately the feature/config manager cannot be undocked so there is no gain to real estate for the model window.

Dimexpert is still totally useless for something as simple a machined shaft. Some dimensions ONLY appear in top annotation view, unfortunately in top view the geometric function boxes appear at 90 degrees to the dimension text, and custom text position, to make leader text horiz or vertical is non functioning in top view.

Stability is nice. The magnifying glass is nice.

 

[lumenharold]

I went to the Assembly Expo in Chicago yesterday and since I haven't spent a great deal of time looking at 09, I stopped at the SW booth to check it out. They were displaying SW08. The sales guys said that I could see it at the roll out in a "couple weeks". I guess my point is that it seems kind of dumb to send your sales team out without giving them your best/newest product to demo when it's available for download now. I felt kind of bad for them....

I know the region isn't in great shape as far the economy (how's that for understatement?) but the SW booth a few years ago was at least four times the size with Add-In parteners displayed as well. That was where I first saw OptisWorks. This year it was about the size of three cubicles. Bummer.

Harold
SW2008 SP4.0 OPW2008 SP1 Win XP Pro 2002 SP3
Dell 690, Xeon 5160 @3.00GHz, 3.25GB RAM
nVidia Quadro FX4600

http://www.lumenflow.com

 

[smcadman]

Well we jumped in with both feet without testing 2009 because admin updated all seats Friday after we left. Can't wait to try it out and hope it isn't all eye-candy and fluff.

Flores

 

[Decca]

I downloaded 2009 Sp0 and used it over the past four days. I used it to model a canopy for a boat. The model comprised about a dozen parts and several assemblies.

The number of crashes seems the same as with 2008 or greater. It has probably crashed about ten times over this period.

There were issues in trying to set the colours of the various parts and have these appearance settings appear in the various assemblies. I'm a mechanical engineer working on heavy industrial plant for mine sites. The colouring doesn't need to be too fancy. My approach is to set the various colours and textures in the parts and have these appear in the various sub-assemblies and assemblies that the parts appear in.

Tryng to apply colours to the various parts and assemblies seems to be hit and miss. I found the help given regarding selected gometry in the property manager is confusing. Under 'selected geometry', what is 'componenet level' and a 'part document'. Apparently these have different meanings in an assembly and a part. I get different things happening at different levels of the part in an assembly for the same operation. Sometimes the triangle that appears in the display pane under 'appearance' is on top, indicating the colour was applied to the assembly, and sometimes it appears on the bottom, indicating it was applied to the part and sometimes the change to the setting unexpectedly clears the colour from the part or assembly.

That leads me to the first major problem. If I cleared the overiding appearance settings for an assembly, ie. the settings for the assembly listed at the top of the feature tree, then I was unable to save the file. A message appeared on the screen saying that the file could not be saved. Our VAR is looking into the problem. Coupled with that in another copy of this assembly part I am unable to clear the colour setting in the assembly.

The other mjor problem involved mirroring a part in an assembly. To do this you're supposed to work through three steps in the property manager. I could only get to the second step. The third step was greyed out. To get this to work I had to back track to the first step and then click the green arrow.

Machine specifications:

Hewlett Packard XW4600, 64 bit, Windows XP, 8GB ram, Nvidia Quadro FX 1700.

 

[dogarila]

Will SW2009 work on Vista Home Premium x64?

 

[Updraft]

dogarilla,

Yes. I am running it that way, both SWX2008-SP4.0 and SWX2009-SP0.0

- - -Updraft

 

[Decca]

I've also had problems with Photoview 360 which is the rendering add-in that is part of SW Premium.

I opened up an assembly comprising several parts and a message appears on the dialogue box that says 'Drawing problem dangerous lack of resources.' The program would then typically crash. This happened a number of times.

I listed my specifications above which are as good. I am also using an Intel E6850 Core 2 Duo processor. I managed to get a simple part to open without the program crashing.

I would be interested to hear other feedback on this software.

 

[AnnaWood]

PhotoView 360 is in Pre-Release. I have some issues opening models and crashing on my Vista machine. SW Tech Support tells me it is a known issue and a fix is in place in a future SP of PhotoView 360.

I have had better luck opening models by RMB the file in Windows Explorer, then selecting Open With.

I love the package, it works well for my needs. It still has rough edges that I suspect will be addressed in the future.

I have a blog post about PhotoView 360 and also some renders posted at

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/solidmuse

Cheers,

Anna Wood
SW2008 SP4.0, Windows Vista SP1
IBM ThinkPad T61p, T7800, FX570M, 4 gigs of RAM

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/solidmuse

http://www.phxswug.com

 

[lumenharold]

I contacted my Add-In support to ask if/when the Add-In will be compatible with SW09. After a few emails and a follow up call I have some clarification on when the gold partner products are due for for their 09 release. The clock starts ticking for them January 1 of the new year release SolidWorks XX and they have until April 1 to get their software released. I had thought that it started when SP0 was available regardless of the date. There's a good chance that SW will be on SP1.0 by the time I install.

Harold
SW2008 SP4.0 OPW2008 SP1 Win XP Pro 2002 SP3
Dell 690, Xeon 5160 @3.00GHz, 3.25GB RAM
nVidia Quadro FX4600

http://www.lumenflow.com

 

[SBaugh]

When using photo view you have to convert your files over to SW09 first. If you can't convert them then PV360 will not work. This is in response to "Decca".

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"

faq731-376

 

[Decca]

The files were created in SW 2009.

I did have more success using the rendering add-in in SolidWorks. I have SW premium.

I'd prefer it if they didn't send out half baked software. Users are feeling jaded about the problems with colouring and textures so to put out this package in its present form is another slap in the face.

Had another five crashes using 2009 today. In one case it occured twice when I opened a single simple part. Tried to Rx the issue but then it stopped crashing. It was also unstable when using routing and doing simulations.

I did have a chance to use the speed pak briefly and in concept at least it seems a good think and should make bigger models more managable.

 

[macduff]

Has anyone tested SW2009 with PDMWorks Workgroup? Is there a new server software version?

Colin Fitzpatrick (aka Macduff)
Mechanical Designer
Solidworks 2008 SP 4.0
Dell 490 XP Pro SP 2
Xeon CPU 3.00 GHz 3.00 GB of RAM
nVida Quadro FX 3450 512 MB
3D Connexion-SpaceExplorer

 

[SBaugh]

Well something that most don't consider when going to SW09 is that it is new and usually your Video card drivers change per the next major release. SW has got those released but they are still the latest driver we are using. There maybe better ones out there SW has not tested yet.

From what I have been told if you read the License agreement it does state to not use the Sp0 for production type work.

I have used SW09 and for the most part its very stable... some people will have problems than others... I guess this is your year, until you get better drivers or maybe a new install.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"

faq731-376

 

[Decca]

Scott,

The video card driver I'm using is the latest for my machine. I am aware that the Beta versions are not intended for real work. Wasn't aware of that for the SP0.

There seems to be, among other things, issues when converting mesh types in a Simulation study. In one study it changed by itself. If I change the mesh type, say a beam to a solid, the software crashes. After it has crashed in this way it crash every time I try to open the file. If I open the part file first then open the assembly it doesn't crash. Be interested to hear of other users with the same problems.

 

[Theophilus]

SP0 not recommended for production work? Wow, that's a bit bold to put into the license agreement. Who would see that as favorable? Can we verify this?



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

A people who value security over freedom will soon find they have neither.

 

[Decca]

Well the Simulation add-in went from bad to worse and in the end it was crashing everytime I tried to open a past file or start a new study.

I've reinstalled windows desktop search at the suggestion of the VAR and removed and reinstalled 2009 also at the VAR suggestion. We'll see what happens.

 

[Decca]

Hmm. Still causing problems. Crashes whenever I open a part file with a Simulation.

 

[SBaugh]

I would send file to VAR with RX in tow and see what they and hopefully SW has to say.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"

faq731-376

 

[Decca]

This has been done. We await a response from SW.

 

[lumenharold]

I couldn't find anything in the license agreement about SP0 not being for production. Can you point me to the section number?

Harold
SW2008 SP4.0 OPW2008 SP1 Win XP Pro 2002 SP3
Dell 690, Xeon 5160 @3.00GHz, 3.25GB RAM
nVidia Quadro FX4600

http://www.lumenflow.com