SW claiming to run out of memory causing network issues 2

[SteveJJH]

A bit of a strange one I can't figure out
A couple of guys here are getting messages on their stations that SolidWorks does not have enough resources to complete the required task (it's a message telling you to close other applications to free up resources, I can't remember the exact wording)
Weird thing number one is it seems to be happening when SolidWorks isn't using anywhere near enough ram to crash (normally about 1.7Gb on a 32 bit machine), this is happening even when SolidWorks is using about 300Mb of ram.
Weird thing number two is that when this starts happening the user loses all network connectivity.
The machines having this problem sometimes get blacked out toolbars and a black SolidWorks background, I don't know if this is related.
Any ideas? I can't see how memory and connectivity can be related, so any help on that would be great.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

You could have any of a number of things happening here.
Could be power supply, bad RAM, insufficient VM, graphics card/driver, corrupt part/assy, .........

Can you list the complete system specs of the 'problem' machines?

Also list the stats for the assys being worked on.

Are you working across a network when editing files, or locally? PDM?

 

[SteveJJH]

The machines in question are:
Dell Precision PW390
Intel Core 2 6700 @ 2.66GHz
2Gb RAM
Quadro FX 3450/400 SDI

It's been happening with all sorts of drawings / assemblies / parts, they don't have to be anything majorly complex

we use PDMworks

 

[kellnerp]

Activate the 3Gb switch. Windows XP 32bit will run out of RAM at around 1.6 to 1.7 GB if the 3GB switch is not activated. You can search this forum, comp.cad.solidworks or SWCad@googlegroups.com for the details of how to do this. There is a long technical explanation for why this happens. What you may not realize is that in the course of running SW will grab and release large chunks of memory. You may not see this if you just take a casual peek at Task Manager.


TOP
CSWP
BSSE

http://www.engtran.com

http://www.niswug.org

"Node news is good news."

 

[SteveJJH]

It's not behaving in the same way as when we've got large assemblies open and are up in the 1.6G range, these machines aren't getting anywhere near it

 

[EEnd]

Something other than SolidWorks might be running amok and leaking system resources and SolidWorks is just the first thing to complain. There are limited system resources other than memory. Handles are one. The task manager can display resources beyond memory, including handles.

Does the network go back to working once SolidWorks is closed?

Eric

 

[JMarv]

Info on the 3Gb switch if anyone needs it.

http://kcswug.com/documents/3gb_switch_part_one,_two,_&_three.pdf

Joe
SW Office 2008 SP5.0
P4 3.0Ghz 3GB
ATI FireGL X1

 

[AnnaWood]

Read up on Windows Desktop Heap.

Are the systems saying they are running out of Desktop Memory?

This happens when you have a bunch of apps, windows, files open. Windows only allocates so much memory to the Desktop (all the windows you have open).

2 gigs of memory is not that much on a cad system. We haven't run with less then four gigs of memory in the past 5 years or so.

I would get some more memory for your systems. Also make sure your users do not have a ton of windows and files open all the time.

You may want to get in the regular habit of shutting down SolidWorks a couple times during the day. Lunch and when you go home at night. Also restart your computer every night. This will clear up space dust that builds up while the systems are running.

Cheers,

Anna Wood
Anna Built Workstation, Core i7 EE965, FirePro V8700, 12 gigs of RAM, OCZ Vertex 120 Gig SSD
SW2009 SP3.0, Windows 7 RC1

http://www.solidmuse.com

http://www.phxswug.com

 

[AnnaWood]

The blacked out toolbars could be a video problem.

What version and SP of SolidWorks are you running?

Do you have the correct SolidWorks approved video card drivers for your systems and version of SolidWorks?

http://www.solidworks.com/sw/videocardtesting.html

Use the dropdown for Dell.

Cheers,

Anna Wood
Anna Built Workstation, Core i7 EE965, FirePro V8700, 12 gigs of RAM, OCZ Vertex 120 Gig SSD
SW2009 SP3.0, Windows 7 RC1

http://www.solidmuse.com

http://www.phxswug.com

 

[rfus]

Do you have dissection enabled (what a dumb tool). This can turn on and create problems, and I'm thinking could be going out to files on the network, causing a lockup when the crash occurs. This can turn on and could be a culprit, so kill it.

Also, do you notice Draw Compare running?

rfus

 

[SteveJJH]

The network does go back to working once SolidWorks is closed

I'll have a look to see how many windows these guys have open next time, i agree that 2Gb isn't much these days, it won't be a lot of money to get it up to 4. We generally turn our machines fully off every night

We are currently running SW2009 SP2.0, and one of the machines in question has the latest SW recommended graphics driver

I don't know anything about dissection, i take it i'll find that in the task manager?

Draw compare, now that's another thing. whenever i start task manager with SolidWorks running, task manager itself always seems to come up as draw compare, that's even on my machine, which is a totally different spec and doesn't get any of these problems

 

[manxJim]

I hade a very similar problem,
In the end we removed the Norton antivirus and switched to AGV and hade no more issues


Jim Self
SW09 SP2.1
Dell Precision 670
3GB Ram
Quaddro FX 3400/4400
dlplimited.com

 

[Galdeen]

We also had that problem and changed the desktop wallpaper to something plain and that solved it. Kind of weird.....but it did the trick.

 

[JMarv]

...changed the desktop wallpaper to something plain and that solved it.

I am so not surprised by that. LOL. I just changed mine as soon as I read your post.

Joe
SW Office 2008 SP5.0
P4 3.0Ghz 3GB
ATI FireGL X1