Graphics Systems SolidNotes

SolidWorks 2013 and Windows XP: The End of an Era

Just shy of 10 years ago, Windows XP was released for retail sale on October 25, 2001; SolidWorks 2001 Plus was the "gotta-have-it" version.  Fast forward to today, and I bet most of you are operating with Windows 7 (or for you unlucky ones, Windows Vista). The most current version of SolidWorks is 2011 SP4 and the highly anticipated 2012 is scheduled to be released sometime in October.

In order to most-efficiently run the improved SolidWorks software, system requirements also require change. With the new release, SolidWorks says adios to Windows XP and announces the 2012 version will be the last to support Windows XP. Next year, installing SolidWorks 2013 on Windows XP will not even be an option. Now is the time to plan a migration to Windows 7, if you haven't already done so. Regarding old legacy programs that require XP, look into options such as using the XP mode in Windows 7; or, you may need to bite the bullet and update.

Visit the SolidWorks web page for system requirements and further information.

Don't Be the Guinea Pig

I was going to write about a sheet metal tip this month, but I'm going to save that for next month. Why? I have something more timely to discuss.

Don't be the guinea pig.

This my brother Jeff's mantra, and it is mine, too, but sometimes, the bright, new, shiny software update makes me forget that mantra. Case in point: Internet Explorer 9 was released by Microsoft last week. I had been reading very good things about it so I decided to go ahead and update my laptop. While the update went fine, I was soon noticing some strange behavior on my system.

Every time I clicked on the start button, I got a dialog box that read "Specified module could not be found (msls31.dll)." That began immediately after the reboot after IE9 was installed. Hmm. Annoying, but I'm sure Microsoft will fix this. I mean, look how cool IE 9 is!

A day later, I wanted to look up something in the SolidWorks help. I brought it up and the content pane was blank. Nothing I did would show anything in that pane. What changed? Oh, yeah, that's right, I installed IE 9. Maybe the SolidWorks help is based on Internet Explorer display technology. Ok, that's more annoying.

Yesterday I started to work on my blog for the month. I logged into Typepad and started to upload some images I had captured the week before. I chose my first image to upload as usual. After 10 minutes of waiting, I finally killed it off. (The pic was only a 93 Kb jpeg.) I had a problem; what could it be?

Oh, right. IE 9. I brought up another browser (Safari) and the upload took about 2 seconds.

Doing more searching, I'm finding that IE 9 is causing all kinds of issues. Google Docs don't work with it. Flickr has issues. It also causes problems with SolidWorks EPDM. In fact, a quick Google search on the topic yields all kinds of hits.

I became the guinea pig. I downloaded IE9 the first day it was available. I let my excitement get in the way of my better judgment.

Wasn't it beta tested? Sure it was. But here's the way I look at it: beta testers are people who want to be guinea pigs; in fact, they're eager to do so. They know what they're in for. They want to be part of the testing process.

Early adopters (like me in this case) are also guinea pigs because no beta testing program can test for the same number and combinations of software, drivers, hardware, and uses in the real world. Even if 10,000 people signed up to beta test IE 9, that is only a small subset of the total number of Internet Explorer users, which would have to be in the tens of millions at least.

So, my advice? Don't be the guinea pig. Wait to load IE 9. Let updates come out to fix the early issues.

What if you decide to load it (like I did) and now you want to get rid of it? Well, in Windows 7, IE 9 is classified as a Windows Upgrade in the Control Panel, so here is what you do:

1 .Go to Control Panel.

2. Click on Programs.

3. Under Programs and Features, click Turn Windows features on or off.

 

4. Scroll down until you find the update to windows for IE9.

5. Select and click "Uninstall" at the top of the window.

When the machine reboots, you'll have the version of Internet Explorer that you had before.

And you won't be the guinea pig.

When an Rx Won't Capture It

SolidWork's Rx utility is a great tool for logging repeatable issues such as crashes or errors.  While it works well with SolidWorks, what happens when you are using eDrawings, the 2D Editor, or Draft Sight?  I'd like you to consider some free and internal tools to help you log repeatable issues.  This will help your and your VAR in troubleshooting the issue and finding a solution.

The first is a free download from www.sysinternals.com or Microsoft.  Process Monitor allows you to quickly create a capture filter for a particular process (such as sldworks.exe) and see, in real-time, what registry and system calls are being made.  While cryptic at times, the technical support staff at your reseller and at SolidWorks corporate can use the logs saved to learn more about the process' behavior.  Warning: log files can become very large depending on how long you log for.

To create a filter, use the short-cut (CTL-L) or drop down.  The window looks like this:

You can see above that I've created a filter for the eDrawings executable.  A screen shot of a running filter looks like this.

Now I can see what the process is doing, what keys its touching, and if there were any failures.

To go a step deeper, you use the built-in Event Viewer.  In Windows 7, right from the search box you can simply type "Event Viewer" and select it to launch.  It looks like this and is comprised of logs for applications and system events.

Expand "Windows Logs" and select Application or System. Scroll through the log at top and look for warnings or errors.  These are the same logs captured with an Rx.  But, again, what do you do with eDrawings or Draft Sight? (or AutoCAD, or ProE, or .... you name the application)

Here are examples of App events and System events.

I hope you found this blog useful.  The next time you get an error or warning, now you may have one more tool in your belt to use to troubleshoot.

3DVIA Instalation Guide

Getting started with 3DVIA Composer

Before you start to install 3DVIA Composer first let’s explain the type of license you will need to run the software. 3DVIA Composer is licensed through the hardware on your PC, the license is based on your hardware MAC Address. There are two types of licenses available with 3DVIA Composer, Standalone and Network. Here are the steps for both types of installations.

One more thing, please disable or turn off your AntiVirus Software before you install!

Standalone Install

Insert the disc and select the installation type when prompted.

 

If your company uses SolidWorks and the PC you are installing onto has SolidWorks installed select the second option “3DVIA Composer”, if SolidWorks is not installed select the first option “3DVIA Composer & SolidWorks Importer”. For customers who use something other than SolidWorks select “3DVIA Composer”.

Follow the onscreen prompts to finish the installation process. When the installation is finished launch 3DVIA Composer and start the license request process.

When you start 3DVIA Composer you will see this dialog box

 
Select the “Install a License” button and you will see this dialog box.

Select the “Request License File by E-Mail” button and fill out the information in the email.

We require the following information in order to create the license files for 3DVIA Composer:

Host ID :
Serial Number :
Company :
First name :
Last name :
Phone :
Address 1 :
Address 2 :
City :
State/Province :
Country :
Zip/Postal code :
Email :
Version number :

You may want your IT Department to help you with the Host ID portion. The form will automatically fill this in but some PC and most Laptops will have more than one ID. You will want to use the ID for your primary NIC card.

When the form is complete email it to 3dvialicsr@solidworks.com and Support@gxsc.com.

After you receive your license file (this will take 1 or 2 days) start 3DVIA Composer and on the “Register License” dialog box select “Open License Folder” when the folder opens place your LIC file from SolidWorks into this folder. Close the folder and select OK to the dialog box and 3DVIA Composer will launch. You are now ready to use the software.

Network Install

Go to the 3DVIA Composer website
http://www.3ds.com/products/3dvia/3dvia-composer/resource-center/

In the FLEXlm portion of the page you will need to download the software and install guide. Select your software based on your server type (32 or 64 bit Windows or Sun Solaris). You will also need the PDF install guide FLEXlm Install Manual.

Before installing any software you will need to get your license file. Here are the steps to request this file.

You will need the MAC Address from the server that will run the license software (have your IT Department help you with this step). Fill out the information below and after it is complete email it to 3dvialicsr@solidworks.com and Support@gxsc.com.

We require the following information in order to create the license files for 3DVIA Composer:

Host ID :
Serial Number :
Company :
First name :
Last name :
Phone :
Address 1 :
Address 2 :
City :
State/Province :
Country :
Zip/Postal code :
Email :
Version number :

After you receive your license file (this will take 1 or 2 days) follow the steps outlined in the FLEXlm Install Manual to install the server software. When the server installation is complete and running then use the steps for the Standalone install to install 3DVIA Composer.

After 3DVIA is installed start the software and you will see this dialog box

 
You will need to fill in the License Server information and select next. Here is the format you will need to specify the license server

 
3DVIA is now ready to go.

Support Resources

Technical support is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm CDT please call
800-454-2233 and select option 2 for technical support.

Solidworks website
www.SolidWorks.com

3DVIA Composer website
www.3DVIAComposer.com

Protect Your SolidWorks Serial Number

Have you ever worried that someone who has access to your PC for a short period of time may be able to steal your SolidWorks serial number?

SolidWorks provides an easy way to hide the serial number in the help about dialog while leaving just enough of it so that calls to support can be uniquely identified.  The part not hidden is used mostly for internal communication between SolidWorks corporate and the VAR and referred to as the Seat ID.  The only reason it's only used internally is because by the time you explain to someone what the Seat ID is you could have just asked for the whole serial number and figured it out yourself.  But if both parties know that you’re talking about the Seat ID it's not a problem.

Here's the solution:
1.  Make a new text file (name it something like 'Hide SW Serial Number'
2.  Paste this text into the file:
        Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

        [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks\Security]
        "Serial Number Hide"="1"
3.  Save the file
4.  Change the file extension from .txt to .reg
5.  Make sure SolidWorks is closed and Double-click on the .reg file and click Yes when it asks you to continue and OK to confirm the changes have been made successfully

Here's the Result:

Process Explorer : A Powerful “Free” Application

Ever curious to know what processes SolidWorks is using? Need to find out if your Anti-Virus is running? Maybe you’re in search for a utility other than Task Manager? Sounds like a good time to discover the benefits of using Process Explorer.

Process Explorer provides you with a detailed visual representation of your systems' currently active processes.

 

It displays the processes' corresponding program icons, a command line fly-out, and it color-codes the processes' status.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Process Explorer also comes with a powerful search tool that shows you which processes have certain handles opened or DLLs loaded. You can even use this search utility to track down viruses and malware.

 

In the end it can provide some meaningful insight on how SolidWorks, Windows, and many other applications work. Download it for free from Microsoft TechNet's Windows Sysinternals : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

SolidWorks (All versions) Setup for XP and Vista: Pre Installation

1. Check to see what video driver you have loaded. There are several ways of doing this the easiest is to use SolidWorks Rx.  Under diagnostics it will tell you the driver version right at the top. If this is a new machine or you have uninstalled SolidWorks you can also check in the device manager under display adapters.  Double-click on your video card and then go to the driver tab.  You will see the driver version listed here along with some other info.
2. Check for the latest certified passing drivers for your video card on the SolidWorks webpage.  You can get there by going to http://www.solidworks.com and clicking on graphics cards under quick links or click here for a direct link.
3. If the driver you have is not the SAME(newer or older is bad) as the latest certified passing driver you'll need to DISABLE YOUR ANTIVIRUS and then load the latest certified passing driver.
4. Once your driver is loaded make sure and set the driver for SolidWorks.  This can make a big difference.  Even cards that supposedly pass can perform poorly and crash if they are not set to SolidWorks.
5. If you are using an LCD display (flat panel monitor, projector, or laptop) it is extreemly important that you set your resolution to the max.  If you're using a CRT monitor you can set the resolution to whatever you like as long as your video card supports it.  The reason for this is that an LCD display has a specific number of crystals and anything other than the native resolution(maximum) causes the computer to average the color for each pixel with the surrounding ones to get the color that will be displayed.  and in a display that is 1280x1024 at 60hz that's over 78.6 million calculations per second that would not have to happen if you just set your resolution to the maximum.  If you feel that the icons or text is too small there are other ways to fix that (much easier in Vista than XP, but can still be done in XP)
6. Set your virtual memory to start at 4050 and to a maximum of 4096.  To do this right-click on my computer and choose properties.  In Vista there is an extra step here: you will have to pick advanved system settings on the left.  You will then get a popup that says System Properties.  Select the Advanced tab and under performance choose settings(the top one).  You'll have to again choose the advanced tab.  Make sure processor scheduling is set to programs and then click the change button.  This is where you will need to set the Initial size to 4050 and the maximum size to 4096.  Make sure and press the set button before you click ok and you're all done here.
7. If you're running any antispyware and or antivirus kill the processes now if you haven't already done so(Windows defender also need to be killed). For instructions on how to do this read my other articles.
8. Install SolidWorks

Disabling Antivirus: How To

To date I've written several articles listing the processes that need to be killed in order to ensure a specific antivirus program is completely dead and will not interfere with your SolidWorks installation or service pack upgrade.  I plan to continue to post more of these as versions change and as I discover new software in use.

What I didn't write before was exactly how to kill all the hindering processes and services; I just told you what they were and left that for you to figure out.  So here's the how to:

1. Download Process Explorer (works with XP and Vista) and get it running.  Here's a direct link to the download file http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/ProcessExplorer.zip.  If you're not sure what it is and want to know more go here and you can see some screen shots and additional info.  http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx  You must run process explorer as an admin user so you can see the Company Name column. This can easily be done with a right click, run as...
2. Once you have process explorer up and going take a look at the company name column and note every process that is associated with your antivirus and antispyware.  Also to double check, hover your mouse over each and every process and look at where the file is being executed from because the Company Name column is sometimes blank or not correct.  If it's from the folder where your antivirus is installed add that to your list of processes to kill.
3. As an optional step you can compare the files you've found to the files I have listed in my other articles to make sure you got'em all or let me know if you've found any new ones.
4. Once you have the list you can go through and right click on each one of the processes and choose Kill Process Tree.
5. If you can kill them all this way that's great but more often than not there will be one or more that will not die... for example rtvscan.exe with symantec antivirus and this is the one that really causes the problems so don't you dare ignore it and install anyways because you don't know how to kill it.  Keep reading... We'll get there
6. Right-click on my computer and choose manage... When Computer management comes up look to the bottom of the left-hand pane and expand Services and Applications and click on services.  Now in the right-hand pane scroll down untill you see the services associated with your antivirus software.  Be aware that the name of the service may not be the same as your antivirus software. For example McAfee's services are called Network Associates...  Once you've located the services, right click on them one at a time and choose Stop.  There will be anywhere from 3 to 8 services, which may or may not allready be stopped.  To verify, make sure and look at the Status column and confirm that it is empty.  It's important not to forget about your antispyware in this step.
7. If this did it and all the processes are stopped, you should now be able to kill that last of the processes, (step 4) if they're not already dead.  Be aware that just because the service is stopped does not necessairly mean the process is stopped, and in the end it's the process that we really need to kill.  If there is a process that will not stop, which again is more often that not, you'll need to keep reading...
8. For those processes that will not stop you will need to double click on the process and set it to disabled(most likely it is set to automatic before you change it).  at this point you will need to restart your computer and start from the top (step 4, assuming you still have the list you made in step 2).  The processes you already killed will be restarted when you reboot so you'll have to kill them again.
9. If for some reason you can't disable the service it is because you are not an administrator and you will need to log off and log back in as an admin to complete step 8.
10. Lastly after your Installation is complete make sure and remember to set whatever services you set to disabled back to automatic.

Can't get a license from SNL server?

Here is a call I took this week from a customer who was not able to get a license from his SNL server. I will go through the steps to troubleshoot this type of problem, and let you know how we resolved it.

1) Verify that the client PC is pointing to the correct license server
You can verify this by launching the SolidNetwork License Administrator and checking the Server List tab make sure you are pointing to the correct server and port (more on this later). This is also a good time to ping the server and make sure you can connect to it. The customer was able to connect to the server and had the correct port and server name.

2) From the SNL server verify that the server is giving out licenses
The next step is to go to the server and run the SolidNetwork License Administrator. Check to see if you have licenses available from License Usage tab. In this case he was getting a message "Could not get information from server" and had zero licenses available.

3) Check the log file for clues
So we can't get a license on the server. The dongle was in and the license file was read (did i forget to tell you to verify that part?) but we still can't get a license. On the Server Administration tab pick the View Log button, and look at the end of the log to see what's wrong. Here is what his log said.

14:04:14 (lmgrd) pid 8664
14:04:29 (lmgrd) The TCP port number in the license, 25734, is already in use.
14:04:29 (lmgrd) Possible causes:
14:04:29 (lmgrd)    1) The license server manager (lmgrd) is already running for this license.
14:04:29 (lmgrd)    2) The OS has not "cleared" this port since lmgrd died.
14:04:29 (lmgrd)    3) Another process is using this port number (unlikely).
14:04:29 (lmgrd) Solutions:
14:04:29 (lmgrd)    1) Make sure lmgrd and all vendor daemons for this
14:04:29 (lmgrd)       license are not running.
14:04:29 (lmgrd)    2) You may have to wait for the OS to clear this port.
14:04:29 (lmgrd) Retrying for about 5 more minutes
14:04:47 (lmgrd) Still trying...
14:05:05 (lmgrd) Still trying...

So it looks like it can't start LMGRD (one of the processes needed to make this whole thing work). I also looked for the last time it worked in the log file.

17:20:45 (lmgrd) Shutting down SW_D pid=1848 because of signal 15
17:20:46 ((lmgrd)) Loop info: MT:0 VD_HB:20 reset:0clients:0fd's:0
17:20:46 (lmgrd) SW_D exited with status 58 ()
17:20:46 (lmgrd) Since this is an unknown status, license server
17:20:46 (lmgrd) manager (lmgrd) will attempt to re-start the vendor daemon.
17:20:46 (lmgrd) Starting vendor daemon at port 25735
17:20:46 (lmgrd) Using vendor daemon port 25735 specified in license file
17:20:46 (lmgrd) Can't connect to the license server system. Shutdown SW_D failed.

So we have "error 58" -- what is that all about? I talked to SolidWorks and this they told me that this is a odd error and very uncomon. The error is most likely because of Windows DEP (Data Excution Prevention) on the server. This is some mysterious program from Microsoft to protect itself from bad evil programs. So this program is most likely killing the SW_D process needed to run the SNL Manager. What do we do to fix this? Take a deep breath -- we're just about done.

1. Stop the SNL server from the Server Administration tab.
2. Launch the DEP program from Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Performance Settings -> Data Excution Prevention.
3. Add an exception for the two programs LRGRD.exe and SW_D.exe in the install directory for SolidNetWork License Administrator.
4. Check to see if either processess is still running in the Task Manager, and if it is, end the process.
5. Restart the service for the SNL manager and see if you have licenses.

Well, after all that, it worked. So DEP was killing a process and causing the licenses manager to stop working. We prevented it from hapening again, and got everything back up and running. Your case may be different, but these few steps will help you diganose the issue. If you get stumped, you can always call for help too.

SolidWorks and Windows Vista UPDATE

Are you waiting to run SolidWorks on Windows Vista?

For those of you itching to get a version of SolidWorks fully supported on Vista looks like it will be this summer. Solidworks has said that the first released version of SolidWorks for Vista won't be until 2008 is released sometime this summer.

SolidWorks 2007 however will still support Vista as a pre-release version, and we should see a pre-release 2 around the time SP4 is available for 2007. The pre-release version can be download from the SolidWorks web site if you are a subscription customer.