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In exploded assembly, I can no longer select geometry in the graphics window, setting or nasty bug?

Question asked by Jay Andrews on Mar 23, 2011
Latest reply on Mar 24, 2011 by Keith Parker

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I am on sw2010 sp5, and on a brand new dell with12gb ram and 2gb workstation vram, so the hardware "shouldn't" be the problem. So anyway, I recently created this exploded view, and now suddenly in trying to work on the exploded config I can't select anything in the graphics view, including trying to manipulate the explode lines 3d sketch. Actually, if I click where the unexploded assembly would be, I can select things that way, but the parts aren't there, so it's like shots in the dark. Of course I can select from the feature tree, but that is extremely cumbersome and also unreliable, that acts goofy too. Anyone hear of this and maybe even have a solution? BTW I did reboot and it's still the same. Wire frame, still the same.

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Keith Parker Mar 23, 2011 10:59 AM
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Hate to say it...........graphics card and/or driver issue? Did your brand-new Dell come with a SW-approved card & driver?
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- Jay Andrews @ Keith Parker on Mar 23, 2011 11:30 AM
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  It is a quadro 4000, and is on the approved list.
  
  Interestingly, I updated the driver which was a good suggestion, then it worked correctly for about five minutes, now it is doing it again. I can't select exploded parts in the graphics window unless I select where it would be if not exploded, which is about impossible to do.
  
  Okay I just thought of a ridiculous workaround which would be maybe if I turn on dynamic highlighting I can feel my way through.
  
  Worst part is when it came time to buy a new machine last month, I begged and pleaded to let me build a system like I did at home which is far faster for a third of the price, but no, had to buy Dell...though I think maybe its the software, not the hardware. Either way, I'm quite annoyed right now. Ten thousand dollars worth of hardware and software, and I can't finish my exploded view to my liking.
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  - Keith Parker @ Jay Andrews on Mar 23, 2011 11:39 AM
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    Jay - have a go using SoftwareOpenGL mode (or whatever it's called) to bypass the graphics processing from the card (do this either through Rx or by ticking the box). That may show you whether it's the card/driver/etc that's causing the problem.
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    - Jay Andrews @ Keith Parker on Mar 23, 2011 11:58 AM
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      Okay, I just tried openglwhatever and it's still the same, just slower :-/
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      - Keith Parker @ Jay Andrews on Mar 23, 2011 12:06 PM
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        I'm all out of ideas now . Call your VAR now that you've done some investigation? I'd try another card if you can (I know, unlikely) as your monitor is still connected through it. Or re-install SW (did you have anti-virus switched off, blah blah).
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        Jay Andrews @ Keith Parker on Mar 23, 2011 12:10 PM
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        unfortunately we have a guy that does the installs, so I don't know what steps he took.
        
        I'm going to try rolling back the graphics driver again, since it worked for five minutes after the updated driver.
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        Jay Andrews @ Jay Andrews on Mar 23, 2011 12:56 PM
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        ...annnd now it's working again....let's see how long it lasts.
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        Jay Andrews @ Jay Andrews on Mar 23, 2011 1:00 PM
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        and now not again....this would be funny if it weren't so counter-productive.
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        Keith Parker @ Jay Andrews on Mar 23, 2011 1:13 PM
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        I laughed out loud in an 'oh bugger' sort of way! Glad you've kept your sense of humour.
        
        Maybe your card is faulty. Any chance of trying it in another PC? Maybe re-write the Subject to get some new interest.
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        Jay Andrews @ Keith Parker on Mar 23, 2011 1:38 PM
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        I'm thinking it's taht file for some reason. I made an assemlby called test, and a part called test, inserted a few copies, exploded it, and it worked fine. Then I patterned it 33x100 to simulate a large assembly, and it still worked fine. Then I went back into my real assembly and it's still not working properly. So I don't know if it's because the files are from an older version of solidworks maybe, or just corrupt somehow maybe, or maybe even one or more of the parts within it the software isn't liking. But the fact that the test assembly works properly indicates to me that it is likely a software issue, not a hardware issue.
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Heather Wainio Mar 23, 2011 11:45 AM
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This may be a silly question, but how many parts are in the assembly? Are you in Large Assembly Mode? Is everything resolved?

Heather
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- Jay Andrews @ Heather Wainio on Mar 23, 2011 12:08 PM
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  691 components. Not in large assembly mode. Everything is resolved. I believe the 500 components threshold for large assembly is a bit general and so considering my 12gb ram and 2gb vram and all quality settings set at lowest, I am sure I'm not over-taxing the hardware. Maybe over-taxing the software though. I'll have to try a dummy small assembly and see.
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Jay Andrews Mar 23, 2011 3:22 PM
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Okay, so in general it seems I can reset it to work again by rolling back then upgrading the driver, not that it's inconvenient or anything...and it seems to last longer now that I am using lightweight assembly mode. Though if it's already messed up, lw ass'y doesn't fix it, have to roll back the driver, or so it seems so far.
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- Keith Parker @ Jay Andrews on Mar 23, 2011 6:46 PM
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  Something clearly wrong and no-one else has chimed in. Maybe bump it tomorrow & see who's out there. Good luck.
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  - Jay Andrews @ Keith Parker on Mar 24, 2011 9:42 AM
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    I've since had it come and go without manipulating the driver too.
    
    I seem to have best results if I close everything, turn opengl on then use lightweight assembly. But I'm pretty sure this isn't fool proof since the first time I tried opengl it didn't work. I suspect that the combination of switching to opengl AND using large assembly mode is the best environment, though I think it still drops out. Tough to know for sure until I use it more.
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    - Keith Parker @ Jay Andrews on Mar 24, 2011 10:00 AM
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      Can you pack up the assembly & send it to your VAR? Maybe still the best way to go.
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In exploded assembly, I can no longer select geometry in the graphics window, setting or nasty bug?

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