JHEarcht

Since someone suggested that the mouse might be the cause of my screen blinking, I tried some different mice, but they all use the same basic MS Optical Mouse driver. Switching from my current MS Natural Wireless Laser Mouse to my previous Wireless Optical Mouse made no difference. Then I tried a USB optical mouse, to see if the wireless lag might be at fault. But again no change. When I first started using VW2009 with Full-Screen Cursor turned on, the crossed lines would lag behind the pointer. I thought, Oh no, here we go again. But after a restart, the cross and pointer would stay properly aligned. So this problem is off and on, and I have no idea what the cause is. Regarding the Open GL suggestions, my graphics card is supposed to support the latest Open GL standard. However, when my screen is blinking, I am not doing any OGL rendering. In fact I'm not doing anything. The screen blinks when I open a document and just let it sit---no mousing or rendering. Is OGL still involved, even when the file is static? Only the active drawing area blinks, so the cause is limited to that part of the screen, or in my case, screens. My Object Info Palette is normally on the second screen, but when I dock it on the primary screen, the drawing area still blinks.

mjw I started noticing, what I call "blinking", in VW2008 shortly after I began using it. Later, I discovered that VW12.5 is now blinking, where it never did before. This suggests to me that the source of the problem is something common to both versions---such as QuickTime. I tried using different versions of QT, but no change. So my only option is to try to synchronize my blinking with the screen. So far no luck. I'm not epileptic, but I find the blinking very distracting. It's not like 60hz fluorescent flicker, but more like a random blink or two from time to time. And it only affects the drawing area in my case. The headers and palettes don't blink. No other applications blink, so I can't blame it on the video card. Now I find that VW2009 is doing the same thing. I hope somebody can figure out what is causing this unseemly behavior---before I develop symptoms of epilepsy.

David Thanks for the auto-update "Date Stamp" script. I have tried to modify it to add "Print Date" to the beginning of the string. I get error messages when I run it, so apparently the syntax is wrong, but I don't know enough to fix it. The text in blue was added, and I have tried both a comma and a semi-colon after the new text. Can you see the problem? stampString := 'Print Date: ', Concat(dateValue,' ? File: ',docName,' ? Drawing prepared with VectorWorks-', vMaj, '.', vMin, '.', vMai, ' for ', compPlatform); SetText(textH, stampString);

I have now tried just about everything I can think of---several times over---but VW still blinks, blinks, b-b-b-blinks. It's not the same as flicker, though. It's driving me batty---which I suppose is appropriate considering the season. I'll go trick or treating dressed as a twitchy, blinking bat. The blinking stops in SAFE MODE. But who wants to draw in Safe Mode, or with the generic VGA driver? Changing video driver versions doesn't change anything. Turning off all special video modes (hardware acceleration etc.) doesn't help. So I can't blame it on the video card or driver. Both VW 12.5 and VW2008 have the same tic. So it must be something common to both VWs, but not to all other apps. Such as QuickTime. Changing QT versions doesn't help. What does QT do in 2D drawing mode anyway? Is it possible that some QT glitch (DLL???) is causing VW to blink randomly and erratically in the drawing area, while the menus and palettes and all other apps are stable? Come to think of it, I haven't tried drawing while hanging upside-down.

If it's any consolation, I have also experienced several complete lock-ups in VW2008, with the same error message. Since it said, "memory could not be read", I assumed there must be a defect in one of the modules. But I ran two different memory testers, and found no problems. I have investigated several other options: QuickTime glitches, AutoCAD content, Anti-Virus interference, etc. But still no definitive answer to what causes that particular error.

The Data Stamp is a handy tool to identify the current date and actual filename of the drawing. But the date should update automatically, so we have a track record of any intermediate changes---without having to remember to manually update each time we print or close the drawing. This seems to be an easy and obvious function of the Data Tool, but I put it in the Wish List years ago, to no avail. I can't find an automatic add-on from any of the usual resources. Does anyone know where I can find an automatic date stamp, or how I can modify the current one in VectorScript? Thanks.

Thanks for the hint. But I rolled back to Quicktime 7.1.6, and the drawing still blinks. Any other suggestions? Maybe I need to roll-back to an earlier video driver while I'm grasping at straws. Maybe an upgrade to VW 2009 will fix it.

I posted this before but got no sympathy. The problem continues, so here goes again. VW2008, SP3 on Win XP Since I updated to SP3, I have noticed that the screen blinks from time to time. It doesn't seem to hurt anything, but it is disconcerting. It looks like a quick eyeblink, probably due to a random screen redraw. Sometimes it blinks several times in a row. This is different from the blue title bar blinking, and docking the OIP has no effect. It happens in a new empty drawing with no other activity going on. Vectorcache, Hardware Acceleration, and GDI are turned off. It happens with different workspaces. Only the drawing area blinks. Toolbars on the same display, and the Palettes on the second display are not affected. Is this a new feature to keep us awake? For the susceptible, it might cause mini-seizures. Am I the only one whose drawing is winking stochastically??? PS---Since then I have updated the Video driver, and updated Quicktime to v7.5. I also discovered the same thing now happens in VW12, so the cause must be something common to both.

VW2008, SP3 on Win XP Since I updated to SP3, I have noticed that the screen blinks from time to time. It doesn't seem to hurt anything, but it is disconcerting. It looks like a quick eyeblink, probably due to a random screen redraw. Sometimes it blinks several times in a row. This is different from the blue title bar blinking, and docking the OIP has no effect. It happens in a new empty drawing with no other activity going on. Vectorcache, Hardware Acceleration, and GDI are turned off. It happens with different workspaces. Only the drawing area blinks. Toolbars and Palettes on the second display are not affected. Is this a new feature to keep us awake? For the susceptible, it might cause mini-seizures. Am I the only one whose drawing is winking???

There used to be a Date Stamp updater on Vector Depot, but I can't find it now. A ready-made script would be best for us non-scripters. Even better would be for NNA to make the Date Stamp tool update automatically, as I wish-listed several years ago.

Apparently my new Firefox virus checker was interfering with the download, but no error or virus messages ever displayed. After turning off the anti-virus, the download proceeded normally. I had occasionally had problems with Norton AV interfering with email and download, but not in recent years. You lives, and you learns, and sometimes you learn the same thing all over again.

I spoke too soon. Using Internet Explorer as the browser, the download took 45 minutes. The file named < updatetoVW2008.zip > contained 176,221 kb. But when I double clicked the file, WinZIP message said, "cannot open file. It does not appear to be a valid archive". Has anyone else had a problem downloading SP3 for Windows XP?

Nevermind. My default browser is Firefox, and the downloader apparently doesn't play well with brand-X browsers. When I downloaded SP3 with Internet Explorer I received a complete ZIP file. Tomorrow I'll see if it will install correctly.

I have tried 3 times to download the VW2008 Service Pack 3 for Windows. Each time I receive an empty (0kb) ZIP file and another ZIP.PART file with 28,007kb. Does anyone know what the glitch is?

I would also like to have a way to LOCK the palette. My Basic Tools palette is DOCKED on the left margin. But, in my haste, I sometimes hit the blue title bar instead of a tool, and the whole palette drags away. A lock option, similar to the Pin would save me some extra frustration when I'm exceeding the speed limit.

Tolu I haven't been able to find a Crash Log for VW12 or VW13 on Windows XP. Can you direct me to the location? Or is it just a Mac thing?

I recently bought a USB Flashdrive for quick file backups. But my backup software, Retrospect, would crash every time I tried to backup to the drive F: The Retro-tech said this is a known problem with USB drives. The fix we worked out was to backup to a specific folder on drive F: I don't know if VW has the same problem recognizing a thumbdrive as a removable hard drive. But you might try manually creating a backup folder and put that in the backup path. It works for me.

In VW12 I experienced frequent crashes at the worst possible time, when I "got into a rhythm which included lots of quick zooming and panning. Needless to say, having to re-re-restart VW really interrupts your rhythm, and your deadline push. I haven't run into that particular problem with VW13, but then I quickly found it to be unstable in many other ways, so I had to quit and go back to VW12 in order to get some work done. I did put in a new graphics card which didn't help VW13, but I'm crossing my fingers that it has fixed the zooming and panning glitch in VW12. However, judging from the first post in this thread, I'm not so sure about VW13.

If it's any consolation, I've had the same problem. My workaround is convert to group. But this is not a viable option for someone who uses the symbols intensively.

Ironically, I recently switched from an ATI graphics card to nVIDIA because NNA techs pointed the finger at the video driver to explain my frequent crashes. In VW08 the crashes only got worse, so I'm now back to the relatively more stable VW12. I love VW, especially 08, but love has its limits. For several years crashing has been a serious time-wasting, hair-falling, and stomach-churning problem for me. Is it possible for NNA to work together with the major graphics card companies to find and eliminate the incompatibilities?

After turning off the Norton Script Blocking, VW2008 continued to give the "internal error" message during export to DWG. Each time I had to reopen the file before I could continue. I have had no further error messages from the video graphics card, after that one event. With no other viable option, I exported to VW12 and then to DWG. VW12 had no problem exporting to DWG. So, I conclude that this problem is a bug in 2008, not a video card or motherboard problem. Unfortunately, the VP on DL didn't import properly, so I'm just hoping the client never actually opens these DWG files. Since I have already wasted an enormous amount of un-reimbursed time on this and other 2008 glitches, I hope someone else will submit this as a bug. Thanks.

VW2008 R2 (83388) on Win XP When I try to export several .vwx files to .dwg the associated hatches & images will export, but the drawing itself is more often than not (5 of 7) missing from the newly-created folders. I've tried it several times, but no usable DWGs. PDFs export properly. I noticed that during the export process under "Save As Type" the only options are "ALL" or the filename of the .vwx drawing being exported. What's up with that? In VW 12 under Save As Type it lists "AutoCAD DWG". Is this a known bug? Will it be fixed in an incremental release after Build 83388? In the meantime, how can I export my VW2008 files to DWG for my client to use? VW12 exports OK, but it won't do the Design Layer viewports. PS---I tried exporting to DXF, and it worked, but "Save As Type" still shows the current filename instead of AutoCAD DWG as an option.

Katie Like many hardware manufacturers, NVIDIA passes on the support responsibility to their regional subs, who in-turn make it as difficult as possible to get a straight answer to a non-FAQ technical question. Not all computer companies are as supportive as NNA. I eventually gave-up, and posted a specific question about the error message on The Tech Support Guy forum. Thanks for your support.

I have had similar problems with VW12, and a common diagnosis was some kind of "memory leak" (apps not releasing their memory allocation when they exit). Since these leaks are quickly plugged when found, but then reoccur later, I suspect they may be an inevitable consequence of software code bloat. In VW08 I got tired of the crashing and lockups, so I pulled out my ATI CAD-graphics card, and put-in an equivalent nVIDIA card with twice the on-board memory. That didn't fix the current problem, which doesn't seem to be a memory leak. During one recent event, I noticed that one unknown app in Task Manager was using 50% of CPU time. So I shut it down, and things went back to normal for a while. Next time I'll have to write down the app name and try to find out where it came from. If it ain't one thing, it's two . . .

Katie Thanks for your response. You and others have been telling me for several years that my VW lockup and crashing problems are probably caused by the video card. So I finally bought a new video card. It works fine with all my apps, except VW. Both cards were designed specifically for CAD applications instead of gaming. I have added memory, and I have tested the memory. I have extensively tested the hard drive. I'm running out of hardware options. The next step will be to trash my computer, which is great for everything except CAD. Maybe I'll get a MAC next time. Do they have fewer problems with VW? After that, If I still have crashes and lockups in VW, I guess I'll have to make the ultimate hardware configuration change, and trash the operator. Any suggestions for a replacement?