IMAGINiT Technologies Support Blog

NEW Home for the IMAGINiT Support Blog

Our team enjoys providing tips and tricks, beyond what you read here on the blog. Check out our new home on the IMAGINiT Technologies Resource Center.

There you'll find many of our older posts, as well as on-demand webcasts, video tips, ideas for future improvement, and more. 

Content from our amazing technical team will continue! We hope you’ll join us: https://resources.imaginit.com/support-blog.

Design Review Fails to Open DWG Files

By: Heath White | SR. MFG Support Specialist

Issue:
When attempting to open a DWG file in Autodesk Design Review nothing happens and there is no error shown. The image below is what you would see, and the Open command remains available. Other file types open without issue.

Causes:
Design Review by itself cannot process DWG files. It requires an installation of DWG TrueView to process DWG files. The other piece of the puzzle is the fact that for this to work, you not only have to install DWG TrueView, but it must be the same version as your Design Review installation.

Autodesk has not released a new version of Design Review since 2018, which many users are not aware of. That means that to have the capability to open DWG files inside of Design Review, you will need to install DWG TrueView 2018.

Solution:
Autodesk has several KB articles regarding this issue, however, several of the articles involve extensive troubleshooting steps that in many cases are not necessary to resolve this issue. We encourage you to try this simple fix prior to attempting the more complex solutions.

Download the version of DWG TrueView that is the same version as your installation of Design Review. In most cases this will be DWG TrueView 2018. If you have an older version of Design Review, you can download previous versions of DWG TrueView from the following link:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/dwg-trueview/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Where-to-download-previous-versions-of-DWG-TrueView.html

System Requirements for DWG TrueView 2018:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/dwg-trueview/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/System-requirements-for-Autodesk-DWG-TrueView-2018.html

If you have downloaded and installed the compatible version of DWG TrueView and this did not resolve the issue or if your issue involves crashing, please see the following articles for advanced troubleshooting steps:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/dwg-trueview/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-open-a-DWG-file-in-Design-Review-with-DWG-TrueView-2015.html

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/search-result/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Design-Review-does-nothing-when-a-DWG-file-is-selected-to-open.html

If you are using a much older version of Design Review (i.e. DR 2013), please see the following article for additional resources:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/dwg-trueview/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Cannot-open-a-DWG-file-in-Design-Review.html

Warning! Problems caused by improperly editing the Windows registry could render your computer/operating system unusable. Microsoft provides a wealth of critical information that you need to know about the registry in the Microsoft Knowledge Base. Use the Microsoft® Registry Editor only at your own risk and only after backing up the registry as well as the system.dat and user.dat files as outlined for your operating system in the Microsoft Knowledge Base. Additional information about the registry is also contained in the Help topics in the Microsoft Registry Editor.

Creating a Network Deployment for AutoCAD 2021

By: Ken Williams | Tech Support Specialist

About Deployments

A deployment provides an efficient way to install one or more Autodesk products with a standard configuration on multiple computers. The files required for the installation process are stored on the network, in an administrative image, in a folder to which all users have shared access. To install the products, users navigate to the deployment folder and double-click an installer shortcut (.LNK file).

Some essential facts about deployments:
• Deployments can be created for network licenses or multi-seat stand-alone licenses.
• Multiple deployments with different configurations can exist in the same folder, sharing the same administrative image.
• Each deployment installs products in a single language. If you need to install products in different languages, each language requires a separate deployment. For products that support language packs, you can include additional language packs with a deployment.
• An existing deployment can form the basis for creating another deployment with a different configuration.
• Deployments can be configured to generate a log file for each installation. Network administrators can use these log files for troubleshooting.
• Each deployment creates a subfolder, <deployment name>\SMS_SCCM scripts, which contains two documents to help you with the distribution of deployments using Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) and System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM): SMS_SCCM_ReadMe.txt and <deployment name>_SCCM.txt. The SMS\SCCM scripts folder also contains two files to help you create a batch file to automate the uninstallation of some or all of the products in a deployment. The two files are <deployment name>_Uninstall.txt and Product_Uninstall_ReadMe.txt.
• Per Autodesk https://knowledge.autodesk.com/customer-service/network-license-administration/network-deployment/overview-deployments/about-deployments

Best Practices for Creating a Deployment

• Create the deployment from a workstation instead of a server. This helps eliminate the need for the same computer to run the installer, read the media, and write the files. The combination of these tasks can increase the time necessary to create the deployment and can cause corruption in the deployment. Create the deployment to a shared network location from an administrative workstation.

• Do not create deployments over WAN or VPN. Connections over a WAN or VPN are typically slow and can cause errors during deployment creation. The deployment creation process may not be completed successfully, or some files may end up missing or corrupt.

• Copy physical media to a hard drive. If you’re working with physical media, copying the entire contents of the product media to a local hard drive can speed up the process of creating a deployment and reduce the potential for corruption. This is even more important when you consider that some product installers copy the data from the installation media to the destination folder multiple times, thus increasing the deployment creation time by a factor of three or more. Copying the product media to a local hard drive helps ensure there are no communication errors with the disk drive and increases the speed of creating a deployment by not having to read data directly from the DVD.

• Disable antivirus software. Antivirus software often causes problems when creating deployments. Active virus scans, where every file being written and read is scanned in real time, can cause the process to take much longer. Additionally, antivirus software can block certain files from being written or can modify those files and cause corruption.

• Create a shared directory. Before creating a deployment, create a shared directory on either a workstation or a server. Keep the share name simple and short; don’t include any spaces in the share name. Don’t bury the shared directory too deeply on a drive.

• Create a separate folder for each deployment image. Creating multiple deployments in a single folder can result in corrupt client installations or other serious problems.

• Create and store deployment images on NTFS filesystems only. Filesystems such as DFS, NFS, AIX, LINUX/UNIX and others are not tested or supported by Autodesk, including filesystems found on network attached storage (NAS) devices.

• Verify that all users have full read/write access to the network share where your deployments are located.

• Use a Uniform Naming Convention (UNC) when specifying network paths instead of using mapped drive letters. For example, use \\server\share\folder instead of M:\folder. Not all computers share the same mapped drive letters and restricting yourself to UNC paths will help avoid problems later.

• Avoid modifying an existing deployment once it is has been used to install a program. Instead, create a new deployment for each modification that you make (for example, when adding profiles, service packs, etc.).

• Avoid moving deployments between servers. If you must do so, you will, at a minimum, need to modify that deployment to insert its current location into the deployment structure.

• Per Autodesk https://knowledge.autodesk.com/customer-service/network-license-administration/network-deployment/overview-deployments/best-practices-for-creating-deployment

Creating the Deployment
1. Log into your subscription account: https://manage.autodesk.com

2. Download the products that you would like to create your deployments for.

3. The default location of the downloaded product will be c:\autodesk. Go into the folder of the product you would like to create a deployment for and choose “Setup.exe”

4. Choose “Create Deployment” from the splash startup screen.

5. Complete the Deployment name and path locations. For the path location use the Universal Naming Convention or UNC path. Choose next
For example: \\Network_Share\Autodesk\deployments\2021\autocad

6. Uncheck the “Create a network log file” box. Leaving this box checked will put a install log file on the server. The user will need write permission on the server log location. There is also an install log file created in the workstation’s Temp folder if needed. Choose next.

7. On the license Agreement page, make sure Country or Region at the top is correct. Make sure “I Accept” is chosen and click next.

8. Product information page – Choose license type. Input serial number and product key. For network license choose a license server model. Enter the license server name (you can insert an IP address for license server instead of the network name if you feel you are having DNS issues). Choose next.

9. Then choose the “Create” button.

10. After the completing the creation of the deployment, on the workstation you need to install the software. Go to the network share where you created the deployment and click on the Deployment name that you created in step #5 to start the install.

Effects of Single User Autodesk Products and your IMAGINiT Utilities

By: Jeff Arbogast , CSV | Solution Center Team Lead

Issue:
You want to know if there are any issues using your IMAGINiT Utilities when you switch to Autodesk Single User Licenses.

Causes:
Autodesk is using a new Single User Licensing model.

Solution:
There is really no effect with our Utilities and the new License model from Autodesk. The Network and Standalone licenses would work the same way.

The Network version would use the Reprise License Manager. When the User launches the Utilities the software would reach out to the server (That has the License Manager on it) and request the license. Once the system knows you have a license available it would start working and take a license from the network while the user was using the license.

The Standalone license, would be activated on the local system and would not need to reach out to a server to function.

One consideration although not an issue is that since the Autodesk licenses are mobile having the Utilities as Standalone would allow the end user to not have to be connected to the Server to use them.

Check for Expired license file using the LMTools Utility

By: Ken Williams | Tech Support Specialist

Check for Expired license file using the LMTools Utility

Issue:
No one can get a license from the network license server. First check to see if the network license file is expired using the LMTools utility.

Solution:
1. Open the LMTools Utility. There should be an icon on the desktop of the license server.

2. When LMTools opens click on the “Config Services” tab. Then click on the “View Log” button.

3. When the log file opens move down to the bottom of the file and start to slowly move up until you see the word “EXPIRED”. This means your license file is expired and you will need to get a new one.

4. If you see the word expired in the Debug Log file you will need to get a new license file.

5. You can now close the Debug Log file. Click on the “Close Log” button.

6. You can now close LMTools.

7. Please use this blog for instructions on how to get a new license file from Autodesk.
https://blogs.rand.com/support/2020/06/get-an-autodesk-license-file.html

Raster Design 2021 Ribbon does not Display Properly When installed on a System with Raster Design 2020

By: Jeff Arbogast , CSV | Solution Center Team Lead

Issue:
Your Raster Design 2021 Software Ribbon does not display properly on a system with Raster Design 2020 installed.

Causes:
This is a known issue

Solution:
• You must uninstall Raster Design 2020 and 2021
• Reinstall Raster Design 2021 and verify the Ribbon is properly displayed
• Reinstall version 2020

BIM 360 – Cost Management recipient greyed out

By: Roger Weires | Applications Expert 

Issue: BIM 360 Cost Management, clicking on a line item to change the recipient, but the button is greyed out.

Causes: That is not a button. The box is letting you know that you do not have any recipients for this document.

Solution:

1. Go back to just the line items, as shown below.
2. Right-click where the “red” arrow is (Still in-line with the item).
3. Click “Generate Document”
4. A Generate Document screen will appear.
5. Then you can add a “Recipient”

If you require customer to edit the registry, add this prior to the steps:

How to set an Alias for the old Block Insert Command

By: Jeff Arbogast, CSV | Solution Center Team Lead

Issue:
Autodesk is now using a new Block Insert command.

Causes:
Autodesk chose to change the Block insert to a new design.

Solution:
• Open Windows Explorer
• Browse to C:\Users\<user name>\AppData (This is a hidden folder so you will need hidden files and folders enabled)\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2021 (or your software and version i.e. C3D2021,etc)\enu\Support\
• Find the file ACAD.PGP
• Open this file using Microsoft Notepad
• Once open select Edit>Find
• Search for “Insert”
• When you find this it should look like this example “I, *INSERT” The “I,” is the one key command Alias you will be able to use in AutoCAD. The *INSERT is the command the “I” key will launch.
• Change “I, *INSERT” to ” I, *CLASSICINSERT”.
• Save the file.
• Launch AutoCAD (or relaunch) and in a drawing type “I” and then select the <Enter> Key this should now launch the classic insert command Dialogue Box.

Use the adskflex_license_file system variable to point to a license server

By: Ken Williams | Tech Support Specialist

Issue:
When you keep getting the License Finder Dialog instead of obtaining a network license or you have created a new Autodesk license server and need to point your users to the new server(s) (multiple single servers or distributed servers).

Solution:

1. In the Windows 10, type environment variable in the “Type here to search” in the lower left.

2. Start to type Environment Variable and then click on “Edit the system environment variable”

3. Click “Environment Variables…”

4. Click New… under “System variables”

5. Type ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE for “Variable name:” and type 2080@ServerName (ServerName = your license server) for “Variable value:”
    Note: When adding multiple servers use a ; (semicolon) between them.

6. Click "Ok", Verify that it is set it in the window and now it's set!

7. Click "Ok" once more to close the environment variable window and start the program.

Changing Autodesk Default Download Preference

By: Heather Volk - IMAGINiT Technologies Technical Support

Steps:
1. Sign into your Autodesk.com account. (manage.autodesk.com)
https://manage.autodesk.com/

2. Go to the “All Products and Services” section.

3. In the upper right-hand corner, click on the “gear” icon to access download preferences.

4. The download preference window opens to display three options:

5. Select either of the “Support Approved” methods and click save.

**Note: IF you choose browser download, make sure the pop-op blocker is turned off to get all parts of the download. **

Result:
The next time you download a new product it will already be set to the correct preference!