swx is SO SLOW

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sure swx corp said they were concentrating on the program to make it
faster. they said it. did it happen? no. does good ol' bob z.
still have to WAIT for the dimension dialog box to show and then WAIT
before he types in a dimension? yes, he does. if he doesn't wait,
the decimal point, numbers, etc all just get lost in some sort of
black hole. is anyone seeing this? it happens in swx2008 and
swx2009.

no, it can't be. not in swx2009! that program is like FAST. just
ask any swx salesman.

so why is this happening?

 

What are the computer specs?
eg. OS, processor, ram, video card, video driver..

I had the same thing happen, tho I could type and the dims wouldn't be
lost. I updated my video driver to the solidworks suggested driver and
it drastically improved the speed of it.

 

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good ol' bob z. will start from the front and move to the back:

microsoft trackball explorer with latest driver
logitech usb (wired) generic keyboard with none of the extras. it has
a windows key.
polk audio speakers
samsung syncmaster 2032NW lcd monitors (2 of 'em) 20" (1680x1050)
nvidia quadro FX3450 with latest nvidia driver (ok, maybe not _the_
latest, but not more than a month old)
amd athlon 64 x2 4800+ socket 939 90nm 1.36 core voltage running at
2412.5Mhz
asus A8N-SLI Premium motherboard nforce4 chipset bios rev 1009 date
10/21/05 (ah-ha! maybe we need to flash the bios!)
3gb of pc3200 ddr ram 200mhz kingston
windows xp sp3 32 bit
big ol' hard drive sata 3 7200 rpm and yes it is defragged

the really bad thing about this - bob z. has been having this problem
for more than a year. 3 different computers (some faster, some
slower) during that time and it is a problem that began in swx2008 and
SHOULD HAVE DISAPPEARED IN SWX2009. the computer specs have NOTHING
to do with swx locking up the keyboard on a whim. POOR CODE.

 

Check your driver version, the version driver you should be running with
a FX3450 on XP 32bit is 6.14.11.7551 or 6.14.11.6265

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

my setup is:

Pentium D 3.2 Ghz, 4GB RAM, FireGL5600, on xp pro 32bit..

Like I said before, I ran into the same problem, plus some strange
graphic errors, and the video driver solved it.

I had a problem where I couldn't get my system to install the
'recommended driver' from solidworks, I tried one version before, and
one version after and it wouldn't work right. finally I con'd my system
somehow and it installed. been working beautifully since. I'm running
2k8 sp5 and 2k9 sp1EV with no problems.

 

I found the same thing. The UI is jerky compared to 2008 which suggests
that it got fatter. While it may be faster in those few demo test cases
I have found the user interface to be slower. Folks, I watch my son play
WOW on the network with a very complicated UI and he zips right along
maneuvering multiple players, weapons, etc. all seemingly
simultaneously. I use WOW as an example because like SW it is subject to
revisions, models a 3D world and cetera, and cetera. And like SW there
is processing going on in the background all the time because each
user's screen doesn't just show the local user's actions but also the
actions of numerous other users. And it is fast even over DSL. SW needs
to get a video gamer mentality when doing the UI at least as far as
speed goes.

I still haven't had a chance to do much benchmarking on the real
problems which seem to center around very large parts and complex
drawings of large assemblies. The SW demos didn't really address the
kinds of drawings I typically do with details of sections of sections
spread across several sheets.

Here is a simple rubrick for UI design. If the UI cannot take commands
as fast as the user can enter them on a slow machine the software is too
slow and needs work.

TOP
TOP

 

"If the UI cannot take commands
as fast as the user can enter them on a slow machine the software is
too
slow and needs work. "

amen to that. SW has never been there that I can recall. funny how 3D
users (myself included) beat up on AutoCAD but I used it for a few
months on a job this past summer. It goes as fast as you do, never
crashed, never hung up or dragged for a minute. It was actually fun.

 

I've seen AutoCad demons at work. They look like they are playing a Bach
fugue on the keyboard, but when you look at what they are actually
accomplishing it is far less than what SW would do in a similar
situation plus if you do it 2D you have to think through your
projections, something SW does for you.

The SW user interface used to be a lot more responsive in older versions
running on slower hardware.

TOP

 

I suspect all the user niceties they have added have bogged SW down with
background tasks

Mind you going by the thoughtfully dumbed down help files it wouldn't
surprise me to know they have deliberately throttled the UI so not very
bright users don't feel disadvantaged
this is pc on the pc which is as pc as it comes

....and it does actually give some pause to admire the Barbie fluff and
reinforce those carefully nurtured marketing vibes that keep you
optimistically re-signing for subs each year

Who knows if it gets slow, predictable and pretty enough it may even
neutralise the unfettered doses of disappointment and despair, and random
adrenhelin rush generated by the functional parts of the program.

 

Hi Bob Z,

I've noticed a considerable increase in loading time with 08. Once It's up,
the performance is acceptable, and some bencmarks actually exceed 07. One
thing I have noticed is that "selects" of geometry have a delay when working
over the netrwork. We just reconfigured our server cluster when we moved it
upstairs. Were running a single fiber optic backbone, and are suffering from
bandwith problems. We'll have to run at least one more.

You have (what should be) a respectfully fast system. It would probably help
alot if you could go through the XP tweaks (available in PDF, just google XP
tweaks) and disable some of the unused fluff in services. I seem to remember
you saying, at one time in the past, that you had an IT Nazi and were unable
to do such things. Do you still work there ???

Other culprits are newer antivirus and spyware real time protection. Some of
them can be configured to scan just about everything that passes through the
processor. We use Norton corp. 10.xxx, and it can be set up to be very
aggressive in this way, but we set it up to be minimally intrusive. We do
all the scanning of incoming data on our mail server.

System monitoring applications, like those in Norton System works, can also
gobble up CPU cycles.

HTH

Mark

 

nope, bob z. does not work there. bob z. has gone through 4 jobs
since leaving there!

bob z. has run into the problem of swx losing digits since first using
swx2008. the problem is still here in swx2009. bob z. is still in
contact with a few people that use swx on a daily basis in other
companies. the problem is only seen by one or two of them. if you
double-click a dimension and then put your hand on the number pad on
the right hand side of the keyboard and start typing, does every digit
show up? swx will lose up to 3 or 4 digits. one person bob z. asked
about this said swx loses the first digit on a very regular basis. he
types .500 and 500 shows up on the screen.
bob z. will type .375 and 5 will show up on the screen. IT IS NOT A
COMPUTER SPEED ISSUE. it is not an anti-virus issue. bob z. supposes
he could use the technique of a previous co-worker - use the one
middle-finger from each hand and type numbers using the top row on the
keyboard. bob z. might have trouble with that. bob z. could use the
top row on the keyboard and use just his left hand. yeah, that is the
ticket. hahahahahahhahahahhahahha
Mark, please don't take this post as directed at you. bob z. just had
to reply, but this post is not directly replying to you. this is just
a general reply to all. bob z. has seen this digit loss issue on 4
different computers (3 different anti-virus products and one with no
anti-virus). bob z. has to SLOW DOWN so that swx doesn't turn half an
inch into five-hundred inches. simple number input. simple number
input!

everyone else:
if you use the top row on your keyboard for number input in
solidworks, back away from the computer. we can no longer use your
services in america.

 

I get SW loosing numbers that way but figured it was because of the
wireless keyboard and Intellipoint crap running. It sucks to enter .25
only to find you did enter 25 and then have to zoom out to pick the text
again.

 

Keyboards are EIA-232 devices IIRC.
They may have baud rate limits. They
also get bad/dirty/sticking keys.
There is also a "repeat" timing & a repeat delay. If you type too
fast you might well lose a character.
Hold a key down to check the repeat timing GGGGGGGGG
.....
IIRC This is adjustable within limits.
Check your keyboard properties & your baudrate ....

Worth a shot anyway.