Max 2008 and Max 9 locks up on XP 64bit

[Dynedain]

We are having an extremely annoying problem with Max on Windows XP 64bit.

For the last month or two, Max 9 has been frequently locking up for no apparent reason. Even end-tasking wouldn't kill it off. The only solution is to reboot the computer.

Today we rolled out Max 2008 hoping it would fix the problem. It hasn't.

Our first guess was something going wrong during the autoback. So we disabled it, no help.
It also seemed to happen more frequently if we rendered, then continued working after the render, but it has happened even without generating a rendering.

It happens in:
Max 9 32bit
Max 9 64bit
Max 2008 64bit

This happens on both a Mac Pro running XP64 (Core2Duo Xeons) and a "standard PC" (dual single-core opterons)

Anyone seen this or know what's going on?

[Morbid Angel]

Im not an expert on 64 bit systems, but it sounds more to me like a video driver issue. Any luck with trying different video modes?

[vlado]

Are you running 32- or 64-bit version of the 3ds Max itself?

Best regards,
Vlado

[Dynedain]

It has happened on both 64 and 32bit versions of Max 9. I haven't yet looked into video modes, but I'll check that out next.

[Morbid Angel]

It has happened on both 64 and 32bit versions of Max 9. I haven't yet looked into video modes, but I'll check that out next.

I got geforce 8800 gtx. and each time I update the drivers Im faced with new nightmare. One set of drivers lags my system to a halt, then some minutes later releases it, but this is just good enough to save, close max, reboot. The new drivers, just simply blue screen it without any warning - even worse.
So, I basically disregarded the direct x mode for now, and going with the painful open gl.

Forgot to mention that this happens at any point, selecting an object, moving an object, not doing anything
It reminds me of 1998 when I had a radion 7200 or something, and it did that in maya. But come on, its 11 years later, and we still faced with this ?

[Dynedain]

Direct 3D is what is in use in all versions on both machines. Both machines have Quadro cards (an 1100 on the AMD, and a 4500 on the Intel)

[Dynedain]

I have noticed problems between different driver versions before, but both machines have been running different driver builds throughout this problem, and neither was updated around the time the problems started.

[mikeh]

i had nothing but problems with my quadro fx 3500...similar to yours...i finally got things calmed down by using the OGL mode and making a few other adjustments...i think the bottom line is Nvidia has some real problems with 64 bit. (the maxtreme driver was REALLY wacked out...dumped that and went back to the regular driver)
mh

[Dynedain]

Yeah, Maxtreme has been screwed up for years. I've avoided it for a couple versions of Max now. If I can continue to reproduce the problem, I'll try switching to OGL.

[Morbid Angel]

the thing about quadro cards is that they are targeted for open gl, not directx. So using ogl with them is preferable.

[mike_kennedy]

Quadro's can be flaky with direct x, we had a slew of issues until the latest driver came out. Not sure about the gaming cards, i have an 8600 at home, bit slow compared the the 8800 but stable....other than drivers begin flaky with Nvidia cards you need good power and good cooling. they run fairly hot and need clean power, I upgraded my power supply on an old box and a lot of the issues went away....

[Dynedain]

Well, these are very robust high-quality machines, so I wouldn't expect flakey power supplies or other components.

The new machine has a Geforce 8800 and it has the problem as well. I'm ruling out hardware at this point.

I've narrowed down the problem to:
*Autoback
*DirectX / NVidia drivers
*a Windows Update

[Morbid Angel]

have you tried open gl yet?

[Dynedain]

I'm switching them over to OpenGL now since Autoback has been eliminated from the problem.

I'm crossing my fingers.

[Dynedain]

OpenGL didn't solve the problem. Which leaves either an NVidia driver issue, or something with Windows Update