Graphic Glitch, SW 2011, SpaceNavigator

MechEng13 · Post by **MechEng13** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 6:12 am

I am having issues in Solidworks, when I use the Space Navigator I get intermittent glitches. The screen will show an unmoving part, when I rebuild the part shows up moved.

I updated the driver for the Space Navigator and the Video card to no avail.

Any thoughts or ideas, calibrating the mouse does not seem to help.

Thanks,
MechEng13

Barbara · Post by **Barbara** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:53 am

Hello MechEng13 -

Are you seeing something like this where individual parts are not updating correctly?

Or is it instead a problem with moving parts in an assembly as described here?

Does it work correctly if you are using the standard mouse with the SpaceNavigator driver turned off ?
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Barbara

MechEng13 · Post by **MechEng13** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 11:19 am

Barbara,

It is like neither of those described.

The part is moving, however the screen is showing the part unmoved until I refresh or rebuild in Solidworks.

It is not a function of moving the parts themselves, it is using the 3d mouse to rotate, pan and zoom the view. The view does not show the part moving.

MechEng13

MechEng13 · Post by **MechEng13** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 3:06 am

Any additional thoughts on what could be the cause of what I am seeing, it is severely impacting my performance when working in Solidworks.

I am to the point of thinking the SpaceNavigator may be faulty to begin with.

Any help would be very appreciated.

MechEng13

Barbara · Post by **Barbara** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:07 am

Hello MechEng13 -

If the SpaceNavigator was initially working correctly in SolidWorks, you can return to its original behavior using the clean install steps.

This is different than updating or re-installing the 3Dconnexion driver since these steps do not remove profiles or registry keys.

For SolidWorks there is an additional registry key that can be removed.This is the regsitry key where SolidWorks stores settings for the 3DxSolidWorks add-in. When SolidWorks is started with the 3DxSolidWorks add-in installed , it checks for this registry key. If it is not found, it creates a new one.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks\AddIns
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\3DConnexion\3Dconnexion Add-In for SolidWorks\

If you do see a problem after a clean install, it's helpful if you can isolate whether the issue is specific to one PC. Is there another PC where you could try the SpaceNavigator ?

You can test whether the SpaceNavigator is working correctly outside of SolidWorks using the the installed demos [Start, All Programs, 3Dconnexion, Demos] or in free applications such as GoogleEarth or SketchUp. The problem sounds like one that may only happen in a more complex use than the demos provide.

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Barbara

MechEng13 · Post by **MechEng13** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:45 am

The problem has been there from the start, it has recently impacted worse due to an increase time in the software than I had originally. I have been seeing this since I installed the SpaceNavigator.

MechEng13

Barbara · Post by **Barbara** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:21 am

Hello MechEng13 -

In that case, a clean install could help only if this were a PC where other versions of 3Dconnexion software have been installed previously.In that instance there could be a registry key or setting causing behavior different that what we usually see.

One area this type of problem suggests is video resources. If something is not able to update correctly on the screen, it suggests an issue with the output rather than with the input device. A 3D mouse does require more video resources than a standard mouse.

Can you tell us more about your system? Is there a system where someone else is using a 3Dconnexion device that you could test your SpaceNavigator with ?

You would not need to change the driver. On a system where a SpacePilot, SpaceExplorer or SpacePilotPRO are being used the SpaceNavigator will also be recognized.

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Barbara

MechEng13 · Post by **MechEng13** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 12:51 pm

Barbara,

The system I am using is as follows;

Dell Precision T7500
Nvidia Quadro FX5800
8GB of RAM
running Windows 7 64bit

I will try the clean install with my IT group tomorrow as this computer may have had a Navigator on it before it was in my possession.

MechEng13

Barbara · Post by **Barbara** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 1:18 pm

Hello MechEng13 -

IT may be able to help too with any security software that could interfere with the operation of the SpaceNavigator. Check that the SpaceNavigator is plugged directly into a USB port on the PC and that the USB port is not being monitored by security software.

If they need to provide an exception in security software to allow the 3Dconnexion software,the executable is 3dxsrv.exe. SolidWorks is usually installed as administrator. If it is, the 'Run as administrator' option should be used for the 3Dconnexion installation also.

IT may also be able to assist with connecting the SpaceNavigator to another PC for testing.

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Barbara

MechEng13 · Post by **MechEng13** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 3:40 am

Thank You Barbara,

I will try the clean install steps, the Navigator is connected directly to the USB port, I would not do that any other way. I will have IT check on any security software.

I will update after the tests.

Thank you,
MechEng13

MechEng13 · Post by **MechEng13** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 6:21 am

The clean install with Security software off has not help. The problem is still occuring. I am going to work with IT to test the Navigator on a different computer to see if it does the same.

MechEng13

MechEng13 · Post by **MechEng13** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 7:47 am

I come into the office today, and the blue light underneath the SpaceNavigator is dark. Methinks more and more that the 3dmouse itself is the problem not anything with software or drivers.

I will still attempt to test it on a secondary machine.

MechEng13

Barbara · Post by **Barbara** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 8:43 am

Hello MechEng13 -

If the driver is running but the blue LED is turned off , it can be turned back on in the 3Dconnexion ControlPanel [Tools, Enable LEDs]

The default setting is for the LED to be on, so the option will be checked. Remove the check mark then click Enable LEDs again to turn it back on.

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Barbara

MechEng13 · Post by **MechEng13** » Tue Nov 08, 2011 5:27 am

Tested my Space Navigator on another computer and did not see the graphic glitches.

Tested a second Navigator on my computer and saw the same graphic glitches as mine, therefore it now seems to be software related.

Any more ides would help...

MechEng13

MechEng13 · Post by **MechEng13** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 8:06 am

Still seeing the same graphic glitches -- anyone else seen similar and figured out a way to correct the situation...This is definitely impacting in a very negative way getting my work done!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

MechEng13