Consistent Max 4.2 crashes

[Is-boset]

i guess could it be the magic of windows.
when my PC isn't a good mood make some crashes and forced reboots, nothing is perfect even de OS

:shrug:

[visualboo]

I'm already going to guess it's a hardware issue. I've heard of a lot of people that have been having similar problems that were caused by bad ram.

[erilaz]

Hmmm... you may be on to something there Visualboo... I've recently added RAM. Crashes were still pretty bad before that, but not THIS bad.

My home max runs fine with the same scripts/plugins, so it should be hardware. Only max and windows mediaPlayer seems to freeze the system.

[visualboo]

hmmm... yeah, my whole thing with max's stability is that if it was that bad then my system (and everybody else that uses max) would be crashing bad to. So that proves it's not "only" the software. I'm not saying that max is the most stable prog but I gotta give credit where credit is due.

Dig?


Take care
-Booie

[erilaz]

Agreed. Still, I have to check out all avenues I guess.:hmm:

[tazmanian]

mmmm..... sound good...... but Max 5 also crashing .......
:buttrock:

[Taoizm]

I'm going to agree with VB about it probably being more of a hardwre issue than anything. I run MAX on both Intel and AMD platforms (work/home) and it's been ultra stable. MAX5 has only gone wonky a few times in the last several months.

Something simple you might want to start with are your video drivers. Make sure they're up to date. Then also try the other graphic modes and see if that helps with stability. (DirectX, OpenGL, heidi, etc...)

Past that, start pulling any added plugins, and scripts. I've had plugins that didn't like to work together causing problems before.

Good luck!

[erilaz]

Thanks Taoizm. I'm going through a few tests right now. Drivers are pretty stable with all other 3d programs, so I'll keep testing.

By the way, I love your signature. Best analogy I've seen in a long while!:D

[visualboo]

Yup what Tao said :)

Plugs can be a real you know what sometimes. Try moving all your "extra" plugs to a folder that doesn't load. Then try max again to see if it is still unstable.

[erilaz]

Will do! Thanks VisualBoo. I've started by .bak-ing my plugin ini to clear out excess folders, and going from there.

[JuRrAsStOiL]

well,

I don't have any crashes in max since 4-5 months.
Most crashes are caused by bad components (like
ram or a hot CPU/GPU), the wrong OS (win98 or xp :D)
or plugins. if you know why the max crashes with a
specific plugin and where it's easy to solve. So
max itself is very stable.

[Gonzo The Great]

For the past 2 years I've sat in front of 3dsmax3 and 3dsmax4.

Prior to that 3dsmax 2.5, 3dstudio DOS R4 and R3.

I have no intention to upgrading to 3dsmax5. In the next year you'll see me in the Softimage XSI and Maya forums. I gunna learn, fully, those programs once and for all and I'll tell you why.

When my mate bought 3dsmax3 edu. and it crashed and generally F%^&^ked him up non-stop. I then gave him my hacked but in better shape version. I figured he just got a bad copy. Then I got a hold of release 4 at a university it did the same things.

I have used a Warez copy of Softimage XSI 1.5 for about 1 1/2 years for educational purposes and it has not faulted once. The same story for my Warez copy of Maya Unlimited 3.0. I've TRIED to crash these programs by going ape shit - but only successful in crashing my wacom driver.

My OS is stable so thats not the problem - and I've now changed the hotkey Ctrl S "Save" to the spacebar.

In a 12 hour 3dsmax day - I get around 6 crashes a day. But not a hardware or OS crash or reboot.

[Gonzo The Great]

I will say in Max's defense I am doing the lot. Dynamics, Camera tracking, motion-capture, character studio, sim-cloth, very heavy models, 25-30 lights, X-Refs, Nurbs, Brazil r/s... etc. but that is no excuss.

3dsmax is too fragmented.

They even say in the Help files, 3dsmax is mainly composed of plugins. The CORE components are still plugin like programs. What the?

[sam]

I have found that it is entirely possible to get max running perfectly smoothly.

However, I have found that 3ds max is less insulated from general problems than the other 3d programs I have worked with. Maya, for example, seems to run as a more self-contained and insulated program, a good deal more impervious to system changes. I don't think that was always the case with Maya tho. I think Maya 4 was the "bugfix release" that greatly insulated that program.

For instance, with the 3ds max 5 release, the tech support is reporting compatibility issues with service pack 3 of windows 2000. 3ds max 4 similarly had problems with some anti-virus software, like NAV and McAfee. These issues lurk and frustrate those users who never bother to check the support forum or troubleshoot those issues themselves. I imagine a university machine running 3ds max is going to become riddled hopelessly with compatibility problems with max, since university workstations are generally poorly maintained and things like NAV or SP3 compatibility often overlooked.

With some knowledge and careful computing practice you can get max 5 running smooth as silk, but its a continual endeavor requiring good computer maintenance skills and keeping up-to-date with the known max issues. Testing ram and monitoring the motherboard temperatures. It is also a really good idea to dedicate a computer with good quality components as a workstation for max. If you are putting a whole host of crappy unneccessary programs on the same computer as max you are asking for trouble. Put all those on a second junk computer. Seriously, having a 2 computer setup where one is for work and the other for junk and play really really helps.

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.