what the heck is going on with HASH

[giantkiller]

Anyone care to assemble a list of ‘demands’ or ‘requests’ (depending on how diplomatic one may feel at the moment), have people ‘sign it’, electronically or however, and submit it to Hash? Pointing out specific issues with the software. Wonder how many would sign? Am I kidding myself?
Just an idea.:shrug:

[penguinpavilion]

Originally posted by giantkiller
Anyone care to assemble a list of ‘demands’ or ‘requests’ (depending on how diplomatic one may feel at the moment), have people ‘sign it’, electronically or however, and submit it to Hash? Pointing out specific issues with the software. Wonder how many would sign? Am I kidding myself?
Just an idea.:shrug:

Lets do it! We wont know if we are kidding ourselves unless we give it a go. I like the idea, but we need to find a way that will give it credibility in the eyes of Hash.

[My_Fault]

Originally posted by weggingt
[B]I stuck my neck out. I did it with eggprops , and numerous professional gigs. If you REALLY want to make a difference. . . then your going to have to stick yours out too. Put your money where your mouth is and find every bug. . . report it openly to this forum and to Steve. Find every glitch and talk about it. You have to pop their bubble dude. Don’t attack. Forget the AM list. . . that place is for the repressed masses. Form a community here that is willing to work WITH Hash inc.

There should be no greater honor than seeing your name listed in the list of bug fixes. And I don’t think there will ever be a better time to catch their true attention than right now. [/B]

Damn well said!

BTW, keep up the great work. There’s a reason the Eggington crew is so well respected around here, even with that crazy opinionated owner guy

[JoeCosman]

Originally posted by giantkiller
[B]Anyone care to assemble a list of ‘demands’ or ‘requests’ (depending on how diplomatic one may feel at the moment), have people ‘sign it’, electronically or however, and submit it to Hash? Pointing out specific issues with the software. Wonder how many would sign?

count me in. I’m all for getting more ‘software even an artist can use.’

if it fails, then this is just another ‘bad day’ for hash and nothing changes.

[Raist3d]

Originally posted by weggingt
[B]I just got an e-mail from Martin. He was very civil and said that they are doing their best to listen to their customers and my/our input would be appreciated.

I don’t quite understand how he can do that when none of us can openly say anything on Hash’s own forum. . . but anyway. . .

I wasn’t quite so civil back. :-/ I guess I need to work on that a little.

I advised him to make stability and render quality his goal and openly tell that to his community.

We will see what happens. If anything.

I really do hope something happens for the better. AM’s workflow and ease of use is second to none. It just can’t be relied on for squat right now. :-/ [/B]

Wellignton (hmm what was your name again? ), I think you not being so civil ironically may be appropriate because of all the BS the customers have had to put up with. It’s like if you want to be a good A:M customer you need to sign somewhere where you agree to a certain amount of pain and suffering.

On the good side, kudos to Martin for writting you and asking for your input. I feel he needs to do that in general with all but considering the extraordinary work that you and your co-workers have tried to do on A:M and how helpfull you guys have been, I don’t mind at all you get a front seat - you guys know what you are doing.

I just really really hope Martin can look at all this as an opportunity to re-think how the company treats customers, and how it listens to them… and also realize how much more his company and A:M can be considering they got so many things right about animation and workflow.

I remember having some e-mail exchanges with some < will remain un-named > Hash employee about why the list does not allow discussion of bugs, etc.

The main point was that the conversation will end up in a rant and name calling and what not. But on the other hand, what I have noticed on the net is that forums have an initial “growing” phase and then go stable. If someone continues posting stupid comments he /she will become ostracized by natural selection.

How hard it would really be to extend the rules to allow for such discussion like bugs and its work arounds, or open suggestions while still enforcing a degree of being civil about it- more so considering all the current kick/unkick cycles and outburtsts that happen when people say “A:M is perfect, you are such a newbie, you need to buy a mac/pc because your video card doesn’t work blah blah”.

Anyway, I am crossing my fingers Martin & Co. can learn from this… at the very end if you are an ultimate capitalist bastard, it still makes sense to listen and treat your customer with respect because the “Karma” you will create will reward you back (meaning, reputation, word of mouth comments, etc.).

• Raist

[My_Fault]

Originally posted by Raist3d
[B] I remember having some e-mail exchanges with some < will remain un-named > Hash employee about why the list does not allow discussion of bugs, etc.

The main point was that the conversation will end up in a rant and name calling and what not. But on the other hand, what I have noticed on the net is that forums have an initial “growing” phase and then go stable. If someone continues posting stupid comments he /she will become ostracized by natural selection.

How hard it would really be to extend the rules to allow for such discussion like bugs and its work arounds, or open suggestions while still enforcing a degree of being civil about it- more so considering all the current kick/unkick cycles and outburtsts that happen when people say “A:M is perfect, you are such a newbie, you need to buy a mac/pc because your video card doesn’t work blah blah”.
[/B]

That person speaks from experience and a solid history with AM users. He deals with this every day and has for quite some time, you don’t.

Besides, I like having this place here separate from the Hash list. I think if we all approach this like adults some good can come from it. Maybe I’m being overly optimistic, but I’d rather do that then get an ulcer from bitching

[giantkiller]

Originally posted by Natess44
[B]Martin Hash speaking, This is for those not on the list anymore.

"Dear Customers;

Concerning the recent events on the mailing list. I want to personally
thank those of you who publicly and privately contacted us with hundreds of
calls and emails affirming your support. It is gratifying to know just how
many A:M users really appreciate the commitment we’ve made to you. I
especially want to thank those brave souls who risk their own reputations
arguing for us in the hate forums - I owe you all a beer or a feature,
whichever you want.

As for our detractors, they fall into three categories:
Religious zealots for other software - I have no argument with their
choice or stance.
Truly evil mofos - hell awaits them.
Former A:M users - I hope their outbursts are cathartic. A:M
generates loyalty and commitment in its adherents. Sometimes, when life and
career goals force changes in allegiance, the artist backlashes. I don’t
hold it against them. Eventually, I want them to think of A:M like they do
their first bicycle: with fondness and respect, and then pass it on to
someone who needs it.

For now, our primary focus will remain on stability, as it has been for over
a year, and any true errors in the renderer are always immediately
addressed. As a quick explanation, when we “release” a version number, we
try not to work on that code base again, even to fix bugs, because any
changes always cause changes, and users would rather “release” software
remain consistent, even with known errors. All of our major changes go into
the next version, so if you lobby to have something changed, look for it in
the current Alpha/Beta.

So, if your goals continue to be making your own art and telling your own
story, we are there for you.

Thanks again for being there for us.

Sincerely,

Martin Hash

p.s. Ken promises not to make any more provocative statements on the
mailing list."

Looks prommising. [/B]

I just had to make sure that everybody read this one more time.
This is just appauling. I mean, what a ‘kiss my ***’ letter. Hate, yes, I hate your attitude Mr Hash. I know that I suggested that a list of greivences be written but I must say that I don’t think that I’ll be there. I honestly think that it would be a waste of time. Anyone with the slightest inclination should turn their back on Hash and not look back. He obviously knows whats best, right? The Guru, the Grand Poobah! Bah!! (Now i’m calling names!)
I’ve learned this much in life: The attitudes of management trickles down and effects the whole company. Thats my experience from 4 years in the U S Army and 14 years in a manufacturing facility.
I’ve had my fill of Little Generals proclaming that they’re 'King of the Pile". ‘A beer or a feature’ big joke I guess it really is just one big joke isn’t it? And the laugh is on those who believe what this joker has to say. (Calling names again, damn!)
I was thinking of apologizing for some of my sarcastic remarks in the past two weeks, thinking that they were’nt being constructive, or spoken out of ignorance of the software. But after I went back and read this letter again… Naaaaa I don’t think so.
I’m proud to say that I’m responsible for attempting to discourage at least 3 people from buying AM. I directed them to this site and encouraged them to make their own decisions.
My 14 year old daughter wants to learn 3D. Before this all happened we were going to use AM. But, she was looking over my shoulder while I was reading Martin’s letter and I found myself having to explain to her what a ‘mofo’ is. I also found that she learned the definition in school already, oh well, what can you do?
I’m not an experienced AM user so I’m going to bow out a bit and let the people that care and know more about AM contribute to this thread and direct it to where ever its going. I don’t have time for this frankly, I’m still looking for another software program to adopt, I gotta animate something soon! I will however continue following the thread, I want to know how the story ends. I appreciate CGTalk(not CGHate) and Lildragon’s commitment to it, its great, thanks.

Remember: “You can buy an education and not be very intelligent, you can be intelligent and not be very smart, you can be smart but not very wise.” -Me:D

balistic once said: “Do not become emotionally attached to any software program.”
(Someone quoted him, oops, time to worship!)
:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:
moderator, moderator, moderator

[Nurb_d]

I think that lildragon could not do anymore for Hash. If the image of a company brings out this kind of response… what can he do? It is not his fault that the history of AM is what it is. I have read this site for a very long time and learned more then I could ever repay. Almost every problem had a answer I could/can find here. Even though I just registered… this has been my homepage for months.

Instead of calling this a forum of hate, he should be thanking lildragon for the gesture. I am sure it will die down and if enough positive users make threads it will become productive. This is what happens when you stifle speech and then it gets a chance to break out. The dam breaks. I do think of AM like a first bike. I just had to take the training wheels off at some point.

Giantkiller - embrace your daughter wanting to learn. Get this for her http://www.blender3d.org/ and you both will be a lot happier in the long run. Great free alternative “bike” riding

[PJC]

Did Hash ever replace Jeff Paries?

I think he was one hell of a tester of the software as well as a cool guy!

If Hash doesn’t have someone in house banging on the software like Jeff did, then I think they should.

• patrick j. clarke

[degauss]

Originally posted by Pablo
Me too was kicked from the list, but now, sorry this thread… there are always the same answers, can’t we stopp now?
I think, you can do with every software good and bad works, every software has good and bad sites, some more other less. But at the end the artist is used to to something good, also with maya you can do very bad work, I think everybody has to use this software that he like, and let the freedom to others to use other programms.

People should also be able to make educated choices with respect to the software they purchase. As we all know, the purchase of 3D modeling/animation software is only the beginning - what often follows is a long-term commitment to learn, and in Hash’s case, to help others learn. If certain issues with respect to software stability, the development model used for bug fixes/upgrades is faulty, users, both current and prospective, should not only have the opportunity to inform the company of any problems this is causing, but to let others know about this so that they an factor it into their decision.

Based on the past few days, I’ve grown to believe that Hash doesn’t have a customer base - it has a subscription-based fan club. Customers are people who can pay for, and expect a certain level of service. A:M is quite unique in that it appears to be in a constant state of chaos comprised of both redesign and beta-quality code (even alpha, on occasion). I’ll be the first to admit that new features are exciting, but when it comes time to put the pedal to the metal and actually produce something, if the software isn’t reliable enough to overcome constant crashing and/or corruption issues, it will be forever a tool of dilitentes. While I’ll readily admit that crashing is a function of software use in general, there are two factors that really put the severity of the problem into perspective: a) how frequently it occurs, and b) how the company reacts. Based on its recent response to user concerns, Hash gets low marks on both counts.

[degauss]

Originally posted by My Fault
Ouch! You mentioned your email was not so civil, any chance we can see it? Or is it only safe for the over 18 crowd

Speaking of seeing, here’s a copy of the message I posted to the list yesterday, which may have gotten me booted (I haven’t received any mail from the A:M list since then):

Steve Sappington wrote:

> Dear Customers;
> Concerning the recent events on the mailing list. I want to personally
> thank those of you who publicly and privately contacted us with hundreds of
> calls and emails affirming your support. It is gratifying to know just how
> many A:M users really appreciate the commitment we’ve made to you. I
> especially want to thank those brave souls who risk their own reputations
> arguing for us in the hate forums – I owe you all a beer or a feature,
> whichever you want.
> As for our detractors, they fall into three categories: Religious zealots for other software – I have no argument with their
> choice or stance. Truly evil mofos – hell awaits them. Former A:M users – I hope their outbursts are cathartic. A:M
> generates loyalty and commitment in its adherents.

And quite obviously, some very devoted, talented, and unfortunately,
very upset customers. If this is how Martin sees it, with all due
respect, I really don’t think he understands what just happened. While everyone is busily hopping onto the “Hoorah for Hash” bandwagon, stop a minute and think - were you ever helped by the knowledge and experience imparted by any of those that were booted? The way I see it, Hash owes many of these people a debt of gratitude - many of them made learning the ropes a lot less troublesome, which is especially important in light of the sparse, and in some cases, non-existent documentation. Martin may appreciate those who use the software, but I find the absence of appreciation for those who have spent countless hours helping others learn (many of whom have legitimate complaints), very unfortunate.

That’s all.

---

Ah well…

[dfaris]

degauss, nice post

[JoeW]

Reading Joe’s comments made me kind of sad - like having a relative tell you that the woman you love really IS a dirty rotten beotch - and having it finally sink in. Sigh.

I don’t agree with some of the comments about LW, though. I do like to model in it, and it’s renderer is sweet, but mapping in it absolutely blows (Modify your geometry? Lose your UV’s) and it’s character animation and rigging tools are rudimentary at best when compared to Master.

Messiah, while better in some ways, is STILL a hard-core techno-geek’s tool - and the interface is obviously designed by a programmer, not an artist. When I got it, I was excited - but that excitement quickly faded when I saw how complex rigging was and how feeble the documentation - not to mention the horrid camera navigation tools… (You STILL have to import separate morph targets for facial animation? What the hell?)

Now, having said that, I think that if LW was to implement AM’s paradigm (and this is the key - WITHOUT MAKING IT MORE COMPLEX), they’d be unstoppable. About a year ago, I sent an hour and a half video tape to Brad Peebler demonstrating how smartskin and poses work in AM. He was pretty excited and thought there was a lot of good information there. I don’t know if any of it will show up in LW 8, but I can always hope…

Joe Williamsen

[Nurb_d]

you are never going to get (for awhile) simplified animation

I can list why if you would like. We can start with : These companies like Newtek create for industry pro’s and not people who do this for a hobby. To be frank… other then www.maxon.net (cinema4d) making it easy is not a goal. Even with Cinema trying to make it simple… the program is becoming like others. The more they add… the more robust they have to make the tools. The harder it is to learn. You can not keep it simple. When you get into really animating something like say … Ice Age or Shrek… you use dynamics, rigs that need open robust control, and scripting that can be modified.

I think you just nailed the basic problem. Most of the AM crowd wants it easy. It is a pipe dream. You can not achieve high quality animation with a simple easy setup. Not going to happen at this point. If it was possible then it would be done already. You think a company chooses to make it hard? Animating a spline character in AM is a FAR cry from animating something like shrek. It is industry first from a company stand point.

In some ways at the top (people doing it for a living) it will ALWAYS have a degree of techno geekdom to it. WETA did not use Maya in parts of production because they want to spend 6k a pop. These techno geek programs and then some are what is needed. Takes teams of techno geeks with the best programs to make one movie like shrek.

People just do not want to put the effort in learning. To be blunt … they are not here to hold our hand. They are here to sell a “tool” to professionals who put in the blood, sweat and tears.

[Amanda]

I’ve been following the uproar on the animaster list, and just spent a while catching up here. First off, I think that an A:M area on CgTalk is an excellent idea. I understand that people get frustrated by the Hash-hosted list, but I also sympathize with Steve and Martin. I’ve been in the position of working for a small software company that simply doesn’t have the manpower or resources to satisfy all customer requests, and I have to say that the folks who produce the software can be just as frustrated by unrealized potential as customers can be.

Generally, I’m satisfied with A:M and the amount of support from Hash (though I’m still using 8.5p+; I skipped the 9.x upgrade cycle). One reason I’m satisfied with it, bugs and all, is because it’s cheap. I’ve paid more for a fancy dinner than I paid for A:M. On my PC, it works well enough, though I gave up on the Mac version. Maybe someday I’ll be able to use it on my TiBook…

Since my commercial cg work is CAD and rapid protoyping related modelling and rendering, not character animation, I end up spending most of my paid cg hours in Rhino. I have much higher expectations of Rhino than I do of A:M–the company is bigger, I paid more for the product, and I depend on it to make a living.

Based on my own experience working for a similarly sized company in a niche market, making “demands” of Hash, Inc. is pointless. The problem may not be one of figuring out what will make the product better, but of how to prioritize a long list of things in a way that will keep the lights on and the bills paid. It may seem clear from the outside, but it’s a different view from the inside. It’s probably safe to assume that no one, Steve and Martin included, wants to drive customers away.

That said, each of us has to choose our tools based on how well they work at what we’re trying to do. If A:M doesn’t do what you need, it’s up to you to find a tool that does. If you’re making your living with CG (or trying to break into it), don’t take any company’s word for anything. Try them all, use what works best for you. This is a lot easier to do, even on a budget, than it used to be…

Amanda Walker

[Kevin_Sanderson]

Originally posted by walasek
[B]Have we become that accustomed to crashes that we actually believe its our own fault:

Kevin Sanderson wrote: (fixing the spelling of my name)

That’s great! But I should remind those of you who haven’t bothered to take
the time to fix your own systems, that you should do that first. Just
recently saw a person post to this list a major crash after
installation…turned out it was his system. A new video card fixed his
system problem. Hopefully he’s checking out the rest of his computer. A
woman at my work was experiencing major computer crashes and problems with
mainly Microsoft programs. I tweaked her system with the fixes on my website
http://www.ksanderson.com/amtips.html and her computer experience now is
very stable. I didn’t dream these Windows tips up. They’ve been collected
mainly from reputable sources and proven many times to work. I bet the
majority of problems people have reported on this list could be remedied by
these fixes. Hey, gang, it’s worth trying if you haven’t. Many of us who
report A:M and general stability with older computers have done this and
rarely have problems.

Arthur Walasek responded:

I’m sorry, but that is bs. I am a programmer, and a damn good one.

I’m glad you feel that way Arthur. Your obj importer needs some work but it is quick and doesn’t crash. The results aren’t as smooth as using Howard Trickey’s modified Xroad app to convert a quad obj to a quad dfx and importing into v8.5L, but what the hell. Since you’re a programmer…maybe you need to hear from the real world where Windows and assorted hardware causes crashes.

If a program crashes, its the program’s fault. Pretty much all the time. period. There is absolutely no reason for a crash. In any program. You can check return values when allocating memory, check and validate memory contents when accessing memory, check drivers, etc. IT CAN BE AVOIDED.

Oh, really. Wish more software companies hired you.

I laugh when people say that I have to replace my video card. And that should fix the problems. Or remove all other running programs… thats bs. If changing video cards fixes the problem, then the software didn’t correctly verify the video cards capabilities and adapt. If it knew the video card couldn’t handle the software, it can gracefully say so. If killing programs fixes your crashes, then you don’t have enough memory for what you are trying to do. Again the software could check memory allocations before trying to access a bad ptr.

The user in question decided on his own to replace his video card for whatever reason. He could then load A:M. It worked for him.

I was re-iterating for the newbies on the list and maybe the not so newbies to please first check their systems out. It’s a simple procedure that doesn’t take very long. You have to admit the mail list is populated heavily by them as the same inane questions are repeated…some don’t even know how to read as is quite obvious from time to time. Most of the folks in this forum are power users and probably never have to worry, though a very knowledgeable engineer friend of mine has quipped “High end just means it will crash faster.”

I can not state on the Hash list that this crashes and that crashes. Why do I want to cause grief? If I find a problem, I send in a bug report. On my page of stability tips, I indicate that A:M can crash and if it’s a repeatable bug, please let Hash know. Heck, even if it isn’t repeatable, let 'em know. But don’t go crying until you’ve made sure your system is stable.

Sure, great software should do what you suggest, Arthur. Even yours so I could get to the bottom of why it disfigures an obj file of mine. But I’ll let you know right now that every piece of software I own save an aging SAWPlus has crashed for some crazy reason, with no prompts until I implemented the fixes I’ve detailed on my tips page.

I wouldn’t be surprised that some of the Hash attitude is a holdover from the days when people refused to buy more memory, tried to get the program to work with a video card with 4 Meg of RAM and other crazy stuff. Jeff Paries told me stories about users that would curl your hair. Users trying to run the program with 32 meg of RAM on a Packard Bell with Windows 95. I remember people not wanting to upgrade from Windows 95. Then we got the reports that A:M was much more stable on Windows NT, then Windows 98SE, then Windows 2000 was even more stable, and the latest until some folks had problems was that XP was rock solid. Wouldn’t that lead you to believe that many crashes are Windows inspired? I can tell you quite reliably that Windows is the bane of many help desks.

Windows is supposed to allow good multitasking, but that seldom is what happens. Things might change with the new P4 with hyper-threading, but we’ll see.

I respect everyone’s opinion on this forum. Yes, A:M should be more stable for those trying to do work. But you should also realize, many of us are not running into these problems. We are doing OK with what we are using. Don’t put us down because we believe the software to be stable for us. It is stable for us. But, Raist pointed out a problem to me that causes a crash, and it is something I would never do. But I realize some of you might so your opinion is valid, of course, as it has always been.

I rarely use the new features because I’m hoping they’ll get fixed by release time. More often than not, I never use them. Sometimes I’ll see an example posted by someone and I’ll go, “well that’s not what I’m looking for.” I’m often using the software lately for something else, to make a basic background for something, model a small object and most recently as an already paid for alternate to Canopus’ “Imaginate”. I wish I had more time to go gangbusters with the software. Generally, what I do works. But, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for stability and I’m not letting Hash off the hook for that either.

[Hookflash]

Kevin: It just blows my mind that you think it’s reasonable for a person to have to design their system to work with A:M, as opposed to the other way around. I think the stability of most systems can be rock solid if you:

1. Update your drivers.
2. Install the latest OS patches/service packs.
3. Be careful about what you run in the background.

But, to go so far as to buy a new video card (or any hardware) on a reasonably up-to-date system just to run A:M…!? Ridiculous.

[JoeW]

Originally posted by Nurb’d

I can list why if you would like. We can start with…

I think you just nailed the basic problem. Most of the AM crowd wants it easy. It is a pipe dream. You can not achieve high quality animation with a simple easy setup. Not going to happen at this point. If it was possible then it would be done already. You think a company chooses to make it hard? Animating a spline character in AM is a FAR cry from animating something like shrek. It is industry first from a company stand point.

People just do not want to put the effort in learning. To be blunt … they are not here to hold our hand. They are here to sell a “tool” to professionals who put in the blood, sweat and tears. [/B]

You should really be aware of who you’re talking to before you go calling someone “lazy” or “unprofessional”…

I’m really curious as to why you’re here? If you’re not an AM user, it seems like you should have something more important to do than troll…

I’m not going to get into an argument over your view of the world. IMO, rigging in most packages could be drastically simplified - that does NOT mean that it would be any less powerful or extensible, it just means that rigging would be more intuitive and flexible. Interface design is one of the most ignored components of modern applications - it’s usually left up to programmers to do it, and that’s a mistake. I’ve seen implementations of some of AM’s paradigm in several packages, and while they didn’t add any additional functionality, they DID add complexity.

I’d suggest you read at least the first chapter of “The Inmates are Running the Asylum” by Alan Cooper - you’d get an idea what I was talking about.

[Kevin_Sanderson]

Originally posted by jaymackey

Apparently, Arthur’s post prompted you to write yours. Arthur was replying to some truly twisted reasoning on Kevin’s part. Kevin’s suggestion that we just start replacing video card’s or motherboards to fix A:M, without any information from Hash as to which video cards or other hardware has been certified to run A:M (snigger) is just wrong. Does A:M’s system requirements specify Nvidia only? Does Hash certify hardware for use with A:M?

Talk about twisted. Why can’t you quote it accurately, Jay, and get the facts straight?

I was mentioning how someone had problems and found replacing his video card fixed the situation. And then I suggested that people at least try to make their own systems stable. I did not recommend changing video cards, motherboards or anything of the like. The tips are to help Windows get along with A:M. If you believe Windows is super stable and doesn’t cause program crashes, then you are at odds with most of the help desk and computer geniuses I know (not being one myself, but I recognize when someone is telling a line of bull and it seems like most Texans I run into anymore are that way, including the wacko I have to work with Monday through Friday…is it in the water or inbred? )

How about the straw man argument that Kevin uses? He fixed a woman’s computer so that it is more stable with MS applications. Yay! Did she then load A:M and run it crash-free? No? Then how does that show that the problems with A:M are due to generally unstable systems? What Kevin seems to be assuming is that most people have generally unstable systems, and that most problems in A:M would go away if they employed his remedies.

Well I guess you can’t read either. They are tweaks to improve A:M’s stability with Windows! If Windows is happy, A:M will be happier. Believe it or not, the tweaks work for many. Now nowhere do I say A:M is crash free. I only say it is pretty stable for me and some others. We are probably not working the program as hard as the pros with problems. But it’s not right to convey that the program is crashing willy nilly for everyone, because it doesn’t. It is, though, very capable of crashing as most programs are, and apparently more so for those who dig deeper.

I do assume most people have unstable systems. Every computer at work (most are Dells) have problems from time to time.
(I always worry now when I read that so and so has great tech support…why should you ever need it? I won’t even write that about Hash now unless I just want to reassure someone to go get official help.) Everything I read indicates people all over have stability issues with their PCs and even Macs. I tend to believe that if you don’t get a lemon PC, you are fortunate. Too bad there isn’t a lemon law for those yet like there are for cars.

I would bet most newbies still have Auto Insert Notification on for their CD-ROM and it’s also on by default for any ZipDrive. The woman at work no longer has a shaky mouse pointer after the ZipDrive Auto Insert Notification was turned off. Gee. The only change we made at that point and it made that kind of difference.
No more crashes on a simple click…no more freezing. Who would of thought! A hardware/Windows issue causing problems! I wonder how many little crashes that Hash can’t duplicate are caused by that?

We then adjusted her Power Management Options and Screensaver kick-on time and tweaked her StartUp. Lo and behold, no more crashing every couple hours or every 15 minutes when she was trying to get a damn spreadsheet done. Or work on the website, or a dozen other tasks. Could it be that Power Management or the screensaver was causing the crashes? I think it’s reasonable to think that it’s possible. Especially since they coincided with the previously set times.

Now think back to the problems newbies have had on the list. The crashes are many times basic. The old saw was get more memory and a better video card. Well, these days, most newer PCs are quite reliable. But there’s no guarantee that they are completely reliable. I’ve read about problems with AMD chips and having to get special patches so Windows would work, things tracing lack of stability to the chips in the motherboard. Flakey video card drivers.

Why do you think many companies resist upgrading these days? Besides the economy, it’s because of the problems caused by hardware not functioning as it should, and Windows conflicts and crashes. Those of us who work day to day have to get these problems fixed. The tips I mentioned work for regular programs and help Windows stability in general. Why shouldn’t it work for A:M. And if a more stable system, maybe we’ll really be able to get decisive bug reports more often that will lead to fixes and better stability!

[Kevin_Sanderson]

Originally posted by Hookflash
[B]Kevin: It just blows my mind that you think it’s reasonable for a person to have to design their system to work with A:M, as opposed to the other way around. I think the stability of most systems can be rock solid if you:

1. Update your drivers.
2. Install the latest OS patches/service packs.
3. Be careful about what you run in the background.

But, to go so far as to buy a new video card (or any hardware) on a reasonably up-to-date system just to run A:M…!? Ridiculous. [/B]

I never said that. It was taken out of context and twisted around. I agree with your 1, 2 & 3. You’d see if you went to my webpage.

I would never suggest someone by a new video card because I can’t recommend one. All I suggest are the tweaks to make Windows more stable which will in turn help make A:M more stable, except for its own bug caused crashes. People are quoting from a post on the mail list where you are not allowed to comment on crashes. In the current climate, I don’t want cause trouble so I’ll have to put up with any bull just so I have re-subscribe to get the latest news on updates. Some of us are not natural shit stirrers.