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3D graphs cause LabVIEW 2010 to hang

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I've been using LabVIEW  2010 for several weeks without any problems, but today I noticed that it doesn't work at all with anything related to the 3D picture control. Today was the first time that I tried doing anything with the 3D picture tool since installing LV 2010. Dropping any of the 3D Graphs on the front panel of a new VI causes LV2010 to hang. (By hang, I mean the VI window remains open but most UI things no longer work.  Right-clicking on the window does not show a context menu.  The main menu doesn't work.  The X button does not close the VI front panel window nor the diagram window. Control-Q does not cause LabVIEW to quit.  I have to kill the process in Task Manager.)  It is the same story with just a plaing 3D picture indicator.  Also, the solarsystem.vi example does not work either.  The problems start as soon as I open the solarsystem.vi.  After killing LV with Task Manager and relaunching LV10, I do not get the LV message about a previous crash.

 

The problem I am talking about is for LabVIEW 2010 with the f2 patch running in Win7.  I am actually running it using VMware Fusion 3.1.3 on a 2009 Mac Pro running Lion.  The Mac drivers are all updated.  Since it is VMware Fusion machine, the video driver on the Windows side is part of the VMware Tools installation, which is up to date.

 

After searching the forums, I've tried all the other potential solutions I could find:  1) repaired LV2010 using add/remove programs and 2) tried using the compatibilty mode settings to turn off Aero. 

 

Interestingly, 3D graphs work fine on the Mac side for LV2010 for Mac.  

 

Even more insterestingly, 3D graphs work fine on Win7 for LV 8.5, which I still have installed.  The fact that it works fine for LV 8.5 would seem to indicate that Lion did not introduce the problem and that the video driver is working fine.

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Hi travispape,

 

I definitely agree that it is very unusual that the 3D Graphs work fine in LabVIEW 8.5, but not LabVIEW 2010 on your virtual machine. It is the same virtual machine correct? You mention both 3D Picture Controls and 3D Graphs. Is the problem limited to one of these or seen in both Picture Controls and Graphs?

 

You may want to monitor memory usage as you try to place a 3D Picture Control on the front panel. 3D Picture Controls can take a lot of memory and this could cause an issue if LabVIEW is already being run on a virtual machine.

 

It is also worth note that LabVIEW is not tested for virtual machines. Although LabVIEW 2010 certainly is compatible with Windows 7, certain features may not function properly with specific combinations of real and virtual machines.

Matt
NI Community Team
National Instruments
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Hi Matt,

 

The problem occurs with both 3D picture controls and 3D graphs.  For example, if I freshly boot Win7, freshly launch LV2010, open a blank VI, and place either a 3D picture or a 3D graph on the front panel, the hang always occurs.  Some UI elements continue to work, but the main menu does not work and I cannot close the front panel.  If I click the X in the title bar to close the front panel, I get prompted to save changes, but after I click "Don't Save" the VI front panel does not go away and I can't quit LabVIEW.  

 

This is Win7 64bit and it has 6 GB (there is 16 GB total memory in the Mac).  There is over 3 GB of free RAM shown in task manager--LabVIEW is taking less than 100 MB even after trying to place the 3D picture or 3D graph.

 

Are you sure that LabVIEW is not tested for virtual machines?  This would indicate a good bit of LabVIEW testing on a Mac running both VMware Fusion and Parallels:   http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/6521 

 

Thanks,

 

Travis

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Hi Travis,

 

Still looking for a potential cause of this issue. What video card does your Mac have?

 

Also, can you confirm for me that on the same virtual machine you are able to use 3D Picture Controls and 3D Graphs in LabVIEW 8.5?

 

Thanks!

Matt
NI Community Team
National Instruments
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Yep, it's the same virtual machine.  I set it up almost 2 years ago and it has been extremely stable.  Both LabVIEW 8.5 and 2010 have been perfectly happy on it.  It's a great way to do LabVIEW on Win7.  I didn't notice any changes at all to the VM when I upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion.  I installed LabVIEW 2010 before upgrading to Lion, but I didn't have occasion to work with 3D controls before the upgrade to Lion so I don't know if it would have worked on Snow Leopard.  The Mac versions of both LabVIEW 8.5 and LabVIEW 2010 also work great on the both Snow Leopard and Lion.

 

I happen to have an XP virtual machine too, but I haven't installed LabVIEW there.  Let me know if that would be a worthwhile test.

 

You might check with Marc Page--unless he has already upgraded again I think he has a similar machine to mine.

 

The video card is the original stock:

 

NVIDIA GeForce GT 120:

  Chipset Model:	NVIDIA GeForce GT 120
  Type:	GPU
  Bus:	PCIe
  Slot:	Slot-1
  PCIe Lane Width:	x16
  VRAM (Total):	512 MB
  Vendor:	NVIDIA (0x10de)
  Device ID:	0x0640
  Revision ID:	0x00a1
  ROM Revision:	3386
  Displays:
Cinema HD Display:
  Resolution:	2560 x 1600
  Pixel Depth:	32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
  Main Display:	Yes
  Mirror:	Off
  Online:	Yes
  Rotation:	Supported
Display Connector:
  Status:	No Display Connected

 

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Hi Travis,

 

I have some more information for you on this topic. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a simple fix for the 3D graph on you current setup. You may want to look for any availabale updates to the video drivers. If you are willing to try a different type of virtual machine than VMware Fusion, this may also be something to check, but it is certainly not a guaranteed solution. Additionally, LabVIEW 2011 is now available, so you may want to check if the problem with 3D Graphs on your setup persists with the newest LabVIEW version.

 

Also, the likely reason that the trouble is seen in LabVIEW 2010 and not LabVIEW 8.5 is changes to the 3D Picture Controls. The 3D Picture Controls in LabVIEW 2010 are developed using Open GL and the 3D Picture Controls in LabVIEW 8.5 based on earlier methods.

 

I am sorry that there is not a solid and immediate fix to the problem, but I hope this information is helpful!

Matt
NI Community Team
National Instruments
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Hi,

 

LabVIEW 2011 crashes with the Crash Reporter when I do the same operation, drop a 3D Picture Control on a blank VI, Win7, VMWare Fusion 3.1.1. I've got Fusion 4.0.1, will try later, bleh.

cc

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I haven't had a chance to do any more debugging on this myself.  Please let me know if Fusion 4 makes a difference.   

 

Thanks,

 

Travis

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Solution
Accepted by topic author travispape

Hi,

 

In my Fusion 3.1.1 machine, VM>Settings>Display, unchecked the Accelerate 3D Graphics and the problem is solved. 

 

Thanks to Roy in AEs who suggested fiddling with the VM video driver settings.

 

I'll try to remember to check the 4.0.1 and post.

cc

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Great!  Works for me too.  I thought for sure I had tried all the video-related settings, but I must have missed that one.

 

Turning off the Accelerate 3D Graphics seems to take away the Aero effect in Win7, but I'll live with it.

 

Travis

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