Problems with BricsCAD and Mac

Rose

Hello BricsCAD users,
my english is not very good but i will try to explain my problems.

We work with BricsCAD in our company and have Mac computers. I've only been here for 2 years and before that I only worked with Windows computers and other CAD programs. I've never had problems like this before. BricsCAD crashes or freezes several times a day. I have to save after every second step because otherwise I'm afraid that everything will be lost.

Some days I can't copy or paste. When I use the Command+C keyboard shortcut, BricsCAD crashes without warning. Other days it works, it happens randomly. When I publish a drawing I have to restart BricsCAD afterwards, otherwise it works extremely slowly. Sometimes the list of layers disappears or the font suddenly turns bold black so that you can't read it at all. When switching between model and layout it crashes or the window just turns grey. Switching visual styles doesn't work or takes a long time. Sometimes only a restart helps to display it correctly again. And these are just some of the problems.

We have several versions of BricsCAD. I already work mainly with V23, but we also have V20 and V22. My computer is a 2019 Mac Pro. I've done a lot of research and haven't really found a solution. Does anyone here have the same problem or can help me? I'm frustrated every day because I can't do my job the way I want to.

Thank you, Rose

Michael Mayer

I haven't really tried the 2013 Intel Mac Pro for more than a year
but AFAIR V21 and V22 worked reasonably.

I mainly use my M1 Mini since 2021 instead.

I use V23.2 now.
V23.1 had an issue for my projects so I switched back to V22 at that time.
But that was a special bug that not many other users may have noticed
and it was on Windows too anyway.
V22 is reasonably stable on my M1.

I do not often have crashes "while" working.
On (all) Macs there are the usual issues with CUI customization.
And regularly crashing and freezing :
- when opening a (first) file
- when closing Bricscad (even worse with V23.2)

I do not Publish so far but AFAIR I read about that needed restart here already.

"Sometimes the list of layers disappears or the font suddenly turns bold black so that you can't read it at all. When switching between model and layout it crashes or the window just turns grey. Switching visual styles doesn't work or takes a long time. Sometimes only a restart helps to display it correctly again. And these are just some of the problems."

For me lots of this sounds like GPU or Driver related.
(Which GPU(s), Duos ?)

Also the File could have some issues or corrupted elements.
Make a File copy and try all new File Health features of V23,
to see if there could be some issues.
(Commands like BMAUDIT managed to crash my Bricscad already too)


Generally,
I think I started with Bricscad 17 on Mac and it was unreasonable unstable
until V20. At that time I connected Support and had to delete all my Settings
and customization about every 3 months.
Whole User Folder and that hidden .config Folder containing the Settings.
(Make Backups or hide them temporarily for testing)
And that often helped stability for some time.

I also think that is worth to try in your situation.
I would file a Service Request to Bricscad Support. Supporters will guide you through
the process of resetting Bricscad.
And if that does not really help, Bricscad at least recognizes that there may be severe
Problems with Bricscad V23 on Mac in general and/or Intel (Mac Pro 2019) hardware
or drivers.

Also activate File Backups,
set a custom Folder Path location so you can find them easily when needed
and change the default time interval (60 minutes !?) to a useful 5 or 8 minutes.
(AFAIR these important 3 Backups Settings are spread over 3 different locations
in Settings)

Rose

Thank you for your quick response.

My computer:
Mac Pro 2019
2,7GHz 24-Core Intel Xeon W
AMD Radeon Pro W5700X 16GB
128GB 2933 MHz DDR4
Ventura 13.2.1

BricsCAD Version 23.1.08 (is the latest version for me)

I also wrote to the support. I was also supposed to delete config files and had to redo all the settings. It brought a temporary improvement, but the problems quickly returned. Support told me that BricsCAD was primarily programmed for Windows and later for Mac, albeit to a lesser extent. He was also unable to give me a proper solution to the problems.

I can also say that smaller files work better than large files. But I can't reduce the files further. The building is as big as it is and the furniture must also be included. Maybe we're doing something fundamentally wrong, but I can't judge that. I was the last to join this company and everyone has these problems on their computers but no one has addressed it yet. They live with the fact that they can do less than they actually could. But that annoys me. I was only shown a little bit about BricsCAD and had to figure out the rest myself. So I'm not a BricsCAD pro either.

Michael Mayer

For Ventura, I think yesterday came the 13.3 update.

For Bricscad, if 23.1.08 is the latest version, you may have a localized version
and it may take some weeks before 23.2 comes out for these.
So 23.1.08 should be good.

There is no Problem with your specs.
You have more than enough RAM and VRAM.
But you can check Activity Monitor how much RAM and GPU usage you really have.

I use a M1 Mini with its max available (only) 16 GB, shared between CPU and GPU.
I can work totally fine with DWGs around 60 MB and it seems to get useless starting
with 250 MB DWGs here. But strangely these Files also do not work noticeably
better on Windows. (Revit or IFC imports of not very optimized Files)

AFAIK, hey only thing you can do file wise is :
- make use of Blocks when ever identical parts exist more than one time in a file
- avoid any Mesh geometry, e.g. from furniture library downloads and such
- if needed, it may be worth to reduce or clean these meshes up or even redraw it
- freeze all layers where possible (just invisible setting will keep them in memory
- separate the Building into referenced files, if applicable

Michael Mayer

How big is the File Size ?

Have you already tried if V22 is more stable ?

And, Settings like activating MTFLGAs (multi-threading) may be a bit risky.
(I could not live with single threaded File Open or Import times ....)
Activate them one at a time.
(AFAIK DMAUDIT will still crashed when its MTFLAG activated)

And check if Bricscad has all needed rights in Apple's Privacy Settings.
E.g. it must have write rights on all needed (external, network, ..) drives.

Also, AFAIR Ventura has some problems itself to work with external drives.
I thought it should be fixed with 13.3 now.
I have the latest official 13.3 but I see it still takes loooong time until Finder
shows the content of a larger Folder on my external data SSD.

You could also try to open your File from the Desktop.

apkent

For what its worth, I've just downgraded from the latest V23.2.03 to V23.1.07 as the new version was completely unstable. Random crashing on print preview, text editing, PDF export and all sorts. A big disappointment.

Michael Mayer

Is V23.1.07 better than 08 ?

It was said to fix some of my severe bugs.
But I did not test much as was already on 23.2 at that time.

Rose

Thank you for the answers! I'll try to answer.

I saw that version 23.2 is not available for me yet due to the different language. I don't use the English version, but the German one.

I also tested V22 but I have the same or similar problems in all versions. Neither V20, V22 nor V23 work without problems.
I'll try to describe our workflow, maybe we're doing something different or wrong.

1. We usually get the 2D floor plans as dwg for the respective floors of the building from an architect. In some cases we also get the floor plan in 3D. These are usually no larger than 8 MB. We open the dwgs and delete everything we don't need. Finally, we clean up and check the drawing.
2. We open a new drawing and store the floor plan as an xref.
3. All of our furniture and furnishings are stored as 3D blocks in a folder system. For example, for each table size, a block is in a "Tables" folder, and all folders are in a "Blocks Library" folder. I added this folder to the content browser in BricsCAD and can then drag the blocks into my drawing while holding down the command key.
4. We then place all the furniture in the rooms and add dimensions. We also work with different layers.
5. When everything is in place, we create a floor plan for our facility in the layout area. So a view of the rooms from above. Our dwgs are usually not larger than 15 MB, mostly even smaller than 10 MB.
6. When we need a front view of the facility, we do "wall views". We open a new drawing and store our dwg with the setup as an xref. These dwgs are usually no larger than 1 MB.
7. We then create a section where you can only see the facility that we needed a view of. After that we add more dimensions.
8. Then we create several viewports in the layout area. One viewport for the front view, one for the top view and one for the isometric view.

This is the rough process. In some cases we also need to create schemes, but we do that in 2D and without blocks or xref.
I was surprised that you can use 60MB files without any problems. Our files are usually no larger than 15 MB and I've had problems opening them. This morning I opened a 400kb dwg and it took almost 3 minutes to open. We're already deleting everything we don't need from the dwgs and freezing layers that we don't need to see right now. We can sometimes only use the visual style for wireframe because the realistic representation causes problems. But that can't be normal.

I have now renamed the config and reg files again so that they are recreated. I also renamed the V23x64. Then I made my preferred settings again and also turned on the mtflags. Let's see if that brings an improvement. Otherwise I don't know what I can do.

Michael Mayer

1-8

I think you're doing everything right.


Our files are usually no larger than 15 MB and I've had problems opening them. This morning I opened a 400kb dwg and it took almost 3 minutes to open..

That sounds strange.
If it is possible to upload one of those problematic files (?)
To not misunderstand, such a 15 MB file is not meant to have a large number
of XREFs attached in this case ?


"I don't use the English version, but the German one."

Unlikely but you could also try a latest english version,
to test if there may have just been some bugs coming in via localization.
(the englisch version will create a complete new User Settings Folder, but on Mac
it would overwrite your german Bricscad V23.app. If you want to install,
Rename your Bricscad V23.app or hide it before. Like to "Bricscad V23 DE.app"
Once installed you can rename the Bricscad V23.app english App to Bricscad V23 EN.app
and your main german version back to Bricscad V23.app)

I did so to have a second german V23 to test and see if the all libraries were
reasonably localized.



"I don't use the English version, but the German one."

Another idea.
I know this should work nowadays, but do you, or your clients, use special characters,
or as a Mac user blanks extensively ?
I still avoid that totally. I think, especially File and Folder Paths are still very sensitive.

Rose

Michael Mayer said:

1-8
That sounds strange.
If it is possible to upload one of those problematic files (?)
To not misunderstand, such a 15 MB file is not meant to have a large number
of XREFs attached in this case ?

I did not get that correctly.
For example:
Drawing 1 is the 2D floor plan from the architect without xref (3 MB)
Drawing 2 is the 3D floor plan from the architect without xref (8 MB)
Drawing 3 contains our facility as 3D blocks and has attached drawings 1 and 2 as xref (10 MB)
Drawing 4 has drawing 3 attached as an xref and contains a section and dimensions (1 MB)

So drawing 3 has two xref attachments and drawing 4 has three. Is that too much?

We work without spaces on Mac. Only - or _ or . to separate the words.

I can try the English version, as you explained.

Michael Mayer

15 MB DWG is not a big files size.
It should not take minutes to open.

I just asked because of your kB single DWG taking minutes to open.
That should not be the case.
But if it had tons of large DWG XREFs attached, it might take that long.

ScottS

Rose said:

I'll try to describe our workflow, maybe we're doing something different or wrong.

1. We usually get the 2D floor plans as dwg for the respective floors of the building from an architect. In some cases we also get the floor plan in 3D. These are usually no larger than 8 MB. We open the dwgs and delete everything we don't need. Finally, we clean up and check the drawing.

Maybe it stalls while searching for dependencies that it can't find? In your "delete" or "clean up" steps are you also removing (detaching) any external references, images, pdfs, lost shape files, etc.?
Or, perhaps the slow drawings are saved in a much older .dwg version? Mine sometimes drags opening old dwgs, although that shouldn't be an issue if you save after cleaning with the default SaveFormat.

Rose

Michael Mayer said:

15 MB DWG is not a big files size.
It should not take minutes to open.

I just asked because of your kB single DWG taking minutes to open.
That should not be the case.
But if it had tons of large DWG XREFs attached, it might take that long.

Ah, now I understand. We work with the xref because we often get changed floor plans from the architect and the xref updates itself automatically. Otherwise, would there be a practical solution without xref as well?

ScottS said:

Rose said:

I'll try to describe our workflow, maybe we're doing something different or wrong.

1. We usually get the 2D floor plans as dwg for the respective floors of the building from an architect. In some cases we also get the floor plan in 3D. These are usually no larger than 8 MB. We open the dwgs and delete everything we don't need. Finally, we clean up and check the drawing.

Maybe it stalls while searching for dependencies that it can't find? In your "delete" or "clean up" steps are you also removing (detaching) any external references, images, pdfs, lost shape files, etc.?
Or, perhaps the slow drawings are saved in a much older .dwg version? Mine sometimes drags opening old dwgs, although that shouldn't be an issue if you save after cleaning with the default SaveFormat.

Yes we also delete the attachments and also change fonts that cannot be found. I even started erasing the hatches, thinking that would help. We use the latest available dwg format when saving. This is AutoCad2018.dwg for me.

Now there are more problems. I told you I reset BricsCAD. So new config and reg file and the folder V23x64 new. But now my settings don't work anymore and I can't draw properly. I like having the cursor set to size 100 and it had inherited the setting from V22. When I wanted to set the size to 100 in the new config, it just didn't work. Then I wanted to move something in a drawing and had a lot of markings and the picture just wobbled. I recorded it and I hope you can watch it. I was only able to restore my old config so I can work.

Here is a download link for the video because I couldn't upload it here: https://my.hidrive.com/lnk/BYLOlIW0

Also, I have to re-add the Blocks folder to the content browser every day. I gave BricsCAD full disk access. However, every day I get the message that the folder does not exist and I have to add it again.

I do not understand the problem. This drives me crazy.

Michael Mayer

"I like having the cursor set to size 100 and it had inherited the setting from V22. "

That never worked for me on Mac !
It may work up to 90 or 99 but at least with 100% the (full size) crosshair disappears ....

Also, if you have graphic problems, you can try to play with the GL Settings.
Some seem to work better, while some other lead to artifacts and other things.
AFAIk in V23 the default works for me on M1 Mac,
while my V22 setting did not work.