Autodesk Inventor® Hardware Web Site

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Last Updated
8/17/2010
Frequently Asked Questions



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  1. Does Autodesk Inventor® support Multiple Displays?
    • Recent hardware and software improvements have made the use of Multiple Displays with CAD applications like Autodesk Inventor® useful. Autodesk Inventor® does not know that multiple displays are being used. The software provided by the graphics card vendor is responsible for spreading the OpenGL graphics image across the displays. The following documents are provided for reference information. They are not an endorsement of multiple display use, or of any vendor. Any issues are the responsibility of the graphics vendor, if they can not be replicated on a single display without the multi-display software. (See specific graphics card information for the settings used by Autodesk to certify specific cards.)
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  2. Does Autodesk Inventor ® support the /3GB switch on windows XP SP1 or newer?
    • Anyone that uses the 3GB mode, does so at their own risk.
    • Autodesk Inventor® 7 and newer supports this option.
    • Before enabling this mode, please check your workstation vendors web site for patches that may be needed for your system. HP is known to have some patches. Try searching on "3GB".
    • Tip: When Autodesk Inventor® is running, Help > About shows if the workstation is configured for this option. This is useful if you do not know in which mode the workstation was booted.
    • Tip: Before installing any driver (including a graphics driver) reboot the workstation to the standard 2GB mode, install the driver, and reboot to the standard 2GB mode so that the installation can finish.
    • This switch is available on Windows XP Professional. Attempting to use it on Windows 2000 or NT4 will cause system instability.
      • Be very careful setting up the 3GB option. If you do not leave yourself a way to boot in the standard configuration, you may have to reinstall windows.
      • MS Windows was designed to use 4GB of address space total. Of this, 2GB is reserved for the operating system and 2GB for an application. Changing this balance reduces the amount available for the operating system. When running in this mode it is important to run as few applications as possible. This includes applications that may always run at startup.
      • Go to Microsoft Knowledge base and search for "/3GB" for information on using the 3GB option on Windows XP.
      • See this Knowledge Base article for tuning information that may be needed for some graphics cards. The ability to do this tuning was introduced in SP1 for XP, then immediately patched.
    • The simplest way to enable the 3GB option is make a backup copy of the boot.ini file then, open the properties dialog of the c:boot.ini file, remove the read only restriction, and edit it with notepad. See below for details.
      • The boot.ini is a read only file. It is also a system file. Windows Explorer must be configured to show such a file before you can see it. In Windows Explorer, Tools> Folder Options > View select the following:
        • "Hidden files and folders", click on "Show Hidden files and folders".
        • Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types" - Useful but not required.
        • Uncheck "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" - OK this change.
        • Then select boot.ini, right click, select properties, uncheck read only.
        • Edit file
        • You may wish to check read only when you are finished editing the file
    • The 3GB option reduces the amount of kernel address space to 1GB. Sometimes the kernel may need more space for internal tables or other drivers. See Microsoft support for tuning information. If you have this problem, use "/USERVA=2900" (or 2800 etc.) (MB for this argument) to limit the USER Virtual Address space to less than 3GB. This allows more space for the operating system kernel if it is needed. This option is placed in the Boot.ini file just after the "/3GB" option.
    • The first time you reboot to the 3GB mode immediately go the the My Computer properties > Advanced tab > Settings > Advanced tab > and change the maximum amount of virtual memory to 4 GB. This is part of the microsoft requirements.
    • Graphics vendor specific information is available for these vendors:
      • 3Dlabs:
        • The Wildcat III/4 cards do support the 3GB option.
        • The Wildcat VP880 & VP990 use 256MB of kernel memory. The 3GB option reduces the amount of kernel address space to 1GB. If other devices are using large amounts of kernel memory, then this may cause a Wildcat VP driver to fail to load (see Microsoft support for tuning information). If you have problems, use set /USERVA=2900 (or 2800 etc.) to reserve an additional 100MB (or more if needed) for the kernel with these cards.
      • ATI: The recommended mode of operation assumes that you have a 4GB system, a reasonable card (256MB or better) and setting the flag /userva=2500. See http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316739 for information on tuning your system so that stability is maintained.
      • Matrox:
      • Nvidia: The 3GB option appears to be supported by drivers newer than 4072. Using the latest drivers, no problems have been found with Nvidia cards. Not all cards were tested.
      • NEC: Not tested
    • My test system is set up as follows:
    1. multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
    2. multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINDOWS="XP full 3GB setting" /3GB /fastdetect
    3. multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINDOWS="XP 2300" /3GB /USERVA=2300 /fastdetect
    4. multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINDOWS="XP 2500" /3GB /USERVA=2500 /fastdetect
    5. multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINDOWS="XP 2800" /3GB /USERVA=2800 /fastdetect
    • Always copy and edit the last line of your Boot.ini file. It may be different from my last line. Using my line may make your system unable to boot.
    • Line 1 is the original last line in my boot.ini file. As the first line in this group, it will be the default line if one does not make a different selection during the boot process. This is my escape hatch.
    • Line 2 is modified to boot in the 3GB mode which allows 3GB of address space to the application and 1GB to the windows kernel.
    • Line 3 provides 2.3GB of address space to the application and 1.7GB to the Windows kernel.
    • I have all of these combinations available to test different hardware and drivers. You should not need to have all of these lines in your boot.ini file.
    • Use what works. You have to allow enough space for the Windows kernel to run.
    • Once you are finished modifying the boot.ini file, please protect it by changing it to read only.

    Microsoft has identified a problem for systems with multiple SCSI controllers.

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  3. What is the use of the Hardware tab in Tools > Application Options...?

    Note: Changing between the fourth radio button and the top three requires that you close all open graphics windows and re-open the ones you want. Failure to do so, will cause display anomalies.

    • Top radio button - "Use Optimization setting recommended by Autodesk Inventor®"
      • Default setting when Autodesk Inventor® is installed,
      • Best overall performance. This is the default setting based on testing on our lab. Recommended.
      • If this setting is not satisfactory, please try the "Conservative" setting.
      • If the driver is certified as Green or Yellow, The optimum settings for the graphics driver are used.
      • If the driver is certified as Red:
        • The Microsoft GDI OpenGL driver (emulation mode) will be used.
        • This change will take effect when the next graphics window is opened.
        • A "Force GDI" registry entry will be entered in the user over-ride area.
          • This forces the continued use of emulation mode without checking a possibly driver that may not report properly.
          • Selecting the second or third from the top radio buttons will clear this entry.
    • Second radio button - "Override recommended setting - use Full optimization"
      • The Full optimization setting may:
        • Use more memory per window. This may be a problem when working near the Windows address space limit.
        • Provide better performance when inserting assemblies or parts into complex assemblies.
        • Provide generally faster performance.
        • This setting may be useful for a driver or card that Autodesk has not been certified.
      • If this setting is not satisfactory, please try the "Conservative" setting.
      • It may be dangerous to use this setting for a driver that is rated Red. Autodesk Inventor® may crash. Only do this if you are sure that the driver is better than we say it is.
      • If the driver is rated Yellow or Red, still use the best performance setting (pretend that it is rated Green).
      • If it exists, a "Force GDI" registry entry in the user over-ride area is cleared.
    • Third radio button - "Override recommended setting - use Conservative optimization"
      • The Conservative setting may:
        • Use less memory per window. This is useful when working with a large number of windows new the Windows address space limit.
        • Provide better sketching performance.
        • This setting may be useful for a driver or card that Autodesk has not been certified.
      • It may be dangerous to use this setting for a driver that is rated Red. Autodesk Inventor® may crash. Only do this if you are sure that the driver is better than we say it is.
      • Forces the use the conservative setting, for any rating of the driver.
      • If it exists, a "Force GDI" registry entry in the user over-ride area is cleared.
      • The user over-ride is ignored.
      • Fourth radio button - "Override recommended setting - use Microsoft GDI Generic OpenGL"
        • Changing between this radio button and any of the top three requires that you close all open graphics windows and re-open the ones you want. Display anomalies will be caused by having windows open in hardware and software modes at the same time.
        • The graphics card's OpenGL driver is bypassed. The Microsoft emulation software is used. The graphics driver low level acceleration is still in use. Some acceleration is retained.
        • If problems persists at this level, the hardware acceleration on the driver display > Settings > advanced > troubleshooting tab needs to be disabled.
        • The user over-ride is ignored.
    • The Diagnostics button.
      • Pressing this, displays graphics diagnostics information. This can be pasted into a problem report.
    • Warn me if I am not using a recommended graphics driver.
      • Click this if you want Autodesk Inventor® to warn you if you are not using a driver recommended by the Autodesk Inventor® team.
    • Warn me if graphics driver errors are detected.
      • By default this is left cleared to allow drivers that have problems to operate. Autodesk Inventor® will attempt to correct for these errors.
      • However, if you are having graphics display problems, please enable this option. Autodesk Inventor® will then report if the driver is actually generating OpenGL errors. If it is, your first step in dealing with the problem is to obtain a graphics driver that is not generating errors. This may also require upgrading your graphics display card to one with full CAD support.
    • Inventor 10 change:
      • If the "Microsoft GDI generic OpenGL driver is selected, no testing will be done inside of Inventor to see if Hardware OpenGL is available. If it is decided to return to hardware supported OpenGL, close all open windows (or exit Inventor) select one of the top 3 radio buttons and resume work.
      • Please note that the GDI generic driver is it's self certified. Thus Inventor will show it as a certified driver. However, it does have limitations.
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  4. I installed an older graphics certified driver, but Autodesk Inventor® says it is not certified.
    • Users reverting to an older graphics driver than is currently installed on their system should first uninstall the current driver. Failure to do so may confuse Autodesk Inventor® into thinking that a certified driver is not certified, or treating an unsafe driver as though it were certified.
    • In addition, this means that the driver is using a mix of files from two different versions of the driver. This will likely make the graphics subsystem unstable.
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  5. My Drawings contain unreadable or incorrect text
    • Autodesk Inventor® 6 & 7 users may experience unreadable text and black blocks in drawings. Setting "Text Options" DWORD value to zero ("0") in the user over-ride area (see below) might take care of this. Autodesk Inventor® 7, SP1 contained some fixes for this problem. Autodesk Inventor® 8 attempted to complete these fixes. We are interested in hearing about any problems in this area.
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  6. I have an Elsa graphics card and can no longer find drivers
    • ELSA Europe has gone out of business, and no longer sells or supports graphics cards. All ELSA Europe workstation graphics cards were manufactured by NVIDIA. See the NVIDIA web site for more information. Users can no longer download ELSA drivers from the ELSA Europe web site, but should refer to www.nvidia.com for driver updates.
    • ELSA Asia is still in business and is a re-seller of both Nvidia and ATI new graphics cards. They also post drivers.
    Translation from Elsa card names to Nvidia card names
    Erazor III - See Nvidia Riva TNT 2
    GLoria II Pro - See Nvidia Quadro
    GLoria DCC - See Nvidia Quadro
    GLoria III - See Nvidia Quadro 2 Pro
    Gladiac 920 - See Nvidia GeForce3
    Synergy 2000 - See Nvidia Quadro2 EX
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  7. My Workstation freezes up when Autodesk Inventor® is running
    • When Office XP is installed on the PC, Autodesk Inventor® may freeze up when the user clicks on the file menu and selects new. This has been reported. Workaround: Turn off the menu item fade effect in Display Properties. This problem has gone away with the current updates to Office XP from Microsoft.
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  8. I wish to have more control over how Autodesk Inventor® uses the graphics card or to understand the new hardware tab.
    • Autodesk Inventor® 5.3, and later, includes options to allow users some control of hardware acceleration for graphics cards. This may be useful for notebooks or unstable game cards. This is primarily intended to be used in cases where you are stuck with a problem card or driver. To access these options, navigate to Tools > Application Options and select the Hardware tab. Here are some further details about this new capability:
      • Autodesk Inventor® now keeps certification information for many graphics card drivers. The driver rating (Green = certified, Yellow = certified but with limitations, Red = not certified) is shown on the Tools > Application Options > Hardware > Diagnostics dialog. Users can also ask Autodesk Inventor® to warn them if the card is not certified, again at Tools > Application Options > Hardware. Users who are experiencing graphics problems, or who want to download certified drivers. To find out more about our certification criteria, visit the Certification section of this web site and look at the legend.
      • Clicking OK on the Diagnostics dialog will place a quantity of information on the clipboard. This information assists tech support in diagnosing graphics issues.
      • For more information, see the information on the Hardware Tab.
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  9. I wish to enter custom settings for my graphics card
    • User over-ride area: In previous releases of Autodesk Inventor®, users with graphics problems were sometimes able to fix those by changing DWORD values for "Workarounds" or "SwapType" entries in various sub-keys of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. Since the release of Autodesk Inventor® 5.3, all changes should be made by adding these registry settings to a single over-ride area, for Autodesk Inventor® 6, 7, 8, and 9 respectively:
      • [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAutodeskInventorRegistryVersion6.0 SystemPreferencesDriver]
      • [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAutodeskInventorRegistryVersion7.0 SystemPreferencesDriver]
      • [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAutodeskInventorRegistryVersion8.0 SystemPreferencesDriver]
      • [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAutodeskInventorRegistryVersion9.0 SystemPreferencesDriver]
      • [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAutodeskInventorRegistryVersion10.0 SystemPreferencesDriver]
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  10. My driver was listed in a previous version of Autodesk Inventor®. It is no longer listed.
    • In Autodesk Inventor® 6, the graphics registry settings were cleaned up to remove a history that included incorrect settings. We have included settings and drivers for a large number of graphics cards. If your graphics card is no longer supported, one can run the previous version of Autodesk Inventor®, obtain the SwapType and Workarounds values and force Autodesk Inventor® 6 to use these settings as described in the user over-ride area.
    • Autodesk Inventor® 10 greatly increases the requirements on the graphics drivers. only drivers tested against Inventor 10 should be used with Inventor 10.
    • Cards that are not supported by the graphics vendors for CAD applications are no longer listed.
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  11. I want to play around with the graphics settings for my card
    • Graphics settings for particular graphics problems may be available from customer support
    • Updating your registry with the updates available from this site, adds support for new drivers and cards.
    • We advise caution about using graphics settings from un-official sources. It is possible to cause Autodesk Inventor® to crash with the wrong settings.
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  12. I just bought a CAD graphics card that is not supported by Autodesk Inventor®
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  13. Should I use the Autodesk Inventor® setting on my graphics card?
    • Many cards have "Autodesk Inventor®" settings available in the display properties. Users should not use these settings unless a card is listed on this web page as having been certified for this functionality.
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  14. What information is needed to report a graphics problem?
    • The Reporting a Graphics Card Problem section describes how to verify that you have a graphics problem and how to report it. This section includes options that may provide working solutions for problem drivers.
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  15. Running an old Graphics Driver?

    We don't test new releases of Autodesk Inventor® against every old driver that's ever been released. We can't guarantee that a specific version of Autodesk Inventor® will work with an old driver. Users should use the certified driver for each version of Autodesk Inventor®. If you need to submit a defect report, you will be asked how Autodesk Inventor® worked with the tested driver for the version of Autodesk Inventor® that you are currently using.

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  16. I have just installed a new driver on Windows 2000 or Windows XP, but have very slow performance.

    Windows 2000 and Windows XP uses Plug and Play technology. At times, it can be very difficult to get a new driver correctly installed.

    1. Follow the instructions that come with the driver.
    2. After the installation is complete, verify that you have actually installed the correct driver. This can usually be done through the display properties dialog. There is usually an information tab. If there is not, look at the settings tab and perhaps the advanced button.
    3. Select the "Autodesk Inventor" in the display driver properties if the comments for your card specify this action.
    4. Open Autodesk Inventor® and verify that it is seeing the OpenGL driver correctly. See the information about he hardware tab. Once the dialog pops up, look at the first line. It should NOT contain"Microsoft GDI Generic"
    5. If it does contain"Microsoft GDI Generic", then either
    6. The card/driver does not have sufficient resources.
      1. If the card is certified on this site, it may
        1. not have enough power. If the card has a power connection, use it.
        2. or it may be defective.
      2. The graphics card/driver does not contain sufficient OpenGL resources for Autodesk Inventor®.
        1. This usually applies to only non-certified cards.
      3. Autodesk Inventor® has been forced to use"Microsoft GDI Generic".
        1. To disable this mode, go to the application options, found under the Tools menu, click on the Hardware tab and change the settings so that Microsoft GDI Generic drivers are not used.
      4. The card is rated "RED."
        1. In this case, Inventor always selects the "Microsoft GDI Generic driver".
    7. If everything looks correct, and you are using a driver tested for your version of Autodesk Inventor®, but you still appear to have major problems, then you need to install the graphics driver again in this manner:
      1. Go to Add/Remove programs in he Control Panel and check for the remains of a driver or utilities from a different graphics vendor.
        1. If found, remove the software.
      2. The concept is to force Windows 2000 to update to your version of the driver without any chance to do anything else.
      3. Bring up the display properties dialog, and go to the settings tab and click the advanced button.
      4. Select the driver tab and choose update.
      5. Ask Windows to display a list of drivers, don't let it search for the best driver.
      6. Select "have disk" to force it to where you have the unzipped driver waiting.
      7. Reboot and repeat the above test sequence.
    8. If you are running the card in High-Color display mode, you may not be getting full hardware acceleration. Try setting the display to True-Color.
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  17. I have installed a tested driver correctly and I do not have any hardware acceleration or it is still using GDI Generic mode.
    1. Check items above.
    2. Check the color resolution and screen resolution settings.
      1. Autodesk Inventor® will not run correctly at 256 or 16-color resolution.
      2. Specific graphics cards may not show acceleration at some color settings.
        1. Most cards require 32 bit (or true color) to enable OpenGL hardware acceleration.
        2. Some older cards may only show acceleration with 16-bit color
    3. If the combination of screen resolution and color depth is such that more physical memory is required than the card has, acceleration may not be available. For example, a card with 8 MB of memory at 1900 x 1600 screen resolution set to true color will not have hardware acceleration for even one window.
      1. This is almost always true for non-CAD rated graphics cards.
      2. CAD rated graphics cards may pause, as they swap data stored in internal memory into the main workstation memory, then continue operation with full acceleration.
    4. Check that hardware acceleration is enabled in the graphics display dialog.
      1. This may be on a special"AppSet" (Application specific Settings) tab or in the troubleshooting tab or button (on the settings tab).
      2. Enable the hardware acceleration using the checkbox or slider.
    5. Check the graphics display dialog for any application specific settings. Autodesk Inventor® is intended to run with application specific settings set to default (not set to"Autodesk Inventor" or"Inventor") unless this web site states otherwise.
    6. Test an OpenGL screen saver, such as "3D Flower Box" If these do not run, there is still a driver installation problem.
    7. If the card appears to be stuck in GDI generic mode, after everything else has been tried,
      1. The graphics card may not have the correct software or enough hardware to support OpenGL acceleration. Autodesk Inventor® checks the card each time a new OpenGL graphics window is opened. (This is the window that contains Autodesk Inventor® parts, assemblies, drawings etc.) If it does not find enough resources to run OpenGL it will drop into software emulation mode and use the Microsoft GDI Generic OpenGL driver.
        1. This mode allows Autodesk Inventor® to run, but it is slow and it does have problems. Some functionality will not be available.
      2. The registry key discussed in "I wish to have more control over how Autodesk Inventor® uses the graphics card or to understand the new hardware"
        1. may contain a "Force GDI" value. If it does, delete it.
        2. may contain an entry "OptmizationLevel = 0. if it does, delete the entry.
        3. Test Autodesk Inventor®.
      3. Delete the following register Folders (replace "" with the version of Autodesk Inventor® i.e. "8.0")

    Note This action will delete custom Inventor settings and restore the default configuration.

    HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAutodeskInventorRegistryVersion

    HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAutodeskInventorCurrentVersion

    Start and then close Autodesk Inventor® - This causes Autodesk Inventor® to re-register, an operation which reinitializes these registry sections and then save the current configuration (which is done on exit)

    1. Did your system have a virus on it? If so the graphics driver may be damaged. Re-install it. If a new driver is available, I would normally take this opportunity to upgrade my driver.
      1. Drivers for workstation cards are available from this site.
      2. Drivers are available from the graphics card vendor or for laptops from the laptop vendor.
    2. Check the Autodesk Inventor® news group and/or contact product support.
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  18. I have installed the certified driver, but my system is unstable.

    Remains of previous drivers have been known to cause this problem especially drivers from other vendors. Check and remove all graphics drivers that are not currently in use. For example, remains of an old 3Dlabs driver when a new 3Dlabs driver has just been installed can cause a problem. See I installed an older graphics certified driver, but Autodesk Inventor® says it is not certified.

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  19. I open a few graphics windows with acceleration, but the next window is very slow.

    This is common with graphics cards/drivers that are not listed as having Full CAD functionality. Graphics cards/drivers designed for the CAD industry are designed to support a large number of OpenGL windows with only a very small loss in performance. Cards/drivers designed for the computer game market do not have this functionality. They may even be limited to just one hardware accelerated window.

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  20. Autodesk Inventor® has a fatal exception in a dll that contains"OGL" or"GL" as part of its name.

    Additional .dll names can often be found in the display properties dialog. The graphics card vendors open GL had an error, or caused an error. Several options are available to fix the problem.

      1. Check this web site for news.
      2. Check the graphics card driver vendors web site for news.
      3. Switch Autodesk Inventor® to use the Microsoft OpenGL driver, but retain some level of hardware acceleration for the graphics card driver. This may be a very good option for notebooks or other low-end graphics cards. To do this, go to the application options, found under the Tools menu, click on the Hardware tab and change the settings so that Microsoft GDI Generic is used.
      4. Starting with version 5, Autodesk Inventor® has the ability to catch and ignore OpenGL errors This is the default action. This usually works if a driver has a non-fatal problem. However there is a risk in ignoring errors. To see if driver faults are being ignored, go to the application options, found under the Tools menu, click on the Hardware tab and change the checkbox to report OpenGL errors. This enables Autodesk Inventor® to report the first occurrence of a problem. This is very important information when reporting a problem.
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  21. Autodesk Inventor® crashes when opening the first graphics window (new part, assembly, or drawing)
    1. Nvidia alert: You must use driver version 6.14.10.6722 or newer.
    2. Go to Control Panel > Add Remove Programs and make sure that no drivers from other graphics cards are installed on your system. If any are found, uninstall them as they may conflict with your current OpenGL software.
    3. Check the Autodesk Inventor® Graphics Driver web page (available from the Autodesk Inventor® Help menu > Graphics Drivers) for a certified driver for your graphics card. Install this driver. If it is an older driver than your current one, make sure the files from the driver you are installing overwrite the existing files on your system.
    4. If Autodesk does not list a certified driver for your graphics card, use the newest driver available from the vendor of your system or graphics card.
    5. Verify that the driver actually installed on your system is the driver you think is installed. Windows 2000 Pro and later are Plug and Play, which means that a default driver for your card may be pre-loaded on the OS. A newer driver should always be installed over this default driver, unless otherwise noted on this site. After correctly installing a new driver, following instructions, Windows has been known to re-install the old driver on reboot.
    6. After installing the correct driver and rebooting, It may help to re-install the same driver. This time drill down through the display properties dialog and update the driver. Take the paths where Windows does NOT search or make any choices. Select "Have Disk" and point windows directly to the .inf file. This has been known to correct a defective install where Plug and Play was confused.
    7. Check to see if all of the OpenGL screen savers are installed and run correctly. If not , contact the computer or graphics vendor product support and fix this issue first. All of the OpenGL screen savers must work correctly! This is a requirement for any 3D OpenGL application.
    8. If this does not fix the problem, Open Autodesk Inventor®, go to tools > Application Options > Hardware tab, and select "Override recommended setting - Use Microsoft GDI Generic OpenGL Driver" (the bottom radio button on the dialog). On some low end notebooks, or very old graphics cards, this may be an appropriate option. Otherwise, it is a temporary workaround until an improved graphics driver can be obtained.
    9. If a certified driver requires this setting, and it is correctly installed, Please let Autodesk support know.
    10. Generally, major problems like this are a result of a simple mistake that is being overlooked.
      1. Did your system have a virus on it? If so the graphics driver may be damaged. Re-install it. If a new driver is available, I would normally take this opportunity to upgrade my driver.
      2. Drivers for workstation cards are available from this site.
      3. Drivers are available from the graphics card vendor or for laptops from the laptop vendor.
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  22. I am using a graphics driver that was listed on a previous graphics web page. I noticed that the latest web page no longer lists my driver. Does this mean that my driver has been de-listed because of some major problem?
    1. Most older drivers are still available in the driver archives.
    2. The graphics home page, will list up to 3 drivers for each card.
      1. Inventor internally has additional information about more drivers than are ever posted on this site.
      2. Update your registry for the latest information. This is how updated information is provided between Inventor releases.
      3. Access the hardware tab to find the current rating of your driver.
    3. To keep things simple, the card detail page, provides only information on the latest driver we have certified for a given version of Autodesk Inventor®. We strive to make sure that this is the best available driver.
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  23. I am running an older version of Autodesk Inventor®. I noticed that the newest version of Autodesk Inventor® has a newer graphics driver than the one listed for my version of Autodesk Inventor®. Can I use the newer driver.

    For the 3 most recent versions of Autodesk Inventor® the registry file has been updated to support the newer drivers. We do not expect any problems with the newer drivers, but we list only combinations we have tested. One can also apply previous graphics settings to a driver.

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  24. My driver is listed in the certified chart, but I can not find the performance information for this card.

    To provide timely card certification to our customers, we only do performance testing for major Autodesk Inventor® releases. At other times, we will add the driver certification of a new card to the web page ASAP, and include a registry file update to enable Autodesk Inventor® to recognize the card.

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  25. The performance chart does not list the version of the driver that was used for the test.  What version was used?

    All performance testing is done with the latest version of Autodesk Inventor®, using the driver certified for the tested operating system.

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  26. Why do two supposedly different graphics cards rotate an assembly at the same speed?

    To answer this question, one needs to know a bit more about how Autodesk Inventor® works.

    The"Minimum Frame Rate" slider on the Tools > Options > Display tab lets the user control the rate at which the scene updates during interactive operations like rotation, pan, and zoom.

    1. Minimum Frame Rate slider set to Zero:
      1. If one sets the Minimum Frame Rate slider to 0 (see below) Autodesk Inventor® displays all of the graphics data in the scene in each frame update. This is used only as a test mode, to allow us to compare all graphics cards on an even basis. This mode should not be used to compare Autodesk Inventor® performance with that of other products, since it's not the way users generally use the system.
    2. Minimum Frame Rate Slider is not set to Zero
      1. In this mode, Autodesk Inventor® limits the amount of time allowed for each frame. It draws as much of the frame as it can in the allowed time, then it checks to see if the mouse has moved. If the mouse has moved, Autodesk Inventor® stops drawing the current graphics frame and starts the next frame.
      2. If the slider is NOT set to zero, it is not valid to compare graphics card performance in terms of frame updates per second, since all cards will give pretty much the same result. In this case, what you can compare is the number of parts drawn on the screen each frame, where more parts drawn may be considered better.
      3. To maximize the visual value of what is drawn, Autodesk Inventor® draws the largest items in the scene first, the smallest items last. This often gives the impression that the view is complete even when small (possibly hidden) parts are actually being dropped from the view. Whenever the user ends an interactive operation, the entire scene is drawn.
    3. The speed with which a given view is drawn during interactive operations is a combination of many factors:
      1. CPU speed
      2. Graphics card/driver performance
      3. User configurable graphics card settings, like color depth, sync to refresh, etc.
      4. Assembly size (number of Part instances)
      5. Part geometric complexity
      6. Display of other non-Part graphics like sketches and work features
      7. User settings like"Minimum frame rate"
      8. Current display mode (shaded, hidden line)
      9. Rate at which the device driving the operation generates inputs e.g. mouse (around 60/sec), timer (around 30/sec), trackball (around 25/sec)
    4. Minimum Frame Rate slider:

    Sample default setting of the"Minimum Frame Rate" slider. This may vary for different versions of Autodesk Inventor®. This is found in Tools > Application Options > Display tab.

    From Autodesk Inventor® Help:

    Minimum Frame Rate (Hz)

    With complex views (such as very large assemblies), use this setting to specify how slowly you are willing to update the display during interactive viewing operations (like Rotate, Pan, and Zoom). Autodesk Inventor® tries to maintain the frame rate you set, but to do so, may need to simplify or discard parts of the view. All parts are restored to the view when movement ends.

    1. Set 0 to always draw everything in the view, regardless of the time required.
    2. Set 1 to have Autodesk Inventor® try to draw the view at least one frame per second.
    3. Set 5 to draw at least five frames per second.

    Note:Usually, this setting has no effect on views because they update more quickly than this rate.

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  27. What does WHQL mean?
    1. Microsoft Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) certifies that drivers work as intended, and do not contain a virus.
      1. When a driver receives this certification, it can be installed without any warnings about certification.
      2. Without this certification the driver will always give a warning that it has not been certified.
    2. How the Autodesk Inventor® team test and certifies drivers:
      1. All drivers on the Autodesk Inventor® web site have been received directly from the graphics card vendor or a PC vendor.
      2. When the driver passes our tests with Autodesk Inventor®, it is certified by the Autodesk Inventor® team. This certification is not to be confused with the WHQL certification by Microsoft.
      3. Due to the need to get the best driver to our users as soon as possible, the Autodesk Inventor® team tests drivers during the development phase. These drivers are never posted to our FTP site.
        1. If a special exception is needed, to support a new card, it will be clearly indicated.
      4. Often a WHQL candidate driver will be certified by the Autodesk Inventor® team at the same time as it goes to Microsoft for certification. In this case our web site does post the uncertified driver. We also post the certified driver when it becomes available.
    3. The convention followed in Archive page and the graphics pages of each vendor is:
      1. If we know it is a Microsoft WHQL certified driver, the phrase will be WHQL Certified or WHQL.
      2. If we know it is not a Microsoft WHQL certified driver, the phrase will be Not WHQL Certified.
      3. If we do not know the status of the driver, the link is left as Download or just the driver version information.
      4. This is an ongoing process for new drivers. Older drivers will not have their status changed on this web site.
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  28. Should I update my driver for my IBM ThinkPad A19p to A21p?

    For ATI Mobility cards used in IBM Thinkpads A19p - A21p: If your current graphics driver is working, do not upgrade from IBM to a newer driver until further notice from this Web site.

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  29. What is Mip-mapping?

    Enabling mip-mapping of texture mapped fonts can dramatically improve sharpness at large sizes and readability at small sizes.

    Mip-mapping capability is tested in our graphics lab as part of our card/driver qualification program, and is enabled wherever we think it works okay. In general, users should not need to change these settings.

    Setting bit 1 (value 0x2) in the Text Options registry entry for a given device driver

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREAutodeskInventorRegistryVersion8.0System GraphicsHardwareLibrary 2.0NVIDIA CorporationQUADRO4 900.*XGL/.*1.4.06.13.10.4072]

    "Text Options"=dword:00000002

    or in the per-user Driver overrides area

    [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAutodeskInventorRegistry Version8.0SystemPreferencesDriver]

    "Text Options"=dword:00000002

    enables mip-mapping.

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  30. Can I change Texture Font resolution?

    One other registry entry that might be of interest to users concerned about text display quality is Texture Font Precision. Like Text Options, this entry is specified for various device drivers in the GraphicsHardware Library registry and can be overridden on a per-user basis in the Driver overrides area.

    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\Inventor\Registry Version8.0\System\Preferences\Driver]

    "Texture Font Precision"=dword:00000020
    (hexadecimal 0x00000020 = decimal 32)

    This entry controls the resolution of the largest texture image used for font glyphs. The default value is 32. Increasing this value makes text look crisper at large sizes on screen (i.e. when zoomed way up), but also causes Autodesk Inventor® to use more graphics memory for font textures.

    Like mip-mapping this setting is determined by our graphics card testing lab and should be changed carefully.

    1. The value should always be a power of two and should probably never exceed 512 (0x00000200).
    2. 128 (0x00000080) is probably a good compromise between quality and cost for most users.
    3. 32 (0x00000020) is the default value.
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  31. What is Full or Limited CAD Functionality?

    Some graphics vendors produce graphics cards for both game/business use and CAD use. 3D CAD and other top end software products demand much more from the graphics card hardware and it's driver than game or business applications.

    1. The phrase Full CAD Functionality is used to note graphics cards and drivers that fully meet the requirements of Autodesk Inventor®.
    2. The phrase Limited CAD Functionality is used to note graphics cards and drivers that do not fully meet the requirements of Autodesk Inventor®.
    3. Graphics cards with Limited CAD Functionality may perform in a quite acceptable manner, but if a problem is found in the driver, it may not be fixed by the vendor. Nvidia, ATI, and Matrox produce both workstation cards with Full CAD Functionality and game cards without this functionality. 3Dlabs only produces cards with Full CAD Functionality.
    4. Graphics cards with Full CAD Functionality can be very expensive. However, good cards can be found at reasonable prices. A WEB search on "CAD Graphics" can locate information on this subject. These cards are worth their cost in terms of reliable performance and support by the vendor. Also see the Autodesk Inventor® Discussion Group.
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  32. What is the "Package Version" I see listed for ATI?

    The "Package Version" number for newer ATI drivers will be found in the Display Properties > Settings tab > Advanced button > Options tab. Please use this rather than the Driver Version as your reference. It will save a lot of time and prevent serious problems with Autodesk Inventor®.

    Do not use an ATI driver from a site that identifies the driver by driver version.

    1. It is very likely the wrong driver for your system.
    2. The drivers available from Microsoft Windows Update are always the wrong driver for ATI.
    3. If a non-workstation driver is installed, Autodesk Inventor® will crash and data may be lost.
    4. The computer system vendors and resellers may not have caught up with ATI's new policy, and may actually have an incorrect driver posted.
    5. After installation, check the ATI driver for the option of setting the driver for Autodesk Inventor® (sic.).
      1. If this option is not available (Display Properties > Settings tab > Advanced Button > Configuration tab) check the detailed information on this site.
      2. In almost all cases, the lack of this setting option indicates that you have the wrong driver.

    ATI wraps a given driver in a number of different packages. These packages adapt the driver to a notebook, or add OpenGl workstation performance to it. The driver version by it's self is not sufficient to communicate what graphics software is installed on your system. The driver version is not sufficient information to debug a problem with ATI drivers.

    In addition, the last 2 or 3 letters of the Package Version usually indicate by whom the driver is distributed (ATI, HP, IBM etc.). This is also useful information.

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  33. Why does Autodesk Inventor® run very slow when my laptop is on battery power?

    ATI has a function called PowerPlay that is intended to prolong battery life.

    1. (Nvidia does not have a similar function.)
    2. This function reduces the display to 16 colors when activated. A side efect of this is that OpenGL is also disabled. This forces Autodesk Inventor® to switch to software emulation for OpenGL support.
    3. To return to normal operation the user has to connect to power and re-start Autodesk Inventor®.
    4. See the following for additional information:
      1. I have just installed a new driver on Windows 2000 or Windows XP, but have very slow performance.
      2. I have installed a tested driver correctly and I do not have any hardware acceleration.
    5. Older versions of Autodesk Inventor® would lock into the emulation mode once a driver is detected without OpenGl support. Starting with version 6, Autodesk Inventor® re-samples the available graphics functionality each time it opens a new graphics window. If your are running an older version, go the the User Customization registry area and remove the "Force GDI" registry entry.

    To disable this function:

    Go to "Display Properties" > "Advanced" > "POWERPLAY" tab, and uncheck "Enable POWERPLAY(tm)", the graphics adapter is then running in high performance mode at all times.

    This will reduce available time for running on battery power. However, if acceleration is not enabled when running on batteries, Inventor® drops back to using OpenGL emulation, which is very slow and likely will use even more battery power due to the time it takes to do everything

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  34. Potential Network Licensing Problems:
    1. Be careful with AIP installs. the user can switch between AIS and AIP licenses. Since only one LICPATH.LIC file is available for the one installation of Autodesk Inventor®, both the AIS and AIP licenses must be available on the same server.
    2. Two copies of the FlexLM license server may have been installed on the same server. This generates a license not found error message.
      1. Solution: Install only the latest copy of the flexlm server software on the server and move all licenses to it.

    Minimal Update of FlexLM to a new version: This is the simplest way to update an existing FlexLM installation. It preserves all existing settings

    1. Backup the existing server directory.
    2. Stop the server.
    3. Copy these new files, adskflex.exe, lmgrd.exe, lmtools.exe, and lmutil.exe on top of the existing files.
    4. Reboot
    5. The FlexLM server should restart automatically, with all settings preserved.
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  35. Autodesk Inventor® Network license: Starting with R9:

    The license borrowing functionality has been moved to Help > About > Product Information > Borrow License for both Autodesk Inventor® and AutoCAD/MDT.

    The network deployment option.

    One may continue to install Inventor® 9 or later, network version, in the same manner as for earlier versions. As your site grows, this may lead to complications if you decide to change network server configurations.

    All users can now make a network a network deployment image. Autodesk Inventor® Professional users can also make a deployment of the AIP modules. This is the recommended procedure. The documentation on the Networking tab covers the details.

    If you are already set up using a license file on each workstation for the Autodesk products, then you are done.

    For sites where Autodesk Inventor® was installed directly from the CD and the server name was entered without making a license file:

    1. Read the documentation about network installations if you are not familiar with the process.
    2. Build a network deployment image of Autodesk Inventor® (and optionally the Pro modules.)
    3. If the target workstation contains a server name in the registry key HKLM\Software\FlexLM License Manager\ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE, the license file path of the deployment image will not be entered automatically.
      1. A semicolon followed by the path name can be entered by hand, but that leaves your workstations incompatible with future installations.
      2. If all versions of Autodesk network licensed products are running on the same license server, this is not a problem.
    4. If a multiple or redundant server configuration is needed, the license file configuration must be used.
    5. On a target workstation:
      1. Delete the contents of the registry key HKLM\Software\FlexLM License Manager\ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE
      2. Delete the environment variable ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE
      3. Install the R9 Autodesk Inventor® deployment image and run it once to verify that it is working.
      4. The server connection is automatic. It is now controlled through a file named LICPATH.LIC in the Autodesk Inventor® 9 bin directory.
      5. If you are using only one server, the workstation is now running and compatible with future network installations. All Autodesk Inventor® network installations on the workstation will use the one license file.
      6. If other versions of Autodesk Inventor® installed on the workstation need other servers:
        1. Make copies of the LICPATH.LIC file and edit them for the other servers.
        2. The registry key HKLM\Software\FlexLM License Manager\ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE add the paths to the additional license files, each separated by a semicolon ";"

    Also see Potential Network Licensing Problems

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  36. Network installation and subscription support for Autodesk Inventor® 10:

    The new Subscription Aware functionality in the AIS and AIP products Help menu will require the entry of the contract number if the network version of Autodesk Inventor® 10 is installed directly from the CD. If it is installed from a deployment image, the contract number will not normally be needed.

    If a network install of Inventor is directly from the media, it does not include a serial number. To use subscription support, it must be entered manually in the register at:

    Key: HKLM\Software\Autodesk\InventorRegistryVersion10.0\System\License
    String value: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 10\Bin\Inventor.exe:SerialNumber = xxx--xxxxxxxx

    where "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 10\Bin\Inventor.exe:SerialNumber" includes the path to to the inventor exe and xxx-xxxxxxxx is the serial number/Group ID that is required for this service.

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  37. Sharing AIS and AIP licenses:

    Starting with AIS and AIP 8, when a network install of Autodesk Inventor® is made from the AIP product, both AIS and AIP Autodesk Inventor® icons are placed on the desktop.

    1. When the AIS icon is used, the AIS license is also used and the AIP extensions are disabled.
    2. When the AIP icon is used, the AIP license is used, and the AIP extensions are enabled
    3. When the software is installed from the AIP product, the "helper" software (migration utility, task scheduling, design assistant etc.) all runs under the AIP license.
    4. MDT and Autocad will continue to run from the license with which they were installed. Thus, at times, a single workstation may use a license from each pool.
    5. Subscription support (starting in R10) is based on the product serial number used for the installation. It does not float with the license.

    This requires that the installation of Autodesk Inventor® on all workstations that will run with either license be made from the AIP product.

    Also see Potential Network Licensing Problems and SubAware issues

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  38. Required ATI Unified Driver Install and Setup Process:
    1. Download the driver you want to install from this site.
      1. Unzip it to a temporary directory on your hard drive.
    2. Uninstall previous driver
      1. If you have downloaded a driver from Microsoft for one of these Workstation cards, it is very likely a non-workstation driver. Please roll the driver back before uninstalling it. This may be done from Display properties > Settings tab > Advanced button > Adapter tab > Properties button > Driver tab > Roll Back Driver button.
      2. Uninstall the driver and any related ATI software using Add/Remove programs.
    3. Reboot and do not allow Windows to install a video card driver.
    4. Install the correct unified driver from the above table
      1. Use the ATI driver for all cards except laptops.
      2. Use the IBM driver for IBM laptops
      3. Use the HP driver for HP laptops.
    5. Reboot
    6. Display Properties > Settings tab > Advanced Button > Configuration tab.
      1. Warning: This is a 3D CAD WORKSTATION driver. It is not the same as game drivers available from Microsoft. If your driver does not have the "Configuration" tab with the Autodesk Inventor®(sic.) setting, it is the wrong driver. Do not use it with Autodesk Inventor®.
      2. Select Autodesk Inventor® (sic.). The display driver will not work correctly with Autodesk Inventor® using any other setting.
    7. Display Properties > Settings tab > Advanced Button > PowerPlay tab (laptops only)
      1. Uncheck the "Enable POWERPLAY" checkbox
      2. Display Properties > Settings tab > Verify that 32 bit color resolution is selected.
      3. Reboot
    8. For Autodesk Inventor® versions before 8.0, check to make sure that the registry user over-ride area ([HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAutodeskInventorRegistryVersion8.0 SystemPreferencesDriver] does not contain an entry "Force GDI". If it does, delete it.
    9. Run Autodesk Inventor®
      1. Open a new assembly
      2. Verify that Tools > Application Options... > Hardware tab
        1. "Use Optimization setting recommended by Autodesk Inventor" is selected.
      3. Click the Diagnostics button and verify that the ATI driver information is displayed.
        1. The driver should be "fully certified".
          1. If it is not, a registry file update is needed.
        2. It should be similar to the following (the M9000 hardware used in some laptops will show "ATI Technologies Inc.MOBILITY FIRE GL 9000 DDR Pentium 4 (SSE2)1.3.4065" with the IBM driver) (See image below.)
    10. If you are still experiencing problems review the FAQ information at "I have installed a tested driver correctly and I do not have any hardware acceleration or it is still using GDI Generic mode."

    Sample ATI graphics information:

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  39. General Driver Install and Setup Process:

    Note: Drivers downloaded from this site are vendor workstation drivers. Drivers from other sources may not work the same.

    Note: ATI drivers must be identified by "Package Version" not driver version. Failure to do so will cause serious problems for Autodesk Inventor®. For ATI Drivers see ATI Driver Installation Instructions.

    1. Download the driver you want to install from this site.
      1. Unzip it to a temporary directory on your hard drive.
    2. Uninstall previous driver
      1. If you have downloaded a driver from Microsoft for one of these Workstation cards, it is may be a non-workstation driver, or older than the previously installed driver. If possible, please roll the driver back before uninstalling it. This may be done from Display properties > Settings tab > Advanced button > Adapter tab > Properties button > Driver tab > Roll Back Driver button.
      2. Uninstall the driver and any related software using Add/Remove programs.
    3. Reboot and do not allow Windows to install a video card driver.
    4. Install the correct driver.
      1. Use the graphics vendor reference driver for all cards except laptops.
      2. Use the laptop vendor driver for laptops.
      3. These drivers may be downloaded from this site.
      4. The best way to install the driver is to execute the setup.exe (or install.exe) program in the unpacked zip file from this site.
      5. An alternate way is to go to the control panel and click "Add Hardware".
        1. Do not let Windows scan for your hardware.
        2. Navigate to where you have unzipped the driver from this site and select the vendor provided .inf file.
        3. This method requires that you know the name of your graphics card.
    5. Reboot
    6. If the driver details pages indicate that a custom Autodesk Inventor® setting is needed for this driver, please set it. Please be aware, that if this option is not available when it is required, you most likely have loaded the wrong driver or have a bad installation of the software.
    7. For Autodesk Inventor® versions before 8.0, check to make sure that the registry user over-ride area ([HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAutodeskInventorRegistry Version8.0SystemPreferencesDriver] does not contain an entry "Force GDI". If it does, delete it.
    8. Run Autodesk Inventor®
      1. Open a new assembly
      2. Verify that Tools > Application Options... > Hardware tab
        1. "Use Optimization setting recommended by Autodesk Inventor" is selected.
      3. Click the Diagnostics button and verify that the Vendors driver information is displayed.
        1. The driver should be "fully certified". (see below)
          1. If it is not, a registry file update is needed.
        2. It should be similar to the following sample from ATI:
    9. If you are still experiencing problems review the FAQ information at "I have installed a tested driver correctly and I do not have any hardware acceleration or it is still using GDI Generic mode."

    Sample Nvidia Graphics information:

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  40. Why is image quality degraded when the image is Rotating, Orbiting, or Panning?

    This is a side effect of the design for performance in Autodesk Inventor®. The gross detail is painted on the screen first then the finer detail. This operation may take a long time. If the mouse has moved after a specified time, the paint process starts over. If the mouse has not moved, the image will continue to be filled in. The slider in Tools > Application Options... >" Minimum frame rate" determines how long between the times Autodesk Inventor® looks for a mouse movement.

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  41. Why are details missing or "faceted" when I zoom in on an assembly or part?

    This is a side effect of the design for performance in Autodesk Inventor®. When an assembly or part is loaded, only the information for the graphical display is loaded. The underlying geometry data is not loaded. If one zooms in enough, this will become apparent.

    The solution is to force the loading of the geometry data for the desired items. This can be done by selecting a part and editing it. It is not necessary to make any actual changes. The editing request forces the loading of the geometry data. A measure operation can also be used to force the loading of the geometry data.

    The same issue can be seen when zooming in on a curved surface like a spring. The display will become "faceted" (it will appear to be made of straight line segments). Again forcing the loading of the geometry data, allows Autodesk Inventor® to re-facet and display a smooth curve.

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  42. Why does my mouse slow down inside the Autodesk Inventor®?

    The latest Logitech mouse driver contains a checkbox "Disable acceleration in games". This needs to be unchecked. To do this, go the the control panel >Mouse > Motion tab.

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  43. When printing a drawing, text is spread all over the drawing. What can I do?

    This is a print driver problem. A real solution must come from he company that makes the printer. First check the readme with the printer driver.

    If this does not offer a solution try the following:
    Setting (creating) the registry entry "HKEY_LOACL_MACHINEsoftwareAutodeskInventor RegistryVersionsystemgraphicspreferences" (where is the Inventor version like "9.0") to" Device Independent Workarounds" = 20 ( this is a HEX DWORD Value) enables a workaround for all users on the workstation. This may help. Doing this may break text printing using the Print context menu item from Windows Explorer.

    This functionality was introduced in Autodesk Inventor® 9.

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  44. How should I setup my antivirus software?

    Autodesk Inventor® is a data intensive application. Most antivirus programs, like the one shown below, have options to either scan only selected file extensions or exclude specific file extensions or directories. It is strongly advised to exclude the Autodesk Inventor® data files from scanning. It is a major performance impact, especially if the data resides on a server.

    The extensions most commonalty used by Autodesk Inventor® are:

    .idw, .ipt. .iam, .idv, .ipj, ipn, .dwg

    Sample settings for the Corporate edition of Semantic Antivirus version 9.

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  45. How Do I make maintain Subscription support in a mixed AIS/AIP network deployment environment?

    The following assumes that the goal is to install AIP licensed software that can run with either an AIS license or an AIP license. However all users have to be able to access the subscription services.

    1. Set up a network deployments as follows:
    2. Use either the ASI or AIP serial number that is SubAware (Subscription Aware). The choice depends on your contract with Autodesk.
    3. Build and install AIP deployment images.
    4. If the user runs Inventor from the AIS icon, AIS functionality is available, and the AIS license is used. It Inventor is run from the AIP icon, the full AIP functionality is available and the AIP license is used. Note that AIP autoCAD MDT will always use the AIP license. Inventor run from Explorer will also use the AIP license.
    5. In either case, the serial number entered into the deployment image is only used for the subscription services.
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  46. All windows sometimes paint very slowly on the screen.

    If this is seen outside of the Inventor document window, it is not related to Inventor. If the correct graphics driver is installed correctly, then look elsewhere. In one case, the AGP driver for the motherboard was not installed. This also produced a very strange symptom: The OpenGL ID string that Inventor detects on the hardware tab, would change from time to time.

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  47. How can I improve capacity for large assemblies or drawings?

    Please note that Windows allocates Virtual memory to an application. This is the Address Space available to any application. The size of this Address space is a function of the design of the operating system, not the physical memory installed on the system. More physical memory will increase performance, but not address space. Inventor, like any Windows application, is limited by the address space allocated to it by the Windows Operating System. Whatever the limit, Inventor users may run into it. A warning will be issued when you reach 80% of the available address space. It is advisable to save your work as soon as possible. When windows issues a message that a memory request has been denied, Inventor is no longer intact.

    At the 80% warning, exit Inventor saving your results. Restart Inventor and re-load your work. This removes memory allocations that are no longer needed because that work has been accomplished.

    There is a price to pay for fast graphics response in terms of the graphics subsystem using Inventor's address space. A simple way to reclaim perhaps up to 500MB of address space is to decrease the amount of hardware acceleration available. This can be done from the Display Properties > Settings tab > Advanced button > Troubleshooting tab then move the slider to perhaps the next to the leftmost position (slow). This change MUST be made while Inventor is not running.

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  48. What are the problems with using BlackIce
    Problem:
    • (Only for systems with BlackIce or RealSecureDesktop installed)
    • When creating an administrative image of AutoCADM, you get an error message: Error 1304.Error writing to file: ...AdminImageProgram FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedOffice 10riched20.dll. Verify that you have access to that directory.

      • Cause:
    • During installation of AutoCADM, riched20.dll is supposed to be copied to ...AdminImageProgram FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedOffice 10. When installed off local media, there is no problem since BlackIce (version number 7.0eoa.) or Real Secure Desktop Protector does not "see" the copying of the riched20 file.
    • However, when AutoCADM is installed off the network (as in the case of creating a deployed image), BlackIce "sees" the transaction and blocks the copy. BlackIce sees the copying of the riched20.dll file as akin to the propagation of the Nimda worm. Please see http://www.iss.net/security_center/reference/2002710.html for more info on the error.
        • Solution:
      1. Disable BlackIce. Install AutoCADM. Enable BlackIce.
      2. In case the solution above is inconvenient, you can follow the steps below
        1. Verify that your systems have been patched and are not vulnerable to the Nimda worm
        2. Trust the event of copying riched20.dll by following the steps below:
          1. Right click on the event in the Desktop Protector GUI and select 'Ignore Event->This Event'. This will create a trust issue rule that will prevent this event from triggering on this agent only.
          2. If you would like to trust the event on all of your agents,
            1. Go into your Intrusion Detection Settings->Custom Value Details and click on Add.
            2. Then, enter the Name as 'trust.issue' and the Value as '2002710' (or the specific event number in the Event log of RealSecure Desktop Protector). This will ignore this event from any source on all your agents.
      Note: (If "Ignore this event" is grayed out you will have to implement the change at the SiteProtector level. There is an option that either allows or disallows the end-user from changing their protection settings. The 'Intrusion Detection Settings' section is a part of the Desktop Protector policy, which is modified through SiteProtector. Open the policy through Manage->Policy... and select the policy you are using for your agents. Then go into Network Protection Settings->Default Settings->Intrusion Detection Settings. If you are using the Adaptive Policy functionality, you will need to make the modification in Network Protection Settings->Adaptive Policy Settings->Corporate Network->Intrusion Detection Settings and Network Protection Settings->Adaptive Policy Settings->VPN->Intrusion Detection Settings. If you are not the one responsible for managing the Desktop Agent policies for your company, you may need to forward this information to the person who handles that configuration.)
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  49. How do I find my driver version?
    1. On the display screen background right-click.
    2. In the context pop-up, select Properties.
    3. Select the settings tab (At this point the name of your graphics card is displayed.)
    4. Click on the advanced button

    ATI:

    1. Click on the Options Tab. (If you have a FireGL driver and do not have an Options tab, it is very likely that you have the wrong driver.)
    2. The value you want is the "Package Version". Please use this value whenever asked for a driver version.

    All others:

    1. Click on Adapter Tab
    2. Click on the Properties Button
    3. Click on the Driver Tab
    4. The Driver Version is displayed.

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  50. Best Practices for stable graphics and performance

    These changes to you system will improve performance and reduce graphics problems. They are used on all workstations and graphics cards that are certified for Inventor.

    Optimize Windows XP for Performance:

    1. Open "Control Panel" from the start menu
    2. Click on "System"
    3. Click on the "Advanced" tab
    4. Click on the Performance "Settings" button
    5. On the "Visual Effects" tab, click on the "Adjust for best Performance" radio button.
    6. On the "Advanced" tab, make sure that "Programs" are selected for both items.
    7. (On Windows 2000, the "Advanced Tab, click on the "Performance Options" and verify that "Applications" have priority and the size of the Virtual Memory Swap file is 2GB.)
    8. Verify that the paging file size is 2GB or larger. (4GB is required if the "/3GB" option is to be used.)

    This will give about a 10% overall performance increase. It makes the windows on your screen look simpler (like Windows 2000). One does pay a price for the fancy 3D looking windows borders etc. This increases windows XP performance back to the level of Windows 2000. This also reduces the load on the graphics card. It actually removes problems that Inventor has with low end cards, especially the Intel embedded chipset.

    Other graphics performance optimization

    1. On the display background, right click and select "Properties"
    2. Click on the :Effects" tab
    3. Clear all checkboxes

    This has also been found to reduce graphics problems, especially with non-CAD supported graphics cards.

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  51. Can I improve the look of "Stroke Fonts" imported from Autodesk AutoCAD or other sources.

    Autodesk Inventor® R8 contains several improvements that together should substantially improve the situation for users of so-called stroke fonts fonts consisting of thin strokes that, up to now, have become invisible or hard to read at small sizes in Autodesk Inventor®.

    Stroked Fonts

    1. In the Autodesk Inventor® registry there is an entry called "Stroke Font List", which is a string item containing a comma separated list of the names of fonts that need special handling to look good in Autodesk Inventor®.
    2. Depending on the available graphics hardware and various registry settings, there are two ways we do this:
      1. image glyphs by drawing strokes
      2. stay with our normal approach of using texture mapping to image text glyphs, but adjust the texture to look better at small sizes on screen
    3. The registry entry that controls this is:
      1. [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareAutodeskInventor RegistryVersion 8.0 SystemPreferencesDisplay]
    4. "Stroke Font List"="RomanS,RomanD" ( "Stroke Font List" is a string value.)
    5. (Note that "8.0" is the Autodesk Inventor® version. please change as appropriate.)
    6. If mip-mapping of fonts is enabled (see below), "stroke" fonts (any font named in the above list) will be imaged as "adjusted" texture fonts, otherwise they will be drawn using lines tracing the outline of the character.
    7. You can force a given font to always be drawn using lines (rather than texture maps) -- if the name of a font in the list is followed by a "!", as in
      1. "Stroke Font List"="RomanS!,RomanD!"
      2. it will be always be drawn using strokes, whether or not texture mip-mapping is available.
    8. Starting with Autodesk Inventor® 8, the adjusted texture font approach is now working much better. Users are encouraged to try it first. If they don't like what they see for a particular font, they can add the '!' character after its name in the list.
      1. Note that there should be no additional spaces in the above string (spaces embedded within font names like Century Gothic are fine), just names, commas, and optional '!' characters.
    9. The attached zip file contains a .reg file that sets Stroke Font List for Autodesk Inventor® R8.0 to a list of fonts that have been found benefit from this treatment. Just double click on the file within WinZip to apply it to your registry. If there are other fonts you wish to add to this list, you can extract and edit the .reg file before applying it to the registry, or add them (using the regedit tool) after applying the .reg file.
      1. As always, changes to registry entries should be done carefully, while Autodesk Inventor® is not running.
      2. The registry change will have to be re-applied if autodesk Autodesk Inventor® is re-installed.
      3. The change will have to be applied for each user of Autodesk Inventor® on a given workstation.
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  52. Autodesk Inventor® Network license: Before R9.

    This discussion assume that the network documentation provided with the AIS or AIP CDs (accessible from the initial CD startup screen) have been read and that the FlexLM license server is correctly setup.

    1. How can I use a fallback license server when the main server is not available?
    2. How can I prevent the application from looking at the wrong license server?
    3. How can different versions of the application on the same workstation to look at different license servers?
    4. I have to re-enter the license server name each time Autodesk Inventor® fails to find it.

    Single license server (preferred):
    This process requires Administrative access on the workstation

    1. Clear the registry value for HKLM\Software\FlexLM License Manager\ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE
    2. Set the environment variable ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE = @Server_name_for_license1;
    3. Now Autodesk Inventor® should start just fine.
    4. After running Autodesk Inventor®, you will notice that the environment variable string has been moved into the registry. This is the key that makes it work for all users on the workstation.

    Use of a License file on the local workstation (also allows for multiple servers):

    1. The license file should contain only 1 server name. Autodesk Inventor® will ignore any additional server names.
    2. Only one server name can be called out in the ADSKFLEX_LIXENSE_FILE registry key. If one is used, it must be the first item in the list.
    3. Multiple license files can be called out in the ADSKFLEX_LIXENSE_FILE registry key, separated by a semicolon (";").
      1. The license file, LICPATH.LIC, is located in the Inventor bin directory and contains two lines:
        1. SERVER ServerName 12_digit_eithernet_address
        2. USE_SERVER
      2. Where "ServerName" and "12_digit_eithernet_address" are to be replaced with their actual values. These can be obtained from LMTools which is running on the network license server.
      3. The values in ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE are scanned from left to right. This may impact which licenses are used.
    4. The license file is shared by all network installs of Autodesk Inventor® or MDT, or autocad installed from AIS or AIP CD sets, on the workstation.

    Mixing Inventor 8 or earlier and 9 or later network installs on the same workstation:

    1. Once the network deployment is built with the network server model for your site incorporated, the one build can deployed company wide.
    2. The best way to mix versions of Autodesk Inventor® is to use the network deployment image for Autodesk Inventor 9 or later and modify existing installations to work with it. (The fist two steps below are required.)
      1. Clear the registry value for HKLM\Software\FlexLM License Manager\ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE
      2. Delete the environment variable ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE
      3. Install Autodesk Inventor® 9 or later from the deployment image.
      4. Run this version of Autodesk Inventor®. It should automatically connect to the server.
      5. As long as the previous versions of Autodesk Inventor® on the same workstation are using the same servers, they will run.
      6. You may want to move LICPATH.LIC from the Autodesk Inventor version specific bin directory to a place like c:, where a uninstall will not remove it. Then modify the contents of HKLM\Software\FlexLM License Manager\ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE to point to the new location of the file.
    3. If Autodesk Inventor has already entered a server name in HKLM\Software\FlexLM License Manager\ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE the install of an
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Note: It is highly recommended that you download and install the driver certified on this web site before reporting problems.