HYDRUS (2D/3D) Troubleshooting
To further improve the software, we invite your feedback about HYDRUS, including information on all potential problems and errors that may still be present in the current version. However, to make reporting and solving problems as efficient as possible, we would like to ask you to read information on this page before contacting HYDRUS technical support. Thank you.
Content:
Reporting Errors in HYDRUS
Before you report an error please read the following:
- Check to see if you have the latest version of HYDRUS. If not, please visit our web page with the list of changes and fixed errors and see if your error is already on the list. If it is, then download the latest version and reinstall HYDRUS. This should solve your problem.
- Read information about known problems on this page. Sometimes HYDRUS can be unstable because of errors in OpenGL drivers or operating system related reasons, which are more or less beyond our control. We suggest below how to address such problems.
When reporting a suspected error, please be as specific as possible. Just stating: “The attached HYDRUS project does not work,” makes the task of diagnosing and correcting the error time-consuming. To help accelerate this process, please follow the procedure described below:
- Send us your HYDRUS license number. This number is stated on our invoice or you can find it in the dialog "Menu - Help - Hydrus License and Authorization". If you use a hardware key, send us the number of this key, which you will find out in the same dialog.
- We also need to know the version of HYDRUS you are using. You can find the exact version number in the "Menu - Help - About Hydrus" dialog.
- We will usually also need information about your hardware and operating system - see "Sending Hardware and OS Information" below.
- Try to produce the error on the smallest transport domain possible and provide us with the data (e.g. HYDRUS project) for this problem.
- Try to establish whether the inclusion or exclusion of one particular HYDRUS option triggers this problem. If you have done any studies that would help in locating the problem, please inform us about them.
- Let us know if you have found any temporary ways to work around this problem.
- Let us know if you have had success with similar analyses in the past (with earlier versions of HYDRUS), and what you believe to be the main difference between the current and former analyses.
Send us screen shots showing the error. Describing an error can be difficult and time-consuming. Sometimes it can be much easier to take screen shots (using the "Print Screen" key) right before or after the error and to attach them to your e-mail. You can also edit these pictures in Paintbrush, for example to mark incorrect objects in the HYDRUS graphical view, etc.
Sending Hardware and OS Information
Sometimes it can be very useful to provide us with information about your hardware and Windows OS. The most comfortable way of generating a detailed description of your system is by running the MSINFO (Microsoft's program that is a part of the Windows OS):
- Use the “Search box” on “Taskbar” or in “Start menu”, type “MSINFO32” and press “Enter”. You can also use the Windows Key + R to open command prompt window, type “MSINFO32” and press “Enter”.
- This command will start the Microsoft’s MSINFO32.exe program, which will display information about your system and hardware in the “System Information” window on the desktop.
- In this window, select the “File” -> “Export” command from the menu and save the information into a text file with the selected name.
- If the file is too large (over 2MB), please compress it (click on it with the right-mouse button and from the pop-up menu select “Send to->Compressed (Zipped) Folder”.
- Send us this file
Updating OpenGL Video Driver
OpenGL is the proven industry standard for High Performance Graphics. HYDRUS has been built to take advantage of the hardware implementations of OpenGL. With suitable OpenGL graphics hardware, you can enjoy the benefits of greater responsiveness when working with large models. However, according to our experience, drivers supplied by the manufacturers of graphic cards may contain various errors or might not be fully compatible with OpenGL standards, which can result in an incorrect rendering, slow or incorrect selection, program instability, etc. In such cases we recommend that you update your video driver or (if this does not help) switch the OpenGL hardware acceleration OFF. You can do that in the HYDRUS main menu by going to Options -> Program Options. In the dialog select tab “Graphics” and then switch the “OpenGL hardware acceleration” OFF. Then, HYDRUS uses the generic implementation of OpenGL developed by Microsoft. This implementation is a standard part of Windows and is not hardware-accelerated (i.e. graphics can be significantly slower), but it is stable and fully compatible with HYDRUS.
Updating your video driver:
If you have a notebook computer, visit your computer manufacturer's page to download the latest video driver. Be sure to download the latest non-beta drivers.
Dell | HP | Toshiba | IBM/Lenovo | Sony
If you have a desktop computer, visit the web site of your video card's manufacturer for drivers. Be sure to download the latest non-beta drivers.
Intel | Nvidia | ATI
Known Problems in HYDRUS
Problem No. 1
Description: HYDRUS is unstable and breaks down frequently.
Details: While working with HYDRUS the following message is frequently displayed: “H3D_Data.DLL has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience”. After that HYDRUS is terminated. Appearance seems to be random, not after a specific action.
Reason: According to our experience this problem can often be caused by OpenGL hardware-acceleration drivers. These drivers are provided by graphic-card manufacturers and sometimes have errors. The HYDRUS graphical engine is based on OpenGL and any error in the driver can make HYDRUS unstable.
Solution: In the HYDRUS main menu go to Options -> Program Options. In the dialog select tab “Graphics” and then switch the “OpenGL hardware acceleration” Off and set the “Performance optimization” to Stable. After that you will have to restart HYDRUS so that these changes can take effect. If this solves your problem, then you can be sure that the error was in your OpenGL driver.
Comments: HYDRUS can work without OpenGL hardware acceleration, but then the graphical performance is usually about 3-10 times slower. You can try to download a newer driver but our experience with this is not very good. Another solution is to change your graphic card. We recommend VGA cards based on Nvidia chipsets.
Problem No. 2
Description: HYDRUS 2D/3D version 1.05 is fully compatible with the Windows Vista operating system. However, when testing previous versions of HYDRUS (1.04 or earlier) on this operating system, we have encountered several minor problems. For more Details and Solutions please read Frequently Asked Question #34.
Problem No. 3
Description: Error message “Cannot execute MACHNM1.exe!” is displayed during HYDRUS startup or during activation. Authorization doesn't work correctly.
Reason: Your system doesn't run 16-bit programs. The MACHNM1.exe is a 16-bit driver for the ProtectionPlus component used for HYDRUS protection in HYDRUS version 1.04 or earlier. Without this driver HYDRUS authorization will not work correctly.
Solution: Install the latest version of HYDRUS (1.05 or later). Another solution: The problem is in non-standard or missing config.nt and autoexec.nt files. The Microsoft site explains how to fix it: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;324767&Product=winxp.
Problem No. 4
Description: HYDRUS graphical selection and pre-selection is very slow or incorrect (this also applies to some graphical tools - line intersections, etc.). This problem was found on several computers with ATI graphic cards with relatively new video drivers (released in fall 2007 or later).
Reason: ATI has limited the support of some OpenGL 1.1 standard functions (OpenGL lists + feedback buffer, etc). Consequently, the graphical selection in HYDRUS may be very slow or incorrect.
Solution: Switch the OpenGL hardware acceleration OFF. In the HYDRUS main menu go to Options -> Program Options. In the dialog select tab “Graphics” and then switch the “OpenGL hardware acceleration” Off.