Tag: fix

Upgrading Corrupt or Problem Models in Revit, and How to Fix Spot Elevation Not Detecting Linked Element

Luke Johnson

Ok, two unrelated issues here, but both are along the lines of “weird stuff that happens in Revit that can be fixed but doesn’t always make sense”. If you use Revit long enough, you will certainly come across issues like this…

Firstly, certain Electrical penetration families were not tagging for height when using Spot elevations. These elements were in a model, which was linked into another model. The fix? Super weird one. Try turning on Lighting Fixtures in your View (in the host model). Then, those spot elevations worked… Even though the penetration family was a Generic Model with Nested Mechanical Equipment inside a link file. I’m thinking this one was either an upgrade error, or perhaps the families had some earlier history as a Lighting Fixture?!?

Secondly, I came across a Structural Consultant Design Model in Revit 2015 that doesn’t want to upgrade to Revit 2016. This is due to some corruption inside various families. Here are a few things to try… along with the ultimate solution.

1) Try opening the model in the newer version of Revit with Detach and Audit ticked, and choose Specify from the Worksets dialog dropdown. If the Opening Worksets dialog appears, Close all the Worksets and press OK. Then, Detach and preserve worksets. You should see the Model Upgrade progress dialog.

This fails with the following error:
The file cannot be opened. There are too many elements missing in it. Please contact Autodesk Support.

2) Next steps are more detailed and resulted in a successful upgrade:

1. Open in 2015, with Audit and Detach, no Worksets open
2. Save As
3. Open in 2016, with Audit and Detach, no Worksets open
a. Delete families when prompted (as you can see, it is one problem Rebar family)
b.

c. Ok to mass errors:
d.

e. Click to resolve Join errors
f. 

4. Save As
5. Setup starting view…

And here are some model tidy-up steps that I did, just #GoodRevit with some Dynamo:
6. Make these worksets:
a. Hide-CADs
b. Hide-Topo
c. Link-Control
7. Move DWGs to workset by:
a. Getting Ids in Dynamo
b.

c. Group
d. Change Workset
e. Set workset invisible
8. Move Topo to workset and set invisible

9. Acquire Coordinates from Control Model
a. Copy / paste control model from current ST file to this upgraded one
b. Link neutral coordinate file
i. Acquire
c. Then acquire from BMGR control file
d. Save

Finally, sharing with team:
10. Save to Box
11. Open in Fed
12. Glue

Fix for using Revit 2015 Update 11 with Revit Server

Luke Johnson

I posted the links recently to download Update 11 for Revit 2015, over here. Unfortunately, this update causes problems with Revit Server.

While there is no official hotfix (yet), you can still have Update 11 and Revit Server if you follow one of the 3 methods at this link to fix your Revit install:
Revit 2015: UR11 breaks Revit Server | Revit Products | Autodesk Knowledge Network

Method 1 involves modifying Autodesk.RevitServer.Social.dll, Method 2 involves modifying Revit.exe.config, and Method 3 recommends not installing Update 11 (?)

Check the main article for the detailed steps.

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Workaround to fix "Explorer.EXE cannot run because there is no registered version of Autodesk Inventor…" caused by Navisworks 2015 installation

Luke Johnson

I experienced this error after installing Navisworks Manage 2015:

Basically, a right-click shell extension for ZIP files was looking for Inventor and not finding it. I logged it with Autodesk and was notified that it was a genuine, repeatable issue.

To fix it on my system, I did this:

  1. Download and install ShellExView
  2. Run it
  3. Click Options, Filter by Extension Type
  4. Only select Context Menu and click OK
  5. Look for the 5 results with Description “DtBridge”, all starting with Autodesk Inventor…
  6. Select them and right-click, Disable Selected Items
  7. Click Options, Restart Explorer

The right-click menu for ZIP files no longer shows the error.

Revit Pranks

Luke Johnson

In ye olde AutoCAD days, there were a plethora of ways to mess with your fellow users.  The sheer amount of obscure yet powerful system variables gave endless opportunities for frivolity.

In Revit, not so much.  The system works.  It seems Revit does not want you to prank your coworkers, right?  Here is a little story …

We were having trouble finding a particular Revit link, or more specifically, the walls in a particular Revit link.  So we drew a roof, and the view looked like this:

Ok, so the answer seems easy.  Walls are overriden, right?  Let’s have a look in the View Template:

According to the Visibility / Graphics of Model in the View Template, everything seems cool.  Walls aren’t overridden.  All of the cells look the same, in their default state.

Or are they?

Let’s select the Walls row:

A tiny, almost invisible sliver of white appears under the Project Lines column, while all of the other columns show Override (indicating they are not overridden).

So what exactly is happening?  Let’s click on the Projection Lines override for Walls:

We get very little feedback from Revit as to what is happening until we select the actual row.  Why?  Because the override is set to white!

This is certainly a trap for new, or old, Revit players.  If you read this blog, you are prepared.

If you don’t, you may be pranked by some White Line overrides in the very near future 🙂  Let the shenanigans begin…

Program Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter Tool (Fix it portable)

Luke Johnson

Some of you have had problems installing Revit.  Perhaps running the Program Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter via Microsoft Fix it portable will help?

I recommend using the following link. After downloading, you will have to run the exe, which itself will then download ‘Fix it portable’ to a folder that you select:
Portable Offline: MicrosoftFixit-portable.exe

In the top list, click on Install or upgrade software or hardware, and click ‘Run Now’ next to Diagnose and fix program installing and uninstalling problems automatically.

via
Program Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter Tool Replaces MSICUU2 | Raymond.CC Blog

Unacceptable list separator when loading Family Types FIX

Luke Johnson

I received the ‘Unacceptable list separator’ error while trying to:

  • load a family from file into a project, and
  • load types into the family from a Type Catalog.

I assumed the problem was to do with Type Catalog.  The family I was trying to load was from the ‘Australia’ default content – 

AustraliaStructuralFramingSteelCHS-Circular Hollow Sections (AS 1163).rfa

To fix this issue I followed these steps:

  1. Open the Family
  2. Export the Types to a Type Catalog file.  The exported Type Catalog should only include one type, but the syntax should be correct…
  3. Open the exported Type Catalog in Excel – as a comma-delimited file
  4. Open the ORIGINAL Type Catalog in Excel – as a comma-delimited file
  5. Copy the fields from the ‘Original’ default Type Catalog into your new ‘fixed’ Type Catalog (there may be more columns in the ‘fixed’ version, just Auto-Fill the other fields as necessary)
  6. In Excel, save the ‘fixed’ version as:
    Other Formats – CSV (MS-DOS)
  7. After closing the file, rename it so that .TXT is its extension.
  8. Use this fixed Type Catalog to load all of the types into the opened Family.

Graphic Aberration when rotating view containing linked DWG

Luke Johnson

I printed a PDF from Revit today, and was presented with this output:

The text was not printed from a linked DWG.

This problem resulted because:

  1. I linked a DWG into a Detail (Section) View

  2. I then rotated the Detail View in Plan.

  3. I moved the linked DWG back into position.

  4. But obviously Revit was not impressed with this course of events!

It was a relatively simple fix – I used Ctrl-X to ‘cut’ the DWG into nowhere, then pasted it back into the view, and also ‘reloaded’ the DWG from the Manage Links dialog.

How to temporarily fix Revit 2012 stall on startup at secsplashwnd

Luke Johnson

If you try to open Revit 2012 and it stalls at the splash screen, you can try ending the process WSCommCntr3.exe by accessing it in the Task Manager and clicking ‘End Process’.

The video below shows the issue:

I think that the problem is definitely related to the WSCommCntr.  This is the Autodesk Infocenter, and it should be located at:
C:Program FilesCommon FilesAutodesk SharedWSCommCntr3lib

As I state in the title, stopping the offending process is only a temporary solution.  There may be some issue that you need to correct.  For instance, my Task Manager also showed WSCommCntr2.exe and I essentially also had to stop this process to get the Autodesk Infocenter to behave.

Feel free to comment if you would like your experience with the Autodesk Infocenter.

I have previously had other issues with Revit stalling at the splash screen:
SECSplashWnd error – Revit 2010 stalls on loading

Mouse click or selection fails when using Revit and VGA monitor or projector

Luke Johnson

I recently observed this issue when a presenter in a Lab class could not select a work plane accurately.  He would hover over the correct plane, but when ‘clicking’ the mouse, a different plane would be selected.  Revit 2012 was being used on a laptop, with an external projector plugged in for the presentation.

I have a feeling that this issue is similar to one I have posted about previously, at this link.  Over at Do U Revit, a comprehensive set of comments may prove useful if you are trying to solve this problem.

Some potential fixes (from the abovementioned comments) may be to:

  • swap monitors from left to right in the Windows display properties
  • make the monitor that is running Revit the primary monitor

Of course, if all else fails:

  • run Revit in a single-display configuration if possible to avoid the issue

I have a few other ideas that I have not really tried for 2012, including:

  • make a new Windows user AFTER connecting the extra monitor or projector, then log in as this user and attempt to use Revit.
  • fully reset the UI and Revit registry data AFTER connecting the extra monitor, and then run Revit (risky).

The other important lesson is this – if you are going to be doing a presentation or tutoring session, TEST your proposed configuration prior to the session.  Five minutes of testing can save a lot of embarrassment!

Factory Response Time – 8 months?

Luke Johnson

So I see that the factory has posted about the Revit Options Bar duplicates or moves objects when selected error.

Greg Arkin also re-posted this on his blog.

What I find quite funny is that I already posted this fix in August 2009.

I may be crazy, but don’t you think it is a bit weird that a humble blogger and Revit user from Australia has posted a fix about 8 months in advance of Autodesk themselves?

Does “The Factory” have someone out there reading our blog posts? If they don’t, I think it might be a good idea 🙂 Particularly with 2011 just around the corner…