TG 4.1.11 file open failing

Started by FlynnAD, August 14, 2017, 09:43:56 PM

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sboerner

1. Looking forward to it!  ;)

2. The file seems to work fine when auto-generate is disabled. I tried it a few times and manually generated the heightfields and had no problems. But it hangs with heightfield loaders, whether they're linked to .ter files or DEMs.

I tested the file with other versions of Terragen: Versions 4.1.14 and 4.1.11 don't work. Version 4.0.04 seems to work fine. So for now I'll downgrade to 4.0.04, at least for early work on scenes that involve heightfield loaders or generators.

Appreciate your patience with this, Oshyan. It's a weird one.

sboerner

QuoteMy file does open with both heighfield loaders plugged into the heightfield merge; that's good. But the 3d preview does not show both heightfields displacing the planet surface. Only the primary heightfield - the one plugged into the merge node's Input slot - shows up. The heightfield plugged into slot A does not show up on the 3d preview, nor on renderings.

I may have stumbled into an answer to this, Matt. Are your heightfields DEM files? It seems that Merge works only when the heightfields occupy the same area (one heightfield displacing another). Should have realized that.

FlynnAD

Quote from: sboerner on November 29, 2017, 11:45:47 PM
I may have stumbled into an answer to this, Matt. Are your heightfields DEM files? It seems that Merge works only when the heightfields occupy the same area (one heightfield displacing another). Should have realized that.

Steve, you guessed right. I have two DEMS adjacent to one another. However, I had thought the merge would still work (if you add a heightfield to an area with no heightfield, that would be 1+0=1). I had thought the key was the joint between the two DEMS over-adding and creating a spiked line. But as you noted, it didn't work to begin with.

I'll try the auto-generate function, leaving one DEM on auto and one on manual. I had forgotten about this option. If it works, I'll just leave the less important DEM on manual while working on the shaders and such, only turning it on for rendering.

Matt

FlynnAD

Status update:

The file worked fine for quite a long time with only one DEM active (the second DEM was still in the file, plugged upstream in series, but its heightfield shader was deactivated). However, upon closing Windows at lunch, then re-opening TG, the file crashes again, giving the same error: "An unknown error occurred in trBucketRender::RenderMore() rasterized pass     ht load", and the 3d preview window is completely gray, noting "Aborting Threads". The only thing I can do is end the entire TG application.

During lunch, when I closed down Windows, Windows automatically installed 2017-11 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1607 (KB4048953). After all the crashes this afternoon, I uninstalled that update, to no further success in TG. Then I tried upgrading to TG 4.1.1.18 but had the same error and crash.

When I used this file two days ago (and even this morning), I added a number of OBJs and population nodes. However, all of them are deactivated and the file still crashes.

I also tried loading .adf heightfields instead of the .flt heightfields (as I had both versions of the same landscape) and TG still crashes.

If I close the 3D preview window while the file is loading the DEMs, TG will load, and then I can manually open the 3D preview window. But if the 3D preview window is open when the DEMs are loading, the file will crash.

Any ideas?
Matt

Oshyan

Ahhh, ok, so it seems to be down to the 3D Preview! Which is so often the culprit I'm afraid. And the thing about it is it's usually down to the graphics card drivers (or settings). Are you running the latest drivers? If so perhaps you can try customizing the graphics settings for the Terragen application (if your drivers support that) and try disabling acceleration functions.

By the way I'm still unable to reproduce it even with the correct files. Frustrating indeed.

- Oshyan

sboerner

I can confirm that closing the 3D preview during file load works (avoiding both the tBucketRender error and hangs). At least after a quick test, loading the file a couple dozen times. I'll try it with other files and will let you know otherwise. Thanks, Matt, for the tip!

I'm not sure but I don't think it's possible to customize or upgrade video drivers on a Mac; it's part of the OS installation.

I've tried the file on two systems (Mac Pro and MacBook Pro) with different video cards and operating systems, with three versions of Terragen (4.0.04, 4.1.11, and 4.1.14), and the results are the same.

Wracking my brain trying to think of how my setup might be unusual. On a whim, I did go through all the Adobe apps and disabled GPU acceleration, thinking there might be a residual effect when the apps were closed. But no dice, the problem persists.

The only other thing that might be worth mentioning is that the desktop setup is a dual-monitor system. But that wouldn't explain the hangs on the laptop.

Earlier I said that 4.0.04 seemed to work, but after trying it with a working file I ran into the same problem. However, Terragen 3 loads the test file just fine. (Aside from a slew of "unknown parameter" warnings because it's loading a later version file.) Over the past couple of years I've built many large scenes in TG3 using multiple DEMs and never had a problem. This seems to be a TG4 issue.

It's frustrating here, too, that you can't reproduce the error. As I mentioned earlier I'm happy to share hang logs – just let me know. Next time it crashes I'll save a crash log, too.

Steve

FlynnAD

Where can you find the hang/ crash/ dump logs in Windows? When TG crashes, I either have to go to the Windows Task Manager and end the application in one swift stroke, or continue clicking the close X icon in the upper right corner of the application, which again shuts the program down completely without any notifications. Windows does not go into the blue screen of death, so there's no crash log that's obvious to me.

Thanks,
Matt

Oshyan

On Windows you can right-click My Computer/Computer and go to Manage and them to system logs, Windows logs. You can also find this through Event Logs/View Event Logs in the Control Panel.

- Oshyan

sboerner

I've been testing each new release of TG with the heightfieldSeries.tgd file posted earlier in this thread. Up until now there has been no change: The application consistently crashed or hanged on file load. But now, with 4.3.16, I'm seeing some improvement. Now TG consistently opens the file. Usually it reports the same old error ("An unknown error occurred in trBucketRender::RenderMore() rasterized pass") but opens the file anyway. Sometimes the error doesn't appear at all. And rarely (just once out of a couple of dozen tests this morning) it still hangs.

In the meantime I've upgraded to Mac OS 10.12.6 (Sierra), for what it's worth. I'll be upgrading soon to High Sierra and will see if that makes any difference. (I'm usually a version behind the current release.)

I know this isn't very scientific, and I haven't tested any more complex scenes. But maybe this is progress.

Oshyan

Thanks for the update Steve. Still a weird, mysterious issue, but glad to hear it seems to be getting better.

- Oshyan

terp

This is an old, but probably relevant thread to us right now.

I've heard Oshyan has moved on.  sboerner are you still here?
Anyone know if these issues were ever resolved?

I'm using multiple heightfields and running into the same types of errors/issues on an iMacPro(2017), TG4.5.56
More detail here -> https://planetside.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,29699.0.html

Thanks,
Mike

sboerner

It sounds like your issue is slightly different. Mine had to do with the 3D viewport renderer, and the error kept the file from loading. Once it loaded (if it did) I had no problems rendering it to a file.

I'm not sure whether the issue was ever resolved. Shortly after my last post here I converted from Mac to Windows. This seems to have been a Mac-specific problem.

Apologies for not being much help here . . .

terp

Quote from: sboerner on December 09, 2021, 11:06:25 PMIt sounds like your issue is slightly different. Mine had to do with the 3D viewport renderer, and the error kept the file from loading. Once it loaded (if it did) I had no problems rendering it to a file.

I'm not sure whether the issue was ever resolved. Shortly after my last post here I converted from Mac to Windows. This seems to have been a Mac-specific problem.

Apologies for not being much help here . . .
Hey!  Thanks for getting back to this!

The 3D viewport goes blank on us at times as well, causing us to have to quit and restart.  The file will always load for us, but the errors are always present.

You did so much work and testing with this, and years ago(!).  Seems it might not have been fully addressed or resolved.

We did render our file with no issues on a windows box, but the Macs are our primary working machines, so we are looking for a solution there...

sboerner

For some reason, Planetside support was never able to replicate the problem. It happened to me on two different Mac systems, with different operating systems, with various versions of TG. A mystery.

terp

Quote from: sboerner on December 10, 2021, 12:28:17 PMFor some reason, Planetside support was never able to replicate the problem. It happened to me on two different Mac systems, with different operating systems, with various versions of TG. A mystery.
We're hoping to test on another Mac in-house this week to see what information can glean from that, as we're bound to Mac workstations currently.
I appreciate your thorough testing and posting about it!