License : Hserver communication error

I got this error when rendering a huge file. I've managed to narrow it down to a very simple file (see attached) with the bug still going on. The RAM is around 400 MB when rendering so it's pretty low.

Here's my spec.

Houdini apprentice 8.0.474 (8.0.410 had the same issue)
Windows 2000 service pack 4
Pentium IV 2.4 GH
2 Gig of ram

I wonder if I'm the only one who has this problem. I was thinking to switch to Linux to avoid that kind of bug but I'm sure other will like it to be fixed (if I'm not the only one).

It's interesting to note that I've never had the bug with “Number of copies = 5” but when I put it to 6 and more then I get the bug.

Thanks!

François

Note: you must change the extension from .hip to .hipnc because I couldn't upload .hipnc

I loaded your .hip file and couldn't reproduce the problem. I tried rendering a few frames, changing the number of copies from 6 to 5, and then back to 6 again. I was using 8.0.510 so I tried all of the above in 8.0.474 but no cigar.

I suspect that your problem is actually running out of memory in a more complicated scene file. This was fixed in 8.0.531. You could try installing that build and see if you still get the licensing error in your more complicated file. However, it won't really help you though if you're running out of memory. You need to find ways to reduce the memory usage.

I completly uninstalled previous version and also manually uninstalled hserver.exe and sesinetd.exe and installed 8.0.564. I still get the same bug. I don't know what you mean exactly by “running out of memory” but the RAM used during the render was around 400 MB but I've got on my machine 2 GB of RAM. Could it be elsewhere on Windows I should have a look regarding other memory than RAM?

Maybe it's not a good test to do but I created a virtual machine with Vmware and tried it too but I still get the exact same bug.

I also noticed there's an error saying “License Error: incorrect version of hserver detected”. I even get it on my brand new installation on Vmware so I'm sure it's not a conflict of version as mentionned in another thread. There is also an other message “UT_NetPacket::write: No such file or directory”. I didn't pay too much attention to those warnings because even when all renders fine I get them all anyway both on real PC and virtual machine.

I forgot to mention that this bug is very intermitent and I could happen on frame 10 or even up to 160. Also, the tx of the “Point SOP” must multiply the stamp by $FF (or $F) because otherwise there's no bug.

Thanks again!

François

So could you give a more precise description of how to reproduce the bug? Did what I try with your .hip file correct?

Actually it's quite simple. Just click render on the ROP render node “mantra1”. You can set it so it renders to a file instead of mplay but in any case you should get it. Do that test on Windows 2000 Professional if you can.

Wait until frame 200 and if you don't get any error then I think I'm moving to Linux

François

Ok, I've now tried loading your .hip file and then rendering mantra1, both to mplay and to files. (8.0.567) I let both renders go fully to frame 240 and still no problem. Are you sure you're testing with the same file you uploaded?
I'm on WinXP though.

I finally decided to change to Linux. It works great except my ATI FireGl 8800 video card but that's something else .

Just for fun, I also tried it on a brand new installation of Windows 2000 on my laptop and still got this issue.

I suspect something's wrong with Houdini and Windows 2000 when rendering particular scenes like the one attached. I wonder if there are many people that use W2K?

Someone contacted me about the same problem so that could be interesting that 2-3 people with W2K try my scene and render for 240 frames.

Edward, do you have a W2K or any kind of virtual machine at SESI on which you could test it with W2K without too much effort?

Thanks and good luck.

François

Sorry, I only have access to WinXP.

Hello francoisd.

I just rendered your file to Mplay. I had no errors. I rendered through the mantra1 node. I haven't tried rendering to a file though.

Here's my set-up:

Houdini Apprentice 8.0.474
Win2K Pro Service Pack 4

Sorry, I said I tried it on a brand new installation on my laptop but I realized that it was an other file that gave me this error. I've included this file in this post.

Note that the file testBugSimpleHip.hip still crashes on the other computer with an old installation of Windows.

Mordekai, you have the same OS, same service pack and same Houdini version so if you want to try this file too that would be great. Just render it with mplay as you did before and you might get an error too, well I hope!

François

Francois,

I downloaded and tried to render the new file through mantra1 to Mplay. I get an error message: License: Hserver communication error.
Error: Failed to create file“EAnimation/Houdini/projects/garou/output/animatedNum.v02/animatedNum.v02.001.tif : Permission denied”


So it looks like I'm having the same problem.

Also, the above problem is looking at drive E. Thats my cd-rom drive. Why would it be trying to look or create a file here? Any ideas?

My fault. I forgot to remove the render path before I uploaded the file. You must write “ip” (without the quote) in the “Output picture” mantra1's field to make it render to mplay.

The EAnimation/Houdini… is the folder on my computer where I render pictures for that project.

François

Francois,

I fixed the render path as you suggested. I rendered the file again from mantra1 to Mplay. I get the error message License: Hserver communication error.

Mordekai

Ok. Next step would be to test this file with XP!

Any volunteer?

Just tried this on W2K on my laptop and got the same error. Oddly if I render to md and not ip I don't get the error, but I don't get an mplay window either… weird.

Seems to work fine on XP/SP2 here, whether to any iplay options or file. I guess a Win2K issue.

Cheers,

J.C.