Hi Guys,

I recently bought the personal Houdini Apprentice HD for $99. I got to it proper yesterday via a tutorial that is in the current edition of 3D World Magazine:

http://www.3dworldmag.com/page/3dworld?entry=3d_world_98_now_on [3dworldmag.com]

They provided a link to download files for this project:

http://tinyurl.com/2czpf9 [tinyurl.com]

I used the updated files download as Houdini HD is a newer build.

Anyway, my problem - Through out this tutorial - Fluid Simulation - I encountered numorous system crashes - as in whole system freezes that need a HARD RESET to reboot the PC. Sure sign, the numlock key sticks at light on. Most of the hangs happen when doing a re-simulate or rendering the rop_geometry1 ‘node’. Freeze can happen randomly.

So my system - XP Pro, Geforce 7600GS with 256mb ram and latest drivers, 2GB of system ram, Intel P4 2.8GHZ HT. I reckon this should be well capable of handling such things.

And I have to say for the record - I also have Lightwave, Realsoft 3D, Modo, Vue Infinite 6, Messiah, Truespace 7.5. All these apps run with no issues AND no OGL issues.

The one glitch I did have was with Realsoft a while back - It was related to a 3D app addressing a system with > 2GB ram. The company mentioned that this may be an app bug on their behalf. I will now also say that my RAM is 2 x 512mb and one 1GB, speeds the same.

I would appreciate any insight as to cause of this problem.

Cheers
Aidan - New Irish Houdini User

HI There,
I went through the entire tutorial - no freezing or hanging… Perhaps you could try a more recent build?

Monitor your memory. At least that tells you if you're maxing it out(which I strongly suspect). An application shouldn't be able to crash or lockout an XP install unless there's problems with the drivers or other more insidious issues. Certainly maxing your memory can give the illusion of being truly locked out, but of course it's just gobbling all your internal bandwidth. Comparing with other programs is a bit apple/oranges since by definition they're not doing the same thing. I run Houdini on a 2G XP install and haven't noticed any problems myself, but I need to keep cognizant of the memory.

Cheers,

J.C.

Hi Guys,

Out last few days playing zillions of gigs - tis the season.

lkelly - Where it seems to hang on me is at the point where one renders the rop_geometry1. Might go mid way through and then freeze the system.

I have just installed a newer build and am trying a render od rop_geom1 again, so we will see

Cheers and Thanks
Aidan

Hi Guys,

OK - its a memory issue as in ran out of memory as it rendered at frame 742 of 755. It saved the file to temp folder under windows. This time it did not hang under the new build, just a Houdini fatal error.

The crash log in the temp folder reads like this:

Crash report from aidan; Houdini Master Version 9.0.794
Traceback from Mon Dec 03 20:36:16 2007
Caught signal 11
+0x737afb2f
+0x737afdce
+0xe872e0f8

Any ideas on this one?

As I said I have 2GBs of Ram

Cheers
Aidan

Ive played with this file and had no problems on a machine using XP. I did replace some of the nodes and point them to different directories.

R

Hi,

Thanks circusmonkey - I am beginning to arrive at a conclusion. My PC is non PCI Express with an AGP Geforce 7600GS 256mb ram. This m/brd is an older board supporting a P4 2.8ghz pentium HT. The ram is therefore older also on this board- DIMM DDR 400/300/266. Its 2 x 512mb and a 1GB simm.

I reckon its the 2 512mb's coupled with the 1GB and maybe RAM speed issues. As i said earlier a similar issue with another 3D app - Realsoft 3D.

It maybe time to upgrade. Though all other apps besides Houdini are working away. BUT I hate when an app like this doesnt work and points out a possible system annomally. All that being said - maybe its after finding a small bug in Houdini? As I said in a recent post, it no longer hangs since I upgraded Houdini to the new build - it just pops up a Houdini Fatal error that one can recover from without any reboot.

Cheers
Aidan

The ram is therefore older also on this board- DIMM DDR 400/300/266. Its 2 x 512mb and a 1GB simm.

If you read your motherboard manual all DDR ram is supposed to be matched with P4 HT chips . I take it you have 4 slots. If so you should be using 4 x 512. Not 2x 512 and 1 x 1gig.

R

Also look in your motherboard manual (if you still have it around) to see which memory configurations are valid. Some motherboard support 3 installed DIMMs, but require that you place them in specific slots.

As a generic advice, especially since you seem interested in memory-hungry stuff (simulations): XP 32 is not exactly the best platform to run Houdini, even more so when we're talking memory management.
You should give it a try on Linux or XP 64 (if your processor supports 64 bit), it's a different world.

Dragos

Hiya Guyz,

I took on board ye're advice. I thought I had a certain Ram Config, but was mistaken. I actually had 2x1gb's in the first two slots. I then looked at the manual, it said:

4 slots. 2 ‘like’ ram pieces in slot 1 and 3, another two like pieces in slot 2 and 4.

I did this, I popped the two 1gb's in slot 1 and 3. Then I also had to 512mb's. I popped these in slots 2 and 4.

I now went and re rendered as above - unfortunately it hung the system once again.

Cheers
Aidan

looking at the ram slots left to right , you should put 1x1gig in slot 1 , then 1x1gig in slot 3. Now test your machine .Your ram should be matched ie both your 1 gig sticks should be the same.
R

Hi circusmonkey,

Yes I did this. The thing I will try is to whip out the two 512mb pieces and leave the 2 x 1gb's in slots 1 and 3, then see if this works. Thought I might gain and extra 1gb with the two 512mb's in slots 2 and 4

Cheers
Aidan