Thursday, May 22, 2008

Autodesk Online Tech Support

Customers with Subscription! Have you been utilizing your Autodesk Online Tech Support Service? If not here’s how!
Ask the Contract Manager in your firm to add your name to users that may post online questions.
If your Contract Manager (the one who gets the Autodesk products) has not set up the Subscription service yet, in North America they should call Autodesk customer service at 800-538-6401 and ask to be sent the “Welcome to Subscription" email, that will explain how they can get set up. Once that is done, visit http://pointa.autodesk.com/local/enu/portal/signin.jsp and you’re ready! We have had great reports that the Autodesk online tech service is prompt and knowledgeable.
For our local customers, you are always welcome to call your sales rep at CommTech too, to log a call for you. The reason we want to pass along this information is that often times our techs are in class training, or at a customer site, and they can't respond to you very quickly. We know what it's like to be having computer problems and a deadline looming overhead, and then you can't get hold of anyone to help you!
In other areas of the world, you'll need to ask your local reseller if this service is available from the local language Autodesk website. Your local Autodesk reseller will be able to help you find it. They also can walk you through these steps, to get yourself signed up with Autodesk Online Tech support.

This blog entry was the idea of one of the most wonderful salespeople you ever could have the privilege to meet, our own Lorri Williams. She wrote most of the text, so I want to make sure to give credit where credit is due!

Monday, May 12, 2008

FATAL ERROR: Unhandled e0434f4dh Exception

Hello everyone,
I sincerely hope you're all having a good day. If you found this blog entry by a search for the error message above, your day might be on its way to improving...

We had a customer who was having terrible problems with his 2008 AutoCAD software, Civil 3D. He kept getting this fatal error:

FATAL ERROR: Unhandled e0434f4dh Exception at 7c812a5bh
When we talked to Autodesk, we found out that this error was caused by a Windows Update.
This being the case, I thought I ought to pass along the fix that worked for our client, in case anyone out there has had the same problem. If you're one of the 'little guys' working from home, and you don't have a place to go for help, problems like this one can really ruin your day.

Now, let me preface this with a warning: Use this fix at your own risk. If your company has an IT person, they would want you to get their help on this. If you are on Subscription with your AutoCAD software, you can log onto the Autodesk website and create your own Support Request.

Since this problem was caused by a Windows update, you can't fix it inside of AutoCAD. It has to be a Microsoft Windows fix. (You may be able to get help from them, I don't know.) The fix that I'm passing along is from Aaron Stebner's blog. He is currently a program manager on the XNA team at Microsoft and has been working there since 1999. He has his own caveat posted on the page, too, so please remember you are using this at your own risk.

With all that said, here are the steps you can try if you are running into this Fatal Error (at your own risk!)
  1. Download and run the/any .NET cleanup utility (the one our client used is found at: http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/05/30/611355.aspx )
  2. Reinstall .NET using the DOTNETFX.exe on the AutoCAD software installation CD/DVD (found in the \Support folder)
  3. Using Add/Remove programs, run a Repair on AutoCAD before opening it.

I hope that by passing along this information, I'll give someone a place to start.

.NET Framework problems can also cause other weird things to happen. Here is a list of things that might be symptoms of .NET Framework problems. If you've tried everything to fix these, running the .NET cleanup might help with the following problems:

  • Some (but not all) variations of FATAL ERROR: Unhandled e0434f4dh Exception at 7c81eb33h/7c812A5bh

  • AutoCAD was not installed properly. Please reinstall immediately” or “The application has failed to start because its side by side configuration is incorrect…” errors on startup

  • JIT (Just-in-Time) Debugger errors

  • 1935/HRESULT 0x80070002 errors during AutoCAD install or deployment

  • NGEN failed to exit” errors during installation

  • Class Not Registered” errors

  • Exception errors in acmgd.arx or acmgd.dll during startup

  • Cannot load assembly. Error details: System.Security.SecurityException” errors at the AutoCAD command line

  • Autodesk ACT libraries were not properly registered” starting 3DS Max or Viz

  • Layer manager, tool palette, quick calculator, Style manager, Project navigator and ribbon (2009) issues. (These components depend heavily on .NET Framework)
  • Error 25015. Failed to install assembly…” during installation (primarily Inventor)

  • Vault installation errors

I hope this might end at least one headache out there in cyberspace. I can't guarantee anything, but I'm hoping this will give you a place to start.
May your computers never crash, and all your upgrades function smoothly.