Layer Manager Error Message

[CADTutor]

OK, I think this one's a collector's item. I haven't seen it before and it is quite spectacular. I had just opened a drawing and the first thing I did was to click the Layer Manager button and I was presented with this:

9907

What does it all mean? Although I was offered 3 alternatives, AutoCAD just crashed and I had to close it down using the Task Manager.

Has anyone seen this before or is this a real rarity?

[ReMark]

CER as in Customer Error Reporting?

[ReMark]

Service packs up-to-date?

[CADTutor]

OK, so AutoCAD had managed to reproduce a previously reported defect - cool :huh:

I hope those Autodesk boys are watching - it looks like they've been waiting for this one.

Yep, service packs up-to-date.

[ReMark]

"ReadProperty failed" would lead me to believe a problem within the drawing file itself.

What happens if you just load the drawing but don't click on the Layer Manager button? Can you work with the drawing?

[CADTutor]

I can open the drawing and I can navigate etc but I get the same problem when trying to open the Layer Manager. I'll try Wblocking.

[CADTutor]

OK, Wblocking doesn't work and the error also occurs in a larger drawing that Xrefs the problem one. The weird thing is they were all OK yesterday when I was working on them and I haven't changed them since.

I'm hoping to find a workaround because this project has a deadline tomorrow.

[ReMark]

And you tried Audit and Purge before working on the drawing?

[CADTutor]

And you tried Audit and Purge before working on the drawing?

Oh it's worse than I thought. It now happens on ALL drawings - even ones I created ages ago. I don't think it has anything to do with the drawing - it's AutoCAD. I'll try a restart.

[ReMark]

So now we've gone from bad to worse? Not good. What else is running besides AutoCAD? Have you had any hardware problems lately (hard drive acting up)?

[CADTutor]

So now we've gone from bad to worse? Not good. What else is running besides AutoCAD? Have you had any hardware problems lately (hard drive acting up)?

This is BAD. A restart hasn't helped and AutoCAD now crashes every time I try to open the Layer Manager - even in a new drawing (before drawing anything). Basically, AutoCAD has broken and I can't use it for the intended purpose.

Deadline looming!!!

I'm coming to the conclusion that a reinstall may be required :x

[ReMark]

Maybe try the Repair option first?

[CADTutor]

Installation repaired - problem remains.

[CADTutor]

AutoCAD reinstalled - problem remains. I'm guessing this must be a registry problem but I'm all out of ideas.

[ReMark]

Registry problem? Why? Did you add any new hardware or software prior to the problems you have experienced?

What OS are you running? You can try using the old standby REGCLEAN program (an unoffical release by Microsoft). It's relatively safe.

[CADTutor]

It looks as though this may be related to the .NET framework. The Layer Properties Manager uses .NET and on Friday, Microsoft released the .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1, which I installed because it was flagged as "Important". It just seems too much of a coincidence to be anything else.

Advice for everyone: DO NOT install the .NET service pack if you are running AutoCAD on Vista until the problem can be identified.

[ReMark]

I think I saw something about the possibility of it being a NET Framework problem but I considered it to be fairly remote. That's the price you pay sometimes for immediately downloading and installing service packs I suppose. I usually wait a couple of weeks and see if there are any bugs in the bug-fix. Looks like you caught yourself a fine specimen. Glad you were able to sort it out. Gonna make that deadline?

[skipsophrenic]

Is there a way to uninstall the .NET service pack? - if so would that "undo" the error's your getting?

[CADTutor]

Is there a way to uninstall the .NET service pack? - if so would that "undo" the error's your getting?

I haven't tried uninstalling the .NET service pack yet because I have found a workaround to the problem. It seems to be something to do with the modeless nature of the Layer Palette. If I set it back to legacy mode (LAYERDLGMODE = 0) everything works fine.

[skipsophrenic]

:huh: odd, how a single variable can cause such a headache

[Mike Shilton]

OK. We at Key Systems are working on this with Autodesk to see if there is a fix to this problem. It appears to be linked to an update of Microsoft .NET which the layer manager has used since ACAD 2006. If you are on the full version of AutoCAD you could try setting the layer manager from the palette option back to the legacy setting LAYERDLGMODE = 0. If this fails, let me know. As soon as we get a solution to the palette option I will post it here.

[ReMark]

Thanks Mike for the information.

[Mike Shilton]

Couple of things to try.
1. Make sure you are on the latest service packs for AutoCAD 2009 (or your vertical product). These are available from the Autodesk website http://www.autodesk.co.uk/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=452932&id=9298358 (http://www.autodesk.co.uk/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=452932&id=9298358) (Select product then see Data and Downloads)

2. Uninstall .Net 3.5, and clean up any files left behind then reinstall the .NET on the AutoCAD installation disk. There is this third-party utility which can perform an uninstall of all .NET Framework versions and clean up left over files and folders. This is not an Autodesk or Microsoft utility so use at your own risk, although Autodesk state that it has not caused any known issues (yet).

More information about this utility and manual uninstall steps (READ THIS FIRST):
http://astebner.sts.winisp.net/Tools/dotnetfx_cleanup_tool.zip (http://astebner.sts.winisp.net/Tools/dotnetfx_cleanup_tool.zip)

.NET Framework Cleanup Utility:
http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/05/30/611355.aspx (http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/05/30/611355.aspx)

Then, try installing .Net from AutoCAD's installation disk, or directly from Microsoft's website.
Microsoft .Net 3.0 is located in this folder of AutoCAD installation disk, typically:
D:\x86\support\dotnetfx\dotnetfx.exe or D:\x64\support\dotnetfx\netfx64.exe (for 64-bit systems)
Let me know if this sorts it for you?

Mike