#Swap file problem?
10 messages in this thread
In order to avoid certain GPF's while using AAS, I set up a 192 MB permanent
swapfile on my 1 GB SCSI hard drive (enough space available). The only
software installed on that drive is 3DS. For the first time in many months I
received an "Invalid Project File" message when trying to retrieve a Project in
which I had invested a great deal of time and effort. Is it possible that I
caused this problem by using the SCSI drive for a permanent Windows swap file?
Cheryl,
You know, I've run across the "Invalid Project File" error a couple of times.
How this error can occur seems to be a number of possibilities, the biggest
being bad sectors on your hard drive. I don't think that a permanent Windows
swap file should cause data corruption. I've run Animator Studio and 3D Studio
on computers with several OS cofigurations and never run across that particular
error.
My suggestion is to scan your disk for any bad sectors. If your find any, that
is probably your culprit. If not, you might have just run into a situation
where the PRJ file was corrupted when being saved(it happens). The data being
saved could have just encountered an I/O fluke and was errantly written.
Jh
Hi Jeremy!
PMJI
Your right on with that "Invalid Project File" error. I had a client that just
called me over to his location. Seems he likes to transfer Projects files from
his home computer to his work computer but failed to check his floppy disk
medium. Sure enough there was a bad sector right in the middle of the project
file. He was lucky enough to have had a project.bak file still on his system
….he hadn't done anything new so he could recover just by renaming the .bak
file to the proper project file that it was a bingo! He was back in business.
My 2 cents…. <g>
Murph'
It is possible the lost project file was a fluke; I was making many changes to
this project file and was frequently saving them; I could have run into nothing
more than bad luck. The problem six months ago was due to a problem with the
SCSI controller; since replacing it with a higher quality controller this drive
had been trouble-free.
<<It is possible the lost project file was a fluke>>
It happens to all of us once in a while. Glad to see everthing's back in line
though!
Jh
I am having a little difficulty with Windows–it recently gave me the message
that my permanent swap file was corrupted. (The same swap file I created
specifically for AAS). I suspect that there is a compatability issue here with
the use of a SCSI drive for the swap file. I had a similar problem when I was
mixing a Western Digital IDE drive with a Seagate IDE drive; I was able to
download a file from the WD forum to correct the previous problem. I am going
to stay with a slightly smaller swap file on one of my smaller WD IDE drives.
It's just as well, since I would prefer to keep my 1GB SCSI dedicated to 3DS.
Cheryl,
Thanks for the info. I'm not aware of compatibility issues with SCSI hard
drives, but I also use IDE. Have you talked to the manufacturer of the SCSI
drive about this or the manufacturer of the SCSI controller?
Jh
Jeremy,
<<Have you talked to the manufacturer of the SCSI drive about this or the
manufacturer of the SCSI controller?>>
No, I haven't contacted the manufacturer yet. Now that it is working fine in
3DS, I'm not going to attempt any more swapping on that drive; it isn't worth
the risk of additional fragmentation. I had originally installed that drive
with the intent of using it solely for 3DS anyways. I am looking for another
large SCSI drive. With additional space, I will be able to transfer some
programs off of one of the IDE drives to provide an adequate amount of
permanent swap file space to operate AAS and to provide it with a more stable
environment. (At least, that's what I'm hoping for.)
Cheryl
>> You know, I've run across the "Invalid Project File" error a couple of
times. How this error can occur seems to be a number of possibilities, the
biggest being bad sectors on your hard drive. <<
…another reason the error can occur (mentioning this just for your
reference) is using Stacker's de-fragmenter on a Stacked drive with *.prj
files… Twice, recently, after completing projects, I've de-fragged the drive
and lost entire *.prj's to the "Invalid Project File" — including the *.bak
files!!! moan moan moan %-( . The first time, after loading the prj, selected
meshes vanished and I was able to redo the lost bits (I thought the corrupt
file was a fluke). On the second occurance it looked as if someone placed a
bomb inside my very complicated object (with dozens of meshes in it) and blew
the thing to bits! Fortunately, the animations were completed first! :-).
Oddly, other projects, even though they had been on the disk awhile were
totally unharmed.
Perhaps the "Invalid Project File" belongs to an 'X' File? ;-}
Cheers,
Chas
-Charles Dixon
I believe I have finally found the true culprit of my lost project
files—Heat. Yes, I received another invalid project file note; nope, I
didn't ignore it. Since the last fix I used for this problem was the
replacement of the SCSI controller, I came back to that piece of hardware as
suspect once again. After some troubleshooting, I suspected that the problem
was due to excessive heat on that controller. The PAR and TBCIV boards take up
the full length of the PC case, and were impeding cooling airflow. I added
another cooling fan to the case, and am very happy to say that the project file
most vulnerable to the last error attacks is now saving perfectly every time.
(better yet, I finally completed the project) 🙂