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Long delays opening mph files in COMSOL4.0?
Posted 09.07.2010, 16:21 GMT-4 General 9 Replies
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I am regularly having difficulty opening mph files in COMSOL 4.0. In particular, when opening certain mph files COMSOL appears to stall, displaying the message "Reinitializing GUI" in the Progress Information pop-up. Sometimes It will stay in this state for ~15 minutes or so before completing the process, at other times it just completely freezes and never (>12 hours) completes the loading process.
The mph files in question are simple 2-D Rayleigh-Benard convection benchmarks that use the Laminar Flow (spf) and Heat Transfer (ht) modules in COMSOL Multiphysics. I have run these benchmarks using COMSOL3.5a in the past without any difficulty, and I recreated them from scratch in COMSOL4.0. The oddest thing is that once an mph file has been opened successfully, other mph files can be accessed from the File menu and they load very quickly. It only seems to happen with the first model file opened in a given COMSOL session.
I have encountered this problem on several machines, all dual quad-core MacPros running either OSX 10.6.3 or 10.6.4, with anywhere from 8 - 16 Gb of RAM, so I don't think hardware is the problem. The problem occurs with both COMSOL4.0 and 4.0a, but not with COMSOL3.5a. Has anyone else experienced this? Any thoughts as to the root cause or a possible solution would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Paul
The mph files in question are simple 2-D Rayleigh-Benard convection benchmarks that use the Laminar Flow (spf) and Heat Transfer (ht) modules in COMSOL Multiphysics. I have run these benchmarks using COMSOL3.5a in the past without any difficulty, and I recreated them from scratch in COMSOL4.0. The oddest thing is that once an mph file has been opened successfully, other mph files can be accessed from the File menu and they load very quickly. It only seems to happen with the first model file opened in a given COMSOL session.
I have encountered this problem on several machines, all dual quad-core MacPros running either OSX 10.6.3 or 10.6.4, with anywhere from 8 - 16 Gb of RAM, so I don't think hardware is the problem. The problem occurs with both COMSOL4.0 and 4.0a, but not with COMSOL3.5a. Has anyone else experienced this? Any thoughts as to the root cause or a possible solution would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Paul
9 Replies Last Post 05.01.2011, 09:39 GMT-5
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Posted:
1 decade ago
Hi
in the pre 4.0a I have also noted long delays, it was mostly related to the java loading of the help files, so my rule was:
a) always close the dynamic help window before saving any file and closing COMSOL
b) in V4.0a there is an check option to not load by default the help files in the Preferences
Sometimes, it did also help to remove the /.comsol/v40 user directory, but then you delete your default settings and you must redefine them (rather quickly done anyhow)
hope this helps
Ivar
in the pre 4.0a I have also noted long delays, it was mostly related to the java loading of the help files, so my rule was:
a) always close the dynamic help window before saving any file and closing COMSOL
b) in V4.0a there is an check option to not load by default the help files in the Preferences
Sometimes, it did also help to remove the /.comsol/v40 user directory, but then you delete your default settings and you must redefine them (rather quickly done anyhow)
hope this helps
Ivar
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Posted:
1 decade ago
Thanks for the tip, Ivar. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to fix the issue.
Having played with things a little more, I believe it may be related to the physical dimension of the model geometry. I just experimented with creating a simple square model geometry (w/o a mesh, just the geometry). For squares with sides < ~1e4 meters there is no perceptible delay in opening the file. At lengths of ~1e+5 meters a short delay (10s of seconds) is evident. At lengths of ~1e+6 m the delay is fairly pronounced (several minutes).
I study convection in the Earth's upper mantle, and relevant length scales for my models are on the order of ~1e+6 meters. I'm guessing this is the source of the problem.
Paul
Having played with things a little more, I believe it may be related to the physical dimension of the model geometry. I just experimented with creating a simple square model geometry (w/o a mesh, just the geometry). For squares with sides < ~1e4 meters there is no perceptible delay in opening the file. At lengths of ~1e+5 meters a short delay (10s of seconds) is evident. At lengths of ~1e+6 m the delay is fairly pronounced (several minutes).
I study convection in the Earth's upper mantle, and relevant length scales for my models are on the order of ~1e+6 meters. I'm guessing this is the source of the problem.
Paul
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Posted:
1 decade ago
Hi
That is funny, are you using the scale factor for the geometry ? In anycase these are typically the type issues I report to support so they can take a look, you should do the same I believe, they are helpful.
I just made a cube of 1e6m with 4.0.0.982 v4.0a no particular delay, but I only meshed it with "normal", and without scaling to anything else than default [m]
Good Luck
Ivar
That is funny, are you using the scale factor for the geometry ? In anycase these are typically the type issues I report to support so they can take a look, you should do the same I believe, they are helpful.
I just made a cube of 1e6m with 4.0.0.982 v4.0a no particular delay, but I only meshed it with "normal", and without scaling to anything else than default [m]
Good Luck
Ivar
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Posted:
1 decade ago
Thanks Ivar. I will go ahead and run it by support. Since you are not seeing the problem I wonder if it may be related to the platform. I'm running on OSX 10.6.4. What platform are you using?
Paul
Paul
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Posted:
1 decade ago
Hi
That is also possible, I'm on holiday so that means Vista-32, for the time being ;)
Ivar
That is also possible, I'm on holiday so that means Vista-32, for the time being ;)
Ivar
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Posted:
1 decade ago
I am having this same problem.
The delay in opening files is unaccetably long.
The delay in opening files is unaccetably long.
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Posted:
1 decade ago
For anyone who is interested, I followed up with COMSOL support and received the following explanation:
"To get around the problem you can switch 2D renderer.
1) Open the Preferences dialog box from the Options menu.
2) Select "Graphics" in the list to the left.
3) Change "2D rendering" to "Swing".
The SWT renderer has a problem when changing the scale of the graphics.
When you start the scale is ~1. When you open a model with a scale of 1e6
you get the delay when changing scale. But if you would zoom out the 2D
graphics area to about 1e6 before opening the model there is no delay.
The Swing renderer does not have this delay problem, and we hope to fix
the SWT renderer in COMSOL 4.1."
I have tried this suggested solution and it does, in fact, do the trick.
Cheers,
Paul
"To get around the problem you can switch 2D renderer.
1) Open the Preferences dialog box from the Options menu.
2) Select "Graphics" in the list to the left.
3) Change "2D rendering" to "Swing".
The SWT renderer has a problem when changing the scale of the graphics.
When you start the scale is ~1. When you open a model with a scale of 1e6
you get the delay when changing scale. But if you would zoom out the 2D
graphics area to about 1e6 before opening the model there is no delay.
The Swing renderer does not have this delay problem, and we hope to fix
the SWT renderer in COMSOL 4.1."
I have tried this suggested solution and it does, in fact, do the trick.
Cheers,
Paul
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Posted:
1 decade ago
Hi,
I am experiencing this problem too. I have comsol 4.1 installed on both Ubuntu 10.04 64-bit and Windows 7 64-bit, and am running RF module in-plane propagation problems with ~500k DOFs. My simulation domain is a few tens of microns, and the geometry scale is in microns. I have tried setting the 2D rendering to Swing and SWT. Still it takes around 30 minutes sometimes to reinitialise the GUI on both systems.
Also, after running a model, it tends to hang for a couple of minutes after clicking on a plot menu before allowing to me plot any results.
If anyone knows how I can fix this problem then please enlighten me.
I am experiencing this problem too. I have comsol 4.1 installed on both Ubuntu 10.04 64-bit and Windows 7 64-bit, and am running RF module in-plane propagation problems with ~500k DOFs. My simulation domain is a few tens of microns, and the geometry scale is in microns. I have tried setting the 2D rendering to Swing and SWT. Still it takes around 30 minutes sometimes to reinitialise the GUI on both systems.
Also, after running a model, it tends to hang for a couple of minutes after clicking on a plot menu before allowing to me plot any results.
If anyone knows how I can fix this problem then please enlighten me.
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Posted:
1 decade ago
Hi
it could come from the geometry, if it is very long and complex. Try to switch to a CAD kernel and not the default COMSOL one. There is an issue discussing this in one of the KB i Believe.
be patient, it will finally get out and then change the geometry kernel selection
--
Good luck
Ivar
it could come from the geometry, if it is very long and complex. Try to switch to a CAD kernel and not the default COMSOL one. There is an issue discussing this in one of the KB i Believe.
be patient, it will finally get out and then change the geometry kernel selection
--
Good luck
Ivar