TPD 4 using 100% cpu

AMXSource

I have had a quick look through the forums about this but couldn't see anything, my applogies if I'm doubling up...

TPD4 has this issue that is really starting to bug me. If you are aconnected to a master for TP file transfers, and the connection is broken (this frequently happens when you transfer the TP file before you transfer the .tkn), TPD4 pops up a little alert to say that the connection has been lost.

Thats nice of it to say so, but it's not so nice when you have a look at the CPU usage while the alert is active. 100%... You probably wouldn't notice too much if you didn't know about it, but my laptop fan starts going crazy and windows get obviously bogged down.

As soon as you click OK on the alert everything goes back to normal.

Anyone else had this issue?

DHawthorne

I haven't had that exact problem, but I have had numerous crashes and lost work on a broken connection; I can't imagine they are not related issues. I'll have to check the CPU use next time the dialog is up (if it happens and I don't crash).

[Deleted User]

Same here.

AMXSource wrote:

TPD4 has this issue that is really starting to bug me. If you are connected to a master for TP file transfers, and the connection is broken (this frequently happens when you transfer the TP file before you transfer the .tkn), TPD4 pops up a little alert to say that the connection has been lost.

Thats nice of it to say so, but it's not so nice when you have a look at the CPU usage while the alert is active. 100%... You probably wouldn't notice too much if you didn't know about it, but my laptop fan starts going crazy and windows get obviously bogged down.

As soon as you click OK on the alert everything goes back to normal.

Anyone else had this issue?

Yes, this is a problem. I sure wish this one would get fixed as it has been around for too long.

LegacyUser

i have mentioned TPD4 crashing before.

but i have to say, since i recently rebuilt my Windows install, and freshly re-installed AMX apps etc, i really have had no unexplained crashes like i used to.

i also haven't added Office and various other bits and pieces i used to have installed.

the only 'explained' crash i've had was when the entire OS crashed to a blue sky, with a report that the ATI video driver caused it. i can understand that as i haven't updated that from it's default install version.

i know this isn't a direct answer to the question, but since i critisized TPD4 when it did crash, and now it doesn't (for me), i thought i better stand up for it

my suggestion, though painful, is a clean windows rebuild, then closely note new installations of applications until TPD4 may crash on you again.

(and it is very painful i know. it tooks day to find everything again, backup/restore data, get serial numbers, start again if things go wrong . but the notebook harddrive upgrade was worth it, and smoother apps again has been a big improvement)

LegacyUser

okay, as always, murphy's law arrives.

i just crashed TPD4 as i went to do an upload over the internet.

just as the transfer percent bars were appearing.

i restarted TPD4 and the transfer went fine (maybe the panel was asleep when i first started [an MVP-8400])

i have to admit the connection to the house is slow.

in answer to the first question though, i checked and the notebook didn't hit 100%, just sat at single digit level.

Darkside

Hi all,

I have tried to track the exact behavior/sequence of events of 'the TPD4 crashing when downloading' thing before. It seems to most often happen at the moment of attempted connection, however, I have now seen it a number of times at the moment of download...post connection.

So, no distinct pattern that I can determine.

It's sneaky, annoying and unpredictable, however it does teach you pretty quickly to save before connecting!

In relation to the thread topic, I have exactly the same behavior from my cpu when tpd4 reports connection lost.

I had tpd4 open and connected, nsx running, and I downloaded a new code and got the 'connection lost' box warning from tpd4 as expected.

I'm starting to think the word 'lost' is a bit more accurate than just an expression now!

I pulled up task manager and cpu usage was at 100% too.

I (sadly) have to run windows, therefore I need all the cpu I can get....please leave me alone tpd4!

:-)

mpullin

Question:

Why is it people here like to use TPDesign for file transfers and not NetLinx Studio?

DHawthorne

mpullin wrote:

Why is it people here like to use TPDesign for file transfers and not NetLinx Studio?

It generally works better for panel files, and you can edit/load on the fly. You can queue up multiple files withut disturbing your programming environment. It's also easier to re-direct a load ... say you make a new save as a revision; you can load it as you did the original. In Studio, you have to go through an awkward property change, or remove and re-add the file to the project. I never use Studio to load panels, I find TPD4 more convenient.

alexanbo

I also use TPD4 to load panel files. I had a couple cases early into Studio where transfering panel files via Studio left out a couple pages of the panel file without generating any error. Since then I've only used TPD4 to load files.

champ

If you have the panel file open you can't download it from studio, and I usually work with the source and panel files open for easy reference.
Restarting TPD4 each time is just time consuming.

Darkside

mpullin wrote:

Why is it people here like to use TPDesign for file transfers and not NetLinx Studio?

If I am tweaking/testing panel mods, it's very convenient to make a quick change and send it with the Redo Last Transfer button.

Very neat and sweet. No flipping apps, deselecting source code from d/l area, reselecting panel file etc etc.

Joe Hebert

Brian wrote:

Yes, this is a problem. I sure wish this one would get fixed as it has been around for too long.

I agree, especially since it?s so easy enough to duplicate. Open TPD4 and connect to an NI master. Use Netlinx Studio 2 to reboot the master. Bam, TPD4 has a major brain fart which pegs the CPU at 100% and won?t let go until the message box is acknowledged.

pauld

AMXSource wrote:

I have had a quick look through the forums about this but couldn't see anything, my applogies if I'm doubling up...

TPD4 has this issue that is really starting to bug me. If you are aconnected to a master for TP file transfers, and the connection is broken (this frequently happens when you transfer the TP file before you transfer the .tkn), TPD4 pops up a little alert to say that the connection has been lost.

Thats nice of it to say so, but it's not so nice when you have a look at the CPU usage while the alert is active. 100%... You probably wouldn't notice too much if you didn't know about it, but my laptop fan starts going crazy and windows get obviously bogged down.

As soon as you click OK on the alert everything goes back to normal.

Anyone else had this issue?

When this happens to me, my CPU does not goto 100%, but I will be unable to get/open any type of network connection untill I click OK in TP4. This includes websites/email/and connecting to the master, but once I click OK, everything returns to normal.

Paul

Joe Hebert

I performed the following test with PCs running Win 2K, Win XP Home, and Win XP Pro. An NI-700 was also used in the test.

1) Close all programs.

2) Open the task manager and minimize into the system tray.

3) Open TPD4 (maximized) and connect to a master.

4) Open NS2 (maximized) and via the Tools menu, reboot the master.

5) When the reboot starts the task manager CPU icon gets pegged and the tool tip reads CPU Usage 100%. (My laptop fan kicked on soon afterwards also as AMXSource noted.)

6) Double click the task manager icon to bring up the task manager and select the Processes tab.

7) Sort by CPU usage and TPD4 will be at the top of the list and should be somewhere around 98% and will stay that way until step 8.

8) Switch over to TPD4 and acknowledge the Connection Lost message box. As soon as the message box is acknowledged, CPU usage for TPD4 will drop to 0%.

I get the same exact results every single time for each OS. Mileage may vary on the CPU usage by a few percent.

The pegging of the CPU only happens with the combination of TPD4 and NS2. If I connect to the master with TPD4 and pull the network jack from the NI-700 or if I yank power from the NI-700, then TPD4 will still throw the message box up after a few seconds as expected but it won?t grab the CPU by the throat.

Also, if you insert the following step:

3A) Minimize TPD4.

Then I believe the jumbled tool bar scenario that has been mentioned several times on the forum will happen after the CPU gets pegged and you switch over to TPD4.

sonny

I was just cursing this issue about 10 minutes ago...calling a modal popup box is about the easist thing you can do in Windows Programming. You almost have to be trying in order to chew up most of the processor in Windows these days. Another side effect to this issue that happens from time to time is TPDesign moves all the open toolbars to their own line, totally screwing up my workspace.

Darkside

The toolbar issue is a shocker!

I have found that this scrambling of the toolbars only occurs if TPD4 is minimised at the time of disconnection.

If you leave it maximised and switch to nsx via the task bar, then download your code, you will only see the disconnection issue spoken about, not the toolbar carnage.

Joe Hebert

Stephen Bolton wrote:

I have found that this scrambling of the toolbars only occurs if TPD4 is minimised at the time of disconnection.

I agree and that?s what step 3A of the procedure I documented in post #14 of this thread is there to prove. The pegging of the CPU and the jumbled toolbars is now a repeatable process and therefore should hopefully be fixable...if someone from AMX is listening in.

Until then, disconnect after a transfer (sure would be nice to have an option to do this) to save your PC from running away like WOPR did in WarGames and to keep you toolbars in tact.

NMarkRoberts

Joe Hebert wrote:

The pegging of the CPU and the jumbled toolbars is now a repeatable process and therefore should hopefully be fixable...if someone from AMX is listening in.

It has been a well known fault for at least 18 months that I know about...