Problems rendering with 2 gpus
I am having issues trying to render images using two gpus. They won't render at all. A couple years ago I was rendering with the same two cards, then it suddenly stopped working. Studio recognized both cards were there, but when I tried to render it would go through the initialization, and then be finished in seconds, without completing any iteration. Eventually I couldn't get it to work at all so i removed the slower card and it started to render again.
I recently tried it again and the first time, it detected both cards but would not render. Either merged scenes i'd previously rendered, or fresh scenes. After checking the device manager one of the display adapters had a problem, so I deleted it and searched for changes, after restarting it detected the card and showed there were no issues with either. And it detected both in Studio. However it wouldn't render at all.
I uninstalled the second card in the device manager, and it showed only one. Studio showed only a single card and it rendered images.
Then after upgrading nvidia driver to the newest version for the card i'm using, and getting it working properly, nvidia panel once again showed 2 cards. Device manager showed two cards, both working properly. Studio showed both cards, but won't render in Iray. it may render 3delight, though badly, it was at one point, but i've tried so many different things, i'm not sure if it is now or not.
Sometimes, when i try to render in Iray it will do the same thing, until i delete the tonemapper and environment options, or not render merged files, but will render new ones.
From how it's acting, it seems like there's some conflict with Iray when I've got 2 cards in, but i can't figure out what, nor figure why the 2 exact cards were working together, then just stopped.
The cards I am using are a Titan X and Titan X Black.
Comments
Which driver version? Which DS version? have you checked the log for errors related to the rendering (Help>Troubleshooting>View Log File)?
The most recent version of Studio I'm using is 4.21. I can't remember if the first time i was having the issue was from one version to the next ie something breaking / changing causing them not to work together.
The driver is Nvidia 27.21.14.5671 (NVIDIA 456.71)
Taking a look at the log now
2024-01-03 10:48:23.710 [WARNING] :: ..\..\..\..\..\src\pluginsource\DzIrayRender\dzneuraymgr.cpp(369): Iray [ERROR] - IRAY:RENDER :: 1.0 IRAY rend error: Cannot render: found no usable devices. Please update your NVIDIA driver (www.nvidia.com) to at least 471.41, or enable CPU-only rendering.
2024-01-03 10:48:23.710 [ERROR] Iray :: Invalid parameters (NULL pointer).
2024-01-03 10:48:23.846 [INFO] :: Saved image: C:\Users\exile\AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D\Studio4\temp\render\r.png
2024-01-03 10:48:23.850 [INFO] :: Finished Rendering
2024-01-03 10:48:23.880 [INFO] :: Total Rendering Time: 1.7 seconds
This is the end of the log. If I'm reading it right it doesn't think there is anything to render the image, when in fact there are 2 cards, that the program lists to be selected in the advanced tab of the render settings.
They need newer drivers, I think the titanX series may no longer be supported though i am not certain which chip family they use. If you are blocked from GPU rendering because your cards are too old it may be worth opening a ticket to ask for an older version of DS.
It's your driver.
The minimum driver build for DS4.20.1.34 and DS4.21.0.5 is 471.41 (https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/7486896/?utm_campaign=nav-nov2023&utm_source=control). As a result DS & the driver are not talking to each other, so no rendering.
The next issue is which GPU's do you have and will they work with the higher level driver? That is something that needs investigating.
Regards,
Richard
This is what i don't understand, I'll have to go back and check to be sure, but I thought i was getting the newest drivers that worked with windows 11..that was my search anyway. It was rendering, both before the driver update, and after, when there was only a single card. When i have both of them installed, Windows says there is no problem with them, in device manager. And Studio recognizes that they are there, in the advanced render tab, but it will not render.
Also, apparently i will have to check the driver. The one i downloaded and installed was 516.94...which is higher than the 471.41....but the driver version when i used gpu-z is 456.71. Which makes no sense to me.
I was literally rendering with it this morning, before i put the other card in.
I looked closer at the device manager, when after i reinstalled the driver pack it broke the titan black again. And now the nvidia panel is only showing the single card. I don't know if the new driver won't run the titan black, in which case my question would be can i force a higher level driver to run the card, jam it down it's throat as it were. I'm not sure whether it's still supported by Nvidia or where to look to get specifics on this. But maybe a reference driver?
And now studio is just detecting a single card. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will render as well, though i think that i need to seriously look at optimizing the morphs on my models, it takes way, way too long to load a g8 female
Ok, with just the Titan X detected, and the higher driver running, it will render Iray. Is there a way to manually force a driver to run a card...all those cuda cores just sitting there, twiddling their collective thumbs, instead of actually being useful.
I do actually have most older versions of Studio, sequentially starting with 4.12, as i am a packrat even with digital files apparently. Is there a list somewhere I can find the highest level of studio that works with the older drivers?
If you can find the older iterations of https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/666011/daz-studio-pro-4-22-1-x-nvidia-iray#latest then they should track driver requirements.