Continuing iMAC and DAZ 4.9 issues...
todd_750eba96f8
Posts: 7
Any thoughs re: my iMAC (both iMacs I have) -- when I launch DAZ 4.9 -- the internal fans kick in and rev up. This happens on a new screen--- no assets loaded-- nothing. (no other programs are running on my iMac)
I can let DAZ sit there and within 2 minutes the internal fans are working like crazy. And I haven't loaded a single prop yet.
I could see this if it were rendering something in IRay---the NVidia card cooling itself-- but not on a plain blank work screen.
Just wondering if this is something contributing to why DAZ 4.9 constantly crashes my iMac OS X 10.11.4.
I can't even render anything reliably in IRAY without a complete computer crash/reboot.
(and I mean a simple cube primitive -forget about adjusting Hair or something..That guaratees a crash nearly every time.)
Like I said, I have 2 iMacs---- happens on both... especially with IRAY selected. (certian eventual death)
Model Identifier: iMac14,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 3.5 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 8 MB
Memory: 8 GB
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4096 MB
latest Nvidia drivers and Cuda.
regards
TODD
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Comments
Iray will cause the videocard to go on full speed as it will render even the empty scene. I experience the same thing with my Macpro and a GTX 780. I know others have mentioned it too, This is an nVidia issue with Iray.
There have also been issues with nVidia Drivers and 10.11.4 that some people have experienced ( I haven't). Which Cuda version are you using 7.x or 5.x?
I use 7.x and I don't have weird crashes very often (and those I have are always deep inside Iray). Iray do have issues on OS X, there are not many "officially supported" nVidia cards for OS X, which is a problem as nVidia will only point you at the official ones (M6000, which costs like 4 titan-X)
The fans on DS startup are because of a tld process which runs in the background (take a look at your activity monitor while you are starting DS). This happens if your default render engine is 3Delight. I asked the same question a few days ago becuase I have an iMac too.
I don't get crashes with IRay but trying to use the GPU causes all sorts of pixellation on my iMac display (which requires a reboot to clear). I have the Nvidia 680MX 2GB but I've now decided to get a PC for IRay.
the tdl only runs of your render engine is set to 3L and you have loaded objects with textures needed to be tld:ed.
The pixelerrors is due to either overheat or the fact that 2GB VRAM to hold both Iray, Meshdata, textures, PLUS OpenGL with mesh and texture PLUS window backingstore is a little low.
Not so sure about your first sentence. My fans start whirring when DS is just started and go on for a couple of minutes - nothing in the scene at all. I look at Activity Monitor and see a tld process going, as descibed here:
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/80101/tdlmake-process
Since then, I've bought a PC and am busy migrating my conetnt and settings from my iMac to my new, Iray capable PC.
That's weird, but it can happen if you have old cached images that tldmake didn't finish, but I can check (but I have no iMac so I only notice the 780 Fans spinning p (not sysem fans) when I start DS and Iray is loaded.
I have been using iRay on a project for the last 3 months, and I have been rendering something at least 2 times per day. It's a pain, but I get the work done eventually. I am using my iMac with the same specs above. I'm actually lucky to get this Mac with a Nvidia card, because you can't buy a Mac with a Nividia card anymore, not even the pro mac, and maybe it's because they crash a lot.
Usually I can predict a crash now... if somethign is rendering, or was rendred recently, and I then go to use another application that uses the graphics card it will freeze and crash. It could be the OS. Adobe Illustrator, which also uses the graphics card, while rendering will most definitly cause a carsh.
Rendering with the graphics card only, without the addition of CPU, prevents less crashes.
I used to get a lot of glitcy graphical garbage in the finder after a long rendering session. I updated the CUDA driver and also updated to El Capitan OS... so now I don't get that probably nearly as much as I did before, but I still see a bit of glitchy graphics here and there.
I haven't lost any work because I save often, but the general rule I have now is that when I'm ready to render I close all the other apps and while I render, don't do anything else with the computer, just let it sit and render.
The Mac will also throttle the render speed when it gets too hot, so there are times when I experence really slow render speeds. It could be the same scene I previously renderd within 30min... but in another instance it was taking 4 hours.
Anyway I'll only have to put up with this a little longer because, I'm now building a PC for rendering only.
Get an older MacPro 2009-2012 and put in a fat nVidia card to still run on OS X, or build a Windows or Linux box with nVidia cards in and install the nVidia render server on that,
Totte, I totally agree. I'd be tempted to go for the older Mac Pros, but can't help worry that they'd be obsolete too quickly. I'm not sure when Apple would cut off OSX Support for the old Mac Pros. And they new Mac Pros don't have nVidia cards. Of course you can't really upgrade them much either.
As much as I hate Windows, a PC may be the way for me to go. It's likely much cheaper than going the Apple route.
By the way, my 2013 i5 27" iMac has a 1GB nVidia card. It's one reason I wanted it. Of course at the time, I didn't realize it really doesn't help render in DAZ Studio very well.
Is nVidia server supported by DS? This sounds interesting, as I'm stuck using VNC to drive a headless windows box for rendering.
It is (but that part is still in beta). I haven't tested it though.