Actify Support Site

The Home page of SpinFire Pro lists the maintenance expiration date and build number. This build number indicates what version (build) of Actify products you can download and install (without being in trial mode). For example, the message "Maintenance Expired on Wednesday, September 03, 2003 (Build 735)" indicates you can install any SpinFire Pro upgrades or Importers up to Build 735.

If using SpinFire Pro 5.0 or earlier, you can find the build number that indicated maintenance expiration by looking at the last four digits of your Configuration Code. You can find the Configuration Code by selecting Options > Manual Activation.

Question: Microsoft Word (Excel, Powerpoint) crashes when inserting a .3D file:

Microsoft Word (Excel, Powerpoint) crashes when attempting to insert a .3D file:

Insert > Actify SpinFire > .3D Data > Application closes with no error message.

Solution:

Possible problems and actions to be taken:

(1) Graphic Card driver to be updated
Disable "graphic acceleration". If that resolve the problem it is surely a graphic card issue:

   1. Go to Start > [Settings] > Control Panel.
   2. Double-click Display.
   3. Click the Settings tab.
   4. Click Advanced.
   5. Click the Troubleshooting tab.
   6. Disable graphic acceleration

If that does not help, it could still be a graphic card issue:

Check the drivers.
Make sure your graphic card drivers are the very latest available for your graphic card. . Usually drivers from very reputable computer manufacturer are the best bet, but if that does not work it is a good idea to get the latest driver from the graphic card manufacturer

(2) Libraries misalignment during installation
There is a chance that un-installing and reinstalling Actify products has caused some library misalignment. Make sure that you have installed SFP ans SFO in the following order:

   1. SpinFire Professional Build 845 from http://software.actify.com/SFProfessional/845/SFProEngInst.exe
   2. SpinFire Professional for Office Build 924 from http://software.actify.com/SFO/924/SFOInst_English.exe
   3. SpinFire Reader Build 924 from http://software.actify.com/SpinFire/924/SFReader.exe

(3) Check Libraries
Capture the following information and send it back to us

   1. Go to C:\Program Files\Actify\Kernel
   2. Select Views > Details
   3. Right-click on the heather of one of the columns (name, file, size etc...) see image attached
   4. You will see a pop-up menu: select "more", see image attached
   5. Scroll the list down
   6. Check the "Product Version" one
   7. Select OK
   8. Now all .dll files in that folder will have a product version in the product version column
   9. Please take a screenshot of this window, capturing all .dll files with their version number
10. Send it to us

(4) Check if inserting an OLE Object works
Try to insert a .3D file into Office without using the SFO dialog and see if it crashes. This may help narrowing down the problem

From MS Office:

1. Inset/Object... menu. You will see the OLE Object dialog
2A. Select the "Create New" tab and choose " "Actify SpinFire .3D WorkSpace" or
2B. Select the "Create from File" tab and choose a .3D file
3. The .3D file should be inserted into the Office document.

(5) Check for incompatible software
There could be some software installed on that machine that may interfere with Actify software. The best way to check this one is to send us the following information

   1. Go to Start > Run
   2. Type "Regedit"
   3. Go to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
   4. Export it (it will create a uninstall.reg file)
   5. Send this file to us

Question: Publisher stops publishing with no apparent reason
Publisher stops publishing - even after having published hundreds of files - with no apparent reason. Symptoms include the "Failed to find Importer" error in the job log.

Solution:

In some configurations, this may be caused by multiple concurrent publishing process.

To enable one single publishing process only, open Publisher and go to:

Options > Publisher Engine > Concurrent publishing processes: 1

Question: What are the system requirements for SpinFire Professional?
What are the system requirements for SpinFire Professional?

Solution:

Applies to all options below:

Intel PC running Microsoft Windows: 2000 SP4 / XP
Internet Explorer 6.X
Known brand Graphics Card, such as NVIDIA, ATI etc.
Updated Graphic Card driver (the latest available)

Low End: (Small Parts - in the 5 MB range):

Intel Pentium PIII
512MB RAM
OpenGL graphics
32MB Graphics Card

Mid Range: (Medium size Parts and small Assemblies - in the 15 MB range):

Intel Pentium PIII-PIV
1GB RAM
OpenGL graphics
64MB Graphics Card

High End: (Large size Parts and Assemblies - in the 50Mb+ range, up to 100-200Mb):

Intel Pentium PIV high end
2GB RAM (2GB+ Strongly Recommended)
OpenGL graphics
128MB Graphics Card

Note: the size of part and assemblies mentioned above is intended to just give an idea of the required hardware and software resources needed. Native CAD files or neutral CAD formats usually vary in complexity even of the same size. Some 2D drawings of a few Mb may be particularly resource intensive.

Question: What are the System Requirements for Actify Publisher ?
What are the System Requirements for Actify Publisher ?

Solution: Check Actify Publisher description and system requirements at : http://www.actify.com/v2/products/Publisher/description.htm

Question: I Cannot load SolidWorks files
I Cannot load SolidWorks files. I get the error message " The SolidWorks Importer is not available on this computer, would you like to download it from Actify?" even if it is installed. What's wrong?

Solution:

This problem has been fixed with Solidworks Importer Build 1019 which customer with current maintenance can download from http://www.actify.com/v2/downloads/Download-now-parts.html

For Solidworks Importer 944 users: In order to open SolidWorks 2006 files you will need Actify SolidWorks Importer Build 944 or higher.

If you get the error "SolidWorks Importer is not available on this computer" there are two possibilities:

1. There is a known defect that has been fixed and made available in Actify Solidworks Importer Build 1019. Try this version (if you are running spinfire 8.0 and your maintenance did no expire before May 19th 2006) http://software.actify.com/importers/SolidWorks/1019/SolidWorksInst.exe

If you are running spinfire 2004v2 please try to use the beta version below:

http://software.actify.com/Importers/SolidWorks/947/SolidWorksInst.exe

2. The file may not have been saved correctly - that is, saved without its display list or tessellation . If that is the case, the file will not be opened by Solidworks' eDrawings as well. Ask your file supplier to save the file with the following check box checked:

This will resolve the problem

Also: some solidworks 2005 files cannot be imported. This is due to a problem specific to this version. If you can, try to get files from other versions of SolidWorks or re-save SolidWorks 2005 files with version 2006. This has been fixed in Build 1019.

Question: How do I transfer SpinFire to another computer?
How do I transfer SpinFire to another computer?

Solution:

You can download and install SpinFire on your new computer, and then activate SpinFire by entering your SpinFire Seat ID.

If you cannot retrieve your seat ID, you can find it in your email or papers regarding purchases of Actify producs, or you can ask to your reseller. As a last resort, you can send a request to http://support.actify.com/step_one.asp with your company info.

1) Download and install Spinfire onto your new computer or Hard Drive

Go to www.actify.com
Select "Customer Login" and enter your Seat-ID
Look for a "Download" or "Upgrade" link to your version of SpinFire Professonal.
Download the language of your previous installation of SpinFire Pro (a different language will not work)

Once SpinFire Pro is installed, you may activate it. See http://support.actify.com/issue_view.asp?ID=129 for Activation instructions.

Question: SpinFire Reader no longer works!

My Spinfire Reader no longer works - all of a sudden

Solution:

[--- UPDATED: 6/27/2007 2:06:28 PM BY AGENT: Alan Tam ---]

[--- UPDATED: 3/12/2007 2:22:33 PM BY AGENT: Donato Mangialardo ---]

From time to time Microsoft issues new 'Hot fixes' or "Updates". These updates may install automatically in your computer, according to your settings or your IT administrator settings. These updates, while intended to fix problems, may in some cases conflict with a number of installed applications. This is what happened with the following hot fixes - they conflict with Spinfire Reader:

KB912945
KB912812
KB905915
KB917425
KB925454

Resolution
The only way to get SpinFire Reader back up and running, is to uninstall them. However, this problem has been resolved in SpinFire Pro 8.0.

If you are currently running Spinfire Reader build 924 only in your machine, we suggest to uninstall Spinfire Reader and install the new version from http://software.actify.com/SpinFire/1015/SFReader.exe. This resolves the problem completely. NOTE: if you are running Spinfire 2004v2 or Spinfire for Office this is NOT recommended.

If this still does not resolve the problem, here are two solutions that have been proven to resolve the issue in all cases (with a very few exceptions on old computers with old graphic cards no longer in production)

1) Change the colors in your graphic card settings from 16 to 32

2) Update your graphic card driver, even if it is just a few months old

How to uninstall the windows updates that break SpinFire Reader Build 924

Go to C:\Windows
Look for the Microsoft patches uninstall folders
They look like, e.g. “$NtUninstall912945$”
If you cannot find these folders, they m ay be hidden. Go to Tools > Folder Options > View and check the "Show Hidden Files and Folders" radio button
Locate the three folders that include the patch numbers
- KB912945
- KB912812
- KB905915
- KB917425
In each of these three folder you will find a “spuninst” folder that contains the uninstall program “spuninst.exe”.
Run spuninst.exe from each folder to uninstall the 3 patches - following closely the prompted directions

Question: After installing spinfire 8.0 some of my importers no longer work (failed to open document XML)

After installing Spinfire 8.0 on an older version of spinfire, some of my Importers no longer work. I get the following error.

Solution:

This problem is likely caused by to the presence of old Importers -- whose build number is 6XX, 7XX or 8XX. We always strongly recommend to use the most updated importers.

You can get updated importers from http://www.actify.com/v2/downloads/Download-now-parts.html

If you are not on maintenance and do not know what importer to download:

Question: Can I use in PUBLISHER all new importers released with or after SPINFIRE PRO 8.0?
I am running Publisher and would like to use the latest Importers released with or after the release of SpinFire Pro 8.0. I cannot see these in my importers list. But I see many new importers available: http://www.actify.com/v2/downloads/Download-now-parts.html

Solution:

You can use these Importers (build number > 1002) with Publisher under the following conditions:

1. Spinfire Pro 2004v2 (build 845) or earlier versions are NOT installed on the machine when Publisher is installed

2. You have installed the latest Spinfire Reader Beta build 1015 from http://software.actify.com/SpinFire/1015/SFReader.exe. This beta reader is provided only to enable you installing and using the newest importers. PLease read the release notes very carefully

3. Your maintenance is current for that importer (just like any other importer)

Important note: at the time of writing this article, Spinfire Reader build 1015 is beta code and you should be aware of our standard disclaimer about beta code at the bottom of this page.

The latest importers are available at http://www.actify.com/v2/downloads/Download-now-parts.html

Disclaimer: Our BETA products have not gone through the exhaustive testing that the release versions of our products have. We post BETA versions of our products to give customers a chance to try new features, benefit from recent bug fixes, and provide Actify with feedback. If you are not comfortable using BETA software that has not gone through our normal testing process, then we recommend that you do not install them.

Question: Spinfire 8.0 or Reader crashes when I launch it. I have just installed it
I have just installed Spinfire 8.0 and it crashes when I launch it. Spinfire 2004v2 used to work fine and so other applications.

Solution:

This may happen in a few cases, because of the new interface controls and graphic elements introduced in 8.0 for new functionalities (as an example, PMI). However, with updated drivers all recent graphic card always seem to work perfectly. Look at the following suggestions

1. Check the color depth of your graphic card settings. If it is 16 , please change it to 32.

2. Check the date of your card graphic driver. If it is several months old, you may consider to update it to the latest available either from the computer manufacturer or from the graphic card manufacturer.

3. If you ant you can send us the details of graphic card and drivers so we can take a look at it for you, PLease do the following to gather this information:

Go to Start > Run
Type "dxdiag" > OK
A window will appear. Let it finish preparing the report and then save the report by using the "Save All information" button.
Send us the resulting file (dxdiag.txt)

Question: Wrong Volume Calculation with IGES
I get the wrong volume calculation after importing an IGES files. It is about double of what it should be. This happens when I select the root structure and calculate that volume.

Solution: SFP currently treats layers as a part, which is unfortunate as it gets figured in the volume/surface computations. IGES is one of the few Importers where this problems occurs. To get around this problem, you have two options:
1) Do not import layers. This is an option that you can disable in the importer options.
2) Go in the Assembly Tree and select Model only. Then perform your volume/surface computation. It should be correct.

Question: Performance/display issues running on laptops with ATI graphics card

Hello,

I am having display issues and sometimes performance problems when I run SpinFire on my laptop running a ATI graphics cards. I notice this happens more often when the laptop has an FireGL card. What can I do? Is there a resolution?

Solution:

Hi,

This particular issue were previously reported to us by other customers. We have since contacted ATI regarding this issue and was told that a new driver has been released to resolved the problem.

Please visite your manufacturer's or ATI's web site to obtain the latest graphics driver.

Thank you,

Actify Support Team

Question: Importers not working anymore - license problem

My Importer stopped working with an error "The .3D workspace encountered an error. Cannot initialize TTF CAD reader (license problem?)." What happened and what can I do?

Solution:

Dear customers,

As of 1/1/2009, we experienced an unexpected license termination for the following Importers and builds.

Parasolid.dll - 1047, 942, 842, 821

XVL.dll - 1230, 843, 815

VRML.dll - 944, 843

UG2.dll - 1242, 1132, 1047, 1033, 944, 929, 909

Step.dll - 1047, 944, 902, 842

SAT.dll - 944, 908, 840

ProE.dll - 1230(beta), 1047, 942, 842, 821

PRC.dll - 848, 815

Ideas.dll - 1242, 1047, 1033, 944, 930, 843

Cadds.dll - 843, 821

Catia.dll - 1242, 1214, 1132, 1047, 1027, 944, 908, 902, 840

Catia5v2.dll - 1246, 1215, 1138, 1110,1047, 1033, 1027, 1014

We have developed a patch tool that will fix your existing installation. The patch tool is available from the following link.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/Actify/Software%2fImporters%2f1302ea%2fLicensePatchInst.exe

https://s3.amazonaws.com/Actify/Software%2fImporters%2f1302ea%2fLicensePatchInst.msi

Any user whether you are under maintenance or not can use this patch tool to resolve the license issue. The patch tool finds the appropriate importer dll, moves it to Actify\Importers\Archive directory, replaces it with a fixed version and registers it. The way to verify that the patch worked besides actually running the importer is to check the date on the importer dlls. They should have 2009 dates.

If you installed the 1253 beta importers, we strongly suggest that you uninstall them, reinstall your old importers and run the patch tool.

We thank you for your patience and continued faith in us. We promise to continue to work hard for your business and we appreciate your dedication.

Sincerely,

Joe Schafer
Director of Products

Question: File opens with an empty workspace
As a result of the TTF license error, I've had to use the patch on some of my Importers. Using the patched and updated importers, I am seeing more files being imported with an empty workspace. What is going on and how do I get around the problem?

Solution:

[--- UPDATED: 1/22/2009 5:05:33 PM BY AGENT: Joe Ho ---]

The empty workspace may in effect not be empty. We have noticed that several importing will result in models imported with an empty workspace but are in fact not empty. The two possible causes are:
1. A refresh is missing. Basically after importing, the model is there but not displayed. Just do a Zoom Extents or just click your left mouse button on the workspace and the model will appear.
2. Some of the older Importers will import models with the Transparency set to 100, effectively rendering the model invisible. Just right click on the assembly node Scene and change the transparency to 0 (move the slider all the way to the left). Now the model should appear.

Basically, once you do an import and you don't see anything in the 3D workspace, just expand the assembly tree down to a part. If the part has a + sign to the left of it and it can be expanded, then the model is loaded. Please try one of the above steps to show the model.

Question: IDEAS file opens with an empty workspace or missing parts
I have a .pkg file that opens with an empty workspace. I've checked and verified that the file references all the parts and that each of the part files opens. Why is the .pkg file not opening with content?

Solution: The IDEAS Importer now has an importer option called Import Unreferenced Parts. This option may need to be checked in order for the .pkg file to open correctly.

Question: Upgrade of newly updated importers is not working
I had installed the latest updated Importer from your importer download site and it was working and then I upgraded to a later version from the same site. Now SFP is telling me the importer is not installed. I checked Add/Remove program and the importer shows as installed. What's going on? I also tried to upgrade from a patched version of the old importer to a later version listed on the Importers page. I see the same problem.

Solution:

[--- UPDATED: 1/30/2009 12:57:50 PM BY AGENT: Joe Ho ---]

Below is a message from Actify about the issue:

===============================================================

Dear Customer,

As most of you are aware some of our Importers stopped working on January 1, 2009. We have been workinghard to rectify the situation.

The following information only applies to you if you plan to upgrade from a patched importer prior to February 12, 2009. If you plan to just patch your existing importers and stay with the same version, this message does not apply to you.

Our new plan is to update the following installs by February 12, 2009. After that there will be no issues updating your installs.

Parasolid.dll - 1047

XVL.dll - 1230

VRML.dll - 944

UG2.dll - 1242, 1132, 1047

Step.dll - 1047

SAT.dll - 1019

ProE.dll - 1230, 1047

PRC.dll - 848

Ideas.dll - 1242, 1047

Cadds.dll - 843

Catia.dll - 1242, 1214, 1132, 1047, 1027

Catia5v2.dll - 1246, 1215, 1138, 1110,1047, 1027, 1014

We have already posted some updated installs and had planned to complete the list today. But we found that they did not upgrade easily from one version to another.

During our testing we found that the patched installs will not upgrade a previous version of the importer if that importer was installed using one of the patched installs. For example if Catia V5 1047 was originally installed, the user could do three things to patch it.

1. Run the patch tool

2. Uninstall it and reinstall it using the patched 1047 install

3. Install Catia V5 1215 patched install

So far no problem. Lets say you did either option 1 or 2 last week and this week decided to upgrade to either 1215 or 1246, the installation would be corrupted for reasons explained below. To fix the installation, go to ADD/REMOVE, select the importer and when the install is run, checking the REPAIR option will fix it.

Our concern is that this is not intuitive and several months down the road will cause confusion as to why something is not working.

What we have elected to do is properly fix the installs so that this problem does not occur. The impact of this is a one week delay in posting the remaining installs. It also means that the ones we already posted will be replaced.

Sincerely,

Actify Support

Question: SpinFire Professional or Reader crashes when using a predefined view
Whenever I try to use one of the predefined views like Top, Bottom, Left or Right, SpinFire Professional (SFP) or Reader will crash with an EXCEPTION message. What is the problem and how do I get around the problem?

Solution:

We have had multiple crash reports with the Intel Mobile 965 chipset when using the predefined views in Reader or SFP. We are fairly certain that it's the graphics driver. We have requested support from Intel but thus far have not been able to resolve this issue. Actify is also looking into how to resolve this issue internally.

*** UPDATE 03/30/2009 ***
We have now received the XP driver for the Mobile 965 chipset. If you are experiencing crashes with your Intel chipset and you are running XP, please download the driver from http://s3.amazonaws.com/Actify/HelpDesk/winxp_14344.zip. Follow the instructions on http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-022355.htm. Intel also noted that if you have a newer driver, you'd need to uninstall that driver from the Add/Remove program.
***********************

*** UPDATE 03/26/2009 ***
We recently received communication from Intel tech support that there is a new graphics driver available for Vista - http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2800&lang=eng. However, it's likely that you may not be able to install it due to your laptop manufacturer preventing you from installing drivers other than from the manufacturer. If so, Intel suggests using the workaround found on this page - http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-022355.htm.

We are still trying to obtain the version of the graphics driver for XP (14.34.4.4964) that Intel has confirmed does not cause the crash problem. This version is not available on Intel's website nor through searching for it on the internet. As soon as we get the driver, we will post it here.
***********************

In the meantime, a possible work-around is to disable the display of rulers. To accomplish this, start SFP and go to Options->3D View and uncheck Display Ruler. Save the setting. If you only have Reader, then you can change one of the registry settings. To do this, click Start->Run type in regedit and go to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Actify\InstallApps\SpinFire Reader\General Options key. If there is already a subkey called Display Ruler, set it to 0. Otherwise, create a new Binary Key called "Display Ruler"and set it to 0. Unfortunately, this is a per user setting, so each user that uses an Actify product would need to update the registry setting.

Question: How to run Publisher as a service
How do I get Publisher to run as service? Is this feature available?

Solution:

[--- UPDATED: 3/20/2009 5:01:18 PM BY AGENT: Joe Ho ---]

Yes, Publisher 3.2 can run as a service. Here's how.

1.Log on the to Publisher machine using the account that you want the service to run under (hopefully at least a network account that has read/write privileges to the network folders).
2. Go to Window's Services dialog. Start->Administrative Tools->Services. Scroll down until you see YPCService.exe.
3. Right click on YPCService.exe and selection Properties->Log On. Check This Account. Specify the user account you want the service to run under. Click OK.
4. Start the service.
5. Start Publisher. Go to Options->General Options->Publisher Engine Options. SelectAsk on Application Start. Exit, restart Publisher and select Connect to Service based Engine.
Now every job you create will be handled by YPCService, meaning YPCService will be monitoring the watched folders.
If you now Exit Publisher or log off, YPCService will continue to run and monitor the file systems.
If you restart Publisher, but this time selecting Connect to User Engine, you will not see the list of jobs created when you had selected Connect to Service based Engine. In the User Engine mode, you can create a set of jobs that will be monitored by Publisher (so long as it is running), not YPCService. However, if YPCService is still running, the jobs created by Publisher when it was connect to the service engine will continue to run. You can think of running Publisher using User Engine or Service Engine as usingtwo separate user accounts, meaning jobs won't be shared when you start Publisher in state or another. If you've read between the lines, then you would've gathered that you can run Publisher in both Service Engine mode and User Engine mode at the same time. However, to monitor the queue, you'd need to connect Publisher to either the Service Engine or the User Engine.

One thing to note, for reasons unknown, the password for YPCService tend to get reset to something. So if you log off or reboot, then log in, you may need to manually restart YPCService (by reentering the password for the specified user account and manually Starting the service).

Question: Can't get floating license to work with SFP
I have both the license.al and sfpflv2.dat file. I have tried to activate SFP using the floating license file and nothing I've done is working. What can I do?

Solution:

Getting floating license to work can be a bit tricky. First thing first.

Verify that the sfpflv2.dat file that you received is correct. To do so, edit the file in Notepad and verify that both the MAC address and computer names are correct. Also look through the list of Importers to verify that the license includes what you've ordered. The exception is the Draft Angle Analysis plug-in, which will not show up in the floating license file.

Once you've verified that the file is correct, you'll need to copy the file over to the floating license server. A common problem seen with various customers is that the user assumes that the sfpflv2.dat file on the server is already correct when it may not be. Please ALWAYS check the sfpflv2.dat file on the client against the sfpflv2.dat file on the server, especially if you skip this step. At this time we support up to version 9.2 of FlexLM. Later versions don't work. Using lmtools.exe, you should set up a new service for Actify and specify the sfpflv2.dat file as the license file. Once you've configured your service, go ahead and start it. To verify that the floating license server is running and supporting the Actify service, check the list of processes in Task Manager and verify that both lmgrd.exe and actifyd.exe are running. If there multiple lmgrd.exe and one actifyd.exe, then you'll need to kill everything and start again. Another problem you may encounter upon copying the new sfpflv2.dat file to the server(especially if you already have a service set up for Actify)is that when you click Stop Service, you'll still see either lmgrd.exe and/or actifyd.exe still running in Task Manager. In that case, you should manually terminate both processes. Once both processes are terminated, THEN click Start Service and Reread License File.

One the client side, you SHOULD be able to just activate SpinFire Professional (SFP) using the license.al file or Seat ID and SFP should now work in floating mode.

Below is a checklist of things to look for if you can't get SFP to work in floating mode.

1. The correct sfpflv2.dat file is not on the floating license server machine.
2. The correct sfpflv2.dat file is on the server machine but has not been reread using lmtools.
3. The correct sfpflv2.dat file is loaded on the server but the file on the client is the incorrect version
4. The correct sfpflv2.dat file is loaded on the server and the correct sfpflv2.dat is on the client machine but the user has not reactivated SpinFire Professional.
5. The correct sfpflv2.dat file was put on the client machine and the customer has activated SpinFire Professional using an incorrect version of the license.al file, thus replacing the sfpflv2.dat file on the client.
6. The correct license.al file was used but the previous sfpflv2.dat file or the directory that contains that file either didnt have the correct permission or is Read Only.

Its easy to copy all the files to the correct locations and then forget to reactivate SpinFire Professional.

Other articles of interest:
http://support.actify.com/admin/issue/issue_view.asp?ID=3753 (64-bit OS)
http://support.actify.com/categorized.asp?PID=52&SID=56&level=3

Question: Missing all importers after uninstalling 8.4 and reinstalling 8.3
I install SpinFire 8.4 and decided to go back to SpinFire Professional 8.3. However, after I installed 8.3, all my Importers show as not installed. What happened and how can I fix this?

Solution:

The problem is caused by a file, SFIM2.dll, being moved from C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Actify\SpinFire Professional\ to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Actify\Common\ when 8.4 is installed. This file tells SpinFire which Importers are installed. Your can resolve this problem for 8.3 in one of two ways:
1. First make SFIM2.dll Read Only. Install Reader 1247. Remove the Read Only setting from SFIM2.dll.

2. If you don't want to install Reader 1247 or haven't yet installed Reader 1247, then do the following. Close SFP 8.3. Check in the common folder, move the files SFIM2.dll and SFImporters.xml files to the SpinFire Professional folder. Now start 8.3 and all the installed importers should appear.

If the above didn't work or for whatever reason the SFIM2.dll file is either 1K (basically containing no importers) or not in the Common folder, then you have two other options:
1. Re-register all the importer DLLs manually. To do so, you can go into the C:\Program Files\Actify\Importers folder and select an importer DLL, right click and select Open With..Choose Program. Then Browse to C:\WINDOWS\system32\ and select regsvr32.exe. Check Always use the selected program to open this kind of file. Click OK. The selected file will now be re-registered and should show up on the SFP Importers page. If you need to re-register other DLLs, you can now just double-click on the DLL to register it. Below is a list of importer DLLs that can be manually re-registered:
ActDWF.dll
ActHPGL.dll
Cadds.dll
Catia.dll
catia2D.dll
catia52D.dll
Catia5v2.dll
CGM.dll
DWG.dll
Ideas.dll
IGES.dll
Inventor.dll
ISO.dll
JT.dll
Microcadam.dll
Parasolid.dll
PRC.dll
Proe.dll
Rhino3D.dll
Sat.dll
SDRC.dll
SLDWKS.dll
SolidEdge.dll
Step.dll
STL.dll
TDS.dll
Tiff.dll
UG2.dll
UG2D.dll
Vrml.dll
Xvl.dll

2. Reinstall all your importers. This should not be necessary unless you find step 1 to be too complicated or confusing.

Question: Unable to add Office documents in SpinFire Professional
I used to be able to use the Add Document feature to add Office files into SpinFire Professional (SFP). I have upgraded to Office 2007. Now Office docs don't load in SFP anymore. How do I get Office docs to be added in SFP?

Solution:

Below is the solution for Windows XP. There is no known solution for Vista.

* Start Windows Explorer. Select Tools->Folder Options->File Types.
* Find the office document file type that you're interested in loading into SFP. e.g. select/highlight .doc.
* Note that the Advanced button is now highlighted.
* Click the Advanced button. A new dialog will appear showing a list of actions and 3 checkboxes.
* Check Browse in same window. Click OK, then Close the Folder Options window.
* Now, if you have office installed, you should be able to add either a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file in SFP as a separate document to whatever is already loaded in SFP.

Question: Proper steps to revert from SpinFire 8.4 back to SFP 8.3

I evaluated SpinFire 8.4 and decided to go back to SpinFire Professional8.3, now all my Importers and plug-ins don't show up on the Options page. What do I do?

Solution:

To avoid the Importer problem, here is the proper procedure when reverting back to 8.3:
1.Uninstall 8.4
2.Install 8.3
3.Copy SFIM2.xml from the Common folder into the SpinFire Professional folder under C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Actify
4.Install Reader 1247
5.Start SFP

If step 3 on is left out, what happens is that when SFP 8.3 is started, the importer list on the Importers page will show no installed importers as the SFIM2.xml file (which identifies which importers are installed) is in the Common folder and 8.3 is looking for it in the SpinFire Professional folder. Since it didnt find one, an empty one was created. And now if you install Reader 1247, Reader install will copy the bad or empty SFIM2.xml file into the Common folder, wiping out the one good SFIM2.xml file. The exact sample problem will occur if you install SpinFire 8.4 instead of Reader. Once this good version is replaced, user would need to do one of the following:

Go to the Add/Remove program, select the app, click Click here for support information and then click on Repair to basically reinstall the app.

You could run each importerinstaller, but it's basically just going to do a Repair.Might as well use the step above.

Plug-ins will appear to have the same problem no plug-ins displayed on plug-in page. For this problem, only the Repair process will redisplay all the plug-ins on the Plug-ins page.

* The easiest way to register a DLL is the following:
Right click on a DLL and select Open with. Select C:\WINDOWS\system32\regsvr32.exe. Check the Always checkbox and click OK. Now you can double click on any DLL and it should register.

Question: Loading of .3D in Browser is not correct
When I right click on a .3D file and select Open With Internet Explorer, I get the workspace and the model but no SpinFire UI. How do I get the SpinFire UI to load? Using IE7, I don't even see a workspace. How do I get the SpinFire UI to display?

Solution:

[--- UPDATED: 9/16/2009 10:11:32 AM BY AGENT: Joe Ho ---]

This is a bug that we need to address for the next version of 8.4. The proposed work-around should work for all versions of IE from 6.x on.

After SpinFire 8.4 is installed, go into the C:\Program Files\Actify\Kernel directory. Right click on the file SpinFireProAx.htm and select Open With->Internet Explorer. Verify that the SpinFire UI is displayed. You can now open .3D files from this interface. If you'd like, you can right click on SpinFireProAx.htm and Send To->Desktop. You can now treat this icon like the 8.3 Reader icon, except no file will be loaded and it'll load the SpinFire 8.4 UI (Browser mode) and be constrained by the 8.4 licensing. And unless your IT group objects, you could check Internet Options->Advanced->Security->Allow active content to run in files on My Computer so that you won't be prompted toallow the ActiveX component to run everytime you use the Browser.

Question: I've installed SpinFire 8.4. Now what?
I've upgraded to SpinFire 8.4. Are there any instructions on how to activate and use the product?

Solution:

First of all, let's make sure that you understand the difference between 8.3 and 8.4.
* SpinFire Professional 8.3 is now called SpinFire 8.4
* Prior to 8.4, Actify had three separate desktop products:
- Reader: downloadable for free and only works in IE
- SpinFire Professional: Actify's flagship desktop product that requires licensing
- SpinFire for Microsoft Office: SpinFire running as an ActiveX control within Office. Also requires licensing.

8.4 is a single product that encompasses all three 8.3 products in one. What this means is that you can run SpinFire 8.4 in a browser, as a desktop app or as an ActiveX control in Office, all running in the same mode or what we call platforms and have exactly the same UI. The only difference is what functions will be active based on the license obtained. The 4 platforms are basically the types of license you'll need to purchase to get SpinFire 8.4 to work:
- Reader: This is the only platform where you don't need to pay, but you'll still need to obtain a license. Once activated with a Reader license, SpinFire 8.4 will run with limited capabilities similar to 8.3 Reader except with the full SpinFire UI. Now you get the full SpinFire UI, even within IE, the Office dialog and the embedded object. The initial version of 8.4 has a bug with loading .3D in IE. Check this issue for work-around - http://support.actify.com/issue_view.asp?ID=3381. And just like the old Reader, SpinFire 8.4 with this license can only read and write .3D file.
- Markup: Similar to Reader but with a few additional dimensioning capabilities.
- Lite: Full SpinFire functionalities, minus importing and the ability to use plug-ins
- Professional: Full SpinFire functionalities. What Importers and/or plug-ins will work depends on what is actually purchased. Draft Angle Analysis is, at the present time (September 2009), the only plug-in that needs to be purchased; all others are free for use with the Pro license.

* You can upgrade 8.4 over 8.3 without uninstalling whatever Actify products is already there. The only exception is 8.4 does not work correctly with Publisher, yet. It is NOT recommended to install 8.4 on a system where Publisher is installed.

* Limited testing has been done on Vista and 64-bit systems. For the most part, the product does work on either system, though there are reported bugs specifically on Vista. SpinFire 8.4 is a 32-bit app and will run in 32-bit mode on 64-bit systems.

* Licensing
Whatever license you had when using 8.3 or earlier will need to be upgraded to work with 8.4. We needed to modify our licensing to support the 4 platforms. Please contact your reseller or Actify sales rep to request an update to your license. If your seat is a floating seat, you will need to update both the Seat ID/license file as well as the floating license file (sfpflv2.dat). This means you'll need to update the floating license server with the new sfpflv2.dat file before you can activate the updated 8.4 installs.

You can activate SpinFire 8.4 through any of the three apps: Browser, Desktop or Office, though it may be easier to activate using SpinFire Desktop.

* Office
With 8.3 we also offered a product called SpinFire for Microsoft Office (SFO) that allowed users to embed .3D files into Word, Excel or Powerpoint and it required a separate license. In 8.4 the Office capability comes for free. It run in whatever platform that Desktop is licensed for. The SpinFire Office functionality is found under Insert in 2003 and Add-Ins in 2007. Keep in mind that this is first version of a single SpinFire product, so it's likely you may encounter some bugs especially when running in Office. If so, we would appreciate it if you could report the bugs to http://support.actify.com/. ** KNOWN BUG - 8.4 Office does not work on Vista.

* Plug-ins
Plug-ins have been verified to work with 8.4. The only issue would be with Draft Angle Analysis (DAA). As this is a purchased feature, it needs to be included in the license. If you upgrade and currently have DAA, please make sure to remind your reseller or Actify sales rep to include DAA in the updated license.

* .3D files
There is no format change in .3D between 8.3 and 8.4. This means that .3D files created using 8.2, 8.3 or 8.4 can be read using any one of the aforementioned SpinFire versions.

Question: My markup fonts got much bigger in 8.4. How do I go back?
I just did a Print Preview and when I went back to the 3D workspace, all my markups are now displayed with much bigger fonts. How do I get back to the original fonts?

Solution:

[--- UPDATED: 9/24/2009 10:35:50 AM BY AGENT: Joe Ho ---]

Unfortunately this is a bug that was known that we were not able to address prior to release of SpinFire 8.4 (1337). However, there is one work around: Save the file. When you see the font get bigger, just save the file and the fonts will return to their normal size.

Question: SpinFire install is having problems
I am trying to upgrade to 8.4.x and I keep running into a problem, either installation fails or activation fails. What can I do?

Solution: The typical problem with upgrade to 8.4 involves permission problems with some of the Actify support files. I'd the recommend the following:

First try checking on the Actify support files and verify that each of the following files has the EVERYONE account with full permissions set. The permission setting is found when you right click on a file, select Properties->Security.
* C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Actify\SpinFire Professional\license.al
* C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Actify\SpinFire Professional\sfpflv2.dat (if you have a floating seat)
* C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Actify\Common\SFIM2.xml
* C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Actify\Common\sfImporters.xml
One or more of these files may cause problems when installing or running SpinFire. The problem is somehow one or more of these files will lose the EVERYONE account with fullpermissions. Pretty much all the files under these two directories should have the EVERYONE account set. If by adding the EVERYONE account with setting Full permission and SpinFire is still having problem, then you can try the following. If that doesn't work, then submit a Help Desk issue.

These are the more drastic steps you can take if updating the support file permissions didn't work.
* Uninstall SpinFire (and Reader, SFO and Publisher ifthey're still installed)
* Delete the following:
- C:\Program Files\Actify\ folder
- C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Actify
- The registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Actify
Make sure ALL the files from both directories are removed. If you are unable to remove any single file, you'll need to change the Security setting of that file to include the Everyone account (with full permissions).
* Reinstall 8.4.x, but don't run it yet.
* Go to Add/Remove Programs, click on an installed Actify importer, click on the Click here for support information link and then Repair. This will bring back the importers that you deleted when you removed the Actify folder. Do this for all the importers (and plug-ins, if you had them).
* Now start SpinFire Desktop and reactivate using your Seat ID.
* Open a .3D file

If you are having trouble activating, the above steps SHOULD also help you out, assuming your seat ID was upgraded to be 8.4.x compatible. If you had installed your SpinFire via a download link provided to you by a reseller or an Actify sales rep, you'll need to contact ops@actify.com to upgrade your seat ID. If you upgraded via the website, then you should have received an updated or new seat ID. How would you know if your seat needs upgrading? If you activate SpinFire Desktop and pretty much nothing works or is grayed out, you'll need to upgrade your seat ID.

If you still can't activate after having your seat ID upgraded, contact ops@actify.com to verify that you have not exceeded the number of transfers. Also remember, if your seat ID has an End of Maintenance (EOM) build number less than the build number of the SpinFire you are installing, then SpinFire won't work. You'll need to renew maintenance.

Question: How do I run FlexLM on 64-bit OSes, especially Windows 2008 server?
We have upgraded our server to Windows 2008 which is a 64-bit system and now we can't get FlexLM to work. Is there a solution?

Solution:

In order to get FlexLm to work on Windows 2008 64-bit system, you'll need to do the following (this article should apply to other 64-bit OSes as well, but that has not been verified).

* Install the floating license server as per the email that you received. If you don't have that instruction, please look at KB issue http://support.actify.com/issue_view.asp?ID=325. Install into C:\Program Files (X86)\Actify\Floating License Manager.

* Copy the sfpflv2.dat file provided to you by Actify or your reseller to that directory.

* Go to http://www.globes.com/support/fnp_utilities_download.htm, look at the download table and find the x64 platform for Windows 64-bit.

* Download all 4 files

lmadmin-i86_n3-11_7_0_0.exe

lmgrd_x64_n6.zip

lmutil_x64_n6.zip

lmtools_x64_n6.zip

* Unzip the files to c:\Program Files (x86)\ Actify\Floating License Manager folder and replace the 3 files

lmtools.exe

lmgrd.exe

lmutil.exe.

* Run lmtools.exe and create a new service (call it Actify Floating License Server). Specify under Config Services the three paths

C:\Program Files (x86)\Actify\Floating License Manager\lmgrd.exe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Actify\Floating License Manager\sfpflv2.dat

C:\Program Files (x86)\Actify\Floating License Manager\log.txt

Make sure the two checkboxes (Start Service at Power Up and Use Services) are checked.

Click Save Service.

* Click on the Start/Stop/Reread tab (ignoring any error messages) and click on Stop Server, Start Server and then Reread License File.

* Click on Server Status->Perform Status Enquiry. You should see the running service loading the provided features.

(Thanks for Franz Barta for providing most of the above information)

The above steps should allow SpinFire to be activated with a floating Seat ID or license.al file, assuming the server's firewall is not enabled. If it is, then you'll also need to do the following.

* Go to Control Panel->Windows Firewall ( If you are in category view, you might need to go into System & Security first)

* Go to Advanced Settings in Windows Firewall (should be in the action list on the left side)

* Go to the Inbound rules ( there is tree in the left and it should be under the root item)

* Create a new rule ( you can right click on Inbound rules->New Rule, or, select the Action "New Rule" from the list on the right)

* Select Rule Type as Program, Click Next

* Select This Program Path and browse to lmgrd.exe(the new 64 bit lmgrd), Click Next

* Select Allow the connection, Click Next.

* Select Domain, Private, Public( 3 checkboxes), Click Next

* Give a name to the rule( e.g. LMGRD, but something like Actify Flex Server would probably be more meaningful, It can be any name ), click Finish

* Repeat Steps 4-9 for the actifyd.exe program( its in the same folder as lmgrd.exe)

Now try and activate SpinFire. If you're still having problems getting SpinFire to start in floating mode, then check out the KB article http://support.actify.com/admin/issue/issue_view.asp?ID=3139