unspecified error - Y2k8 bug..?!

[Rick Houle]

I am currently on Revit-2008 (build 20070607_1700)

Now that my PC clock reads January, 2008 I get an "unspecified error" when I try to edit a group in my family tree, or try to save out a group... I can still edit the group in-place but that is it.

When I change my PC clock to read 12-31-2007 or earlier, the function works properly.

Can anyone please advise if this is the case on newer builds as well..?!

[truevis]

I believe that we need to be using the latest build before we try to effectively track down any bugs.

[patricks]

hmm same thing is happening for me in SP2 20070810.

Guess I need to install SP3 and see if it still happens.

*edit* yep still happens on the most current build.

I merely changed my computer's date to Dec. 31 2007 and then it worked just fine. When I changed it back, it once again said Unspecified Error when trying to open the group to edit or save out the group.

[aaronrumple]

Yep. Same here.
A big happy new year to you from Autodesk....

[Rick Houle]

The problem occurs in the latest build, 20071109_2345, as suspected.
We are probably among the first to discover this. I have never known a programmer, post y2k, to "flex" their builds against their PC clock..!

[kparks140020]

Just to add a note, the 'Unspecified error' also occurs when selecting a drafting view in the Project Browser and then selecting the 'Save to New File' function. I also recreated the conditions listed here and received the same results. Odd problem. I am currently using RA2008 build 20070324_1700.

[Justin Marchiel]

the same error occurs with older builds as well. 20070810_1700

Justin

[darren.lewis]

File>New>Project>Template=None>Pick your units...Unspecified Error. I can recreate this error in the following Revit products: Revit Architecture 2008, Revit Structure 2008, Revit MEP 2008, Revit Building 9.1, Revit Structure 4.0. Moreover, I have solid evidence that this procedure was functioning properly on Friday, 12/28/2007. After acknowledging the error message by clicking okay, the new file, predictably, was not created. When closing the Revit session, I get an unrecoverable error message.

[ed.76566]

I was able to recreate this error in:
Revit Architecture 2008 build 20071109_2345
Revit Structure 2008 build 20071209_1300
Revit MEP 2008 build 20071109_2345

"unspecified error" on all and crashed on all
Application: Revit Architecture 2008 Version: 2008.000 Error: Unhandled Exception
Application: Revit Structure 2008 Version: 2008.000 Error: Unhandled Exception
Application: Revit MEP 2008 Version: 2008.000 Error: Unhandled Exception

This can't be good.

Ed

[cphubb]

Same problem here with the Group Editing. I also got the Crash at the end of the session. Good thing it comes after the save. I have a support request in to AD I will see what the resolution is

[ErichB]

Kind of ironic that Revit 2008 crashed hard when it hit 2008.

[truevis]

Kind of ironic that Revit 2008 crashed hard when it hit 2008.
:lol:Everyone knows that 2008 equals 2007 in software language.:Oops:

I get the error, then crash on exiting.

Can save group if I set clock back to 2007.

[scott.latch]

I would like to let everyone know that Autodesk is aware of the problem and is currently working on a resolution. The problem is caused by some code written to address the leap year. The good news is once we get to February, the problem goes away. The bad news is we are in the beginning of January. Until we have a solution, I recommend that you temporarily adjust your system clock to get past the point that is causing the crash and then set it back.

We hope to have a resolution to this problem soon. Thanks for your patience.

[farkas.zsolt]

I detected more problems when I tried to open project templates and projects created with building 8.1. I got a 'Failed to open document.' alert box - and can't open - with this versions: Building 9, Building 9.1, Architecture 2008, Structure 2008, MEP 2008, Architecture 2009 alpha1 (!), Structure 2009 alpha1 (!), MEP 2009 alpha1 (!). Later project files and templates work well. (!)

[jpolding]

I would like to let everyone know that Autodesk is aware of the problem and is currently working on a resolution. The problem is caused by some code written to address the leap year. The good news is once we get to February, the problem goes away. The bad news is we are in the beginning of January. Until we have a solution, I recommend that you temporarily adjust your system clock to get past the point that is causing the crash and then set it back.

We hope to have a resolution to this problem soon. Thanks for your patience.

Now's the time for resolutions! We'll have to wait to makes ours.;)

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Justin Marchiel]

I detected more problems when I tried to open project templates and projects created with building 8.1. I got a 'Failed to open document.' alert box - and can't open - with this versions: Building 9, Building 9.1, Architecture 2008, Structure 2008, MEP 2008, Architecture 2009 alpha1 (!), Structure 2009 alpha1 (!), MEP 2009 alpha1 (!). Later project files and templates works well. (!)

This happened to be yesterday and i assumed the template was corrupt. i guess maybe it was not the template but REVIT.

Justin

[gordonp]

I would like to let everyone know that Autodesk is aware of the problem and is currently working on a resolution. The problem is caused by some code written to address the leap year. The good news is once we get to February, the problem goes away. The bad news is we are in the beginning of January. Until we have a solution, I recommend that you temporarily adjust your system clock to get past the point that is causing the crash and then set it back.

We hope to have a resolution to this problem soon. Thanks for your patience.

Hey Scott,
thanks for the heads up, and the further clarification of the problem. Word direct from the Factory is much appreciated.

Best,
Gordon

[ed.76566]

How will setting the clock on your work station effect, borrowing, work sharing, and saving to central. Are we going to ask our IT department to set the sever clock back also?
How do we track our chages and RFI's?

Ed

[gordonp]

How will setting the clock on your work station effect, borrowing, work sharing, and saving to central. Are we going to ask out IT department to set the sever clock also? How do we track our chages and RFI's?

Ed

I think the workaround is to reset the clock only long enough to get your Group saved to a file or whatever, then set it right back. Not a pretty answer, to be sure.

Gordon

[cphubb]

This is wreakng havoc with my PDA. It resets its clock with the PC, but then gets the time over the air. They need to fix this fast.

Still no ETA from AD

[aaronrumple]

Until we have a solution, I recommend that you temporarily adjust your system clock to get past the point that is causing the crash and then set it back.

You want my IT's department's reaction to that solution? I'm not quite sure the language they were speaking....

[harlan.brumm]

Please look at the following document for the workaround for this problem.

http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=TS1079766

Thank you,
The Autodesk Product Support Team.

[cphubb]

What about people who cannot change their system time because it comes from security policies? Notice that their supposed workaround has this little disclaimer attached. How about it just gets fixed?

Warning! Changing the system date can impact other software and utilities on your computer. Please contact your system administrator before making these changes.

[cliff collins]

All:

Is it true that the Groups can still be edited from within the main model?
( this is the case here...) error message only comes up when trying to edit from the Browser?

If so, this is not really a huge issue, is it?

Am I missing something?

Cheers......

[aaronrumple]

All:

Is it true that the Groups can still be edited from within the main model?
( this is the case here...) error message only comes up when trying to edit from the Browser?

If so, this is not really a huge issue, is it?

Am I missing something?

Cheers......

You can't save groups out. Which means you can't edit them outside the project. Or add them to a library. Or convert groups to links.

All of our hotel rooms are edited externally. In design we switch between groups and links frequently for performance.

It's a pretty big issue.

[Rick Houle]

Changing the system clock on PC's in my office is DEFINITELY not an option. In my domain we cannot diverge from the system clock by more than a few minutes. I assumed this to be the case with all domain controllers but i dont know. Changing clock time is not an option here, and hardly a work around. I will take it on faith that 2/1/08 is the magic day of the "LEAP YEAR" bug fix, hmm, and that day will be here soon..!!!

[aaronrumple]

...and since Revit is on vacation in January, your Autodesk subscription bill for 2008 will only be for 11 months. Right?

[ErichB]

As well as many other people have mentioned, our IT department will not allow clocks to be changed. Just when we get our studio converted over to Revit, this hits. We use the group edit function all the time. I am not pleased that my studio will be "working around" a programming glitch for a month.

[ErichB]

:lol:Everyone knows that 2008 equals 2007 in software language.:Oops:

I get the error, then crash on exiting.

Can save group if I set clock back to 2007.

I do know that, it was just a joke to ligthen the mood. It is kind of like other products too other than software...like cars, etc.

[Scott Davis]

. I am not pleased that my studio will be "working around" a programming glitch for a month.

Who said you will have to work around it for a month? You don't think our Revit team is working on a fix???

[darren.lewis]

Who said you will have to work around it for a month? You don't think our Revit team is working on a fix???

Scott,

There is no need to be defensive. It is great to hear they are working on a fix and we won't all be put out for a month, but yours is the first word I have seen that they are working on it. I didn't even get such a response from the subscription support ticket I submitted.

Like others in this thread, our system clocks are controlled and users are not able to change them. My work-around has been to use VM Workstation and adjust that system clock since I can have it independent to the host machine.

That said, an error as mundane as this is a pretty serious breach of trust. As one who is responsible for and working diligently to convert a large firm to Revit, this kind of thing makes everyone scratch their heads and gives the naysayers ammunition to turn the tide of opinion. As the whole firm is not yet using Revit, I am hoping this will slip by most of my 60+ pilot users relatively quietly.

Kind regards,
Darren

[richard.binning]

I was just getting ready to push the latest builds...is this how you will address it? With a new build? If so, then I'll wait for it.

[Scott Davis]

It is great to hear they are working on a fix and we won't all be put out for a month, but yours is the first word I have seen that they are working on it. I didn't even get such a response from the subscription support ticket I submitted.

I didn't get any "official" kind of notification either, but I know that this is getting effort. Members of the Revit team have posted here at AUGI, on the Autodesk Newsgroups, and there is a topic on the Autodesk website. I even received a notification in the Communication Center in Revit. With that kind of attention, you can be assured that the Revit team is aware of the issue and they are working on a fix. Here's the link from the Communication center, which links to the Autodesk website:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/item?siteID=123112&id=10458150&linkID=9243099

At the bottom of the explaination of the "workaround" at this link, is a poll that you can fill out, with a comments section. I suggest that all that are having problems because the cannot change the system clock should go fill out this poll and put a comment that the "fix" doesn't work because you don't have rights to change the clock. This will reinforce the necessity to get a new build with a fix out as soon as possible.

[cphubb]

Scott you are the only person from Autodesk who has said anything about anybody fixing this problem. The response I got was to wait till Feb and if I need to edit groups just set my date back.
What has really set people off is that first this is a stupid error. They know 2008 will get here eventually so you would think they would run test with the system clock etc. Second the lack of response about when the fix will be available and what that might be is really aggravating. You need to discuss with the powers that be this kind of response is draconian and poor relations. Autodesk needs to step up when thes bugs happen, take responsibility and fix the problem quickly, not tell users it really isn't a problem just wait till Feb. We should all go on vacation. Third they really need to understand what they are asking people to do. I am sure the developers have control over the system clock but many do not for good reason. When your "fix" cannot be used by a large portion of the audience is it even worth publishing? In my case the fix is worse than the problem.

Bottom line, this was as stupid problem and handeled poorly. they need to do better or we may need to find another solution.

Right after reading this I read that Microsoft is giving away a free x-box game due to their poor performance during christmas. They stepped up, admited fault, promised to do better next time and as a good gesture gave a little swag away. I would be happy with just admittng fault, fixing the problem quickly and moving forward. Is that too much to ask?

[Joef]

I would expect to be notified of this problem through the Communication Center. My Communication Center reports that it was last updated in 1969. Oh well.

[Scott Davis]

I would be happy with just admittng fault, fixing the problem quickly and moving forward. Is that too much to ask?

Well, fault has been admitted...a "temporary" fix was offered while the real issue is worked out by our team. Considering its the 4th, and this problem really just cropped up on the 2nd when people went back to work, I think "quickly" has yet to be determined...

Is it too much to ask to have some faith in the Factory?

[Scott Davis]

I would expect to be notified of this problem through the Communication Center. My Communication Center reports that it was last updated in 1969. Oh well.

Then your Comm Center is not working correctly. I was notified through Comm Center when I started Revit this morning.

[ed.76566]

Thank you for all your help Scott, and we have faith.

Ed

[Steve_Stafford]

I was just getting ready to push the latest builds...is this how you will address it? With a new build? If so, then I'll wait for it.I believe this issue affects earlier builds as well Richard. Either way though I'd wait for the new build.


Scott you are the only person from Autodesk who has said anything about anybody fixing this problem. The response I got was to wait till Feb and if I need to edit groups just set my date back.Scott Latch also replied in this thread and he is one of two product managers for Revit Architecture.

I believe Scott Davis wanted to know who suggested we could or should wait till February to come around, to get back to work so to speak.

This is not a small problem as it will or certainly could affect nearly every user and as demonstrated by several in their posts it is not just limited to using groups. Also if this buggy code is used by Autodesk to deal with a leap year issue (as has been explained to me) it seems possible to me that it might affect other applications as well, not just Revit.

We have every reason to expect and assume that they are giving this issue the priority it deserves. A hasty fix isn't appropriate either since that could do additional damage. Let them isolate and fix it so we can get back to work.

[Rick Houle]

Well, as we know, the biggest challenge is getting the "factory" to recognize and respond to the problem. I think we are past that point now. They 'promise' a resolution in less than a month and are working to resolve the issue even sooner if possible. That is a successful remedy in my book... IT beats getting ignored...!

[Steve_Stafford]

Well, as we know, the biggest challenge is getting the "factory" to recognize and respond to the problem. I think we are past that point now. They 'promise' a resolution in less than a month and are working to resolve the issue even sooner if possible. That is a successful remedy in my book... IT beats getting ignored...!Fwiw, historically Revit's team has always been quite diligent as resolving serious issues or even less serious ones. Fairly regular new builds are evidence of that.

Also fwiw, as soon as I saw this thread I contacted people at Autodesk and several other members here submitted support requests. We each received replies very quickly even if the wording of some of those replies were a bit too "boilerplate". Nobody appreciates the potential of a bug more than a programmer even if you might think they don't.

I'd like to also point out that AUGI and the part each of you plays as members has a big impact on how quickly Autodesk can respond to issues like these. When we give them solid information they can act on it makes a difference, even if they are "closed mouthed" more than we'd like.

[cphubb]

The suggestion of Feb came from support and from Scott Latch who mentioned it on this forum. My main gripe is that neither support nor this forum has said what the timeframe might be, (other than a month). Certainly they must know how much work will be involved and when people might look for a correction or patch. I am holding them to the same standard as the rest of us.

[Scott Davis]

My main gripe is that neither support nor this forum has said what the timeframe might be.

...and its been at most 3 working days since this bug was brought to the attention of Support. Maybe they don't know yet how long it will take to fix? First, they must find the source of the problem. Then they must reverse engineer the problem to find out what is causing it. Then they need to "code" a fix. Then they need to see if that "fix" caused any other problems across 3 different flavors of Revit. Wouldn't it suck if a bug-fix caused another bug? During all this, they need to notify over 250,000 users in over a dozen languages that there is a problem, and give them a temporary solution. Once all that is done and the new builds (which there are Revit Architecture, Revit Archtecture Series, Revit MEP Series, Revit Structure, and Revit Structure Series) have all been created, then they need to once again, notify over 250,000 users in over 12 languages that a fix has been created. Then they need to be able to distribute this out to over a quarter million users.

So maybe its as simple as they just don't know after 3 days, how long it will take to fix this.

[cphubb]

Scott what you have to realize is that this problem is costing people money. It is costing me money and without any realistic fix in sight we have no solution but to keep on losing money till the problem gets fixed. I really feel that you sympathy is somewhat misplaced because yes this may be a complex problem to correct but given the amount of money charged for the product I expect similar resources to be allocated to a mistake that by all accounts should have been caught.

Since you are an architect. Take this scenerio to a building project where we missed someting this big. Who pays? The contactor? no the originator of the error the architect.

I am holding Autodesk accountable to the same standard I am held to.

[dbaldacchino]

I feel left out :shock: Haven't had any issues or error messages, although I have not done any group editing. No other user has mentioned this either. I did get some screenshots from a Revit Structure user today, with two nice warning dialogs that contain no text at all....I remember getting one of these a while back and posting about it. Here's a shot of the other dialog which I had not seen before; might lighten the mood a wee-bit.

Anyway, I'm sure the Revit team understands the urgency. Cut them some slack...sheesh.....Happy New Year to ya'll.

EDIT: I can reproduce too. Guess we're just not using those functions that cause the error. Lucky us :)

[Joef]

I am holding Autodesk accountable to the same standard I am held to.

It's worth reading the EULA from time to time.

"Autodesk's entire liability and Your exclusive remedy under the limited warranty provided in this Section 5.1 will be, at Autodesk's option, to attempt to correct or work around errors, to replace the defective media on which the Software is furnished, if any, or to refund the license fees and terminate this Agreement. "

[aaronrumple]

It's worth reading the EULA from time to time.

It is just a matter of time before product liability hits software companies too....

[jetisart]

Scott,

There is no need to be defensive...

Frankly, I can't recall even one post by Scott (at least in response to my comments) in which he isn't defensive. I think that it's simply his nature. Pity...

[jetisart]

...and its been at most 3 working days since this bug was brought to the attention of Support. Maybe they don't know yet how long it will take to fix? First, they must find the source of the problem. Then they must reverse engineer the problem to find out what is causing it. Then they need to "code" a fix. Then they need to see if that "fix" caused any other problems across 3 different flavors of Revit. Wouldn't it suck if a bug-fix caused another bug? During all this, they need to notify over 250,000 users in over a dozen languages that there is a problem, and give them a temporary solution. Once all that is done and the new builds (which there are Revit Architecture, Revit Archtecture Series, Revit MEP Series, Revit Structure, and Revit Structure Series) have all been created, then they need to once again, notify over 250,000 users in over 12 languages that a fix has been created. Then they need to be able to distribute this out to over a quarter million users.

So maybe its as simple as they just don't know after 3 days, how long it will take to fix this.

Oooohhhh poor things... So much work for them... And for what? For just a chicken feed AU$1200/year per seat... Never mind what the users may loose in the meantime... Never mind their anguish as they suddenly can't open their files and pull their hair in despair because they don't know what's going on... RUBBISH!

Now, I do appreciate what Auto Desk is up to and I don't envy them at all. But to use this as an excuse is just pityful. After all, they are the big boys in this game and should be prepared for such a situation from day one. It just goes with the job. And I would expect nothing less from Auto Desk than on the day one of this crisis officially stepping out and LOUDLY telling everybody their stand on the situation. After all, they have our email addresses, don't they? That's professionalism to me...

[Chad Smith]

Then they need to see if that "fix" caused any other problems across 3 different flavors of Revit. Wouldn't it suck if a bug-fix caused another bug? During all this, they need to notify over 250,000 users in over a dozen languages that there is a problem, and give them a temporary solution. Once all that is done and the new builds (which there are Revit Architecture, Revit Archtecture Series, Revit MEP Series, Revit Structure, and Revit Structure Series) have all been created...
So.. you're saying if there was just one flavour of Revit, a resolution would become available quicker :roll:?

[cphubb]

It's worth reading the EULA from time to time.

"Autodesk's entire liability and Your exclusive remedy under the limited warranty provided in this Section 5.1 will be, at Autodesk's option, to attempt to correct or work around errors, to replace the defective media on which the Software is furnished, if any, or to refund the license fees and terminate this Agreement. "

I am not advocating any legal action. I just think Autodesk Employees defending this is pathetic. They should be telling the people over at Revit that there are numerous upset users and they should be communicating to those users not getting defensive. We have every right to criticize this and I would expect a certain level of professionalism from the people at Autodesk. I guess they are more out of touch with the industry than I thought.

[Mr Spot]

Sounds like I was lucky I didn't work last week... Hopefully a new build will be out shortly if its not already...

[clog boy]

Did anyone visit the support pages (http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/item?siteID=123112&id=10458150&linkID=9243099)?
Summary: change your month to anything but January 2008 during the fault-prone operation. But first close date-dependent applications such as Outlook. Do your thing, reset the month to January, repeat.

EDIT: According to our reseller setting the date back or forward more than a month might damage your license file. Not sure about floating license, I think these depend on the server time.

[Hulston1982]

I am unsure if we are going to be able to change the date on our system as our computers are controlled from a central location by our IT department, but was wondering that if we were able to change the dates would this affect our worksets?

If we were to change the dates on our computers do we have to set the date and time to the same on all computers using the worksets etc......

If anyone could let me know it would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Alex

[clog boy]

That's a very good point. I think save-to-central comes with a timestamp, however I'm not too sure either. Autodesk mentions nothing about that on their support page. I understand they recommend to only change the date during the faultprone operation and have Outlook closed for that duration.

If this is going to be an issue please test using a copy of your existing project. Let us know what happens.


I found out a minute ago that the Communication center mentions this bug. So Autodesk can rightfully claim they did in fact inform their users.

[patricks]

I don't suppose anything like this happened back around version 5.1 or 6, around the first of 2004?

[cphubb]

I do not recall anything like this in 04.

Of course they can claim they informed the users of the problem. What about the solution? I cannot change my date as it screws up my timekeeper, phone, and the server changes it back a minute or so later. I have to disconnect from the network, turn off the PDA synch and set the clock back, edit the group, reconnect to the network save the file and turn everything back on. Not really a good option for the 10 plus groups we have loaded. To work around right now, I have converted all of them to links and am going that way, but I now have to have several sessions of Revit running to edit them. Very ineffecient and problematic. For those of you who cannot set your clock back, see if IT will let you for a short time and convert all to links.

[independentdrafting]

So it's Monday morning at 8:20am and it has been 5 days since this bug has been discovered. Autodesk, any updates? I would guess you would be working around the clock in order to resolve this major bug.

And I am sorry, but giving everyone a workaround to setting our clocks back is not the right work around/solution as these forums have made that very clear.

[Eric Stewart]

I don't suppose anything like this happened back around version 5.1 or 6, around the first of 2004?

I just did a quick test and set my clock back to 2004 and ahead to 2012. The leap year bug exists in those years as well. Just and interesting fact that the work around posted will not work in (apparently) any leap year January.

[Scott Davis]

I don't suppose anything like this happened back around version 5.1 or 6, around the first of 2004?

We didn't have "Save to Group" in 2004.

[patricks]

We didn't have "Save to Group" in 2004.

Right, but this problem is also affecting the creation of a new project without a template.

I was just curious if the current version at year-end 2003 had any of the problems we've seen with 2008 at year-end 2007.

[bmadsen]

Nearly 10am PST Monday (USA) and still no word on a fix. The support page (posted Jan 3) says "As of February 1st, 2008, this issue will no longer occur."

Are we to assume the "fix" is to wait until February?

[Wes Macaulay]

No -- they'll have a fix by midweek if I know these guys -- they are currently pulling their hair out. There will be a fair amount of stress behind the scenes as the folks at the Factory figure out how to get this fixed ASAP.

They won't make us wait till February to fix this! :roll:

Oddly enough, we are not having the same problem in my office...

[cphubb]

Is it 2008 in Canada yet? lol

[Wes Macaulay]

Oh look -- now I can reproduce the bug, too.

I was talking to a buddy of mine this AM who's a senior programmer at a large CRM software developer here in Vancouver. He told me that getting updates to their software posted to the internet takes four weeks because of all the legal work involved in the distribution process. And they're big, and distribute to Europe, Asia and the Americas...

[ErichB]

I would like to let everyone know that Autodesk is aware of the problem and is currently working on a resolution. The problem is caused by some code written to address the leap year. The good news is once we get to February, the problem goes away. The bad news is we are in the beginning of January. Until we have a solution, I recommend that you temporarily adjust your system clock to get past the point that is causing the crash and then set it back.

We hope to have a resolution to this problem soon. Thanks for your patience.

I just re-read the entire thread and in the post above from Scott he states that they are currently working on a resolution. At no point does Scott say that they are simply waiting until Feb. 1 to resolve the issue.

I think we are all just a little stressed trying to get work done when many of us have worked really hard to convince colleagues that Revit is a valid option for document production.

That being said, I really do hope that AD will have something soon as we are definitely experiencing a slow down in production speed as a result of this glitch.

[wmullett]

I was talking to a buddy of mine this AM who's a senior programmer at a large CRM software developer here in Vancouver. He told me that getting updates to their software posted to the internet takes four weeks because of all the legal work involved in the distribution process. ...

The fact that AD had a suggested work-around posted as quickly as they did would make me believe the legal work is NOT an issue.

I'm betting / hoping that we see a fix shortly. For now, our IT department says we can try the work around but we are setting our date back - not forward.

[mmiles]

this problem extends beyond group editing.

In our office one person cannot open his workshared file (ironically stored on the network), though I can open my own copy. And, when trying to open a file saved in an older format an error occurs and revit shuts down. It seems random to me, in these regards.

[scott.latch]

I am happy to announce that Autodesk has fixed the “Y2K8 bug”!

We just posted a new build (20080101_2345) of Revit Architecture 2008, Revit Structure 2008, and Revit MEP 2008 that fixes the problem. It is still considered Web Update #3 because replacing the existing file was the fastest method of delivering it to the public. Therefore, the executable file names are the same as the previous build (20071109_2345).

We have updated the Web Update Enhancement Lists to add the following items:

Improves stability when editing groups, saving views/groups to the library or creating a new project with template set to “None”.
Improves stability when upgrading or linking a project from Autodesk Revit Building 8.1/Revit Structure 2 or older.I would also like to inform everyone that we are only releasing this fix in the English version. Because of the time necessary to localize the update for the other languages, it would not be ready before February 1, 2008 when the problem will go away.

The Web Updates can be downloaded by going to:

RAC: www.autodesk.com/revitarchitecture-download (http://www.autodesk.com/revitarchitecture-download)
RST: www.autodesk.com/revitstructure-downloads (http://www.autodesk.com/revitstructure-downloads)
RME: www.autodesk.com/revitmep-download (http://www.autodesk.com/revitmep-download)

Thanks to everyone for their patience while we work through this problem.

[independentdrafting]

A HUGE THANK YOU FROM EVERYONE at Reno C. Negrin Architects including myself!!!

[bmadsen]

Thank you Product Support!
Sending you a couple of days of sleep - so you can catch up.

[jstamps]

Thank you!

[dbaldacchino]

Hmmmm, those that have found pleasure in griping and telling everyone how much money they're losing aren't around now to thank the guys at the Factory for getting us a fix in such a short time period. How ironic....thanks Factory.

[Wes Macaulay]

Heh -- you said it, David. They've come through again. It was a nasty bug to be sure, but they responded quickly -- for most people this was the first workday back in the saddle!

Those who were worried about naysayers in their office now get to tout how quickly Autodesk responded to the problem.

[clog boy]

Hmmmm, those that have found pleasure in griping and telling everyone how much money they're losing aren't around now to thank the guys at the Factory for getting us a fix in such a short time period. How ironic....thanks Factory.
We're paying customers who put very much, if not everything, on the line to help make the BIM revolution happen. Should we expect anything less? I think it's ridiculous that Revit can't be patched like most other software. Instead we have to re-install the entire program and change our file location settings. And for what? For a problem that shouldn't have happened in the first place.

Now that's out of my system, I'm pretty much amazed by the speed Autodesk tackled this issue. I installed the new build and now we can actually do what we paid for (and what I get paid for) again.

[jetisart]

Hmmmm, those that have found pleasure in griping and telling everyone how much money they're losing aren't around now to thank the guys at the Factory for getting us a fix in such a short time period. How ironic....thanks Factory.

Perhaps if you consider a time difference factor between your and mine parts of the World you will find that there is no need for the nastiness... Besides - they didn't do us any particular favour - not in my book anyway - we well paid for it in advance, didn't we? They simply fixed what was a malfunction of their product.

HOWEVER!!! However I do appreciate and thank all the people in the Factory for their VERY PROMPT remedy. Good work!!! :beer:

[Chad Smith]

I think the crux of this thread is that the solution in the official response (http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/item?siteID=123112&id=10458150&linkID=9243099) was to gut it out for the month. What should have been added in this official response was that the issue is being further looked into and if the solution is found before the end of the month then an update will be made available.
So, was there a lack of communication from Autodesk, and a permanent solution was in the works? Or was the swift solution nothing more than a response to this thread?

Either way, it's good to see it solved promptly 8). Autodesk still needs to do a better job in the communication department with their Communication Center. Not all their customers read these forums.
BTW, while I got the message in the CC after I manually checked it, the Balloon Notification doesn't work. I read about it here before in the CC.

Ed: At the time of writing this (12 hours after a solution), the CC or the official response (http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/item?siteID=123112&id=10458150&linkID=9243099) page still haven't been updated with the permanent resolution.

[jetisart]

...BTW, while I got the message in the CC after I manually checked it, the Balloon Notification doesn't work. I read about it here before in the CC.

Same with me - only by chance I read about this here and about a half an hour later it hit me... I couldn't open any of my older files from an archive CD. Do you know what kind of panic I would be in if I didn't read about this just before? I would be sure that all my archive is corrupt... A macabre thought...

[aspy]

"Jack of all trades, master of none"

Autodesk is company who is competent with many skills but is not outstanding in any one.

[clog boy]

"Jack of all trades, master of none"

Autodesk is company who is competent with many skills but is not outstanding in any one.

I hope it isn't true, but I'm inclined to feel the same way. But you should agree there's nothing else like AutoCAD. I can imagine it's hard to build and maintain something like Revit. Then again it's hard to be a single-product company like Nemetschek. It's never easy, either way. A company validates it's existence by the way it coöperates with customers to achieve the best product possible. So what do they need harder, experienced programmers, excelent support personel or a great marketing and distribution method? I think Autodesk masters all.

So why is Revit such a PITA at times? If it was easy to get it right, there would be far more products like these and Autodesk would already be engineering the next step in BIM revolution.

For now I consider Revit 'as-is', and not how I think it should be. All in all they did a great job fixing the problem and provide a workaround that works in roughly 80% of the cases. The communications center only updates so often, depending on user settings, but the information was there and easily accesible for people looking for a solution.


Not disregarding my previous statement(s), this is my official stance. To me there's no two ways about it. EDIT also major kudos to the AUGI community for providing constructive feedback.

[jtobin.68416]

I am happy to announce that Autodesk has fixed the “Y2K8 bug”!

We just posted a new build (20080101_2345) of Revit Architecture 2008, Revit Structure 2008, and Revit MEP 2008 that fixes the problem. It is still considered Web Update #3 because replacing the existing file was the fastest method of delivering it to the public. Therefore, the executable file names are the same as the previous build (20071109_2345).

We have updated the Web Update Enhancement Lists to add the following items:

Improves stability when editing groups, saving views/groups to the library or creating a new project with template set to “None”.
Improves stability when upgrading or linking a project from Autodesk Revit Building 8.1/Revit Structure 2 or older.I would also like to inform everyone that we are only releasing this fix in the English version. Because of the time necessary to localize the update for the other languages, it would not be ready before February 1, 2008 when the problem will go away.

The Web Updates can be downloaded by going to:

RAC: www.autodesk.com/revitarchitecture-download (http://www.autodesk.com/revitarchitecture-download)
RST: www.autodesk.com/revitstructure-downloads (http://www.autodesk.com/revitstructure-downloads)
RME: www.autodesk.com/revitmep-download (http://www.autodesk.com/revitmep-download)

Thanks to everyone for their patience while we work through this problem.

I think this is excellent responsiveness by the Revit team, and would like to thank the Factory.

John tobin

[jyoungner]

I thought that I was not affected with the work that I was doing. This morning I figured out that I was. Thank you for the new build to fix my grouping problems!

[cphubb]

Hmmmm, those that have found pleasure in griping and telling everyone how much money they're losing aren't around now to thank the guys at the Factory for getting us a fix in such a short time period. How ironic....thanks Factory.

Daivd,

Those of us who complained (rightly so) are still trying to catch up the work we had to put indefinitely due to lack of response and communication from Autodesk. I am thankful for the fast fix but am hesitant to let them off the hook for an error that cost me at least 12 hours of extra work and lots of headaches. An error that should not have happened in the first place. Did they think 2008 was not going to get here? Date compliance is one of the easiest things to test for in software, I have done it many times. No real excuse here, and those of you defending them must not be paying the bills or you would be more incensed.

BTW David, there was no pleasure here I assure you

[Joef]

I am happy to announce that Autodesk has fixed the “Y2K8 bug”!

We just posted a new build (20080101_2345) of Revit Architecture 2008, Revit Structure 2008, and Revit MEP 2008 that fixes the problem. It is still considered Web Update #3 because replacing the existing file was the fastest method of delivering it to the public. Therefore, the executable file names are the same as the previous build (20071109_2345).

We have updated the Web Update Enhancement Lists to add the following items:
Improves stability when editing groups, saving views/groups to the library or creating a new project with template set to “None”.
Improves stability when upgrading or linking a project from Autodesk Revit Building 8.1/Revit Structure 2 or older.I would also like to inform everyone that we are only releasing this fix in the English version. Because of the time necessary to localize the update for the other languages, it would not be ready before February 1, 2008 when the problem will go away.

The Web Updates can be downloaded by going to:

RAC: www.autodesk.com/revitarchitecture-download (http://www.autodesk.com/revitarchitecture-download)
RST: www.autodesk.com/revitstructure-downloads (http://www.autodesk.com/revitstructure-downloads)
RME: www.autodesk.com/revitmep-download (http://www.autodesk.com/revitmep-download)

Thanks to everyone for their patience while we work through this problem.

Could you clarify which download is correct for Revit "Series" Licenses. There is a download for Revit Architecure "Suite" but I am not sure if this is the same thing.

[Steve_Stafford]

They did respond/communicate. Not accepting or liking the response is not equal to "no response".

This bug is/was inconvenient, unfortunate, unnecessary, avoidable...most mistakes are.

Don't be tricked into thinking Autodesk is infallible, all powerful or has unlimited resources. They are comprised of people just like you and me and we all make mistakes.

Autodesk is not AUGI and vice versa. Autodesk is not obligated to respond to any post in our forums. I'm grateful they do and it is in their own best interest to continue to, as well as improve how and how often they do.

[Steve_Stafford]

...Could you clarify which download is correct for Revit "Series" Licenses. There is a download for Revit Architecure "Suite" but I am not sure if this is the same thing...It is "Suite"...no longer called "series"

[patricks]

The fix is there, so I think everyone should download it, install it, and get on with their work instead of continuing to complain or gripe about what was or wasn't done.

[Joef]

It is "Suite"...no longer called "series"

Thanks Steve, just wanted to make sure.

[Wes Macaulay]

I hope it isn't true, but I'm inclined to feel the same way. But you should agree there's nothing else like AutoCAD. I can imagine it's hard to build and maintain something like Revit. Then again it's hard to be a single-product company like Nemetschek. It's never easy, either way. A company validates it's existence by the way it coöperates with customers to achieve the best product possible. So what do they need harder, experienced programmers, excelent support personel or a great marketing and distribution method? I think Autodesk masters all.

So why is Revit such a PITA at times? If it was easy to get it right, there would be far more products like these and Autodesk would already be engineering the next step in BIM revolution.
Interesting points: and I agree. If it *could* be done, it would have been done already. Autodesk does a good job at everything it does -- better than most of its competitors, I would say. Revit is the best of breed but it's still blazing a trail of its own at this point, so they really are exploring uncharted territory. And they are pioneers in a lot of ways.

Autodesk is made up of human beings who make mistakes, and in our current culture of entitlement we think we ought to be be immune to this. Let's say you doubled your fees and then told all your clients that you'll never make mistakes... would you do it? Regardless of how much we've paid for the software, given the thousands of lines of code in Revit it's unreasonable to assume they can test for all bugs. Just bless 'em for getting the fix to us so fast.

[bowlingbrad]

We didn't have "Save to Group" in 2004.

"Save to Group won't exist in 2012 either!

[Silkie]

Will there be anything for those of us still wallowing in Revit building 9.1?
We are getting the same errors.

[scott.latch]

Will there be anything for those of us still wallowing in Revit building 9.1?
We are getting the same errors.

This problem goes back to when the code was first implemented, which is 9.0. Therefore, it will occur in 9.0, 9.1 and 2008. At this time Autodesk does not have any plans to provide Web Updates for 9.0 and 9.1. Therefore, your options are to use the workaround of modifying your system clock or upgrading to 2008.

[lonnie.cumpton]

Our clock is set by the server as well, but i changed the date upgraded the files before the server knew what happened. Then the server changed my clock back and now the files work fine.

:)