problems installing Mechanica 2001 Student Edition on WinXP

Discussion in 'Pro/Engineer & Creo Elements/Pro' started by Mike Pinch, Feb 17, 2006.

  1. Mike Pinch

    Mike Pinch Guest

    Hi,

    I installed Pro/E 2001 Student Edition successfully on my Dell running
    Windows XP Professional.

    Then I installed Mechanica. It seemed to install completely -- but ...

    When I run Integrated Mech all is well.

    When I try to fly out into Independant Mech, it bombs. The error involves
    "mech.exe"

    Upon further investigation it turns out that the mech.exe fle is empty (it
    is empty at 0 kb, no characters in it binary or otherwise). The mech.exe is
    located correctly in the <loadpoint>\i486_nt\bin.

    Any idea why the mech.exe file is turning up empty? Any help is really
    appreciated!

    Mike
    Seattle, WA
     
    Mike Pinch, Feb 17, 2006
    #1
  2. Mike Pinch

    anycaduser Guest

    The 2001SE version of MECHANICA cannot run in independent mode. The
    documentation (if you have it and read it) will in formyou of this.
    G.A.
     
    anycaduser, Feb 17, 2006
    #2
  3. Mike Pinch

    David Janes Guest

    Care to refresh my memory about what you'd use independent, standalone Mechanica
    for. I really don't recall, but if it was simply producing meshed models, this was
    moved into the main body of Mechanica. At the opening screen, where you get to
    specify Stuctural or Thermal, leave it at the default and check the FEM Mode box.
    From there, you have all the old meshing functionality, including being able to
    export in a number of different solver types.
     
    David Janes, Feb 17, 2006
    #3
  4. Mike Pinch

    Mike Pinch Guest

    David,

    Good question. I am trying to access independant mech because one of my
    models bombed. It could not mesh in integrated mode. I was reading through
    the "summary" file for hints and it said to run independant mech to try and
    mesh it.

    I noticed you mentioned the "FEM" mode box. This appears not to work either,
    on my setup. Is it possible both the FEM mode and Independant Mech mode
    have been dis-abled in SE 2001?

    Mike
     
    Mike Pinch, Feb 18, 2006
    #4
  5. Mike Pinch

    David Janes Guest

    Don't think so; mine also shows mech.exe as zero bytes, but the FEM check box is
    usually available. I can't say 'always' because I might have run into something
    similar to your problem. In any case, you should check into what PTC has to say,
    such as the following article online:
    Suggested Technique for Preparing Pro/ENGINEER Geometry for Successful AutoGEM in
    Pro/MECHANICA
    http://www.ptc.com/cs/cs_21/howto/mst698/mst698.htm

    The point of this is that there are models which are harder to mesh than others:
    ones that mix solids and shells; ones with small features, like holes or radiuses;
    ones that have surface imperfections that show up under 'Info>Geometry Check'. In
    other words, the model itself plays a big role in whether it can be meshed. Also,
    I suspect that most of the advice sending one to Independent mode (such as meshing
    models with a mixture of shell/solid geometry) is now accomodated by FEM mode. And
    if it is not available, I suspect problems with the model itself. Look for Geom
    Checks, for instance. Suppress radiuses and small features. Accuracy values are
    always suspect. Were there any error messages that we could look up? Any thing
    else you haven't mentioned that might be relevant?

    It might be worth, as an aside, considering some of the things that go wrong with
    Mechanica installations, that could account for some functionality not working.
    Hisotrically, there've been numerous but well defined problems with Mechanica
    installations. A couple are worth noting: 1) compiler problems related to some
    Microsoft tools that weren't installed; 2) periodic problems with installing to
    directories with spaces in names (this may have been irrevocably and irreversibly
    resolved by 2001) but led to inability to start aspects of the program. Again,
    error messages would help to identify.
     
    David Janes, Feb 19, 2006
    #5
  6. Mike Pinch

    Mike Pinch Guest

    I think I know what happened. When I try to run "FEM Mode" the prompt
    states that I need to contact my sales rep. We all know what that means in
    PTC terms -- you didn't spend enough money...

    I will try to simplify the original CAD model instead -- there are several
    un-necessary features I can remove for purposes of FEA.

    Mike
     
    Mike Pinch, Feb 19, 2006
    #6
  7. Mike Pinch

    David Janes Guest

    Generally, yes, quite true, but not in this case. You've spent all you can on the
    SE. But that message is often used to tell users the functionality isn't, for
    whatever reason, available. Could be a feature of 2001 SE, just don't remember.
    You must have gotten it for free as I can't think of any other legitimate reason
    for not running WF2 SE. Check JourneyEd or ProEStudent.com, the price is dropping
    as WF3 release approaches. (Mid-March I hear.)
     
    David Janes, Feb 20, 2006
    #7
  8. Mike Pinch

    anycaduser Guest

    Read my original post. Independent mode IS NOT available in 2001 SE
    period. I've been there and done that years ago.
     
    anycaduser, Feb 21, 2006
    #8
  9. Mike Pinch

    David Janes Guest

    So, in Wildfire 2, when I check the box at the opening screen for FEM Mode, is
    that the Independent Mode you're talking about? I thought Independent Mode was
    something different, in fact, the standalone version, launched outside of Pro/e,
    but combining functions of both Mechanica and Pro/e, where you could do
    everything, including modelling. It might have, at one time, been the only place
    where you could mesh models. And what're they expecting you to purchase that
    corresponds to the message that Pinch is getting? I hope we're not talking about
    two completely different things here and getting them mixed up. I know my memory's
    a bit hazy, hell, I can barely remember 2001, though I used both the student and
    professional versions.
     
    David Janes, Feb 21, 2006
    #9
  10. Mike Pinch

    Mike Pinch Guest

    Anycaduser,

    I read you load & clear -- independant mode is *not* available in 2001 SE.

    Thanks,

    Mike
     
    Mike Pinch, Feb 22, 2006
    #10
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