I’m a 3D graphics artist who uses Autodesk’s 3ds max software, and I’m encountering a problem that Autodesk believes may be related to my copy of Avast Personal Edition.
When I attempt to network render a sequence of .tif images, I will sometimes get the following error message in my render Server program:
“Task error: Tif Error: TIFFAppendToStrip - \My Workstation\Output Path\Test0000.tif” Tif Error (and occasionally, “Write error at scanline ??” after the filename.)
The network render Server program on my main workstation will then have to re-start the rendering job. My other rendering nodes (which are not running Avast) are unaffected, and don’t have this error.
According to Autodesk, it seems as if either Avast, or (maybe) an anti-spyware program on my computer (Spybot Search and Destroy, Ad-Aware, and/or Spyware Blaster) is interfering with the .tif save/writing process, and causing these errors. (If I’m working in another program and trying to read or write .tif files at the same time the Server is rendering a .tif, I’ll most often get the error.)
If anyone else has seen something like this, or can offer some advice, I’d really appreciate it, because this is seriously affecting my work. Thanks!
Well, the obvious question is: if you pause or stop avast! resident protection temporarily (or maybe only the Standard Shield provider), does the problem go away?
How often does the .tif writing error occur? I mean, if you try to reproduce that (or decide whether stopping the provider worked), do you have to wait (=work) for days, or would it be clear within a few minutes?
Additionally: what operating system do you use? What build of avast! do you have?
My apologies for not posting more technical info about my setup!
I’m running WXP Pro, SP2, on a dual-core Athlon 64 4800 with 4G RAM, and Avast 4.7 Professional (May 2006 edition.)
I haven’t tried shutting down the Avast program while rendering, because my other render nodes are linked to my main workstation via my wireless router (and I didn’t want to leave my main workstation unprotected for even a short time.) However, I’ll try to shut down the Shield provider only and see if the problem occurs. (When it does occur, my render Server program registers an error, and then has to re-load the job, which takes several minutes.)
I’ve looked online for any other program references to “TIFFAppendToStrip” error, and can’t find anything relevant to what I’ve been seeing.