Revit slow saving to SMB share

So you are using Revit, and notice that saving to a SMB share is horribly slow? Is the SMB share on a Domain Controller? When saving a file to the server do you notice 100% utilization of your server disk?

Well, it turns out that when saving a file, Revit uses a mode called "Write Through". What this means is that the "save" will not finish until the entire file has been written to disk. This bypasses any write cache that Windows might utilize. It's even worse if the share is on a Domain Controller since by default Domain Controllers will disable write caching on the disk.

So, this results in extremely slow writes.
The solution? Well, there isn't one really. You have to move the share off the domain controller. Then ensure the disk on the server you are saving to is fast enough to amount of data being written to it.

Help my walls show up on the plan but not the 3D View!

A common problem. So common I decided to write a checklist to follow if an object doesn't show up in a Revit view. This list is not exhaustive, but covers most of the problems we've had so far.

Examine View Properties

• Check view range
• Check region cut
• Check view distance
• Check view co-ordination – use coordination view if in doubt. Remember to mouse over view to cause it to redraw.
• Check view detail fine/coarse – Use fine if in doubt
• Check current render type - hidden line/shaded/realistic. Some materials only display properly when actually rendered.

Examine Object in View

• Check object visibility settings – Ensure no settings are overridden.
  
  • By Element
  • By Category
  • By Filter
• Check object override settings – Ensure no settings are overridden. In particular ensure you are checking the correct pattern. Surface Pattern is different to Cut pattern.
  
  • By Element
  • By Category
  • By Filter
• Examine and remove extra paint applied to object. If in doubt, use the remove paint tool anyway just to ensure nothing is painted on.
  
• Switch view to “Reveal hidden elements” mode, as it may be not visible.
  

Examine Material used

• Examine Material
  
  • Examine use-render appearance
• If surface fill pattern, check draft/model type

Examine Object Properties

• Examine if using correct external/internal layers
• If it's a wall, check its orientation, if the internal is facing out, then the wall will need to be flipped so the external layer is outside.
• Check which phase the object is in.

Check Revisions or Work Set

• Check which revision or work set the object is in; ensure your current view matches.

Java Logger losing it's handler

When you set a handler for a java.util.logging.Logger class, you must ensure you store that logger in a static object somewhere, otherwise the JVM can garbage collect it at any time. Because it can be garbage collected, one minute you might have perfectly formatted output, the next it'll go back to it's default.

Waking up a Dell Workstation using WoL

The trick to getting a Dell workstations like the T1600 to wake up using WakeOnLan packets is to DISABLE "Deep Sleep" in the BIOS. If that is turned on, the network card is actually disabled, making it unable to recieve WoL packets.

Convert your Revit Project to to a 3D interactive PDF

Required software

MikTex - To generate the PDF
MeshLab - To generate the U3D file to go inside the PDF
Autodesk FBX Convertor - To Convert the FBX files to something MeshLab understands.

Procedure

1. Export your file from Revit to FBX
2. Convert the FBX to DAE Collada format using the convertor.
3. Load the .DAE file into MeshLab. Use Meshlab to edit the file to your preference.
4. Export to U3D. Meshlab will even generate the .tex file for you.
5. Using TexWorks (part of MikTek) open the .tex file and hit the go button
6. Your PDF is now ready. Enjoy. Anyone with Acrobat Reader 7 or above should be able to view it.


For customization of the 3D output and the PDF file, you'll have to teach yourself some Latex and read this documentation. http://www.ctan.org/pkg/movie15

iTunes download slow

Trying to download a movie or song and iTunes says it'll take 9hours on your 24mbps connection?
Check your DNS server, if it's google (8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4), try changing it back to your ISP DNS, flush your cache, and restart iTunes. I did, and it solved my download problem instantly.

The problem seems to be with the way DNS resolvers return hosts when using a CDN(Content distribution network, like Akamai). iTunes uses a CDN to serve data from closer sources to you, but when using the Google DNS, the Google DNS may return a different CDN host for the iTunes data, then your local ISP (who may even cache the iTunes data). So the returned CDN host from Google could be anywhere in the world.

Google is aware of the issue, but there isn't much they can do about it at the moment since it's a limitation in the DNS protocol.

Windows 7 Update Issues

Upgraded my Windows Vista 64bit to Windows 7 64bit. Went perfectly except that some updates wouldn't install properly and kept throwing error 800B0100.

I tried the solution by Microsoft, didn't help. In the end I deleted the contents of "C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download" and ran the update again and Success! updates installed properly.