intermittent issues connecting Creo 4.0 with Windchill on one laptop

[kstephens]

I am using Creo Parametric Release 4.0 and DatecodeM150

Having strange issues with one client laptop running Creo Parametric 4.0 M150 with Windchill PDMLINK 12.0. The issues seems to be intermittent. I have tried everything even uninstall and reinstall but the issue continues on this one laptop?
I ran the diagnostic tool referenced below. I'm scratching my head on this one PLUS no support from PTC as they stopped tech. support on Creo Parametric 4.0 2 years ago. Our upgrade to Creo 8, 9, or 10 is not scheduled until 2024, YIKES!

Any insight would be very much appreciated!

Cheers,
Keith

Advance Instrustion set 8
Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Platform Type x86e_win64
System Precision 3571
Processor Manufacturer GenuineIntel
CPU Number Of Cores 14
Speed MHz 2400
L2 Cache KB 4096
RAM MB 32768.00
3GB Switch true
SWAP GB 4.75
DISK Label C:
Size GB 953.21
Available GB 658.52
FileSystem Type NTFS

Graphics Information
Name NVIDIA RTX A1000 Laptop GPU
Vendor NVIDIA
Version 31.0.15.2667
Graphics Information
Name Intel(R) UHD Graphics
Vendor Intel Corporation
Version 31.0.101.3251

[BenLoosli]

Let's start with the basics: Creo 4 is NOT supported with Windchill 12!

Why did your company upgrade Windchill and not consider the proper Creo upgrade that is supported?

[kstephens]

Hello BenLossli,

Firstly thank you for your quick response. PTC help with the upgrade and everything has been working wonderfully. The issue at hand is this one laptop not the other 25 laptops. 

In terms of why upgrade Windchill and not Creo, well we were forced to upgrade Windchill Intralink to PDMLINK because the license file terminated and PTC would not issue a new license file.. We do have a global initiative underway to right our wrongs.

Have a nice day,

KEITH

[StephenW]

remove all company/user config.pro, config.sup, customization.ui file and retest.

Test with a different user login or admin login on the computer to eliminate problems with user permissions.

Sometimes drivers or updates overwrite or corrupt files they shouldn't or so possibly need a clean windows install to eliminate other system type errors.

Yaa, you are way out of support. I feel for you, we are on Creo 6 with no plans to upgrade and no current support maintenance and meanwhile we do have current solidworks and inventor software and support.

[kstephens]

Thank you StephenW, 

I like the idea of removing the files and drivers. Will give it a try! We are committed to PTC with no plans to move to SW or Inventor.

Have a nice day,

KEITH

[kstephens]

What's interesting is the first time I launch Creo in a Windchill connection/session, no problem, but if I close Creo and then relaunch it again,

I get this platform agent error????

[dnordin]

Some items to check/test in no particular order, and not necessarily specific to your issue:

1. Does the user have an environment variable setup for the nmsd.exe port? Delete it.
2. Does the user have the Windchill cache area defined differently than other users? Like on a network drive vs. local.
3. Does the user have other software on the machine that is network intensive?
4. Does the user have both hardwire network connections and wireless running at the same time? Disable one.
5. If the user is using a docking station/port replicator, update all the software related to it.
6. If the user is using a docking station/port replicator and the hardwire network is connected to it, disconnect it and connect it directly to the laptop.  Some docking stations/port replicators have their own network card (vs a pass through). We've seen this cause issues with other tools.
7. Start Creo Parametric, open a system window from within Creo Parametric and type "set >c:\temp\env.txt". Do this on another machine and compare the resulting env.txt files. Look for any odd ball environment settings.
8. When you start Creo Parametric the first time and it connects without issue, run the task manager, go to the details page, show the command line column and sort by the command line. Take a snapshot of what is running from the Creo Parametric installation area. Close Creo Parametric and run it again. If there is a connection issue, take another snapshot from the task manager and compare with the other snapshot.
9. If there has been a newer Creo Parametric version installed on the machine at any time, the Creo Services (platform and agent) may be from that newer install. We had issues with different 4.0 versions running on the same machine. The older versions didn't like the newer services. You can uninstall the Creo Services without uninstalling Creo Parametric. Run "creosvcs_64.exe /uninstall /quiet /norestart" assuming you use the default installation folder. Even when we completely removed Creo Parametric via the control panel, we still needed to use the command listed to remove the Creo Services so the OS doesn't think it's still installed. We only had this issue with 4.0, not newer versions.
10. Run Wireshark or similar program to capture communications between the PC and the WC server.
11. Have the user check in, or at a minimum upload, any new/modified objects, and then delete their local WC cache area.
12. If the user is running via VPN, check the network path the user ends up with. We have multiple VPN configurations (NE, Atlantic, West Coast, etc.). If the user is directed to the wrong setup, their network speed can be adversely affected.
13. From a DOS/CMD window, run "tracert <windchill server address>" to see what the network speed is from the PC to the WC server. Compare to other machines.
14. If you're using the chromium based browser in Creo Parametric, enter "chrome://version/" in the address. This will list information regarding the browser version including the cache path. Exit Creo Parametric, delete the cache folder, restart Creo Parametric.

Regards,

Dan N.