Solidworks Functionality

[GEARSRTRNIN]

I have had the Space Navigator for a few years. It was working with the older driver in my Solidworks 2008 and 2010. After installing the 3DxWare 10 Beta, it is not functioning in SW 2010 or 2008.

The SN works in other apps like Excel (which is completely awesome!).

Upon starting SW, the "3D mouse news" window pops up. SW recognizes that the SN is connected and it is selected as an add-in under the tools menu. There is a 3dcontrol menu at the top as well with only the "Toolbar" and "customize" selections in black text. All other menu items are grayed out. Neither of the 2 buttons do anything.

I called tech support and they said because it is Beta, I should check here.
Any thoughts?
Win 7 64bit, SpaceNavigator, SolidWorks 2010, Dell Precision T7500

[UtaSH]

Hi GEARSRTRNIN,

there might be some settings left from the previous installation of the driver that do not match with the newer addin. Would you please do a clean uninstall of the driver installation and then re-install the driver?

[ngomes]

Can you check if the demos work? You'll find them in the Start menu (Start -> All Programs -> 3Dconnexion -> Demos).

When you open the "3Dconnexion Properties" panel, do you see your device displayed?

[GEARSRTRNIN]

UtaSH/ngomes,

I did a clean uninstall per the steps listed in the link you provided. I then reinstalled the 3DxWare 10 Beta driver and then reconnected my SpaceNavigator and then restarted the computer. The Demos work. The SpaceNavigator is shown in the upper right corner of the "3Dconnexion Properties" panel. It is working in Excel also.

Solidworks 2010 is exactly the same as it was in my original post. The device is recognized but does not function.

I seem to recall that I had a similar issue when first installing the SpaceNavigator on this Windows 7 64bit computer last year. Could it be a Win 7 security issue? With the previous driver version, I would have to manually start the driver each day from the Start menu.

Thank you for your help on this.

[ngomes]

Could it be a Win 7 security issue? With the previous driver version, I would have to manually start the driver each day from the Start menu.

Are you running SolidWorks with elevated privileges (admin)? If so, the driver will not be able to send data to the application (due to UIPI restrictions). To resolve it you'll need to launch the driver as admin as well ("run as...").

We do not recommend users to run the driver with elevated privileges.

[GEARSRTRNIN]

OK, I got the SpaceNavigator to work in SolidWorks.

1. My company recently purchased and employed the SolidWorks PDM Enterprise software. I discovered that when I open a part file through this program (double click on the file in the windows explorer like interface) it would open in Solidworks and the SpaceNavigator would function.

2. If I opened SW2010 from my desktop shortcut or start menu, the SN would not function.

3. Your clue to the privileges (permissions) helped. With my IT support we tried a couple changes to permissions with no luck (start menu SW folder). Then I tried right click on the SolidWorks executable file under program files, chose properties, Security tab, edit permissions, Users - "Full control" check box and now when I open SW, the SpaceNavigator works perfect.

4. We believe that the PDM software has a built in function that sets permission levels automatically when SolidWorks is started through it. This may explain why the SN worked in that scenario.

I am not sure how to check or change the "3Dxware driver" permissions settings but it is working now. Hopefully this helps you and others. Thank you for the assistance. I am looking forward to the expanded functionality of this interface device.