Maya 2020.4 unusable on Ryzen machine

I am running mostly max for my work but just today got a request from client to do Maya project.

I am running Ryzen 3950X with RTX3090 with the Autodesk certified version of the driver. XMP and all overclocking features are set OFF in the bios.

Maya 2020.4 is completely unusable as moving UV island makes the software crash in about 2 minutes.

So I tested same with my Mac in which Maya is rock solid, doesn’t crash at all. This is how it’s supposed to run.

Also 3Ds Max is not stable in this machine.

But then, everything else is stable, including Blender, Substance, ZBrush and so on.

I asked game companies here in Japan and 99% of them all run Intel workstations, literally nobody uses AMD here.

So I think I might give up on AMD. Any thoughts?

Have you talked to autodesk support about it?

Yes, unfortunately they are not very helpful.

First thought would be to completely disable C-states. That’s what I would do if it crashes a lot at idle or sudden load.

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This is a case where I’d say

Run intel
Move on

Sucks, but time is money and you’ve got work to do. The fact that autodesk support are no help diagnosing = just run what is known to work.

The cost of your hardware pales in comparison to the cost of the software, lost productivity etc.

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Good point. Yes, if I can avoid this kind of situation by paying money, it makes sense.
for example this issue:

But there really is next to no content online that suggests that Autodesk software would have issues with Ryzen. Curious.

If I was to buy decent Intel CPU and motherboard, which one would you recommend?

ive used autodesk 3dsmax on a ryzen and it works fine. its the same base engine used in maya, so at a guess its a maya extension rather than maya that has the issue.
also make sure you have all the vc-redist libraries 2005-2017 and all the directx versions from dx9c. dx10 jun 10, dx 11.
then lastly update maya if theres a hotfix. if it has a hotfix applied already try uninstalling it. as some of them have causes issues in the past…

you have all the motherboard drivers installed? (used both setups in the right order) with amd there’s pre-driver software for installing the other drivers.

oh and lastly make sure your install is less than 30 days old if your running a pirate version. if its not, the keygen while it does work for install bawks after 30 days causing autodesk to crash after a couple of mins regardless of what your doing.

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I suspect you’re dealing with a fairly small niche (and by that, i mean those that have the budget for these packages but build their own rather than buying pre-built workstation hardware).

Most people running Maya/Autocad/3DS max, etc. likely buy a name-brand workstation box that is mostly guaranteed to work with the software.

Build your own and you’re entering into unknown territory.

Same with server stuff, and why EPYC is taking so long to eat intel’s lunch despite the performance advantages. It’s no fault of AMD, but there’s a bunch of expensive, mission critical software out there with weird quirks and we’ve had 10 years of intel domination in the workstation space.

As an end user, it doesn’t matter who’s fault it is either, you just need it to work.

edit:
i guess i am also in a round-about way suggesting to get something like a prebuilt DELL precision workstation or HP Z series too. These combinations of hardware are battle-tested and if your product doesn’t work on them, you can point your finger at autodesk or HP/DELL and say “sort it out!”.

BYO component level build? You’re on your own. BYO is great for home use; in a production environment where time is money its sometimes simply more trouble than its worth.

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Good points, thanks for those. I tried both 2020 and 2022 and 2020 has the hot fix. Same behavior on both.
I also tried clean install Windows and Maya to a spare SSD. It crashed less but still crashed with the same Unhandled Exception. Still too much to live with.

This is true.
One interesting test might be to buy Intel processor and Intel Mobo and move my other hardware to it and do complete wipe.
500 dollars for CPU and another 300 for mobo would get me somewhere I guess.
But I worry if I am just to realize that Autodesk is buggy no matter what.

It seems that most companies use Corei7 here.
But again there is no enough data to really prove point.
I was working in company before with intel machine and Maya crashed and corrupted the workfile. But this was significantly less than what I am seeing.
The most joyful was the recent occasion when Max corrupted the work file AND one iteration old backup.

This is interesting option.

Given you’re seeing corruption id run some memory tests and storage stress tests.

An application crash should not corrupt backups.

Ryzen may have nothing to do with it. It could be faulty components or bad overclock etc

There is no overclock. I did run memtest and left it running over weekend.
I was thinking what if I buy this?
It’s old Xeon https://www.amazon.co.jp/Fujitsu-Celsius-J550-Workstation-E3-1225/dp/B08VF2YMZ6/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=xeon&qid=1618320964&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzSU1FVVhUVlRNOVhKJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDg4NTkyMVkxNkE1R1MzSlhXTCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEyNlI1QjFZWk9SMUdJJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfcGhvbmVfc2VhcmNoX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

This is real possibility, good point.
However I am not seeing Windows crashing at all. I don’t think there has been a single BSOD this entire year.

Could only occur when under stress for whatever reason.

Just throwing it out there - maybe worth trying to find someone close by who has a similar spec ryzen machine and try your software on it to try replicate the issue.

If it doesn’t happen on their ryzen machine but does happen on yours it could be a component problem (board/cpu/etc.).

Again though this is the sort of crap you sometimes run into when doing build-your-own workstation. I’ve seen it happen with intel builds too for what its worth - some driver doesn’t play nice with the app, etc. Sometimes its worth just buying a known-working common workstation pre-built because you just know it should work.

As per one of the videos @wendell posted a year or two back - computers barely work and its scary how broken they are yet held together with chewing gum and sticky tape. Software is often made to deal with the right combination of hacked together garbage** hardware (e.g., a common workstation pre-built) and if your combination of “garbage” isn’t quite right it all falls over.

** as per above, all hardware is garbage to greater/lesser degree these days. its full of janky hacks to make it work

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Well said! I also feel buyers remorse after throwing 2500+ dollars for 3090, especially if I am to ”upgrade” to HP Z workstation with 2GB quadro in it just because it doesn’t crash Maya all the frigging time. 3090 sitting idle only for occasional FS2020 session if I only had the time…

Given you’ve got the hardware, i’d be trying to get someone else with Ryzen to test it. Maybe even worth trying to engage AMD to see if they’re aware of it.

You shouldn’t have an issue offloading the 3090 though in this market, surely :smiley:

edit:
what PSU do you have? 3090 can draw a heap (and the 3950X can too?)… maybe power draw related under load? would also maybe explain the storage corruption - insufficient power to complete the in-flight writes when the PSU can’t keep up, etc.?

If you’ve got a spare lower power GPU that will run the software maybe swap out the 3090 just to test?

Or maybe power limit/underclock the 3090? Set power slider to -50% in afterburner or something? Just to identify whether the crashes are power related?

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What are your PSU specs? NV’s power management is very aggressive and can cause problems if the PSU can’t respond fast enough to sudden spikes in draw from bursty workloads.

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