Sometimes sequence is freezing in edit mode for ~20 seconds - why?

[OnlyOne]

Hello,

i am using TS2017 with c# teststeps for controlling the instruments.

There are no steps in sequencefileload of the model or testplan. So when opening the sequence in the editor there is nothing running.

While doing changes in the testplan (only ~20 subsequences with each ~30 steps) it happens that suddenly teststand is freezing and nothing can be clicked (no menu / no sequence changing / no teststand marking)

This happens while doing normal things like clicking on a teststep

This is then for ~20-30 seconds and after this everything is back normal.

The new PC is Windows 7 with 8GB ram.

What can be the problem here?

Is there a known fix to solve this?

Would a reinstallation of teststand (windows?) help?

Thanks for all help

BR

[Captain_Jack]

Hi BR,

What you describe could be caused by where the sequence file being worked on is located. If it's not on the local hard drive, then network latency can have a significant impact on editing the sequence. This is because TestStand wants to 'touch' the sequence file on disk at every event, even things like selecting steps. We've found that accessing sequence files on the local drive is significantly faster than across a network, where we've seen similar behavior as you describe.

I hope this helps.

-Jack

[OnlyOne]

Hi Jack,

thank you for the idea, but the sequencefile and all dlls are local on the harddisk. Nothing is loaded from network.

The wait/delaytime is (if it happens) always the same time.

But i cannot reproduce it to make it happen.

Do you think a reinstallation of teststand or windows woul/could be a solution to solve it?

Thanks

[Teds]

It sounds like a Windows issue.  Have you seen this happen on any other programs on the laptop?  I have seen issues where my disk usage was getting pegged at 100%. Google this and you will find lots of things to try.

PH

[OnlyOne]

This happens only in TestStand.

While TestStand is hanging i can switch to any other program which are still normal to use.

[Captain_Jack]

Reinstalling/Repairing TestStand might help. And you probably already checked this, but I'm mentioning them just in case:

1. Does Search Directories have any paths pointing to network locations?

2. Are any of the sub-components you know are on the local drive trying to reference something on the network?

3. Just to rule it out completely, disconnecting the machine from any network connections would eliminate this as the problem.

Other than that, the only other thing that I can suggest is to review the TestStand Architecture topic on improving Performance:

https://www.ni.com/en/support/documentation/supplemental/08/improving-teststand-system-performance.h...

Sorry I can't be more help here; every time we've seen this behavior, it's been network related.

-Jack