Troubleshooting

Rendering and Export Troubleshooting

As a software with high graphical and rendering requirements, Tecplot 360 has a few alternative libraries and configurations which allow use on machines which have limited graphics hardware. Some example cases where these configurations may be needed include use on HPC systems, X-Display or other remote desktop solutions.

Sample Interactive Rendering and Export Test

Try these steps. If you have any problems check the OS specific section below.

  1. Start 360

  2. sample data:

    1. Create data from: Data → Create → Create Rectangular Zone.

    2. Select defaults to create the zone

    3. Turn on contour checkbox on the plot sidebar.

  3. Try interacting with the plot:

    1. <Ctrl> + right mouse drag to rotate the plot

    2. click to display the context menu

    3. click and drag to select multiple objects in the plot.

  4. Go to File → Export, use default PNG settings and select a place to save a sample image. Once export is complete, ensure that the image was created as expected.

Linux Troubleshooting for Interactive Rendering and Export

The following is a set of tests to determine what are the best set of rendering command line options for a Linux system. Run each test in order and STOP when a test was successful.

  1. Run tec360 without any additional command line arguments and step through the sample test above. If everything is successful and performant continue to use Tecplot 360 this way.

  2. If any of the sample steps failed:

    1. Ensure your graphics drivers are up to date. If you are using native Linux drivers (usually nouveau) try installing drivers supplied by your graphics card manufacturer.

    2. If you are on the most up to date drivers, try tec360 --mesa, then repeat the sample test above. Mesa uses software rendering and will be slower than using graphics hardware but will be the most reliable software rendering option. See the --mesa option in Command Line Options for additional information.

If you struggled following these steps or none of these solutions worked, contact support@tecplot.com.

Linux Batch Mode Troubleshooting

On some systems with limited graphics resources Tecplot 360 may crash in batch mode. If this occurs run tec360 –b --osmesa.

If you are running PyTecplot scripts in batch mode you will also need to use the osmesa libraries. For example:

tec360-env --osmesa -- python myscript.py

To run these with PyTecplot see the environment setup section of the pytecplot installation notes.

tecplot.azureedge.net/products/pytecplot/docs/install.html#environment-setup-batch-only

Windows Troubleshooting

When remoting to or running on some windows systems, either in rendering the work area or during export, you may encounter an error similar to:

windows mesa

This error indicated that the graphics drivers on the machine are not sufficient. In this case, find the mesa version of the OpenGL library in C:\Program Files\Tecplot\Tecplot 360 EX 2022 R2\bin\mesa\opengl32.dll and copy it to the bin directory C:\Program Files\Tecplot\Tecplot 360 EX 2022 R2\bin. This will enable software rendering for the Windows version of Tecplot 360.

Note that in some cases this same error is presented when exporting images with larger extents. If you are seeing this error exporting images know that in most cases super sample factors larger than 3 show no increase in render quality. As such, try with smaller width and do not go over 3 for a super sample factor.

Mac Troubleshooting

Most, if not all Mac systems, have stricter hardware and software requirements for running MacOS. As such Tecplot 360 does not currently supply any alternative rendering libraries or options today. Contact support@tecplot.com if you need assistance.