Installation & update
About program installation and update, hardware, operating systems, setup, etc.

Can't open multiple instances of Archicad

Anonymous
Not applicable
This might be a hardware issue, but if anyone else has run into this problem I'd appreciate any input.

I recently had some work done on my computer (work computer, not "mine" per say). I believe they replaced the logic board, maybe more. Since then, I've been unable to open more than one instance of archicad at a time. I never had this problem before, and it's really annoying because a lot of my job involves copying from reference files or referencing other projects.

Any thoughts?
7 REPLIES 7
henrypootel
Graphisoft Partner
Graphisoft Partner
We really need more information to be able to help you I'm afraid.
Please describe your problem in terms of 'I do this, this happens' etc..
Also, we need to know what version you are using, what operating system you are in etc..
I assume that you are on a Mac because you refer to the motherboard as the 'Logic Board', so you could try making a copy of the ArchiCAD application bundle (just call it ArchiCAD2) and running that as your second session.
Josh Osborne - Central Innovation

HP Zbook Studio G4 - Windows 10 Pro, Intel i7 7820HQ, 32Gb RAM, Quadro M1200
Karl Ottenstein
Moderator
What OS are you using, Tim - Mac or Windows?

Are you saying that it fails to start a separate instance even if you check the box in the open dialog that says 'open in a new instance of ArchicAD' (or something like that)?

Karl
One of the forum moderators
AC 27 USA and earlier   •   macOS Ventura 13.6.6, MacBook Pro M2 Max 12CPU/30GPU cores, 32GB
Anonymous
Not applicable
So I'm having some issues as well. I can open multiple instances of AC11 however, when I do the second instance is basically un workable. I can barely move the mouse. I had no issues before I got a new PC.

I upgraded to a dual CPU machine running two quad core 2.0ghz intel processors (8 CPU's essentially) with 2 gig of ram. Its the Dell t5500 if that helps. I have no idea if its a hardware issue but whatever it is its really slowing down my productivity. Any thoughts?
Karl Ottenstein
Moderator
caddidle wrote:
... two quad core 2.0ghz intel processors (8 CPU's essentially) with 2 gig of ram.
That is hardly enough memory for 8 cores. You must be experiencing a lot of disk activity from virtual memory.

Bump up your main memory to 4 GB minimum, and if you have a 64 bit version of Windows, even more. Verify that your hard disk on the machine is a fast one and defragment it.

Karl
One of the forum moderators
AC 27 USA and earlier   •   macOS Ventura 13.6.6, MacBook Pro M2 Max 12CPU/30GPU cores, 32GB
Anonymous
Not applicable
Update:

I have since increased my ram to 8 gig from the 2 and nothing has changed. I've managed through some software updates and a new video card to get it to be a bit better. Howerever, the issue is still not resolved and lied primarily with ArchiCAD and no other software. the machine is blazing fast but for some reason if I use the find command, it freezes my instance of archicad for at least a minute and a half if not longer. Everyone else in the office runs lesser machines and has had no issues at all. its something very odd and I'll be sure to update this once I get to the bottom of it. I may abandon this machine. My time is worth too much to troubleshoot it to death. I'd love any thoughts from others.


Claude

Dell T5500 dual quad core 2.0 Ghz 8 gig ram quadro fx 580 WD black 1TB drive. Windows 7 64 pro. Archicad 13 64
Anonymous
Not applicable
I am on a Mac with Lion and having the same issue. When I try to open a another instance of Archicad, I check the box, and the new instance comes up in my dock, bounces a few time then sits there without opening.
Anonymous
Not applicable
Chadamus wrote:
I am on a Mac with Lion and having the same issue. When I try to open a another instance of Archicad, I check the box, and the new instance comes up in my dock, bounces a few time then sits there without opening.
What version of Archicad are you using? You might create a signature for your user that indicates your current set up...

I have had a similar issue to this in AC15 but this always happens in AC14. The work around I've found is to open a New Project (create a new instance of Archicad) and one this opens just use that one to open a previous project (without new instance checked). For some reason opening an existing project (new instance) in AC14 in Lion doesn't work.