Docs / Appendix D
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause and fix |
|---|---|
| Path Tracer TOP is black right after an update | Its pipeline is compiling in the background (a minute or two the first time). A warning on the TOP says so. |
| Operators do nothing or talk to the wrong copy | Two copies of the HRLW Path Tracer DLL are loaded (for example one in Plugins and one from another folder). Keep exactly one, with the other HRLW files beside it. |
| Liquid or smoke trails ghost behind moving things | Raise DLSS-RR Current Frame Bias (smoke, fire) or the moving-glass bias (Output page). |
| Smears and trails behind moving geometry | Put animated geometry in its own HRLW Geometry POP; use Topology: Deforming Only if the point count is constant; turn Motion Vectors From Points off if points are being reordered. |
| A static scene is slow to start | Specialised pipelines compile on first use of a feature combination. Check the Info CHOP pipeline. |
| TouchDesigner hangs | Look at the log file in %TEMP% (and the .prev one from the last session) for HANG: or EXCEPTION. Set Input Transfer to CPU on the HRLW Geometry POP. |
| Windows resets the GPU driver | A single GPU program ran for about 2 s (TDR). Lower Samples per Frame, Resolution, or turn on Dynamic Resolution. |
| Fire does not ignite | The source needs both fuel and a temperature above Ignition Temperature. |
| Smoke fills the box | Raise Open Side Fade or Smoke Dissipation, or use Source Reach / Thin Gas Cutoff. |
| Bodies jitter or sink | Raise Substeps per Frame or Iterations; watch max_penetration. |
| Bodies fall through a collider | The collider must be inside the Collider Box (or turn on Fit Box to Colliders). Open meshes are thin shells; weld or close a mesh to make it solid (Info CHOP collider_open_tris). |
| Fractured glass doesn't break | Break Strength may be 0, or Glue Prefractured Pieces off; press Reset after changes. |
| Wetness or burn does nothing | The geometry needs non-overlapping Tex/uv in 0..1; the Weathering page names the liquids and solvers (* = all in the network); bypassed solvers are ignored. |
| A Fracture POP's pieces don't reach Bodies | Anything between them (Null, Transform) breaks the direct link; wire them straight. |
| A parameter is greyed out | A Material Preset or Quality/Look preset replaces it, the feature it belongs to is off, the input it needs isn't wired, or Box From / Forces From names another solver. |
| A POP named in HRLW Geometry POPs doesn't render | Only HRLW Geometry POPs render; wire the POP into one (the TOP's warning names it). |
| Texture maps don't show | The geometry needs Tex/uv, or turn on Triplanar for that set (the Path Tracer warns). Check Use Textures, Texture Sets and the TextureId / Texture Set the primitives use. |
| The wrong smoke renders | Volume TOP * found several Volume Solvers and used the first (the TOP warns); name the one you want. |
| A burning surface makes no flames, or melt doesn't drip | The Volume Solver or Liquid POP needs Solver Interaction on (the Weathering page warns). |