I have been experiencing a repeating bug in both CorelDRAW and Corel Photopaint. The bug works as follows:
If the program has been running more than a few minutes, it will crash without any notification or error message when accessing the color selector dialog boxes. This happens in both Draw and in Photopaint. The app does not issue any form of warning (aside from freezing momentarily) and just exits, resulting in the loss of all work that has been done since your last save. I have tracked the problem down to a couple of DLL files which throw a .Net exception code. The same errors happen regardless of whether you are using CorelDRAW or Photopaint. The offending DLL's are CrlClr.dll (part of the color subsystem for the Corel suite) mfc140u.dll (part of .Net). The error code is almost always the same, regardless of the offending DLL: "0x c0000005" My primary system is a dual Xeon CPU (twin E5-2670's) with 128GB of ECC RAM, an SSD main drive and dual Quadro 2000's, running Windows 10 Pro (64bit, all updates current). The same problem happens on other machines I have tried the app on (several different machines from Core i7's to i5's with RAM ranging from 8GB up to 16GB, all running Win10 pro), so this is not an issue isolated to my personal hardware. The same exact silent crash happens on all of them, and the same DLL files and error codes are reported in Windows' logs.
This is a show-stopping error that has cost me hours of work and lost money as a result. The problem is repeatable and from what I have seen, it is common with other users in these forums.I contacted Corel tech support by their support chat and the person on the other end had the nerve to tell me that CorelDRAW 2019 is not compatible with Windows 10 Pro, even though it states quite plainly on their website that it is compatible and the fact that literally no professional or business machines run Win10 "home" edition. It was easy to tell that the person honestly had no idea what the problem actually could be and was simply trying to get rid of me. I then tried to talk to tech support on the phone. I was barely through my explanation (see above) before the lady told me that the problem needed to be elevated and that her supervisor would call me back shortly.
THAT WAS A WEEK AGO. I have yet to hear back from Corel on the matter.I have been using CorelDRAW since version 3. Literally for DECADES. I have NEVER seen such a bug that was so easily repeatable and show-stopping. This problem has persisted through THREE updates now. It seems like a relatively easy problem to track down and fix, and given the number of people it effects, I find it mind boggling that Corel has not done something about it yet.What is going on? Why can't you fix this major problem with your software, Corel? You are losing customers over this. You need to make it a priority over adding features or even smaller non-critical bug fixes.
I spoke to soon. There was a change in the behavior though. Instead of a blind crash, the app froze solid and was completely unresponsive. This happened as soon as I tried to access the color dialog while changing the color of an object. One thing I have noticed is that if Photopaint is not opened while Draw is running, Draw seems to be more stable. However, once Photopaint is started, even if it is later closed, it's simply a matter of time until Draw crashes. Could there possibly be some common memory address or DLL file in memory that the two are trying to simultaneously access, causing the access violation at the heart of the crash? I know that they share a few DLL files between them.
Quick question... is it possible to have TOO MUCH RAM for Corel? Most machines have far less than what this one does (128GB of ECC DRAM installed - most have a maximum of 64GB of NON-ECC DRAM). Could the error correction built into the RAM and memory controller on this machine be causing an issue since it detects things like apps trying to access areas they are not entitled to as an error? The machine was designed as a graphics workstation for high end 3D rendering and CAD (which is another of my job functions), and the board/RAM is basically server grade hardware. It seems unlikely since the app is 64bit and therefore theoretically capable of addressing at least 4TB of RAM, but I suppose if the programmer took shortcuts on memory management/garbage collection, it's possible that too much RAM could be an issue. I have observed the app using as much as 19GB+ of RAM in the past when working on detailed vehicle wraps and such.
TessaTheTerrible, please submit a ticket with the Customer Support Services team again, indicating that this is a followup to an earlier escalation. They should be able to trace back to your original ticket. You can submit a ticket from the Support page on www.corel.com.Then, please email me the ticket number (either old or new).Sharon(sharon.potts@corel.com)
Too bad you have to waste time trying to figure everything that could possibly be "wrong" with your system, then ultimately find out later that nothing wrong at all with your system. Just have to wait and see huh?
It's simple... prior verisions work JUST FINE on the same machines... always have... v2019 does NOT. (try it, and let us know!)
It's not your system, it's things done DIFFERENTLY in CorelDraw v2019. To be fair, it could also be something introduced by Microsoft Windows 10 and their continually updates... but CorelDraw 2019 supports Windows 10.
v2019 had DRASTIC changes compared to prior versions. It's NOT a finished solid piece of software. It's obvious these changes and new features are not ready.
Very anxious to see what Corel resolves for you as your case is similar to mine and others here.
Update: I have been running CorelDRAW all day without any issues so far. Coincidentally, I also have *not* run Photopaint concurrent with CorelDRAW. I am beginning to wonder if the problems I am encountering are somehow tied to running both programs at once. If they share certain DLL files (which they do) then they may be trying to access the same memory address simultaneously which could be the source of the conflict. Error c0000005 (the recurring error) is an access violation error, so the theory would seem to be plausible.That being said, this is not an acceptable solution to the problem. One of the primary advantages of Corel over Adobe is the integration between the different apps in the suite. Without that interoperability, Corel loses it's main selling point for me.