Submitting Diagnostic Reports

Any software can crash or encounter other issues, and those that push your computer's resources hard are especially likely to have this happen.  The ZBrush development team takes great care to make our software as stable as possible but there is no way to prevent these problems altogether.  

With ZBrush 2020.1 and ZBrushCore 2020.1 we introduced a Support utility called the ZBrush Diagnostic Utility.  

• With current versions, you can go to your installation folder's Troubleshoot Help directory to find the ZBrush Diagnostic Utility. 
• If the utility is not present for you, download it from here.  Once installed, it will be located in your highest version ZBrush (or ZBrushCore) installation's Troubleshoot Help folder.)

Important: ZBrush/ZBrushCore/ZBrushCoreMini must be closed before you actually run the report utility.  

This tool is meant to help the ZBrush support team determine exactly what might have caused your issue or crash, allowing us to better help with certain types of Support situations.  The information gathered can potentially lead to changes in future releases that prevent the issue from recurring for all users.  It is especially valuable with crashes that seem to happen for no apparent reason.  As we compare reports from various users, we can look for patterns that can lead to finding a solution or developing preventive measures.

We recommend that you provide a diagnostic report with any Support conversation where you believe you are encountering bug, are experiencing frequent and unpredictable crashes, etc.  If you do not include a report with your conversation and the Support team feels that it will be of use, we will request that you do so before we attempt to assist you further.

What a Report Includes

Maxon takes customer data privacy very seriously.  We are therefore very selective about what information is included in a crash report.  We also want you to know what that info is so that you can feel comfortable when submitting your report.  Additionally, we do not share customer data -- including diagnostic reports -- with any third parties.  Your report is strictly between you and Maxon.  

We do not actively monitor your computer.  The Support Utility only launches when you specifically request it, at which point it collects the data that will be submitted.  Nothing at all is sent to Maxon until you actually submit the report as an attachment to your Support Ticket.  This means that you can opt out of the reporting system by simply not submitting any report.  (We would be greatly appreciative if you did submit it, however!  And of course, there are some tickets where we will be unable to assist if you do not provide the report.)  

Also, the default report does not include any personal data whatsoever. Submitting a diagnostic report will not subscribe you to our newsletter or set you up to receive any other marketing emails.

Information included automatically:

• Software version number
• ZBrush/ZBrushCore directory (installation) location
• Computer name
• Operating system (Windows or macOS)
• Operating system version number
• CPU model
• CPU cores
• Total RAM
• Virtual Memory path
• QuickSave path
• An inventory of inconsistencies in your ZBrush/ZBrushCore directory.  This does not tell us everything that is in your application folders.  It only looks at the files that are essential for ZBrush/ZBrushCore to function and changes made within the ZStartup folder.  Even there, it will only mention a file if one of the following is true:
  • A required file is not present.
  • A file has been added since installing ZBrush/ZBrushCore.
  • A required file is the incorrect size.

After the utility has finished gathering the necessary information, it creates a text file in your ZBrushData20xx\support or ZBrushCoreData20xx\support folder (where the xx's denote your specific version number).  It then opens that folder so that you can easily access the report.

About Crash Logs:

During each ZBrush session, it keeps a log of the actions that you have taken such as, what buttons you have clicked and what settings you have used.  When you close ZBrush, that log is automatically deleted.  If ZBrush crashes, that can't happen and so the log remains.  

Diagnostic reports automatically include these left-over log files.  The sole purpose of this is to allow us to ksee exactly what steps -- or combination of steps -- led up to a crash.  This is invaluable for troubleshooting as it is going to be more accurate than any reproduction steps that you might be able to produce by memory.

Again, the crash log doesn't contain any identifying information.  In fact, it can't even be used to reproduce what you were making.  It shows us button clicks and settings changes, but not the specific interactions you had with your canvas/model.

To Submit Your Report:

1. Download the appropriate Diagnostic Utility for your software, if necessary.
   • For ZBrush 2021.7.1 and above, this utility is already installed in your ZBrush installation's Troubleshoot Help folder.  You do not need to download it and can skip directly to step 3.
2. Install the utility.
3. With ZBrush (or ZBrushCore or ZBrushCoreMini) closed, go to your Troubleshoot Help folder and run the diagnostic utility.
4. Open a Support ticket or (if one is already in progress) reply to your existing ticket.  
5. Be sure to attach the .zip file generated by the diagnostic utility.

Note: If your computer does not have internet access, please copy the diagnostic report to a USB stick or other portable media.  Take that to a computer that does have internet access.  

Thank you for using ZBrush!