Submitting Diagnostic Reports

Use the ZBrush Diagnostic Utility included alongside the latest versions of ZBrush programs to help our Support team analyze factors that lead up to any issues you may have had while using ZBrush, including crashes, hangs, or suspected bugs, or other poor stability behaviors.

Diagnostic reports are not necessary for all support tickets, however there are some instances where we will be unable to assist if you do not provide one, and providing one at the start of a troubleshooting correspondence can sometimes help resolve a ticket faster than one without it.

Not only does this tool help the ZBrush support team determine the cause of your issue, but also gathers information that can lead to changes in future releases which may help prevent the issue from recurring for you and any other users facing the same issue. 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.

How do I submit a ZBrush Diganostic Report?

Follow these steps to generate a diagnostic report:

1. Close your ZBrush program (ZBrush, ZBrushCore, ZBrushCoreMini)
2. Go to the folder you've installed ZBrush to
3. Head into the Troubleshoot Help directory and launch the ZBrush Diagnostic Utility
   • If you can't find the ZBrush Diagnostic Utility, download it from here, which will install into the Troubleshoot Help folder of the highest version of the ZBrush program is on your system.
4. 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), and opens that folder so that you can easily access the report.
5. Once the report has been created, attach it to your support ticket.

What does a ZBrush Diagnostic Report include?

A diagnostic report includes:

• 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.  
  • 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.
• Logs created after a crash
  • Each session of ZBrush keeps a log of activity in the order it's been done in. This activity includes what buttons have been clicked or what settings have been used.  
    • If ZBrush is properly closed (i.e. not a crash or force quit), this log is automatically deleted.  
    • If ZBrush crashes, the log remains, and is included in the Diagnostic Report.
  • These logs allow us to see exactly what steps led up to a crash, and is a more accurate recording of steps to reproduce certain issues than what otherwise would be relayed by memory.

A diagnostic report does not include:

• Any personally-identifying information.  
• Any data that can be used to reproduce the model you were making 
• Any specific interactions you had with your canvas/model

Data Privacy 

Maxon takes customer data privacy very seriously.  We are therefore very selective about what information is included in a crash report and when that data is collected.

We do not share diagnostic reports (or any customer data) with any third parties.  Diagnostic reports are strictly between you and Maxon.  

The Support Utility only launches when you specifically request it, at which point it collects the data outlined above and nothing more. None of this data is collected until the utility is run, and nothing from the report is sent to Maxon until it has been submitted by you in a Support Ticket.