[RobBanks]

Hello readers.

I have a problem here. I was running a simulation in CFX Solver and then there was a blackout and it ended abruptly without finishing appropiately. There is still some information there but I cannot restart the run from the point it ended unexpectedly. I know there still information because when I select to monitor a CFX Solver run in progress icon and choose the directory of the run that was going on, I can see in the monitor workspace all the graphics and the outer loop iterations that were taking place, up to the very moment the blackout happened, so there is information there.

All I have now is the .dir file and the .out file but no .res .trn or .bak file to use.

This run had been going on for 5 days now and I really want to recover most of the data if it is not possible to recover it completely.

Any advice, tip or information on this topic would be really appreciated, as 5 days of work are too much time to be just ignored...

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[Lance]

If there are no .trn, .res or .bak files in the folder I think you are out of luck. The reason you see monitors and information on iterations is that they are written to other files (mon and *.out).

A five day simulation without intermediate backup files sounds... risky.

[-Maxim-]

I guess the lesson here is: always write .trn files - especially when you live/work in a building/area/country where power outages are a thing.

[RobBanks]

-Maxim- & Lance, thanks for your quick responses and helpful info.

I've been suspecting what you have replied... Thanks for for your help. I'll just have to keep on and restart the work.

I'm quite new to this so, how do I create .trn files? I guess that to create .bak files I'll just have to click on the "save icon" in the solver while the run is ongoing and it will create a .bak file on the timestep that is being run, am I wrong?

What is the difference between .trn and .bak files?

Thanks for your help to those of us who are beginners. http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ima...ons/icon14.gif

[RobBanks]

Originally Posted by Lance

If there are no .trn, .res or .bak files in the folder I think you are out of luck. The reason you see monitors and information on iterations is that they are written to other files (mon and *.out).

A five day simulation without intermediate backup files sounds... risky.

Isn't any procedure I can follow to save or use the information that is still there? because on the "pending tasks" directory file that was created after the blackout ended the simulation, there are more files than the ones in the .dir of the corresponding simulation... I don't know, I just thought there would be a way to somehow retrieve some of the data...

[-Maxim-]

Originally Posted by RobBanks

I'm quite new to this so, how do I create .trn files? I guess that to create .bak files I'll just have to click on the "save icon" in the solver while the run is ongoing and it will create a .bak file on the timestep that is being run, am I wrong?

In Pre, go to 'Output Control' --> Trn Results --> create new 'Transient Results 1', select variables of interest, and choose an output frequency. I, for example, have every set 5 Timesteps (Timestep Interval). Check 'Include Mesh' in case you would like to work with the *.trn results. (For example have a look in Post at the *.trn files while the simulation is still running) Each *.trn file gets bigger when you include the mesh, though. In my case, each *.trn file is 1.5GB. So use that option according to your calculation time and hard drive space. 5 timesteps with 5 inner loops are 30 minutes calculation time in my case.

Pressing the 'save' button in solver manager creates a backup file for the timestep you are currently on but I am sure you don't want to set your alarm every half hour at night to press that button

Originally Posted by RobBanks

What is the difference between .trn and .bak files?

For steady state, it is called 'Backup' in Pre and creates *.bak files.

[-Maxim-]

Originally Posted by RobBanks

Isn't any procedure I can follow to save or use the information that is still there? because on the "pending tasks" directory file that was created after the blackout ended the simulation, there are more files than the ones in the .dir of the corresponding simulation... I don't know, I just thought there would be a way to somehow retrieve some of the data...

no, the calculation results are saved in *.bak, *.trn and *.res files. That's why those files are bigger. If you don't have any of those, you are out of luck.
The other files are just control files and log files for the solver.

[RobBanks]

Thank you, -Maxim- for your helpful replies.

You have given me information I did not know and that I intend to put into practice.

I learnt how to create backup and transient result files now. Hope this helps me to prevente losses again.

Thanks a lot!

[RobBanks]

Thanks -Maxim- & Lance for your help, I've got another question: after finishing a run, it saves all the .trn files in a directory under the same name as the recently ended run.

After it ends, and after I already get the .out and the .res files for the run, may I delete the directory which contains all the .trn files? or will it affect the completed run somehow?

I ask because there are so many .trn files and the directory is 11,8 GB size, so... it is quite much! I would like to delete them... Is it adviceable to do so?

[-Maxim-]

I think you can delete them without any problems BUT:
With ONLY the *.res file, you only have the full result of the LAST timestep. In case you want to do animations or examine other timesteps, you will need the *.trn files. For example when you want to make an animation of how your vortices build up and move downstream and disperse again etc.

In my project, the *.res file alone is 12 GB and the folder with the *.trn files is 200-300 GB

[RobBanks]

Originally Posted by -Maxim-

I think you can delete them without any problems BUT:
With ONLY the *.res file, you only have the full result of the LAST timestep. In case you want to do animations or examine other timesteps, you will need the *.trn files. For example when you want to make an animation of how your vortices build up and move downstream and disperse again etc.

In my project, the *.res file alone is 12 GB and the folder with the *.trn files is 200-300 GB

Ok, thanks... Wow so 11.8 GB is not quite as much as I thought haha