DWG files do nothing or fail
- Who this affects
- Anyone opening or saving DWG files, especially in the Flatpak on a Wayland desktop.
- Why it happens
- Musa CAD reads and writes DWG through a separate converter program, which has to be installed and allowed to run.
Musa CAD does not include a DWG reader of its own. It hands DWG files to a free converter program that turns them into DXF, and then reads the DXF. DWG files explains this in full. Most DWG problems come down to the converter.
“No DWG converter found”
Section titled ““No DWG converter found””No converter is installed yet. This is the quickest fix:
- Choose DWG Setup… from the application menu (the Musa CAD logo at the top left).
- Click Download ODA File Converter… and Musa CAD downloads the free converter from the Open Design Alliance. It sets it up for you.
- Open your DWG again.
If you already have the ODA File Converter or LibreDWG’s dwg2dxf installed, click Browse… in DWG Setup and point it at the program instead.
On Windows, Musa CAD finds an ODA File Converter installed in Program Files\ODA by itself.
In the Flatpak on a Wayland desktop
Section titled “In the Flatpak on a Wayland desktop”The ODA File Converter needs an X11 display. A Flatpak on a Wayland desktop has none, so the converter has to run outside the sandbox. Allow that once in a terminal:
flatpak override --user --talk-name=org.freedesktop.Flatpak org.musacad.MusaCADMusa CAD reminds you of this command when a converter run is refused. The same permission lets the Flatpak use a converter installed on your system: turn on Use a converter installed on the host (Flatpak) in DWG Setup.
“Converter timed out after 120s.”
Section titled ““Converter timed out after 120s.””The converter took more than two minutes. Very large DWGs can be that slow. Try the file again on a less busy computer. If it always times out, report it and say how large the file is.
“Converter exited with code …”
Section titled ““Converter exited with code …””The converter itself failed. Musa CAD shows a DWG import message with what the converter printed. The DWG may be damaged, or saved by a version of AutoCAD newer than your converter knows. Download the converter again from DWG Setup to get its newest version.
The DWG opens, but something is missing
Section titled “The DWG opens, but something is missing”Musa CAD tells you what it could not bring in. Every import ends with a summary like this:
Imported 412 entities on 9 layers (36 block refs over 12 definitions); skipped 3 unsupported (ACAD_TABLE, MULTILEADER).For a DWG, Musa CAD saves that summary in a log next to the file, named like plan.dwg.import.log, and the command line says where. In the Flatpak the summary appears in the command line instead. The object types named after “skipped” are not supported yet. DXF support lists what comes across.
A DWG you saved looks different in AutoCAD
Section titled “A DWG you saved looks different in AutoCAD”Musa CAD saves DWG by writing DXF first and then converting it, in AutoCAD 2018 format. Everything DXF cannot carry is lost on the way. The DXF page lists those parts. If the drawing will go back and forth, keep your working copy as .musa.
If the file is a DXF or .musa file that will not open, see A file will not open.