Trouble getting Arc Hydro to work

[ElleryKlein]

I have installed ArcHydro about three times now, the latest being the version I finally found via FTP (instead of a link on an ESRI page) version 2.1.0.54.

I am using ArcGIS 10 which is running on VMWare Fusion, Windows 7.

Each time, the problem is the same: ArcHydro Tools do not load into the toolbox automatically, which they are supposed to according to the documentation I see. I manually added them. I am able to turn on the toolbar in ArcMap under "Customize."

When I run a tool, namely the very first exercise in the ArcHydro tutorial exercise (Level DEM) I get a very long error message which starts:
[INDENT]Level DEM: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMExc (0x80041099)
Error 010328...
Error 101267...
......
Ends with:
C:\BUILDS\HydroSolutions\10.0_ArcHydro\Sources\ArcHydroTools\SRc\ApHydro\ArcHydroOp. vb: line 9629
[/INDENT]

Any ideas on what is not working right? I have already deleted temp files and background processing under geoprocessing options is disabled.

Thanks much, I would love to work with these tools for a final project for a GIS Certificate, but not getting very far with that plan!

[MarkBoucher]

I've always had good luck downloading and running the HEC-GeoHMS install file from the Corps of Engineers http://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-geohms/download.html. There is a version for ArcGIS 9.3 and one for ArcGIS 10. The install file installs ArcHydro (and all other utilities needed for ArcHydro) and GeoHMS. There are some useful tools in GeoHMS that are absent in ArcHydro.

HEC-GeoHMS is written by ESRI for the Corps. My impression is that the Corps reviews the version before posting it on their website so it is likely a stable version. There was a time that I was frequently downloading and installing ArcHydro from the ESRI ftp ( ftp://ftp.esri.com/ArcHydro/ ) in hopes that some of my problems with ArcHydro would be fixed with the latest version. Then I was told by someone on the ESRI ArcHydro Team that the versions in the ftp folder were versions in the development stages and they may not all be stable. I do not know if that is still true.

[ElleryKlein]

Thanks Mark. Uninstalled the 3rd version of ArcHydro that I had tried (the FTP-downloaded version from ESRI) and just installed the Army version you recommended. Still having the same problem, however, same error numbers and all.  Thanks for the suggestion anyway...!

Ellery

[MarkBoucher]

Sorry you're having trouble.
Sounds like a job for one of the forum Senior Members or ESRI support staff.

[V_StuartFoote]

Ellery,

Hmm, how are you integrating your Fusion VM Windows session into OS X, not running under Unity are you?  Do you also have a functional BootCamp instance you could work from? Esri will flat out NOT answer any support issues if you are running Fusion, Parallels or Virtual Box. And of course you should be aware that ArcHydro users are expected to be self supporting--although the Water Resources team is happy to receive legitimate bug reports.

If installed correctly, ArcHydro is pretty robust under native Windows, although I'd disagree with Mark about using ArcHydro version found in the Corps of Engineers HEC served release of GeoHMS, or their GeoRAS posting.  The "development" versions from the ftp site of these and the ArcHydro releases have bug patches applied as they are uncovered. Considerable delay in the patched releases finding their way back to the HEC site.

Quite a bit of installation help to ensure your ArcGIS Desktop 10 is configured correctly--one of the biggest issues being insufficient user rights elevation to fully register all COM assemblies--disable UAC on your VM or activate THE Administrator account and install from it. Another issue being exhaustion of registry resources during installation--have to pre-set registry to its maximum size (search forum for RegistrySizeLimit - 0xffffffff).

And if the ArcHydro installer runs correctly, you will have an ArcHydro entry present from the Customize --> Toolbars to use to activate the Extension. And you will have ArcHydro tools registered into the ArcToolbox with no additional configuration needed for use.  Have another go at an installation, uninstall ArcHydro and then download and run the ApRegWork utility ( ESRI.APWR.ApRegWork.exe ) from the ftp site--use it to fully remove residuals of your prior installations. Then run the latest ArcHydro (or GeoHMS) .msi installer from the ftp site  "Run as Administrator", or as THE Administrator of your Windows VM.

Post back if any of that is unclear, or if you follow it all but are still stuck.

Stuart