RedenFlow help
Training is not using your graphics card
Training a model is exactly the kind of arithmetic a graphics card is built for. On the processor alone, a job that would take twenty minutes can take four hours. That is the whole difference, and it is why the app mentions it at all.
There are two reasons a card goes unused. They look identical from the outside and have nothing in common: one of them is five minutes of your time, and the other is not yours to fix. Start from the sentence RedenFlow actually showed you.
This one is ours, not yours
The Windows and Linux downloads of RedenFlow are built without graphics support inside them. Your card is fine, your driver is fine, and there is nothing on your machine to repair. The missing piece is in what we shipped.
The reason is size. The version with graphics support in it comes to just under two gigabytes, which is close enough to the largest file we can publish that we cannot ship it reliably, so the one you have is the version without. Training runs on the processor instead. Everything works. Large jobs simply take a great deal longer.
What not to spend an afternoon on
- Checking for updates. There is no newer version that fixes this, and the app will correctly tell you that you are up to date.
- Updating your graphics driver. It is not the driver. RedenFlow says something different when it is, and that is the other section on this page.
- Installing the CUDA Toolkit. It would not help here either.
We are working on offering graphics support as a separate download from inside the app, so that the card in your machine can be used without the first download growing for everybody. There is no date on it yet. If your work depends on it, write to info@redenflow.com and say so, because that is how we decide what comes next.
None of this affects Macs. Apple Silicon graphics are used automatically, from the M1 onwards, with nothing to install.
Your graphics driver needs updating
RedenFlow can use your card, but the driver on the machine is missing or older than it needs. This is not really about RedenFlow: the same machine will be slow in anything that leans on a graphics card.
What to do
- Go to NVIDIA's driver download page.
- Choose your card from the lists. RedenFlow prints its exact name on the Account screen next to Graphics, so you can copy it from there.
- Download the driver and run it. Take the express or recommended option if you are offered a choice.
- Restart the computer when it asks you to.
- Open RedenFlow, go to Account, and press Check again.
You do not need the CUDA Toolkit. If you have read elsewhere that CUDA must be installed for software like this, that advice does not apply here. The Toolkit is a large package for people writing this kind of software rather than using it. RedenFlow already carries everything it needs. The driver is the only piece that comes from NVIDIA.
What the Account screen is telling you
| If it says | It means |
|---|---|
| Your graphics card is doing the work | Everything is as it should be. Nothing to do. |
| Your Mac's graphics are doing the work | Apple Silicon acceleration is on. Nothing to install, and there is no driver to update on a Mac. |
| Your graphics card is installed but not being used | The driver. See above. |
| RedenFlow does not use your graphics card yet | Ours, not yours. See above. Nothing you install will change it. |
| Training will use the processor | There is no graphics card here that RedenFlow can use. Everything works, larger jobs simply take longer, and nothing you install will change it. |
| Checking your graphics | It has not finished looking yet. This is the first second after the screen opens, and it goes away on its own. |
Questions people ask
- Should I install the CUDA Toolkit?
- No, and this is the most common wasted afternoon. The Toolkit is a large package for people writing this kind of software rather than using it, and RedenFlow already carries everything of that sort it needs. Installing it changes nothing here. The graphics driver is the only piece that ever comes from NVIDIA.
- Which cards can RedenFlow use?
- Today, on a Mac: the graphics built into any Apple Silicon chip, meaning anything from the M1 onwards, with nothing to set up. On Windows and Linux the current downloads train on the processor whatever card is fitted, which is the first section above. AMD and Intel graphics are not used for training on any platform.
- Do I have to buy a graphics card?
- No. RedenFlow works without one. Labelling, smart selection and export are all fine. Training is the part that takes longer.
- I updated the driver and nothing changed.
- Restart the computer, then press Check again. A driver installed without a restart is often not in use yet. If Account still says RedenFlow does not use your graphics card yet, the driver was never the problem: read the first section above. If it says anything else, write to us and include everything the Account screen shows, including the AI engine line.
- Why does my Mac not offer any of this?
- Because there is nothing to offer. Apple Silicon graphics are used automatically and there has never been a driver to install. Intel Macs have no graphics acceleration RedenFlow can use, and no download changes that.
Still stuck? Write to info@redenflow.com and paste what the Account screen shows. Every line of it is useful to us. You can also download the latest version.