What could possibly be causing Photoshop CS4 to behave this way??

M

mecca

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 15, 2003
Messages
240
I've been having massive issues with my machine using Adobe Photoshop CS4 since I've had it. My system specs are as so:

- Vista 64-Bit
- 6 GB of ram
- Intel i7 @ 2.67 GHZ / 2.67 GHZ
- GeForce GTX 260

I also want to note I have ZERO issues with any other software, even 3D modeling software (Cinema4D). Working in large 3D files and rendering, etc - everything is fine. So. In Photoshop CS4, the main problem is SEVERE mouse-interaction lag. When I first launch the application, things are okay for a bit. As soon as I start working for longer than 25 minutes (very average stuff too - maybe 3 documents open, etc) it starts to hit.

The lag seems to only affect the canvas area. For example, clicking on actual buttons/interface elements has no lag at all (toolbar, palette windows) and works totally fine. But normal interaction anywhere in the canvas, and it's like there's a major delay before it PROCESSES my mouse input. Let's say I select the Brush tool. I click+hold on the canvas, and NOTHING will happen for about 8-10 seconds. After this delay, finally it will draw something on the screen, and as I continue moving my mouse, it will draw normally with no problems. But once I let go and click somewhere else, the same delay occurs, and I have to sit there holding my mouse button down until it starts to draw on the screen.

This applies to anything else. Lets say I try to resize an object. I hit CTRL+T for transform, it works fine.. then as soon as I start to resize the object with my mouse, it won't actually start doing it for 10 seconds or so... and once it 'kicks in', it works fine until I let go of the mouse button. So the summarize the problem: I click anywhere in my canvas, and my input doesn't "register" for a LONG time, after which, as long as I've been holding the mouse button down the entire time, I can complete drawing normally. But as soon as I let go and click again, same problem.

Even stranger, I HAVE ZERO LAG OF ANY KIND WITH KEYBOARD INPUT!

Now, in trying to debug this problem I've:

- Tried different mice. Same problem.
- Tried using a Wacom pen. Problem happens with that too.
- Upgraded my videocard with the latest drivers. Same problem.
- My Vista64 system has the latest updates, etc.
- Reinstalled Photoshop CS4. Problem still comes back.
- I'm using 2 scratch disks in Photoshop. Doesn't help problem.
- I have OpenGL drawing enabled in GPU settings. Same problem.
- I tried running both 64-bit and 32-bit versions of my Photoshop, and problem occurs in both.
- Photoshop is up to date, and I'm on 11.0.1


Like I said, after only 10-20 minutes of using Photoshop, this lag effect starts to appear. Every time, no matter what. I have to close the program completely, and re-open, and the lag goes away.. but then comes right back eventually. I use Photoshop CS4 at work on a (crappier) HP Core 2 Duo computer with only XP 32-bit installed on it, and this problem has never, ever happened once. So I cannot figure out what could be causing this, but it's seriously destroying productivity.

Any advice would be amazing
Thanks all.
 
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2 things:

1) check and make sure all the latest Adobe updates are installed.
2) Disable Windows Vista themes. In fact, set your windows theme to "Windows Classic" and try running with it for a while.

Adobe CS4 uses your graphics card to accelerate a lot of the drawing functions. Windows Vista and Windows 7 both use the 3D card as well for simple window management (funky window animations etc). I've had trouble int he past with certain types of video playback when using these themes, and disabling them (reverting to Windows Classic theme) usually fixes them.
 
- All adobe updates are installed
- The probem still occurs when using Windows Classic theme, it makes zero difference

Disabling openGL: This actually makes things even worse, but immediately. If I turn off openGL and restart Photoshop, it's instantly running like total crap. Like drawing a big selection on the screen is unbearably choppy, etc.
 
edit > preferences > performance > advanced settings > disable all of them
 
I've already done that.

That's the way it's been the entire time. Same problem.

And the problem happens with them checked on as well.
 
Scratch disks are good and I have just as many fonts on my home machine as I do on all of my older/inferior workstations.

Again, I have ZERO other lag in the program - like applying filters/effects/etc are all fine. It's literally all based on this mouse interaction crap.

If I have a layer selected, and move the layer using my ctrl and my arrow keys, it works instantly. The lag is ONLY when I'm interacting with a mouse/pen/etc. The mouse action doesn't actually happen for like 10 seconds after I click, and once it 'starts', it will work fine until I release the mouse.

And I have absolutely no problem like this in any other program. Illustrator, InDesign, Cinema4D, etc. Just Photoshop CS4.
 
Again. The lag ONLY occurs as soon as I click anywhere. It will literally freeze for like 8 seconds.

THEN, once it DOES 'kick in', assuming I'm still holding the mouse down...... I can start moving it around, and the brush/selection/whatever will operate at perfectly normal speeds.

This isn't like some weird laggy refresh rate, its more like imagine when you turn an old TV on - it takes a while for the screen to come on, but once it does its fine until you turn it off. Exact same thing for this, only its every mouse click.
 
change the scratch disc to the main drive where CS4 is loaded, even if it is the OS drive, and see if the problem persists.
 
Imagine this scenario:

- You click Brush tool
- You click and hold down on the canvas
- 8-10 seconds later, the brush finally draws on the canvas
- I start moving the mouse, and it draws totally fine and at normal speed, no lag WHILE drawing
- I let go of mouse.
- I reclick... same exact freezing delay before the input 'registers'.

This scenario occurs for EVERYTHING involving mouse input. Another example:

- Click CTRL+Transform, a selection box instantly appears on my layer
- As soon as I click with my mouse and start to drag, it freezes for about 8 seconds
- Finally it 'kicks in', and if I keep moving my mouse, it will operate at a normal speed
- Problem comes right back as soon as I reclick

If I select a layer, and hit CTRL+LEFT for example, the entire layer will shift instantly with no lag. In fact, everything else in Photoshop is totally fine. Filters will draw at perfectly normal speeds. Files open at fine speeds. Etc.

This unbearable lag is literally COMPLETELY isolated to interacting with a mouse/tablet on the canvas area, and only on MOUSE_DOWN events. Once the delay passes, it will be fine until I let go of the mouse and reclick. This problem makes it impossible to do anything at any normal speed.
 
do you get hard disk activity at the same time you press the mouse button on the canvas?

Bring up the task manager and see if the CPU pegs when you do what you do to get it to lag.
 
are you working on like a super super huge canvas ? and have a huge brush or something ? lol that lag is kinda normal right ?
 
Any chance it has anything to do with reduced clock speeds for 2D/low 3D/high 3D and Adobe perhaps not interacting properly with the drivers? Maybe use something like GPU-Z to watch your clocks before and after it hits.

I have a similar set up, except a Q6600 and PS CS3 and I've never had anything but smooth operation (so far). CS3 doesn't use OpenGL as much, but it's still a factor.
 
I have been tearing my hair out with the exact same thing - even doing a purge --> all from within ps didn't help. I'd just have to restart ps, and then after about 15-20 minutes of working, it would happen again, and I'd have to save, quit, restart.

I'd be curious if you figured it out...
 
Interesting problem. I've not experienced that myself on Vista 64. I wonder if Adobe still offers technical support for CS4.

I would try running Process Monitor and seeing what happens with the system when the lag starts to occur. You could also send Adobe the log. Good luck!
 
Hi.
Is there any solution in the meanwhile?
I have had exactly the same problem with all versions since CS4. That is, cs4, cs5, cs5.5, and now cs6 started again. This under Win2008 and Win7 x64. Very Very Very frustrating!
Now with CS6 is actually worse, because I start to experience this lag after just 5 minutes after I start it. And it is progressive - gets worse and worse as the program stays on.
Photoshop is literally unusable! I've been using the old CS4 as it seems it didn't suffer all that much or often, but I didn't use it that much anyway.
CS6 started couple of days after I installed it. It seems some specific action I do on the canvas triggers this behavior, and once triggered, no restart will make the program usable again, until the entire system is restarted, again - just for a couple of days.
I can't believe this bug persisted for 4 versions and more than 5 years! Adobe is helpless.

I see the thread is 3 years old, could it be a graphics driver issue, not having been fixed as of 2010, but fixed in the latest driver iterations?
This thread seems to be one of the few I found that describe the problem with absolute accuracy as I experience it.

Edit: I've done everything I could possibly find on the interhet, updated drivers to latest versions etc. Nothing affects this @&#$% problem!
What could possibly be different 2-3 days after I start the computer, in regard to photoshop?! This is driving me plain crazy and costs me MANY weeks of frustration and sleepless nights chasing this problem.
I'm with AMD processor and Nvidia GPU, a friend is Intel/ATI and suffers the same - we couldn't remedy this for years!
 
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To summarize after days of experimenting and chasing this problem (actually smouldering for years).
I've made several changes in settings in Win7, drivers etc. whatever I could imagine, updated Flash, and other software that might have had anything to do. The problem persisted at least until last night.
Today I decided to spy on Photoshop's windows messages (WM_MESSAGE events) as a last chance to pinpoint what could be the culprit, eventually to track the mouse down messages down to the system component that is blocking it for some time.
I already have Visual Studio and started Spy++ x64 with the intention to setup the spy process. Started PS x64 and WTH.... the problem was gone, totally, absolutely no lag no matter how intensively I click inside the canvas - for the first time in 9 days of computer uptime!

I guess Spy++ has done something to the messages queues somehow just by running it.
Maybe not a real solution and maybe the problem will surface after another 5 days, but if just running Spy++ would solve it for another 5 days, I'm perfectly ok :) .
Clearly WM_MESSAGE problem somewhere, maybe mostly Adobe's fault, but I guess they just use some method of interacting with the system that brings some obscure driver bug to the surface after a small system uptime - for some drivers and/or hardware.

Edit: After another 3-4 days the problem returned and this time Spy++ doesn't seem to help at all. I don't know, something else must have had something to do with the resolution. All non critical processes are stopped, and no idea what the h** is this and what causes it. :(
 
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What seems to have cured the years-lasting issue so far, are two things I changed from the last time. Although still cannot be sure if it's gone for good and/or which of the things I've done so far could be called the remedy, but so far it is working perfectly, after 6+ days of Windows uptime.

First, I disabled the HPET in BIOS (high precision event timer) which was causing the OS to use a 25MHz timer (obviously in my case 25MHz HPET with roots somewhere in the CPU or something like that, while the real HPET in most modern systems is 14.3MHz but it seems the exact frequency doesn't matter as the author here is using relatively modern system) for all its internal timing needs (and applications').
Now the OS is left using the standard PMTIMER (~3.6MHz).

Second, I stopped using the monitor sleep function - in Windows power management I set the monitor to sleep to Never, for the experiments. I just use the physical button on the monitor to turn it off at nights.

So far, so good. In my previous 3 restarts since Jan 2013, PS was starting to lag just 4 days after reboot. 3 times in sequence. Now 6+ days and no sign of the issue/lag.
Hope finally this is the end of my 4 years grief with Photoshop. I'm still holding my breath though.
 
Nobody have had this problem?
Now, after 36 days of uptime, Photoshop started to lag again :( .
I'm really out of ideas, this thing really drives me crazy for years!
 
tedych said:
Nobody have had this problem?
Now, after 36 days of uptime, Photoshop started to lag again :( .
I'm really out of ideas, this thing really drives me crazy for years!
Click to expand...

This may not be the right forum for an advanced question about Photoshop. Have you tried www.dpreview.com? Lots of flaming goes on there, but there is also a critical mass there of helpful people.
 
x509 said:
This may not be the right forum for an advanced question about Photoshop. Have you tried www.dpreview.com? Lots of flaming goes on there, but there is also a critical mass there of helpful people.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I'l see there.
I keep writing here because this thread was the only one I found on the internet that describes the problem exactly as I have it. I'm pretty patient and have asked about this problem in many forums, with no viable answers for the past 3-4 years. I guess I'll have to just get used to this somehow and that Adobe will never fix it, unfortunately (they didn't do it for 5 years).
 
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