Photoshop CS and CS2 hangs frequently…

S
Posted By
stephenbarrante
Nov 16, 2006
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468
Replies
15
Status
Closed
For some time now, every mac in our office has been consistently experiencing problems in Photoshop CS or CS2, where the application will just hang for a while (5-10seconds at a time). This is generally indicated by the "Beach ball of death" cursor (as we call it in the office). And doesn’t happen as a result of any specifc action. For instance, you could have just openned up a file and converted the background layer to a layer, OR you could be doing something truly complex and it will hang just the same, sometimes just after selecting another tool!

It’s really frustrating for all of my designers here and there doesn’t seem to be a cure. I can tell you that it didn’t do this in system 10.3. And only really began to be a problem since we upgraded. We are using multiple system install disks as well as multiple program disks, so it would be hard to narrow it down to a bad install. It is also behaving this way on several different machines, from G4’s, G5’s and iMacs. The only consistancy is the OS.

WIth this happening to the 10 of us here, I find it hard to believe that the problem is isolated to just us. However, I have yet to find ANY information regarding this issue.

Has anyone else experienced this, and would anyone anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!
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Buko
Nov 16, 2006
Stephen,

What maintenance is done to these Macs?

Do they run 24/7 or get turned off at night?

Do they all have a second hard drive for scratch disks?

how full are the system drives?

How much RAM do they have?

LenHewitt, "How To Get Help Quickly" #, 4 Mar 2004 8:27 am </cgi-bin/webx?50>

Keep in mind, although people call it the spinning beachball of death its only the computer thinking about what needs to be done, writing files to SWAP. This is why we need to know the answers to the questions I asked.
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Ram
Nov 16, 2006
Do you happen to have an iDisk mounted? Or maybe something is checking the network for a server?
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stephenbarrante
Nov 16, 2006
As far as maintanence, all machines have the latest versions of Photoshop, with all possible upgrades. We are all up to 10.4.8, and have still not noticed any improvement.

Some users run off both their hard drives and servers, so we haven’t isolated the problem to network lag.

I tried using a separate hard drive as a scratch disk to see if that would improve things, and it didn’t seem to help. So we didn’t go out and buy 2nd drives for everyone else.

Most people have anywhere from 6GB to 150GB free on their machines (as do I). I have 3GB of system memory running on a dual 2.3Ghz G5. And I still hang.

Yea.. I know the "beach ball" is just doing what it’s supposed to do, but when you are cranking on a deadline… 15 second delays here and there are REALLY annoying and frustrating, especially when it’s RIGHT in the middle of what you are doing.

Thanks for your help, I appreciate it.
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Ram
Nov 16, 2006
Most people have anywhere from 6GB to 150GB free

6GB is definitely way too little, especially with the scratch drive on the boot volume. That may be the issue in those machines.

Remember that Photoshop has to share its scratch disk with the OS swap file if they’re on the same disk. Partitioned volumes don’t help because there is still only one set of read/write heads.

Figure on up to 35 times or more the size of your largest file for Photoshop scratch disk.

Also, anytime a drive gets to be 85% full, you’re already in deep trouble.

I tried using a separate hard drive as a scratch disk to see if that would improve things, and it didn’t seem to help.

That is extremely hard to believe understand. Normally it makes a humongous difference in Photoshop performance.

Please see the next two posts re periodic, regular maintenance and working across a network.
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Ram
Nov 16, 2006

[Accidental double post deleted by poster]
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Ram
Nov 16, 2006
I still advocate Repairing Permissions before AND after any system update or upgrade, as well as before AND after installing any software that requires an installer that asks for your password.

I have seen software installations go sour because the installer did not find everything as and where it should be.

I have also seen software installations go bad because the installer did not clean up after itself properly and did not leave everything as and where it should be.

This is just my own personal opinion and practice based on my own observations. Others may disagree and that’s OK. I can only base my routines and my advice to others on my own experience and conclusion. I don’t pretend to know why others believe otherwise.

Repairing Permissions after the fact (i. e. not immediately before and after an install) may NOT help.

====

Additionally, if your machine does not run 24/7 so that it runs the daily, weekly and monthly Cron Scripts in the middle of the night as intended by Apple, run Cocktail (shareware) as well.

Cron Scripts are maintenance routines designed by Apple to run on a daily, weekly and monthly basis in the middle of the night.

If you don’t run them, you WILL run into trouble, sooner rather than later.

Here’s an excerpt from the Apple tech doc <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107388>

Mac OS X performs background maintenance tasks at certain times if the computer is not in sleep mode. If your computer is shut down or in sleep at the designated times, the maintenance does not occur. In that case, you may want or need to run these manually.
Mac OS X periodically runs background tasks that, in part, remove system files that are no longer needed. This includes purging older information from log files or deleting certain temporary items. These tasks do not run if the computer is shut down or in sleep mode. If the tasks do not run, it is possible that certain log files (such as system.log) may become very large.
Also, from: <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106978>

The disk activity generated by find is a normal part of file system maintenance, used for tasks such as removing invisible temporary files that are used by the system. It is scheduled to occur early in the morning at 03:15 everyday, 04:30 on Saturdays, and 05:30 on the first day of each month.

Finally, it’s a good idea to run Disk Warrior a few times per year.
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Ram
Nov 16, 2006
This is the boilerplate text I use in connection to saving to a network (please NOTE the part where it explains that normally, it does work, but that it is impossible to troubleshoot someone else’s network remotely, and that’s why it’s not supported by Adobe):

If you are opening files over a network or saving them to a network server, please cease and desist immediately in the event you are currently experiencing problems with one or more files. Working across a network is not supported.

See:

<http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/322391.html>

Copy the CLOSED file from your server to your local hard disk, work on it, save it again to your local hard disk, close it, and copy the closed file back to the server.

Of course, the fact that Adobe does not support working across a network does not necessarily mean it won’t work. It should.

Adobe’s position is that there are too many variables in a network environment for them to guarantee that everything will work correctly in every network, especially given the fact that if something does not work properly, it’s probably the network’s fault, and Adobe has no way of troubleshooting your network.

If you can’t work locally, you are on your own, and if something happens, you’re on your own. If you must work from a server, make sure your network administrator is a competent professional.

When problems arise, a lot of valuable work can be lost.
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Ram
Nov 16, 2006
One more thing:

I have 3GB of system memory running

Make sure you are not allowing the application to use more than 70% to 80% in Photoshop’s preferences. Otherwise you could be starving the OS of RAM.
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Buko
Nov 16, 2006
What Ramón said.

also you didn’t answer what maintenance you do. Running updates is not maintenance. So I guess you are not doing any. Also do you run your macs 24/7?
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stephenbarrante
Nov 16, 2006
I run Disk First aid and repair permissions after every installation.

My machine here runs 24/7, in that, I never put the HD to sleep. Only the display shuts itself off.

The memory is set to 70% in Photoshop.
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Buko
Nov 16, 2006
OK you might also need to clean out your log files and caches with Cocktail or something similar. Also a second drive for Photoshop scratch is mandatory in a production environment. You need at least 60 GB for scratch.
D
DYP
Nov 19, 2006
I have seen to many or maybe bad ICC profiles also cause this kind of problem. Also don’t rule out fonts as another course.
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stephenbarrante
Nov 19, 2006
Okay, I’ll see if cleaning out the log files has any effect. Is it true that cleaning your font caches will delete any of the Font "collections" that I have created to organize my fonts?

I’ve run font book’s utility to verify the fonts that are installed to make sure that none of them are damaged. I also have removed any duplicates.

The fact that this happens across so many of our machines, makes me feel like it’s related to OS 10.4 and the G5s. Both myself and a guy I work with have G4’s at home running 10.4. and Photoshop CS2, and we NEVER get any of the "hanging" that I described before. If it were on only one or two machines I would think it could be related to some bad profiles, or caches, maintenance related issues.

Another thing that supports my point (well, whatever point I’m trying to make), is that there is 1 guy in the design department that is really stubborn about upgrading his machine. If Software Update comes up, you will see about 30 updates he has yet to download. Still running OS 10.3 and Photoshop CS2, on a G5 mac, and doesn’t have any of the "hanging" issues.

So, I guess I’m confused. But I’ll give a few of those other maintenance suggestions a try and see if we can narrow down the problem.
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Buko
Nov 19, 2006
Is it true that cleaning your font caches will delete any of the Font "collections" that I have created to organize my fonts?

No

Do not delete any font databases. database files end with .db

I’m running 10.4.8 on a G5 dual core and it does not hang.
R
Ram
Nov 20, 2006
I’ve run font book’s utility to verify the fonts that are installed to make sure that none of them are damaged.

That is an exercise in futility. That utility will miss a great number of bad fonts. So does FontDoctor, albeit to a lesser degree,

Try FAP (FontAgent Pro).

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