GPU enhancement issues with ATI Radeon X1900 XT

[Mike_M...@adobeforums.com]

Upon startup, PS CS4 turns off GPU enhancements and displays the following error message:

"Photoshop has encountered a problem with the display driver, and has temporarily disabled GPU enhancements. Check the video card manufacturer's website for the latest software."

Problem is, according to all the research I've done, PS should be perfectly compatible with my Radeon X1900 XT card. To further complicate things, ATI does not appear to have driver updates for Radeon X1900 cards for Intel Macs on their website. Even a Google search doesn't seem to bring up any sites with the drivers. It's maddening!

Is anyone having similar problems, or can anyone offer advice? All Adobe and Apple support seem to recommend is updating my drivers, but of course that doesn't seem possible. Thanks!

[Ramón_G_Castañeda@adobeforums.com]

There have many many reports of problems with x1900 card. Some of them have to do with malfunction because of high temperatures generated by the card, other posts suggest variances among individual samples of the cards.

Are you 100% certain that your particular code supports OpenGL 2 and Shader model 3? What does the temperature sensor of the card tells you?

[Super...@adobeforums.com]

There was an update to the card from Apple some time back. Firmware I imagine, I forget exactly.
Check this:
<http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/firmware_hardware/atiradeonx1900xtfirmwareupdate.html>

[Mike_M...@adobeforums.com]

It was a firmware update. Doesn't solve the problem, unfortunately. Thanks anyway for the suggestion.

[Mike_M...@adobeforums.com]

I'm sure my card supports OpenGL 2 and SM 3. Might be a temperature issue though. I can get the GPU enhancements to work by re-enabling them in the Preferences window right after I start up or come out of sleep mode, but after the computer has been running for a while they stop working again. How can I read the temperature sensor of the card? It doesn't come up in any of the temperature monitoring utilities I've tried.

[Ramón_G_Castañeda@adobeforums.com]

Mike,

Are you sure your card has a temperature sensor? Have you already tried downloading Temperature Monitor? That utility certainly shows me the graphics card temperature.

[Jeffrey...@adobeforums.com]

I have the same card and I had the same exact issue last summer during beta testing. Have you opened your machine and looked at your graphics card? I did and was surprised at how much dust and lint had accumulated in the intake for the card's fan. I would clean that out and also install smcFanControl. I'd make a point of running your entire System cooler so that the card's fan doesn't have to run as much.

No guarantees but I can't think of anything else I've done that would have made the problem go away.

[D...@adobeforums.com]

I think as a whole the GPU enhancements in PSCS4 have some problems. I have seen it with Radeon X1900 XT card card and also the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT.

In fact I find myself going back to CS3 to get real work done. I haven't really brought this up yet as I still need to take the time to do real trouble shooting in regards to plugin loading, fonts memory settings etc. I have started a clean install partition but have not gotten around to installing PSCS4 yet.

[Ann_She...@adobeforums.com]

People's experience with CS4 does seem to depend on their video card, their operating System and their platform.

I am using a PPC G5 running OSX 10.4.11 and have had totally smooth sailing with CS4.

I originally had a virtually new ATI 9600 Pro card in my machine but replaced it with the only card known to work with CS4's OpenGL on an AGP-bus Mac: a flashed-for-Mac nVidea 7800GT.

There seem to be many more problems with video cards on the Windows side than on the Mac side but you might want to be sure that you install one of the cards which have been tested and approved by Adobe if you want to use the OpenGL features in CS4.

Otherwise you could just stick with the card you have; and use CS4 in its standard form — without activating OpenGL.

Either way, you get ACR 5.3 and Bridge CS4 and those alone make the upgrade more than compelling as far as I am concerned.

[Ramón_G_Castañeda@adobeforums.com]

I'd make a point of running your entire System cooler

Second that.

[Tom_C...@adobeforums.com]

I'm having a slightly different problem, but it fits in with what others are saying. I upgraded to CS4 the other day, and starting that night my system (a Mac Pro with the Radeon x1900 card) I have had issues with my display - that is, sometimes the display won't work after waking from sleep. The display is a 23" Cinema.

The rest of the system is fine (I have a laptop so I can peek in and control it remotely), and everything is just as I left it. The display itself responds to being turned on and off using the power button on the side (that is, the tiny light on the front turns on and off...). But the screen itself is pitch black, off entirely.

I took out the video card and it was, indeed, black on the intake with fine dust, so I cleaned that as best I could. That did not solve the problem, however.

Pull the plug to my desktop and plug it into my laptop, and it works just fine. Plug it back into the desktop...dead. The only thing that seems to fix it is shutting it down for a time. I don't know how long is required but it's more than a few minutes (so it's not a simple reset) and it's only been a few days and so far I've just gotten frustrated and left it over night - so it certainly could be related to cooling down.

Seems like Adobe is the culprit as the problem has *never* happened before, and has happened every day since the very day I installed CS4. I'd be reluctant to believe it...if I hadn't spent hours just upgrading to CS4 (I won't go into the legendary problems which plague Adobe's installers).

Given that when I bought this system a couple of years ago this was one of the few video cards I could choose, and it's the high-end of the bunch, there must be a lot of folks out there with this set-up plus CS4...

Sounds like the suggestion is to inhibit performance in CS4 so it doesn't fry my video card? I am running Temperature Monitor, but it doesn't show me that particular stat...

[Tom_C...@adobeforums.com]

An additional note...some time ago I tried to run the only update I've ever found for this card:
<http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/MacX1900G5updater.aspx>
which was released years ago, January of 2007.
But when I run the installer, I get a message that states:
This product is intended only for Dual Core Power Mac G5 systems. A different system has been detected.

And it won't install.

But that's exactly the type of system I have... Further reading of the release notes seems to describe my system exactly (which would make sense, since Apple offered this card and this system together).

Don't know if it means anything...but there it is.

[PSh...@adobeforums.com]

Are you sure you have a G5 and not a Mac Pro? What is the processor description when you select "About this Mac" from the Apple menu?

The only machine you could order with the ATI 1900 was a Mac Pro. The video card became available for a G5 AFTER the Mac Pro introduction and even then, it was a separate purchase.

-phil

[Ramón_G_Castañeda@adobeforums.com]

my system (a Mac Pro with the Radeon x1900 card)

This product is intended only for Dual Core Power Mac G5 systems. A >different
system has been detected.

And it won't install.

But that's exactly the type of system I have

No it isn't. You're contradicting yourself.

A Mac Pro is neither a G5 nor a Power Mac.

A G5 would be a "Generation 5" Mac with a PowerPC (Power Mac) CPU.

Your Machine is a Mac Pro, i.e. a "Generation 6" ("G6") with an Intel CPU, also known as a Mac-Intel

[Tom_C...@adobeforums.com]

You are correct...I forgot that after G5 they went to Mac Pro. I have a Mac Pro...

But, I guess that means there is no update at all for the graphics card . . . though that is just about always the first suggestion someone will make when you bring up problems with your display.

I'm having a hard time finding any specific information on this. I've had that system for about 2.5 years and it's *never* done this before...then the very day I install CS4, this problem starts? They could be coincidental, but given that evidence is pointing toward an issue with the graphics card, and given that CS4 products do make specific demands on it...I dunno, it doesn't seem like a coincidence.

Also, an update. I put my computer to sleep without ever having launched a CS4 app since starting the computer up...and the display wouldn't work when I woke up the computer. Is it possible a CS4 app could have broken something related to the graphics card? Scrambled some code or fried a circuit? I dunno...I'm really stuck here. I'm a graphics professional and I work on that thing all day long, and can't afford much downtime right now.

[Ramón_G_Castañeda@adobeforums.com]

I work on that thing all day long, and can't afford much downtime right
now.

NEVER, ever allow your computer to sleep. Set your monitors to sleep, not your computer.

Is it possible a CS4 app could have broken something related to the graphics
card?

No, of course not.

[Tom_C...@adobeforums.com]

I appreciate the advice.

It reminds me of a joke:

A man walks into his doctor's office. He says, "Hey doc...it hurts when I do this..." as he lifts his arm and flexes at the elbow.

The doctor looks at his patient and says, "Don't do that."

[Ramón_G_Castañeda@adobeforums.com]

Sort of. Except that in this case you have a patient complaining of pain when he hits his thumb with a hammer.

[Tom_C...@adobeforums.com]

What's wrong with putting your system to sleep?

[Welles_...@adobeforums.com]

Actually nothing at all, Tom, presuming your system wakes up without a restart. Some of the older Mac configurations were quite problematic with sleep issues. Before my Mac Pro I was on a heavily upgraded G4 which always had problems with sleep so I didn't use it but since I purchased a Mac Pro in 2006 I've put it to sleep every night and whenever I'll be away for more than a couple of hours. It has always powered right up with a mouse click or keystroke. In fact the only time the computer is turned off were for trips of more than a day and when the power went out.

[PSh...@adobeforums.com]

NEVER, ever allow your computer to sleep.

Nonsense. Welles is absolutely correct.

I've always put my systems to sleep and can't recall a single problem in the last 10 years. My Mac Pro is slept several times a day, just like every other Mac I've used/owned.

That said, there can be sleep-related incompatibility issues with third-party PCI type cards installed, but those are easy to avoid by inquiring about it before purchase.

Sleeping your Mac is fine.

About your CS4 issue. The Radeon X1900 XT has had issues ever since release and it seems to be related overheating when pushed (like graphic intensive gaming). Not everyone has had problems of course, but I think it's fair to say this card has been "problematic" overall.

I don't know if that's related to what you're experiencing with CS4, but it might be. The card is "Adobe approved", however.

Do you have a secondary video card installed? That can definitely cause the issue you're having.

Try creating a new user account and launching CS4 from there.

-phil

[Allen...@adobeforums.com]

My G4 tower and laptop had many problems with sleeping, but the Mac Pro and Macbook Pro sleep normally.

P.S. We should not anthropomorphize our Macs. They don't like it.

:)

[Ann_She...@adobeforums.com]

he Radeon X1900 XT has had issues ever since release

Apple posted firmware updates for several cards a few months ago and I am fairly sure that the Radeon X1900 XT was one of them.

[Welles_...@adobeforums.com]

Almost all the problems with the Radeon X1900 XT were with the design of the original cooler from ATI. I purchased an X1900 XT upgrade for my Mac Pro after a year of use with the stock. When I installed it I found it to be very noisy considering my Mac Pro had made no noise at all except a tiny bit of hard drive noise. I also discovered from research that the ATI cooler (fan unit) had problems with dust capture at the exhaust and poorly seated thermal paste which were the two problems accountable for almost all the overheating problems.

Within a day of installation, I ordered a replacement cooler, Accelero X2 by Arctic Cooling. Replacement was quite simple but like all electronics required close attention. The result was that my Radeon ran much cooler, the Accelero X2 is completely silent and I've never had a cooling issue. The only downside is that the heat is vented in the case rather than out the rear so the case temp goes up a couple of degrees. This has never been an issue because I use SMC Fan Control and have my CPU fan speed bumped up to 550 from 495/500rpm stock setting. I also use three different settings depending on the stress of the computer with the highest just at audible threshold, about 1,500rpm. That's used for summer 3D rendering when all four cores are running 100% for hours on end.

The X1900 XT with the Accelero X2 has been an excellent upgrade for me and allows complete utility of the GPU leverag used by Photoshop CS4.

[Lar...@adobeforums.com]

When I purchased my Apple store Mac Pro in 2006 the configuration that I choose came with the X1900 card. I never would have chosen this card but it was the on;y way to get the other options that I wanted. My old machine had died. I quickly upgraded the cooler per Welles advice in 2006 and am happy about that (Accelero X2). I run two displays off of this card.

Over the last year I have had continually increasing video artifacts and then crashes. I use the SMC Fan Control to keep the fans at over 1000 rpm to keep the problems at a minimum. My problems are clearly temperature related.

I started trouble shooting this machine about two weeks ago with Apple. I had purchased Apple care. It passes all hardware tests and I installed a fresh system on an extra partition with no other software and can reproduce the problem. Last Saturday I took the machine into an Apple store genius bar and was able to reproduce the artifacts there. I ran CS4 with a bunch of other stuff at the same time as I watched the internal temperature rise (the fan control was off). It was while running google earth that video artifacts started showing up again. Apple has a new X1900 card on order and will call me when it comes in. I'll have to take the machine back in and leave it over night as they want to fully test the machine before and after the card swap.

[Ramón_G_Castañeda@adobeforums.com]

The reason I (still) advocate not putting the machine to sleep is that the incompatibilities with third party software or hardware can suddenly appear with updates or additions葉hey will inevitably catch you at the worst possible time.

Other than that, I see no advantages in having the whole computer go to sleep over having just the monitors sleep, especially since I have enabled the CPU itself to nap through CHUD.

[Lar...@adobeforums.com]

Apple called me yesterday telling me that the new X1900 had come in. I took the machine in yesterday at 3pm and had it back this morning before noon. This was their regular service. And I'm now able to determine for sure that it was the card causing the problem. It's been awhile since the video has really been right. What a difference. No more video artifacts and the machine isn't crashing.

Now all I have to decide is whether or not to replace the fans again.

PS Apple didn't even mention that the fans had been changed by the user. This was an in warranty replacement and was done at no cost. Thank you Apple.

[Welles_...@adobeforums.com]

Good for you, Larry. Is the new card noisy? (Well by comparison to the Accelero?)

[Lar...@adobeforums.com]

Yes it's noisier but not bothersome. What do you think do I need to get another Accelero? I see that they are still for sale. For the moment I've sped up the fans.

[Welles_...@adobeforums.com]

I don't think you need one, Larry. For me it was a necessity because my Mac Pro is on top of the desk within 3 feet of my chair (to keep it in a less dusty location than the floor). I had gotten used to the original card being totally silent and the whirr of the X1900, added as an aftermarket upgrade, was very annoying. The noise, not heat, was what prompted me to add the Accelero in the first place. So far I've been really lucky with this machine. No hardware problems!

[Lar...@adobeforums.com]

I think that I'll leave it alone then as I remember installing the fan was a bit tricky. I got one shot at getting the heat sink correct. Anyway this machine continues to be really solid now.