CS4 OpenGL stops working after a few minutes of painting

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Hi,

CS4 OpenGL stops working after a few minutes of painting. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the amount I paint. If I save the file, then reopen I can paint for another few minutes before the opengl stops working. Is this a standard problem with CS4? Is there a solution? Thanks! PJ

System Specs:
Windows XP SP3, updated
Latest DirectX & all software updated
Nvidia Geforce 9600 GT 512MB w/ latest driver
Athlon64 X2 Dual 3800+
2GB RAM
Photoshop CS4

[Chri...@adobeforums.com]

How does "openGL stop working"? Do you get an error messsage? Does something funny happen to the display?

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Hi Chris,

To test I just open a blank white canvas 8" x 10" @ 300 dpi. I paint on the canvas continuously & rotate the workspace/canvas every 30-60 seconds. After maybe 5 minutes the rotate tool & other opengl tools don't work. If at the 33% zoom level & opengl stops working at the same time I actually see the slight change in the smoothness of the image, as it changes from opengl to non-opengl mode. After the opengl stops working the rotate tool cursor changes into a circle, with cross through it. If I click on the canvas I get the message, "could not complete your request because it only works with opengl enabled windows"

As another test I've also been using the opengl tools on a blank white canvas for 20 minutes...and they're continuing to work. I then start painting on the canvas after 20 minutes & opengl stops working again after a few minutes or less.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Another test:

I create a 2400 x 3000 pixel canvas w/ 10 layers. Each layer has a different gradient fill and different opacity. The opengl tools have continued to work for the past 25 or so minutes.

Gradients don't take up a lot of memory, so I'm wondering if some cache is being filled up by the brush strokes in the previous tests, then freaking out photoshop.

Out of curiosity I continue to add gradient layers to the same file. The file now has 40 total gradient layers & it's 400mb. The opengl tools are working just fine. It's kinda fun to spin a 400mb file at the speed of light...:0)

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

...as a continuation to my last post @ 5:16pm:

the same file now has 55 gradient layers & it's 575mb. The opengl tools are still flying right along...no problems with them. I'm going to close this file & take a look at the brush tool again.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

I next close Photoshop & unplug my wacom tablet. I open Photoshop, then create a new document & mouse paint on it. I'm just seeing if the problem has anything to do with the wacom tablet. Well, the mouse painting has the same problem as the wacom tablet painting...opengl stops working after a few minutes.

So, now to try out some other tools to see if only the brush tool is causing the problem...

I create another document & only use the text, pen & blur tools on many layers. opengl continues to work for 20+ minutes.

When I start using the dodge tool on the same document the opengl STOPS working. I guess the dodge tool might work in a similar way to the brush tool.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

I guess I should also mention that I have two Eizo CG210s hooked up to the video card.

I opened up a 3000 pixel x 4000 pixel file with 15 layers. Next, I opened up a file of similar size, with 80 layers & put it on the second monitor. The file on the second monitor did turn black. It changed back to the actual image after i resized it...and stayed that way, no black.

After dragging some layers from the file on the second monitor to the file on the first monitor the opengl was disabled.

[Chri...@adobeforums.com]

This still makes no sense.

Do you get an error message that says OpenGL can no longer work?

[Pic...@adobeforums.com]

I have the same problem. All of a sudden, the rotate canvas feature does not work anymore, zooming is no longer smooth.

After I close and reopen Photoshop, everything seems normal, until OpenGL stops working again.

There ist NO error message whatsoever.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Hi Chris - Here's a screen capture of the message. It's just a message that pops up after opengl has been disabled after a few minutes of painting.
<http://philjaeg.ipower.com//photos/opengl_message.jpg>

Hi Pickman - It sounds like we have a similar problem. I rifled through your thread from Nov. 14th.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

I tried the following fix suggested by BJNicholls in another thread. After doing the fix I was able to paint for 20 minutes with opengl enabled. Although, when i opened a large multi layer file on each monitor opengl did finally disable itself after playing with both the files for 10 or so minutes.

"Running the latest 180.48 Windows XP driver for my nvdia GeForce GTX 9800, the OpenGL CS4 features wouldn't work until I disabled the PhysX GPU acceleration in this driver's new "Set PhysX configuration" control under 3D Settings in the nvidia control panel."

[Pic...@adobeforums.com]

That is the same message i get, when i try to rotate an image after the OpenGL Feature has itself deactivated. But there are no messages at the time of deactivation, it simply stops working. Normally the only clue for OpenGL not working anymore is that zooming is no longer smooth.

Might be a problem with the 9800 Geforce series. I have a Geforce 9800 GX2. I tried to run Photoshop with only one GPU-Core enabled but with no effect.

I thought the deacitvation happens only directly after i save an image but i can not confirm it since i am back to Photoshop CS3 until a fix is found.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

...I confer exactly what Meister Pickman said in the 1st paragraph.

"That is the same message i get, when i try to rotate an image after the OpenGL Feature has itself deactivated. But there are no messages at the time of deactivation, it simply stops working. Normally the only clue for OpenGL not working anymore is that zooming is no longer smooth."

For me, at least so far, I've experienced the deactivation before saving the image.

I have to reinterate that the disable physX deal above made a significant change. I was able to paint on a single canvas on my primary monitor for 20+ minutes with opengl activated. Before that point I might be able to get 5 minutes of painting done.

[Chri...@adobeforums.com]

That is weird.

If GL is turned off due to an error, we should display an error telling you that OpenGL support is being turned off due to an error.
And if we run out of GPU resources when opening a new document, we should also show an error dialog.

Somehow it's being turned off (probably due to a driver error), and we aren't reporting it.

[Pic...@adobeforums.com]

Strange thing is, that Photoshop recognizes my graphic card correctly and until OpenGL disables, everything is working quiet smooth.

Even when OpenGL stops working, all settings remain checked in the GPU-Options as if it is still activated.

It might be a driver error, although updating from 178 to 180 does not improve things.

[Chri...@adobeforums.com]

That's why it's probably the driver returning an error that forces GL off. But, again, we are supposed to pop up an error when that happens.

Hmm, I think we need to get system details so we can reproduce that here.

[Pic...@adobeforums.com]

System Specs added. Just tell me, if you need any more info I might provide you with.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Chris,

Please let me know if you need any more specs from me.

Windows XP SP3, updated
Latest DirectX & all software updated
Nvidia Geforce 9600 GT 512MB w/ latest driver
Athlon64 X2 Dual 3800+

2GB OCZ PC3200 DDR Platinum Memory
2 Eizo CG210 Monitors

[Jerry...@adobeforums.com]

Sounds like there might be an issue with the Nvidia 9000 series on xp, but we will have to narrow down the offending instructions. For some reason a glerror is being returned, after which PS defeats GL for that session.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks for checking on this Jerry.

[Kevin_...@adobeforums.com]

Joining the party...
I am having the EXACT same issue, PLUS my Wacon PTZ-430 only works for a fewminutes then, when the Open GL craps out, so does it... but only certain aspects. The cursor still moves, it just will not paint. Mouse will (direct via USB) but the tablet won't. If I delete CS4 prefs, then the Wacom works fine... for a while.

From DXDiag:
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 12/8/2008, 15:37:52
Machine name: VM-EDITING
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: VELOCI
System Model: 122-CK-NF68
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E6850 @ 3.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2814MB RAM
Page File: 1049MB used, 3652MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Dual Monitor:
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8600 GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0402&SUBSYS_043910DE&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1920 x 1200 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.7824 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Second:
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8600 GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0402&SUBSYS_043910DE&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.7824 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)

[Kevin_...@adobeforums.com]

Eureka!!!

Ok, folks w/ the Nvidia cards... I discovered this...
NVidia Controll Panel, under the 3D settings, is a choice of either "Use the advanced 3D image settings" OR "Let the 3D App decide" well, I switched from the first to "Let the App decide" and it appears that OpenGL is fine AND the WACOM is operating normally!!!

Give this a try and perhaps the appearing/disappearing OpenGL will normalize!!!

Quietly Optimistic this morning...

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks Kevin!

I'll give your fix a shot later on today.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Hey Kevin,

Well, I tried the "let the 3d app decide" fix, but it didn't change my situation. The disable physX fix I mentioned earlier did help.

....I'll probably tinker a bit more...:0)

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Just want to say that I've given up on CS4, until a new patch or driver is released. "Unfortunately" I've had a lot of work, so I haven't had the time to tinker around with CS4 anymore. Good luck to the engineers!

[roger...@adobeforums.com]

I had the same problem repeatedly using an nVidia 7300GT. Installing the latest beta driver from nVidia cured it for me.
Worth a try!

Roger

[roger...@adobeforums.com]

Just a further point - the beta driver is dated December 2nd.
Roger

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks Roger!

I didn't know about the beta drivers. I found them here - <http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us>

The latest driver 180.84 is dated Dec. 9th.

I'll give it a shot.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Well, I installed the latest nVidia 180.84 beta driver, but Photoshop still has the same problems. Maybe I should get a 7300 series card...;0)

[harol...@adobeforums.com]

I have a 7300 GT, have some problems...sometimes upon opening PS I get the message that the gpu "has encountered problems and is being disabled"...BEFORE I even open an image.

I'm running the October drivers, before I did I had the incomplete brush issue.

[Kevin_...@adobeforums.com]

Well, I just upgraded to a BFG 9800GT with the 180.48 drivers...

Still the same issue. So now I KNOW it's not the card. :-(

Upgraded the power supply too to 750W. So far I'm into this for more than twice the upgrade price in hardware issues, with no resolution.

Is any one from Adobe listening?

Frustrated in the New Year....

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

So, it sounds like roger leale, with his nVidia 7300 card, is having some success. Maybe we should get the specs on his system...and copy him! who-hah! Actually, I'd like to see a list of some of the systems that are working just fine....but I guess the engineers are supposed to put that tetris puzzle togther. I was never very good at tetris.

[Kevin_...@adobeforums.com]

Oh... and I never new what you folks meant by partial cursor... not that I have the NEW video card (from Adobe's approved list) I totally understand. Add a new defect to the problem. Great spend $ to fix an issue = same issues remain, with NEW ones.

I SO love technology.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

So, just to update...

I just installed the latest nVidia driver v181.20, but still have the same problems with Photoshop CS4...

[dave_...@adobeforums.com]

remove the driver and run on the native os drivers. see if that works... some people have reported that it seems to fix the problem. don't know if you'll be able to use the other features though.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the reply/help.

How would I run on the native OS driver? Is that a generic WinXP video driver found somewhere on the hd/web/cdr?

Thanks.

[John_Sc...@adobeforums.com]

I had the same problem with the painting just stopping....and resuming for a while after closing and restarting PS CS4.

I had the same problem on two cards, both with dual heads, so I doubt it is a card problem and suspect it is something in CS4.

The first card I had was a Matrox APve. It would not work in OpenGL mode as it's graphics support was slightly back level with no option to improve.

I just installed an ATI 4850 card....same problem.

OS is WIN/XP SP2+

John

[John_Sc...@adobeforums.com]

I just realize I did not give complete info...

Before closing and reopening CS4, I reset the brush tool. It would then work again in opening. It often would not work if I did not reset.

With the Matrox card, I had seset all preferences on opening CS4. This also did not clean up the problem for long. I have not tried this again with the ATI 4850.

John

[Kevin_...@adobeforums.com]

I continue to have the problem... and I have upgraded my video to a 9800GT 512mb. I also use a Wacom Intuos 3. I notice that when the mouse stops (the Wacom mouse) the pen will still operate. But, since upgrading to my new card... the cursor will only dispay up to 100 pixels... over that and it begins to disappear...

WILL SOME ONE AT ADOBE PLEASE GIVE THIS SOME ATTENTION?

[nos...@nospam.invalid]

<Kevin_...@adobeforums.com> wrote in message news:59b72...@webcrossing.la2eafNXanI...

No. You're bashing your head against a brick wall. Adobe will do
what they always do: stick to strict standards, regardless of whether
these standards have any relevance to the real world. OpenGL is
just one example out of dozens.

[John Joslin]

Shouting at fellow users won't help.

File a bug report.

<http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform>

[roger...@adobeforums.com]

You say, quote - "Since upgrading to my new card" - it would seem to be an nVidia problem rather than Adobe's! Have you installed the latest driver - 181.22 dated 22jan09?

Roger

[roger...@adobeforums.com]

Phil,

Actually the latest driver is 181.22 dd 22nd Jan 2009. It would appear that nVidia are pulling out all the stops to solve these problems, and that Adobe are not the guilty party in this particular problem.

Roger

[Kevin_...@adobeforums.com]

Sorry for shouting. Didn't intend to offend, esp fellow users.

using the above mentioned driver too.

[John_Sc...@adobeforums.com]

"...It would appear that nVidia are pulling out all the stops to solve these problems, and that Adobe are not the guilty party in this particular problem...

Except I had the same problem (paint stopping) with non-Nvidia cards (Matrox & AMD Radeon)....with (AMD) and without (Matrox) OpenGL.

John

[Chri...@adobeforums.com]

Be careful about specifying WHICH problem. This topic now has at least 3 different problems mentioned.

[John_Sc...@adobeforums.com]

Chris,

I am not sure who your post was pointed to, but I did state "...WHICH problem..." in my post...i.e. "...paint stopping..."

This is the same problem as stated by the OP, "...CS4 OpenGL stops working after a few minutes of painting..."

I would ask that the engineering team focus on this problem. Other "interloopers" can and should start their own threads.

John

[Chri...@adobeforums.com]

John - no, those are 2 different problems.

"OpenGL stops working" is very different from "painting stops working".

[John_Sc...@adobeforums.com]

Ooops....you're correct, of course :~)

Sorry, I guess I was just myoptic with my problem..

John

[Chri...@adobeforums.com]

John - that happens. A lot. :-)

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Hi Roger,

Thanks for the info about nVidia's latest driver v181.22.

I installed it & was able to paint for 20-25 minutes before the gpu became disabled...a little better. I've been able to paint for 20 min before, but I think I had to disable physX or change some setting, so maybe the latest driver isn't really an improvement.

Well, hopefully Photoshop CS4 will be useable sometime this year.

[Hugh Hansard]

There are known issues with PS CS4 using OGL. The Engineering team is working hard to fix the code. Progress has been made.

If you are running the latest nVidia driver and still have problems with OGL (as I do with the same driver), then turn off all the "advanced" features and give it a whirl (this cured about 60% of my issues. If that does not do the trick, then disable OGL all-together (where I am at the moment).

Also, try bigger tiles. This got me another 10% closer to AOK.

Good Luck,

H

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks for the response, Hugh.

What do you mean by, "try bigger tiles"? Do you mean files...or what does a tile refer to?

Yeah, I disabled the advanced features under OGL a while back.

As far as disabling the OGL all-together...well, I might as well use PS CS3 instead, which I have been doing. There's some other small bugs I've noticed in PS4, which I won't go into here...:0)

[Hugh Hansard]

Bigger Tiles is a plugin for PS that Adobe developed for folks editing larger files (about 20Meg). PS works a tile model. It is an old way of managing images (I was writing this type of code in the 80's) and has been obsolete for about 10 years. Bidder Tiles was developed as a stop-gap. It should be on your install disk under "extras".

I can send you a copy.

As far a bugs in CS4, the Engineering team is diligently working on fixes. Progress is being made on several fronts. Folks are really working these issues - I suspect there are some long nights by all.

H

[Chri...@adobeforums.com]

Hugh - managing the image in tiles is far from obsolete. If you want any kind of performance, using tiles is required (not to fit in memory, but for updates, for copy on write representations, etc.). Next time, just ask instead of armchair programming.

The Bigger Tiles plugin offers a tradeoff: better overall performance (because you work on larger chunks of data), but also larger scratch sizes, chunkier previews, and less optimal memory usage. It is of most benefit when you have a machine with lots of RAM and lots of CPU cores and commonly work with really large documents.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks for the info Hugh & Chris.

[John_Sc...@adobeforums.com]

Chris...

I found 'Bigger tiles.8BX' How does one "install" it (plugins folder?) and is any other action needed. How do you know it is working.

Based on what was said above, I probably need it for the Canon 5D2 21+ MB files

John

[Wolf_...@adobeforums.com]

I probably need it for the Canon 5D2 21+ MB files

Not necessarily. Read carefully the Bigger Tiles section in this document: <http://www.adobe.com/go/kb404439>

[Hugh Hansard]

CC,

I like that, "armchair programming". Maybe we could get together, drink a few cold ones and discuss our graduate and post-doc work in graphics theory, actually in my case, occlision theory...

tile/block models are great for all reasons listed. However, mapping 2D to 3D or the other way around causes problems -- always has/always will. Not really PC, but it is like saying you are a bit pregnant.

How deep will PS's foray be into the land of 3D? Where will PS end and AE begin?

Obviously, PS's start has not been stellar. Two betas later and not much closer to an OGL use that actually works properly -- not to mention $10B in shareholder value. Can't wait for the next earnings conf call. Should be interesting to see how fast some folks can tap dance. I expecially like the non-GAAT numbers... Not seen that one in a while.

I was on a team trying to do exactly the same thing in the late 80s. We had a 2D world and suddenly got stereoscoptic data... We had to go to a 3D model once our 3D burden got to be too great.

H

[George_A...@adobeforums.com]

Hi

I have the ASUS EN8600 GT 512mb Silent, My OpenGl would just not work even though it was enabled, I tried the registry keys to allow old cards but it didn't work.

I used Driver Sweeper, booted into VGA, cleared up all my video related drivers.

Wen't to ASUS's web page and downloaded the latest Nvidia drivers supplied by, Asus, Don't know if this made the differance but the drivers I had before was from Nvidia directly.

So far so good.

Parraitjie

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Hi George.

Thanks for the reply.

Are you saying that OpenGL is now working just fine after you went through the procedure you described above?

Thanks.

[Chri...@adobeforums.com]

Also, install the dot release.

[Phil_...@adobeforums.com]

Hi Chris,

What's the dot release? Are you referring to the Photoshop update?

Thanks.

[dave_...@adobeforums.com]

yes.

[Chris_K...@adobeforums.com]

Not working for me. I installed dot release, and cleaned crap from my OS with Driver Sweeper. In .cab files in Windows Driver Cache folder I still got some Ati files (from my previous graphic card, right now its GF 8800GT). Have no idea if it has some influence, and its impossible to just delete those files.