Second monitor on notebook makes PS CS4 unusable - video card issue?

[Jefe_...@adobeforums.com]

Hello,

I have a new Dell Precision M6300 Mobile Workstation with an nvidia Quadro FX 1600M video card. I have the latest video driver from Dell. With a second monitor (Dell 20 inch) attached via either vga or dvi, Photoshop CS4 becomes unusable in both the second monitor and the notebook display. If I remove the second monitor in Display Properties, Photoshop works splendidly on the notebook display.

Here is a typical case. I open an image, zoom in or select a brush and then the image abruptly turns into several large "blocks." The blocks can be filled with areas of cyan, white, transparency, blocks of the image, bits of another open image, and even blocks of images that were previously closed.

The latest Quadro driver from Dell is from May 2008. I checked with nvidia but they send you to the notebook manufacturer to get drivers for mobile cards.

I have Master Collections CS4 installed and have not run into any problems in dual-monitor mode with the any of the other apps. Seems to be isoloated to Photoshop.

If you have had the same problem, were you able to solve it?

[dave_...@adobeforums.com]

they just released a driver that fixes this issue for certain cards. i don't think that one was explicitly listed but you might want to try it.

[Jefe_...@adobeforums.com]

I am not able to obtain a new driver from nvidia.

According to their site: "For Quadro FX series GPUs, please refer to the website of the specific notebook workstation manufacturer for the latest ISV-certified drivers."

At Dell support for my M6300, the latest driver they have was posted June 2008.

[bobbi....@gmail.com]

I have not had any problems with the display and I have 2 external
monitors that I use, BUT since I've upgraded to Adobe CS4 Print
Premium Suite, my mouse freezes whenever I use Photoshop. I have to
reboot so I can work, but after just a bit or whenever I open
Photoshop, my mouse will begin to freeze (for about 1-2 minutes)...it
is the worst! I have the latest drivers and will probably have to
upgrade my graphics card because i've found others that have this same
issue. I SO wish someone would resolve this issue because I cannot
work like this and my CS4 suite, Photoshop is unusable. I have no
problems using InDesign or Dreamweaver, but whenever I open Photoshop,
the problems begin. Someone, either Dell or Nvidia, please help.

[Bobbi Stewart]

I too have this same problem with the same Dell Notebook and Graphics card. I noticed on the Adobe web site that my/our graphics card, Quadro FX 1600M is NOT on the list. I have CS4 Design Premium and I only have problems with my mouse freezing (which makes is unusable for working like this) and my brushes do not display the entire brush.

I don't know who to contact, Adobe (about CS4), Dell (because my computer is still supported by them) or Nvidia (who makes my graphics card).

Anyone have any answers for me on this? I would SO appreciate it because I've been working to figure all this out for the past month, having to stop and reboot a lot so i can work. It is terrible! All the other products work fine in CS4 and yes, it appears that it is isolated to only Photoshop.

[Chri...@adobeforums.com]

You need to update the drivers for your graphics chip - what you describe are known problems in older versions of the graphics chip driver software.

Neither Dell nor Adobe write graphics chip drivers.
That leaves NVidia.

Photoshop is the only CS4 app making such heavy use of the GPU (although After Effects comes close).

[Bobbi Stewart]

Thanks Chris....so do I need to phone Nvidia? I cannot locate any newer drivers than what I have on my computer. From all the posts that I've read in many forums on different web sites, this has been a problem for awhile and lots of other folks are also wanting this update.

??
thanks!

[Rick Moore]

There are people who modify the drivers to allow for install on laptops, but
you're on your own. I've done this for my laptop because Dell and nVidia
wouldn't update. You'll have to Google for laptopvideo2go or something like
that. I'm sure it's frowned upon by nVidia but what choice do you have?

[Bobbi Stewart]

OMG, this is just wrong! But this does go along with other things that I've read and that no one wants to claim this issue. I just do not understand it though. thanks. if anyone else has an answer, please let me know.

[Chri...@adobeforums.com]

Bobbi - I don't understand the problem. We've told you that these are acknowledged NVidia driver bugs. You should be able to get updated drivers from NVidia. Nobody can "own" this other than NVidia. If the latest drivers don't fix the bugs, then you need to contact NVidia and give them some details about your system - so they can figure out what they missed.

<http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook_drivers.html>

[Bobbi Stewart]

No-no, I'm not saying that this is anyone other than Nvidia's problem, I'm just saying that this surprises me in that I bought a great computer from Dell, great software from Adobe and what I thought was a very good video card and I find it very odd that this problem exists. This graphics card is a mid-range, so it isn't bottom of the barrel. I'm a graphic designer and I try to use the best so I don't run into these type of issues, always buying "what is recommended", that is what I meant by the comment that this is just wrong. Thanks. I will be in touch with Nvidia.