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alyoshaname
alyoshaname
Participating Frequently
January 19, 2016

P: iMac 4k (late 2015) screen flickering issue

  • January 19, 2016
  • 27 replies
  • 284 views

Hello,
I am a retoucher so i use Adobe Photoshop to do my work.
Recently i've bought a new iMac 21.5 (late 2015) with cool 4k Retina display.

Configuration:
OS X El Capitan 
Version: 10.11.3 (15D21)
iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015)
Processor: 3,1 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory: 8 GB 1867 MHz DDR3
Graphics: Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 1536 MB

But the happiness was gone very quickly after installing Adobe Photoshop and tries to do my job. The matter is that i've found a disgusting bug. My screen goes black/begins flickering/flashing (video is here - https://youtu.be/D-5dF3dvYmM).

First my think was - perhaps this is a problem with key combinations or graphic tablet. So i switched off the tablet and checked hotkey settings and tried once more - the problem didn't gone.

Next i tried to repeat the bug. I've realized that there is no any sequence of actions. Screen flickers randomly. But i noticed - pressing CMD,SPACE,[] keys makes screen to flick more often (when using brush or stamp tools).

So the next step was Google. I found lot of such issues:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7349449
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7401844
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7370586
https://forums.adobe.com/message/8289188
https://forums.adobe.com/message/8337985
https://forums.adobe.com/message/8353487
https://forums.adobe.com/message/8252309
https://forums.adobe.com/message/8392296
https://forums.adobe.com/message/8157454

I have already tried:
1) different combinations of advanced graphic processor settings - nothing changed
2) turning off use of GPU - nothing changed
3) update my OSX to the latest version - nothing changed
4) update Adobe Photoshop to the latest version - nothing changed
5) restore PS settings to default - nothing changed

There is ONLY ONE REALLY WORKING solution - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aGJBafQWTg

+Chris Hong Here's a very lousy solution - I realised that this issue is happening only when my cursor size for eraser is too big. I just went to the Preferences>Cursor and made the cursor to precise. It stopped the blinking issue. Although it makes the work little difficult on photoshop.

This is really worked but made PS is usless for me (and as i've understood for many users of new iMac 4K too).

I tried to make a return of iMac but my Apple retailer told me that this is software problem. So they cannot take my iMac back and make me a refund.

Dear Adobe and/or Apple,
Please solve this terrible issue.
I look forward to your reply and the resolution of my problem.

Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
Alyona

p.s. sorry for my English.

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    27 replies

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    J
    jayCee1
    Participating Frequently
    April 12, 2016


    The screen goes completely black (flickers out, as if a memory dump is occurring, which crashes the system momentarily) any time I use Photoshop or Lightroom on my 4K iMac.  

     In Photoshop, it's pretty much constant. Any time I move my cursor around the screen, especially when using brushes. It also happens almost every single time I click the "option" button in order to select an area for cloning, or color sampling. It happens the instant I hit the key.

     In Lightroom, it's similar in that in happens when I move the cursor around the screen, and almost always when I have a brush selected.

     Many other users are reporting the same issues, with both the 4K 21.5" iMac, and the 5K 27" iMac.

    See this thread:  https://forums.adobe.com/message/8649714#8649714

    And this one: https://forums.adobe.com/message/8642196#8642196

    One user attached a video of the phenomenon, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-5dF3dvYmM&feature=youtu.be


    My Specs are as follows:

    iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015) 3.1 GHz Intel Core i5

    8 GB 1867 MHz DDR3

    Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 1536 MB

    1TB Fusion Drive





    PS CS6

    LR5
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMember
    Inspiring
    April 5, 2016
    No, there is not a way for an end user to do that.
    It would require debugging with Apple and their source code to find the culprit.
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMember
    Inspiring
    April 5, 2016
    Thanks for explanation. I'm not saying that it's not Apple issue. I'm just trying to identify where the issue is and resolve it as I can't work like this. I'm not that technical on MACs (I'm more Microsoft guy).

    Is there a way to run debug on the application to find out what APIs Adobe is touching and and find out what part is actually failing?

    Thanks
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMember
    Inspiring
    April 5, 2016
    Those may be the only applications you use which utilize the GPU or large cursors.
    Photoshop got blamed for the old MacBook air driver bugs, but the problem actually occurred in several applications that used large cursor APIs.
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMember
    Inspiring
    April 5, 2016
    Hi, same problem here. Spent hours with Apple support and they are pointing me to Adobe support. I will open support ticket with Adobe but I have feeling that they will point me back to Apple.

    @10187144 Merkulov agree that could indicate driver issue but I dont understand why this is happening only in Adobe products Photoshop/Lightroom. Couldnt replicate it in any applications.
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMember
    Inspiring
    February 11, 2016
    That's a very strong indication that the problem is in the video card driver code.
    alyoshaname
    alyoshanameAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    February 11, 2016
    hi all,

    here is another temporary solution iMac 4k (late 2015) photoshop screen flickering... | Apple Support Communities
    Hello! I have same problem, but i find temporary solution. Go to System preference ---> Accessibility --> Display ---> Cursor size
    and then enlarge size of cursor to second line! It helped me and the screen stops blinking. Good luck!

    thanks to Nik Merkulov

    i've tried to change cursor size as mentioned and it really works for me.

    but this is another solution that makes work hard because the brush affect area and cursor size a too different and you need to guess the "real" brush size

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