CS4 bug: brush cursor display is incomplete

On my XP Pro SP3/ NVidia 8800GTX system with the latest 178.24 driver, the brush cursor is limited to 2500px maximum.

On the primary monitor the full circumference is displayed OK, but on the secondary the brush cursor reduces to the upper left quadrant above 300px and shrinks as the cursor size increases until it is gone above 2000px.

Luckily I never need such a big cursor nor work on the secondary, but the bug is definitely there.

In case it is relevant, I am running 2x1280x1024x32bit with the primary on the right and secondary on the left.

I'm using a 512MB ATI Radeon 1950XT graphics card and I get that strange cursor thing with larger cursor sizes. I haven't updated my driver since receiving my new PC 18 months ago. I don't know if it's got Open GL compatibility or not, never mind how to switch it on!

Laptop has an nVidia graphics chip, but I haven't tried that with a large cursor yet.

Joanne

That's unfortunate... it sounds like I'm stuck with CS3.

Any chance for a refund? (I could maybe apply it towards the purchase of a new laptop)

Yes, CS4 uses a different bit of code for displaying the cursor. Normally that code is more stable, faster, has less lag, etc. than the old code. But it does expose bugs in some video card drivers. No, the old code cannot be "turned back on", it's far from that simple.

This is just a video card driver bug exposed by us using different APIs. Adobe cannot fix that, only the video card maker can fix that.

It's not a matter of believing Chris in saying nVidia has a bug. I'm not disputing that.

I _AM_ saying that CS3, CS2, CS and all other versions of Photoshop have used a DIFFERENT METHOD OF DISPLAYING THE CURSOR which functioned without exhibiting this bug.

THAT METHOD could be "turned back on" as an option in the same way that enabling (or not) acceleration is provided as an option.

(I didn't think what I was saying was that hard to understand, but I'm hoping the caps will provide sufficient emphasis without making it sound like I'm screaming)

And to reiterate ... this bug was apparent on my laptop (using CS4) BEFORE downloading the third party driver. It continues to manifest itself even after an Augst 31st 2008 release of the nVidia driver. The one and only reason I installed this third party driver was an attempt to solve the CS4 cursor problem.

Again, from my perspective: It is a CS4 cursor problem (no other application on my laptop is exhibiting this behavior and CS3 continues to function without a problem, but I paid good money for CS4 and would like to use it).

if the laptop manufacturer provides the (supposedly custom) driver, that's probably where he'll have to go for a fix.

>My biggest problem is that the last time I contacted nVidia they told me that they don't support my laptop and that I have to go to the laptop manufacturer.

guess what your next step is...

I wouldn't doubt that there might be a bug in the nVidia driver. But Chris' recommendation aside, it would be CS4 that "turned on" this feature that CS3 never needed to use.

Some important points (from my posts) to remember:

1) This "bug" appears regardless of whether I enable acceleration in CS4. (which means CS4 even without acceleration turned on is doing something different from what CS3, CS2, CS or any of the other prior versions did)

2) I have already upgraded to the latest nVidia driver (well, the latest I could find, it is from August 2008).

My biggest problem is that the last time I contacted nVidia they told me that they don't support my laptop and that I have to go to the laptop manufacturer.

Indeed, if you look on nVidia's website, my video is _NOT_ listed on their website (GeForce Go 7700). The only way I was able to find a driver at all was by scouring the internet and finding a third party that was hosting it.

So the chances of nVidia doing something about it? I'd say are nil.

In the mean time, I have a broken cursor for anything other than editing small details. From my perspective, I have a broken CS4.

>I suspect it will be far easier and quicker to buy a new laptop than to get nVidia to fix the problem.

you'd be surprised at how bad those guys want to stay on top of reported bugs. there's a great rivalry between them and ati. both take bug reports VERY seriously and act quickly on them.

> Is there no way that Adobe could fix the problem instead?

not if it's nvidia's problem. and if chris says it is, it most likely is.

But... it's a laptop, and not a real popular one, with built-in video.

I suspect it will be far easier and quicker to buy a new laptop than to get nVidia to fix the problem.

Meanwhile, CS3 and all prior versions of Photoshop did not exhibit this behavior. Is there no way that Adobe could fix the problem instead???????????????

Has Adobe just cost me the use of my laptop for editing???

(not very happy at the moment)