InDesign CS5 lag slow on Snow Leopard 10.6

[markmld]

I am reaching the end of patience with this one and starting to wish i'd not paid for a CS5 upgrade.

I installed under Mac OS 10.5 originally, did all updates and had font and other deathly slow issues in Photoshop.

In the end, I enacted a TOTAL system maintenance routine and upgraded to System 10.6 in order to try and get round probs with CS5.

I since have ditched all prefs, reset all caches, cleared all logs, done total font checks and removed a couple of corrupt ones, repaired disk permissions etc etc etc....  Photoshop 'appears' to work ok, although saving and saving to web can be sluggish (pizza wheel waiting for it....)

InDesign CS5 is now taxing my productivity. I thought it was my Wacom Intuous 3 tablet, but find the issue (at the mo as I've not noticed anything significant yet in Illustrator or Photoshop) only occurs with InDesign CS5.

The issue is the glitchy interface - stepped or delayed movements of objects across the page, selecting menu dialogue boxes can take a second when i click on a value, slightly steppy movements make selecting the tiny up and down arrows on some menus very tricky to be accurate.  PLUS saving and saving PDFs in particular as well as PLACE images CMD-D can be deathly slow.  It used to be almost instaneous, slowed only by the hard drive firing up. Now i try to do things and have to wait on many actions. It's doing my head in!  This is NOT PRODUCTIVE.

In InDesign i have tried turning off Live Redraw, dropping display quality to fast (makes working almost impossible as i need to see what i'm doing), and disabled the Preflight option that is on by default, and i'm sure other options too i've seen on forums.  But no better.

I have a Quad Core 3Ghz Intel Mac with 14Gb RAM, and an NIVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT graphics card.

IS this APPLE or ADOBE issue?  How on earth can i get my speedy productivity back so i can move around the screen smoothly, save and place quickly, and select menu dialogues without waiting for it to react..... HELP!

[Guest]

Well, these all are 4-core and 8-core machines. Any 2-core users?

Ideas to check so far:

1. For experienced MAC users. Are you able to disable 2 cores from 4 core machine (EFI settings or something?) and check if ID will not work faster?

2. Are you able to limit the memory to 4 GB and check if ID works faster?

3. "About this MAC" shows, by my 4GB Mac Mini, following info: 64-bit core and extensions - NO. What is status of that info on your machines?

[Jeremy AB]

I'm getting the lag too. I noticed for example that if I select an object and add an effect such as a drop shadow, when I click the Preview check box there is a lag of nearly 10 seconds before anything shows up. Same thing if I click OK to apply the effect. Moving stuff around also has a lag. I moved up from CS3, there was virtually no lag.

Mac Mini (late 2009 model) Dual 2.53 GHz, 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6.4

[Guest]

If you go to "About this MAC" what is the status of "64-bit core and  extensions"? YES or NO?

The same MAC mini.

I set the screen redraw to Immediate.

I set Preflight ON.

I set Display to high quality.

I turned Separations preview ON.

I turned Smart Guides ON.

Don't know how to slow the CS5 more.

Delay between pressing preview check box and shadow preview is 0.1 sec by Indesign frame filled with solid color.

So i took 70 MB bitmap. I made layer from it in Photoshop, few holes in it. Placed in Indesign. Now it takes about 1 sec. to show shadow preview.

Maybe you have very complicated shape that comes to InDesign already with number of layers, shadows and effects?

[Jeremy AB]

I don't have anything in About This Mac that mentions 64-bit. The design I am working on so far is not as complicated as what you tried. It's just a few photoshop files with a drop shadow on it.

It's not nearly as detailed as previous jobs that I worked on with my older, slower mac last year.

[Guest]

"I don't have anything in About This Mac that mentions 64-bit."

Here is explained where to check it:

http://www.co-bw.com/Mac_OS_64_bit.htm

My Mac Mini says: NO, and works pretty smooth with CS5.

There is an option to load SL in 32 or 64 bit mode. It would be nice to check if this matters for ID CS5.

[markmld]

i have been running with kernel in 32 bit mode up to now clearly. THanks for the link and i've read the article and now  i am most definitely running in full 64 bit mode.

Nothing has changed. I go to the last document i opened with two pages, and lots of text and images on it, and i go to the simple action of resizing the document viewing window grabbing the base-right corner of the window, drag and let go, move the mouse back up to where i want to edit the document now i can see more of it having resized the window larger, and guess what.....  the window resized back down in the direction i've moved the cursor up to ...... 

The problem does NOT go away in 64-bit mode.

[Guest]

Thank you for testing. I have no more concepts why my Mini works smooth with CS5 when other stronger Macs don't.

Maybe just one. CS5 sees the kernel mode by installation. So to get it work in new conditions you should reinstall it. But this is very long shot and I would not sacrifice my time to verify it.

Just for the record. When you install CS5 on 64 bit Windows 7. The installation goes to x86 applications folder. This indicates that CS5 is not full, native 64 bit.

[Guest]

One more idea. Does the ID CS5 work better if it is the only one program installed from CS5?

That means no bridge, a no minibridge function active.

Maybe this minibridge is background task resources killer, even if not displayed.

I don't have bridge/minibridge on that smooth working with ID CS5 Mac.

[Jeremy AB]

Phorna wrote:

"I don't have anything in About This Mac that mentions 64-bit."

Here is explained where to check it:

http://www.co-bw.com/Mac_OS_64_bit.htm

Mine says NO to 64-bit.

IDCS5 is not a 64-bit app anyway, as far as I know Photoshop is the only one that can be run 64-bit in the Design Standard Suite, and I've forced THAT one to run in 32-bit so I can get plugins to run.

[MARKLAWSONDESIGN]

"

I set the screen redraw to Immediate.

I set Preflight ON.

I set Display to high quality.

I turned Separations preview ON.

I turned Smart Guides ON."

While i accept that reducing the processor load by turning off these production enhancements off is a valid point, i would be concerned if this is ever offered as a solution to the lag.  And as a point of interest, i've noticed the lag in Illustrator CS5 when i start dealing with complex documents.

My concern is that Adobe and Apple are to know that Adobe and Apple are actively addressing this issue and seeking a solution.

There is nothing to be gained by turning off features that Adobe consider we need and want by making them default of the installation of CS5 in order that we can possibly work with CS5.  Bottom line is that if CS5 does not work properly with these processor sapping functions activated, then what exactly is the point of CS5? Why did i waste money upgrading, and why would anyone buying into Adobe for the first time buy CS5. If they can get their hands on CS4, i'd suggest they do that.....

I'm getting on ok, by reducing the 'spec' of my operating features of CS5, but its not the right solution.  My computer more than meets the spec for running the app, so i shouldn't be experiencing these problems. Therefore there is either something wrong with the way Adobe apps use the processor OR how Apple permits the Adobe apps access to the processor.

[Guest]

Bingo!!!! I could not have said it better myself. If we need to dumb down the software to work better, whats thed point!

We need a fix and fast!

[markmld]

just to apologise, i am the O.P. and i had to log in as MARKLAWSONDESIGN as ive had issues with my Adobe ID thanks to their changes some time back. Spent half hour with their live chat trying to establish what's going on, and now i have access to both IDs!  Silly situation. Anyway, just so you know. 

Back to the matter in hand, i'd really love to know that Adobe and Apple are reading this forum thread and looking at the issue, and to know a fix is on the way......  I am also heartened to know that despite waste of money buying new hard drive and (my decision) to upgrade the Video card (just in case), plus the clean installation and loss of production time to do all this, that i am not alone, and perhaps more than one voice on this issue may get us some results. I live in hope.

[Guest]

You are right, I to live in hope!  Come

Apple/Adobe I have been a supporter of both companies for 20+ years lets get it together and move on

[enzoconti]

Hi Markmld, So glad to hear I'm not the only one. This issue has driven me half crazy since first install. I was on CS3 for about 3-4yrs on a Mac Book Pro and was completely satisfied with it's efficiency, absolutely no lags, instant re-draw on High Quality Display wether using Tiff's, EPS's, Jpegs whatever.

I have since up-graded to brand new iMac i7, 8gig Ram and booting up in 64bit mode and new CS5. All this has been installed from "fresh out of the box" I couldn't be more pissed off! Instantly noticed the lagging and shitty performance with ordinary PSD pics, but as soon as I imported a fairly complex illustrator file I was thrown back to the Stone Age! I have had one on one discussions with Adobe several times to no avail.

My best guess is it's the processors, Adobe products are just not utilising all their power.

P.S. We have an 3-4 yr old G5 with a dual core intel processor and it handles ID5 much better than the iMac. I'm afraid we're stuck with the problem 'til Adobe releases a "FIX" or we go back to QUARK!!! (att: Adobe)

[Guest]

P.S. We have an 3-4 yr old G5 with a dual core intel processor  and it handles ID5 much better than the iMac.

This actually what some of us believe may be true.

Although as we don't have any consistent script testing InDesign CS5, we only get reports based on individual & relative perception.

Just a formal question to script guys. Would be possible to make some stress test for Indy CS5 (some scene and then object movement / transformations) that could be run on several machines to compare their efficiency?

[Joel Cherney]

Just a formal question to script guys. Would be possible to make some stress test for Indy CS5 (some scene and then object movement / transformations) that could be run on several machines to compare their efficiency?

This is the best idea I've seen in all of the threads about CS5 performance. If I weren't completely slammed (with CS3 work, natch) I would be working on this right now.

[enzoconti]

It is not a question of may be true, it is true! The old G5  is significantly faster. If I had've known this before I "upgraded" to iMac I would not have bothered. I'm not so sure Snow Leopard is the problem, because the G5 is running 10.6.4 as well. This leads me to believe it's most probably the processor.

[BobLevine]

Snow Leopard is Intel only.

Bob

[enzoconti]

G5 is running 2 x 2.66 GHz Dual-Core intel processor. I think it maybe one of Mac's first intel machines?

[BobLevine]

The G5 is PPC processor.

[enzoconti]

Hi Bob, sorry mate, but I'm all that clued up on the computer lingo! I'm a "plug in and play" type of user. What I know for sure is that the old G5 handles ID5 significantly better than my brand new vamped up iMac7.

[BobLevine]

I give up.

[Guest]

How much RAM has this "old G5" installed?

[BobLevine]

Just to be clear...the reason I'm being picky here that we're trying to troubleshoot a problem. And telling us that a G5 is running Snow Leopard and CS5 is quite frankly completely useless because it's totally false.

Bob

[Guest]

This is (and was) completely clear. I just try to use "labels" that are defined by our interlocutor, even if they are wrong.