CS4 + 10.6.5 - Delete Photoshop Settings file?

[andrew_bushnell]

I'm having major issues when starting Photoshop CS4 on an iMac running OS X 10.6.5.  My keyboard almost becomes "stuck" and invokes strange actions.  I am using Spaces and using the Option key + arrow key to move between Spaces.

Tried opening up Fireworks immediately after closing Photoshop and it works properly without any issues.

Any ideas?

[nononxense]

FYI: i'm using CS5 instead of CS4

[Guest]

Mac Pro with Apple (wired) keyboard and Logitech MX510 mouse. No Bluetooth capability.

The issue does seem to come and go. I thought I had it solved for about 20 minutes yesterday when I turned off Suitcase Fusion 2 Core. But it eventually came back again.

[Calvin1509]

For the following 5 hours, I have been problem free by doing the following:

1) Disabled x-gestures and text-expander (hear jitouch and any other quick key, shortcut software will also need to be deactivated.)

2) Remove these from your startup items system prefs --> accounts --> login items --> select item --> hit "-"

3) Restart computer. Some people log out, but my computer freezes when I try to just log out and then in

previously I JUST disabled the above items and forgot to remove them from startup. They will cause a conflict even if they are disabled but have been loaded. Ironically, I had tons of bluetooth issues BEFORE os 10.6.5 and this resolved those.

[Jeanne Rubbo]

Thanks for the suggestion. I was able to reproduce the problem after installing xGestures, which means this is the first time I've been able to observe the problem firsthand.

For those who don't have xGestures installed, do you have any other applications installed that involve reassigning or changing the function of modifier keys?

[Guest]

I am not using xGestures, but I am running TextExpander.  I'll try disabling that to see if it causes an issue still.

[subraumpixel]

I am running TextExpander as well, but so far I can't trigger the issue simply by using TextExpander (I've been using it regularly in the past few days and I tried it right now - Photoshop still works fine).

[Guest]

Fingers crossed, disabling xGestures (and unchecking "Start xGestures when logging in"), then restarting looks like it solved the problem for me too. It has been over an hour since restarting and the problem hasn't returned. I'll follow up if it does, but at this point it looks like we can point the finger at xGestures.

[subraumpixel]

Good luck. But many if not most of us don't have xGestures installed in the first place And as I mentioned before, I've been problem-free for 2.5 days until Photoshop/OSX striked back...

[StudioAluminum]

Jeanne,

I have Quicksilver installed (which I believe is similar in function to xGestures).  I have not had the opportunity yet to test if disabling it solves the problem, but maybe someone has?

The other app I have installed that might possibly do something like that is MagicPrefs, which gives detailed control to the MightyMouse.  When I have a chance, I'll try disabling each of these individually and see what I can find.

I also have dropbox.  Is there still some thought that this may also be causing an issue?  All three of these applications are integral to my productivity, so I hope a better solution is found that doesn't require them to stay disabled!

[Jeanne Rubbo]

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I was originally working under the assumption that one application/utility might be triggering the problem, and that's why Dropbox seemed like it might be the culprit. But it looks like getting rid of Dropbox doesn't solve the issue, so it may just be a red herring. It's possible that the issue can be triggered by several different applications, which is why it's so helpful to get a list of all the possibilities.

[Nicolas Lemery Nantel]

OK I founds a way to reproduce the problem systematically on my system. Whenever I use the Quick Entry dialog WITH AUTOFILL in Things.app, the next time I launch Photoshop it will give me the problem. The shortcut I have for that function is Cmd-Option-Shift-Space, I'm not sure it's the default because I've had it like that forever. I normally use the Quick Entry dialog in my emails or in Safari, and I've tried every combination and every time it causes the problem in the Adobe apps. From the description on the web site (http://culturedcode.com/things/wiki/index.php/Quick_Entry_and_Autofill) that function tries to read the current open document in the frontmost app via AppleScript. So maybe there's a OS bug there that seems to trigger the problem in the Adobe apps? I don't get any problems if I use the regular Quick Entry dialog whose shortcut is (for me) Cmd-Option-Ctrl-Space. Also it's worth noting that I tested the Quick Entry dialog WITH AUTOFILL with no Adobe apps running, and that triggers the problem every single time, logging out in between tries.

Other Things.app users out there, can you try to see if you get the same behaviour?

[subraumpixel]

That's it for me! Woohooo!

Ctrl-Alt-space bar is the shortcut for the quick entry dialogue here. After envoking it and switching back to Photoshop, Photoshop's screwed up.

[Jesper Storm Bache]

I have been able to reproduce this behavior on my machine.

If I write a very simple application that does the following, then I get the straight lines in Photoshop:

     CGPostKeyboardEvent((CGCharCode)0, (CGKeyCode)56, true);

I don't have 10.6.4 on my machine here, so I can't tell if this is new 10.6.5 behavior.

The mentioned API is a low level API (deprecated on 10.6) that I would expect that a number of keyboard utilities may use.

The interesting thing is that as soon as I quit my sample application, then things start working again.

One potential troubleshooting method may therefore be to use Activity Monitor to quit utilities one-by-one until the problem goes away.

[wesleybaker]

Ctrl + Alt + Space—Things Quick Entry—did it for me as well.

[Nicolas Lemery Nantel]

I've tried quitting Things when Photoshop is stuck but I haven't had any luck in "restoring" it. Only logging out and back in fixes the problem for me.

[Guest]

Things caused the issue for me as well.  However, is the same error invoked in any application with the CTRL+ALT+Space combo or other combos?

My shortcut for Things autofill was different (just CTRL+Space) and I still got the error during some unknown point in my workflow.

[donald_i]

I am running Photoshop CS3, but am seeing the exact same behaviour reported here -- it is as though the modifier key is jammed down. The problem started directly after installing 10.6.5 today. It randomly occurs, but once it happens the only way I can make Photoshop usable again is to log out and log back in again. Unfortunately I run none of the apps listed here as perhaps causing the problem. I do run the Glims plugin for Safari, which I uninstalled "just in case" but to no avail.

[SteveReilly]

Thanks Jesper. That cursor fix worked for me too. Many thanks.

[flysi3000]

Wow - quit Things, launched Photoshop - everything was fine. Launched Things, everything was still fine. Hit my Quick Entry dialog box shortcut (ctrl-opt-space) and bingo: Photoshop goes all wonky. Dragging rulers is inverted (ie. horizontal rulers become vertical and vice versa), marquee selections expand from the center, etc., etc.

Thanks for helping to isolate this - now I wonder what needs to be updated to fix this - Things, OS X, or Photoshop?

[donald_i]

Update to my previous post: I may have isolated the app causing the problem. Since uninstalling moveAddict I haven't seen the problem recurring. That utility remaps cmd-x in the finder to cut files (as in Windows). So that could explain what was amiss -- some sort of keyboard clash/error thingy. Thanks to all who helped with this.

[Jeanne Rubbo]

It looks like Jesper was right and there is an API call that triggers the problem in 10.6.5 and not 10.6.4. So any application that uses this API could potentially cause this problem for people. It's impossible to compile a list of every single application that has this in its code, so you may have to do some troubleshooting to figure out the culprit. Disable or uninstall the application, make sure it's not set to start at login, and then restart your computer.

Please let me know what you find -- I've been going through and trying to reproduce the problem in all the programs listed here.

[Jesper Storm Bache]

It appears that the API that has changed in 10.6.5 is:

     CGEventPost(kCGSessionEventTap, ...);

With this API we can reproduce the problem in 10.6.5 but not in 10.6.4.

It therefore appears that this is an issue between Apple and third party applications that use this API (Photoshop CS3, CS4, and CS5 does not use this API).

I will provide this information to Apple. In the meantime, I have experimented with a "fixer-upper" application (something you can run when you get into this situation). The following link has such an attempt.

This is not an Adobe utility (nor will it ever be), and you may try it at your own risk.

http://www.bache.name/download/osx/10_6_5%20keyboard%20hack.dmg

This application runs and then exits (after trying to remedy the problem).

By the way the application simply simulates a key up event for the following keys: option, shift, command, and control.

[Nicolas Lemery Nantel]

That works for me, thanks! It's now in my dock, no more logging out and then back in...

—N.

[TheCosmonaut]

@Jesper Your little mini-app appears to solve the problem for me. Seems like I've got all the potential problem apps (Things, Dropbox) and after running your app, I no longer get the issue.

Many thanks!!

--eric

[Paweł_Philipczyk]

This app also solved my problem. I've got 10.6.5 and Photoshop CS3 and I'm using Jitouch and Things all the time.

The problem is gone for now but we'll see how often will I need to run this app. I hope it will be fixed permanently soon.