CS4 bug: brush cursor display is incomplete

[_Tony_Tx_]

Just installed CS4 under WinXP, 4G RAM.

I've set my brush cursors to show full size. The cursor displays correctly for brush sizes up to about 150 px. Beyond 150 px, the circle representing the brush size gets truncated: at 170 px, it's down to a half-circle, at 200 px it's down to one-third of a circle, and at 300 px all that remains is a small curved line segment.

[akribie]

Lots of people have flagged up this issue here.

I have reported it to NVidia via the only route I have been able to discover - their web forum. No response there except for minor support from posters here.

It is now months down the line and no sign that the issue is accepted at NVidia nor of any remedial action anywhere.

This is not good for Adobe customer relations, regardless of who they blame for the issue.

But I have work to do that does not include unpaid bug chasing for Adobe or NVidia, so I'm out.

[_Ron_Dodson_]

Chris:

Thanks for all your help. I think you be assured that the majority of people in this thread have faithfully (yet unsuccessfully) attempted multiple upgrades of their GPU driver. Many of us have also unsuccessfully attempted to get Nvidia to get off their arse.

Perhaps you will understand that we are somewhat disappointed with Adobe when it comes to putting some public pressure on them to do their part and fix their drivers (if this is really the issue). If it is really their fault, I again suggest that Adobe upper management publicly issue a statement saying that, "for those who are considering purchases/upgrades to CS4 versions of Photoshop, you may experience problems with certain Nvidia drivers that have not be upgraded." My guess is that all drivers would be upgrades quickly.

Until then, I'm sorry but I can't buy the Adobe answer of "it's the Nvidia drivers." I say back up your position publicly.

[Guest]

>"for those who are considering purchases/upgrades to CS4 versions of Photoshop, you may experience problems with certain Nvidia drivers that have not be upgraded."

You should add ATI to that statement, as well.

[Chris Cox]

Ron - we're doing what we can without getting lawyers in a huff. We're working with NVidia directly pretty much every day..

Right now, NVidia needs to hear from their customers that it is not all fixed. They need details of which cards/drivers are still broken. They apparently need to hear it from someone else, because we've been telling them about this for a long time now....

[Wolf Eilers]

>... NVidia needs to hear from their customers that it is not all fixed.

Have you noticed how void of meaningful discussion the NVIDIA forums contain? Lame.

In the NVIDIA knowledgebase they recommend the super expensive Quadro CX as the best option for CS4. Ouch.

Let's pound on the GPU manufactures door with the same vigour we pound on Adobe's door.

[Guest]

>In the NVIDIA knowledgebase they recommend the super expensive Quadro CX as the best option for CS4. Ouch.

Same basic response that I got from ATI. They say that my card, although it meets CS4 requirements, is not appropriate for graphics programs like CS4, and that I should purchase one of their high-end cards. Ain't gonna happen. I'm not shelling out another $800 or more for something that may or may not work.

[Guest]

that's just bullshiete!

[Guest]

I got news for adobe. if that's gonna be nvidia and ati's attitude, they're gonna kill the hobbyist market for photoshop.

[_Ron_Dodson_]

Chris - Thanks for the reply. I am sure I'm just one among the many 8800 GTX card users that have reported problem to Nvidia. As I have indicated in previous comments, Nvidia is no friend of mine. But they are smack dab in the middle of serious Q&A problems with their cards so I'm just guessing, my cursor problem is not on their priority list.

A nice little patch would help. I'm working around the problem now, but to have a cursor problem like this is beyond just problematic.

But, let's keep on keeping on until it's resolved. Still like the CS4 design suite. Just like my wife, pain in the arse, but I still love her.

[Chris Cox]

Ron - I'm not sure we can patch around it and keep the current performance or functionality (ahem: when it works). I believe we tried a few times (but I didn't do that code myself).

Again: NVidia needs to hear from customers that bugs like this are important, that customers are using their cards for more than games, and that customers expectations for quality go up when you're depending on the GPU to make money and not just to kill zombies.

[Mark Clarkson]

I find this whole thing pretty ironic, given that:

A) NVidia is making Adobe performance such a priority (witness the CX)

B) NVidia certainly knows that customers are using their cards for more than just games. Heck, look at the Tesla.

C) The *same* GPUs are in all NVIDIA's products.

D) The problem existed for quite a while, even for 'professional' Quadro boards. It may still, but they finally fixed mine (the FX3450).

[Mark Clarkson]

FWIW, Ive been assured by a contact within NVIDIA that on both Geforce and Quadro cards that the latest driver 181.20 does indeed fix the issue of the cursor outline only being partially displayed.

[Chris Cox]

NVidia has told me as well that the latest driver fixes the cursor display issue.
However, some customers are finding that they don't fix it -- so NVidia needs to hear from customers exactly which systems, which cards, and which driver versions are not working.

[Mark Clarkson]

Everyone please make sure you've uninstalled the drivers, run a cleaner, and then installed the newest drivers.

If that still doesn't work, definitely post the exact system info. If I can put a bug in someone's ear, I will.

[_Derrick_Moore_]

It still doesn't work on the secondary monitor with OpenGL on. The large
cursor is incomplete but what's worse is the image doesn't display. It's
fine with OpenGL off.

Dell Precision T3400
XP 32 SP3
Geforce 8800 GTS 512 driver 181.22

[_Ron_Dodson_]

I've always had the full cursor on my DEll M1730 laptop. I have never had full cursor on the extended monitor (DualView). All other OpenGL functions work on extended monitor (as well as the laptop).

Dell XPS M1730
XP 32 SP3
Geforce 8800M GTX 512 SLI - Driver 181.22

[RacerX2oo3]

Ron and Derrick,

The information on the problem occurring on an external laptop display is a going to go along way toward getting this issue resolved. I suspect that it may be a simple case of changing one of the options in the Nvidia Control Panel, unfortunately I don't have a dual monitor setup here to test with, but I'll check when I get back to my office tomorrow. I'll post a followup once I have a repro and hopefully a solution.

[_Derrick_Moore_]

You should also be aware that the problems do not occur on my home machine
secondary monitor in Vista 64, using basically the same hardware with OpenGL
on.

[_Ron_Dodson_]

Derrick and Sean

Ah, we may be facing the consequences of having external monitors and using XP 32 SP3.

I have a old desktop at home using ATI GPU, dual monitors and XP 32 SP3 and it runs like a race horse with no problems at all. It's my life saver on projects where I don't want to hassle with the cursor swap to the laptop process. But I have faith in Sean, don't you Derrick?

[RacerX2oo3]

So to update. The issue was resolved for single monitor setups, however we just recently became aware of the issue on dual display configurations. The team here is aware of the issue and is currently working to fully resolve the issue. I'll update when a fixed driver is expected.

[dwterry]

The problem of the incomplete cursor being specific to the 2nd monitor of a two monitor system was identified in this thread as far back as November 13th.

Just FYI (in case anyone thought this was new news)

[dwterry]

Oops, my mistake, I wasn't showing all of the messages. October 16th was when it was mentioned that the problem only happened on the 2nd monitor.

[_Ron_Dodson_]

David:

Wasn't that the time frame where all solutions were covered under the "just update your driver" umbrella category?

I'll be very interested to see what transpires as a result of the external / dual monitor "revelation." Hey, we got a response. Someone has picked up the gauntlet.

I'm getin' kida used to that new "Quarter Moon" cursor that you can only get with CS4. Works like crap, but it's unique to the industry.

[_Steve_Collins_]

Despite a frustrating evening of multiple reboots and failed driver installs I finally got this fixed on my Sony Vaio Notebook / Nvidia GeForce 7600GT / XP SP3 32bit. In case anyone else has issues with a similar setup, here's what I did;

-Download the 185.20 XP 32bit - 2008-12-26 driver from www.laptopvideo2go.com
-Download their modified INF file
-Extract the driver files
-Copy in the modified INF file
-Run Setup.exe. Trying to update the driver thru Device Manager failed every time for me.

[_john_haynsworth_]

I ran into this same problem today after finally having a chance to run through PhotoShop CS4 for the first time, and I have to admit this thread had me slowly walking a year-and-a-half old Alienware laptop to our back dumpster here.

But seriously, I have an Alienware M9750 with an Nvidia GeForce Go 7950 GTX card.

Although some of the customer service techniques from the Adobe reps in this thread aren't that effective, their messages are spot on. I took their underlying advice, and skirted around the lack of Nvidia support and went straight to my laptop manufacturer, and they turned me on to an update from Nvidia, which Alienware hosts on its own site - Nvidia Graphics Driver 179.13 Beta.

The Beta kinks could be with stand by and hibernation modes, but for me the Adobe cursors in PhotoShop are working fine, now. And I'm not yet experiencing any other problems with the functionality of my notebook.

These these graphics and sound cards are real whips with creative software. I had a hell of a time getting some Avid software to work with a RealTek sound card that came installed, so I had to get an external card.

Oh well, hopefully, this helps someone else.