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Why does Photoshop CS4 keep crashing?! (Mac OS)

New Here ,
Apr 15, 2009 Apr 15, 2009

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I use Photoshop often, daily even. I upgraded to CS4 at the beginning of this year and have a CONSTANT and very IRRITATING problem. It keeps crashing, for no apparent reason. It will crash during all kinds of "tasks". Saving, opening an image from RAW, using the liquify tool, using the clone tool, running an action and any number of others tasks cause a crash in Photoshop CS4.

I work relatively fast, as I use Photoshop on a daily basis. This is how it will happen...

I'll be working on an image and I "command S" to save. There will be a slight delay of about 2-4 seconds and then Photoshop will crash and I will get a pop-up screen to submit a crash report. I have submitted literally hundreds, if not thousands of these. Then, Photoshop sits idle for a few minutes as if it is locked up, unable to "Relaunch". So, I then usually have to "Force Quit" Photoshop, yet, it will not immediatly quit. It takes another couple of minutes to do so before I am able to begin working again. This process happens, on average, a couple of times per hour, if not more.

Luckily, I have "trained" myself to save after almost ever thing I do. But, I inevitable loose something as it happens just after a "task" or during a "save". (It happens during a save frequently.) Plus, I'm loosing valuable time waiting on it to Relaunch, and figuring out where I'm at on the image all over again.

Needless to say, I'm beyond frustrated, to say the least.

There is something else that doesn't make sense. My business partner, who also has a new IMac (not the VERY newest model that just came out but the one just prior to that...It was purchased in December 08 as well) and also runs CS4 does not have this crashing problem! At all! Not once.

Here's the difference in our systems...He purchased the 24" model, while I purchased the 20". And, this is where I actually think the problem may lie...I am running dual monitors, while he does not.

I've tried to trouble-shoot this problem, since he does not have the problem, while I do. I did "About this Mac" on both our machines to see if there were any obvious differences, besides running dual monitors. What I found under HARDWARD were only two minor differences. His processor speed is 2.8 while mine is 2.66 GHz. and the SMC Version of his machine is 1.3f1, while mine is 1.29f1. There were no differences in the GRAPHICS/DISPLAYS section either, beyond my having a second display.

Both his and my graphics/displays are as follows:

ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro:

  Chipset Model:    ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro
  Type:    Display
  Bus:    PCIe
  PCIe Lane Width:    x16
  VRAM (Total):    256 MB
  Vendor:    ATI (0x1002)
  Device ID:    0x9583
  Revision ID:    0x0000
  ROM Revision:    113-B2250L-259
  EFI Driver Version:    01.00.259
  Displays:
iMac:
  Resolution:    1280 x 800
  Depth:    32-bit Color
  Core Image:    Hardware Accelerated
  Main Display:    Yes
  Mirror:    Off
  Online:    Yes
  Quartz Extreme:    Supported
  Built-In:    Yes

Below is the information regarding my second display.


LaCie 324:
  Resolution:    1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz
  Depth:    32-bit Color
  Core Image:    Hardware Accelerated

  Main Display:    Yes
  Mirror:    Off
  Online:    Yes
  Quartz Extreme:    Supported
  Rotation:    Supported
  Television:    Yes

As you can see, my second display is a Lacie 324. It is rather new, I purchased it in November or December 08 as well as my IMac. I have the Lacie set as my main display.

When I have Googled this Photoshop CS4 crash problem, I have come across some mention of the GPU Settings and Enable OpenGL Drawing. I have to admit, I really don't understand this. Should OpenGL Drawing be on or off??? I turned OpenGL Drawing off some time ago because I had a problem with calibrating my Lacie monitor. My monitor was showing images skewed toward red, while my prints were coming out with less red. I Googled this problem (at the time I didn't think this was related to the crashing issue) and someone said they were having trouble calibrating their monitor as well and managed to "fix" that by turning "Enable OpenGL Drawing" off. I did that and it did indeed fix the problem with getting my Lacie monitor calibrated. FYI, my business partner also turned off the Enable OpenGL Drawing feature and...again...he has NOT had the problem with Photoshop CS4 crashing. So, since he is not having the problem and I am, I would assume the "Enable OpenGL Drawing" issue that is mentioned on this site, is not the crashing problem, though I could be wrong.

So, I go back to having a second monitor as being the most-likely candidate for causing the Photoshop crashes. I am wondering if the Lacie display is "drawing" the graphics at the speed that differs, or is incompatable, with Photoshop CS4??? This is just a guess from someone who is not all that technically savy. But, again, I'm not sure. I have also looked on the Lacie website for any updates for the Lacie 324. There are none, as far as I can tell.

I am curious if others with and without dual monitors are having these crashes. If so, have you found any resolution? I'm desperate for help so if anyone can shed any light on this issue, it would be most appreciated.

Below, I will put some specs about my machine, in case that is helpful.

Hardware Overview:

  Model Name:    iMac
  Model Identifier:    iMac8,1
  Processor Name:    Intel Core 2 Duo
  Processor Speed:    2.66 GHz
  Number Of Processors:    1
  Total Number Of Cores:    2
  L2 Cache:    6 MB
  Memory:    4 GB
  Bus Speed:    1.07 GHz
  Boot ROM Version:    IM81.00C1.B00
  SMC Version:    1.29f1

I have the 11.0.1 version of Photoshop CS4.


PLEASE help if you can. Thanks so much!

DGJ [email address deleted by host]

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

New Here , Apr 28, 2009 Apr 28, 2009

Sorry to post in the wrong forum!  I just wanted to quickly vindicate Adobe, though, after my rather jaded previous post.  I just downloaded the update from Adobe Automatic Updates and Photoshop hasn't crashed since.  Don't know if that will help you Mac folks or not, but I thought I'd just let you know.  Good luck!

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Guest
Apr 15, 2009 Apr 15, 2009

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I'm not sure that your Video card supports OpenGL turn it off if you can. also disconnect the second monitor see if it crashes.

the other thing you can try is a new user.

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New Here ,
Apr 15, 2009 Apr 15, 2009

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You're not sure if the video card supports OpenGL? Not to sound completely clueless but my video card is the ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro. right? I do have "Enable OpenGL Drawing" unchecked under my Photoshop Preferences>>>Performance.

I have not yet tried to disconnect the second monitor to see if it continues, but I suppose I should, just to trouble-shoot.

What's the scoop with the "new user" thing?

Thanks for the reply!

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Guest
Apr 15, 2009 Apr 15, 2009

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New user a clean account good for troubleshooting.

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New Here ,
Apr 19, 2009 Apr 19, 2009

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Hey DGJ193.... I've had the same problem since I upgraded from CS3 to CS4. I'm on a 1st generation Intel MacPro with tons of ram. I read somewhere else on the Adobe web page that only certain graphics cards support the Open GL Drawing, so I upgraded to a NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, but it didn't fix the crashes. I've also noticed that occasionally, at certain magnifications, rectangular blocks of static start flashing on and off throughout the image I'm working on. This seems to happen only at either 50% or 66.7% magnifications.

Talk about annoying... when it locks up, you can't even Force Quit it. It seems to take several minutes and then, finally, it quits. Like you, I'm saving my work constantly. I don't care if it's just a couple of brush strokes, it's CMD + S for me. I emailed Adobe this morning with all the pertinent information. If I hear of anything, I'll post it. If you find a fix, please do likewise.

Greg

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New Here ,
Apr 21, 2009 Apr 21, 2009

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Hi Greg,

Thanks for the response. I am in the process of using a different account. I was advised to try this to troubleshoot the issue. So, I am doing that tomorrow. I will see then if I'm still having crashes. I'm betting I will.

Thanks for the info. I've honestly not had the heart to call or contact Adobe yet. You know how it goes usually. They will say, "it's not us, contact Apple". Then you'll contact Apple and they'll say, "contact Lacie (because of my second monitor)". And Lacie will say, "contact Adobe". No one EVER wants to take responsibility. So, I've simply dreaded the thought of spending hours on the phone with each of these companies only to get a run-around. I know I'm not sounding very hopeful but I've had several crashes this evening and even though I save literally every 1-2 minutes, I'm still loosing things as I can work quite fast. It's been a frustrating evening, to say the least.

I would love to know what Adobe tells you.

Can you tell me if you are running dual monitors? Also, I tried to find out info on downloading newer drivers of updates for my graphics card without luck. Where did you find that? (Even though you said it didn't help, I'm curious.)

Thanks so much. Cross your fingers you get back a good answer!

Dedra

DGJ193

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New Here ,
Apr 24, 2009 Apr 24, 2009

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Hey Dedra.....

Sorry I took so long to respond. This is starting to get comical. The other night I had CS4 running in the background... no images open, just running in the background, while I was surfing the web and getting my email. All of a sudden I get the dreaded "Photoshop Has Quit Unexpectedly". I didn't even have an image open, yet it still crashed!

To answer some of your questions.... oh, BTW, I'll be very surprised if the "different account" fixes your problem. You seem to be having way more crashes than me. If I have a bunch of images to work on, and I'm basically using CS4 throughout the day, I'll only get about two crashes. And they happen so randomly that I can't come up with any pattern or workflow that may be the cause. It just crashes whenever it pleases. I can't imagine what you're going through!
OK, I'm not running dual monitors and as far as downloading the latest drivers for your graphics card, it's a lesson in frustration, being a Mac user. Before I upgraded to the GeForce 8800 GT, I almost pulled the hair out of my head trying to find the latest drivers for my 7300 GT. It seems that they just don't support Macs. Every driver you could imagine was out there for Windows, but zippo for a Mac... at least as far as NVIDIA goes. The good news, for me is, the latest drivers for my new card are included in Apple's Software Updates. So, they'll come automatically whenever they're updated.

Judging from past experience, it takes a while before Adobe responds... but I will let you know immediately if I find out anything from them or anybody else, for that matter. As you said, let's keep our fingers crossed.

All the best...

Greg

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New Here ,
Apr 21, 2009 Apr 21, 2009

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Oh, and I forgot to mention...

I've not had the, "rectangular blocks of static" you mention. Have no idea if this is helpful for you to know but wanted to cover all the bases.

Thanks,

Dedra

DGJ193

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New Here ,
Apr 22, 2009 Apr 22, 2009

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Adobe has instructions on what you can do here: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb404898

I have a similar problem with my Radeon HD 2600 on my PC laptop running Windows x64 (it doesn't crash, it just shows blocks). I had to disable OpenGL). I really hope they get it fixed soon because I really wanted to use the Open GL features of Photoshop CS4.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 23, 2009 Apr 23, 2009

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After a couple of month’s of pretty much satisfactory performance by Photoshop CS4 I recently got a new computer which runs OS X 10.5.6 (2x3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon, 8 GB 800 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM) and since then Photoshop CS4 has been performing pretty badly – frequent crashes etc.

But I’m not yet done troubleshooting, so I don’t want to complain too much.

What surprised me however is one of the warnings that occasionally precede the crashes:

Picture 3.png

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New Here ,
Apr 23, 2009 Apr 23, 2009

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Hi c.pfaffenbichler,

Thank you so much for your post. Every little bit helps. I too am still trouble-shooting.

I have not gotten that pop about Quicktime, or any other. Simply a slight pause after I've done a function. Then Photoshop crashes. To make matters worse, I click to Relaunch but it doesn't. So, I'm forced to "force quite". However, it takes anywhere from 5-8 minutes to get Photoshop to actually "quite" so I can relaunch it to begin working again. Maddening!

This next bit is not for you c.pfaffenbichler...

And I have no idea how my post is now deemed as "possibly answered"...but as long as I'm having a crash an hour, the question is no where near, "possibly answered"!

Signed,

Bitter and Angry

a.k.a. DGJ193

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Community Expert ,
Apr 24, 2009 Apr 24, 2009

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The waiting-time before being able to restart Phtoshop is quite

familiar to me.

Anyway so far the new user-solution seems to coniderably improve

Photoshop’s reliability; of course loading all the preferences for all

the applications anew is a nuisance.

A side-note: When I – against Adobe’s recommendation – work on files

on our servers and the crash occurs while trying to save the file gets

destroyed, so working on local drives seems doubly recommendable.

But I manage to focus my irritation less on Adobe and more on

Macintosh (because any new System that abandons the possibility to

sort search-results by change-date in favour of last opened-date seems

peculiar to me).

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New Here ,
Apr 24, 2009 Apr 24, 2009

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I've gotta admit, I've been running Photoshop CS4 on my Windows 7 x64 box and it's so much faster than my Mac or Vista machines. It pops open almost immediately (the dang splash screen takes the longest amount of time). If I close and reopen, it's faster everytime. And the memory management is awesome, too. I'll have Bridge/Lightroom, Photoshop, and a virtual machine open at the same time and there's really no flakiness. For all you Microsoft haters, you should take a moment and check it out.

I just wish I could try out the OpenGL stuff. I got CS4 the week it came out and found the OpenGL crap on day 1. This stupid ATi Radeon HD 2600 card is crap, I don't understand why ATi and Adobe didn't work something out by now. I would bet that any of you (Mac or PC) with this card are having the same flakiness I'm getting.

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New Here ,
Apr 24, 2009 Apr 24, 2009

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Hey shoebacca....

I have no problem or issue with how long CS4 takes to launch on my Mac. The splash screen is there only momentarily. And yes, like you, if I close and reopen it's even faster. Also, no problem with the overall speed of CS4.

About the OpenGL.... I've gotten so used to it, that I can't live without it. I could easily go back to "crash-free" CS3, but, even with CS4 crashing, I can't live without the OpenGL. I like it that much.

Greg

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New Here ,
Apr 23, 2009 Apr 23, 2009

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One more thing that might be worth mentioning...though I doubt it has to do with this...maybe???

When I start up Photoshop CS4 11.0.1 I get a pop-up stating the following...

One or more plug-ins are currently not available on your system. For details, see Help > System Info.

Does anyone have any ideas if this could be a link to the problem?

Thanks,

DGJ193

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New Here ,
Apr 24, 2009 Apr 24, 2009

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Dedra....

I've seen that "plug-ins not available....." before. Highly unlikely that it has anything to do with the crashing problem. I would identify the plug-ins in question and then go to the manufacturer's web page to see if there are updates for them.

Hope this helps.

Greg

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New Here ,
Apr 28, 2009 Apr 28, 2009

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I'm running photoshop cs4 on windows xp (dell inspiron e1505) and it crashes *constantly*.  Sometimes I'm doing something intensive and it crashes, but sometimes I open photoshop and do nothing and it crashes about 10 seconds later.  I have a final due in a couple days in a photoshop class and I may very well miss the deadline because of this........

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Guide ,
Apr 28, 2009 Apr 28, 2009

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adobesuxisalreadytaken wrote:

I'm running photoshop cs4 on windows xp (dell inspiron e1505) and it crashes *constantly*.

That's most unfortunate, but this is the Photoshop Macintosh forum.  The Windows forum is across the hall.

Misery loves company, so it's good to know that Windows users have their share of Photoshop problems.

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New Here ,
Apr 28, 2009 Apr 28, 2009

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As far as the crashes go...it doesn't matter if I'm working with a huge, layered file or a simple JPEG. The crashes happen. Can someone tell me if they've tried setting up a new user account and ran Photoshop through that. I have done that with 3 images and it hasn't crashed yet. Though, some days I'll go 5-6 hours without a crash and others it will happen once per hour or more.

But, I'm curious. What is the "troubleshooting" with a new account? What am I looking for? (Beyond it to crash.) If it doesn't crash in a new user account, what would that mean?

(It's a bit of a pain working through the new account as preferences, brushes, actions, etc. have to all be loaded.)

I'll keep you guys up to date on whether the new account crashes or not. So far so good but I'm just starting. We'll see.

Thanks so much for all the posts. Please feel free to keep posting. Any help is greatly appreciated.

DGJ193

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New Here ,
Apr 28, 2009 Apr 28, 2009

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I guess I made the same mistake, I posted to the Mac forum as well.

As I posted earlier, I'm not crashing at all on Windows 7 or Windows Vista x64. I've only got the stupid driver problem for the Radeon 2600 HD and I'm hoping ATi and Adobe figure it out since i'm missing out on the OpenGL fun.

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New Here ,
Apr 28, 2009 Apr 28, 2009

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Sorry to post in the wrong forum!  I just wanted to quickly vindicate Adobe, though, after my rather jaded previous post.  I just downloaded the update from Adobe Automatic Updates and Photoshop hasn't crashed since.  Don't know if that will help you Mac folks or not, but I thought I'd just let you know.  Good luck!

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New Here ,
May 12, 2009 May 12, 2009

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I'm hoping that Chris Cox will read this. You wrote on another post ( http://forums.adobe.com/thread/421755?tstart=0 ) something about TXNDeleteObject. What is this and could this possibly be the reason Photoshop is crashing for all of us???

I'd love to get any info you have on this or any other possible causes.

I have to say I noticed "less" crashing when I do restarts frequently. Well, maybe not frequently. I have been trying to to restart once a day. Sometimes, even doing disk utility.

I actually had a couple of days where I had no crash at all. However, it could be because they weren't long days. I just worked on a few images.

I will also mention that I have 3 additional hard drives attached to my machine. And, last week my business partner bought another hard drive and attached it to his. (Remember he had NONE of the crashing problems I have had.) However, when he attached the GTech 1 TB hard drive, he had a crash. He ended up returning that one for an entirely different on and has no problems since.

I also have a GTech 1 TB hard drive (that's one of the three I mention above). And occasionally while I'm working, I will hear this hard drive make a whirrrrr kind of noice, followed by a click. When that happens, Photoshop pauses until it's "done" with whatever it's doing. I haven't noticed that any of my crashes happen with this. I don't think they have. But, now I'm wondering if this could play a part as well.

By the way, before anyone asks...I'm not working off these hard drives. I simply pull a file or folder off these to work on and put them onto my desktop. I do all my work there before I move the files or folder back onto the hard drive for safe-keeping.

Does anyone have any thoughts on any of this?

Are there others out there who are also working with dual monitors and have more external hard drives and are having crashes?

I will try disconnecting the external hard drives and see if I'm still crashing. I've taken some time off and just getting back into the swing of things so we'll see if the crashes persist.

Thanks so much for all your help!

DGJ

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May 12, 2009 May 12, 2009

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TXNDeleteObject is part of an OS supplied API for text editing widgets in the user interface.  It is part of Apple's code, and somewhere inside that code Apple has a bug that causes it to crash.  The bug was apparently introduced in MacOS 10.5.0 (10.4.x doesn't see this crash).  And the crash appears to affect Photoshop CS3 and CS4 (CS2 doesn't want to run on 10.5.x due to other Apple issues).

But there can be other causes of crashes: bad drivers (printer, scanner), bad hardware (RAM), bad third party software (antivirus, third party plugins), corrupt files (like fonts), etc.  Without seeing the crash logs, we can't tell you exactly what might be causing your crashes.

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LEGEND ,
May 12, 2009 May 12, 2009

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10.5.7 is out today.. I've got my fingers crossed that Apple corrected something.

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New Here ,
May 12, 2009 May 12, 2009

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Chris,

Thanks for the answer. I will check out the crash reports to see what they say. I really hope to figure out the problem soon.

Also, Scott, I downloaded 10.5.7 (I think that's it.) today. So, perhaps that will take care of it.

I will say I worked on Photoshop today for about 2 hours and didn't have a crash. I did disk utility and did a restart prior to starting my project. If I figure out what could be linked to the problem, I will certainly post it.

Has anyone else who is having crashes noticed improvement with disk utility and restarting?

Thanks to everyone.

DGJ

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