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Digu6220
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Why does Photoshop CS5 Extended (Mac) keep randomly freezing?

Jul 23, 2012 3:49 PM

Tags: #cs5 #mac #photoshop_cs5

I'm running Photoshop CS5 Extended for Mac. I've had it for over a year now and it has worked perfectly fine until now.

 

Mac OS X

Version 10.6.8

Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Memory: 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

 

The issue started a few weeks ago. I can't think of anything in particular that could've spurred it. What happens is that (generally within a few brush strokes, like five to ten) the program freezes. It gives me the little grey spinning wheel telling me that it's thinking, and that never stops. I've left it for hours before, waiting to see if it would ever snap out of it, and nothing. I always have to force quit the application.

 

There's no particular tool that makes this happen, because it's happened on everything from brush strokes to changing contrast to switching tools.

 

It's not like I'm using giant files—some are large and have lots of layers, but others are small blank canvases. It isn't like I'm running too many programs, because sometimes it happens while Photoshop is running by itself (no other programs.) There doesn't seem to be anything in particular that triggers it.

 

I've installed all the recent updates that could possibly be related to it—no dice.

 

I even tried uninstalling the program and reinstalling it. I had hoped that if it were some sort of bug due to settings I had changed or something, that would get rid of it. It didn't, but I'm inclined to think I didn't manage to remove everything related to the program, because when it opened after the reinstall, it still had all the same brush settings it had before I had uninstalled it. (Not sure if that means anything.)

 

Since I make a portion of my living off of illustration and graphic design commissions, it's incredibly important that Photoshop is usable, and fast. I appreciate any help anyone can give me.

1333 Views   14 Replies   Latest reply: Digu6220, Jul 24, 2012 10:19 AM
 
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  • Chris Cox
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    1. Chris Cox,
    Jul 22, 2012 5:03 PM   in reply to Digu6220
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    What does the crash report say?

     

    Did you install all the updates?

     
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  • Digu6220
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    2. Digu6220,
    Jul 22, 2012 7:13 PM   in reply to Chris Cox
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    It doesn't crash, like I said before. It freezes and I have to force quit. There's never a crash report.

     

    And yes, as I said (yet again), I have installed all the updates.

     
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  • Chris Cox
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    3. Chris Cox,
    Jul 22, 2012 7:36 PM   in reply to Digu6220
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    If it freezes, then why did you say it crashes?   (that's like reporting an explosion when your car won't start)

     

    OK, the only thing I know of that can cause freezes like that on OS X is font problems (corrupt font, or corrupt OS font cache).

    You might want to go through the troubleshooting guide at http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/troubleshoot-fonts-photoshop-cs5.h tml

     

    If that doesn't solve it, then we'll need to sample the hung process and see where the time is being spent.

     
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  • Digu6220
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    4. Digu6220,
    Jul 22, 2012 7:45 PM   in reply to Chris Cox
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    Ahh, now I feel like a ******* because I put "crashes" into the title. In the actual post I explained that it freezes, but now I see that I was being contradictory. I'm sorry.

     

    I've downloaded a whole lot of fonts, in general, so that sounds like a likely explanation. I will go through the troubleshooting guide and see what comes up. Thank you!

     
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  • Curt Y
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    5. Curt Y,
    Jul 22, 2012 7:54 PM   in reply to Digu6220
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    Digu6220 wrote:

     

    I'm running Photoshop CS5 Extended for Mac. I've had it for over a year now and it has worked perfectly fine until now.

     

     

    The issue started a few weeks ago. I can't think of anything in particular that could've spurred it. What happens is that (generally within a few brush strokes, like five to ten) the program freezes. It gives me the little grey spinning wheel telling me that it's thinking, and that never stops. I've left it for hours before, waiting to see if it would ever snap out of it, and nothing. I always have to force quit the application.

     

    Something must have changed a few weeks ago, perhaps it was an update?  Adding a new font or plug-in?

     

    Incompatable update in driver?  RAM gone bad in GPU or OS?

     
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  • Digu6220
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    6. Digu6220,
    Jul 22, 2012 8:44 PM   in reply to Chris Cox
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    Okay, it may be too early to tell (since obviously I just have to wait until it freezes to know if it's fixed or not) but it crashed after every troubleshooting step until I got to the OpenGL one. Looks like it might be an issue with my video display card/driver. Thanks Chris, hope I can get it worked out.

     

    EDIT: Okay, I'm fairly certain that that was the problem. I tried updating the video driver, but Mac automatically tells me weekly if there's an update, and this has been going on longer than a week. Searched for an update anyway, and there wasn't one. I went ahead and reset my preferences as per the troubleshooting guide and everything seems to be working.

     

    Thanks for your help!

     
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  • Chris Cox
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    7. Chris Cox,
    Jul 22, 2012 8:58 PM   in reply to Digu6220
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    OK, it could be the GPU/driver - but Apple hasn't updated anything too recently (10.7.4 was last, and 10.6.8 is old).

    And a hardware fault I would expect to do more to the whole machine.  Very odd.

     
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  • Digu6220
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    8. Digu6220,
    Jul 22, 2012 9:06 PM   in reply to Chris Cox
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    There is still a small chance that it could freeze any second now and I would be back to square one, but usually it freezes within the first three, five minutes of work, and I've been drawing pretty continuously for about forty minutes now, so it seems unlikely. If it picks back up, I will be back.

     
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  • Digu6220
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    9. Digu6220,
    Jul 22, 2012 9:30 PM   in reply to Chris Cox
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    ....seems like I spoke too soon. Got to draw without interruption for over an hour and then suddenly one of my brush strokes did this weird thing where it drew a line all the way across the screen (without me moving my stylus) and then froze. Grr.

     
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  • Chris Cox
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    10. Chris Cox,
    Jul 22, 2012 10:12 PM   in reply to Digu6220
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    Alright, time to see if we can find where it is spending time.

     

    Open the Activity Monitor, and when Photoshop freezes, select Photoshop and click the "Sample Process" button.

    The log is probably a bit long to paste into a message, but you could put it on a website and post the link, or email it directly to ccox (at) adobe [dot] com.

    Hopefully that will tell us something about what is going on.

     
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  • Chris Cox
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    11. Chris Cox,
    Jul 23, 2012 5:27 PM   in reply to Chris Cox
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    Got the samples.

     

    That's weird.

    Photoshop is trying to do some work, asks the OS if there are any events pending, and the OS goes off and spends a lot of time doing nothing.

    I don't see any third party plugins or drivers involved - that's good, sort of.

    But I also don't see what's causing the abnormal event handling.

     
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  • Digu6220
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    12. Digu6220,
    Jul 23, 2012 5:37 PM   in reply to Chris Cox
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    So what do you suggest my next step be? Would you say it's a problem with Photoshop or a problem with my computer, if you had to guess?

     
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  • Chris Cox
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    13. Chris Cox,
    Jul 23, 2012 6:39 PM   in reply to Digu6220
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    Since other Photoshop users aren't seeing it, I'm guessing it's a system issue or a conflict with another application.

     

    Try closing other applications that you have open while using Photoshop, and see if that helps.

    And you can always try resetting the Photoshop prefs.

     
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  • Digu6220
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    14. Digu6220,
    Jul 24, 2012 10:19 AM   in reply to Chris Cox
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    I already reset my preferences, as per the instructions of one of those troubleshooting guides. And there was only one program that I installed anywhere near the time when this issue began, and I already removed it. That was like...the first step I took.

     

    This is infuriating. My natural inclination is to give up but I know that it would make it near impossible to work. I guess I'm going to pay somebody to correct this problem because I am not a computer person and three days is longer than the span of my patience.

     

    Thank you for your help.

     
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