Photoshop CC on Mavericks: Photoshop slows down/freezes often

[Venture1]

Ever since updating to Mavericks, in addition to having the blank menus problem (see relevant thread: http://forums.adobe.com/message/5785359#5785359), I noticed that about once every hour or so, Photoshop will stop reacting to things (it's not listed as "Not Responng" though and there is no beachball or grey circles cursor). Sometimes it will go back to normal on its own, sometimes I can click on a different app and go back into Photoshop and it's fine, but sometimes this won't help. If I work on huge files (2-3 GB PSB files) then slowdowns get much more frequent to the point where I click on something, it freezes for 2 minutes, and then I continue working for a few seconds and it freezes again and so on, until I quit and reopen the file. This has happened a lot on large files, but the short slowdowns always happen regardless of file size. It's extremely annoying and far worse than the blank menu bug.

I notice that most of the time (if not always) I am using the Brush tool when this happens (this might be coincidence - I use the Brush a lot).

I can't yet figure out how exactly the process happens, but it only occured to me now that this may not be general normal slowness since it never happened before. I have 16 GB of RAM on a fresh new iMac so system performance should not be an issue, especially not on tiny files.

I will provide more info when the bug happens again, in the meantime, does anyone else have this issue? Any suggestions?

Also, no I don't have any dodgy programs installed. OS X Mavericks, Photoshop CC 14.1.2, and Wacom Intuos 4 Driver 6.3.7-3, plus some other apps that are necessary to run a computer nowadays (Perian, MPEG Streamclip, Flash, Java, and not much more (see screenshot).

[Chris Cox]

Sampling/profiling the process while it's hung might give us some idea what is going on.

But so far we just keep seeing the application waiting on some part of the OS (disk access, or font information).

Oddly, Perian has been mentioned by a few people having the blank menu problem....

[Venture1]

All right, it happend again so I could catch it on a screen recording. Basically I was selecting something with the Quick Select tool, and suddenly Photoshop didn't respond to anything.

In the video you can see how the CPU usage for Photoshop is constantly around 80% (view at 1080p video to see the small text). It would stay at 80% until I go into another app and then go back into Photoshop. Then everything is back to normal.

This happens from time to time, regardless of tool or file size apparently. Usually it will stay frozen indefenitely until I click out of Photoshop and back in. For this reason, I can't show you that Photoshop is frozen because opening QuickTime to record the screen will cause me to obviously switch apps and fix the issue as soon as I go back to Photoshop.

By the way, our two other computers that also have the blank menu problem definitely don't have Perian installed, so I think it can't be the cause of that problem.

[ChrisML]

I'm having this exact same issue on a brand new Retina Macbook Pro. It happens most frequently when trying to undue a brush stroke ( I do that all the time so that might be where I'm noticing it) Photoshop CC is updated and I have the latest Wacom Drivers. I think it might be related to the Wacom Drivers.

[Venture1]

Although it may be related to Wacom, I think that pretty much everyone fussy enough to notice such bugs is also fussy enough to own a graphics tablet, so it may just be coincidence. It would be great though if Adobe could talk to Wacom about the issues, because I'm sure Wacom will listen to them far more than to us. I've tried getting issues sorted with Wacom and they just ignore them.

Do you also see high CPU usage while Photoshop is frozen?

[ChrisML]

Yes, after watching your video I put activity monitor side by side with Photoshop and watched the CPU usage spike when it froze. Exactly like yours it went up to 80 percent.

[tim-p]

I'm having the exact same problem with Photoshop CC on mavericks. It become totally unusable, especially on larger files - freezes up, does sort itself eventually, maybe 5-10 minutes after the freeze starts. Interestingly I have this problem on my mac Mini but not my 13" rMBP. The Mac Mini is fine when using CS5.1

[tim-p]

Incidentally my Mac Mini has a fusion drive. i suspect that's what's causing the problem, should anyone from adobe be interested!

[boo_radley_2013]

I've had slowdowns like this in the past, where photoshop would freeze for up to 5 minutes and then return. In my case it was a failing hard drive (which eventually failed completely before I could backup my data). I suspect that when Photoshop was writing to the scratch disk, it was hitting the bad sectors and that was my first indicator that I ignored (only because something like that had never happened before.) Fast forward to today: if I ever experience a temporary freeze in Photoshop like that again, my first step will to be back up all data and then troubleshoot from there - don't want that happeneing again.

No clue if this is related or not but just a heads up that it might be something to look into.

[tim-p]

Thanks for the contribution - that was my first thought too, based on a previous HDD failure. However, the fact that it doesn't happen working on the same files with 5.1 leads me to suspect CC rather than HDD. I ran a full TechTool Pro scan yesterday which didn't show up any hardware problem and no bad sectors. However, I have also assiduosly backed up as well, just in case!

[Venture1]

Since our iMac is brand new and has no fusion drive (just a normal 1TB HDD) I doubt it's hard drive related. This strictly only started after Mavericks, I would have noticed earlier otherwise.

[ChrisML]

I know it's not a hard drive issue, as I have purchased both the new 13 inch macbook pro with retina display and 15 inch macbook pro with retina display and this is issue is a problem with both computers. I have tried on two different wacom tablets. The problem doesn't seem to be there if I use the built in trackpad, which leads me to believe that Wacoms drivers are not ready for prime time.

[ErikVerheggen]

I also have this problem. After a long wait, the program resumes most of the time.

My Mac is a few years old.

Photoshop 14.1.2. x64

My Mac is OS X 10.9

Processor 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon

Memory 6 GB 800 MHz RAM

[Venture1]

All right I caught this properly on camera this time. Sorry for the bad video, I was holding a heavy Canon 5D II in one hand with manual focus and my wacom in the other. I could not have done a screen recording, beacuse the bug fixes itself as soon as I go to another app, so by the time I launch the screen recorder, there would be no bug to record. You may not see very well, but I start with the brush tool (I'm on a mask by the way), and instead of the normal brush cursor (circle) I have a mouse pointer that doesn't draw anything. I then try other tools only to find that none of them work, with the strange exception of the Eyedropper and (sort of) the Crop tool.

It's very interesting that when this freeze happens, most things in Photoshop work, but you can't draw on the canvas or use most tools. The eyedropper work fine, but the Crop tool half-works: The crop rectangle appears, but you can't drag it or apply it. No other tool seems to work, but other functions like showing/hiding layers, adjustment layers, etc... all work fine. You just can't draw or modify the canvas in any way! And the cursor is the OS X mouse cursor instead of whatever tool you're on. Except the eyedropper.

Going into another app and back into Photoshop fixes the issue instantly...

I couldn't check CPU usage this time, but last time it was at 80% during such a freeze.

PS: The very last title at the end of the video should say something like "If I switch to another app then back to PS again, PS works completely fine." instead of "Trying to use Brush tool". At the end it may look like things are not working but since I was trying to do things with one hand, I couldn't quite show things right. But you can see me use the smudge tool and it works fine, for example.

[Adam Jerugim]

I'd like to know if the issue occurs when Photoshop is the only application running on the system.  I'd also like to know if the issue occurs when a mouse is used to drive the app instead of stylus/tablet.  Does this only occur when using a tablet device?

Also, how much free space do you have on your OS volume?  I found the OS to start freezing even when I had ~60GB free on the OS volume.  Thought it was my hardware, but I'll check more tomorrow when I have access to the machine (MacPro 2x6core).  I do not see this problem on a newer iMac (w/fusion drive) or my Retina MBP.

A couple things to try:

1.  Check if Adobe Drive is enabled in File Handling prefs - if it is, disable it

2.  Also in File Handling prefs, try disabling Automatically save recovery information

Do either of those things help overall performance?

Thanks,

Adam

[ChrisML]

I have the problem no matter what. I've ran it as the only application open.  File Handling prefs are disabled. Automatic saved is disabled. It works fine without using the Wacom tablet plugged in. Adobe needs to get in touch with Wacom and get this issue resolved. The new drivers are not working for me. I wonder if it has anything to do with it being a fresh install of Mavericks (since it's a brand new computer that was just released )and not an upgrade from a previous OS.

[ChrisML]

I mostly notice my photoshop freezing when I try to use the "step backward" shortcut. I noticed that when the program freezes and I'm unable to perform the shortcut I can still use my Wacom tablet to select "step backwards" from the menu bar and it will work. I have no idea why. During this time of Photoshop being frozen I can not click any of the keys to select another tool. I can however make another selection to the image using my brush and then it will allow me to undo from that point... until it freezes again.

[Venture1]

Looks like my Retina MBP is having the issue you describe: When using the brush, and pressing Cmd + Z (which I have set up to perform "Step Backwards" in History instead of Undo/Redo), the step backwards command does not get executed and the brush stops drawing. Also the brush cursor doesn't change to a mouse pointer when hovering over other UI elements like the layers panel as it should.

Clicking on something will soon fix the issue and revert everything back to normal. But the issue is VERY frequent (happens about 30% of the time I press Cmd + Z).

This issue is different than the one I described earlier (videos) in that the mouse pointer is stuck as a Brush cursor instead of a Mouse Arrow cursor. It's also different in that the issue resolves when I click on something in Photoshop, while the other issue would only be resolved if I went into another app and back into PS.

I would say they are probably different manifestations of the same problem, though I'm not sure.

[ChrisML]

Yeah, this is the problem I was having. I solved it by... taking back my computer! The newest macbook pros can't be reverted back to mountain lion... which is the only solution. It's been over two weeks now and I'm not very confident in a timely solution. I can't imagine any graphics professionals having a fun time since updating to mavericks.

[wstlone]

As a Professional, I can tell you that this issue is really annoying !!

My workstation is a 2009 MacPro with 16gb of RAM, and I monitor it with a little App called Memory Clean.

I usually work on Webdesigns with hundreds of layers, dynamic ones, vector shapes and icons... I have to quit PS CC ten times a day.. I can open only 2 PSD files at a time, and of course use only 1 CC software at a time... Photoshop crashed several times, I lost precious time to remake work I lost... Adobe AND Apple support might have loved insults I sent them in the crash reports..

I disabled Open CL, RAM available drops slower, but in the end, System runs with only 30 Mb after 25 minutes of work... CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT ?

Please, find a way to fix it.. I don't pay my licences (since CS3..) to have these issues, maybe the problem is the Mavericks OS and its RAM "smart use".. BTW, it's not my problem, FIX IT, with or without Apple guys, FIX IT, FIX IT !

(On this screenshot You can see the RAM available on the top menu..)

[Chris Cox]

Get rid of Memory Clean - it does more damage than good, especially on MacOS 10.9!

[J453]

The issue where the paint>Undo and PS stops responding to KB shortcuts is being tracked here:

http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/keyboard_shortcuts_not_responding_photoshop_cs...

[tim-p]

In my case I haven't been using a Wacom tablet, although I did have one installed. The old software does not seem to be compatible and I have removed it now. i was using a traditional mouse and a magic trackpad some of the time.

I'll test it and see if the problem is gone, then try the other suggestions.

[tim-p]

Looking further at this, I have been having one other problem with mavericks, which is that my DXT ergonomic mouse became laggy and very difficult to use with precision. I have removed the wacon application/driver and disconnected the third party mouse and - so far - alll is well again. i am wondering if Photoshop isn't the victim of a wider issue with third party pointers?

[ChrisML]

That's what I was thinking. Wacom keeps repeating that their drivers are "fully compatable". I guess that doesn't mean work correctly but rather just work. Anyone at Adobe able to replicate this error? I have a tough time believing that 2 of these new computers I just bought just so happen to have a random bug with photoshop and Wacom tablets under Mavericks.