18 Replies Latest reply: Oct 31, 2009 1:25 PM by Shan-Dysigns RSS

    PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)

    Shan-Dysigns Community Member

      Now and then, part of my menu bar disappears - the section just to the right of "help" - I think the first icon for this particular bar is to open Bridge. I've included a screen shot of my issue - notice that area seems to show my desktop (or whatever is open behind PS). I think this has something to do with my graphics card. I have a nVidia GEForce 9500 GT (driver version 6.14.11.9107 from 9/27/09). The driver is current. When this issue comes up, I have to literally reboot for that secion of the menu bar to reappear. Simply logging off and back on doesn't do it. When this menu bar section "does" appear, when I mouse over the icons, the "roll over" icon is blank - or just solid grey. I don't think that is how it's supposed to look.

       

      I've also had trouble (recently and in the near past) with my "show grid" setting (reference: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/493932?tstart=0). For example, I would create a document 72px x 72px @ 72ppi - make my grid visible (grid settings are set to show 1 grid line every 1px & 1 subdivision). When zooming into any corner of the image, I could see the grid lines were offset (example images on my reference post) - this is not to be confused with the pixel grid. I'm wondering if these issues are related to each other and/or because of my graphics card. The grid line offset issue was previously fixed by deleting my preferences, but sine this is happening again, my guess is something is causing the "grid" to show improperly. I've tested with and without GPU enhancements enabled in PS preferences. I just can't find a common thread in which causes these issues.

       

      If I still have your attention, I would like to add an "off topic" issue (maybe somoene reading this can help on the other issue too). In reference to http://forums.adobe.com/thread/508982?tstart=0, no one has really been able to answer this or confirm/deny they get the same results. This has to do with viewing document size, and the unit of measurement seems to get stuck on cm (I want it to remain on inches like it always did with CS3) - maybe I should go back to CS3. Whenever I have rulers set to pixels, the document size locks to cm. The only way I can see inches in document size is if my rulers are set to inches. To me, it makes sense to have rulers set to pixels (for many reasons), but when it comes time to print, change canvas size, etc., I want to see the document size in inches. I don't know if this is normal, but when I go to create a new document, in the preset drop down list for "default photoshop size", it's unit is cm. Could that have something to do with my cm issue? I'm already made sure my regional settings are US, and unit settings are set according to attached image (unitSettings.jpg).

       

      At this point, I'm going mad because these little bity querks just drive me up the wall to the point I can't get anything done because I'm always troublshooting.If anyone can shed some light on any/all of these topics, you would save me from slicing a wrist or two Thanks...

        • 1. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
          dec9 Community Member

          Are you having rendering issues with other software or just with Adobe PS CS4?

           

          Did you update CS4 to 11.0.1?

           

          Also you might want to update Directx. I know it has nothing to do with opengl but some posters in the past have reported that some things got better.

           

          Also sometimes newer video card drivers are not the best drivers for a given application. Have you went back to a set of older drivers to see if that may cure the problem?

           

          As for the ruler problem some people, from what I have read, have the same or simular issue. There is a recent thread about 2 or 3 days ago that had a ruler problem and I don't think it was fixed.

          • 2. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
            Shan-Dysigns Community Member
            Are you having rendering issues with other software or just with Adobe PS CS4?

            At the moment, I'm not really using any other programs which would call for any rendering. Videos seem to play fine, so other than PS, I'm not using any other programs.

             

            Did you update CS4 to 11.0.1?

            I just did, so I guess I have to play the waiting game now. The roll over issue I mentioned before is still giving me just a gray square roll over state. I don't know what (if anything) is supposed to show on roll over. What do you see when you roll over any of those buttons?

             

            Also you might want to update Directx. I know it has nothing to do with opengl but some posters in the past have reported that some things got better.

            I currently have version directX.jpg

             

            When I tried to update at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b -bc6a-9b6652cd92a3, and install, I would get this error directXError.jpgEven though I meet the requirements for this update, something is not letting me. I even made sure my Cryptographic Services was enabled and started. When opening PS, there were times I would get an error something to the effect that PS had a problem with the display driver so something or another was disabled (which I'm thinking it was just not allowing open GL drawing (which was usually around the time I would notice that menu bar section I posted about previously).

             

            Also sometimes newer video card drivers are not the best drivers for a given application. Have you went back to a set of older drivers to see if that may cure the problem?

            I've rolled back my graphics driver. Will have to wait and see if that solved anything.

             

             

            As for the ruler problem some people, from what I have read, have the same or simular issue. There is a recent thread about 2 or 3 days ago that had a ruler problem and I don't think it was fixed.

            The recent thread was probably mine. I didn't mean to double post about that topic, but sometimes when just one person responds (and usually doesn't have anything helpful to say), others will just pass up that post. This issue is maddening, so maybe one day it will fix itself or I will move on.

             

            Thanks for your time, I will post back if anything else goes wrong - I mean "when" something else goes wrong.

            • 3. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
              John Joslin Community Member

              Have you tried temporarily disabling all 3rd party plug-ins to see if the quirky behaviour disappears?

              • 4. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                Shan-Dysigns Community Member

                Well, rolling back my graphics driver only created more problems. I attempted this two ways: First, I just went into Device Manager and navigated to where I can click "roll back driver" -  then tried totally uninstalling ALL graphic drivers and using the original graphics card CD to install the driver files (which were old). From that, I went back to nVidia's website to upload the latest drivers. Since then, all the icons on my desktop keep auto-arranging themselves. Fortunately I had Icon Restorer installed, but either after a reboot or navigating to one of my external HD's, the icons reset themselves.

                 

                At this point, I've given up on the original posted issues and just chalked it up to either a bug in PS or the new way Adobe wanted this to work. For additional troubleshooting, I installed Photoshop on my mom's computer to see if document size units default to cm, and they did - even when you create a new document and choose the preset size of "default photoshop size", its unit of measurement is in cm, so this issue is coming from the program I guess. I just don't have anymore time to waste on this issue. I've already updated Photoshop, and still the same.

                 

                So currently that menu bar is visible - like I said, it randomly would disappear, so I have to justwait and see if updating my drivers makes a difference (I still have no roll over image for that menu) - My next step would be to try and reinstall PS - of course, that in itself takes 30+ minutes because the suite installer is so damn slow..

                • 5. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                  Zeno Bokor CommunityMVP

                  The Default Photoshop Size always defaults to cm, use the Photo or US Paper presets if you want it to always default to inches.

                   

                  As for the auto aranging icons, when you right+click on the desktop and select Arrange Icons By, is Auto Arrange selected? disable it if yes

                  • 6. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                    Shan-Dysigns Community Member

                    As soon as I posted my last comment, I ran MalWareBytes and it found 1 entry. I backup the registry then deleted that entry:

                     

                    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Start_ShowSe arch (Hijack.StartMenu) -> Bad: (0) Good: (1) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.

                     

                    Rebooted - icons are back in place - I don't think it had anything to do with my graphics card drivers and updating them.

                     

                    The default photoshop size unit of measurement wasn't an issue, it was just a remark and wondering if that had anything to do with not being able to see document size in inches while ruler set to pixels. But like I said, even though I had always been able to see document size in inches while rulers were set to pixels before (mainly CS3)... I've moved on to fight bigger battles with my machine - I'm ready to set it on fire...

                    • 7. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                      Chris Cox Adobe Employee

                      Menus disappearing is a common symptom from some buggy third party plugins.

                      Updating the third party plugins makes the problem go away.

                      • 8. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                        John Joslin Community Member

                        Isn't that covered by temporarily disabling them to see if the problem goes away?

                        • 9. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                          dec9 Community Member

                          Someone missed post 3 I guess, huh.

                          • 10. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                            Shan-Dysigns Community Member
                            Menus disappearing is a common symptom from some buggy third party plugins. Updating the third party plugins makes the problem go away.

                            Easier said than done and way too time consuming (especially if it's not the ultimate fix). I don't think this issue has anything to do with my plug-ins because they haven't changed in months, and the disappearing menu is quite recent (week+). I guess I should start using technical terms = application bar and not just "menu".

                             

                            Isn't that covered by temporarily disabling them to see if the problem goes away?

                            I tried this:

                            added a "~" to the folder name = "~Plug-ins"

                            and restarted Photoshop. Since my last update for my graphic card driver (maybe yesterday), that menu was visible, but as soon as I renamed the plug-in folder, that menu disappeared again. I think every bit of this has to do with my graphics card driver because before any of this started happening (at least from what I can remember), I was getting the error message of something like "photoshop encountered a problem with your display driver and disabled enhancements"... that's not verbatim. nVidia's web forum has been down a few days, so I can't ask them. It's supposed to be back up today some time.

                             

                            Someone missed post 3 I guess, huh.

                            The 3rd post was one of my lengthy posts with visuals. I'm not sure what your comment meant (maybe it was directed at the last 2 posts).

                             

                            Bottom line: it's something on my machine because as I said (maybe in this post or another forum), I did a test (specifically for the unit of measurement issue), by installing PS on my mom's computer (which is not as powerful as mine), and right away, the application menu is visible and displays actual image roll overs - I'm just now realizing there is supposed to be an image on roll over and not just a grey square (as on mine).

                             

                            Thanks all for any time you've taken to respond. I will have to wait until nVidia's forums are back online and ask around there because all this started after trying to update my graphics driver.

                            • 11. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                              Shan-Dysigns Community Member

                              Ok, let me kick myself in the butt - actually on the butt


                              I dug a little deeper into disabling my plug-ins. First, when I mentioned I simply renamed "Plug-ins" to "~Plug-ins" the application bar disappeared again - well, I went ahead and renamed that folder back to "Plug-ins" and went inside and started adding "~" in front of the various plug-in folders. For me, the faulty plug-in was part of Alien Skin family, so I narrowed it down even further with hiding all folders and one by one enabling a particular plug-in folder. None of the plug-in folders were corrupt, but under the root of the Alien Skin plug-in folder, there are 2 individual filters - AutoLayer.8li and AutoLayer2.8li. For me, the faulty filter was AutoLayer2.8li and I actually found their known issue reoprt at http://support.alienskin.com/Article_A476A.aspx. I downloaded their updated filter and the application menu roll overs are visible (at least for now)...

                              • 12. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                                Michael D Sullivan Community Member

                                When you get advice from Chris Cox, it's usually good advice, as you found.  He's on the Photoshop Windows team at Adobe.

                                • 13. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                                  shunithD Community Member

                                  Michael D Sullivan wrote:

                                   

                                  When you get advice from Chris Cox, it's usually good advice, as you found.  He's on the Photoshop Windows team at Adobe.

                                  True... but John Joslin pointed out a third-party plug-in possibility right at the beginning as well...

                                  • 14. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                                    Shan-Dysigns Community Member

                                    Josh Joslin - Have you tried temporarily disabling all 3rd party plug-ins to see if the quirky behaviour disappears?

                                    vs.

                                    Chris Cox - Menus disappearing is a common symptom from some buggy third party plugins. Updating the third party plugins makes the problem go away.

                                     

                                    Albeit both suggestions may have meant the same thing, there is a difference between "disabling the plug-ins" (which was eventually what lead to finding the faulty plug-in/filter) and "updating them" (which would have been very time consuming). Like I said, maybe Chris also meant to disable them, but either way, the solution has been found. Sometimes one (meaning me in this case) doesn't know the proper keywords to use when trying to research information on a topic when the problem could be from multiple sources. Funny thing though, hiding the whole Plug-ins folder (adding the "~") did not yield the same result as when I hide each individual folder within Plug-ins. Some time previously I mentioned I had tried to disable all plug-ins (that's when I renamed the main Plug-ins folder) which didn't fix anything. I didn't know or even think it would make a difference with renaming each folder instead - who knew... anyway... thanks to everyone...

                                    • 15. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                                      John Joslin Community Member

                                      Shan-Dysigns wrote:

                                       

                                      there is a difference between "disabling the plug-ins" (which was eventually what lead to finding the faulty plug-in/filter) and "updating them" (which would have been very time consuming)

                                       

                                      That is why I suggested it right at the beginning!


                                      Glad you got it sorted. 

                                      • 16. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                                        Shan-Dysigns Community Member

                                        That is why I suggested it right at the beginning!

                                        Yes, Josh, you did, but like I said, (damn that's a lot of commas)... taking your suggestion, I hide the whole folder "~Plug-ins" (I'm assuming hiding the main folder is the same as disabling the plug-ins), and the application bar disappeared (when it had temporarily been working after updating my graphics driver) - problem wasn't solved - so once I renamed the main folder back to "Plug-ins" and individually hid its sub folders - that's when the solution was found. So, yes, your suggestion was the end result, but without specifying (at least to me) your recommended method of disabling the plug-ins, I had to take your suggestion and do a wee-bit more with it. Thanks... problem is solved now (for now). Let me see if I can give you points

                                        • 17. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                                          John Joslin Community Member

                                          I wasn't worried about that. It's a just a joke between regulars.


                                          But it's worth mentioning here that it's best to segregate third party plug-ins in a folder of their own when installing them. This can then be nominated in Preferences > Plug-ins so that the folder can be used for future installations of Photoshop. Also plug-ins can easily be disabled or moved out of there for trouble-shooting.


                                          This is not particularly aimed at you Shandy but as a general tip for our readership.   

                                          • 18. Re: PS CS4 menu bar sometimes disappears (parts of it)
                                            Shan-Dysigns Community Member

                                            I'm following you. I'm a regular (well not so much lately) of the Flash forum, so I know where you were headed, and I was just making note of the differences (at least for me) of how renaming/hiding folders reacted between both methods. Maybe I said nothing new to anyone on that topic, but I just wanted to add it in case it sparks anyone's thought pattern. I guess since PS 5 (when I started), I was always used to installing plug-ins in the same folder as PS default plug-ins. I'm not sure I ever read any documentation that PS would allow plug-ins in another folder (nor did I bother to look), so your last comment will come in handy in the future. Thanks...