Thread View: adobe.creative.suite.mac
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Started by Tom_Coggia
Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:19
CS4 messes up x1900 GT graphic card?
Author: Tom_Coggia
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:19
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:19
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I have a Mac Pro with a Radeon X1900 GT graphics card, on which I've been running various Creative Suite apps for about 2.5 years without incident. Until last week, when I upgraded from CS3 to CS4. Without going into detail, after various "hiccups" I ended up wiping out all evidence of previous CS installations using Adobe's cleaning script and installing CS4 from scratch (Master Collection). Starting that very day I've been having a serious display problem. If I'm going to leave my computer for any length of time, I put it to sleep. But, starting the day I installed CS4, when I woke up my computer the display stayed black. The monitor itself still responded to be turned on and off (using the hardware button on the side), as evidenced by the power light's reactions, but the screen itself stayed totally black. No sign of life. I shut the computer down, restarted. Nothing. I pulled the graphics card out and blew off the dust with compressed air. No good. I started the computer in Safe mode. Still wouldn't work. Then I unplugged the monitor from my desktop, and plugged it into my laptop. It worked fine. I plugged it back into my desktop...black screen. So the display itself seems to be fine. The computer seems to be fine too - I can share screens with it and see that behind that black display everything is just as I left it and in working order. I shut down for the night, and the next morning it worked. However, when I put it to sleep...the display the same thing upon waking up the computer (that is, nothing). I shut it down for many hours, and it worked again...until the computer went to sleep. It seems like once the card shuts down (or whatever is causing the display to act dead) the computer has to be shut down for many hours before it works again. This suggests the graphics card is the problem, and perhaps an overheating issue (which I've never had in the past). The wrinkle to that theory is that this morning I turned on the computer and it worked fine, and then after being on for only a few minutes I put it to sleep and the problem occurred. I don't know how hot the card could have gotten in just a couple of minutes - a couple of minutes, by the way, of not running any applications or doing any work on it. Just sitting there. So I'm stuck. It looks like I'm going to have to get a new graphics card, but I'm afraid that perhaps the card isn't the problem after all, or that whatever happened to that card will happen to any new one I put in. I can't say conclusively that CS4 is the culprit...but it's awfully coincidental that after 2.5 years this problem suddenly occurred the very first time I put the system to sleep after installing it...
Re: CS4 messes up x1900 GT graphic card?
Author: Neil_Keller
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:52
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:52
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Have you disabled OpenGL? Your card may not compatible with these advanced features. See: <http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb405711&sliceId=1> and <http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb404898> If disabling OpenGL features allows your card to perform normally, that is the issue. And a new card would be required if you wish to access those features (in Photoshop, Bridge). Neil
Re: CS4 messes up x1900 GT graphic card?
Author: Neil_Keller
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:53
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:53
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Have you disabled OpenGL? Your card may not compatible with these advanced features. See: <http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb405711&sliceId=1> and <http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb404898> If disabling OpenGL features allows your card to perform normally, that is the issue. And a new card would be required if you wish to access those features (in Photoshop, Bridge). There is a plug-in for Photoshop that forces your video card to work, but it comes with some serious caveats. Neil
Re: CS4 messes up x1900 GT graphic card?
Author: Tom_Coggia
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:12
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:12
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I considered doing that...but if the problem now happens even if I haven't launched Photoshop, or any other CS app, it seemed unlikely to me that launching Photoshop just to change the OpenGL settings would make a difference. Wouldn't Photoshop's particular interaction with the graphics card only occur when Photoshop is running? Plus my card is specifically listed by Adobe as being fully compatible with graphics acceleration, OpenGL. It would be much simpler if the problem only happened while Photoshop was running...but it happens even if it isn't. Perhaps CS4 runs something on startup that might be causing trouble for the graphics card, even if none of its apps are used? Is it possible that software (Photoshop, or some other CS4 app) could have done something to "break" hardware, like my graphics card? Seems unlikely, but it's hard to believe that my graphics card just happened to go insane just at the moment I installed CS4...
Re: CS4 messes up x1900 GT graphic card?
Author: Neil_Keller
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:25
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:25
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Tom,
Wouldn't Photoshop's particular interaction with the graphics card only
occur when Photoshop is running?
Good question, and it makes sense. But offhand, OpenGL is one issue introduced with CS4 that can affect video cards. And I see that specifically, the MACTEL Radeon x1900 512MB is compatible. If your card is say, just 256MB, then it might not be compatible.
Try disabling OpenGL in Photoshop and see what happens.
Maybe someone else here has a different idea.
Neil
Re: CS4 messes up x1900 GT graphic card?
Author: Buko
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:18
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:18
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I would say his has nothing to do with Photoshop or Adobe, and it is just a coincidence that things went the way they did.
Re: CS4 messes up x1900 GT graphic card?
Author: Neil_Keller
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:23
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:23
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Tom, See this discussion, which may be useful: <http://www.adobeforums.com/webx?7@@.59b7ed69/7> Neil
Re: CS4 messes up x1900 GT graphic card?
Author: brendan_macrae
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:59
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:59
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The issue with this card is due to a cooling issue with OSX 10.5.6, it has nothing to do with any specific application. I have the same setup and the same card. I started to experience issues with the card only after installing the new OS. The card occasionally crashes the OS, I get lines through images and other issues. You can pull the video card, carefully take the impeller off of the heat sink and blow out the dust with canned air. This will improve it's performance but only until the dust collects again. You may want to move up to the NVIDIA GeForce 8800. That's the recommended card for first gen mac pro's that experience this issue. See: <http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB560Z/A> -Brendan
Re: CS4 messes up x1900 GT graphic card?
Author: Tom_Coggia
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:23
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:23
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It may have something to do with 10.5.6, but I can't say I accept that it has nothing to do with any specific application. I've been using 10.5.6 since the day it was released (12/15/08), 3 months ago, without any problems whatsoever. I had also used CS3 apps nearly every single day during that period as well. But then the *very day* I upgraded to CS4 - the first time I put the system to sleep after installing and running some of the apps - the problem started. I'll buy that it's a combination of the two, but I do not believe that the card just coincidentally crapped out - without a single prior sign of distress - the very day I installed CS4. In any case, it's a screw because Apple sold me the card preinstalled with my (very expensive) system and Adobe lists the card as compatible (CS4 ain't cheap either). I contacted AMD/ATI, and they say it's not even one of their parts, that Apple only uses their chipset. Apple, of course, shrugs and says it's not their fault. Adobe does the same. And 'round and 'round it goes. "Cough up another few hundred dollars for a card that won't crap out under normal use" isn't really much of a choice. It's a very responsible, customer-focused response to failure. Thanks Adobe/Apple/AMD!
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