Had to stolp multithreading - has there been an update?

[Perendale]

Hi

I have suddenly started getting problems. It's most unusual for me to have problems with ARV! Has there been an automatic update?

The biggest problem is pen lag, huge pen lag. Turning off 'multithreading' has solved that but I've never had to do that before.
Some shortcuts have stopped working. E.g. Shift-Cmd-C just says that there is "No paint on the layer" but using the clear command from the layers panel works perfectly.

Any ideas?

Brett

[markw]

Well, that dose sound a bit odd…
Which Mac OS version are you on?
ARV’s current version is 7.1.4* and has been for quite some time now
My first recourse in these cases is to shutdown the system, have a cup of tea, and then restart it again. (The tea is optional!)
It’s old school I know but a lot of times it works to fix odd happenings!

If it still persists then…
Like you I’ve never had any issues with Multithreading and have always had it enabled in ARV Prefs.
Whether you having an M1 chip is relevant here I couldn’t say, as my system is still Intel based.
One possibility is a recent system update may have upset something?
Is your system set to auto install OS updates*?
A tablet driver update could also be a possible cause if you have installed a new one recently?

Which brushes seem slow now? All or just some?
The Oil brush is a good one to try as it’s computational load is not that high even at larger sizes. Some of the Custom Brushes on the other hand and the Watercolour tool at large sizes can have quite a high computational load and can lag.
But there are many variables, not least of which is Canvas size relative to Brush size. A big brush on a big canvas will be slower.

Regarding Key Commands, have you looked to see if they are still as you last set them?
If you have saved them regularly do you have a previous set you could load and test? (But save the currently loaded one first just in case!)

*For both OS and the App Store I have my system set to just advise me when updates are available, just so I can keep track of when an update was applied and if it coincide with any subsequent odd App or the System behavior.

[Perendale]

Thank you Mark,

Yes, several shutdowns complete with coffee I am using the latest version of Sonoma.

I used Rebelle 7 (latest version) yesterday and it too suddenly has huge pen lag. Affinity Designer and Photo do not. That makes me think this is a OSX issue.

I uninstalled both ARV and R7 using Clean My Mac and shutdown and rebooted. The issues persist. :-( it’s just possible that it is R7 related. The problems started after updating R7. That seems unlikely to me.

I am having problems with my Wacom Intuos Pro L. I’m using and older driver because the lastest driver stops the tablet working completely. Have i contacted Wacom for support? Have you ever tried contacting Wacom for support??!

Just to answer your questions: it’s with all brushes at any size, the shortcut problems seem to have resolved with the re-install.

Just to make it more mysterious I started having WiFi problems at the same time! It’s at about this time I start calling my local shaman!

Brett

[markw]

...Have you ever tried contacting Wacom for support??! ...

Oh yes, been there, done that, got the teeshirt!
For me, Driver 6.3.39-1 for my Intuos4 was the last driver that worked properly on my system with all apps!

Do the bushes still lag when not using the Wacom? Do you have a mouse or trackpad you can try just to see?
That might help see if the problem is Wacom Driver related or not at least.

But I think my money is still on something having changed in the OS at the moment.
You didn’t say if your OS keeps itself auto updated or if you have to sanction system updates first?
I think M series chip support in the Affinity v2 apps is where Serif started from, which may well make their v2 apps a bit more robust to Apple pushing out updates having tinkered with things under the hood so to speak of the current Mac OS.

This dose also lead on to what kind of backup/redundancy strategies you have in place?
Some call me too paranoid, some say I’m not paranoid enough! But apart from having a Time Machine disc more or less permanently attached I also, once a week or so, make a bootable backup clone of my system to an external SSD.
If you have such a thing too, and it’s not too late, then maybe try booting from the clone and see if the problem is present there as well.
It’s a long shot but there’s an outside chance it might help see what changed.
But diagnosing odd changes like this is always going difficult post event, whatever that event was

[Perendale]

Oh yes, been there, done that, got the teeshirt!

Ha ha!!

For me, Driver 6.3.39-1 for my Intuos4 was the last driver that worked properly on my system with all apps!

I'm using 6.3.37-3! I had to use 'Connect My Tablet' last time my Intuos failed. Very good software!

Do the bushes still lag when not using the Wacom? Do you have a mouse or trackpad you can try just to see?
That might help see if the problem is Wacom Driver related or not at least.

No the lag is the same on all input devices

But I think my money is still on something having changed in the OS at the moment.
You didn’t say if your OS keeps itself auto updated or if you have to sanction system updates first?
I think M series chip support in the Affinity v2 apps is where Serif started from, which may well make their v2 apps a bit more robust to Apple pushing out updates having tinkered with things under the hood so to speak of the current Mac OS.

Yes I agree that it's prolly a MacOS issue. No I do not allow anything to update on my iMac w/out my permission.

This dose also lead on to what kind of backup/redundancy strategies you have in place?
Some call me too paranoid, some say I’m not paranoid enough! But apart from having a Time Machine disc more or less permanently attached I also, once a week or so, make a bootable backup clone of my system to an external SSD.
If you have such a thing too, and it’s not too late, then maybe try booting from the clone and see if the problem is present there as well.
It’s a long shot but there’s an outside chance it might help see what changed.

I just use TimeMachine!

But diagnosing odd changes like this is always going difficult post event, whatever that event was

Agreed in spades!!

Brett

[Perendale]

I've just updated to the latest version of Rebelle and the problems have vanished. Very interesting indeed. I notice in my Activity Monitor that Rebelle is using a whopping 5.5Gb of memory. I wonder if Rebelle was not letting go of the memory when it closed and they've just quietly fixed that in the new update???

Brett

[markw]

Great to hear AR is back up to speed for you!
Had an idea yesterday, but then got distracted and forgot, but that of starting your system in Safe Mode*, which would have at least shown if it was an OS induced problem or interference from another app. (and, yes, I should have thought of this test sooner!)
But as the bard says; “All’s well that ends well”.

*If you are not familiar with Safe Mode, the system only loads the bare minimum of resources that it needs to run;
Hold the Shift key down as the system starts up and keep it down till you see the Login screen. To confirm, in top right of the screen you should see the words 'Safe Mode' in red.

[Perendale]

Thanks Mark! Well, doh! I should have thought of safe mode myself. My iMac is so stable that I forget things like ‘safe mode.’ I’m not complaining

Thanks for the support.

Brett

[Perendale]

AAAAARRGGGHHH! Huge pen lag is back in spades. Toggling off multithreading cures it. Yes I just updated Sonoma again! When will I learn. I'll continue as I am until the next update

Brett

[markw]

AAAAARRGGGHHH! Huge pen lag is back in spades. Toggling off multithreading cures it. Yes I just updated Sonoma again! When will I learn. I'll continue as I am until the next update
Brett

Sorry to hear that!
The more I hear about Sonoma, both here and on other forums, the happier I am that my hardware can’t actually run it!
Ventura was the last OS that I can run on my hardware, of which I have a copy on a separate SSD.
I’ve never really understood Apple’s drive to constantly put out a new OS every year? In which, with each iteration, users are locked out of more and more of their own system?
Yes, each new OS generally has some good ideas in it to commend them, but for me since Catalina, the Cons of upgrading my production OS have outweighed the Pros for now.
It must also be a nightmare for small app developers too who perhaps don’t have the resources to throw at rewriting their apps every year just to try and keep up with Apple!