Just installed trial of PM6+ - Catalog options unresponsive

[rex176]

Windows 10 1903, 12GB. PM6+ opens just fine, and I can open a folder and browse images.

When I try to do anything in the Catalog menu item, it goes unresponsive. I've tried "Manage Catalogs", "Scan to Catalog", "Catalog Preferences". When I click the submenu item, the window opens, but it is unresponsive. I can't close the window. The only way to get rid of it is to kill PM6+ with Task Manager.

I've tried several times, I've rebooted. Nothing.

Strangely, when I switch from whichever catalog submenu window I'm trying to use to anything else (Chrome for this message, or simply click on the desktop) the particular catalog window I have open goes all gray, as if it is deactivated. If I click the mouse pointer back on it, it appears to reactivate, but all the buttons are still dead.

With the unresponsive screen open, in Task Manager PM6+ is at a low CPU useage, ranging from 4% down to 1.4% Never seems to go down to zero CPU even when I've been off it for a while.

FWIW this is installed beside a licenced PM6.

Any ideas?

(Not a great first impression, I have to say.)

[Kirk Baker]

Windows 10 1903, 12GB. PM6+ opens just fine, and I can open a folder and browse images.

When I try to do anything in the Catalog menu item, it goes unresponsive. I've tried "Manage Catalogs", "Scan to Catalog", "Catalog Preferences". When I click the submenu item, the window opens, but it is unresponsive. I can't close the window. The only way to get rid of it is to kill PM6+ with Task Manager.

I've tried several times, I've rebooted. Nothing.

Strangely, when I switch from whichever catalog submenu window I'm trying to use to anything else (Chrome for this message, or simply click on the desktop) the particular catalog window I have open goes all gray, as if it is deactivated. If I click the mouse pointer back on it, it appears to reactivate, but all the buttons are still dead.

With the unresponsive screen open, in Task Manager PM6+ is at a low CPU useage, ranging from 4% down to 1.4% Never seems to go down to zero CPU even when I've been off it for a while.

I'd like to see your Photo Mechanic log.  In Photo Mechanic go to the Help menu and choose "Reveal Support Data..." and moments later a Windows Explorer window will come forward with the zipped log file selected.  Use the 'Attachments and other options' link when you're composing your reply to this message and there you'll be able to upload your zipped PM log file.

Thanks,

-Kirk

[rex176]

Kirk,

Here's what I did:
1. Started PM6+
2. Clicked the Catalog menu option then "Scan to Catalog".
3. Scan to Catalog window appeared, but then PM6+ UI froze.
4. Killed PM6+ with Task Manager.
6. Restarted PM6+.
7. Generated the zip file, which is attached: PM_log_2020-10-24_1354.zip

Thanks

[Kirk Baker]

Thanks for the log.  Unfortunately nothing in it indicates the problem you're experiencing.  We'll need for you to turn on some extra debug logging.  Because the UI is unresponsive, the easy method of using the debug flag editor within the application isn't an option so I will walk you through the steps.

In Photo Mechanic's preferences folder you'll create a plain text file named PMDebug.txt and enter the following text:

CATALOG_DEBUG_LOGGING ON

The location of the preferences folder is:

C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\Camera Bits, Inc\Photo Mechanic\

Then quit and start Photo Mechanic again.  Then try and reproduce the problem.  Once it occurs, go to the Help menu, and choose the "Reveal Support Data..." command.  A Windows Explorer window will come forward with a zip compressed copy of the PM.log file.  Please reply to this message.  Use the 'Attachments and other options' link when you're composing your reply to this message and there you'll be able to upload your zipped log file.

Thanks,

-Kirk

[rex176]

Kirk,

I've followed your instructions and the new file is attached, although it doesn't look much different from the previous file. The issue is that once I open the Catalog menu item, the entire PM6+ UI becomes unresponsive.

To give you a better idea of what's going on, I've also attached a screen recording. Because the UI is unresponsive, I do some explaining via audio about halfway through.

[Bill Kelly]

To give you a better idea of what's going on, I've also attached a screen recording. Because the UI is unresponsive, I do some explaining via audio about halfway through.

Thanks - the video was helpful.

For an as-yet-unknown reason, it appears input events are not being received by the UI framework hosting the Catalog module. (That is: Catalog isn't being told about your mouse clicks.)

What are you using as an input device? E.g. mouse, wacom tablet, laptop touchpad, etc.?

Might there be any custom software installed on the machine relating to input devices (such as software that helps with keyboard macros; or software that changes mousewheel behavior; etc.)?

It's likely we'll need to create a new build of Photo Mechanic Plus with some extra logging relating to input events for you to try, in the hopes of narrowing down the problem.

Regards,

Bill

[rex176]

I'm using a Wacom Intuos 4 medium size, bought several years ago, model PTK-640. There might be various items I've set in the Wacom tablet properties, but nothing radical.

There is a mouse scroll wheel issue, where scrolling the mouse wheel causes the mouse pointer to jump to another part of the screen if I have the tablet working across my two displays. I spent a lot of time with Wacom trying to get this resolved, but no luck. It used to work fine, but then just started happening (I think about a year ago). I suspect something in a Windows 10 update. If the tablet is assigned to only one display, the scrolling isn't an issue. Just in case that's the issue, I just tried the PM6+ catalog again with the tablet assigned to only one display, but no luck with that either.

Otherwise nothing special or any.

The only other input-related item that I can think of is that due to an accident, I couldn't use my left hand for a couple of months, so I turned Windows "Sticky Keys" on. Weirdly, now my computer starts with "Sticky Keys" turned on, even though it looks like it's configured not to. However, by the time I'm trying to use the Catalog feature, I've already turned sticky keys off manually.

One thing I just noticed: when the Catalog window goes unresponsive, I can still click the X upper right on the main Photo Mechanic window, and both windows shut down. FWIW, the main PM window closes first, then the catalog window. (So I didn't have to be using Task Manager all this time...)

[Kirk Baker]

I'm using a Wacom Intuos 4 medium size, bought several years ago, model PTK-640. There might be various items I've set in the Wacom tablet properties, but nothing radical.

There is a mouse scroll wheel issue, where scrolling the mouse wheel causes the mouse pointer to jump to another part of the screen if I have the tablet working across my two displays. I spent a lot of time with Wacom trying to get this resolved, but no luck. It used to work fine, but then just started happening (I think about a year ago). I suspect something in a Windows 10 update. If the tablet is assigned to only one display, the scrolling isn't an issue. Just in case that's the issue, I just tried the PM6+ catalog again with the tablet assigned to only one display, but no luck with that either.

Otherwise nothing special or any.

The only other input-related item that I can think of is that due to an accident, I couldn't use my left hand for a couple of months, so I turned Windows "Sticky Keys" on. Weirdly, now my computer starts with "Sticky Keys" turned on, even though it looks like it's configured not to. However, by the time I'm trying to use the Catalog feature, I've already turned sticky keys off manually.

One thing I just noticed: when the Catalog window goes unresponsive, I can still click the X upper right on the main Photo Mechanic window, and both windows shut down. FWIW, the main PM window closes first, then the catalog window. (So I didn't have to be using Task Manager all this time...)

My daughter has a Wacom Intuos Pro (PTH-660) that I borrowed from her and I installed the Wacom drivers.  All of the UI elements in Photo Mechanic Plus work for me but I didn't change the configuration at all.  Would you mind posting screenshots of the various 'pages' of your settings so I can try and duplicate them?

Also, is it possible for you to try a mouse and see if it works at all?

Thanks,

-Kirk

[rex176]

I unplugged the Wacom tablet and plugged in a wired mouse. The catalog submenu items are now enabled. I don't have the time right now to actually use any of them (maybe tonight), but the UI doesn't freeze as it did before.

So the problem is definitely the Wacom tablet. I just checked at Wacom and they have a newer version of the driver, released October 6, 2020. I installed that. The good news is that it fixed the other problem I was having with the tablet (cursor jumps around while using the mouse wheel to scroll), but not the problem with the PM6+ Catalog menu items. I wil play around with the tablet settings and see if anything makes a difference.

It also occurred to me to try navigating the Catalog menu items with the key board. That seems to work, BUT... When I use the TAB key to move through the buttons and checkboxes, it is reallly difficult to see where I am. the difference between the active button and the other buttons is very subtle. It looks like there are also no shortcut keys that I can use, i.e. ALT to show the shortcut key on the button I want to click. Maybe this can be improved in future versions.

I'd say you can consider this case closed. This problem is associated with a trial version of PM6+ (reminder - I've got a licensed non+ version), and I can work with the trial using the wired mouse or the keyboard. If I decide to upgrade to the Plus version, I might open another case if the Wacom is still misbehaving.

I've also got a Wacom Intuos Draw (2015) - CTL-490 (also a few years old) that I use with a notebook computer. I'll try that with my desktop just to see what happens.

Thanks for all your help.

[Kirk Baker]

I unplugged the Wacom tablet and plugged in a wired mouse. The catalog submenu items are now enabled. I don't have the time right now to actually use any of them (maybe tonight), but the UI doesn't freeze as it did before.

So the problem is definitely the Wacom tablet. I just checked at Wacom and they have a newer version of the driver, released October 6, 2020. I installed that. The good news is that it fixed the other problem I was having with the tablet (cursor jumps around while using the mouse wheel to scroll), but not the problem with the PM6+ Catalog menu items. I wil play around with the tablet settings and see if anything makes a difference.

It also occurred to me to try navigating the Catalog menu items with the key board. That seems to work, BUT... When I use the TAB key to move through the buttons and checkboxes, it is reallly difficult to see where I am. the difference between the active button and the other buttons is very subtle. It looks like there are also no shortcut keys that I can use, i.e. ALT to show the shortcut key on the button I want to click. Maybe this can be improved in future versions.

I'd say you can consider this case closed. This problem is associated with a trial version of PM6+ (reminder - I've got a licensed non+ version), and I can work with the trial using the wired mouse or the keyboard. If I decide to upgrade to the Plus version, I might open another case if the Wacom is still misbehaving.

I've also got a Wacom Intuos Draw (2015) - CTL-490 (also a few years old) that I use with a notebook computer. I'll try that with my desktop just to see what happens.

Thanks for all your help.

I'd still appreciate getting your Wacom settings.  We'd like to fix this problem.  I have access to a Wacom tablet (not quite the same version as yours, but I'd be surprised if that matters) but I'm unable to reproduce with the default settings.  Perhaps with your settings on my system I'd be able to get the problem to happen locally which would be ideal.

-Kirk

[rex176]

Kirk,

Thanks for persisting with this.

Attached is a zip file with screenshots of all the configuration screens. The files are listed below. The file names are concatenation of the screen and button names.

I only used the mouse with PM6+, so I don't think the GripPen settings are relevant. The atmgr specific settings are for WebEx only, so probably not relevant, but including it anyway.

The Functions screenshot relate to the buttons on the tablet, and other than adjusting the order of the screens when clicking through the screen toggle, no changes there.

Functions_DisplayToggle.jpg
Functions_ExpressKeys.jpg
Functions_On-ScreenControls.jpg
Functions_TouchRing.jpg
GripPen_AllOther_Eraser.jpg
GripPen_AllOther_Mapping.jpg
GripPen_AllOther_Pen.jpg
GripPen_atmgr_Eraser.jpg
GripPen_atmgr_Mapping.jpg
GripPen_atmgr_Pen.jpg
Mouse_Mapping.jpg
Mouse_Mouse.jpg
Mouse_Options.jpg

[Kirk Baker]

Thanks for persisting with this.

Attached is a zip file with screenshots of all the configuration screens. The files are listed below. The file names are concatenation of the screen and button names.

I only used the mouse with PM6+, so I don't think the GripPen settings are relevant. The atmgr specific settings are for WebEx only, so probably not relevant, but including it anyway.

The Functions screenshot relate to the buttons on the tablet, and other than adjusting the order of the screens when clicking through the screen toggle, no changes there.

Thanks for all of the screen shots.

The Mouse, is it a Wacom mouse or is it referring to your usual Windows mouse?  When you have the inability to use Photo Mechanic Plus' Catalog-related windows, are you using this Mouse or the GripPen?  Or do they both have the problem?

Thanks,

-Kirk

[rex176]

Kirk,

Interesting. The grip pen works just fine.Don't know why it didn't occur to me to try it.

As for the mouse, it is the Wacom mouse.

[Kirk Baker]

Interesting. The grip pen works just fine.Don't know why it didn't occur to me to try it.

As for the mouse, it is the Wacom mouse.

Interesting.  Apparently the Wacom tablet that we have doesn't offer a mouse because it instead is a touch pad.  I'll try using it that way and see if I can get things to fail.  Otherwise, I'll probably have to buy one of their tablets that comes with a mouse.

Thanks,

-Kirk

[Kirk Baker]

OK, I was able to put the Intuos Pro in 'touch' mode but Photo Mechanic Plus works just fine with it, including the Catalog windows.

Wacom does not appear to sell any tablets that come with a mouse anymore.  So I'm not sure where to go from here.

-Kirk