Cache purge question, external drive ok?

[Addie Mears]

I'm getting scratch disk full errors in photoshop and would like to purge the cache (right?). If I edit on an external drive and not off my Mac, can I purge the cache on my Mac (external drive unplugged) and still save the edits on my drive, and be able to open them up again in Bridge for a current project?

 

Also, on this note.. is it terrible to edit on/off of an external drive? Aka plug the drive in, open that folder in Bridge/Photoshop, export and save into drive, etc. 

Thanks!

[Brian]

I'm going to move this thread to the Mac Users Group and then answer the question there.

[Addie Mears]

Okay thank you.

[Brian]

On 7/28/2022 at 5:51 PM, Addie Mears said:

I'm getting scratch disk full errors in photoshop and would like to purge the cache (right?)

This is due to lack of space on the Hard Drive where the Scratch Disk Resides. Even though you think you are editing off an external, the Scratch Disk is more than likely on the "Macintosh HD." I'm taking a wild guess and this is a Mac Laptop with a stupidly small 250GB HD?

On 7/28/2022 at 5:51 PM, Addie Mears said:

Also, on this note.. is it terrible to edit on/off of an external drive?

This is where Damien and my opinions differ. I actually edit off an external, BUT! I'm also using a Thunderbolt 3 Drive, so there is no bottle-neck. I also clone this HD on a regular basis.

Many people don't realize just how important it is to have at least a 1TB main drive, especially when it comes to Photoshop work. They just see that "Shiny new Mac Laptop" that they must have and to Hell with the specs!! They can't afford $4300+ so they go the cheaper route and then ultimately find themselves in the position you are in. So if you do work off an external, fine, but what is your backup strategy for that drive if something goes horribly wrong? A failed HD should be a few hours of inconvenience, not making frantic posts begging for help.  

On 7/28/2022 at 5:51 PM, Addie Mears said:

Aka plug the drive in, open that folder in Bridge/Photoshop, export and save into drive, etc.

I'm curious, do you swap out external hard drives a lot? If so, do you always Eject the drive before removing it from your computer?

[Brian]

Give this a read. You are going to need to move that Scratch Disk.

 

NOW!

I will tell you this, if you are working off an el-cheapo 5400RPM HD that's only USB 3.0, Photoshop might become a bit laggy. So you might want to find out what is occupying that space on the internal HD. By moving the Scratch Disk, you are just treating the symptom, not the problem itself.

[Addie Mears]

2 minutes ago, Brian said:

This is due to lack of space on the Hard Drive where the Scratch Disk Resides. Even though you think you are editing off an external, the Scratch Disk is more than likely on the "Macintosh HD." I'm taking a wild guess and this is a Mac Laptop with a stupidly small 250GB HD?

 

Yes unfortunately, it is a stupidly small 250GB HD. 

 

3 minutes ago, Brian said:

but what is your backup strategy for that drive if something goes horribly wrong? 

I do have multiple hard drives I back up to. 

I have one drive I edit off of, and two others that hold RAWs, final edits, etc. I also keep the RAWs on the memory card until the gallery is delivered and then I wipe it and put it back into rotation.

 

9 minutes ago, Brian said:

I'm curious, do you swap out external hard drives a lot? If so, do you always Eject the drive before removing it from your computer?

During editing, I do not swap between them a lot. When I first upload RAWs and at the end of that gallery I will put multiple in to back it up, but I keep the current project edits on one drive. I do eject every time. Every once in a blue moon my computer will claim I did not eject properly (even though I did eject!) but yes I eject very time.

[Addie Mears]

19 minutes ago, Brian said:

Give this a read. You are going to need to move that Scratch Disk.

 

Okay so I went in and checked out everything.

I did do all of this when I first got into Damien's classes so mostly everything was set up. I did notice though a couple things!
1. I noticed under the cache tile size it was set to 1028K not 128K. So, I updated that.
2. Graphic processor: Recently I have experienced two of the little black boxes popping up. Just recently and it rarely happens, but I just wanted to throw that out there. I left it as you said to leave it.

 

28 minutes ago, Brian said:

Give this a read. You are going to need to move that Scratch Disk.

3. Scratch disk... so right now my Mac pops up, "Macintosh HD, 32.23GB, Startup" and each drive I plug in will as well. So, in order to move it then, do I need to choose any one of my HD's to use as scratch space, or use the HD that I actively edit on? Multiple?

 

25 minutes ago, Brian said:

I will tell you this, if you are working off an el-cheapo 5400RPM HD that's only USB 3.0, Photoshop might become a bit laggy. So you might want to find out what is occupying that space on the internal HD. By moving the Scratch Disk, you are just treating the symptom, not the problem itself.

That makes sense. What would you recommend for solving the internal problem?

Just now, Addie Mears said:

3. Scratch disk... so right now my Mac pops up, "Macintosh HD, 32.23GB, Startup" and each drive I plug in will as well. So, in order to move it then, do I need to choose any one of my HD's to use as scratch space, or use the HD that I actively edit on? Multiple?

Clarification - it is set to Macintosh. When the drives get plugged in, they are not automatically checked, only the Macintosh.

[Brian]

Right. 32.23GB free…THIS IS NOT GOOD. This is why PS is complaining.  You want that number closer to 100 GB free. Otherwise bad things will eventually start happening, like your computer not booting at all. 

I hate 250GB HDs. They cause so many problems. 

In order to move the scratch disk, plug in an external drive and select it. Then un-check Macintosh HD and restart photoshop. 

Black Boxes are a sign that PS doesn’t like your Graphics Card and/or Video Drivers. Once again, it’s a stupid underpowered Mac Laptop. Unless you are forking out $4300, you will eventually run into problems. It might work for 18-24 months, than all it takes is for Adobe to do a few updates and then you have nothing but problems. 
 

what gets people in trouble is they can’t afford $4300, so they buy something more in line with their budget, instead of saving more and waiting. But it’s a Mac! I thought they were supposed to be good for Photography!! 

Sure! Just as long as you upgrade the video card, HD, RAM at the time of purchase. The MBPs that I recommend, you buy directly from Apple’s Website. You will NEVER get the “Good Configurations” buying it off the shelf, unless you are really really really picky about the technical details. 

Do you have a Thunderbolt 3 Port? It looks like a USB-C port with a lightning bolt icon above it. 

[Brian]

The good news is, with Apple going to the M1X CPU Chip, everything is built into one chip, so you only have only two options: RAM and HD Space. Again, both of these options are built into one CPU Chip, so you can't upgrade anything after the fact. IF need more of something in a year or so, you are buying a new Mac Laptop. So think of them as sealed units. I just went to Apple's website and configured this:

I went with 64GB instead of the default 32GB, I also picked the fastest and most expensive 16" MBP in the Right Column. Granted, the M1 line handles RAM differently, but as I've said before, when I build my computers, I have a 7 year time-frame in mind and while 32GB might be fine for "Now," there is no guarantee that Adobe won't come out with some sort of update that makes it even more bloated than it is. By going for the "Big Guns" now, it gives me a better lifespan chance in the future. Oh, the cost of this MBP? $3899.00 before AppleCare, Shipping and Tax. That's where I get the $4300 number from.

Just think, my Superfast 2017 27" iMac is now starting to act sluggish with the latest PS update. It's only going to get worse as time goes on. As of right now, I'm looking at a Mac Studio, but I really don't feel like forking out $5200 for a stupid computer.