maya 8.5: strange 3dpaint problem

rooster

I've used 3d paint plenty of times now and this has never happend.. I notice deleting my prefs folder and starting with a clean slate solves it but I don't fancy doing that every time it happens.

the problem is I select colour as the map I want to paint, and it connects me up with transparency. If I lock transparency and try to create a colour map, it complains transparency is locked.. is this a bug or am I overlooking something?
voila:

rooster

why is it always right after you try everything you can think of and decide to post, that you remember the reset tool button?

but really, wtf was mayas problem in the first place