I cannot paint or use gradients correctly in layer mask mode

I have my blending mode set to 'NORMAL".  When I paint in black on a layer mask it creates a transparent effect (not hide the image/pattern).  Since the upgrade this has affected both my pc and laptop versions.   I've read through the forums and see a lot of folks having issues with the blending mode set inccorrectly but this seems different.   I'm at a loss and losing time.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Um, painting black on a layer mask is supposed to create transparency (and gray partial transparency).  Unless I'm missing something subtle, it appears to be working correctly from what I can see.
Keep in mind the checkerboard is not really in the document - it's just Photoshop's way of showing you that the layer is transparent.  You can set how that's portrayed in the Preferences - Transparency and Gamut section.
Or you can enable the visibility of your Background layer to see what it looks like when that shows through.
-Noel

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