Odd Screen Saver Behavior

Usually, my iMac goes to sleep without a problem. Recently, I've noticed that my screen saver kicks in randomly from time-to-time. Having never even realized it had a screen saver, I was more than a bit surprised. I've now looked at its settings in System Prefs, which indicates that the screen saver should not kick in because the computer will go to sleep more quickly than the screen saver will start up. So now I'm totally confused -- that being the case, why does the screen saver ever kick in? Any and all thoughts appreciated.
Thanks!

It might be that you have an active corner enabled. Look in your System Preferences > Exposé & Spaces > Exposé Tab

Similar Messages

Odd system prefs: screen saver behavior

I don't understand why, but it seems that now most of the albums in my screen saver pane do not load correctly. Some load with correct photos and photos from other albums. Others only read as having the same two photos. What is going on?
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
grep -R idisk ~/L*/Preferences
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste (command-V) into the Terminal window.
The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.
Post any lines of output that appear below what you entered — the text, please, not a screenshot.
If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.

Odd Screen Brightness behavior

When I toggle the screen brightness keys, the status bar stops to notches short of all the way bright. When I open system prefs and slide the status knob all the way to the right, it stays at about 80%?
Weird?

Hi rahzel,
Welcome to the Lenovo Community Forums.
Regarding the Screen Brightness sliders, its not that they are not synching its just that they are not scaled right. As you have explained the PP (power plan) screen brightness slider when set at half, the corresponding PM (power management) slider is 3/4 full. I tried this with a different lenovo unit (B570) running Windows 7 and its the same thing. We have no option to change this since this is scaled by Windows 7.
The Lenovo Energy management It just gives you the option to toggle from the 3 power plans listed. Regarding the On screen indicator, I may suggest that you try to uninstall and reinstall the Lenovo Energy Management program. Check to see if this addresses the Onscreen indicator problem.
Let me know if this helps.
Don

Mysterious screen saver images... & odd Leopard flaky-ness in general

Hi Guys,
I have my screen saver set to "pictures folder" as I always have, but now and then a picture will repeat if I happen to be around the mac at the time, with strange zoomed in cartoon type images of fruits, and union jacks and little characters etc superimposed over the images.
I have no idea where these are coming from or how to turn them on or off, anyone else seen the same? They worry me slightly ha! Try it and see!
I have noticed a great degree of flaky-ness in Leopard which I didn't get with Tiger 10.4.11. Tiger was rock solid for me, but I have had several crashes and strange things happen to me. If I try to verify a disk in disk utility it hangs up in definitely; the log sayd it completed the verify, but its like the app hung up. I believe this might be related to me having a bootcamp partition though.
I have had itunes crash a few times also, and had the keyboard act oddly, as if it wasn't fully initialised (the num lock and caps lock LEDs are on and the command key doesn't do anything; a reboot sorts it) - I had a similar thing with the build in isight with Tiger after creating a bootcamp partition and running windows. It seems fine if I go back to my Tiger volume.
I'm starting to wonder if bootcamp leaves the mac hardware in an odd state after you boot up in windows, it seems to be the case for me.
cheers
David

I found the shortcut to iPhoto in my pics folder, worry over! Although I can't select "mosaic" for any screen saver - it just crashes system prefs, every time.

Odd icons superimposed on screen saver

On my MacBookPro, I have the screen saver set to my Pictures folder. When an image comes up, there will occasionally and randomly be superimposed over the top of the image what looks like a bitmapped icon. It will be a flag, or a red circle with a white plus sign in the middle. I can't figure out where this is coming from. It's not in the images themselves. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks for your help.

My only guess is that it's an iPhoto glitch. Sorry if it's too broad, but hey, nobody else has answered yet!

How can get my Iphotos as screen saver ...all disappeared after upgrading ...I have done as suggested in deleting the files from the Finder ..now just left with the "squirly default " screensaver option

How can I get my Iphotos to show as my screen saver please ? all disappeared after upgrading ...I have done as suggested and deleted all relevant files , but now am only left with the "Squirly " screen saver option in the drop down menu and no option for Iphoto library.

Slow, intermittent. Sometimes bootable sometime not. Odd behavior.
Sounds to me like a classic case of your HD failing.
Your SMART status may still show verified, with no errors on the Apple Hardware Test, Disk Utility shows no problems on Disk Repair- this is of no help.
I trust you have a good back-up and a bootable clone.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/

Can't activate password-protected screen saver

I use my MacBook for sensitive data, so I always make sure to "lock" my screen with a password-protected screen saver when I walk away from my desk. Normally, there are several ways to do this:
1. Wait for the screen saver to come on due to inactivity.
2. Set a "hot corner" for the screen saver and move the mouse to that corner.
3. Enable the keychain menu bar icon and choose "Lock Screen" from the menu bar. (This is my preferred method.)
Under normal conditions, any of these three methods will activate the screen saver.
However, sometimes when I've been running my computer for a while (several days) without rebooting, all three of these methods simultaneously *stop working*. The "lock screen" menu option does nothing, the screen saver hot corner does nothing, and the computer fails to activate the screen saver on its own after the predefined period of inactivity.
Oddly, I can still activate the screen saver by using the "Test" button in the screen saver preferences pane, but in that case it's not password protected, so that doesn't help.
A reboot solves the problem, but this usually happens when I have a bunch of stuff open and it's not a convenient time to reboot. Plus, after a reboot, the problem still recurs a few days later.
I'm not the only one with this problem. Many others have reported the same behavior:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6124716
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1391053
A few of those users found workarounds, but they seemed to be experiencing something different from what I'm describing here. Those who were describing the same symptoms I am still don't seem to have found a solution.
Incidentally, I am not running Spaces or Parallels, nor am I using an external monitor, all of which have been suspected in other threads as the culprit. Quitting all open apps doesn't seem to help either.
The issue seems to be limited to one account at a time; if I switch into another account while having this problem, the other account won't have problems starting its screen saver, but switching back doesn't resolve the issue for the first account. A reboot does.
Can anyone shed some light on this or offer another workaround? Or is this just an ongoing bug?

This happened to me again the other day. Any suggestions?

IMac to Apple TV 2nd gen music distortion with screen saver on.

I have an ATV2, mid 2010 iMac dual core i3, Airport Extreme 3rd generation router.
After Wednesday's update to Apple TV to implement the new user interface, I get distorted playback when initiating music playback from iTunes on the iMac as soon as the screen saver starts. It sounds like the old vinyl records when the needle skips. It isn't, oddly enough, timed with the screen changes. It occurs at ever increasing frequency, from 24 to 19 to 16 seconds.
If however, you access the iMac through the Apple TV interface, the screen saver start up does not create any interference. It doesn't matter whether the music is started using the Apple remote control or the iPhone 4S interface. Both work fine.
So it's a one way situation. When you start playing music from iTunes on the iMac, interference and distortion start with the screen saver, but if you start playing music from the Apple TV, there is no distortion or interference from the screen saver.
Any one else have this problem and a solution?

Based on an Apple Care suggestion, the solution to this problem is to reset the Apple TV completely. This is under Settings- General- Reset-Restore.
Restore will erase previous versions of the Apple TV software and will download and install a current clean version. You do have to re-enter all your configuration settings, such as wireless network password and your iTunes Account.
A little bit time consuming but it eliminated the problem.

How can I use a photo from my files as a screen saver?

I have an LG monitor about 10" high and 16" wide. How can I send a photo from my Adobe files to my desktop as a screen saver. Because of the odd dimensions of this monitor, the one I have as a screensaver now does not show the entire photo. I need instructions how to choose one of my photos, send it to the monitor as a screen saver, and make it the correct size to show the entire photo.

You'll need to download the song from your cd to your my music folder, then open Itunes files add files or folder to the library then you find your song from your my music folder. Then you will have to create the ringtone:
http://http://www.ehow.com/how_2160460_custom-iphone-ringtones-free.html
follow the instruction to create then sync the ringtones.

Screen saver no longer respects iPhoto albums in 10.4.8?

System Preferences -> Desktop & Screen Saver -> Screen Saver offers a list of iPhoto albums. It used to be that the screen saver would display pictures from the selected album only. But now all my iPhoto pictures are rotated through the screen saver, regardless of album selection. The only thing I've changed AFAIK is the 10.4.8 upgrade. Any way to get the old behavior back?
(I've found other posts about problems with iPhoto and screen saver, but nothing addressing this precise problem.)
PowerMac Mac OS X (10.4.8) iPhoto 2.0.1

I just tried it, having also just updated (in fact I did about 12 updates all at once, including QuickTime, iPhoto 6.05 as well as the system update) and it worked as expected, just cycling thru the photos in the selected album.
I have seen cases in earlier versions of iPhoto and the OS where the screensaver wouldn't work when using System Prefs, but would it you selected it in iPhoto. Don't remember how the earlier version of iPhoto worked (I think there was a button in the toolbar at the bottom of iPhoto), the way it works in iPhoto 6 is very weird: you select an album, then select the photos, then go to the Share menu and select Desktop. It plasters all the photos onto your Desktop and launches the System Prefs where you can set the options for the Screensaver. You'll notice that instead of an album being selected there is a new folder in the top section called "iPhoto Selection." I then switched my Desktop back to its usual neutral gray and screensaver remained as I had set it. Truly goofy, but it might be worth a try.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

PowerMac G5 hangs after going into screen saver power save mode

I have a PowerMac G5 and it's been working fine, but as of late has been hanging. I had a couple of external disks on the machine ( Maxtor OneTouch II and a OneTouch III). I recently added two more OneTouch III and stripped the three OneTouch III's together in a RAID set. I'm wondering if that is causing the hangs, but I've also seen it hang without the RAID so I'm not convinced it's the RAID.
Anyway, I can't figure out what's causing it to hang, but it seems to hang at some point after the screen saver runs and then the screen goes into power saver mode. It's not hung right when it shuts down the monitor, but at some point after that.
When it gets in this mode, I can't remotely login using ssh and I can't seem to wake it up. What I end up having to do is to hold the power button down for several seconds until the machine powers off.
In an attempt to see what's going on, I set the OS X monitor power save mode to "never", but I don't think I left it that way long enough and I never saw it hang.
Does anyone have any debugging tips that would help me identify the culprit?

I've been having the same troubles lately. Seem
since the JAVA update. It hangs completely after the
screen is shut down. Every morning I have to reboot
with the power button.
I am also joining the crowd with this issue. I have a 15" Powerbook G4 that has acted normally until recently. Not sure exactly when it started, but about the same time as the recent updates. Similar behavior to the previous forum posts.
When I manually put the laptop to sleep it freezes up before it sleeps and the multi-language reboot warning comes up. This also happens if it is set to auto-sleep after xx minutes.
When I try to wake it up, the screen is black and the power light shows it is on and it never unfreezes or I get the reboot message.
I have tried everything I can think of to troubleshoot this. I just re-installed the 10.4.8 update over the exisiting one (using an external boot drive made with SuperDuper) and it still happens... BUT when I put the laptop to sleep with the startup drive being external, it seemed to behave properly. I can't figure this out since the external clone was made only minutes earlier from the laptop... and it works. I have zapped PRAM, and done the battery removal / power button reset.
Below is the "report" I have been getting - and sending to Apple. They must be getting tired of the many I have sent.
Any thoughts out there?
Thanks.
Unresolved kernel trap(cpu 0): 0x300 - Data access DAR=0x0000000000000020 PC=0x00000000002FA2A4
Latest crash info for cpu 0:
Exception state (sv=0x32E70000)
PC=0x002FA2A4; MSR=0x00009030; DAR=0x00000020; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x002E31B0; R1=0x1793BCD0; XCP=0x0000000C (0x300 - Data access)
Backtrace:
0x002E31B0 0x002AE920 0x002F2EF4 0x0003C884 0x000A9314
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x32E70000)
previously dumped as "Latest" state. skipping...
Exception state (sv=0x2D24BC80)
PC=0x00000000; MSR=0x0000D030; DAR=0x00000000; DSISR=0x00000000; LR=0x00000000; R1=0x00000000; XCP=0x00000000 (Unknown)
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.8.0: Fri Sep 8 17:18:57 PDT 2006; root:xnu-792.12.6.obj~1/RELEASE_PPC
panic(cpu 0 caller 0xFFFF0003): 0x300 - Data access
Latest stack backtrace for cpu 0:
Backtrace:
0x00095138 0x00095650 0x00026898 0x000A7E04 0x000AB780
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x32E70000)
PC=0x002FA2A4; MSR=0x00009030; DAR=0x00000020; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x002E31B0; R1=0x1793BCD0; XCP=0x0000000C (0x300 - Data access)
Backtrace:
0x002E31B0 0x002AE920 0x002F2EF4 0x0003C884 0x000A9314
Exception state (sv=0x2D24BC80)
PC=0x00000000; MSR=0x0000D030; DAR=0x00000000; DSISR=0x00000000; LR=0x00000000; R1=0x00000000; XCP=0x00000000 (Unknown)
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.8.0: Fri Sep 8 17:18:57 PDT 2006; root:xnu-792.12.6.obj~1/RELEASE_PPC
Model: PowerBook5,8, BootROM 4.9.5f3, 1 processors, PowerPC G4 (1.5), 1.67 GHz, 1 GB
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon 9700, ATY,RV360M11, AGP, 128 MB
Memory Module: SODIMM0/J20STANDARD, 1 GB, DDR2 SDRAM, PC2-4200S-444
AirPort: AirPort Extreme, 405.1 (3.90.34.0.p18)
Modem: Jump, , V.92, Version 1.0,
Bluetooth: Version 1.7.8f2, 2 service, 0 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
Network Service: Built-in Ethernet, Ethernet, en0
PCI Card: pci106b,4318, sppci_othernetwork, SLOT-A
PCI Card: TXN,PCIXXXX-00, cardbus, PC Card
PCI Card: usb, usb, USB20
PCI Card: usb, usb, USB20
PCI Card: usb, ehci, USB20
Parallel ATA Device: Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00, 93.16 GB
Parallel ATA Device: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-846,
USB Device: Bluetooth HCI, , Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: Apple Optical USB Mouse, Mitsumi Electric, Up to 1.5 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad, Apple Computer, Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
15" G4 PowerBook 1.67 Mac OS X (10.4.8)
G5 2.7 Gig Mac OS X (10.4.4) 3 Gig ram
15" G4 PowerBook 1.67 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Password prompt after screen saver or lock screen

I am running Yosemite on two Macs – an early-2008 MBP 15" and a mid-2010 MBP 13". Both are configured for password after screen saver or when waking up. I have hot corners configured to enable screen saver (lower left), lock screen (upper right), disable screen saver (lower right). On awakening from either screen saver or lock screen, the 15" requests the password in a screen similar to the login after boot or switch user screen – the fullscreen, blurry background, prompt in the center. The 13" prompts for a password in an ordinary modal dialogue window that includes a lock icon and displays on a black background. The 13" has an external monitor attached, but the behavior is the same if it's disconnected. Both systems have one user, and identical settings in Users and Groups. The behavior is the same whether the Guest user is enabled or disabled.
I can't find any settings to account for the difference, even obscure ones shown in Onyx. Any ideas as to why the password prompt is handled differently in these two cases? Thanks in advance...

Hi Betty,
http://www.cmu.edu/computing/doc/security/mac/screensaver/index.html

Monitor Calibration Resets After Screen Saver

I have had an odd quirk the last week or so: every time I bring my monitor back from a screen saver, it has a washed-out look. I recalibrated it, which fixed it until the next time the screen saver activated. However, to revert it, all I have to do is select the (same) calibration in System Preferences and it is set until the next screen saver activation. I have tried switching screen savers to no avail. The only clue I seem to have is that I recently had the Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT put in to replace the old, buggy ATI Radeon X1900 XT. This seems to be what is triggering the problem, as the upgrade to Snow Leopard occurred several weeks ago and this problem is more recent.
Details:
Mac Pro (1,1)
Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT
DELL3007WFPHC 30" Monitor
OS X 10.6.1

The bottom of the article said it may help to move all your profiles to the central library location.... might also want to check permissions and clean your system..... I use Onyx. It's just a thought and not a recommendation. You might be right that it's wait until 10.6.2. I use a ColorMunki and so far don't have the issue. Good luck.
Michael

Screen Saver Won't Display

The screen on my iBook is going black after 5 minutes instead of running the screen saver. I've checked Energy Saver and that doesn't seem to be the issue.

kc,
The only obvious cause for this would be to have the Display Sleep time set earlier or the same as the Screen Saver start time.
It's also possible you have the screen saver set to start with a black slide. If you have a hot corner set, use that to activate the screen saver and check its ordinary behavior.
Mine fades to black on battery, where both are set to the same time, but goes to the screen saver on ACD power, where the SS is set to activate before Display Sleep.
Regards,
Barry

HT204379 Why does my screen saver "zoom" in on photos from my iPhoto? Can I stop it from doing this?

I've recently moved up to Mtn Lion on a new MacBook Pro.
I finally figure out how to connect my iPhoto images with my screen saver (the way I alswyas did on previous Macs).
But the weird thing is that the Screen Saver zooms in on the photos! Sometime choosing a very uninteresting part of the photo to suddenly enlarge on my screen!
What gives with that? Can I stop it from doing this? It's like cropping my originals - many of which I have already cropped ...
Appreciate any help that you can give on this.

The only fix here is to find a third-party screen saver that supports the behavior you want. Apple has adjusted its screen saver options over the years, and the latest ones are what you see in the system preferences.
The only way to change these behaviors is to hack the screen savers. The effects descriptions and some of the behaviors have settings in this folder:
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Slideshows.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Cont ent
There may be a way to modify one of those settings to prevent the zooming for the given set of screen savers (or at least one of them), but I would not recommend modifying these files arbitrarily as you might break something (or at least make sure you have a full and restorable backup you can access before doing so). There are a couple of known modifications to them that can adjust some behaviors, but image zooming isnt one I know of.

Odd Screen Saver Behavior

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