Jervidae

Q: screen saver will not load photos

When system preferences > screensaver selected, if yout choose any of the photo options, System Preferences hangs up. I.e.  Sys pref goes to "not responding" and eventually produces black screen with "Loading photos ..." message although I never selected any photos.

 

Screensaver default (Flurry) works fine, unlike some folks who have problem with SS not coming on or erratic.

 

Now running 10.9.5 but same problem in earlier versions of 10.9.  Restarting, etc. have no effect.  Tried zapping the PRAM with no effect.

 

Any ideas?

Mac mini, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Sep 25, 2014 8:19 AM

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Q: screen saver will not load photos

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  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 25, 2014 12:25 PM in response to Jervidae
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 25, 2014 12:25 PM in response to Jervidae

    First follow the instructions in this support article.

    If an iPhoto or Aperture library is the source of your desktop pictures, it may need to be rebuilt, or you may need to update the application to the latest version.

    Otherwise, continue as below.

    Back up all data.

    In the Finder, hold down the option key and select

              Go Library

    from the menu bar. From the Library folder, delete the following item, if it exists:

              Caches/com.apple.systempreferences

    and move the following items to the Desktop, if they exist:

              Application Support/Dock/desktoppicture.db

              Preferences/com.apple.desktop.plist

    Launch System Preferences and test. If you still have the issue, put the items you moved to the Desktop back where they came from and post again. Otherwise, delete the items.

  • by Jervidae,

    Jervidae Jervidae Sep 25, 2014 2:10 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 25, 2014 2:10 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Caches/com.apple.systempreferences

    does not exist.  I find

    com.apple.preferencepanes.cache

    and

    com.apple.preferencepanes.searchindexcache

     

    I am running Iphoto 8.1.2 on this machine and when I try to rebuild the library, it crashes the system; black screen, "Loading Photos..."

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 25, 2014 3:49 PM in response to Jervidae
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 25, 2014 3:49 PM in response to Jervidae

    You need to upgrade to the current version of iPhoto in the App Store and update the photo library.

  • by Jervidae,

    Jervidae Jervidae Sep 25, 2014 6:02 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 25, 2014 6:02 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Replaced Iphoto 8.1.2 with 9.5.1

     

    updated library, thumbnails, repaired database,(did not do full rebuild on database)

     

    performed actions in first reply; there was no cache file.

     

    tried system preferences again and it again stropped responding.

     

    ?

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 25, 2014 6:55 PM in response to Jervidae
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 25, 2014 6:55 PM in response to Jervidae

    It's not clear whether you followed the rest of the instructions in my first comment.

  • by Jervidae,

    Jervidae Jervidae Sep 25, 2014 8:39 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 25, 2014 8:39 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Linc,

     

    Thank you for your patience.

     

    I did the check on the desktop image (support article); it works fine, but always did.

     

    I updated the application to 9.5.1 and performed all the rebuilds.  Just rebuilt, not just repaired the database.

     

    DId "In the Finder, hold down the option key and select

              Go Library

    from the menu bar. From the Library folder, delete the following item, if it exists:

              Caches/com.apple.systempreferences

    and move the following items to the Desktop, if they exist:

              Application Support/Dock/desktoppicture.db

              Preferences/com.apple.desktop.plist

    Launch System Preferences and test. If you still have the issue, put the items you moved to the Desktop back where they came from and post again. Otherwise, delete the items."

    Did not find the cache: "com.apple.systempreferences"  I still find only com.apple.preferencepanes.cache

    When I moved the other two files to the desktop, they were replaced when I tried to set the screensaver again, so I deleted them.

     

    Now, Did this all over again after rebuilding the Iphoto database, get same result, Sys Pref not responding. Moved the two files to the trash and tried again, same result, Sys Pref not responding.

     

    I think that is everything.

     

    Tom

  • by Linc Davis,Solvedanswer

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 25, 2014 8:46 PM in response to Jervidae
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 25, 2014 8:46 PM in response to Jervidae

    Back up all data. Quit System Preferences if it's running.

    Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it, then copy the text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:

    ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost

    In the Finder, select

              Go Go to Folder...

    from the menu bar. Paste into the box that opens (command-V), then press return. A folder should open. If it does, look for a file with a long name that begins "com.apple.screensaver". There may be several such files. Move them to the Trash.

    Log out or restart the computer. Test. If the problem is resolved. recreate your settings in the Screen Saver tab.

  • by Jervidae,

    Jervidae Jervidae Sep 26, 2014 7:18 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 26, 2014 7:18 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Linc,

     

    EUREKA!!!

     

    Thanks so much for your help.

     

    Tom