Howard Brazee

Q: Screen Saver reverts to National Geographic

Several times lately (Yosemite only???), I have discovered my screen saver has reset itself to show National Geographic photos.    And they are usually set to show both my iMac and my second monitor the same photos.

 

It's easy enough to set back to my desired iPhoto library.   But I wonder what causes it to be reset?

 

What I haven't figured out is what to do when both monitors are displaying the same photos.   Eventually that problem fixes itself.    Nor what to do when it starts with the same photos in the same order.  (I have a hot corner, and have been testing after I reset it to use my iPhoto library, and each time I turn it on, I get the same photo sequence as before - on both monitors).

 

I just tried it again - the third time since I started this message - and it's back to National Geographic.

 

I set it back, this time telling it to shuffle, and both monitors showed different photos as desired.    I should have checked that earlier.    But why doesn't my setting stay?

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Nov 3, 2014 5:12 PM

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Q: Screen Saver reverts to National Geographic

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  • by JECurran,

    JECurran JECurran Apr 22, 2015 1:48 PM in response to Wizyrd
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 22, 2015 1:48 PM in response to Wizyrd

    I think this is the simplest approach for now and seems to work. I tried editing the The program that runs the Plist file that contained the ref to NatGeo and just erased the ref to that file spec. Whatever program that controls the slide show (perhaps iLife??) has some code that rewrites the file every time system pref is used and every time screensaver closes. I wondered if my screensaver would start at the same picture every time but that's not the case. So I'm set for now. If I notice any downside I'll update.

     

    I will put a text file on my desktop with the search for folder = ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost and call it "How to Change the ScreenSaver Stupid".

     

    Thanks

    Jim

  • by McNightmare,

    McNightmare McNightmare Apr 22, 2015 8:39 PM in response to iDash
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 22, 2015 8:39 PM in response to iDash

    If the screensaver shows up w/just 'options' I choose the 'Ken Burns' screensaver on the Left hand side.  From there I'm able to choose iPhoto library.  I am squirrelly about going into commands &c. when I'm afraid one wrong keystroke could wipe out memory.  Fix, FIX? ROFLMAO! Also, I'm just an enduser (or BETA tester as Mac sees me).  I didn't buy a Mac in order to become a fly-by-night laptop tech.  I thought I was purchasing a system that worked!  Silly, silly me...

  • by andyappel,

    andyappel andyappel Apr 25, 2015 6:20 AM in response to Howard Brazee
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apr 25, 2015 6:20 AM in response to Howard Brazee

    Worked for about 2 minutes.  Now its back to National Geographic.  Apparently not enough of a problem for Apple to care to fix it properly.

  • by Schof,

    Schof Schof Apr 25, 2015 7:42 AM in response to andyappel
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 25, 2015 7:42 AM in response to andyappel

    You have to be persistent when fixing the Nat Geo problem.

    1. Go to Go > Go to Folder and type in ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost and then click on Go.

    2. Locate all the files with the word screensaver in their name and delete them.

    3. Immediately restart your Mac and empty the the trash once your Mac has restarted.

    4. Open System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver.

    5. Select the folder where the photos you want to use are located. Wait until your photos have been located and show in the test screen. DO NOT use the iPhoto library.

    6. Close System Preferences and test your screen saver. It should display your photos. If not, repeat this procedure.

     

    I had to repeat the procedure four times before it worked and has been working OK since I upgraded to 10.10.3. It goes without question that when the next upgrade comes around, we shall all have Nat Geo back. So that means we shall all have repeat the above procedure. Of course, if Apple fix this problem so much the better.

     

    If anybody else has this problem, then please give feedback to Apple. You never know, we might get it fixed.

     

    Regards.

     

    Schof

  • by Howard Brazee,

    Howard Brazee Howard Brazee Apr 25, 2015 7:52 AM in response to Schof
    Level 1 (37 points)
    Applications
    Apr 25, 2015 7:52 AM in response to Schof

    Do not use the iPhoto library?    Since the whole point is to use that library, are you saying your fix only works with the downgrade to the newer Photos library?

  • by Schof,

    Schof Schof Apr 25, 2015 7:59 AM in response to Howard Brazee
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 25, 2015 7:59 AM in response to Howard Brazee

    It appears that using any of the Apple libraries is not 100% in fixing the problem. I found that pointing the screensaver to the folder where my photos are stored on my Mac Mini works very well. This folder also includes sub-folders and the photos in these sub-folders are also displayed in the screensaver.

     

    Regards

     

    Schof

  • by mrpeepers,

    mrpeepers mrpeepers Apr 26, 2015 6:18 PM in response to Schof
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 26, 2015 6:18 PM in response to Schof

    One solution, if someone knows how, would be to Purge the National Geographic screensaver. Interesting to see if that solves the problem.

  • by Abeaumier99,

    Abeaumier99 Abeaumier99 Apr 28, 2015 8:43 AM in response to mrpeepers
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 28, 2015 8:43 AM in response to mrpeepers

    Hello,

     

    I believe that the 1- National Geographic Library is a hard coded somewhere in the code and under specific circumstances it overwrites your photo library.  I renamed the 1 - National Geographic to 5 - National Geographic and Yosemite was still pointing to 1 - National Library which did not exist so no photo was shown.  

  • by pj10128,

    pj10128 pj10128 Apr 30, 2015 5:13 AM in response to Howard Brazee
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 30, 2015 5:13 AM in response to Howard Brazee

    There is a simp;er solution. Reset the PRAM for your particular device.

    Just google resetting PRAM. It take 2 minutes.

  • by PatBrazee,

    PatBrazee PatBrazee Apr 30, 2015 5:57 PM in response to pj10128
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 30, 2015 5:57 PM in response to pj10128

    I will try this with my wife's computer first.   I'm trying to record what I will need to reset, such as her screen resolution.   I hope I catch everything.

  • by Dualis01,

    Dualis01 Dualis01 May 4, 2015 9:36 AM in response to Howard Brazee
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 4, 2015 9:36 AM in response to Howard Brazee

    I also have this problem and it is so annoying. I have many nice photos and like to watch them as a screensaver when I not actively do something at my iMac. This issue should be possible to solve for apple, but nothing happens . It is really something, which could bring me back to windows.

  • by Hokie Bob,

    Hokie Bob Hokie Bob May 5, 2015 7:31 AM in response to Schof
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 5, 2015 7:31 AM in response to Schof

    This fix only works temporarily for me. After deleting every com.apple.screensaver* file, rebooting, etc. eventually National Geographic photos return.

  • by PatBrazee,

    PatBrazee PatBrazee May 6, 2015 7:58 AM in response to pj10128
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 6, 2015 7:58 AM in response to pj10128

    I reset the prom.   Two days later, the National Geographic screen setter is back.

  • by CT,

    CT CT May 6, 2015 8:03 AM in response to PatBrazee
    Level 6 (17,882 points)
    Notebooks
    May 6, 2015 8:03 AM in response to PatBrazee
  • by betkowskif,

    betkowskif betkowskif May 7, 2015 5:42 PM in response to Howard Brazee
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 7, 2015 5:42 PM in response to Howard Brazee

    This works... for a while.  If you update your OS, the problem returns, because the update replaces the files.

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