White Desktop Background

Question

Level 1

76 points

White Desktop Background

Hi,

The other day, I logged in to my Administrator account (the one I always use), and my background appeared normal, but then a few seconds later, it turned white. So I logged out, and then my normal background flashed for a few seconds before logging out. Now this always happens: I login, see my normal background for a few seconds, then my background turns white. Then when I log out, I see my normal background again for a few seconds, and then it logs out. Anyone know what's happening here? By the way, I have no idea what I did or how it happened... 😟

MacBook & 1st Gen. iPod Nano & 8G iPhone, Mac OS X (10.5), 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1GB of DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB 5400-rpm hard drive

Posted on Jan 15, 2008 6:21 PM

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Answer 1

thealexness Author

Level 1

76 points

Jan 18, 2008 6:55 PM in response to thealexness

GRRRRRRRRR!!!!! I spoke too soon, it just turned white!!! argghhh!!!! so is the only way to do a AHT is this way: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303081? Because there is about 0.01 seconds between the computer turning on and the grey pop-up screen...btw if this helps when i press F9 to show all windows, it displays my normal desktop in the background.

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Answer 2

thealexness Author

Level 1

76 points

Jan 20, 2008 10:26 AM in response to R C-R

All I did was follow these instructions exactly for this website: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303081

I did Step 1: If the computer is not on, turn it on and insert the disc as soon as possible after startup.

And it tells me to specifically hold down the D button and states not the C button..

And I haven't done anything else...

So when I inserted the disk and pressed D, nothing happened and the login screen eventually came up, and acted as if I didn't do anything. I also tried turning off my computer with the disk in, and then turning my computer on while simultaneously pressing the D button, yet no response. And when I say disk I mean the 10.5 Leopard Install DVD.

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Answer 3

petrock

Level 3

980 points

Jan 17, 2008 4:54 AM in response to thealexness

Go into System Preferences->Desktop & Screen Saver and select another background (like one of the stock desktop backgrounds that come with the OS). See if that solves the problem. If it does, then I would suspect there is a problem with the background image you wanted to use.

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Answer 4

thealexness Author

Level 1

76 points

Jan 17, 2008 4:49 PM in response to petrock

no that doesn't work because i already tried it. i have had that background for quite a while, just a standard jpeg photo. but then when it turned white, i tried setting it to the default background (Aqua Blue from Apple Images) and it is still white

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Answer 5

petrock

Level 3

980 points

Jan 18, 2008 12:04 AM in response to thealexness

Might be a corrupt plist. Try deleting ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.desktop.plist, then restart. When the Finder comes back up it should have the default desktop background, but it shouldn't go white.

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Answer 6

thealexness Author

Level 1

76 points

Jan 18, 2008 6:23 PM in response to R C-R

well I went to run the AHT, but i kept failing, probably because i couldn't press the D button before the grey start-up screen, but anyways somehow i decided to repair my hard drive's permission because i was also having some problems with that too, and then when i go to log in, lone behold! my desktop has returned! i'm sure repairing permissions didn't solve it, but now its fixed! thanks guys!

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Answer 7

R C-R

Level 6

17,794 points

Jan 18, 2008 10:02 PM in response to thealexness

Because there is about 0.01 seconds between the computer turning on and the grey pop-up screen...

Try a cold start (computer is off) instead of a restart. Hold down the key at the same time you press the on button & keep holding it until the icon appears.

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Answer 8

R C-R

Level 6

17,794 points

Jan 20, 2008 5:06 AM in response to thealexness

It would be helpful to know exactly what you are doing & what you see as a result -- "this didn't work" isn't much to go on, other than that it is very unusual behavior.

Are you certain you are using the correct disk, one specifically meant for your model & labeled as such? Are you using an external keyboard? Is there anything else you can think of that might be relevant or not obvious to readers of these posts?

Have you run the disk verify or repair in the First Aid tab of Disk Utility in addition to the permissions repair? Are you careful to use only Leopard-compatible disk utilities? Reset PRAM or done other troubleshooting steps we aren't aware of?

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Answer 9

R C-R

Level 6

17,794 points

Jan 20, 2008 10:59 AM in response to thealexness

And when I say disk I mean the 10.5 Leopard Install DVD.

That's your problem. There is no AHT on a retail Leopard disk. As the article states, "Apple Hardware Test is located on the *Mac OS X Install Disc 1* and should be included with your computer."

Typically, this disk is grey but it is always marked "Install Disc 1" somewhere on the face of the DVD.

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Answer 10

thealexness Author

Level 1

76 points

Jan 21, 2008 4:46 PM in response to thealexness

I finally figured out my problem: I had downloaded a program called InstantShot!, an application that takes screen shots, and in InstantShot! Preferences, under Bacground Window, I had "Show at Startup" checked, and my background color was white, so the InstantShot! Background covered my normal background, but I turned it off and now everything is back to normal. Thanks for your help anyways guys!

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