Spaces Freeze

Question

Level 1

11 points

Spaces Freeze

I have been encountering an interesting problem since upgrading to Snow Leopard. Occasionally (probably about 4 time in the past week) while switching between spaces using the keyboard shortcut, the spaces animation thing stays on screen and I can't use my keyboard for anything other than switching spaces.
This isn't a system freeze; applications still function, but I can't type anything into any text fields. I end up having to log off and log back on to regain functionality. This has happened with a wired slim keyboard, a bluetooth slim keyboard, and the built in keyboard on my unibody Macbook.

unibody Macbook, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Sep 15, 2009 4:29 PM

Reply

Answer 1

tryin012

Level 1

0 points

Sep 16, 2009 6:19 PM in response to kjtriplett

same problem on my mbp (late 2006 ati x1600)

any solutions?

Reply

Answer 2

donazipe

Level 1

66 points

Sep 23, 2009 12:29 PM in response to tryin012

Another "me too"... the only way out is to open system preferences, toggle spaces off, then back on... weird, isn't it?

Reply

Answer 3

imtzo

Level 1

4 points

Sep 23, 2009 3:00 PM in response to kjtriplett

I'm seeing this as well on my Mac Pro. It had gone away but now with 10.6.1 it's back. To provide a bit more detail, for me the keyboard becomes useless except to switch between spaces (Option 1, 2). Command-Tab doesn't work. Nothing does.

Are you running TextExpander by chance? I thought there might be some correlation between the two but it's only a suspicion.

Reply

Answer 4

Sep 23, 2009 3:02 PM in response to kjtriplett

I've been having the problem too, and initially thought it was because I was using the Hyperspaces app to have different desktop images. I noticed that it happens when I switch between my 6 Spaces quickly.

Going into System Preferences gets rids of the Spaces graphic, but I haven't gotten control of my keyboard until I reboot (so thanks for the log out recommendation, didn't think of that).

Reply

Answer 5

falafeln

Level 1

0 points

Oct 6, 2009 2:16 PM in response to kjtriplett

I have encountered this bug too, multiple times today. It seems like it only occurs when you use the keyboard shortcuts, I really hope Apple will fix this for 10.6.2.
However you don't have to log out to get rid of the spaces indicator, just kill/quit Dock, it's a bit hard to do when you can't type but you can do it from Activity Monitor.

Reply

Answer 6

Oct 6, 2009 3:49 PM in response to imtzo

I hadn't noticed your query about using TextExpander, and I have that running. I've had some issues with TextExpander too, that I thought began with Snow Leopard.

Are any of the rest of you running TextExpaner?

Reply

Answer 7

paland

Level 1

0 points

Oct 22, 2009 11:23 AM in response to kjtriplett

I have experienced the same thing - sometimes multiple times a day - I've just been closing the lid on my MBP and re-opening from sleep and that seems to fix it.
I too am running textexpander - I'm downloading the latest update now.

Reply

Answer 8

Ssgelm

Level 1

70 points

Nov 5, 2009 12:10 AM in response to paland

I'm having the same problem but unfortunately I don't have Textexpander installed 😟

Reply

Answer 9

Skip P

Level 1

20 points

Nov 10, 2009 1:27 PM in response to kjtriplett

My keyboard also seizes up (except for switching spaces) - I also must log off - I have neither Hyperspaces nor TextExpander.

It's as if Spaces has hijacked the keyboard and won't release it to other applications. It doesn't matter whether I use either the external or the laptop keyboard.

pain in the butt ! I had hoped 10.6.2 would fix it ....... it didn't. I'll try killing the dock and see if that scares some sense into it.

Reply

Answer 10

Nov 11, 2009 1:04 PM in response to kjtriplett

I too want to add my name to the list of people having problems with Spaces. The spaces animation icon stays on the screen after switching screens I have to manually go to the menubar icon and select the same space manually to make it go away. Also from time to time I have the keyboard become unresponsive. I was hoping that there would be a fix to this with 10.6.2 but no deal.

d

Reply

Answer 11

Dec 15, 2009 7:54 PM in response to Daniel Rahenkamp

Also having this issue, and i've updated to 10.6.2. It's gotten to the point where I have to keep activity monitor up and running so i can quickly force quit the dock if need be. I'm tempted to switch over to using an applescript to switch spaces that after each switch kills the dock. This is irritating.

Reply

Answer 12

Dec 15, 2009 7:54 PM in response to Daniel Garcia2

Also, just to follow up - i'm not running any of the apps mentioned in this thread - and I have this issue even if i kill off most of the other apps that are running.

Reply