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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

39 replies

eyeshot

Level 1

0 points

Feb 15, 2011 5:47 PM in response to kjtriplett

Spaces freezes my entire system when I activate Spaces and the animation freezes as well. Keyboard doesn't work nor does the mouse. THe only way to get around it seems to do a hard boot. It happened a few times over the week on 2 different boot disks and now is happening nearly every time. cmd+tab to switch applications seems to move the Spaces fine.

satcomer

Level 4

1,575 points

Feb 15, 2011 10:41 PM in response to eyeshot

See if you restart the Launch Services database it might help.

Launch /Applications/Utilities Terminal and put this code in (as one line):

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchSe rvices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

Wait in Terminal for another prompt to show then the rebuild will have succeeded, Good Luck.

May 12, 2011 12:17 PM in response to kjtriplett

I've had this issue in the past and never solved it. Today it came up again... The culprit? Dying batteries on my wireless Bluetooth keyboard. Once I replaced the batteries, the problem went away. This probably isn't the issue for everyone, but I bet it'll help some.

Also, another temporary fix for stuck Spaces, besides logging out, is putting the machine to sleep and waking it up again.

Jun 3, 2011 5:25 PM in response to kjtriplett

I have the same problem on 10.6.7. I dont have TextExpander.

A few days ago while not using my i3 iMac, it started making the repeated bopping sound like when a key is held down but isn't allowed to type. Since then whenever I change spaces using the keyboard (any shortcut), the icon stays on the screen and the keyboard stops working (except to change spaces).

To fix I unplug my keyboard (I use a full size usb keyboard) and plug in again. This causes the repeated bopping sound again but hitting any key stops this and Im back to normal.

Ive disabled spaces key shortcuts to avoid this but its really inconvenient. Would appreciate a fix Apple!

Jun 6, 2011 11:05 AM in response to kjtriplett

I'm experiencing this same problem on a brand new iMac.

This annoying problem is occuring a couple of times a day now.

I have both Text Expander and Typinator installed but only the latter is running.

I've just shut down Typinator to see if it helps.

The weird thing is that the keyboard responds to cmd+option+eject which puts the computer to sleep.

After I wake the computer (with the keyboard) all is fine again.

The fact that the first post of this thread is almost 2 years ⚠ doesn't predict much good from Apple's side.. It's a shame..

Specs:

iMac 27" i5

Wireless keyboard

Wireless mouse

Jun 6, 2011 12:16 PM in response to kjtriplett

Okay, so untill Lion arrives this seems like a valid fix:

Disable the standard keyboard shortcuts for switching between Spaces.

Download Hyperspaces and set your keyboard shortcuts through this app.

So far so good..

Apr 5, 2012 7:55 PM in response to kjtriplett

I have been having the same problem for a long time. In the 4-6 months i have been having this problem no update has fixed the issue. I ahave also not found any kind of 'real' solution on any discussion board. To my knowledge the only thing that 'fixes' the bug is a logout/login. However, that is not always doable, and is nealry always a pain. To wit i have created this little application. I stick it in the dock and run it every time spaces 'freezes'. It doesn't make it go away totally, but at least it allows you to resume working on whatever you were doing previously. You'll have to re-run the application every time you switch spaces, but it's not so bad, and eventually it'll stop freezing (at least for a while).

http://www.mediafire.com/?r034unm2k0lveqx

(Nothing bad, i promise.)

Hop this proves useful until Apple get off their *** and fixes it.

Jul 5, 2012 7:52 AM in response to kjtriplett

Having this problem on a newer MB Pro running 10.6.8 Trying switching to Option keys instead of Control and seeing if that helps.

Sep 23, 2013 2:02 PM in response to kjtriplett

We're WELL into 2013 now, and I'm just here to say, to this day, I am too having this problem, on my imac, and it's a HUGE pain in the assssssss. Pretty **** unbearable, even when I turn off spaces, my keyboard still stops working. If I open the keyboard viewer, I can see that the keyboard is still working because the keys register as being pressed, but still don't do anything beyond that. Please apple, fix thisssssssss NOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWASOFhwe239rhasklfhasdlfj23r09weul h2(&*@#YRWEJKL!!!

Spaces Freeze