Screensaver comes on randomly and prevents use in Big Sur and M1

This happened to me after I added a second user as well. I was actually able to log in as the second user, turn off the screensaver (apparently a default setting?), and swap back to my main account - but then the screen saver kicked in again after 20 minutes. No hot corners, no screen saver on either account now. Very frustrating to have this pop up.

Also I tried some terminal tricks, no luck:

superosn@Oestens-MacBook-Pro ~ % sudo kill -9 25796

Password:

kill: 25796: No such process

superosn@Oestens-MacBook-Pro ~ % ps ax | grep -i screensaver

25816 s000  S+     0:00.00 grep -i screensaver

superosn@Oestens-MacBook-Pro ~ % sudo kill -9 25816         

kill: 25816: No such process

superosn@Oestens-MacBook-Pro ~ % ps ax | grep -i screensaver

25820 s000  S+     0:00.00 grep -i screensaver

superosn@Oestens-MacBook-Pro ~ % kill -9 25820         

kill: kill 25820 failed: no such process

superosn@Oestens-MacBook-Pro ~ % ps ax | grep -i screensaver

25823 s000  S+     0:00.00 grep -i screensaver

superosn@Oestens-MacBook-Pro ~ % 

I got my new M1 MacBook yesterday (Big Sur 11.1) and I already had this issue several times. I find that I can sometimes return from the screen saver by clicking log in to another user account and then write the same user account name as the one I was using, but it takes several attempts and it is really annoying of course. I have set hot corners to start screen saver in one of the corners but I am very sure I did not hit that corner by accident. Also, if I did, I would still be able to get turn the screen saver off. I have "show fast user switching menu" set to "as icon".

>old discussion about a now-fixed screensaver issue.

Unfortunately, not so fast.

One week old Mac Mini M1,

Big Sur 11.3 (arrived today!)

Single user, no fast switching, no screensaver allowed - same issue: unkillable and not bypassable screensaver (and its ugly!), need to reboot every 20 mins :( And I was hoping to replace my 2009 Mac Pro cause that one reboots once per day, lol. Probably I'll return it, still have 3 days left to return.

I run Mac Mini headless, through Apple's Screen Sharing app - that may be the trigger.

Weird, I looked for updates yesterday and none was shown. However, after reading your comment I checked again and 11.2.3 is available. I will try now!

Screen saver is disabled on both of my accounts and still it's triggered unexpectedly, while these accounts are both logged in;

I tried today using only one of them simultaneously, and didn't encounter the issue

If you have "the exact same issue" under the same conditions, your solution is already posted above.

(as a work-around): Avoid Fast User Switching -- that is, logging in a new user before logging out the old User .

If you have a substantially different setup, or some different conditions, that mean those solutions do not work for you, please describe in excruciating detail.

I’m afraid this itself will not help. I had screensaver disabled on both accounts and issue still occurs.

I’ve logged out from one account today and left fast user switching enabled - issue still occurs.

I have disabled now fast user switching completely - will see how it goes.

I have the same issue on an M1 Mac Mini. Super frustrating because there is no lid to close or touchID to use to get the system back. I either have to force shutdown with the power button or wait for the display to go to sleep. After that, it sometimes becomes responsive.

20 min since I posted it happened again to me.. but with a twist. A blank screen, had a mouse pointer and a black screen, the closed lid thing worked though.

After a 30 year Microsoft user I am trying to convince my wife "Apple" is worth trying.. if this happens while she is using this Macbook.. a good chance the battle is lost.

No, just moved the mouse around to see if my hot corners did anything then closed the lid. Before the lid trick the only way out for me was to hit that of/on button (probably has a proper name) that is at the top right on my keyboard, still even there it was hit and miss with often enough going right back into the SS.

Yes, pretty sure Apple will fix it with a patch sooner or later. I hope they include one for the other aggravations as well. A scroll bar that is a sliver and hard to grab. Fix the mouse pad when a bluetooth mouse is nearby thing.

I do not think Bug Reports can be produced by chat agents -- they require too much information. Bug reports are filed by the Apple agents after working with you on phone call. If you have an Apple Developer account, you can file a bug report form there.

If you will not make the call, and deal with the Apple agent, you will not be able to file a bug report that way.

You could also ask for a Bug report to be filed during your Genius Bar visit.

Do not have any Battery preference... maybe because I'm on a Mac Mini.

By the way... they are talking about us in mac rumors : https://www.macrumors.com/2021/01/18/m1-macs-fast-user-switching-screensaver-bug/

Hope the buzz might help us to get noticed by Apple support...

I sent my feedback using https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html. (so far no response)

As they say : "The more the merrier"... come on guys feed apple support with your screensaver bug !

Yes. I was trying to install a third party screensaver and was doing it wrong. i made the assumption that the "fix" stopped all screensaver action. I was wrong and once I installed my SS properly all works as it should

Thanks

Sounds more like a USB-C / external monitor / cable issue than a software one. If it's not the cable/connector/monitor then it's going to be more serious & possibly a hardware issue. However, not really one to be dealt with here which is an old discussion about a now-fixed screensaver issue.