Screen saver broken in Monterey

I wanted to edit this to add to it, but can't do that, so here we go. I did notice on the iMac that if I pick any other screen saver, Monterey, Hello etc. they work, it is just with photos that they do not work.

Ironically the Dynamic Wallpapers of Big Sur and Catalina still work great.

It is just when you try to use it with the Screen Savers as we could in Big Sur it is no longer available.

I've reproduced this error on MacBook Air M1 and MacMini M1.

Apple Support is elevating this.

Be sure to phone it in so it gets the needed attention for them to fix it.

I tried with both a new Album in Photo Library as well as the "~/Pictures" folder containing ~7700 photos and no luck. Sometimes when I click "Preview" I see a faint view of what they should look like behind a dark filter (and the small preview window renders as expected). Once I change the source, I can see heavy activity from iLife Slideshows background process then it fades out. Tried letting it run for several minutes, but just black screen (or clock if I choose that option). Same result when "Shuffle slide order" checked/unchecked. Worked fine and loved it under Big Sur but it broke after going to Monterey. Seems to be the same for all photo-based screensavers, so hopefully one fix will fix all of these. Are there some cache files/subdirectories we should delete to see if that fixes things? Tried reinstallation of Monterey and logout/login.

Working OK for me on macOS 12.0.1 so definitely still supported.

Does the photos library selector work in other applications?

If not you may want to rebuild Photos DB (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204967)

As far as I understand these message boards are not monitored by Apple and their function is simply to enable Apple users to support and advise each other. You can post your criticisms direct to Apple by other means.

https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html

Feel free to send Apple a bug report from the feedback page…

Feedback - macOS - Apple

So this issue has still not been fixed from the previous OS. What the **** is going on? Why does Apple break the screensaver in new and creative ways every time they make a new OS?

My problem is twofold:

1. The screensaver does find my folder from Photos, but it puts up one photo and leaves it there. No changing picture - and therefore no screensaving either. You cannot specify how long each photo stays up before it changes - and it simply doesn't change at all.
2. I have edited some of the photos in the folder that I use. The screensaver shows the unedited version. Why? This had never happened before.

Come on Apple. Let us use our own pictures. It matters to some of us.

Here's one:

https://9to5mac.com/2021/12/07/apple-releases-macos-12-1-rc/

"This release also includes bug fixes for your Mac:

• Desktop and Screen Saver may appear blank after selecting photos from the Photos library"

Nothing to do with the Photos DB. You could have a folder of photos anywhere on your hard drive and be able to point the screensaver towards it and they would show up in any of the motion options as shown:

I noticed my MacBook from 2017 just says "no photos" when using the screensaver after the update. I hadn't even checked the settings nor touched anything. Weird. So naturally, I navigated to the screen saver, fidgeted with it for a bit, tried to dig libraries where you can choose photos from. Something was off and the whole widget felt weird as ****. I tried using the default ones (had Ken Burns on before). It started displaying this message after a while. Monterey is the only saver that renders as it should (I'm assuming, haven't seen it before anywhere tho :D)

TL;DR I think we just need to wait for them to update stuff to get it configured for the new OS or something along those lines.

I already have the folder /Library/Application Support/iLifeMediaBrowser/Plug-Ins from an older OS (though last updated October of this year), and the screensaver still does not work. Here are the 11 items that I see in that folder. Is there anything you have that I do not? Thanks in advance.

I am also using an Intel iMac (5K Retina, 27-inch, late 2015). Have already submitted a bug report through the link provided on this thread.

Yes we see that option, but when we choose the location with the pictures we want to appear on our screensaver, once it turns on, it will only show the images way to dark, like they're dimmed all the way down, you can't see more than a black screen with just an almost imperceptible shadow of the photo.

But it was fixed with 12.1. You must have some 3rd party software installed that is interfering with the Desktop picture feature. Download and run Etrecheck.  Copy and paste the results into your reply. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck in the Etrecheck's Privacy preference pane so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:

Also click and read the About info to further permit full disk access.

Copy the report

and use the Additional Text button to include the report in your reply.

Then we can evaluate the report and see if we can find out the root of the problem.

It looks like you have to add all of your photos from the "photos" app, into "My Albums". So once you open photos, select all the photos you want in your screen saver, and then drag them into "My Albums".

Yeah...Im definitely no Apple expert but it looks like they use shared objects. BTW-I've just tried using a folder containing a bunch of jpgs. Same behavior. This has to be a bug. I havent tried iMovie but im guessing it uses the same objects to drive certain transitions.