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Desktop Wallpaper keeps going back to the standard wallpaper after reboot

I updated to 10.8 and for some reason my desktop wallpaper will default to the Galaxy wallpaper whenever I restart or shutdown. I will change the wallpaper to something else, restart or shutdown and the Galaxy wallpaper will be back. I re-installed mountain lion and it has not resolved the issue. Anybosy experiencing the same issues?

MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2010), OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Jul 27, 2012 12:25 AM

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Posted on Jul 27, 2012 12:32 AM

Open Terminal (Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) and paste this command


rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Desktop.plist


press 'return' on the keyboard.


Log out, log back in again. Change the wallpaper to what you want. Log out, log back in once more to test.


Any improvement?

64 replies

Aug 21, 2017 1:27 AM in response to Sean8477

Hi,


I have had experienced the same thing too on my MacOS Sierra 10.12.2.

At least for me, for the internet-sourced desktop wallpaper to stay active on your desktop, it is prerequisite that the wallpaper is saved on your desktop and not anywhere else.


This is a very straightforward approach and does not involve any coding/app and I hope it's helpful too! 😀


Best wishes mate!

Nov 2, 2017 8:15 PM in response to softwater

Is there an option to not have to log out by using the term? ex. sudo killall <????> -HUP <process name>? or sudo kill <ps> after doing a ps -<xyz>? The reason is that I don't to have to shut down some processes that I have running to log out...ex when you type "uptime" in term, you have your total days, users, load averages, which are now at 39 for my system. This seems to be a 'bug' but I'm not calling it that. Thoughts on another option without logout? I was thinking about removing the default file of El Capitan but knowing developers I am sure there will be a leak somewhere if I do.

Jul 29, 2012 7:49 PM in response to Sean8477

Also this helped for me 🙂


If your wallpaper changes back to default (Galaxy) after reboot or after logout it is because

the wallpaper you set was on another drive.

and this drive loads after your settings are loaded.

MAC OS X Lion / Mountain Lion does not save your wallpaper on the native HDD, rather tries to load the wallpaper from the original HDD, i guess only the path to the wallpaper is saved in the OS X settings.

Anyways..

what happens is that when your OS X boots up it does not find the path to your wallpaper since the HDD you've saved your wallpapers in has not mounted yet. 😟

One basic solution for this is to save your wallpapers in the HDD where you've installed the MAC OS X..

but I didnt want to save all my wallpapers in Native Mountain Lion HDD, so i figured out my perfect fix..!! User uploaded file

This is how i fixed..

I found this file in my Lion install drive.. autodiskmount.plist

Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/autodiskmount.plist

If you can't find it on your OS X Install Drive then you can make one by typing

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="0.9">

<dict>

<key>AutomountDisksWithoutUserLogin</key><true/>

</dict>

</plist>

rename ur txt file to autodiskmount.plist

save this in your MAC OS X HDD

Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/autodiskmount.plist

Voila..!!

restart your system..

User uploaded file

Now save your wallpapers where ever you want on your computer and i didnt have to worry about the wallpaper changing back to default.

Aug 21, 2012 7:20 AM in response to softwater

Nope. I use wallpapers randomly selected from my iPhoto albums. I have 4 workspaces. Spaces 2, 3 and 4 have the wallpaper correctly applied. The main workspace still reverts back to the default galaxy wallpaper. I would be glad to help out with any diagnostics and troubleshooting info if you want to request it.


BTW, I tried deleting ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.desktop.plist - no avail

Aug 21, 2012 6:50 PM in response to Sean8477

SORRY, I FORGOT TO ADD A STEP TO FIND THE "com.apple.desktop.plist"


~I'm running a base retina Macbook with Mountain Lion.~

I just got off the phone with Apple Support.


~~~On the Finder bar, click 'Go', hold 'alt/option', click Library.~~~


Now navigate to:


Library:Preferences , delete 'com.apple.desktop.plist'


Choose your desktop background; reset computer.

Aug 23, 2012 2:03 AM in response to Sean8477

killall -HUP Dock reloads the Dock and wallpaper.


This isn't a solution, but a workaround:


a) Create a file called "killall_dock.sh" in your home directory, with the following contents:


#!/bin/sh

killall -HUP Dock


b) Save it.


c) Turn on execute permissions (run the command in Terminal.app)


chmod +x killall_dock.sh


d) Add the file killall_dock.sh as part of your Login Items from the System Preferences > Users & Groups preference pane.

Desktop Wallpaper keeps going back to the standard wallpaper after reboot

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