Displays preferences don't stick for monitor arrangement after upgrading

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http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11243

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US

So, I may have solved it. I ran Disk Utility to repair permissions thinking that the system wasn't able to properly save the preferences. After it repaired permissions (which it really didn't show that it repaired any) it seems to remember the Display Arrangement now...

Yeah, maybe it was just that it worked on a few restarts. It's back to being random...

Here's another idea... I zapped my PRAM and it seems to have worked the last few days.

Here is a reply I posted about Dual Monitor problems on another thread, whereby Mountain Lion forgets the arrangment of the monitors, I wonder if a similar approach may work with your particular case?

🙂 Possible Solution.... needs testing, but initial trial has been successful. Does this work for anyone else?

There are two .plist files I have identified which record the screen arrangement:

1. /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist (top level library, not user library)
2. ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver.FE******-****-****-****-**********2E.plist

(user library, where *** are unique code) I think the first drives the system arrangment (e.g., login window at startup etc), and the second is a user's own setup.

1. I modified the screen and menu arrangement through System Preferences, which modified file (1).
2. Using a text editor I copied and pasted everything into a new blank document and saved as com.apple.windowserver.plist

   then duplicated the file and named it as per file (2). *even though there were some minor differences.

3. I backed up and deleted the windowserver plists from both the system and user preference (ByHost) folders, including the lockfiles.
4. Moved my new documents into their respective folders and rebooted... windows appeared where they were supposed to. (I should mention that I moved the screen and menu arrangement back to the 'wrong' way first, which showed me that the files had indeed altered the arrangement).

The question is - will this now hold?

Perhaps locking the file / changing the permissions to prevent the system updating it might help IF the problem reoccurs?

Unfortunately, the solution above (rewritting the pref files) did not work for me 😟. Here's hoping 10.8.3 has a fix.

did we get solution for this issue, even im facing this issue from past few weeks but not getting the answer 😟 to my surprise apple support guys are not aware of this issue

Same problem here. I have a mini 2012 with 2 HDMI connected, one directly one via thunderbolt daisychain to a Drobo. Both HDMI go to a Denon AVR. Almost everytime i tun on the AVR, the settings get mixed up. Either the resolution goes away, from "Scaled" to "Best for display", the main and the secondary displays get swaped, sometime the "mirroring" is turned on..... I hope apple will release some sort of fix soon.... This is VERY annoying. Ya, the days when it "just worked" are long gone.... sad.....

10.8.3 came out today and no fix. I still have this problem...

my new workaround: purchase SwitchResX (USD17), create a "set" with my settings (resolution, position, main screen, color profile....) then at regular intervals (launchctl) chech and if it's messed up, run

/usr/bin/osascript -e 'tell application "SwitchResX Daemon" to use display set "Main Set"';

so far so good....

I had this problem and fixed it when I realized that it matters into which thunderbolt port you plug in your external monitor. I bring my laptop around from home to work with different external displays at each location, and if I switch which port I plug a display into, OSX tends to forget the settings I had the last time I plugged it in, but if I always plug it into the same thunderbolt port this problem goes away.

Hope that helps someone.

I reported this problem to the Mac team when we first upgraded to OS 10.8 and they said they would report it up the chain. That is over 6 months ago and still no solution. However, tech support did find a little program called DIM 2.0.2 by G.J. Parker.

You have to remember to "Save Screen Positions" occassionaly or before you reboot. Most of the time I forget and I only have to move 5 folders/files. But I have 130 on my desktop most of the time, so this has been a real good fix for now. I hope that the Mac Support will fix this though. It is a real pain.

I have 3 monitors plugged into 2 video cards. Hopefully they will fix it..

Gary

Do you power on the monitor first before you connect your Mac or after?

I found this from another thread: (so I left a feedback at apple.com/feedback)

john199527

Hello everyone,

While I fear everyone may have moved on to the ten grand can by this point, I am still trying to get this issue with the older Mac Pro resolved. I have some exciting news for you all!

About a week ago, I had had enough, so I unplugged my Mac Pro, and carried it 10 blocks down to the Apple Store in Charleston, SC, where I was graciously greeted by the genius team whom I had previously spoke to about the problem. We did some testing in the store and were in fact able to replicate the problem. The genius spent some time looking through Apple's logs of cases and support documentation, but was unable to find anything relating to this issue. The next step he then told me, was to escalate the issue to the engineering department. I was told I would hear a response back in about a week. To my amazement, it was less than 48 hours later. I got a call from the same guy at the local Apple store. He told me that he spoke to the engineering team and said this, "this is a software or firmware bug that has recently been brought to light. The issue is related to the order in which the displays are powered on/brought out of sleep." I was told the best thing for me to do next, was to head over to apple.com/feedback and fill out a software bug feature request. I did so, and I would suggest that all of you, still have this issue do the same as well!

I will certainly keep you all informed of any further developments.

-John