screen saver won't turn on

Thanks for the response. Not all the same files existed, but I moved what did show up on your list. It reset my screensaver preferences, but the screensaver still won't come on. I spoke to Apple support on the phone. They said that if a PRAM reset fixes it, but that it eventually doesn't work anymore its probably a logic board issue and that I should take it to the Apple Store for them to take a look. That just doesn't sound right to me. If there's a logic board issue, why would it effect the timeout for the screensaver and power saving only? Don't they access the same system clock as the rest of the OS? I could maybe understand the powersaving function not being OS driven, but the screen saver sure is, and as far as every other process on my machine is concerned, time is flowing properly and there's no noticeable problems. I'm going to keep poking around, but in the end I may end up bringing it in, which I'm not thrilled about.

Dave

Yup. I can set hot corners for both screen saver and display sleep and both work. I've been able to fix it again with a PRAM reset, but I don't know that it will hold. One other piece of info: while it was not functioning, I logged out and logged in as a guest. The guest account had the same problem so it looks like it's systemic, not isolated to my account.

Dave

Thanks. I will try that. One question though: are you recommending a clean reinstall, or just an OS reinstall that keeps my files in place? Will it matter?

Dave

BDAqua,

I can't thank you enough for taking the time to help me out. I know this may be a stupid question but I'd like to make sure I know what I'm doing before I go and screw things up further. I've got the recovery partition available to me, and I've booted into it already, but I hesitated to do the OS reinstall, because I didn't see where it specified an OS file reinstall versus a total fresh install. Maybe it's further along in the process and I haven't gotten to it yet (or maybe there's no distinction). I'm backed up so it's not the end of the world if I get it wrong, but I'd still rather not have to copy everything back over and reinstall a bunch of software if I don't have to. I'm going to do a little more web searching (I'm sure there's a link with instructions somewhere), but if you have a chance and it's a simple thing to describe please go ahead and shoot the answer my way. One more thing. I'm at 10.8.3, but the recovery partition lists itself as 10.8.2, I don't know how problematic that might be (I'm guessing not much, just an update after I reinstall, but I might as well ask before I charge ahead, just in case). Again, thanks for all of the help.

Dave

BDAqua,

That did the trick. Screen saver and power saving modes both kick in as they're supposed to... so far. I'm going to keep monitoring it, but it seems to have lasted all day so far. There is one last little thing though. I almost hesitate to mention it. For whatever reason, it looks like the screen saver is using a different colorspace than the computer in general. I have it using a theme that shows some images from one of my directories, and in the screen saver, and only in the screen saver, the colors are off... flat, if you will. In preview, and any other application they seem to be color managed properly. I don't remember this being the case before, but who knows, maybe it was and I just never had a reason to focus on my screen saver so much. I just thought I'd mention it in case anyone had any ideas or had experienced something similar. Again, thanks for all of your help.

Dave

Yeah it's weird. I have an older iMac on the adjacent desk and it has no problem... definitely odd.

Thanks,

Dave