Mission Control won't a launch (except via Launchpad)

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Level 1

96 points

Mission Control won't a launch (except via Launchpad)

I updated this morning from SL to Mt Lion. I wanted to set up Spaces (similar to what I had in SL) and I found that it's now done via Mission Control. I've tried the various FKey ways (F3, F9) to launch Mission Control directly but the only way I could bring it up was to fire up Launchpad and then click the MC icon there -- or by assigning it to a hot-spot corner.

I've now set up my 8 Spaces so I guess I don't need to open Mission Control much and could probably live with bringing it up via Launchpad or the assigned hot spot. But I'm curious about why it's not being invoked via the FKeys. Any ideas?

MBair, MBPro, Mini, iStuff

Posted on Sep 10, 2013 11:26 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

684,015 points

Sep 10, 2013 12:22 PM in response to keriah

You can use the arrow keys or set other options in System Preferences/Mission Control.

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Answer 2

keriah Author

Level 1

96 points

Sep 10, 2013 12:37 PM in response to Eric Root

Understood. But why doesn't F9 work(which is what shows in this Preferences pane, where you have the Cntl-Up)? F9 is what was set out of the ML install as, I assume, some kind of default. (I use Keyboard Maestro a LOT for application control, and I hate to tie up use of the Cntl and Option keys for System things like this.)

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,015 points

Sep 10, 2013 12:43 PM in response to keriah

Try holding down the fn key when you select F9. You can change this by going to System Preferences/Keyboard and selecting to use the f keys as fn keys, but then you have to hold down the fn button to change volume and so forth.

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Answer 4

keriah Author

Level 1

96 points

Sep 10, 2013 12:45 PM in response to Eric Root

Thanks much! That was it!!!

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Answer 5

keriah Author

Level 1

96 points

Sep 10, 2013 1:28 PM in response to Eric Root

Uhm, there was an unfortunate side-effect. While I was looking at the Keyboard preferences, System Preferences crashed. And now I can no longer get to Keyboard preferences ....

I have done a couple of System restarts but, so far, no luck.

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Answer 6

Eric Root

Level 10

684,015 points

Sep 10, 2013 2:07 PM in response to keriah

Try deleting the com.apple.systempreferences.plist.

You need to look in your user Library/Preferences for the .plist. Either hold down the option key while using the Finder “Go To Folder” command and select your user Library in your home folder or use the Finder “Go To Folder” command and enter ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist. Move the .plist to your desktop.

Log out/in and test. If it works okay, delete the plist(s) from the desktop.

If the same, return the .plist(s) to where you got them from, overwriting the newer ones.

If you prefer to make your User library permanently visible, use the Terminal command found below.

Show User Library

You might want to bookmark the command. I had to use it again after I installed 10.8.4. I have also been informed that if you drag the user library to Finder it will remain visible.

If it soved the problem, you will probably have to reset some of your Preferences.

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Answer 7

keriah Author

Level 1

96 points

Sep 10, 2013 3:14 PM in response to Eric Root

That looks like it worked. Thanks yet again. I do appreciate having that Terminal command. At some point I would have been pondering the lack of the "Library" folder and this got me ahead of that problem.

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Answer 8

keriah Author

Level 1

96 points

Sep 10, 2013 5:43 PM in response to Eric Root

Ooops. It worked for a bit and then it was back to either failing on the Keyboard Preferences or having System Preferences crash. I have been trashing the plist and doing plenty of System Restarts, but the crashes continue, at somewhat random times.

I've run Disk Utility (such as I can, since it's the boot disk). I considered reinstalling the OS but it looked like it was going to do the OS download all over again and the timing isn't good for another 6 hr. download marathon, just in the hopes that it might fix this.

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Answer 9

Eric Root

Level 10

684,015 points

Sep 11, 2013 8:10 AM in response to keriah

A couple of other things to try before doing a reinstall. Troubleshooting software problems can take awhile.

Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

Isolating an issue by using another user account

If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application uninstaller. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

Safe Mode

Safe Mode - About

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