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All windows lose focus after 3-5 seconds

Mavericks install on new MBP went fine, no issues. Install on PM from MLion went fine but after restarting all windows lose focus in 3-5 seconds, forcing you to reclick on the window to continue, the the problem repeats. All apps including finder.


Suggestions for finding the problem? (I will roll back via TM to ML since it is basically unusable at this time. )

Posted on Oct 23, 2013 7:25 AM

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41 replies

Aug 28, 2017 2:43 AM in response to GTK

I too used the very useful Python script provided above.

I found the culprit was none of the faceless helper apps I expected.

Apparently, in my case, Parallels 13 is the culprit.

I just upgraded and renewed my subscription to it and the new Parallels Access in it is stealing focus.

Even worse, it is doing it most irritatingly when I am trying to type in a new filename for a PDF open in Preview. (That Preview app in Sierra itself has a recent new flaw that prevents filename changes typed into the document window title bar from being saved unless you hit Tab or something before hitting Enter).

I just quit Access and will file a report with Parallels because I do rely in Access to use my various Macs from each other or iOS devices.


Imran


2017-08-28 05:36:51: Parallels Access Agent [/Applications/Parallels Access.app/Contents/MacOS/Parallels Access Agent.app]

2017-08-28 05:37:17: Parallels Access [/Applications/Parallels Access.app]

Oct 23, 2013 6:25 PM in response to Arnold r

Just did another insatll without migration and no issues. After I rebooted a couple times it stopped but then came back after 10 minutes. Will do the migration thing again and try setting the app nap attribute. Just seems if it is AppNap it would have appeared in the install without migration also.


Did you see the problem appear in Finder? (I did)

Oct 23, 2013 6:29 PM in response to GTK

Spent half hour on the phone with tech support. Shared the screen, and he could see the problem too. Booted in safe mode and the problem disappeared. (Hold down the shift key.) Rebooted normally, then went to settings, users and groups. Clicked on my account, and removed all automatic login items. I had one item there for an old Logitech mouse I dint even have anymore. Rebooted again, and so far the problem seems to be gone. I hope that helps!

Oct 24, 2013 7:09 AM in response to GTK

OK - one more try - this time I'm hopeful I found it. I tried Safe mode again and it stopped, but started again on a regular reboot. So I started looking for any extension I could think of that might be extraneous. I had a control panel in the system preferences that Cox Cable had for doing backups to their servers. I deleted that and the problem immediately disappeared. I've rebooted a couple of times and it hasn't come back yet. Hopeful once again...!

Oct 24, 2013 9:48 AM in response to GTK

I did. (Have the cox preference pane). I removed it from the preference pane. I then rebooted. This is the longest I have been able to type since the problem started, so maybe that was the issue. I don't use it for backup, so I tried to uninstall it but I kept getting errors about connecting to ivault.

All windows lose focus after 3-5 seconds

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