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Howard Brazee Author

Level 2

170 points

Screen Saver reverts to National Geographic

Several times lately (Yosemite only???), I have discovered my screen saver has reset itself to show National Geographic photos. And they are usually set to show both my iMac and my second monitor the same photos.

It's easy enough to set back to my desired iPhoto library. But I wonder what causes it to be reset?

What I haven't figured out is what to do when both monitors are displaying the same photos. Eventually that problem fixes itself. Nor what to do when it starts with the same photos in the same order. (I have a hot corner, and have been testing after I reset it to use my iPhoto library, and each time I turn it on, I get the same photo sequence as before - on both monitors).

I just tried it again - the third time since I started this message - and it's back to National Geographic.

I set it back, this time telling it to shuffle, and both monitors showed different photos as desired. I should have checked that earlier. But why doesn't my setting stay?

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Nov 3, 2014 5:12 PM

Top-ranking reply

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,649 points

Posted on Nov 3, 2014 6:57 PM

Back up all data. Quit System Preferences if it's running.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it, then copy the text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:

~/Library/Preferences/ByHost

In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar. Paste into the box that opens (command-V), then press return. A folder should open. If it does, look for a file with a long name that begins "com.apple.screensaver". There may be several such files. Move them all to the Trash.

Log out or restart the computer. Test. If the problem is resolved, empty the Trash and recreate your settings in the Screen Saver tab.

View in context

160 replies

Apr 22, 2015 8:39 PM in response to iDash

If the screensaver shows up w/just 'options' I choose the 'Ken Burns' screensaver on the Left hand side. From there I'm able to choose iPhoto library. I am squirrelly about going into commands &c. when I'm afraid one wrong keystroke could wipe out memory. Fix, FIX? ROFLMAO! Also, I'm just an enduser (or BETA tester as Mac sees me). I didn't buy a Mac in order to become a fly-by-night laptop tech. I thought I was purchasing a system that worked! Silly, silly me... 😠

Apr 25, 2015 6:20 AM in response to Howard Brazee

Worked for about 2 minutes. Now its back to National Geographic. Apparently not enough of a problem for Apple to care to fix it properly.

Schof

Level 1

30 points

Apr 25, 2015 7:42 AM in response to andyappel

You have to be persistent when fixing the Nat Geo problem.

1. Go to Go > Go to Folder and type in ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost and then click on Go.

2. Locate all the files with the word screensaver in their name and delete them.

3. Immediately restart your Mac and empty the the trash once your Mac has restarted.

4. Open System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver.

5. Select the folder where the photos you want to use are located. Wait until your photos have been located and show in the test screen. DO NOT use the iPhoto library.

6. Close System Preferences and test your screen saver. It should display your photos. If not, repeat this procedure.

I had to repeat the procedure four times before it worked and has been working OK since I upgraded to 10.10.3. It goes without question that when the next upgrade comes around, we shall all have Nat Geo back. So that means we shall all have repeat the above procedure. Of course, if Apple fix this problem so much the better.

If anybody else has this problem, then please give feedback to Apple. You never know, we might get it fixed.

Regards.

Schof

Howard Brazee Author

Level 2

170 points

Apr 25, 2015 7:52 AM in response to Schof

Do not use the iPhoto library? Since the whole point is to use that library, are you saying your fix only works with the downgrade to the newer Photos library?

Schof

Level 1

30 points

Apr 25, 2015 7:59 AM in response to Howard Brazee

It appears that using any of the Apple libraries is not 100% in fixing the problem. I found that pointing the screensaver to the folder where my photos are stored on my Mac Mini works very well. This folder also includes sub-folders and the photos in these sub-folders are also displayed in the screensaver.

Regards

Schof

Apr 26, 2015 6:18 PM in response to Schof

One solution, if someone knows how, would be to Purge the National Geographic screensaver. Interesting to see if that solves the problem.

Apr 28, 2015 8:43 AM in response to mrpeepers

Hello,

I believe that the 1- National Geographic Library is a hard coded somewhere in the code and under specific circumstances it overwrites your photo library. I renamed the 1 - National Geographic to 5 - National Geographic and Yosemite was still pointing to 1 - National Library which did not exist so no photo was shown.

pj10128

Level 1

0 points

Apr 30, 2015 5:13 AM in response to Howard Brazee

There is a simp;er solution. Reset the PRAM for your particular device.

Just google resetting PRAM. It take 2 minutes.

Apr 30, 2015 5:57 PM in response to pj10128

I will try this with my wife's computer first. I'm trying to record what I will need to reset, such as her screen resolution. I hope I catch everything.

Dualis01

Level 1

0 points

May 4, 2015 9:36 AM in response to Howard Brazee

I also have this problem and it is so annoying. I have many nice photos and like to watch them as a screensaver when I not actively do something at my iMac. This issue should be possible to solve for apple, but nothing happens 😟. It is really something, which could bring me back to windows. 😟

May 5, 2015 7:31 AM in response to Schof

This fix only works temporarily for me. After deleting every com.apple.screensaver* file, rebooting, etc. eventually National Geographic photos return.