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Thread: MacBook Question

  1. #1
    Featured Member aussiebelle's Avatar
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    Default MacBook Question

    I can't get a picture to stay on my background.

    I've had my MacBook for about a month now and have had a picture from the desktop pictures folder as my desktop picture since I got my Mac and it hasn't been a problem.

    Last night when I turned my computer on the picture was gone (now the background is just blue) and I can't get it back.

    Any help as to why this has happened or any help as to how to fix it would be greatly appreciated
    Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

  2. #2
    God/dess UtahMike's Avatar
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    Default Re: MacBook Question

    First, what have you tried to get it back?

    Second, is the background a uniform blue, or does it hvae the wavy curves in it that were the original background?

    Third, did you possibly delete, move, or rename the picture?

    Fourth, what else have you done in your System Settings lately?

  3. #3
    Featured Member aussiebelle's Avatar
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    Default Re: MacBook Question

    Thanks Mike.

    To get it back I tried just going to System Preferences and Background and clicking on the background that I want and it just stays blue instead of changing to the selected picture.

    The blue is uniform blue.

    The picture is still in the background folder (it's just the one of the background pictures that come in the folder already with the Mac).

    I don't think I've done anything different recently. It was just gone last night when I switched my computer back on
    Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

  4. #4
    God/dess UtahMike's Avatar
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    Default Re: MacBook Question

    Over on the left menu, what is highlighted?

    On mine, the top choice is Apple Background, then Nature, then Abstract, then Solid Colors, then Pictures Folder. On my iBook, as soon as I click a picture, the background changes.

    Also, at the top, do you have Desktop or Screensaver selected?

    Down at the bottom, do you have "Change pictures every ___ minutes" checked or unchecked?

  5. #5
    Featured Member aussiebelle's Avatar
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    Default Re: MacBook Question

    Quote Originally Posted by UtahMike View Post
    Over on the left menu, what is highlighted?

    On mine, the top choice is Apple Background, then Nature, then Abstract, then Solid Colors, then Pictures Folder. On my iBook, as soon as I click a picture, the background changes.

    Also, at the top, do you have Desktop or Screensaver selected?

    Down at the bottom, do you have "Change pictures every ___ minutes" checked or unchecked?
    Yeah that it what is has been doing up until now.

    It's in the desktop section and that "Change picture..." box is not selected.


    I'm really not sure what's wrong with it. I might just give it a few days and call the Apple shop to see if they know what the problem is because it's only a few weeks old
    Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

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    God/dess threlayer's Avatar
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    Default Re: MacBook Question

    Maybe that picture got corrupted somewhow. Can you test that idea with another picture just to see if everything else is OK?
    Last edited by threlayer; 04-20-2008 at 03:29 PM.
    I loved going to strip clubs; I actually made some friends there. Now things are different for the clubs and for me. As a result I am not as happy.

    Customers are not entitled to grope, disrespect, or rob strippers. This is their job, not their hobby, and they all need income. Clubs are not just some erotic show for guys to view while drinking.

    NOTE: anything I post here, outside of a direct quote, is my opinion only, which I am entitled to. Take it for what you estimate it is worth.

  7. #7
    God/dess UtahMike's Avatar
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    Default Re: MacBook Question

    I am going to tell you how to test and repair your hard drive and part of your operating system. This will take awhile, so be sure you have a book to read or a video to watch. Do not run any other programs while doing this.

    Be sure your MacBook power supply is plugged into the wall, because you are going to test and repair your hard drive. If the battery runs down in the middle of this, you might have to reinstall everything.

    Find the Install disks that came with the computer. Put CD or DVD #1 into your drive. Go to the System Preferences and look for Startup Disk. Select the disk in the drive, then restart.

    Once the computer reboots from the CD, do NOT go into the Installer. Instead, look over on the left for your Disk Utility. Launch that. (It is on the left on my screen. You likely have a newer version than mine, and it might be in a different location.)

    Be careful not to format your hard drive or partition it. This will erase everything on your hard drive.

    Look for "Repair Disk Permissions" and "Repair Hard Drive." You will also see options to just test permissions and the hard drive, but if you found something wrong, you would repair it, so it is a waste of time for you to just test at this point.

    Repair Disk Permissions first. Depending on how many files you have on your hard drive and how long it has been since you did this, this could take somewhere between awhile and a long time. Let the program run, but every now and then touch the trackpad or the shift key so it does not go to sleep.

    Permissions are invisible instructions which tell the computer which invisible files to run in order to get the programs and files you see to work properly. You do not need to know what they are or what they do, but every now and then you need to repair them.

    After you repair disk permissions, repair the hard disk. Again, this could take a long time, so just be sure the computer does not go to sleep. Nothing bad will happen if it goes to sleep, but it will take that much longer to accomplish the repair.

    Some authorities will tell you to restart from your hard drive between those two repairs so you can tell which one fixed the problem, but I always do both one after the other. You should do this about once a month anyway, oftener if you download and install a lot of new software.

    After the repairs, quit the disk utility and restart the computer. You can change the settings in System Settings, but you should also get prompted when you restart to select which operating system you wish to use. Select the hard drive and restart.

    Check and see if you can now display a picture as a background.

    If that does not solve your problem, look in the Applications folder for the Utilities folder, and launch Activity Monitor. See how much RAM you are using. If you are maxed out, your computer might not have enough memory left to display the picture as a background. I think this is unlikely since your computer is new, but you should check it anyway. If you ARE maxed out, you should have more memory installed. It is cheap right now, so add as much as you can afford.

    If this still does not solve the problem, if your computer is still in warranty, take it back and make them fix it for you. If not, you might need to invest in some more powerful repair utilities or pay your repair shop to use theirs.

    I've reached the limit of what I know, but I can direct you to the best online resource for solving Mac problems: www.macfixit.com . You will need to register before posting your question. When you post, they will want to know which version of OS X you have installed. To find this out, click on the Apple logo on the top left of your screen. Then select "About this Mac." The first window will tell you what version of Mac OS X you are running, how much memory you have and what processor you have. Write this info down.

    Then on the same window, click, "More info." Copy everything on the Hardware Profile except the serial number. When you post on macfixit, post in the appropriate Mac OS X forum. Just like here, do a search first to see if anyone has had a similar problem. If not, start a new thread, describe your problem, then tell them all the info about your compute mentioned above. You can cut and paste from the "More info" window, but not from the main "About this Mac" window, which is why I told you to write it down.

    Be sure to post back and say if any of this helped.

    Good luck!

  8. #8
    Featured Member aussiebelle's Avatar
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    Default Re: MacBook Question

    Thank you so much Mike for going to all that trouble and giving me all that help with my MacBook! This thread has been bookmarked and I'm sure your answer will help me in the future.

    As for my problem with the background picture, I have no idea why it wasn't working and just blanked out all of a sudden, but after turning my computer off and then restarting it after about a day, the background was still blue but I was able to easily change it as per usual via the system preferences. The only thing that I can think that may have caused it initially would have been that it had too much use over a short period of time (I'm not even sure though if this kind of thing would cause a problem) because of a weekend long of doing assignments and downloading lots of journal articles (maybe too much pressure on the hard drive?).

    Anyway, thanks so much Mike. And Wow.
    Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

  9. #9
    God/dess UtahMike's Avatar
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    Default Re: MacBook Question

    I should have asked if you had tried shutting down and restarting.

    Just remember to repair the permissions and the hard disk every now and then. Most people don't, and eventually it might cause some functions to misfunction.

    Glad it's fixed. Happy computing.

  10. #10
    God/dess threlayer's Avatar
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    Default Re: MacBook Question

    Hey, Mike, are the permissions in a data fork or a resource fork or the Desktop file or a separately OS-maintained file? My Mac experience was extensive pre-PowerPC. In Unix I know of no particular operations necessary to maintain that data.
    I loved going to strip clubs; I actually made some friends there. Now things are different for the clubs and for me. As a result I am not as happy.

    Customers are not entitled to grope, disrespect, or rob strippers. This is their job, not their hobby, and they all need income. Clubs are not just some erotic show for guys to view while drinking.

    NOTE: anything I post here, outside of a direct quote, is my opinion only, which I am entitled to. Take it for what you estimate it is worth.

  11. #11
    God/dess UtahMike's Avatar
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    Default Re: MacBook Question

    This explains it much better than I can: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106712

  12. #12
    God/dess threlayer's Avatar
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    Default Re: MacBook Question

    It is Unix, with the Mac shell interface. Thanks.
    I loved going to strip clubs; I actually made some friends there. Now things are different for the clubs and for me. As a result I am not as happy.

    Customers are not entitled to grope, disrespect, or rob strippers. This is their job, not their hobby, and they all need income. Clubs are not just some erotic show for guys to view while drinking.

    NOTE: anything I post here, outside of a direct quote, is my opinion only, which I am entitled to. Take it for what you estimate it is worth.

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