Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

DigitalEl · May 22, 2005, 01:50 PM

Running 10.4.1 in a 2 user environment.

When I installed Tiger, User #1 had a custom desktop background and User #2 had a plain, OS X-supplied desktop.

Now, when I switch users from #2 to #1, that custom desktop background flashes up for a bit while the cube transition is in effect. Once the cube stops, User #1's current and correct background snaps into place. The only time that "old" desktop shows is during the transition.

Any ideas on a fix? There's gotta be a .plist I can delete somewhere or a Preference I can kill.

Thanks in advance.

Randman · May 22, 2005, 02:19 PM

Can try deleting the finder plist. Also, the usual suspects of repairing permissions, logging off and back on, etc. Finally, maybe you can reset the desktop image.

DigitalEl · May 22, 2005, 05:10 PM

Can try deleting the finder plist. Also, the usual suspects of repairing permissions, logging off and back on, etc. Finally, maybe you can reset the desktop image.

Finder.plist deleted, permissions repaired, several reboots... And the problem persists.

My uneducated guess is that since I installed 10.4 with that desktop, the OS now thinks... Ahhh, frak. That doesn't even make any sense. So I don't know why this is happening. Keep the ideas comin', people.

Randman · May 22, 2005, 10:10 PM

Create a new user and see if it happens there as well.

gavinmusic · May 27, 2005, 04:41 PM

I'm having the exact same problem! I had been using EarthDesk, but I currently have a regular, static background (one of the new desktops that I just discovered came with Tiger!). However, whenever I switch from my second user, the old EarthDesk background shows up for the transition, then my new desktop picture pops up. It's so weird... I've tried all the .plist stuff too, even deleting all EarthDesk files and it's still there somehow.

Any progress on your end?

gavinmusic · May 31, 2005, 03:11 PM

I still can't find any tech documents or any posts with a solution. This small issue is beginning to become annoying...

kimmyg · May 31, 2005, 03:36 PM

If I understand your explanation of the problem, then I can say I have the same problem. If I log into account A, fast-user-switch to account B, switch back to A and move desktop icons and then switch to B and back to A (sorry if that's confusing), the cube transition will not reflect the changes I made to icon placement.

I don't necessarily think it's a bug. I believe that the first time you switch users during a session, the texture for the cube transition is generated from a desktop snapshot. However, it is never re-generated for subsequent switches. If this is indeed a correct diagnosis, the solution would be a snap, for Apple. They are probably aware of this "bug" but have not "fixed" it in lieu of performance (it takes processing time to generate the texture).

I may be way off on this. I don't know the details of their implementation.