Window stuck 'outside' finder after disconnecting second monitor?

[Murdock]

I have a 20" intel iMac that i used to hook a secondary 19" monitor to. I do some work in ProTools, an app where you have a special window(mix for those that know PT) that i like to place and maximize in this secondary monitor. Currently my secondary monitor is away in a box however and i need to do some work. For some reason my iMac still treats the mix window(in files i last saved when working with two monitors that is) like it's on the secondary.. that is 'outside' the iMac screen. I can't seem to find any way to grab it with the mouse and when selecting it through exposé it just returns the window out where i can't reach it. This is really frustrating because i need to be able to go back and forth between dual and single screens.

I hope that made any sense at all. This ever happened to any of you and if so how did you solve it? Aside from hooking up a second screen... :/

[superleccy]

Yeah... makes sense. Happened to me a few times, but I don't use Pro Tools.

Sounds obvious, but have you tried selecting 'zoom' from the Window menu? Might not work on PT's "special" windows, but give it a go.

SL

[Murdock]

I'm not sure how zoom would help here, you mean the normal zoom thingy you configure in the system preferences right? Only thing i can do i zoom in and when i do moving the mouse still doesn't bring the screen to where the misplaced window is. Now if i could zoom out further than normal view.. but alas i can't. =[

[superleccy]

No, I mean "zoom" on the "window" menu, which (in theory) does the same thing as the green '+' button on the window that you can't see.

Obviously you'll have to select the rogue window first, which may be a little tricky. Try CMD-` to cycle thru to it.

SL

PS: I've had this problem before now and sometimes this technique works, sometimes it doesn't.

[Murdock]

Ah i see.. there is no zoom option in the ProTools window menu unfortunately.

[pjrobertson]

If your Mac thinks there's another display attached, have you tried going to Displays in the system preferences and messing around there?

I'm sure there's an option to 'gather windows'

[Murdock]

No nothing in the display preferences unfortunately. Only thing i can do there is scan for other displays which i've tried without result. It only finds the single display. A 'gather windows' function should indeed be found somewhere.. question is where.

[TBi]

Someone wrote an apple script which grabs every open window and moves/resizes them to fit on your screen. This was how i got past this problem before.

I can't remember the script or who did it, but at least you know what to look for now. :)

EDIT: This is where i miss windows and its "move" function. Right click a window in the task bar, select move and move it back on screen with your keys. Such a simple and elegant fix you'd be forgiven for thinking you were using OSX :D

[superleccy]

No nothing in the display preferences unfortunately. Only thing i can do there is scan for other displays which i've tried without result. It only finds the single display. A 'gather windows' function should indeed be found somewhere.. question is where.
Oh dear, not looking good. I have been plague by this problem before and can't remember if/how I fixed it.

This is probably a bit drastic for the situation, but how about trashing prefs?

I'd at least log it as a bug with PT and Apple.
This is where i miss windows and its "move" function. Right click a window in the task bar, select move and move it back on screen with your keys. Such a simple and elegant fix you'd be forgiven for thinking you were using OSX :D
I'n not often you'll here me praising Windows, but in this case, I agree.

SL

[Murdock]

I suspect this (http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2007102012424539) is the script you mean. Great suggestion but unfortunately it doesn't work for me either. I am not sure if i'm doing this correctly but i keep Pro Tools running with the session and the troublesome window open and then run this script in the Open Script Editor. Nothing happens. Frustration!

[TBi]

Did you do this?

[robg adds: You'll need to have the Enable Access for Assistive Devices box checked in Universal Access. The above-linked blog entry contains info on how to exclude certain apps from the script -- for use with programs that hide windows offscreen. Also, if there are updates to the script, they'll be found there, not here. I have not tested this one.]

[Mammoth]

If you have Leopard, simply open Spaces and drag the windows out. If they're the little windows that don't really count as windows, I don't know what you're gonna do. I've had this problem when switching external monitors between a CRT and an LCD TV.

[Murdock]

Yup i enabled access for assistive devices and no, i don't have leopard. It's a real shame exposé doesn't let you drag windows as well. That's a possible future change i suppose, letting you not only select but grab windows.

[speakerwizard]

resetting the pram usually works on things like this or stuck resolutions, cmd, option, p and r on boot

[Murdock]

Hmm ok.. will try when i get home. Could this potentially cause something nasty to happen though? I checked what the pram contains on apple.com and it looks harmless but i still get a bit anxious when doing things i've never done before. ;)

[TBi]

resetting the pram usually works on things like this or stuck resolutions, cmd, option, p and r on boot

I don't quite understand how resetting the PRAM would move a window in an OS...

[juzzin]

Change your screen resolution. This will restore modal windows onscreen.

[spinne1]

Correct me if I am wrong, but restarting will cause the Mac to recognize that the second monitor is no longer hooked up and therefore will put everything on the main monitor's desktop, right? (But not only that, restarting would close all open windows except finder windows.)

Assuming you HAVE restarted since disconnecting the second monitor, are you saying that the window goes to the second monitor after you startup Pro Tools automatically? Does Pro Tools have a way to control opening and closing windows? Perhaps you could close that window and then restart and then restart Pro Tools and then reopen the window which should force Pro Tools to recognize only the one monitor.