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Window stuck 'outside' finder after disconnecting second monitor?

M

Murdock

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 25, 2006
21
0
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

superleccy

macrumors 6502a
Oct 31, 2004
997
187
That there big London
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
 
M

Murdock

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 25, 2006
21
0
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

superleccy

macrumors 6502a
Oct 31, 2004
997
187
That there big London
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.
 
M

Murdock

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 25, 2006
21
0
Ah i see.. there is no zoom option in the ProTools window menu unfortunately.
 
P

pjrobertson

macrumors 6502a
Nov 14, 2007
533
4
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'
 
M

Murdock

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 25, 2006
21
0
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

TBi

macrumors 68030
Jul 26, 2005
2,583
6
Ireland
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

superleccy

macrumors 6502a
Oct 31, 2004
997
187
That there big London
Murdock said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
TBi said:
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
Click to expand...
I'n not often you'll here me praising Windows, but in this case, I agree.

SL
 
M

Murdock

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 25, 2006
21
0
I suspect this 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

TBi

macrumors 68030
Jul 26, 2005
2,583
6
Ireland
Did you do this?

From that site said:
[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.]
Click to expand...
 
Mammoth

Mammoth

macrumors 6502a
Nov 29, 2005
938
0
Canada
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.
 
M

Murdock

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 25, 2006
21
0
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.
 
M

Murdock

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 25, 2006
21
0
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. ;)
 
J

juzzin

macrumors newbie
Apr 8, 2006
1
0
Simple solution

Change your screen resolution. This will restore modal windows onscreen.
 
spinne1

spinne1

macrumors 6502a
Mar 12, 2005
644
0
Hermitage, TN USA (near Nashville)
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.
 
B

billybobbers

macrumors newbie
Jul 19, 2008
13
0
Alternative working solution

I have a solution that worked for me and I trawled forums and tried everything I could possible.

In the end I found a way. Install an app called BetterTouchTool. This allows you to make a shortcut to do various handy things with your screen etc. Then setup an app specific shortcut (much easier than it sounds), and make it simple. I set it so that a "two finger swipe- up" led to a "Maximise window" action. This stuck the missing application on to my laptop screen and away from the phantom monitor screen it had been stuck on.

Problem solved.

Here's an image of what BetterTouchTool looked like when I'd set the shortcut up:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alecchalmers/10083512654/
 
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