Dual screen help..

[WillJS]

I have my Macbook running a seperate display and a problem recently has emerged. When I right click on the desktop and choose "Change Desktop Background", a window pops up on both screens. On the external screen's window I choose a background which then changes the backgound on the macbooks screen. It used to not do this. Any suggestions? There has to be a fix..

 

[redboard]

well i think i might be able to help. unfortunatly i'm at work and am not on my mac right not. i have 2 screens hooked up and i think there's a way to have them mirroring. if you dont have it set up like that i seem to remember having the same problem but i changed some settings and solved it. if you havnt figured it out by this evening i may have a solution for you.

 

[KD7IWP]

I wonder if repairing permissions, or deletinga plist file would help? (I'm placing my bet on a plist file, perhaps com.desktop.apple.plist?)

 

[WillJS]

well i think i might be able to help. unfortunatly i'm at work and am not on my mac right not. i have 2 screens hooked up and i think there's a way to have them mirroring. if you dont have it set up like that i seem to remember having the same problem but i changed some settings and solved it. if you havnt figured it out by this evening i may have a solution for you.

They aren't mirroring. I can drag windows back and forth between them.

KD7IWP: Where would I find that file?

Edit: This is really annoying. A fix would be greatly appreciated 🙁

 

[kuebby]

Did you try changing it on the external display? Does the MB screen follow whatever you do? I have a similar set-up and when I tried a window popped up on both but the background only changed on whichever display's window I used.

 

[redboard]

though your problem wasnt the same as mine and i was unable to duplicate yours i think i have a thought. i think your macbook is seeing the external screen as an "extension" of your macbook and not an entirely different screen, therefore changing the background because it sees it all as one big screen (which i suppose it is but you know what i mean). try to re-detect displays or unplug your external screen completely then plug it back in. if that doesnt work then KD7IWP is probably on to something..😉

 

[WillJS]

Ok.. lemme rephrase:

I have my macbook screen (scrn a) and an external screen (scrn b). Scrn B is connected to my macbook via miniDVI-DVI. I have scrn B setup as the "main screen". 2 days ago I could right click on scrn B and choose "change desktop background" and two windows would pop up on both screens depicting the desktop wallpaper options I had. I COULD choose a background on both windows which would only affect that screen. Now, when I use the scrn B's (main screen) desktop window, whatever I choose in it changes both screens backgrounds. But when I use the macbooks window it only changes the macbooks screen. it used to not do this. ANY help will be greatly appreciated.. hopefully i made it more clear now. 🙂

I still dont know where to find that file the other user suggested. 🙁