Wallpaper reverts to Mac Catalina Wallpaper on reboot

[Mork]

Frustrating wallpaper situation here with 10.15.6.

When I reboot the Mac, having chosen some other image file, the wallpaper reverts to the Catalina wallpaper every time. I've tried personal images and images that come with the Mac. No difference.

Also, when I right click and select "Change Desktop Background", at the bottom, this dialog always shows a particular image directory. I've removed that directory from the dialog many times (using the - button), but it always comes back the next time I start the dialog. I've also tried removing (temporarily) that image directory and starting the "Change Desktop Background" again -- hoping that would "reset" the dialog somehow. But, nope, as soon as I put the image directory back, the "Change Desktop Background" shows it again at the bottom (under Folders).

So, my question is if there is some way to reset this "Change Desktop Background" dialog...maybe a plist file I can delete hoping the Mac would then respect the image I select and not keep adding an image folder to it's "Change Desktop Background" Folders display? Also, I want the image I select to display after a reboot, not the Catalina image.

So, I seem to need to reset the Change Desktop Background as the behavior is currently broken.

Thanks very much in advance,

- M

 

[chabig]

Do you mean the background of the login screen (before you log in) or the user desktop (after you log in)?

 

[Taz Mangus]

Does the picture that you are trying use for your Desktop background reside on an external drive?

Create a new clean user account, login to the new user account, setup the Desktop image, restart the computer, login to the new user again. Does the Desktop still have the issue?

 

[Mork]

Does the picture that you are trying use for your Desktop background reside on an external drive?

Create a new clean user account, login to the new user account, setup the Desktop image, restart the computer, login to the new user again. Does the Desktop still have the issue?

Good question, but no, all the images are on the same computer.

What if the clean user account has or doesn't have the issue. What would the steps be to fix the issue on my main user account based on that finding?

Thanks,
[automerge]1599928506[/automerge]

Do you mean the background of the login screen (before you log in) or the user desktop (after you log in)?

Desktop after you log in.

Thanks,

 

[Taz Mangus]

What if the clean user account has or doesn't have the issue. What would the steps be to fix the issue on my main user account based on that finding?

Move ~/Library/Application Support/Dock/desktoppicture.db to the trash, empty the trash, logout, login. Try setting the Desktop picture.

 

[Mork]

Move ~/Library/Application Support/Dock/desktoppicture.db to the trash, empty the trash, logout, login. Try setting the Desktop picture.

Thanks for this suggestion!

There were a couple of other old files as well in that "Dock" directory as well. I removed all of them (including the DB file) and ... so far so good!

Really appreciate this help.

Will report back if problem reverts.

Thanks very much,

 

[Taz Mangus]

Thanks for this suggestion!

There were a couple of other old files as well in that "Dock" directory as well. I removed all of them (including the DB file) and ... so far so good!

Really appreciate this help.

Will report back if problem reverts.

Thanks very much,

Great that it is working for you now. Glad I could help.

 

[Mork]

Great that it is working for you now. Glad I could help.

One question ... how did you know to delete that DB file? Do you have a good book or other reference or were you able to find this solution online?

Thanks again.

 

[Taz Mangus]

One question ... how did you know to delete that DB file? Do you have a good book or other reference or were you able to find this solution online?

Thanks again.

In this case, I knew it had to do with a desktop preference file. Apple had changed from using a preference file but I was not sure where it got moved to. I did look at some on-line sources which led me to the change to using a database instead of a preference file.

 

[Mork]

In this case, I knew it had to do with a desktop preference file. Apple had changed from using a preference file but I was not sure where it got moved to. I did look at some on-line sources which led me to the change to using a database instead of a preference file.

Excellent, thanks again.

 

[Mork]

Sadly, the problem is still with me. I rebooted this morning to get a standard Mac wallpaper where I had selected a personal image. I re-deleted the DB file, but I'm now convinced there's another bug in the Mac OS.

Thanks,

 

[Taz Mangus]

Sadly, the problem is still with me. I rebooted this morning to get a standard Mac wallpaper where I had selected a personal image. I re-deleted the DB file, but I'm now convinced there's another bug in the Mac OS.

Thanks,

Other things you can try:

• Rest PRAM.
• Boot into Safe Mode and back to normal mode.
• Download and install the latest Catalina 10.15.6 installer. This won’t erase any user files, only refresh OS system files.

If none of that works then maybe look closer at your user account. One thing you could do is create a new user account, login to the new user account, try to reproduce the issue. If it does not happen, then start adding in the things you use from your user account such as your System Preferences->Users & Groups-><your user name>->Login Items. Also look what your have in your user account Library/LaunchAgents.

Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

If one or more settings stored in NVRAM don't work as expected on an Intel-based Mac, resetting NVRAM might help.

support.apple.com

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

To help determine whether an issue is caused by software that loads as your Mac starts up, you can start up your Mac in safe mode.

support.apple.com

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apps.apple.com

 

[cfm56d7b]

Move ~/Library/Application Support/Dock/desktoppicture.db to the trash, empty the trash, logout, login. Try setting the Desktop picture.

Thank you! Had the same problem and the solution worked.

 

[pastirova.ovca]

Sadly, the problem is still with me. I rebooted this morning to get a standard Mac wallpaper where I had selected a personal image. I re-deleted the DB file, but I'm now convinced there's another bug in the Mac OS.

Thanks,

I tried this solution, too, it didn't work at first because I didn't empty the trash. After repeating this action and deleting db file from the trash. signed out and in and it worked! Thanks for this solution!