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Hi:

I have my MBPro with "Snow Leopard" set so that the monitor "dims" if left unattended for a period of time.

When this happens, the DASHBOARD simultaneously appears on the screen (while the screen remains in "dim").

This is not posing any particular problem that I can see other than the fact that I would prefer not to have the DASHBOARD appear.

Is there any way to alter this automatic feature (so that the monitor dims, but no DASHBOARD appears unless the F4/Dashboard key is pressed)?

Thanks.

The appearance of the Dashboard when the screen is dimmed by the Energy Saver is NOT normal behavior. So the question would be more accurately stated "why is the Dashboard appearing at all when Energy Saver dims the screen." Therefore it would be helpful to know…

• When Energy Saver dims the screen, is it identical to pressing the F4 key? [i]Ie]/i]. the screen and all open windows dim and the Dashboard widgets appear un-dimmed.
• Are you running any third party haxies that modify the GUI?
• Is there anythng in Library/Input Methods or ~/Library/Input Methods?
• Does the same thing happen when you are logged into another account on your system?
• Are you using a screen saver and if so what screensaver are you using?

Thanks for your response.

Actually, the solution was not as complicated as I thought.

I trashed the INFO plist and the VERSION plist from the folder contents of DASHBOARD in Applications.

Re-started the MBP and all is as it should be . . . as far as I can tell (i.e. when the monitor dims, no DASHBOARD shows up). Also, DASHBOARD appears to be functioning as expected when F4 is pressed.

Thanks, again, for your input.


***********************************

Ooops. Problem had returned. So I went into TIME CAPSULE to retrieve/restore the previous version of DASHBOARD (BOTH plists returned, as expected from the back-up).

So . . . back to your questions:

1. Yes . . . DASHBOARD appears brighter than other windows behind it;

2. I do not know what "haxies" or "GUI" are;

3. Nothing in either /Library/Input Methods folders;

4. An APPLE "Arabesque" Screensaver is set to come on at 10 mins.; Energy Saver is set at 15 minutes for battery/25 minutes for power cord usage.

Thanks, again. Hope this helps to find the (right!) solution.

One more thing: Problem does NOT occur when logged in to the GUEST account.

OK from your replies we now know

1. SInce this does not happen in another account it is not a problem in the system, rather it is something in your user account that is the culprit.
2. Somehow something is activating the Dashboard function (F4) rather than dimming the screen.
3. In this case a haxie is any application or utility you are running that modifies the look or function of the Graphical User Interface (GUI). There are any number on the market, more numerous than I have either the time or ability to list.
4. That is no help either way
5. SInce yo uare using an Apple screensaver that is unlikely to be the source of the problem

Not enough information yet to pinpoint the issue so there are some other troubleshooting techniques to try. From what you have determined so far it appears likely the culprit is something that is being started when you log into your account. This includes items listed in:

• System Preferences > Accounts > Your account > Login Items
• In your home folder ~/Library/Contextual Menu Items
• In your home folder ~/Library/InputManagers
• In your home folder ~/Library/Services
• In your home folder ~/Library/LaunchDaemons
• In your home folder ~/Library/StartupItems

If a listed folder does not appear on your system don't worry about it. From this point it takes organization and patience. It is a matter of disabling each item one at a time then logging out and back in to see if the condition has disappeared. When and if it disappears the last item removed is the culprit.

If there are a lot of items to test, a binary search is much faster than searching one at a time. In a binary search you disable half of the target population and see if the problem goes away. If it does then the problem is in the disabled half, if it does not it is in the half that is still enabled. You continue in the same vein taking half of the suspect population each time until you have isolated the single problem causer.

Problem solved!


3. In this case a haxie is any application or utility you are running that modifies the look or function of the Graphical User Interface (GUI). There are any number on the market, more numerous than I have either the time or ability to list.


There is an application/preference pane called DASHER DAEMON which was in the User Account - Log In items (i.e. in System Preferences). It is a Preference Pane which assigns the DASHBOARD to activate after a designated period of inactivity - anywhere from 1 minute upwards. Mine was set to come on at 3 minutes which, coincidentally, was just prior to the "dimmer" activation time the display is set to "sleep."

I disabled DASHER DAEMON from the Log In items. All now functions as expected.

Thanks, again, for all your time and help with finding this solution.

Glad your problem was solved.