I’m running Mac OS 10.2 and I have my DesKtop set to change to a random image from a specified directory every hour, which it does.
The weirdness happens when I plug it in to a video projector. The resolution of the Desktop changes to the projector resolution, and the image changes, but the weird thing is that it doesn’t change to a random image, it changes to exactly the same image every single time.
It’s Strongbad looking at this reflection in the monitor and typing “a> Every time that I look at myself, I can’t believe how awesome I am!!!” At first, my students thought this was way cool, and I got instant cred with the Homestar fanboys. But I’m starting to wonder if it looks a little, I don’t know, desperate for it to keep popping up every day.
When I unplug the mini-VGA, it chooses a random image without any weirdness.
Any ideas why this happens or how to change it?
You can use one of the shareware proggies that were written to rotate random images onto your Desktop. There were several written in the 10.1.x era when the native Sys Pref didn’t give that option, and probably some of them work in 10.2.x if not necessarily all of them. Check SwitchPic and ChangeDesktop.
That said, I have no idea why the use of a video projector (or any other external display) would throw it off. Just for the sake of curiosity: what happens if you set the resolution of your regular screen to the parameters demanded by the projector? Do you get rotating desktop pix or does it freeze on the current one? How about if you log out and back in after having reset the video specs like that?
Good question! If I change the resolution manually, it freezes with the current picture. I’m eyeball deep in three projects right now, so I don’t really want to log off, but I’ll try that later and let you know.