# My Mac Mini is Misbehaving **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mac-mini-is-misbehaving/425970 "2007-11-11T00:22:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mac-mini-is-misbehaving/425970/1 "2007-11-11T00:22:04Z")
I’ve recently decided to use my mac-mini as a home entertainment system connected to the TV. Somehow in setting it up I mis-configured something that has resulted in the machine logging itself out (or more precisely, going to the ‘pick a user login screen’ while remaining logged in) after a few minutes of inactivity. I’ve search and searched and searched but for the life of me I can’t find the mis-configured setting in System Preferences. In the Security Panel, ‘Log out after \_\_ minutes of inactivity’ is not checked. Can’t seem to find any other relevant settings. What could the problem be? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mac-mini-is-misbehaving/425970/2 "2007-11-11T03:11:18Z")
Try creating a new user, and seeing if that user has the same issue. ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mac-mini-is-misbehaving/425970/3 "2007-11-11T03:31:42Z")
If you figure this out, please post what you did, because I’d actually like to have my mac set up the way yours is - timing out to the login screen without logging out users. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mac-mini-is-misbehaving/425970/4 "2007-11-11T03:40:46Z")
[QUOTE=SanibelMan] If you figure this out, please post what you did, because I’d actually like to have my mac set up the way yours is - timing out to the login screen without logging out users. [/QUOTE] Try this: [http://forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-56290.html](http://forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-56290.html) ---
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mac-mini-is-misbehaving/425970/5 "2007-11-11T18:48:45Z")
bump ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mac-mini-is-misbehaving/425970/6 "2007-11-11T20:00:58Z")
[QUOTE=xiix] bump [/QUOTE] No joy, ehh? You say: “In the Security Panel, ‘Log out after \_\_ minutes of inactivity’ is not checked.” Have you tried checking it, waiting for it to logout, logging back on, then unchecking it, and seeing what happens? Sometimes prefs files get dinged, and you need to make a change to them to get them working right again. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mac-mini-is-misbehaving/425970/7 "2007-11-12T16:19:16Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] No joy, ehh? You say: “In the Security Panel, ‘Log out after \_\_ minutes of inactivity’ is not checked.” Have you tried checking it, waiting for it to logout, logging back on, then unchecking it, and seeing what happens? Sometimes prefs files get dinged, and you need to make a change to them to get them working right again. [/QUOTE] And, did you try what I suggested, seeing if a different user has the same issue? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mac-mini-is-misbehaving/425970/8 "2007-11-12T16:29:53Z")
No problem…all you have to do is… Mac? Sorry, I got nothin. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mac-mini-is-misbehaving/425970/9 "2007-11-12T18:12:00Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] No joy, ehh? You say: “In the Security Panel, ‘Log out after \_\_ minutes of inactivity’ is not checked.” Have you tried checking it, waiting for it to logout, logging back on, then unchecking it, and seeing what happens? Sometimes prefs files get dinged, and you need to make a change to them to get them working right again. [/QUOTE] You might also try this and then instead of simply logging in and out, completely shutting down and restarting. ---
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mac-mini-is-misbehaving/425970/10 "2007-11-12T19:11:10Z")
I’d also go to Apple’s website, go to the support forums, and post there. Apple retail stores also have the “genius bar” and they can help out, or if the machine is under warranty call Apple’s tech support. Do you remember what settings you changed that caused the problems in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![SiouxChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@SiouxChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiouxChief)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mac-mini-is-misbehaving/425970/11 "2007-11-13T00:37:45Z")
Do you have the “Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver” option selected? If so, then it could be that your screen saver is activating, and you need a password to get out of it. On the surface, I’m thinking this is not it, because it wouldn’t show you the user login screen–just a login prompt–but I have to ask anyway.