Filed under: Software, Bugs/Recalls, Bad Apple, Terminal Tips
Fixscreen: AppleScript to fix Fast User Switching Color Bug
Well over a month ago, I reported on the color profile problems I was experiencing on my new iMac. Basically, whenever I enabled fast user switching and actually switched between accounts, my color profile would change off of the nicely calibrated settings to some odd profile that wasn't even in the color profile list with no way of switching back short of restarting the machine. Several readers pointed to a makeshift solution posted over at Mac OS X Hints, which involved launching the Terminal and running DMProxy, a file located along this long path:
/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/\
Versions/A/Frameworks/CoreGraphics.framework/Versions/A/Resources/DMProxy This solution works, as I finally bothered to try it today (bonus question: over a month later divided by C.K.'s laziness equals how many days of lost productivity rebooting the machine?), and I even went the extra mile and made it into a nice little AppleScript Application called, simply, fixscreen (ctrl click this link and save to disk). All this script does is launch DMProxy, which fixes the color shift bug that occurs when fast user switching, and then it displays a dialog that reads: "Done!" I have it sitting in my Dock ready to run whenever I need it. I hope you find it useful.
ps—Why hasn't Apple fixed this annoying little bug yet? From all reports it's been lurking around since at least 10.4.1 and anyone who tries to submit a bug report about it receives a "Known Issue" notification.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Wysiwyg said 9:41AM on 3-29-2006
Just a note: I've been experiencing this bug since the 10.3 in my iBook G4, and it's annoying me until today. Anyway, thanks for the script.
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minty95 said 9:56AM on 3-29-2006
Of course the other way to do this is to create an alias to DMProxy and click that when required. I've got one sat right here on my desktop and it works like a charm.
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Daniel D said 10:33AM on 3-29-2006
hey quick question, what do you use your second monitor for? I always thought any additional monitors as secondary to the primary one yet your "secondary" one is bigger than your original, also which one do you look directly at and do most of your using? Thank you very much
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C.K. Sample, III said 10:48AM on 3-29-2006
Daniel D,,
I set the secondary monitor as my primary monitor where most of the stuff I'm working on resides in a multiple tabbed window that stretches nearly the full width of the screen. Thus I can post to blogs, read articles, etc, and I also jump over to different documents I have open like my to do list and different office documents I'm working on.
I use the iMac's main monitor exclusively for communications: I have Adium, iChat, and Gmail all opened over there.
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Ken said 11:34AM on 3-29-2006
C.K. Sample, III,
I just bought that same external LCD, and I'm curious if there is any slowdown, or if fans start up just for using it... does having another monitor that big put noticable strain on the video card?
Thanks in advance...
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Mike said 11:41AM on 3-29-2006
I have that same mousepad from Wired magazine. It never worked with my optical mice, I guess from that crazy pattern. It doesn't give you any trouble?
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M Harmon said 11:44AM on 3-29-2006
DMProxy has absolutely NO effect on my system for fixing the fast user switching bug. I tried it when I first read about it a month ago. I tried the script this morning anyway. It does not work. That tells me that something that simple is NOT the real cause/fix for the "bug" and that likely Apple hasn't fixed it because it isn't that easy to fix. I have a G4 digital audio running Tiger 10.4.5. We have an iMac G5 in the office also which does not experience the color profile "bug" at all.
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jason Mark said 12:31PM on 3-29-2006
This is good to hear. I experienced the color problems, and restarted to fix it, but it's good to know what's causing it. I didn't bother searching the forums for it.
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arkowi said 12:48PM on 3-29-2006
It is nice to see a CK post. I know you are busy with your new job, but I would love to see you post here more. Also, I know it has been addressed here before, but there is far to much Dell action in that photo.
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Leo of BORG said 2:55PM on 3-29-2006
There's also an automator action floating around out in the wild called bringbackmyprofile. This has been a bug since Panther...
Of course, I can't remember the name when invoking it from Butler's launcher, so.. I have a much more colorful name for it.. >;-)
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siddeek Ali said 6:37PM on 3-29-2006
Thank you so much for this. I called applecare and she had me delete my preferences folder, which is a pain in the ass to get everything back to the way I wanted, but it did fix the problem. Ofcourse two days later the problem was back. Atleast no if it happens again there's quick fix for it.
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Q said 10:41PM on 3-29-2006
From my own research I have determined that DMProxy will sometimes spit the dummy on login when using fast user switching and delete the base profile for that display from /Library/ColorSync/Profiles/Displays.
So your script should probably do the following:
DMProxy -boot
DMProxy -initiallogin
Just to be on the safe side.
I have lodged a bug with apple over what I believe is the true cause of this problem, and it has not been closed, so here's hoping it gets fixed.
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