I want my PC back
May 24, 2009 8:18 PM   Subscribe

My hot corners just stopped working for no reason

I'm running 10.4.11 and I've had hot corners set up for about a year and today they just stopped responding. I went to System preferences and it looks like everything is still setup just fine and I can manually access the hot corners using the F keys but when I cursor to a corner they don't come up. I'm sick of Mac and I'm switching back to PC w/ my next computer.
posted by BrnP84 to Computers & Internet (18 answers total)
 
If you have an Intel-based Mac (not a PowerPC), you can load Windows on it and use it as if it were a non-Mac PC, you know that, right?
posted by davejay at 8:26 PM on May 24, 2009


Response by poster: Ya I do have an Intel Mac and I've looked into running Parallels but that costs money and than on top of that I have to have a liscensed copy of windows. What other cheap or free alternatives are there? and also the hot corners thing too.
posted by BrnP84 at 8:31 PM on May 24, 2009


You don't need Parallels to run Windows. Macs run Windows just fine out of the box without any extra software needed. Parallels lets you run more than one OS (Mac, Windows, whatever) at the same time, and that's what you pay for.

But to fix your current problem, why not just use a Windows-style problem solving approach: back up your data and reinstall OSX.

(Hey, it's faster than troubleshooting for three days.)
posted by rokusan at 8:43 PM on May 24, 2009


You can get windows 7 free for a year, it's a decent windows OS. Way better than vista.
posted by bigmusic at 8:44 PM on May 24, 2009


Um...have you tried rebooting?
posted by zerokey at 8:51 PM on May 24, 2009


When my hotcorners very occasionally fails, I just turn 'er off and then on again. This kind of minor glitch happens WAAAAY less with Macs than PCs, in my experience.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 8:54 PM on May 24, 2009


Try Detect Displays in System Preferences > Displays. Try unsetting then setting the hot corner. Reboot.
posted by cj_ at 9:18 PM on May 24, 2009


Sometimes this can happen if you use a logitech mouse and the logitech control panel. If so, try opening the control panel and reconfiguring the mouse (just change one or two things a little bit).

This apparently resets the mouse commands that the LCP is parsing. It can also fix a similar issue where your menus don't expand as you mouseover them.
posted by Aquaman at 9:18 PM on May 24, 2009


I've had the same thing happen on my Intel MBP (and so has my wife). Only about 5 times in 18 months, and rebooting always solves it. Sometimes logging out / in does too.

But to address your other part in the question, you could simply buy a licensed version of windows for less than the cost of a new computer, if you like. I run Window on Boot Camp and it's fine.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 10:17 PM on May 24, 2009


This has been happening to me as well, roughly since I last updated the system (I have 10.5.6). It happens every couple of days. Sometimes I just let it stay that way for a while, until the lack of (my normal use of) expose drives me nuts. Once or twice, I have caught it working again after it wasn't working during the same session, but usually I have to log out and back in again. That always fixes it - no need for a reboot.
posted by ctmf at 10:18 PM on May 24, 2009


I've had this happen occasionally with 10.5.6 too. Turning the hot corner on and off in system prefs always fixes it for me. If I wait a few minutes, it also will start working again on its own. Annoying to be sure, but not a reason to switch OSes.

For our combined diagnostic reference: I also have a Logitech Mouse and the Logitech control panel installed, though I've had this happen even when the mouse is completely disconnected and has been for some time.
posted by zachlipton at 10:28 PM on May 24, 2009


Try running Activity Monitor, it's in your Utilities folder.
In the search field, type "dock", without quotes
Select and quit the Dock

This usually restores broken hot corners in Mac OS X for some reason.
posted by Scoo at 11:05 PM on May 24, 2009


I second Scoo: try just killing the dock, that has always worked for me. I also have a logitech mouse and inline with what Aqquaman was saying have been suspicious of its driver.
posted by cftarnas at 11:24 PM on May 24, 2009


BrnP84: What other cheap or free alternatives are there? and also the hot corners thing too.

Obvious, yes, but:

Ubuntu Linux. [link] Fun, easy, free—and prettier than Apple software, too.
posted by koeselitz at 11:44 PM on May 24, 2009


> Ubuntu Linux. [link] Fun, easy, freeā€”and prettier than Apple software, too.

Please.

I'm a UNIX geek at heart and by trade, but this is more than a bold claim, bordering on patent absurdity. OSX is the best WM ever made. It may ultimately may not be to your taste, but neither Gnome nor KDE have come anywhere near the shiny-factor and UI usability of OSX. That said, I prefer a solid FreeBSD server for most of my needs, but there's just no way KDE/Gnome is prettier than OSX. That's just trolling IMO.
posted by cj_ at 1:22 AM on May 25, 2009


Response by poster: Thanks for all the info, I'll look into some of those. And the hot corners just started working for no reason.
posted by BrnP84 at 4:32 AM on May 25, 2009


cj_: I'm a UNIX geek at heart and by trade, but this is more than a bold claim, bordering on patent absurdity. OSX is the best WM ever made. It may ultimately may not be to your taste, but neither Gnome nor KDE have come anywhere near the shiny-factor and UI usability of OSX. That said, I prefer a solid FreeBSD server for most of my needs, but there's just no way KDE/Gnome is prettier than OSX. That's just trolling IMO.

I'm not just trolling—GNOME is capable of some pretty cool things, especially now that some GUI-effects hackers have an interest in it. Have you seen compiz-fusion?
posted by koeselitz at 8:49 AM on May 26, 2009


I had similar hotcorner issues with 10.4 but 10.5 has been fine. As noted, the Windows 7 RC1 is free right now and is worth a shot and you don't need Parallels. You can dual boot via BootCamp or just blow away the MacOS completely.
posted by chairface at 1:25 PM on May 26, 2009


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