Desktop Pictures "Pictures" Folder Showing Only A Few Photos & Picture Changes Itself

[PGB1]

Hi All!
This new glitch is one I could not fix on my own.

Apple sent a security update this morning and after the update, my desktop picture reverted back to the El Capitan default picture of the mountain. Trying to fix this brought me to two problems:

A) When I go to System Preferences - Desktop & Screen Saver to change the picture, the "Pictures" folder in the Desktop & Screen Saver window only has three photos in it. Each of the three is in there twice. They are random photos from my Hard Drive / Users / User Name / Pictures folder. (Actually, from sub-folders in that parent folder) In Finder, there are a hundred or so photos in the Hard Drive / Users / User Name / Pictures folder .

There used to be all the photos in the Pictures folder available in the Desktop & Screen Saver left pane. Interestingly, none of the three that are there now were ever used as the desktop photo. I tried to highlight the Pictures folder in System Preferences to remove it & start over, but the (-) button is grey & can't be chosen. I also tried to remove the individual 3 photos & their copies, but no luck there, either.

B) I can navigate to a photo by clicking the (+) button and selecting a single photo (from the Finder type pop up window) as the desktop picture. But, after restarting the computer, the newly chosen photo will be replaced by the El Capitan default photo. The previously chosen photo will be gone from the System Preferences Desktop & Screen Saver - Pictures group of three photos after the restart. "Change Photo" is not selected.

I thought I'd get brave & look for a preference file to delete & start over, but I could not find one for desktop. Internet search results speak of a preference file, but the ones mentioned don't exist on my OS X version (10.11.6)

I found some good threads here at http://www.mac-forums.com/macos-ope...d-screensaver.html?highlight=desktop+pictures and http://www.mac-forums.com/macos-ope...esktop-photos.html?highlight=desktop+pictures, but none of those solutions or linked articles are working for my troubles.

Do you all know how to
A) Get all the pictures in the Hard Drive / Users / User Name / Pictures folder back on the System Preferences Desktop & Screen Saver list?
And
B) How to get the picture that I choose to stay chosen?

Thanks All for helping me out with this unusual glitch. I appreciate your guidance!
Paul

 

[pm-r]

Thanks All for helping me out with this unusual glitch. I appreciate your guidance!
Paul

I know it might sound rather basic, but click the "?" in your Desktop & Screen Saver pref pane, and read the various Help headings that apply, and there should be some note and comments there as to fixing things if they don't work.

And yes, I've had problems with the various folders and pictures and what can actually work and stick!! I just ended getting more stubborn than the OS X and finally won.

PS: Preferences settings for the folders used my need to be adjusted as I recall.




- Patrick
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[PGB1]

Thanks Patrick!
Clicking the "?" had the basics, but nothing too helpful.

I am not sure if I understand about changing the preference settings for the folders being used. I went to Get Info for the Pictures folder and made sure permissions was set to Read & Write for me, but that's all I could find to change.

 

[pm-r]

I am not sure if I understand about changing the preference settings for the folders being used.

They shouldn't be that critical if things are setup correctly. The problem is that Apple keeps changing the method or way of setting up desktop images.

To get your own Desktop images working, maybe start off with a search like:
Mac el captain 10.11 Desktop Pictures "Pictures" Folder
https://www.google.ca/search?client...F-8&gfe_rd=cr&dcr=0&ei=9no1WtC9M8zM8ge-oq6gDw

And that should get you some useful hits like and where and how to put and use them:
http://osxdaily.com/2016/10/28/default-desktop-picture-location-mac-os-x/
and
http://osxdaily.com/2013/10/25/access-40-hidden-wallpapers-os-x-mavericks/
and maybe some of the linked URLs from each.

BTW: When at such sites, checkout some of the comments which can sometimes be more helpful than the article itself!!







- Patrick
======

 

[pm-r]

I thought I'd get brave & look for a preference file to delete & start over, but I could not find one for desktop. Internet search results speak of a preference file, but the ones mentioned don't exist on my OS X version (10.11.6)

I would strongly suggest that you DO NOT go mucking about and deleting files from places you shouldn't be in and/or don't understand how things work properly.

If nothing else, you should be able to create a folder i.e.: My Desktop Images and copy any or all the images you want to use into it. Then in your Desktop &Screensaver Pref pane, click the "+" and select that new folder that's on your Desktop.

All the photos/images in that folder should be available for you to use and readily available to add any new ones you might want to use. Not forgetting that some nice images do not work well as a desktop image.

Do I dare say a large small squares checkerboard design, or a really dirty trick some guy I know created a desktop image of about 500 Trashcans and dropped it into an arrogant know-it-alls desktop images folder.
(PS And that was back in the pre OSX days when one could move the real Trashcan anywhere on the desktop. He, he,… Yes, I have some Irish blood…



- Patrick
======

 

[PGB1]

Thanks Patrick for the links & for your advice. Your help is much appreciated.

I'd been to some of the links and sub links in my search for a solution, but never saw the ones with the techniques for making your own images- or the ones with so many free images. Now I can spend countless (otherwise productive) hours goofing around with desktop photos.

Problem One- Desktop Image Reverting To Default El Capitan Photo Solved!
I did a PRAM reset and now the chosen image has stayed chosen for several restarts. I've never found any reference to PRAM controlling things that are handled by a plist, so maybe this was simply a coincidence or, perhaps, M.C.S. (Mysterious Computer Stuff)


Problem Two- Only Three Picture Folder Photos Available Solved - Rather Clunkily, But Solved
The MacIntosh SSD/Library/Desktop Pictures folder didn't have the Pictures folder that is goofed up in my System Preferences/Desktop & Screen Saver side pane. (That's the one with only three of my photos in the User Name/Pictures folder & had each in twice.) They aren't deletable from within Desktop & Screen Saver.

I tried to trick OS X by moving the photos that are in System Preferences/Desktop & Screen Saver/Pictures from the MacIntosh SSD/ Pictures folder to the desktop & restarting the Mac, but that didn't eliminate them from the pane. Next, thinking I was a genius, I re-named the moved photos & restarted the Mac again. Still, I could not fool OS X, as the photos still were in the Desktop & Screen Saver side pane.

OS X is way smarter than I am.

Finally, I moved the offending photos completely off the computer by deleting them from the desktop, emptying the trash and restarting the computer.

Success!** (Sort Of Success- See Below)
The System Preferences/Desktop & Screen Saver/Pictures folder is now empty. I restored the photos to User Name/Pictures from a Time Machine backup and they stayed gone from the Desktop & Screen Saver side pane.

**Well, Sort of success. None of the photos in User Name/Pictures folder are in there, but that's OK with me. I used a trick from one of the links you provided to make my own folder for my chosen desktop images, added only photos I wish to use as a desktop and added the new folder to System Preferences/Desktop & Screen Saver with the magic (+) sign. So actually I ended up with a more manageable folder than if all the Pictures folder photos were on the list in System Preferences.

Thanks Again for all of your help and advice Patrick. I sure learned quite a bit of fun stuff on this quirk!
Enjoy Today,
Paul

 

[pm-r]

OK, it sounds like some things are getting fixed.

I've never found any reference to PRAM controlling things that are handled by a plist

Believe me, it's out there and basically a NVRAM(PRAM) reset sets the settings for some pref panes (and their .plist) back to a default setting.
Some I can thick of, and you may want to check: Sound volume; Startup Disk; ..oh heck, just check here for more:
http://osxdaily.com/2010/11/15/reset-pram-mac/

I tried to trick OS X by moving the photos that are in System Preferences/Desktop & Screen Saver/Pictures from the MacIntosh SSD/ Pictures folder to the desktop & restarting the Mac,

Again, DO NOT MUCK ABOUT IN THE SYSTEM OR LIBRARY FOLDERS!!! Gheese. At least without some good knowledge of what you are doing. And don't ask me why Apple doesn't hide them??? Strange, but that's Apple's thinking it seems.

If anything, fiddle using aliases, and even that's pushing things.

I have to go for a bit but will checkin a bit later. Meantime don't mess up anything new!!! :Blushing:




- Patrick
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[PGB1]

Thanks Patrick for the update & link.

I did a very lousy job of indicating where the photos that I moved &/or deleted were stored. A re-read of my post indicates that I was in the MacIntosh SSD pictures folder (if there is one). I didn't move stuff in any Library folders or files. (Because you were kind enough to warn me to stay out.)

The photos were moved &/or deleted from my MacIntosh SSD/Users/User Name/Pictures folder. This folder is the one that shows up in a Finder window along with Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Movies, Music, Public & Sites.

Is that Pictures folder a folder which is safe to add & delete from? (I add photos from my camera here often and make sub-folders & stuff.)
I haven't spent enough time to get good at using the features of Photos app, so dropping images in the User Name/Pictures folder is how I crudely manage photo storage.
I add & remove things from the Documents folder, too. "File cabinet thinking" on my part, I guess.

Thanks for the link explaining PRAM. I'd read it before and didn't recognize how some of the items on the list can have an effect on plists. The Mac OS is quite amazing how various actions & routines can be so interrelated, but when things (rarely) go wrong, the problem is isolated.

Thanks Again Patrick for your advice and for keeping me from blowing stuff up!
Paul

 

[pm-r]

Thanks Again Patrick for your advice and for keeping me from blowing stuff up!
Paul

You're welcome, and I do hope you have at least a current working backup to preserve your data.

As for Photos.app/iPhoto.app, someone with more knowledge than I will have to help you as I seldom even use it.

 

[PGB1]

"I do hope you have at least a current working backup to preserve your data."

I think I have a good backup plan. I learned my lesson when I had a Windows 98 computer and operating system failures would often get past the point of no return.

I've got:
An automatic offsite with unlimited previous version retention of documents. It backs up all changed files every 15 minutes, or my choice of interval.
A USB external hard drive that backs up changed files every 15 minutes- but this one is set for only what is in the two Users folders. It also keeps previous versions.
Time Machine is backing up to a firewire drive that lives in a fire safe in the basement. I sometimes forget to connect it, so I let Snapshots continue all day.
I make periodic clones to a partition on the firewire drive with Time Machine. This may be a bad idea. I should have separate physical drives.
Manual copying of just the Documents folder to a thumb drive that lives in a separate basement (the former coal cellar).

For each backup & on the computer itself, all of the private financial & family items are in an encrypted sparseimage folder in case of theft.

If (when) one local backup drive fails, I'll have the others to rely on until the broken drive is replaced. A fire or theft would be a bad day, but one is offsite so all is not lost. A restore would take a couple of days to download. (You can pay for an overnighted restore hard drive, but you pay big).

Does that sound like a reasonable backup strategy or am I on Paranoia Overkill Mode?