Macbook to tv problem

I figured I'd make my first post here count:

1. I have a black 13" MacBook. I'm trying to set it up that would make my tv a monitor. I have a mini-dvi to dvi adapter coming from my laptop to a dvi to hdmi adapter and that is connected to my tv with a hdmi cable.
My background would show up on my tv but thats all. There isn't a dock, desktop icons or anything. Am I doing anything wrong?

2. Is there some settings that I've missed that I can stop my screen from dimming at all?

Many thanks in advance.

not sure bout number 1, but for number 2, go to system prefs>energy saver>options then uncheck the 'automatically dim display before sleep' box...and make sure u do it for both ur power cord and ur battery settings.

The reason why you only see a background is because the TV is acting like an extension of your desktop rather than displaying what's on your Macbook's screen. Think of it as a second monitor.

If you want the TV to display what's on your screen, you have to change the settings of the TV to mirror your Macbook's display. Try hitting the F7 button to see if that does it. If not, then you'll have to go into System Preferences and change the Display settings. Go to your Display settings and take a screenshot of what you see (Shift+Apple+3) and post it here, then we can help you out by pointing you to the exact setting to change.

Kash: I just didn't dig deep enough to find the mirror option

Thanks a lot everyone!! My tv is only a week old so I still have some settings I need fool around with..

narf: your info worked as well too!