Newbie needs help w/ spaces

[LeeVan]

hello all, my name is Lee. i am new to this forum so i just wanted to introduce myself. now on to my problem.... tonight i decided to start using spaces on my macbook, for whatever reason, and i screwed up. i somehow assigned a couple of applications to no space whatsoever, so i can't see them anymore. one of these apps i mentioned is system preferences, so i can't go and change the settings to spaces because i can't access the system preferences. now if i have system preferences open and i open spaces from the applications folder, i can see the system preferences but when i click on it it disappears. which is really frustrating. so how can i get to the system prefs? do i have to reset spaces? what would happen if i just went to the apps folder and deleted spaces? would everything go back to normal? and if so, would i be able to get spaces back?
sorry if i am being unclear i truly am a newbie. and thanks in advance for any help. i would appreciate it so much--this issue is giving me a huge head ache.
L

 

[mbohn]

hello all, my name is Lee. i am new to this forum so i just wanted to introduce myself. now on to my problem.... tonight i decided to start using spaces on my macbook, for whatever reason, and i screwed up. i somehow assigned a couple of applications to no space whatsoever, so i can't see them anymore. one of these apps i mentioned is system preferences, so i can't go and change the settings to spaces because i can't access the system preferences. now if i have system preferences open and i open spaces from the applications folder, i can see the system preferences but when i click on it it disappears. which is really frustrating. so how can i get to the system prefs? do i have to reset spaces? what would happen if i just went to the apps folder and deleted spaces? would everything go back to normal? and if so, would i be able to get spaces back?
sorry if i am being unclear i truly am a newbie. and thanks in advance for any help. i would appreciate it so much--this issue is giving me a huge head ache.
L

To be honest, I didn't even look at Spaces until I had used my new MBP for nearly 3 months! There was so much new stuff to learn I kept putting off Spaces. Now I use it all the time, it really is great stuff.

If you have an app that you know is running but that doesn't show up in any Space, right click on it in the dock and you'll see the instance you want. You can click on that and it will take you to the app in the space where you left it. I don't really minimize apps that I've put in a space. If you do, and then display all four Spaces, your app won't show up, only in the dock. Also, I use the "move mouse to lower right corner to see all four spaces" a lot when I get lost. If I can't find my app, I look in the dock (which I have set to hide just to add to the confusion).

HTH

 

[toMACsh]

I don't think it's possible to assign any application to no Space. You can either assign it to one, or it will open in any active Space. Most likely, you have a corrupt preferences file.

Find this file: com.apple.systempreferences.plist
It will be in Users > YourUserName > Library > Preferences
Drag the file to your Desktop.
Now open System Preferences from the Dock or the icon in YourUserName > Applications.
A new com.apple.systempreferences.plist file will be created in the first path above.
Any settings that you had changed will revert to the factory defaults.
If it works, you're in business! Trash the file on your Desktop.
If it doesn't, put that file back (in the first path) to restore your settings, and you'll have to try other methods.

 

[LeeVan]

wow, i think i've dug myself an even deeper hole. i found the file you were talking about toMacsh. and i deleted it. now system preferences won't open at all.

i reinstalled system preferences using an app called pacifist. and now i am back to square one. i cant open system prefs. i tried to right click it from the dock, it wont do anything. i really need to get in there and disable Spaces. any other suggestions?

 

[smokey-waters]

have you tried doing ⌘-TAB to see if you can jump to the preferences ive been trying to recreate your problem on my own mac but i cant for the life of me work out how to asign something to a nonexistant space

 

[D3v1L80Y]

NOTE: Merged crossposts

 

[LeeVan]

i assigned System Preferences to a certain space, then i wanted less spaces so i hit the minus columns thing. some sort of warning came up which i ignored and that is how i think i got into this mess. stupid, i know.

im really close to rebooting OS X... unless someone comes up with a better idea....?

 

[toMACsh]

wow, i think i've dug myself an even deeper hole. i found the file you were talking about toMacsh. and i deleted it. now system preferences won't open at all.

I said move it to your Desktop, not delete it! It's always good to keep a suspect around until proven guilty.

i assigned System Preferences to a certain space, then i wanted less spaces so i hit the minus columns thing. some sort of warning came up which i ignored and that is how i think i got into this mess. stupid, i know.

im really close to rebooting OS X... unless someone comes up with a better idea....?

By "rebooting" I assume you mean reinstalling. I'd use Archive & Install since it's a troubleshooting issue involved.

I'm wary of trying to do what you describe just to see what would happen. But, it seems to me that Apple would have thought about that possibility, so doing that should not make something disappear completely! I guess that warning was there for a reason, eh?

 

[LeeVan]

tomac, i tried your method first and it didn't work. and i thought if i deleted the file it might reset. but no. and as far as trying to recreate my steps goes, i would advise against it. it looks like my system preferences is in limbo. lost at sea.

 

[toMACsh]

If a plist file is corrupt, and this is apparently NOT causing your problem, then moving it out of its place causes a new plist file to be made when the process it is associated with is next invoked. You don't have to delete it for that to happen. Just keep that tidbit in mind for the future.

I'm tempted to follow your steps to get the warning, just to see what it says. Of course, I would heed its message. But, I'm still wary. Besides, I'd have to expand the number of Spaces I have, and I did that once before. It messed up many of the assignments I had made, and I had to spend too much time fixing it! Too bad you can't tell us what that warning said...