iMac external monitor problem

[Jeremy Roussak]

I have a 27" iMac and an external Dell monitor; my Energy Saver settings turn off the monitors after a while. Initially, all was well. Since the 10.8.4 update, however, each time the monitors are turned back on, I find all the windows from the external screen have been moved to the main screen.

I imagine it's something to do with the order in which they're turned on or off, which I don't seem able to control. It's infuriating! Currently, I'm getting round it by leaving them on all the time and using a screensaver to black them out, but it's wasting electricity.

Any ideas?

Jeremy

[Justan]

Had a similar problem recently on a PC. In that instance removing the installed video driver and replacing it with the latest edition from the video card manufacturer’s site solved the problem.

[Jeremy Roussak]

Had a similar problem recently on a PC. In that instance removing the installed video driver and replacing it with the latest edition from the video card manufacturer’s site solved the problem.

Interesting. My Dell is connected via a Thunderbolt (mini DisplayPort) to DVI adaptor. I don't think I have specific drivers, but I'll look into it.

Jeremy

[John.Murray]

it's by design - one result of the update is that OS X will "gather" any open windows to the active display.  You might want to experiment with energy settings, including setting your primary display to power off before the external

[Jeremy Roussak]

it's by design - one result of the update is that OS X will "gather" any open windows to the active display.  You might want to experiment with energy settings, including setting your primary display to power off before the external

You're right. Sadly, that approach wouldn't work, even if it were possible (is it?). I'm pretty sure it's not at power down that the problem arises, it's at power up: the external becomes active just a little bit after the internal, so for a moment the iMac thinks it has only one monitor.

Happily, I have found a solution, in the form of a little app that I already had and used for other purposes: Moom. I take a snapshot of open windows and tell it to restore those window positions on switching from one to two monitors. It's not perfect, in that PS palettes aren't always handled properly, but for my purposes (keeping Mail, Terminal and some palettes on the external screen), it pretty much solves the problem.

Jeremy