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General discussion

OSX Application Focus

Nov 7, 2007 12:02PM PST

Ok, I don't know how to quite say this in a few words, so I'll give it in an example.

Say, if I had like a few applications open like Safari, Quicktime, Preview, Mail, and of course Finder. Let's assume that I am looking at the Machintosh HD folder. Once I click on a different program like Safari, it would bring Safari into focus, but SUDDENLY bring Finder back into focus, particularly the window I was just viewing. Then if I click Safari again, then Safari stays in focus. So basically, the program I click on doesn't necessarily become the frontmost program.

What puzzles me even more is that this problem does not occur all the time, nor is it limited to a particular program. It's either random or I cannot figure out the pattern or what triggers this behavior.

This is not much of a problem as it is an annoyance. I didn't have this problem when I initially bought the computer, it just came after a few months. Probably no doubt that some program that I installed did this.

I am using a Macbook Pro 2.2GHz with the 8600M GT. Currently running the latest Tiger. Please help me out as I have no idea how I would google this problem. If I can get an answer here, then that would be great!

Discussion is locked

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Did you do anything drastic recently?
Nov 7, 2007 10:00PM PST

Maybe an update or a program you loaded has done it. What's going on in Activity Monitor?

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My Processes
Nov 8, 2007 1:10AM PST

Well, here's a list of my processes. Hope this helps:-

235 pmTool root 0.80 1 5.87 MB 36.48 MB Intel
234 Activity Monitor retheeshmanalal 2.20 2 27.14 MB 359.59 MB Intel
229 Safari retheeshmanalal 0.20 6 67.49 MB 467.68 MB Intel
228 mdimport nobody 0.00 3 2.98 MB 38.90 MB Intel
226 AppleSpell retheeshmanalal 0.00 1 1.88 MB 37.20 MB Intel
225 mdimport retheeshmanalal 0.00 4 3.14 MB 39.03 MB Intel
224 slpd root 0.00 6 1.06 MB 30.18 MB Intel
217 HPIO Trap Monito root 0.20 3 2.00 MB 38.84 MB Intel
212 mds retheeshmanalal 0.00 8 6.14 MB 46.15 MB Intel
199 AppleFileServer root 0.00 2 1.33 MB 33.57 MB Intel
186 hpusbmond root 0.00 1 904.00 KB 27.28 MB Intel
157 crashreporterd root 0.00 1 228.00 KB 26.61 MB Intel
151 automount root 0.00 3 1.48 MB 28.73 MB Intel
146 automount root 0.00 3 1.51 MB 29.02 MB Intel
143 rpc.lockd root 0.00 1 216.00 KB 26.67 MB Intel
134 nfsiod root 0.00 5 204.00 KB 28.63 MB Intel
120 ntpd root 0.00 1 432.00 KB 27.09 MB Intel
103 lookupd root 0.00 2 1.59 MB 28.52 MB Intel
100 HP Event Handler retheeshmanalal 0.00 3 3.74 MB 294.11 MB Intel
98 usbmuxd nobody 0.00 2 648.00 KB 26.98 MB Intel
97 UniversalAccessApp retheeshmanalal 0.60 1 4.48 MB 331.81 MB Intel
95 iCalAlarmScheduler retheeshmanalal 0.00 1 4.31 MB 294.36 MB Intel
94 GrowlHelperApp retheeshmanalal 0.00 2 5.49 MB 296.09 MB Intel
93 VirtueDesktops retheeshmanalal 0.00 1 34.28 MB 388.02 MB Intel
92 Caffeine retheeshmanalal 0.00 1 4.35 MB 333.82 MB Intel
91 smcFanControl retheeshmanalal 0.20 4 8.32 MB 357.46 MB Intel
90 iTunes Helper retheeshmanalal 0.00 2 2.70 MB 290.44 MB Intel
87 Finder retheeshmanalal 0.00 3 7.92 MB 363.60 MB Intel
85 SystemUIServer retheeshmanalal 0.00 3 13.09 MB 369.86 MB Intel
81 Dock retheeshmanalal 0.00 3 3.96 MB 330.55 MB Intel
78 pbs retheeshmanalal 0.00 2 2.71 MB 54.27 MB Intel
69 loginwindow retheeshmanalal 0.00 3 5.23 MB 330.41 MB Intel
68 ATSServer retheeshmanalal 0.00 2 3.71 MB 81.03 MB Intel
64 coreservicesd root 0.00 3 7.38 MB 36.72 MB Intel
63 blued root 0.00 1 2.95 MB 37.21 MB Intel
62 distnoted root 0.00 1 1.09 MB 27.03 MB Intel
53 WindowServer windowserver 1.80 4 51.05 MB 431.08 MB Intel
46 update root 0.30 1 244.00 KB 26.61 MB Intel
42 DirectoryService root 0.00 4 2.84 MB 30.31 MB Intel
41 notifyd root 0.00 2 484.00 KB 27.21 MB Intel
40 securityd root 0.00 2 1.96 MB 28.69 MB Intel
39 memberd root 0.00 3 960.00 KB 27.66 MB Intel
37 diskarbitrationd root 0.00 1 1.38 MB 27.13 MB Intel
36 coreaudiod root 0.00 1 1.43 MB 28.30 MB Intel
35 configd root 0.00 3 2.44 MB 29.41 MB Intel
32 syslogd root 0.00 1 428.00 KB 26.65 MB Intel
31 netinfod root 0.00 1 624.00 KB 26.93 MB Intel
30 mDNSResponder root 0.00 2 1.35 MB 27.36 MB Intel
29 KernelEventAgent root 0.00 2 1.04 MB 27.58 MB Intel
25 kextd root 0.00 2 1.17 MB 27.63 MB Intel
21 dynamic_pager root 0.00 1 188.00 KB 26.63 MB Intel
1 launchd root 0.00 3 540.00 KB 27.69 MB Intel
0 kernel_task root 2.20 52 83.23 MB 1.26 GB Intel

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Wow, and I thought I was a power user...
Nov 8, 2007 1:28AM PST

how much RAM do you have?

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2GB of RAM
Nov 8, 2007 2:44PM PST

2GB of RAM. All Macbook Pros come with at least 2GB, right?

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The list of processes is good
Nov 8, 2007 7:21PM PST

but I still need to know if there have been any recent changes you have made, such as installing a program or uninstalling one.

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Not gonna help like this
Nov 10, 2007 4:57PM PST

I do appreciate your help, but I think I know where you are going with this. Your probably gonna ask me to uninstall program x, then program y, etc etc. But one thing you have to understand is that this is an OS issue. Sure, I agree that some program that I installed may have caused this, but I'm still going to use the problem-causing program regardless.

One thing I don't understand is why an installed program would cause such a behavior in OSX? It's not like installed programs need to modify the basic GUI for it to work.

Sorry, I'm just frustrated. It's such a small issue, but it's irritating. It would be nice if someone can decipher my processes list and tell me of any anomalies that I can look into, if any. Well, I'll list all the programs that I've ever installed:-

-Zipeg
-iWorks '08
-Colliquy
-LiquidCD
-Poisoned
-RealPlayer
-Azureus
-SixtyForce
-Cyberduck
-Psi
-Perian
-Flip4Mac
-BootCamp
-SMC Fan Control
-VirtueDesktops
-Growl
-Verey (Uninstalled)
-iCalFix
-HP 6100 Drivers
-Safari Beta

That should be it. Hope this helps.