Expose not working after going into full screen mode

[njon99]

Hi,

I've noticed that none of the expose function buttons work (F9-F12) once I go into full screen mode. Toggling back out doesn't rectify the problem - I simply can no longer use these buttons. I've seen mention of this same issue at least once on this forum but haven't seen a solution?

[njon99]

Additional info: Browsing System Preferences revealed that my expose settings had actually been wiped out, i.e. all function key mappings to expose functions were deleted.

[njon99]

Looks like the issue was actually with VirtueDesktops. Updating to the latest available version seems to have cleared things up.

BTW, now that it's working more cleanly, the combination of these two apps is kind of nice - setting up a "VMWare" desktop in full screen mode and switching out is a really convenient setup.

[njon99]

Upon further examination, it still appears that the combination of VirtueDesktops and going into full screen mode for VMWare completely deletes the expose settings. In addition, once in full screen mode, trying to set the values using the System Preferences panel fails.

[Tony_Arnold]

Hey njon99, I'm the developer of VirtueDesktops - can you post back and let me know if the same situation occurs without VirtueDesktops loaded? Virtue doesn't interact with the system key settings (nor expose) at all, and I've had no reports in my time as developer of the product that sound remotely similar to this...

If you could spend 5 minutes (as I will) reporting on what you find, I'm sure either myself or VMware will be able to get to the bottom of this bug.

[gmckenzi]

I've noticed this too, with the function keys for expose and dashboard getting turned off. Though I really thought it was vmware not virtuedesktops that was doing it. I'll try to do more testing myself as well to narrow down the cause.

[sculi2000]

I too have had this happen, and I use VMWare with Virtue Desktops. I haven't noticed any pattern to when this happens sadly.

[motobell]

I do not know what VirtueDesktop is.. so I may not be runnig it I just use Fusion VMWare and this happens regularly and is a pain.. any fix yet on this? Also what is a convenient way to stay in full screen mode and still bring a mac application in the background.. I do not want toggle in out of fullscreen.

[rcardona2k]

>what is a convenient way to stay in full screen mode and still bring a mac application in the background.. I do not want toggle in out of fullscreen.

One way would be VirtueDesktops http://virtuedesktops.info/, but instead of bringing an app to the foreground, your screen swaps out to another "space". Some people love this (I do), others do not.

[sculi2000]

This is happening to me daily, and I've learned a few things about it. First off, it's relatively easy to fix.

1. Take your VM out of full screen mode

2. Re-enable the keyboard commands for expose

3. Put your VM back into full screen mode

This seems to work for me...at least the keyboard commands "stick" for awhile.

It's not clear to me that this has anything to do w/ Virtues. When I've experienced the problem, I experimented with exiting out of Virtues and the problem persisted. It's strange...when the problem occurs, I can go into System Preferences, re-apply the keyboard settings, but as soon as I exit out of System Preferences, the keyboard settings get removed.

If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears. It's pretty irritating.

Thanks,

Scott

[rcardona2k]

I agree with all of your observations. I experimented with setting hot corners and assigning Fn keys to Dashboard & Exposé. Things can be stable for a bit but eventually the settings get wiped out. I have no found no workarounds. I tried experimenting with preferences file ownerships and permissions but System Preferences and Dashboard & Exposé are way more powerful than chown/chmod.