P: Secondary Window blocks mouse clicks even when closed after switching desktop spaces

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

I've submitted an issue for this with Adobe but, perhaps because of some communication issues, they have reported that they are unable to reproduce the problem. My question to the community is - can anyone else verify the following - using my steps and explanation?

Environment: iMac 27" with only the single monitor.
OS 10.8.2.
Lightroom 4.2

Basic Description of Problem:

After invoking the window for a "second monitor" - which pops up on top of my main display screen, I can close the second window and click on items which were hidden under the second window. If, however, I switch to another "Desktop Space" on the Macintosh and switch back, the area where the second monitor window was located becomes a "dead space" where mouse clicks to select something no longer work.

My current workarounds:

1. Open and close the secondary window again - and the area "covered" by the window will start responding (problem is - you need to do this every time - a pain if you set up something like PhotoShop CS6 and Photomatix in different Desktop Spaces to switch to when processing).

2. Move the window as far as you can off the screen - so the area doesn't overlap anywhere you'd want to click. This works as long as Lightroom is running. If you quit, however, the window position coordinates are updated (even if the window is closed) so the entire window is located within a valid monitor area.

Step-by-Step (somewhat abbreviated since this isn't a QA report forum 😉

1. Launch Lightroom and - just to ensure you're really able to see the issue (and working the way I do) - make sure the display is mostly maximized to fill the monitor.
2. Switch to Library (if not there already) and switch to Grid view.
3. Either click on the icon to open the "secondary display" or - go to the menu option Window>Secondary Display>Show to open the window.
4. Just to make this obvious - if it happens - resize this new window (on top of your main display - remember - I have only the one display) - so large it covers many of the image previews displayed in "Grid" mode.
5. Close (Hide) the secondary window display. Either click the close button - or use the Window menu to deselect "Show".
6. At this point - I can click on images which were previously covered by the secondary window - and my mouse clicks select the images, etc.
7. Switch to another desktop. Use "control + right arrow" or something.
8. Switch back to the desktop space where Lightroom is located.
9. Try clicking on an image in the grid view which was previously covered by the secondary window.

Does it respond? In every case - my mouse clicks fail at this point. It's as if the secondary window - while "closed" - is now masking the main display after switching to another desktop and back.

[wirrah]

Information update. Installed Mac OSX 10.11.1 and still running 6.1.1... The issue is still apparent.

[Malcolm15C3]

Yep for me too. I recently bought LR6 and installed it on a fresh install of OS X 10.10.5. I normally cycle a secondary windows with Cmd-F11 in loupe mode so I can temporarily get a bigger view of a photo in map view and sometimes in library grid view. And then a little while later, the part of the primary window that it covered stops responding to mouse clicks.

[wirrah]

Just for information. Mac OSX 10.11.2 and Lr 6.3 (2015.3)... The issue is still apparent.

[Benjamin Warde]

I see that I replied to this thread three years ago (and look at that profile pic - it's like I haven't aged a day!) but based on my comment it doesn't sound like I actually tried the steps that Richard originally posted. I have tried the steps now, and I am able to reproduce the problem, and I've made sure that the engineers are aware of the issue.

Thanks,
Ben

Edit - Actually, looking at Richard's second comment, it sounds like this was fixed, and then broke again. Anyway, I've written it up in our bug database, with luck we can actually get this taken care of.

[J453]

This should be fixed in the Lightroom CC 2015.5/6.5 update that went out today.

[wirrah]

Thanks. Appears to work fine now.

[Malcolm15C3]

This is great that the Lightroom team found the problem and tried to fix it.  Unfortunately it's not completely resolved for me and I still encountered this minutes after upgrading to 6.5.

Ironically I couldn't reproduce the issue using the steps described above (using a second desktop space and switching back-and-forth) before upgrading.  I tried to see if it was truly fixed.

Shortly after upgrading to 6.5 I encountered the problem as follows: working in the map module on my MBP (no external display attached):

• I hit Cmd+fn+F11 so I could see the photo I had selected.  Then closed it again
• Either immediately or shortly afterwards after proceeding through geotagging a few more photos (I can't remember) I found that I couldn't drag photos on to the map, and nor could I select markers already on it
• I popped up and hid the secondary window again, and then I was able to successfully repeat the action I was attempting in the previous step.  The secondary window covered the area of the map I was trying to work with.

[wirrah]

After a few more days using this I have to agree with Malc. It is still broken. It appeared to be rectified but I went into the map module today, turned on the secondary window then off again. I wasn't long until I had a dead area in the map module. Switching to both library and develop revealed the same dead area. I'm suspecting that it may have been "fixed" for initiating in the library module but it is certainly still an issue.

Turning the window on and off again resolves it as before.