Screensaver behavior in High Sierra

[mvgfr]

although: if the _screen_ or _computer_ is asleep (ex: it's not just locked by the screensaver), keyboard events do wake it up
[doublepost=1534425834][/doublepost]and yes; no more keyboard navigation in the screensaver (ex: go back to previous picture), which is frustrating.

not to mention that, some time ago, the duration preference (how long an image stays on the screen) was moved within the System hierarchy, so unalterable (without disabling SIP).

 

[UKenGB]

Since I skipped High Sierra, I've only noticed this since updating to Mojave and UNchecking 'Displays have separate Spaces' in Mission Control as I now have an additional monitor and I don't want it to be on a separate Space.

I've been looking into this and it does indeed seem tied to that option, but why? It's either a completely bizarre decision by Apple (not unheard of) that you must not be allowed to dismiss the ScreenSaver by using the keyboard when running multiple monitors in this way, or it is in fact a bug. Either way it's infuriating. For years I have been able to happily press a keyboard key to dismiss the ScreenSaver or use the arrow keys to flip to the next image (ScreenSaver set to displaying images from a folder) and now, on a whim Apple, in their infinite wisdom, have decided I should no longer be allowed to do this. I can discern no logic to this. It appears to be simply bizarre.

Is there actually a solution to this? Some way to return it back to sane behaviour? Some arcane ritual we need to perform to get around this insanity?