Dock freezing/menu missing

On my Mac Pro with OS X Intel frequently the Dock stops working and I am unable to open applications and at the same time the menu bar disappears. I have run Disk Warrior, Repair Permissions and trashed a com.apple.finder.plist file. I have to force quit to get it to reboot. I have had this problem on and off since installing snow leopard, and it helped to take it off but the **** machine is never very happy and now it is real unhappy, freezing within minutes of turning on. Help

/Library/Preferences - trash the com.apple.dock.plist file, empty the trash and restart your computer.
Mac OS X (10.5.1)
Update your os to the last version of Leopard. Use Software Update to install all the other updates that goes with it.
On my Mac Pro
Your system profile shows you are using a MacBook Pro. If your issue is actually with a Mac Pro, you should post in its forum area.

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Window manager, dock freeze, menu bar disappear

Hello,
Almost once a day since I installed Leopard (one week ago), at some point, I can not anymore swap between my apps. When this happen, Exposé doesn't work, Spaces doesn't work, the dock doesn't answer (when I right click to choose or to kill an app, nothing happen). However, I am able to quit the current application. When I do so, the menu bar disappear and the next application does not answer.
Even Command-Option-Escape does not work, so I can not kill anything and I have no choice but to hold the power button until the computer shuts down and then reboot.
This is kind of annoying. I usually have Thunderbird, Firefox, Sunbird and Adium as openned application when this happen... but they are always open, so I can not say if it is because of them.
When I installed Leopard, I checked the option to install fresh, but keep the old system, and it looks like the installator did not really do a fresh install (I have all my previous applications without having installed them).
I'm in the dark and wonder if I will wait for a patch, install Leopard fresh (really this time), or roll back to Tiger...
Please help!

I find that a permissions mask is causing the windowmanager to freeze hard to believe, frankly. I'm experiencing this freeze-up problem on Tiger 10.4.11. Not Leopard. I have been seeing the following symptoms prior to a freeze:
1. Progressively slower and slower operations due to very high loads: 3.9 to 4.5.
1.5 switching apps starts to take a long time.
2. I have been using Camino frequently. Prior to using Camino I never had any such issues. It might be related, even if I think it is unrelated.
3. When I go to switch apps with Command-Tab, it just fails--- the windowmanager freezes and thusly no more keyboard input is heard. It seems that the system is still running fine, though, even if the windowmanager is totally frozen. How do I know this? I can hear things happen when I plug in an ethernet cable, for example--- immediate disk activity as the box registers with DHCP. I did not have the option to log into the system remotely to truly demonstrate that this is, in fact, the situation.
This most recent freeze, I command-alt-w'd (close all) windows in the Finder, as it was consuming an inordinate amount of CPU time. Activity Monitor had just reported that "Finder was not responding" I watched as Finder proceeded to close a few windows, and then when I command-tabbed through 4 apps it froze.
I must reboot, in order to resolve the issue, as no activity from console will do anything.
It is possible that I have a corrupted plist, but it will take time to identify the exact cause of this freeze up. What is the bug in Leopard to which you refer, and what are the exact permissions in question? Could that bug, or a similar bug have shipped with Safari 3?
To help resolve the permissions bug you speak of, one could run "find" at the command prompt with the appropriate args to find all files of a certain permission bitmask, but you've left me nothing to work with, only vague information. If you know of the bug, please post the URL to the bug listing here. If you cannot do that, please describe the bug in detail.
Any advice would be appreciated.
have a day.yad
jdpf

Dock freezes

About two weeks after I updated to 10.4.11 I experienced a problem: Dock freezes totally, only thing that helps is to force the iMac to shut down, since the frozen Dock prevents normal logout/restart/shutdown process (during these, the system starts to logout normally, then hangs when the dock doesn't go away). Other apps function normally. Restarting Finder does not help.
I've tried trashing font caches (becauses this has helped in 99% of the issues in the past) and running disk repair with the disk utility (no problems found). What else can I try, before I resort to reinstalling the OS?
I don't have any modifications to the system, no 3rd party apps that affect the dock. Each time the freeze-up has occurred (3 times), I've had only Mail, iCal, sometimes Safari, TextEdit and Preview running. I've done my system updates (and all other updates) extremely carefully, because I'm a bit paranoid about computer problems (one reason why I switched to Mac, too bad the problems didn't go away).

I have noticed EXACTLY the same problem this morning. It has happened three times now.
My dock crashes when I click`n`hold on a dock icon, say to quit or hide.
shutdown, restart, force quit all stop working as does apple+tab to switch windows.
Its only happened just recently as I`ve been working with 10.4.11 since its release and this is the first time I`ve had an issue.
I`m gonna try the .plist fix tonight....
Steve

2007 MBP (10.5.8) DVI to HDMI to flatscreen, get the desktop picture but nothing else-no dock, no menu bar, no desktop clutter, no arrow. Any ideas?

hmmm-
Anyway-
I connect to the TV and get my desktop image no problem-beautiful-but that's all.
No dock, no menu bar, no desktop clutter, no windows, no pointer.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
S

Your external monitor is in Extended Desktop mode.
There are three modes in which you can view your MBP on the TV:
1. Clamshell mode, in which the MBP's own display is closed and you have an external keyboard and mouse or trackpad connected to it. The menu bar and Dock appear on the external display and you can set its resolution to your liking.
2. Mirrored mode, in which both screens display exactly the same thing at the same resolution. The maximum resolution of the lower-resolution display, whichever it is, will be the maximum for both screens in Mirrored mode. So if you connect a 1920 x 1080 HDTV to a 13" MBP with a maximum resolution of 1280 x 800, 1280 x 800 will be the highest resolution the TV can be set to display in Mirored mode. And if you connect a 1024 x 768 projector to the same MBP, the MBP's built-in screen will switch to 1024 x 768 while the projector is connected in Mirrored mode.
3. Extended Desktop mode, in which the TV serves as a second expanse of desktop onto which you can drag windows from the built-in display by dragging them off one edge of the built-in display. You can choose whether the desktop is extended to the left, right or top of the built-in display by dragging the rectangle that represents the TV in the Displays pane of System Preferences. You can also drag the menu bar onto the TV in the Displays pane of System Preferences, making the TV set your primary display, with the menu bar and Dock on it. In Extended Desktop mode, unlike Mirrored mode, you can set the resolutions of the TV and the built-in display separately, to optimize the image quality on both of them.
Your TV is now in Extended Desktop mode. Open any window on the MBP's display and drag it off the left and right edges of the screen. You will see it slide onto the TV screen on one side or the other. Now go to the Displays pane of System Preferences, click the Arrangement tab, and arrange the positions of the screens and menu bar as you prefer.
You can switch to Mirrored mode if you wish; to toggle back and forth between ED and M mode, just press Command+F1. Mirroring is simpler to understand, but the image quality on an HDTV set that has a typical 1920 x 1080 native resolution will be poor (blurry) if it's forced to operate at a lower resolution to match that of a 13" or 15" MBP display. You cannot set different resolutions on the two displays in Mirrored mode.

Dock and Menu disappear only for Safari

My dock and menu disappear only when I am using Safari. They re-appear when I hover my mouse at the location that they should be at, but for some reason their default positions are to be hidden.
The dock and menu are present for all other apps and when I'm on the desktop--basically whenever Safari isn't "chosen" as the active window.
I have checked to make sure that Safari is NOT in Full Screen mode. What could be the problem?

This has happened to me before and it took me a long time to work it out.
But all you need to do is froce quit safari or any application that this is happening to and start the application again.
Hope it works.
SGosai

Dock Freeze in Lion 10.7.2

I've had a problem ever since upgrading to 10.7.2 where the dock "freezes". All of the icons are there and I can swipe to the different applications/windows without any problem. However, I cannot click on a new app on the dock. When I do nothing happens. I can start an app by clicking on Go->Applications and the new app starts fine.
This has now occcured twice and the only way to fix it is to reboot or logoff.

I've had a problem ever since upgrading to 10.7.2 where the dock "freezes". All of the icons are there and I can swipe to the different applications/windows without any problem. However, I cannot click on a new app on the dock. When I do nothing happens. I can start an app by clicking on Go->Applications and the new app starts fine.
This has now occcured twice and the only way to fix it is to reboot or logoff.

When I click on firefox, it comes up but dock and menu disappear

I can lick on Firefox on the dock, but then the dock and menu icons disappear and the screen is blank except for
Firefox. How do I fix it?

Hi nortondul,
Either the window is in full screen mode or the toolbars have been removed and you can customize them to put them back.
*[[How to make Firefox and websites go full screen]]
*[[How to Customize Toolbars]]

I'D LIKE TO VIEW MY SAFARI WHERE I CAN STILL DISPLAY MY DOCK AND MENU BAR....HOW DO I DO THIS...DO NOT WANT FULL SCREEN

I'D LIKE TO VIEW SAFARI WHERE I CAN STILL DISPLAY MY DOCK AND MENU BAR...DO NOT WANT FULL SCREEN. HOW DO I DO THIS?

You can also go up to "View," and look all the way down to "Exit Full Screen."
Command+Control+f will toggle it off and on.

Dock freezes, part 2

I posted this a month ago in the Tiger, Usage section and I have read the thread in this section as well. Since the 10.4.4 update (I believe), the docks in both my iMac G5 and Powerbook G4 freeze on a fairly regular basis. It's fairly simple (but annoying) to undo the freeze. If I double click on any file on my desktop (sometimes I have to double click twice), that file will open and the dock will then unfreeze. The best way I would describe the dock freeze is that the dock actually becomes sticky. I slide my mouse across and an application in the dock which I brush against starts to pop up and then freezes. I also use AOL for mail, and if I get new mail, the AOL icon will start to pop up and down and then freeze part way up. I have tried what I consider the normal fix for this sort of behavior--tossing out plist preferences, repairing permissions etc. without any improvement. Anyone have a sense if this is a widespread problem and if not, what is it about my Macs that leaves them vulnerable to this glitch.
ds

Problem solved itself, perhaps an update did it.
ds

Dock icons reflection missing-

Hi.
Today, I found something really weird going on on my iMac. As you can see in the screenshot, the Dock icons are missing the reflections… o_O
Any ideas how to get them back? I have tried almost everything… reboot, restore persmissions, fsck, deleting the preferences, etc. but nothing worked…
Thanks in advance.

Can I move an external hard disk off the finder window, to the Dock or menu bar, for instance?

I use a couple of external hard disks, one with Time Machine for every day back-ups and another for occasional back-ups of large work files and videos I have purchased. It bothers me to see them sitting up there in the top right hand corner of my screen. Can I move them permanently somewhere else, into the Dock or Menu Bar say, and still have them permanently available?

Yes.
You can drag the drive icon from the desktop into the Dock.
Then you can go to Finder > Preferences > General > Show these items on the desktop > uncheck External disks, and it should stay in the dock but not show on the desktop.
There are third party apps that will give you Finder-like access to things in your Menu Bar, like Download XMenu for Mac - Menubar item lists/launches apps, and more. MacUpdate.com , but I would avoid third party GUI-changing apps like this if I were you, as they tend to be problematic, and install background processes which slow down your mac.

Let the application know that the Quit is selected from dock icon menu

I'm building dock icon menu for the Air application, is there a way for me to know if the 'Quit' from the context menu on the Dock icon is selected? I've looked at 'closing' it is not what I'm looking for as this is also dispatched when the X button on the application is clicked.
Thanks.

The trick was to handle 'EXITING' event
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1338152/detecting-different-quit-options-in-air-applica tion-on-mac

My dock freezes very often :(

lately my dock has been freezing all of a sudden
and this happens quite often now
when the dock freezes and I try to use functions such as dashboard and those F7,8,9,10,11,12 features it doesnt work
and then when I try to restart or shut down
it wont because the dock is frozen
what should I do?

I'm having the same problem on my new iMac 6.1 . The dock and the finder are freezing so often that it brings back memories of using the paperclip to restart. This is very frustrating and a huge inconvenience. I've pulled out 3rd party programs, switched to the most basic screensavers that came with the computer, and I've repaired permissions numerous times, but there's never anything to be fixed. It's a long wait for Leopard when you have this to deal with almost daily. I will try the suggested fix and see what happens. I just wanted to add my situation to anyone else's that might be similar. I can't wait for the new operating system to be released. This one was wonderful up until May or June 2007. (I am not having these problems with the iBook, but I haven't used it that much since I bought the iMac 6.1, which is at least much faster than my 3 yr. old iBook G4. )

Dock freezes up

Every now and then when I click on something in the dock the menu stays open and the dock goes dead and I can't use the dock at all for a couple minuets, then it starts working. Really annoying? Anyone have a fix?
~GB5~

GB5,
I can't seem to find a folder with that name... or anything for that matter.
Can you find a Contextual Menu Items Folder in your Macintosh HD/Library Folder?
That sounds... dangerous, complicated and kinda not having to do anything with a broken dock...
Let me assure you that repairing disk permissions is not dangerous, and it could help diagnosing your problem. According to NCMUG Repair Disk Permissions: Occasionally in OS X some key file ownership and permissions get changed for whatever reason by applications and more frequently, program installers. When ownership and permissions get changed, things just don't work as they should. The symptoms might be programs quitting unexpectedly, preferences not being remembered, programs not launching, etc.
;~)

Dock freezing up?

My dock freezes up periodically. If I go to the little blue apple logo in the top left of the screen and then highlight "dock" it seems to fix it. I don't have to click anything, just highlighting it seems to fix it. But this is really annoying. Does anyone know how to fix this? If so please repost here or e-mail me at [email protected] Thank you so much!

Thank you for your reply.
After all the problems with Office this fall this was somehow such a minor thing that I simply passed it off as a small bug in the system or dock it self. Especially since I was getting this on different machines of different types.
Also this usually happens when clicking on different places on the screen while the dock is "active". So in that respect it is a bit like Mail. When I do a "Get mail" and then start clicking all around the place mail seems to stop responding in a similar manner as Safari does occasionally. Except Safari usually quits rather than stops responding.
I have tried trashing the preference files for the finder and window server etc. but to no avail. Also this seems to happen of different types of computers and I have somehow just written this off on some parts of the system or applications being unstable.
I will follow your suggestions and then we will see further.
Kind regards
Hans

Dock freezing/menu missing

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