Translucent Menu Bar Bug

This is an annoying interface glitch. The desktop & screen Saver system preference has the option "Translucent menu bar". I've got this option switched off, so the menu bar is now opaque. When I switch applications the menu bar sometimes flicks back to translucent for the duration of the switchover to the selected application. It's as if the system always defaults to translucent when it's rebuilding the target application's menu bar. If there's any delay in fetching the data it needs then I'll be treated to 2 or 3 seconds of translucent menu bar while it gets its act together.

I didn't delete Preferences/com.apple.systemuiserver,plist.
I've just rebooted and the problem seems, so far, to have disappeared. It's a very clean/new install of Lion I've got so I'm surprised that it's playing up already.
Thanks again. Kevin.

Similar Messages

Changing the wallpaper upon waking from sleep glitches the translucent menu bar.

Hi.
This is a minor bug, but it's one that I'd still like to see fixed simply because I'm that picky
The problem, as the title states, is that I have my desktop background settings set to randomly change to another one of my wallpapers every hour and (I don't believe it does it when it changes while the computer is awake) when I wake my computer from sleep, during which time an hour has passed, the background changes to a different wallpaper, but the translucent menu bar still shows the top of the wallpaper that was just up.
My machine is a 2011 iMac. Thanks!

If it's an encrypted network one thing that can work, try this, please ignore the exact symptoms and connection and Hardware types, it's worked for many others than the stated...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304482
Otherwise you might use one of these two lines in Terminal to try to re-establish the connection after sleep...
sudo ipconfig set en1 BOOTP;sudo ipconfig set en1 DHCP
sudo ifconfig en1 down;sudo ifconfig en1 up

Translucent menu bar

With the OS 10.5.5 update my menu bar has gone back to being transparent on my iMac PPC G5. On my MacBookPro I have an option under Preferences>Desktop to check (or uncheck) "Translucent Menu Bar". Not so with the iMac.
Is there a Terminal command for me to get rid of the translucent bar?

Hi(Bonjour)!
I do not have transparent option in pref panel, but when I use this command in terminal, log-out and log in, I get the opaque menu bar. To revert to a transparent one, type 1 .
defaults write -g AppleEnableMenuBarTransparency 0
There is a thread about this problem related to multiple video cards:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1389603&start=15&tstart=-1
Michel Boissonneault

Translucent Menu Bar still can't be disabled after 10.5.2 update

I was please that an option to turn off the translucent menu bar was included in the recent update. After updating my MacBook Pro I was able to uncheck the 'Translucent Menu Bar' option under 'Desktop & Screensaver'.
After updating my Mac Pro desktop to 10.5.2, this option is NOT available and my menu bar remains translucent. Is there really no way to turn off translucency on the Mac Pro?

Pleased to see I'm not alone. The option to disable the translucent menu bar isn't available on my G4 iBook either. Everything is working well after the latest updates. I like my translucent menu bar so no worries.
No hacks, no changes, just not available.

Changing Translucent Menu Bar Checkmark?

I'm relatively new to Applescript and Automator. I know enough Applescript to simplify some shell scripts I run occasionally, among other things. I know it's possible to change System Preference preferences, so how would I be able to toggle Menu Bar transparency via Applescript using the System Preferences checkbox in Desktop & Screensaver > Desktop ?
Any help is greatly appreciated!

You must use [GUI Scripting|http://www.macosxautomation.com/applescript/uiscripting/index.html], since the System Preferences do not have AppleScript support. The script below should toggle the menu bar transparency.
tell application "System Preferences" to activate
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
tell menu bar 1
tell menu bar item "View"
delay 0.5
tell menu 1
click menu item "Desktop & Screen Saver"
end tell
end tell
end tell
tell window "Desktop & Screen Saver"
tell tab group 1
tell group 1
click checkbox "Translucent Menu Bar"
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
delay 0.5
keystroke "w" using command down
end tell
If you experiment any problem with the script, first try changing the delays from 0.5 to 1 second.
See also this [thread|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2006348&tstart=456].

Wife hates translucent menu bar

I just installed 10.5.6 then upgraded to 10.5.8 on my wife's G4 IBook. When I went into System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Desktop the check-box for Translucent Menu Bar wasn't there.
It is there on my Mac Pro.
Anyone have an explanation and a fix. My wife hates the translucent menu bar.

I got this from a different forum
+Kappy posted "Re: Missing System Pref" in "Missing System Pref" on Aug 6, 2009 12:39:37 PM.+
+Go to the main Apple Download Site, locate the 10.5.8 Combo Updater and download it (759 GBs - she's a biggie) then reinstall the update using the Combo Updater.+
+I strongly suggest you do the following before reinstalling the update:+
+Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions .......+
THE DISK VERIFIES ALTHOUGH - After setting the variable you noted I used it again for _my account_ and the system locked up when I tried to switch accounts. Also several crash reports were sent in. I'm now in _my account_ and all seems normal. Have downloaded the updater but will hold off unless I see other issues. I tend to agree that the 10.5.6 and/or the update install(s) may have had some erroneous info on the hardware in my wife's IBook.

Translucent Menu Bar option

Hello,
I updated to 10.5.2 on my Imac 2.8 and my Ibook G4 1.5. The Translucent Menu Bar option is available on my Imac but no where to be found on my ibook. I havent changed or hacked either OS. any suggestions....wierd right...
-KG

The latest Leopard update, Mac OS X 10.5.2 Combo Update , fixes that and you can now toggle between opaque and translucent in the System Preference/Desktop pane.
OT

Translucent menu bar option gone from Preferences?

Finally upgraded to Leopard. Much to love so far. Was curious about the translucent menu bar so I went to Desktop preferences to check (uncheck?) that option but it wasn't there. Am I missing something? I thought this was an option in 10.5.2.

{quote}
Yeah, probably one of the few people who want to see what a translucent menu bar looks like. . . .
Yeah, I took a look at it for a couple of minutes before I decided that anything other than a solid color background caused more distraction and made it harder for these eyes to see the text in the menu's. The busier the background, the worse it is for me. I went looking for hacks but they didn't work well with dual monitors, so I waited before installing Leopard to my other machines. Vista's tranparency is even worse and a real pain to turn off (and it uses over 30mb of ram), unless they fixed it with SP1 recently (waited over a year for SP1).
Apple fixed the problem for me with the option to turn it off in just 4 months
The family pack got used as soon as 10.5.2 came out.

Another absent Translucent Menu Bar option

I read a few of the last threads regarding the inability to turn on or off the translucent menu bar option afforded by the 10.5.2 update... sort of.
I still am not comprehending the graphic specifications that either allow or disallow the ability to select or deselect the option. I liked the translucency of the menu bar. On my G5 iMac, the option is not here after installing the operating system and graphic updates, nor is the short-lived translucent menu bar.

Some people are noting that the checkbox isn't present but that after downloading and installing the combo update, that it appears. Worth a try if you don't mind another reboot.

10.5.4 Translucent Menu Bar

I have an iBook G4 1.33 which has a translucent menu bar but the option to en/disable it in my desktop system preferences is still missing after the 10.5.4 update.
I had a translucent menu bar before, and with the 10.5.4 update I still have a translucent menu bar, but NO option to turn it off under System Pref->Desktop.
Any info yet to fix this "known issue" for iBook?

Was a combo large size update file used to go from
the previous 10.5 step, to the one you are at now?
If not, boot in SafeBoot, then repair disk permissions
and then download the Combo 10.5.x large file to get
you where the computer says you have it now, and
reinstall the last Combo file; right over the top.
And repair disk permissions again. That may do.
Good luck & happy computing!

Crash led to my iBook no longer having the translucent menu bar setting

Basic situation is this. I was running 10.5.3 perfectly well on my iBook G4 1.33ghz/1gb RAM. One day it didn't want to wake from sleep so I had to hold the power button down to power it off then back on. It started up as normal except that the menu bar had become translucent again (in 10.5.3 I had chosen to turn that stupid 'feature' off). But now the tick box is missing from the Desktop & Screen Saver pref pane, and even re-installing Leopard and updating to 10.5.3 then 10.5.4 from scratch has not bought the box back. Any idea what on earth has happened and how I can fix this? It passes the Hardware Test CD perfectly. It's as though it now thinks my Mac isn't capable of supporting that setting (when I add a Dashboard widget the ripple still happens for example).
Thanks!

David Lightman wrote:
Basic situation is this. I was running 10.5.3 perfectly well on my iBook G4 1.33ghz/1gb RAM. One day it didn't want to wake from sleep so I had to hold the power button down to power it off then back on.
This is a big NONO. You essentially crashed your OS by forcing it off while it was running. Yes, sleeping is running.
Your OS is damaged.
It started up as normal except that the menu bar had become translucent again (in 10.5.3 I had chosen to turn that stupid 'feature' off). But now the tick box is missing from the Desktop & Screen Saver pref pane, and even re-installing Leopard and updating to 10.5.3 then 10.5.4 from scratch has not bought the box back. Any idea what on earth has happened and how I can fix this? It passes the Hardware Test CD perfectly. It's as though it now thinks my Mac isn't capable of supporting that setting (when I add a Dashboard widget the ripple still happens for example).
Thanks!
Run the DU and repair your HD and permissions.
If that does not help, boot into the safe mode (hold down shift key on boot) and when you get to the login screen click on restart.
It could simply be a corrupt .plist file.
In the worse case, you can reinstall your OS previous to your forced crash using your TM backup.
Message was edited by: nerowolfe

Spry Menu Bar Bug in IE10

Hi guys!
I have spent ours looking for an answer to my question in this forum and elsewhere, but to not bore you: Website works fine, but the Submenu (below "Locomotives") pops up way too low in IE. I tried a few things but ended up discarding changes.
I hope you may be able to find the error!
Thank you in advance!
Website:
http://centurius.de/html/engl/WWA_engl.html
Code:
ul.MenuBarHorizontal
          margin: 0 auto;
          padding: 0;
          list-style-type: none;
          font-size: 100%;
          cursor: default;
          width: 800px;
/* Set the active Menu Bar with this class, currently setting z-index to accomodate IE rendering bug: http://therealcrisp.xs4all.nl/meuk/IE-zindexbug.html */
ul.MenuBarActive
          z-index: 1000;
/* Menu item containers, position children relative to this container and are a fixed width */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal li
          margin: 0 auto;
          padding: 0;
          list-style-type: none;
          font-size: 100%;
          position: relative;
          text-align: center;
          cursor: pointer;
          width: 130px;
          float: left;
          white-space: nowrap;
/* Submenus should appear below their parent (top: 0) with a higher z-index, but they are initially off the left side of the screen (-1000em) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul
          margin: 0;
          padding: 0;
          list-style-type: none;
          font-size: 100%;
          z-index: 1020;
          cursor: default;
          width: 12em;
          position: absolute;
          left: -1000em;
/* Submenu that is showing with class designation MenuBarSubmenuVisible, we set left to auto so it comes onto the screen below its parent menu item */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
          left: auto;
margin: 5% 0 0 0%;
/* Menu item containers are same fixed width as parent */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul li
          width: 12em;
          text-align:left;
/* Submenus should appear slightly overlapping to the right (95%) and up (-5%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul ul
          position: relative;
          margin: -5% 0 0 100%;
/* Submenu that is showing with class designation MenuBarSubmenuVisible, we set left to 0 so it comes onto the screen */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
          left: auto;
          top: 0;
DESIGN INFORMATION: describes color scheme, borders, fonts
/* Submenu containers have borders on all sides */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul
          border: 1px solid #EFC39C;
/* Menu items are a light gray block with padding and no text decoration */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a
          display: block;
          cursor: pointer;
          background-color: #d8dffc;
          padding: 0px 0.75em;
          color: #055CA8;
          text-decoration: none;
/* Menu items that have mouse over or focus have a blue background and white text */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:hover, ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:focus
          background-color: #33C;
          color: #055CA8;
/* Menu items that are open with submenus are set to MenuBarItemHover with a blue background and white text */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemHover, ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover, ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
          background-color: #EFC39C;
          color: #055CA8;
SUBMENU INDICATION: styles if there is a submenu under a given menu item
/* Menu items that have a submenu have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenu and are set to use a background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemSubmenu
/* Menu items that have a submenu have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenu and are set to use a background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul a.MenuBarItemSubmenu
/* Menu items that are open with submenus have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenuHover and are set to use a "hover" background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover
/* Menu items that are open with submenus have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenuHover and are set to use a "hover" background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover
BROWSER HACKS: the hacks below should not be changed unless you are an expert
/* HACK FOR IE: to make sure the sub menus show above form controls, we underlay each submenu with an iframe */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal iframe
          position: absolute;
          z-index: 1010;
          filter:alpha(opacity:0.1);
/* HACK FOR IE: to stabilize appearance of menu items; the slash in float is to keep IE 5.0 from parsing */
@media screen, projection
          ul.MenuBarHorizontal li.MenuBarItemIE
                    display: inline;
                    f\loat: left;
                    background: #FFF;
Nachricht geändert durch bryankook

Hi All
I have a related issue with Spry sub-menu and IE10. The sub-menu instead of showing directly below the main navigation only show and coninues across the screen - see screen grab below.
The navigation shows fine in Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera and older versions of IE. It seems that IE10 is the only problem browser. Can anyone point me in the right direction to fix this issue.
Many thanks.
See link www.havering-sfc.ac.uk/web/home.cfm
This is the .css code
@charset "UTF-8";
ul.MenuBarHorizontal
          margin: 0;
          padding: 0;
          opacity:80%;
          list-style-type: none;
          font-size: 93%;
          cursor: default;
          /*width: auto !important;*/
/* Set the active Menu Bar with this class, currently setting z-index to accomodate IE rendering bug: http://therealcrisp.xs4all.nl/meuk/IE-zindexbug.html */
ul.MenuBarActive
          z-index: 1000;
/* Menu item containers, position children relative to this container and are a fixed width */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal li
          /*display:inline-block;*/
          margin: 0;
          padding: 0;
          list-style-type: none;
          font-size: 92%;
          opacity:80%;
          position: relative;
          text-align: left;
          cursor: pointer;
          width: 20%;
          float: left;
          font-family:Century Gothic, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
/* Submenus should appear below their parent (top: 0) with a higher z-index, but they are initially off the left side of the screen (-1000em) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul
          display:block;
          margin: 0;
          padding: 0;
          list-style-type: none;
          font-size: 100%;
          opacity:80%;
          z-index: 1020;
          cursor: default;
          width:inherit;
          position:absolute;
          left: -1000em;
/* Submenu that is showing with class designation MenuBarSubmenuVisible, we set left to auto so it comes onto the screen below its parent menu item */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
          left: auto;
          background-color:#999;
          opacity:80%;
/* Menu item containers are same fixed width as parent */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul li
          width: 100% !important;
background-color:#999;
opacity:80%;
padding:5px 0;
/* Submenus should appear slightly overlapping to the right (95%) and up (-5%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul ul
          position: absolute;
          margin: 0 5% 2% 99%;
/* Submenu that is showing with class designation MenuBarSubmenuVisible, we set left to 0 so it comes onto the screen */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
          left: auto;
          top: 0;
DESIGN INFORMATION: describes color scheme, borders, fonts
/* Submenu containers have borders on all sides */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul
          /*border: 1px solid #CCC;*/
/* Menu items are a light gray block with padding and no text decoration */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a
          display: block;
          cursor: pointer;
/*          background-color:#F3551F;*/
          padding: 0.4em 0.75em;
          color: #FFF;
          opacity:80%;
          text-decoration: none;
/* Menu items that have mouse over or focus have a blue background and white text */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:hover, ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:focus
          background-color:#FC0;
          color: #FFF;
          opacity:80%;
/* Menu items that are open with submenus are set to MenuBarItemHover with a blue background and white text */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemHover, ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover, ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
          background-color:#F90;
          color: #FFF;
          opacity:80%;
SUBMENU INDICATION: styles if there is a submenu under a given menu item
/* Menu items that have a submenu have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenu and are set to use a background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemSubmenu
          background-image: url(SpryMenuBarDown.gif);
          background-repeat: no-repeat;
          background-position: 95% 50%;
/* Menu items that have a submenu have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenu and are set to use a background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul a.MenuBarItemSubmenu
          background-image: url(SpryMenuBarRight.gif);
          background-repeat: no-repeat;
          background-position: 95% 50%;
/* Menu items that are open with submenus have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenuHover and are set to use a "hover" background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover
          background-image: url(SpryMenuBarDownHover.gif);
          background-repeat: no-repeat;
          background-position: 95% 50%;
/* Menu items that are open with submenus have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenuHover and are set to use a "hover" background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover
          background-image: url(SpryMenuBarRightHover.gif);
          background-repeat: no-repeat;
          background-position: 95% 50%;
BROWSER HACKS: the hacks below should not be changed unless you are an expert
/* HACK FOR IE: to make sure the sub menus show above form controls, we underlay each submenu with an iframe */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal iframe
          position: absolute;
          z-index: 1010;
          filter:alpha(opacity:0.1);
Jill Hughes

Translucent menu bar is static, or not truly transparent (not live)

You can make the menu bar translucent, under: System Preferences / Desktop and Screen Saver, using the check box at the bottom of the Desktop pane.
If you do that while you're using a checkered or patterned desktop background (or wallpaper) image then it's easy to see that the bar does indeed become somewhat transparent, or at the very least, it is no longer opaque (pure white).
However, if like me, you like to make things more interesting, like say, use a screensaver as a desktop background so that your desktop is no longer a static image, but rather, displays dynamic content (i.e., something with motion), you may have used a command like the following, (without the quotes,) using Applications / Utilities / Terminal:
"nice /System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.ap p/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background &"
... which will launch your currently preferred screensaver as your desktop's dynamic wallpaper. (The "nice" prefix insures that this task will only take up precious CPU resources if it is not used by other programs, so that it doesn't end up slowing you down if you're really busy with something else.) Also, I find that it's easiest to choose a screensaver that draws contrasted lines, like Defocus for example, to make it easier to notice and differentiate the background from the menu bar itself.
Now, while you've got that screensaver as a background, you can toggle the translucence of the menu bar on and off and notice that it does indeed work, however, as the objects (or graphics) move around (or change) on your desktop, the menu bar stays the same; it doesn't update itself! Unlike a minimized quicktime movie (for example,) that keeps playing in the Dock even though it's so tiny, in this case, it's as though the menu bar took a snapshot of what should transpire behind (or through) it at the moment translucence was activated, and is never refreshed again. Meanwhile the transparency of other OS X controls work just fine, like the Dock and the Stacks.
Has anyone else encountered this problem, or does anyone have a solution?

lethal wrote:
The translucent display features are only available on intel-based Macs.
This is not true. It has to do with which computers support "core image", which has to do with your video card. I'm not sure of the specific ones that do or do not, but for instance, my Powerbook which has a Radeon 9000 in it does not support core image but my PowerMac which as a Radeon X800XT does support core image and does have the option for the transparent menu. The powerbook doesnt even have the option for the transparent menu bar.

Menu bar bugs

I'm trying to use the menu bar widget but of course it
doesn't look how I want so I began styling it using the stylesheet
it comes with.
My problem is that when I try and change the width on the
ul.MenuBarHorizontal li tag to auto it gives me a weird box behind
my sub menus with a value of false inside but if I give it an
explicit value it behaves correctly.
here's the sample page:
http://www.wusf.usf.edu/Includes/Nav_css_test.cfm
this bug is in the IE7 browser.
However when I go over to Firefox this is not present but my
a:hover and a:focus colors are not showing up when I run my mouse
over the text. (text should be a dark red color #904903 when the
mouse is over the text)
Can anyone help?

Just a quick pointer that I did get to a solution with my
issue which seems to have been identical to yours. Details here:
Click
Here

Translucent Menu Bar never was and still is not an option

When I first got Leopard one of the the first things I noticed was my menu bar wasn't translucent. I have an HP w2007. I just installed 10.5.2. I was told it would have an option to turn it on or off. It doesn't. I went to desktop and screensaver prefs and that checkbox isn't there. Its not a big deal but I just want to know why I don't have the option. Is it because I don't have an apple brand display. Just wondering.

lethal wrote:
The translucent display features are only available on intel-based Macs.
This is not true. It has to do with which computers support "core image", which has to do with your video card. I'm not sure of the specific ones that do or do not, but for instance, my Powerbook which has a Radeon 9000 in it does not support core image but my PowerMac which as a Radeon X800XT does support core image and does have the option for the transparent menu. The powerbook doesnt even have the option for the transparent menu bar.

Translucent Menu Bar Bug

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