Goldenbill

Q: Dock not responding to mouse.

My dock has quit responding to my mouse.  I have corrected it in System Preferences several times, when I "Choose" the Desk Size Arrow, it will come out onto the desktop but when i move the mouse off the arrow it goes back into hiding and will not respond.   I've used Disk Utility for Priviliges verify and Disk verify, I have tried Genie and Scale effect, (I like Genie), nothing works, it hides or if I choose it, it stays on the desktop but it will not move in and out of hiding.  Any help will be greately appreciated.

 

I have checked, unchecked, and rechecked the Annimate... and Automate... buttons to no avail.

 

eMac, 1GHz PowerPC, OSX10.4.11, 768G DRAM, Wireless Connection.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11), G5 79G 2G-Ram

Posted on Jun 10, 2011 12:39 PM

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Q: Dock not responding to mouse.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by roam,Helpful

    roam roam Jun 10, 2011 4:38 PM in response to Goldenbill
    Level 6 (13,569 points)
    Jun 10, 2011 4:38 PM in response to Goldenbill

    The Dock itself is likely the problem and you can try resetting its preferences by trashing its old one.

    To do this locate this com.apple.dock.plist file and drag it to the trash. The location is found here;

    ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist

    then immediately log out and in again.

     

    The Dock will be reset to show. Then reselect Dock > Turn Hiding On from the menubar and see if it is back to normal.

  • by Goldenbill,

    Goldenbill Goldenbill Jun 11, 2011 12:08 AM in response to roam
    Level 1 (53 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 11, 2011 12:08 AM in response to roam

    Hi Roam! thanks for the response.  I tried the trash and restart but it didn't work and now there is no com.apple.dock.plist in my Library/Preferences file.  I went to search and it spent about ten minutes bringing up the dock.plists for '09/'10/and 'l1 on my HD and XHD.  Now search shows them in the preference files but they don't show up in the file itself.  The dock is still there but I have to go into Dock Preferences in the Apple drop down menu to bring it out.  If I keep it on the desktop it gets in the way of my work.

     

    Something else that's strange is that my Hot Corners (Expose) don't work either but I can't find any plist for them.  I can always use a key for them but the hot corners are nice.

  • by roam,Solvedanswer

    roam roam Jun 11, 2011 5:56 AM in response to Goldenbill
    Level 6 (13,569 points)
    Jun 11, 2011 5:56 AM in response to Goldenbill

    "there is no com.apple.dock.plist in my Library/Preferences"

     

    There are two locations with similar names;

    YourUserAccountName/Library/Preferences where the dock preference file resides (or should reside), and

    Library/Preferences where it will not be found. That location is for system-wide preferences compared to your Dock's personal setting.

    Regardless, the suggestion didn't work.

     

    Your new information is helpful. If hot corners don't work either ( if they have been selected to do so) note that this behavior is similar to showing and hiding the dock by moving the mouse off the bottom of the screen. This suggest something is not aware of the mouse.

     

    Is the mouse you are using still the original technology of being wired to the keyboard? If yes, then;

    log into your guest account, and see how the dock operates there.

    Does your Dock / Expose activate correctly with mouse movements? (You will have to create those settings in the guest account, before testing them)

     

    If things seem correct in that account, logging back into yours, there will likely be some other preference file that has become corrupted.

    If it is misbehaving the same on the guest account, then maybe the problem is with the mouse hardware.

    I wish I could be more specific.

  • by Goldenbill,

    Goldenbill Goldenbill Jun 11, 2011 10:13 AM in response to roam
    Level 1 (53 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 11, 2011 10:13 AM in response to roam

    Hi Roam and Many Thanks!!  It was the mouse, eight years of devoted and extensive service.  Such little things, such BIG consequences. Thanks again.

    ..................goldie

  • by roam,

    roam roam Jun 11, 2011 8:36 PM in response to Goldenbill
    Level 6 (13,569 points)
    Jun 11, 2011 8:36 PM in response to Goldenbill

    I'm glad you have pin pointed the cause. Now the tricky bit is to find a new mouse that feels similar to the one you are used to.

  • by Goldenbill,

    Goldenbill Goldenbill Jun 11, 2011 10:10 PM in response to roam
    Level 1 (53 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 11, 2011 10:10 PM in response to roam

    No problem.  OWC has sales all the time, guess I'll check them out.  Do you know if the Magic Mouse works with an iMac G5, it has bluetooth.

  • by roam,Helpful

    roam roam Jun 12, 2011 6:55 AM in response to Goldenbill
    Level 6 (13,569 points)
    Jun 12, 2011 6:55 AM in response to Goldenbill

    Goldenbill wrote:

     

    No problem.  OWC has sales all the time, guess I'll check them out.  Do you know if the Magic Mouse works with an iMac G5, it has bluetooth.

    Yes I believe it is possible, though my preference is to have wired mouse (and keyboard) thinking that a simple signal through copper provides a more reliable signal than a microwave transmission and the complexity required to enable that. Practically, as the appliances (keyboard/mouse/Mac) can be reached out and touched, there is no advantage to coupling them wirelessly. In contrast, a bluetooth transmission to a printer in the next room is a clever use of wireless. 

  • by Goldenbill,

    Goldenbill Goldenbill Jun 12, 2011 12:16 PM in response to roam
    Level 1 (53 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 12, 2011 12:16 PM in response to roam

    Good point.  I''d like to discuss this a little further and expand it to bluetooth interactions so i'm going to create another thread in this group.  See you there "Wired Mouse v. Wireless and/or Bluetooth"

  • by mwb1953,

    mwb1953 mwb1953 Mar 30, 2014 7:34 PM in response to Goldenbill
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 30, 2014 7:34 PM in response to Goldenbill

    I have had this problem. Apple advised me to:

     

    1 Shut Down the iMac

    2 Restart - with finger on the shift key

    3 Keep your finger on the shift key, at least until the progress bar appears. Do it longer just to be safe.

    4 This puts the iMac into Safe Mode.

    5 Check if the Dock is responsive now.

    6 Shut down

    7 Restart

    8 Check if the Dock is responsive.

     

    Apple does not guarantee this will work in all cases, but it did for me.