Cannot remove icon from menu bar (tried Cmd key, thanks)

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Level 1

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Cannot remove icon from menu bar (tried Cmd key, thanks)

Dear all,

I have a mystery icon in my menu bar, which just "sits" there without any function. It is an italic, black F on white in a box with rounded corners. I can't remember which application it belongs to and I can't get rid of it. I have tried command-dragging (and control-, alt-, shift-, and whatever). I have watched the startup sequence and tried opening my applications one by one to see which application is to blame. I have checked the active processes in Activity Viewer. I have rummaged around all the preference folders I found (scary!). Please help...
Thanks, Chris.

P.S. here is a screenshot: http://info.bulle.net/mystery-f.jpg

MacBook 2Ghz 2GB, Mac OS X (10.5.6), MacMini 1.25GHz 512MB 10.4.11

Posted on May 12, 2009 8:28 AM

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Answer 1

May 12, 2009 10:18 AM in response to V.K.

Hi V.K.

Sorry to post here but not sure how to get hold of you. Any chance you could take a look at this post and see if you have any thoughts? I think I've narrowed in on the possible problem but am not getting any feedback so I'm looking to some of the more experienced guys to help out...

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1995528&tstart=0

Many Thanks

Clown Guy

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Answer 2

V.K.

Level 9

56,192 points

May 12, 2009 8:39 AM in response to ChrisBulle

ChrisBulle wrote:
thanks but I tried that, too..

you didn't mention it.

then look in /users/username/library/launchagents, /library/startupitems, /library/launchagents and /library/launchdaemons for anything which might be related.

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Answer 3

ChrisBulle Author

Level 1

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May 12, 2009 10:29 AM in response to V.K.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound rude, and thanks for the advice.

My login items are
Growl, DiskWarrior, KVM (Keyboard switch), M$ Database, WeatherDock, M$ AU Daemon, aaaTypeIt4MeMenu (I love TypeIt4Me!), My Day, EyeTV Helper, ChronoSyncBackgrounder, Eye-Fi Manager, teleportd, RealPlayer Downloader and Logitech Control Center. All of these seem to work as normal.

I looked at the files you suggested and found nothing unusual:

/users/username/library/launchagents
net.kopischke.fvn.ResetLaunchServices.plist (just installed this a couple of days ago so it must be innocent)

/library/startupitems
EyeConnect

/library/launchagents
- empty -

/library/launchdaemons
net.kopischke.fvn.NormaliseAppPerms.plist (see above)

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Answer 4

nerowolfe

Level 6

13,090 points

May 12, 2009 10:50 AM in response to ChrisBulle

To isolate the problem, create a new user account and see if the menu item is there. If it is not, then we know it's a "local" issue - ie: one related to your original user account and most likely a corrupted .plist or other file.

If it's still there then it's not a corrupted file in your main account and we have to dig deeper.

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Answer 5

ChrisBulle Author

Level 1

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May 12, 2009 11:13 AM in response to nerowolfe

It's only in my user account (which is non-admin), not in my admin or guest accounts... so we will have to look deeper and I appreciate your help.

I guess it's some piece of software I tested and deleted a while ago - but I can't remember what it was - there are so many little icons everywhere and I never noticed it until a while ago.

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Answer 6

nerowolfe

Level 6

13,090 points

May 12, 2009 11:54 AM in response to ChrisBulle

ChrisBulle wrote:
It's only in my user account (which is non-admin), not in my admin or guest accounts... so we will have to look deeper and I appreciate your help.

I guess it's some piece of software I tested and deleted a while ago - but I can't remember what it was - there are so many little icons everywhere and I never noticed it until a while ago.

Well at least we narrowed it down.
I suggest getting one of the many Mac AppCleaners and using it to get rid of any odd software that is still hanging around. Some software requires running an uninstall script and if you simply drag it into the trash, pieces are still floating around in the OS. Other software is poorly written and just does things like this.
The "F" I believe you mentioned on the icon might be a clue.

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Answer 7

May 12, 2009 1:04 PM in response to ChrisBulle

When logged into your account with this mysterious menu item, open "Activity Monitor", select "My Processes" from the drop-down menu, and post the list here (just the process name, not the PID or other info available in Activity Monitor).

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Answer 8

V.K.

Level 9

56,192 points

May 12, 2009 2:21 PM in response to ChrisBulle

ChrisBulle wrote:
Sorry, didn't mean to sound rude, and thanks for the advice.

My login items are
Growl, DiskWarrior, KVM (Keyboard switch), M$ Database, WeatherDock, M$ AU Daemon, aaaTypeIt4MeMenu (I love TypeIt4Me!), My Day, EyeTV Helper, ChronoSyncBackgrounder, Eye-Fi Manager, teleportd, RealPlayer Downloader and Logitech Control Center. All of these seem to work as normal.

I looked at the files you suggested and found nothing unusual:

/users/username/library/launchagents
net.kopischke.fvn.ResetLaunchServices.plist (just installed this a couple of days ago so it must be innocent)

/library/startupitems
EyeConnect

/library/launchagents
- empty -

/library/launchdaemons
net.kopischke.fvn.NormaliseAppPerms.plist (see above)

you have rather a lot of stuff here. most of it is unfamiliar to me so I would try removing all those login items and launch daemons. Move them to the desktop for example. then restart and see if the icon is still there. if not then start adding those items back one by one. you'll have to log out/in after adding back login items and restart after adding items in /library.

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Answer 9

ChrisBulle Author

Level 1

0 points

May 12, 2009 2:38 PM in response to ChrisBulle

Thanks everyone - for the time being... I cleaned out some more weird plist files as some of you suggested and now it seems to work. We'll see if it lasts - but for now thank you very much for your help.

Greetings from Hannover in Germany
Chris.

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Answer 10

V.K.

Level 9

56,192 points

May 12, 2009 8:33 AM in response to ChrisBulle

check your login items in system preferences->accounts. whatever app put that icon there has likely created a login item that starts it up. if so delete that login item and log out/in.

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