Q: Menu Bar Disappeared

Just installed Snow Leopard, and the menu bar at the top right of the screen has disappeared. Spotlight, wireless, sound, power, date, they are all gone. Before the update I was running Leopard with XMenu, which seems to be incompatible with SL. I uninstalled XMenu, restarted and the menu is still missing.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.7), 2.0 White 2GB 160Gb

Posted on Aug 28, 2009 1:02 PM

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Q: Menu Bar Disappeared

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by Daniel Nolen Iii,Helpful

Daniel Nolen Iii Aug 28, 2009 1:04 PM in response to yhnjgkfhkhk
Level 1 (75 points)

Aug 28, 2009 1:04 PM in response to yhnjgkfhkhk

The process that displays this is called "SystemUIServer"

Check Activity Monitor (all processes) or Console for any mentions.
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by yhnjgkfhkhk,

yhnjgkfhkhk Aug 28, 2009 1:07 PM in response to Daniel Nolen Iii
Level 1 (60 points)

Aug 28, 2009 1:07 PM in response to Daniel Nolen Iii

Thanks for the help. SystemUIServer is not running.
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by Samsara,

Samsara Aug 28, 2009 1:07 PM in response to yhnjgkfhkhk
Level 4 (1,320 points)

Aug 28, 2009 1:07 PM in response to yhnjgkfhkhk

I've had that happen before SL, exiting from some games. For me changing resolutions in Prefs back and forth worked. Not sure if that will do it in your case though. Good luck.
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by yhnjgkfhkhk,

yhnjgkfhkhk Aug 28, 2009 1:12 PM in response to Samsara
Level 1 (60 points)

Aug 28, 2009 1:12 PM in response to Samsara

I just tried it and it does not help. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
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by Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com),Helpful

Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com) Aug 28, 2009 1:18 PM in response to yhnjgkfhkhk
Level 6 (17,290 points)

Aug 28, 2009 1:18 PM in response to yhnjgkfhkhk

Login to another User account. Is it working there? If so, try trashing your SystemUIServer preferences in you main User account.

Dave M.
MacOSG Founder/Ambassador  An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast
Macsimum News Associate Editor  Creator of 'Mac611 - Mobile Mac Support'
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by yhnjgkfhkhk,

yhnjgkfhkhk Aug 28, 2009 1:37 PM in response to Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com)
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Aug 28, 2009 1:37 PM in response to Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com)

Made a new account and yes, the menu does work fine there. Sorry to be ignorant, but where exactly is the SystemUIServer preferences?
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by Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com),

Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com) Aug 28, 2009 1:54 PM in response to yhnjgkfhkhk
Level 6 (17,290 points)

Aug 28, 2009 1:54 PM in response to yhnjgkfhkhk

HD > User > Library > Preference > com.apple.systemuiserver.plist

Dave M.
MacOSG Founder/Ambassador  An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast
Macsimum News Associate Editor  Creator of 'Mac611 - Mobile Mac Support'
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by yhnjgkfhkhk,

yhnjgkfhkhk Aug 28, 2009 2:02 PM in response to Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com)
Level 1 (60 points)

Aug 28, 2009 2:02 PM in response to Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com)

That's fixed it, thanks for the help.
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by Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com),

Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com) Aug 28, 2009 2:18 PM in response to yhnjgkfhkhk
Level 6 (17,290 points)

Aug 28, 2009 2:18 PM in response to yhnjgkfhkhk

Trying it in another account is a good way to find out if the problem is in your User Library, or hard drive and/or System Library.

Dave M.
MacOSG Founder/Ambassador  An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast
Macsimum News Associate Editor  Creator of 'Mac611 - Mobile Mac Support'
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by papa1940,

papa1940 Aug 28, 2009 4:26 PM in response to Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com)
Level 1 (0 points)

Aug 28, 2009 4:26 PM in response to Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com)

I have a similar problem as described here and additionally do not have the preference file you mentioned in your response. I am currently doing a reinstall to see if that helps. Works great on my MacBook (black) but my iMac not so much.

When I setup a second account the menu bar does appear but no luck on my main account.

Any further suggestions.
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by Daniel Nolen Iii,

Daniel Nolen Iii Aug 28, 2009 4:59 PM in response to papa1940
Level 1 (75 points)

Aug 28, 2009 4:59 PM in response to papa1940

If it doesn't happen in a new user, then it's user-specific. The Mac OS X installer doesn't istnall anything user-specific.
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by papa1940,

papa1940 Aug 28, 2009 6:42 PM in response to Daniel Nolen Iii
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Aug 28, 2009 6:42 PM in response to Daniel Nolen Iii

OK, so if it's user specific what do you do?
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by Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com),

Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com) Aug 29, 2009 9:33 PM in response to papa1940
Level 6 (17,290 points)

Aug 29, 2009 9:33 PM in response to papa1940

Troubleshoot your main User Library. Try dragging the whole preference folder to the desktop and reboot. See if it returns.

Dave M.
MacOSG Founder/Ambassador  An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast
Macsimum News Associate Editor  Creator of 'Mac611 - Mobile Mac Support'
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by welshboytim,

welshboytim Aug 30, 2009 2:52 AM in response to Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com)
Level 1 (10 points)

Aug 30, 2009 2:52 AM in response to Mac Medic (be@MacOSG.com)

I also had the same trouble - menu bar had lost all the icons except Googlenotifier, Caffeine, Quicksilver and Growl! Spotlight icon flashed on and off intermittently - mostly off! Just found Preferences in Library and dragged to Desktop. All back now - but dont understand what I've done! Any learned explanation of what this has done would be really useful. Many thanks Mac Medic!
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