App Dock not open anymore

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Level 1

23 points

App Dock not open anymore

iMac 18,3

Monterey 12.5.1

Each time I log out and then log back in, or each time after "waking iMac, I get the error message "the Dock is not open anymore".

Rebooted in Safe Mode, no issue there, and given it's a system app I cannot clear containers etc, as suggested elsewhere. Reset NVRAM and SMC, same result.

Put Hard Disk to sleep and Prevent Mac from sleeping when screen is off are disabled.

EtreCheck report attached.

EtreCheck 4/09/22

Any other advice before reinstalling OS?

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 12.5

Posted on Sep 3, 2022 8:25 PM

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Answer 1

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MrHoffman

Community+ 2025

Level 10

144,893 points

Sep 3, 2022 8:45 PM in response to web_ed

Get a backup, if you don’t already have a current and complete one.

/etc/hosts looks funky.

Remove NordVPN, NetBarrier, and the app cleaner. I’d consider removing that SecureDisk stuff. There’s a bunch of broken Adobe stuff, too.

Given all I see here, I’d likely do the re-install anyway, and would try to avoid adding unnecessary kernel extensions, add-on first-few-hops VPN clients, cleaners, anti-malware, and related, as those tend to be prone to issues.

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Answer 2

Sep 4, 2022 8:57 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Luis Sequeira1 wrote:

I don't think you meant exactly this:

MrHoffman wrote:

If this isn’t a managed Mac, then I’d back up, reinstall, and migrate apps and settings and documents (Setup Assistant makes this straightforward)

If the OP migrated apps and settings, he'd bring back the problems.

Besides, then there would be no apps to install, isn't it?

If this is to restore things to a proper working order, only the user accounts should migrated back.

I meant what I wrote: migrating content from the backup.

Note: migrating. Using Setup Assistant. Not restoring the backup.

I’ve had Setup Assistant clean up a whole lot of trash, corruptions, and weird misbehaviors.

If that migration does not work, I’d then reset again and migrate again using Setup Assistant, but now excluding apps.

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Answer 3

web_ed Author

Level 1

23 points

Sep 4, 2022 8:41 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thank you, Luis Sequeira1.

Did some housekeeping, removed some apps that appeared to have issues, some leftover / broken files, also cleaned out some plists, caches etc, and reinstalled 12.5.1. No migration, just picked up where I left off prior to re-installing OS.

Message has disappeared, all runs as it should for now, even after re-installing VPN. Will re-run EtreCheck at some stage again to monitor.

Thank you.

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Answer 4

Sep 3, 2022 10:14 PM in response to web_ed

If this isn’t a managed Mac, then I’d back up, reinstall, and migrate apps and settings and documents (Setup Assistant makes this straightforward), and probably then re-load apps manually as needed.

If managed, check with the folks managing it.

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Answer 5

Sep 5, 2022 1:23 AM in response to MrHoffman

When migrating, the user has the choice of what to migrate: the user account(s), applications, settings, other files.

My point is that only the user accounts should be migrated.

Quite often users erase, install then migrate everything, thus denying the benefits of the clean install.

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Answer 6

web_ed Author

Level 1

23 points

Sep 3, 2022 10:03 PM in response to MrHoffman

Thank you, Mr Hoffman. Will do as suggested.

Intego NetBarrier must be a leftover from an old previous Intego installation that I uninstalled. However, Intego firewall extension cannot be uninstalled, and I cannot change or modify its permissions (even as sole user & Admin of my iMac).

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Answer 7

Sep 4, 2022 12:02 PM in response to MrHoffman

I don't think you meant exactly this:

MrHoffman wrote:

If this isn’t a managed Mac, then I’d back up, reinstall, and migrate apps and settings and documents (Setup Assistant makes this straightforward)

If the OP migrated apps and settings, he'd bring back the problems.

Besides, then there would be no apps to install, isn't it?

If this is to restore things to a proper working order, only the user accounts should migrated back.

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Answer 8

web_ed Author

Level 1

23 points

Sep 3, 2022 11:38 PM in response to MrHoffman

Thank you, Mr Hoffman.

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App Dock not open anymore

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