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Level 2

231 points

Menu bar all icons disappeared, how to fix

All the righthand site Icons have disappeared (Clock Bluetooth etc) in my menu bar. If I go in to the control panel and for example try to tick the tick button for the clock it refuses to take it. The tick box for Bluetooth for example is ticked and I can change it back and forth but nothing appears.

I looked for the file com.apple.systemuiserver.plist to delete but have non (I am on SL) but found com.apple.systemuiserver.0017f2ce9d5.plist in the system and com.apple.systemuiserver.CE962C9A-38CF-526D-A6D8-in the user account. Deleting theses did not do it.

I did a safe booth and this did not do it either.

Anybody know how to fix? Thanks.

MBP, MM, MBP - 10.6 + Windooz XP on a hard partition

Posted on Sep 21, 2010 12:47 AM

Best reply

WZZZ

Level 6

13,226 points

Posted on Sep 21, 2010 5:39 AM

Besides the ones with numbers, which are ByHost, there should be this one in your home folder Library/Preferences.

/Users/your user name/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systemuiserver.plist

The other thing I'd try is running Applejack which is a very useful little program for troubleshooting and repairing. It runs from Single User Mode. Hold CMD-S at the startup chime. Here's a short article explaining how it's used. (Also, be sure to read the Read Me.) It's very easy to use. You just follow the on screen prompts. First, just type in applejack and press return. To begin with, I'd only run it only for steps 3 and 4, which will do a relatively light cache cleaning and check for corrupted Preference files. Doing it this way, you'll also be able to run those steps for your user, not just the system. If that doesn't help, you can run it for deeper cache cleaning by typing in applejack AUTO and let it run through a full sequence of tasks. Note: that if you do a deeper cache cleaning, you can expect the system to run a bit slower until those caches are rebuilt.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10334620-263.html?tag=mfiredir

Download

http://applejack.sourceforge.net/

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57 replies

ChangeAgent Author

Level 2

231 points

Sep 25, 2010 2:44 AM in response to ChangeAgent

I bit the bullet and am up and running wit a fresh install and not using the migration assistant. needles to say all icons are there. if anybody is interested like me to find as to why, I still have a coy of the broken setup and am happy to experiment. thanks to all for thinking with me.

PS also handed out some stars (and by accident a solved one) to say thank you for helpful observations.

Message was edited by: ChangeAgent

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Sep 25, 2010 3:14 AM in response to ChangeAgent

That's terrific news! Sorry you had to go through all that.

If it's any consolation, I do clean installs fairly regularly when beta testing. Of course, I do have the luxury of using migration assistant. But I've done them without and know what a PITA it can be. My biggest gripe is the blue bars, which lie about the time remaining 😉

btw - You can use this user tip if there's anything else you need to "hand migrate"...
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6185507
It's a bit old but still valid, as far as I can tell.

Since you kept the old system, you might submit a a bug report here . If you're unfamiliar with submitting bug reports read this page first. You may get some feedback, no promises.

-mj

ChangeAgent Author

Level 2

231 points

Sep 25, 2010 4:28 AM in response to macjack

macjack wrote:
That's terrific news! Sorry you had to go through all that.

yeah life is like that.....

My biggest gripe is the blue bars, which lie about the time remaining 😉

ah the bleu barr of lies.

btw - You can use this user tip if there's anything else you need to "hand migrate"...
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6185507

found it before and yes it is. nice and clever guy who posted it 🙂

Since you kept the old system, you might submit a a bug report here .

thought about it, but need to have the time, lost a lot on this so will consider it.

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,824 points

Sep 25, 2010 5:12 AM in response to ChangeAgent

Third-party status bar items have had a tendency to take down the entire menu. If they are not written well, it can manifest in the behavior you see. Have you tried removing the third party status menu items?
If that cleans it up, add each one back one-by-one until you find the one that is breaking everything.

andyBall_uk

Level 7

20,516 points

Sep 25, 2010 5:42 AM in response to ChangeAgent

Hi

It's clear that systemuiserver isn't running, either because it's missing, or never being called.
The file is at /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemUIServer.app/Contents/MacOS/SystemUIServer
it's started by /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.SystemUIServer.plist

ChangeAgent Author

Level 2

231 points

Sep 25, 2010 5:42 AM in response to Barney-15E

I did as I had the same suspicion. there again the once I have have been there for years and never done any harm. but good thought.

WZZZ

Level 6

13,226 points

Sep 25, 2010 6:31 AM in response to ChangeAgent

Glad to hear you are back to normal.

ChangeAgent Author

Level 2

231 points

Sep 25, 2010 10:42 PM in response to andyBall_uk

andyBall_uk wrote:
Hi

It's clear that systemuiserver isn't running, either because it's missing, or never being called.
The file is at /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemUIServer.app/Contents/MacOS/SystemUIServer

not there, it is in /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemUIServer

It is also the same in my backup.

the rest (SystemUIServer.app/Contents/MacOS/) is not there

it's started by /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.SystemUIServer.plist

this is missing. so I copied it across from a functioning MBP and bingo all icons are back! thanks a 100000000.

andyBall_uk

Level 7

20,516 points

Sep 26, 2010 2:31 AM in response to ChangeAgent

Bingo all icons are back!

Cool 🙂 and ta to WZZZ for that info.

btw, the full path is /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemUIServer.app/ Contents/MacOS/SystemUIServer
Finder won't show the bit in bold in one hit, you have to use ctrl-click 'show package contents' or paste a path into Finder-Go-Go to Folder

ChangeAgent Author

Level 2

231 points

Sep 26, 2010 2:48 AM in response to andyBall_uk

andyBall_uk wrote:
Finder won't show the bit in bold in one hit, you have to use ctrl-click 'show package contents' or paste a path into Finder-Go-Go to Folder

Yeah realised that after I posted, sorry a bit murky from all the searching.

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Sep 26, 2010 5:35 AM in response to ChangeAgent

Nice job to all! You did isolate the menu bar/SystemUI issue 🙂
Now ChangeAgent can submit a BR 😉
However I wouldn't suggest you go back to using that system, I wouldn't trust it.
After your finished with it, nuke it and put it out of it's misery...

-mj

ChangeAgent Author

Level 2

231 points

Sep 26, 2010 9:03 AM in response to macjack

macjack wrote:

However I wouldn't suggest you go back to using that system, I wouldn't trust it.

No worries, it is in quarantine, ready to be, humanly I haste to say, put it to sleep, permanently.

Menu bar all icons disappeared, how to fix