Hiding Applications in OS X 10.7.3 is not working correctly

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

Step 1

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.

Enable guest logins and log in as Guest. For instructions, launch the System Preferences application, select Help from the menu bar, and enter “Set up a guest account” (without the quotes) in the search box.

While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your personal files or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.

As Guest, test. Same problem(s)?

After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.

Step 2

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:

• Be sure your Mac is shut down.
• Press the power button.
• Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
• Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).

Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on some Macs.

The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem(s)?

After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.) Post the results of steps 1 and 2.

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software – potentially for the worse. The following procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed. Don’t be alarmed by the complexity of these instructions – they’re easy to carry out and won’t change anything on your Mac.

These steps are to be taken while booted in “normal” mode, not in safe mode. If you’re now running in safe mode, reboot as usual before continuing.

Below are several lines of text in monospaced type, which are UNIX shell commands. They’re harmless, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you have doubts about the safety of running these commands, search this site for other discussions in which they’ve been used without any report of ill effects.

Some of the commands will line-wrap or scroll in your browser, but each one is really just a single line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, and you can then either copy or drag it. The headings “Step 1” and so on are not part of the commands.

Note: If you have more than one user account, Step 2 must be taken as an administrator. Ordinarily that would be the user created automatically when you booted the system for the first time. The other steps should be taken as the user who has the problem, if different. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this paragraph doesn’t apply.

To begin, launch the Terminal application; e.g., by entering the first few letters of its name in a Spotlight search. If that doesn’t work, then in the Finder, press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

When you launch Terminal, a text window will open with a line already in it, ending either in a dollar sign (“$”) or a percent sign (“%”). If you get the percent sign, enter “sh” (without the quotes) and press return. You should then get a new line ending in a dollar sign.

Step 1

Copy or drag – do not type – the line below into the Terminal window, then press return:

kextstat -kl | awk '!/com\.apple/{printf "%s %s\n", $6, $7}'

Post the lines of output (if any) that appear below what you just entered (the text, please, not a screenshot.)

Step 2

Repeat with this line:

sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix)|edu\.mit|org\.(amavis|apache|cups|isc|ntp|postfix|x)/{print $3}'

This time, you'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. You don't need to post the warning.

Step 3

launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|edu\.mit|org\.(x|openbsd)/{print $3}'

Step 4

ls -1A /e*/mach* {,/}L*/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,Keyb,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo,Sta}* L*/Fonts 2> /dev/null

Important: If you synchronize with a MobileMe account, your me.com email address may appear in the output of the above command. If so, anonymize it before posting.

Step 5

osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to get name of every login item'

Remember, steps 1-5 are all drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste, whichever you prefer – no typing, except your password. Also remember to post the output.

You can then quit Terminal.

Please read this whole message carefully, especially the warnings, before doing anything.

WARNING: The changes to your configuration suggested here should be regarded as provisional; they may not solve your problem, or they may remove functionality that you consider to be useful. If a third-party system modification that you want to keep is causing the problem, you’ll have to seek help from its developer.

WARNING: Back up all data if you haven’t already done so. Before proceeding, you must be sure you can restore your system to the state it’s in now, even if it becomes unbootable -- which might happen. If you’re dissatisfied with the results of the procedure suggested below, restore from your backup.

You should either update or uninstall the following system modification(s), if an update is available from the developer:

N/A

and definitely remove at least the following:

† SIMBL

TotalFinder

All of the latter must be removed completely, and (unless otherwise specified above) the only way to do that is to use the uninstallation tool provided, if any, or to follow the developer's instructions. In some cases it may be necessary to re-download or even reinstall the software in order to get rid of it. I can't be more specific, because I don't install such things myself.

WARNING: Trying to remove complex system modifications by hunting for files by name usually will not work and may make matters worse.

I recommend that you never reinstall the modifications marked with a dagger (†) above, if any. If your problem is resolved after uninstalling all the above modifications and rebooting, but you still want to use some of those not marked with a dagger, you can experiment with putting them back, one at a time, testing carefully after each step. Keep in mind that system modifications may be incompatible with each other or with future Mac OS updates, so it may not be clear which one is at fault.

Never install any third-party software unless you're sure you know how to uninstall it; otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve.

If you still have problems after making the suggested changes and rebooting, post again. Remember: if you don’t like the results of this procedure, you can undo it by restoring from the last backup you made before you started.

Uninstall SIMBL as follows.

Select Go ▹ Go to Folder… from the Finder menu bar, then enter the following text in the box that opens:

/Library

A folder will open. From that folder, delete the items listed below. You may be prompted for your administrator login password.

Application Support/SIMBL

LaunchAgents/net.culater.SIMBL.Agent.plist

ScriptingAdditions/SIMBL.osax

Log out and log back in.

Make sure you never reinstall SIMBL. It’s likely to come bundled with another modfication that depends on it. If you want trouble-free computing, avoid software that makes miraculous changes to other software, especially built-in applications. The only real exception to that rule is Safari extensions, which are mostly safe, and are easy to get rid of when they don’t work. SIMBL and its dependents are not Safari extensions.

† Norton

† IconBox

† CleanApp

Launchpad Control

If the issue persists after those items are removed, please repeat steps 1-5 and post the output.

You haven't completely uninstalled IconBox or CleanApp.

It's possible that you're running an application that preempts the command-H keyboard shortcut under some circumstances. It could be one of your login items, or something you launch after logging in. It's really just a process of elimination. You keep eliminating things until the problem goes away. I've made my best guesses, but I was wrong. The rest of the stuff you're running, I know nothing about.

As a last resort, you'll have to do a complete account reset, as follows.

First, back up all data if you haven't already done so. No matter what happens, you should be able to restore your system to the state it was in at the time of that backup.

Open the Library folder in your home folder as follows:

☞ If running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, hold down the option key and select Go ▹ Library from the Finder menu bar.

☞ If running an older version of Mac OS X, select Go ▹ Go to Folder… from the Finder menu bar and enter “~/Library” (without the quotes) in the text box that opens.

From the Library folder, move the entire contents of the subfolder Caches (not the folder itself) to the Trash, then log out and log back in. Empty the Trash. Test.

If the problem is not solved, open the Library folder again in the same way and move the entire contents of the subfolder Preferences (not the folder itself) to a new folder on the Desktop (not to the Trash.) Log out and log back in. The account will then be pretty much in a clean state. Test. If you can still reproduce the problem, then put the Preferences folder contents back, replacing any that were created in their place, log out, and log in again.

If you can't reproduce the problem in the clean state, then start putting things back in the Preferences folder piecemeal, starting with items that seem unrelated to the issue. I can’t be more specific. After each group of items, repeat the log out/log in cycle and test. At some point, the problem may reappear, in which case you know that something in the last batch of files you restored is at fault. If it never reappears, the problem is solved.

This may be a very time-consuming process, but it’s the best I can suggest in the circumstances.