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Level 1

11 points

Mavericks translucent menu bar problem

I was running Mavericks on my Retina MacBook Pro 15" mid 2012 with lots of different issues, from weird behaviour in some programs to total system crashes. So I decided to reinstall Mavericks from scratch, since I had upgraded over Mountain Lion. It was a good idea, most of my problemas are gone, but now I have a very annoying one: every time I boot up and logon, my menu bar looks bad. Dark gray and the Apple logo for the menu is missing.

So to fix this I was changing the resolution of my screen and then of course change it back to the one I want to use:

I use the 4th option so I change it to the last one (More Space) and the menu bar is fixed. I then chage it back and all looks good.

I found in a website someone saying tht I should delete ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systemuiserver.plist and restart, but it didn't help. In that same website the guy said we should then untick the "Translucent Menu Bar" under "Desktops & Screensavers" and THAT solved the problem.

But that's is not really a solution since I want to use the "Translucent Menu Bar".

Any thoughts?

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Nov 17, 2013 12:17 AM

28 replies

jackm831

Level 1

127 points

Feb 20, 2014 11:02 AM in response to altoburgo

System Preferences>Desktop & ScreenSaver>Translucent Menu Bar

Feb 27, 2014 11:24 AM in response to jackm831

No jackm831, this is a problem as I also have the issue, sometimes restart and back to normal but this is a problem with the OS

Rade66

Level 1

0 points

Mar 4, 2014 10:42 PM in response to LVB1770

I had the same issue as OP and others, using the Obsidian menubar's "Restore OSX Menu Bar" option worked for me. The only change I made was installing Windows with Boot camp, but I kinda doubt that was the cause.

May 16, 2014 2:18 PM in response to cmorgannorris

Adjust the monitors resolution and back and it returns.

-ixen-

Level 1

35 points

Jun 4, 2014 12:38 PM in response to altoburgo

I'm having this same issue....

I usually resolve this problem by relaunching the finder (alt+right clik on the finder.app).

Today it didn't work. I rearranged the displays and it solved.

altoburgo Author

Level 1

11 points

Jun 4, 2014 5:30 PM in response to -ixen-

We know bringing notification center up, changing resolution, relaunching finder, these all "fix", but is no solution. These are workarounds.

I've been living with this problem since I got my Retina MacBook Pro 15". Yesterday for the fist time it happened to my Mac Mini (I use it as a media center and don't restart often).

danimau

Level 1

0 points

Jun 17, 2014 11:19 AM in response to altoburgo

Drag a folder or a picture on the Finder icon placed on the dock and wait until it tries to open the file. It worked for me.

Old Toad

Level 10

207,541 points

Jun 17, 2014 11:52 AM in response to altoburgo

Give this a try:

Delete the com.apple.screensaver.plist file from your Home/Library/Preference folder

AND

the com.apple.screensaver.83678D47-6BED-559B-AA78-0A33C7483186 (that's what my file looks like but yours will have different numbers/letters) from your Home/Library/Preferences/Hosts folder.

Go to the System/Desktop & Screen Saver preferenc pane and make sure the translucent checkbox is checked.

Jul 10, 2014 10:36 AM in response to LVB1770

Sadly that (clicking on the notification centre) has not worked for me. I was using Word when I noticed I had no Apple icon. It just seemed to be there one minute and not the next, yet when I click where it should be, I see it again. This is really weird.

Jul 10, 2014 10:35 AM in response to tylerstringer

Tyler,

Changing the resolution work for me, thank you.

Oct 3, 2014 1:41 PM in response to altoburgo

That worked for me, but it's almost a year later and this glitch is still happening. I think Apple should hire some quality assurance staff to test their software. Other companies do it and it really helps.

altoburgo Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 13, 2014 6:45 PM in response to altoburgo

Considering this is outdated, we can close this down. It does not happen in Yosemite.

Jan 22, 2015 9:51 AM in response to altoburgo

Just for those like me having the same problem on Mavericks, after uninstalling Obsidian. Get fixed extracting the original .menu items from Mavericks USB Installer Pen-drive. Everything back to normal. Thanks for this post.

Mavericks translucent menu bar problem