Mavericks translucent menu bar problem

Question

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

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Answer 1

SurajRam

Level 1

10 points

Nov 17, 2013 12:32 AM in response to altoburgo

I think this happens because you backround is itself gray so when you put it on translucent menu bar option the menu bar will look gray.

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Answer 2

altoburgo Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 17, 2013 12:38 AM in response to SurajRam

Hi SurajRam,

No, not at all. I used the same wallpapers before reinstalling Mavericks from scratch and the menu bar was fine. As you can see in the screenshots, the Apple Logo for the Apple menu is not there. Something is wrong. Also, as I said, if I change resolution and then change it back, the menu bar comes back to normal.

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Answer 3

applewarm

Level 2

344 points

Nov 20, 2013 10:07 AM in response to altoburgo

Did you install any app/filter for the menubar recently? There are quite a few out there, like MenuBarFilter, Obsidian, Nocturnal. Maybe you did and it's somehow creating an issue that could be fixed by uninstalling it.

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Answer 4

applewarm

Level 2

344 points

Nov 20, 2013 10:11 AM in response to altoburgo

Really looks to me like some filter you used to use to change the menubar colour (like make it black), maybe in Mountain Lion, is now not working propely on Mavericks. Most of those menubar filters don't work well when you tick the translucent menubar option! Since you said that unticking it solved the problem (but you want a translucent menubar so that's not an option) well its ounds even more like a filter is ******* your menubar up when it's translucent. Try remember and then try find it and uninstall it!

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Answer 5

altoburgo Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 20, 2013 2:59 PM in response to applewarm

No I don't have anything like that. Maybe you missed the part where I say this is a clean install?

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Answer 6

LVB1770

Level 1

18 points

Dec 27, 2013 11:39 AM in response to altoburgo

altoburgo,

Not sure if you still have the issue of a completely transparent menu bar, but I experienced the same problem last week after I called Apple for a different problem. The tech asked me to delete my entire Preferences folder. Immediately afterwards, I started to experience the same problem with a completely clear menubar. I was unable to isolate the specific plist that caused it but fixed it as follows...

Following a clue from Applewarm (above), I downloaded the Obsidian menubar for OSX 10.9. In the DMG, there is a "Restore OSX Menu Bar" package. I ran it, logged out and back in. Problem solved! Menu bar is restored.

Good luck.

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Answer 7

altoburgo Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 27, 2013 6:28 PM in response to LVB1770

Hi sanjay,

Tks for the reply. Unfortunately it didn't help. The menu bar comes back after running the "Restore OSX Menu Bar" package and logging out but as soon as I restart, the problem is back.

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Answer 8

altoburgo Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 27, 2013 6:37 PM in response to altoburgo

I would like to point out that with the "Translucent menu bar" option ticked, the menu bar looks different when I restart, it's not always the same, as you can see in this new screenshot (even worse than the first one):

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Answer 9

LVB1770

Level 1

18 points

Dec 27, 2013 9:44 PM in response to altoburgo

Another workaround fix was simply to clck the notifications icon on the top right. That restored the menu bar. It was just a temporary fix that had to be done once after each restart.

You could try installing the Obsidian menubar and then restoring the original as above. The restore seems to have corrected the problem for me. Sorry it did not work for you but at least it will temporarily restore it to a usable state. I'm still trying to isolate the plist that causes this. Will post if I find it.

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Answer 10

altoburgo Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 27, 2013 10:17 PM in response to LVB1770

I tried installing Obsidian as well but it didn't work. Actually, even with Obsidian running the same problem was there.

But I find your workaround of clicking the notifications icon quite good. I don't mind doing that at all, as opposite to having to change the resolution which would resize all my windows and I think that's very annoying.

I'll cross my fingers and wait for you or someone to find a definitive solution but for now I'm happier than before. Besides, since I manage to get a very stable OS I don't restart very often 🙂

Thank you.

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Answer 11

Dec 30, 2013 2:06 PM in response to altoburgo

I just experienced this same problem and as sanjayfromtoronto suggested - clicking the Notifications icon on the right-hand top icon did the trick. IT WORKED. I've not restarted yet to see if this is a permanent solution but it was a very cheap one at least, and didn't require me running extra problems. Thanks sanjay!

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Answer 12

Jan 29, 2014 8:25 AM in response to altoburgo

I have this problem on a regular basis. Sometimes unticking translucent menu bar in System Preferences and turning it back on works. Othertimes it doesn't. It does seem like the notifications trick seems to work consistently, Must be a bug in Mavericks.

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Answer 13

Jan 30, 2014 9:27 PM in response to iHumanPro

i'm having this same issue....

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Answer 14

Feb 11, 2014 11:16 AM in response to altoburgo

Same issue here. Anyone found a solution?

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Answer 15

Feb 20, 2014 10:33 AM in response to cmorgannorris

Yes. Click the Notifications icon on the top right-hand corner of your screen. When you click it again to minimise - the Apple icon returns.

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