No dock + desktop background flashes with gray

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Level 1

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No dock + desktop background flashes with gray

Sometimes when starting notebook, the dock disappears and background picture start replacing with a flashing gray background. no application can work in this situations: i.e. if I try running console or terminal from the spotlight, they won't run. The only way is to restart the machine: I have to go to recovery (by pressing option while starting up) and "verify disk". No error is found and no repair is needed. But, when I restart normally after this, everything looks fine. However this whole episode would happened again in another random time (a couple of days). Pretty frustrating. This happened after upgrading to Mavericks, but not immediately after that. Any similar experiences/solutions?

MacBook Pro Mid 2012

8 GB RAM- 750 GB HDD

OSX Mavericks 10.9.4

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)

Posted on Aug 6, 2014 2:15 PM

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Answer 1

chuck_3rd

Community Specialist

Aug 8, 2014 6:31 AM in response to hmashaye

Hello hmashaye,

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

I suggest troubleshooting this issue by isolating where it happens. This will help in determining if it's a software issue, or a hardware issue.

Isolating issues in Mac OS X

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1388

Take care,

Alex H.

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Aug 8, 2014 1:54 PM in response to hmashaye

Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.

Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

Isolating an issue by using another user account

If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

Safe Mode - Mavericks

Safe Mode - About

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