Dark Menu Bar issue with Dual Monitors

Question

Dark Menu Bar issue with Dual Monitors

Just updated to High Sierra, MBP 13" early 2015 with 2 external Dell P2715Q monitors attached. The menu bar on the second monitor is just a solid blank white line. If I toggle the "Use dark menu bar and Dock" setting off under "General" settings in System Preferences, both monitors display the menu bar icons no problem, however if I toggle the "User dark menu bar and Dock" setting back on, the second monitor goes back to displaying a solid blank white line. I've tried rebooting, same results.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS High Sierra (10.13), 13" Early 2015 MBP

Posted on Sep 25, 2017 3:20 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

cyberjunkyfreak Author

Level 1

54 points

Sep 25, 2017 3:33 PM in response to cyberjunkyfreak

So this is interesting, I think I just solved the issue. For anybody else out there that may experience the same issue, how I fixed it was to go to System Preferences and select "Displays" and then select "Arrangement" (which will be displayed on your first monitor) then drag and drop the "white bar" that is displayed in the image at the top of the first monitor over to the second monitor and once that is down, drag and drop it back to the original position.

This seems to have fixed it for me, hope it works for you too!

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Answer 2

Oct 9, 2017 4:11 PM in response to cyberjunkyfreak

Been getting this myself since the High Sierra update which is really bizarre.. My colleagues are not experiencing this issue and they've upgraded fine. They have an assortment of iMacs, I'm using a 15" MacBook Pro (Mid 2015). I've noticed if I set the external display to be the main display, both menu bars will white out when their not in focus.

I find it happens with any screen I'm plugged into, regardless of size or if it's over DP or HDMI. I have just completed a fresh install of macOS and it worked fine on the initial boot! But after either a couple of apps were installed or a couple restarts... whited out menu bar appeared again!

A screenshots for others to compare..

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Answer 3

t87

Level 1

9 points

Nov 2, 2017 12:57 PM in response to Community User

Yea, that's out of question for me. I need different spaces to remain sane in my workflow. 😐 Still trying to figure out what causes the white bar to appear. While most times the bar is solid white for me, sometimes it is translucent.

Right now I've resorted to turning Dark menubar/dock off. Having used it in Sierra for a year this is a huge setback for me.

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Answer 4

Dec 7, 2017 3:18 AM in response to t87

With each new software update I'm hopeful that Apple will have fixed this bug, however with the release of 10.13.2 they have continued to let me down.

I had filled out a bug report a while back, maybe if we could get more folks to file the same report...

Product Feedback - Apple

And if there is anybody out there with a Developer account, perhaps that would add a bit more weight...

https://bugreport.apple.com/web/

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Answer 5

Sep 25, 2017 3:25 PM in response to cyberjunkyfreak

I forgot to mention, if I click on the second monitor's desktop, the menu bar will display correctly on that monitor (dark menu with icons) however the moment I click back on the first monitor's desktop the menu bar on the second monitor's desktop goes back to a solid blank white line.

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Answer 6

t87

Level 1

9 points

Oct 31, 2017 2:47 PM in response to t87

So after a complete erase and fresh install of High Sierra 10.3.1 (released today), I can confirm that:

1. The bug is still present.

2.1. It occurs immediately after you disable System Integrity Protection and toggle Dark dock & menu bar in System Preferences / General.

2.2. Re-enabling SIP, reboots, SMC- or NVRAM-Resets are all useless to fix it after that.

Think the demography of people doing this is very low, that's why this issue isn't widely reported. 😟

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Answer 7

Nov 1, 2017 2:16 AM in response to t87

I've not disabled SIP so I don't think that's a factor in this. 🙂 The initial boot when dark mode is enabled it seems to work, but after a reboot it happens.

So far the only way round it I found is to disable 'Displays have different spaces' in Mission Control settings, but it ruins my workflow as I run my main application on an external display and use the Mac's screen to flick between spaces for references, IM clients, a Windows VM, emails etc. With it off you flick between spaces on both screens, so can't keep my main app open when I switch!

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Answer 8

t87

Level 1

9 points

Nov 14, 2017 4:24 PM in response to cyberjunkyfreak

Gotta say, this is absolutely infuriating and makes me wonder whether Apple engineers even bother about connecting an external monitor to a Mac and observing how it works before submitting a major OS for release! 😠 Just unbelievable.

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Answer 9

Dec 20, 2017 6:30 AM in response to subpixel.ch

I don't know if the problem is fixed for good, however today I notice that the blank white menu bar is no longer present on my second monitor. I did not update or remove any software recently, and OS uptime is 12 days. At the moment I can't seem to replicate the bug.

Does it appear fixed for anybody else that has been having this issue?

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Answer 10

Dec 20, 2017 6:39 AM in response to subpixel.ch

OK thanks, this is strange. I am now able to reproduce it...

I have a Safari window open on both the primary and secondary monitor. If I am active in the Safari window on the secondary monitor and then move my mouse over to the Safari window on the primary monitor and make it active, I will then get the blank white menu bar on the secondary monitor. However, if I am active in the Safari window on the secondary monitor and move my mouse over to an area of the desktop on the primary monitor and click on the desktop of the primary monitor before clicking in the Safari window on the primary monitor, the menu bar on the secondary monitor will stay dark, as it should.

So looks like it's not fixed yet...

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Answer 11

Sep 25, 2017 3:37 PM in response to cyberjunkyfreak

Ugh, well, it doesn't seem to survive a reboot so it looks like a temporary fix. Guess I'll wait for some High Sierra update to fix it, unless anybody has some other ideas on a permanent fix?

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