Mac OS X 10.4.2 Special Report: Menu items disappearing

CNET staff

Sept. 2, 2009 11:57 a.m. PT

4 min read

For a portion of users, some menu items -- including the Date/Time display -- are no longer visible under Mac OS X 10.4.2.

MacFixIt reader Travis Miller's case is typical:

"I applied the Mac OS X 10.4.2 update late this afternoon to my Mac. Since updating, the menu items i normally expect to see in the upper-right part of my screen are gone. the time/date, bluetooth, displays, and volume control icons have all vanished. Strangely enough, if I hover the mouse over the area where the time/date should be, i get the spinning beach ball. In fact, I restarted, hovered the mouse over the menu items, ate dinner, came back to the computer and the beach ball was still going. Strange."

It appears that, in some cases, this problem is caused by prior manual removal of the Spotlight menu, as detailed here on MacFixIt.

Mac OS X 10.4.2 replaces the file Search.bundle in the folder /System/Library/CoreServices/. For many users, removing Search.bundle (again) and rebooting fixes the absent menu item problem. The menu items are back.

Alternatively, replacing a Search.bundle file from a previous Mac OS X installation will also resolve this issue, and bring Spotlight back to the menu bar.

One MacFixIt reader writes:

"I discovered after my first post that it appears the 10.4.2 updater, not finding a Search.bundle file where it expects, installs a new but incomplete version of Search.bundle which causes the missing menu items problem.

"On a bootable backup disk with 10.4.1, I moved the Search.bundle file back where it belongs and then updated to 10.4.2. This resulted in a new Search.bundle file which is complete and works properly."

There may be other causes for this problem as well. One such factor is an apparent screen real-estate issue that can sometimes be resolved by simply switching the resolution setting.

MacFixIt reader Lewis Jenkins writes:

"I have had the problem (but only using Safari) after upgrading to 10.4.2. The menu bar would simply disappear and nothing would bring it back. I would have to reboot the computer. It only happens occasionally, and today it happened again.

"The thought that it might be monitor resolutions, I went to Sys Prefs and changed from the top (1280x1024) to the next one in line (1280x960) and the menu heading returned and this problem has not returned."

MacFixIt reader Tim Mansour writes:

"Just wanted to let you know that the problem with menu items disappearing from RH end of the menu bar is not related to removal of Spotlight as you've suggested. I know, because I've been experiencing that menu bar problem prior to 10.4.2, and I've never done anything at all with trying to reconfigure Spotlight. At first I thought it might be related to PTH Pasteboard, but with that disabled I'm still experiencing the problem--with virtually every restart. The only way to fix it is to restart again."

Another reader adds:

"I know you said menu items disappearing is a result of messing with the Spotlight menu, but not in my case. I have never messed with my menu items, but ever since updating to Tiger I have had the exact same missing icons problem recently discussed, including spinning ball when hovering over that area, whenever I wake up my G4 20" iMac from sleep only when I am using my (unsupported) Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. If I switch to a wired Apple keyboard and mouse it does not happen (don't have Bluetooth versions of those to test, sorry). The Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard and mouse worked fine under 10.3.9 for sleeping/waking, and all settings are the same. I have even deleted the pairs and re-paired, as well as NVRAM reset just for coincidental voodoo."

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