Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > macOS > Unlocking the dock

Unlocking the dock
Thread Tools
bowwowman
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: If I tellz ya, then I gotsta killz ya !
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 25, 2006, 06:12 PM
 
I know this has a relatively simple answer, but for the life of me, I cant remember it. I want to remove apps (and question marks for old apps) from the dock. Dragging them off to the poof doesnt work, and I know for sure it used to.........

what am I forgetting ?
Personally I find it hilarious that you have the hots for my gramma. Especially seeins how she is 3x your age, and makes your Brittney-Spears-wannabe 30-something wife look like a rag doll who went thru WWIII with a burning stick of dynamite up her a** :)
     
Chuckit
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 25, 2006, 06:14 PM
 
Are you on a user with a locked dock?
Chuck
___
"Instead of either 'multi-talented' or 'multitalented' use 'bisexual'."
     
bowwowman  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: If I tellz ya, then I gotsta killz ya !
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 25, 2006, 06:20 PM
 
I'm the admin, so how do I unlock it so I can just drag stuff off to the poof ?
Personally I find it hilarious that you have the hots for my gramma. Especially seeins how she is 3x your age, and makes your Brittney-Spears-wannabe 30-something wife look like a rag doll who went thru WWIII with a burning stick of dynamite up her a** :)
     
jmiddel
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Land of Enchantment
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 25, 2006, 10:15 PM
 
Yes, that is how it supposed to work, you're not forgetting anything. It could be a permissions problem, so I wonder what has been modified on the computer since this lack in functionality. Not knowing what you may have already tried, I recommend downloading and installing the free utility 'applejack' available at

Search - VersionTracker

Install and restart holding down the command-S keys to get to the command line. Follow instructions to run 'applejack' and run all the options.
     
bowwowman  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: If I tellz ya, then I gotsta killz ya !
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 26, 2006, 06:40 AM
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I have already repaired permissions, trashed the dock prefs, cleaned caches etc etc all the normal maintenance steps

still no joy, but by the description of AJ, I dont foresee it doing much above or beyond what I have already done
Personally I find it hilarious that you have the hots for my gramma. Especially seeins how she is 3x your age, and makes your Brittney-Spears-wannabe 30-something wife look like a rag doll who went thru WWIII with a burning stick of dynamite up her a** :)
     
cybergoober
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Newport News, VA USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 26, 2006, 08:24 AM
 
Sounds like a permissions issue to me.

BTW - If there is a permissions problem in your account, Disk Utility's Repair Permissions will NOT resolve it.

If you right-click (or control-click) on one of the items in the Dock, is "Remove from Dock" available in the contextual menu? If so, does that work? Are you able to remove items, yet they reappear upon login?
     
bowwowman  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: If I tellz ya, then I gotsta killz ya !
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 26, 2006, 12:52 PM
 
RFD is available and seems to function, but doesnt. The icons go poof like they're supposed to, but are still there, whether I log out, restart or whatever.....
Personally I find it hilarious that you have the hots for my gramma. Especially seeins how she is 3x your age, and makes your Brittney-Spears-wannabe 30-something wife look like a rag doll who went thru WWIII with a burning stick of dynamite up her a** :)
     
Chuckit
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 26, 2006, 01:19 PM
 
If that user is the admin, I don't know how to explain it. But if it's a normal user, there's an option in the user management settings to prevent modifications to the dock.
Chuck
___
"Instead of either 'multi-talented' or 'multitalented' use 'bisexual'."
     
reader50
Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 26, 2006, 02:29 PM
 
Is your Finder quit at the time? Dragging off the Dock doesn't work if the Finder isn't running.
     
bowwowman  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: If I tellz ya, then I gotsta killz ya !
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 26, 2006, 07:15 PM
 
I am the admin, and the finder is running as normal......

somethin screwy goin on here
Personally I find it hilarious that you have the hots for my gramma. Especially seeins how she is 3x your age, and makes your Brittney-Spears-wannabe 30-something wife look like a rag doll who went thru WWIII with a burning stick of dynamite up her a** :)
     
Chuckit
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 26, 2006, 07:17 PM
 
Just to check: Have you tried to drag-and-drop anything else since the problem arose? The drag server might be borked.
Chuck
___
"Instead of either 'multi-talented' or 'multitalented' use 'bisexual'."
     
tooki
Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 26, 2006, 07:47 PM
 
I'd be willing to bet that for some reason, the permissions on the dock preferences file do not include write permission for this user, or the same effect has been achieved because the file is "locked" in the Finder. Fixing this (which cannot be done with Disk Utility) will fix the problem.

tooki
     
Chuckit
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 26, 2006, 08:08 PM
 
Having the file locked won't stop you from poofing things off, though. It'll just make them reappear the next time you log in.
Chuck
___
"Instead of either 'multi-talented' or 'multitalented' use 'bisexual'."
     
himself
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Live at the BBQ
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 26, 2006, 08:39 PM
 
When all else fails, I suggest running the latest combo updater for your OS version. If that fails, I guess you may have a reinstall in your future...
"Bill Gates can't guarantee Windows... how can you guarantee my safety?"
-John Crichton
     
bowwowman  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: If I tellz ya, then I gotsta killz ya !
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 27, 2006, 05:33 AM
 
ok, changed the permissions on the dock prefs, and ran the combo .4.8 updater, no joy
Personally I find it hilarious that you have the hots for my gramma. Especially seeins how she is 3x your age, and makes your Brittney-Spears-wannabe 30-something wife look like a rag doll who went thru WWIII with a burning stick of dynamite up her a** :)
     
cybergoober
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Newport News, VA USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 27, 2006, 07:37 AM
 
Hmmm. Weird stuff. Let's find out if it's the Dock itself, or something screwy in your user account.

Login as another user (create one if another doesn't exist) and see if the problem persists.
     
bowwowman  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: If I tellz ya, then I gotsta killz ya !
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 27, 2006, 01:05 PM
 
same no joy for both accounts

one is admin, the other is not......
Personally I find it hilarious that you have the hots for my gramma. Especially seeins how she is 3x your age, and makes your Brittney-Spears-wannabe 30-something wife look like a rag doll who went thru WWIII with a burning stick of dynamite up her a** :)
     
reader50
Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 27, 2006, 01:39 PM
 
Looks like something messing with the Dock app itself, or with some other core OS component. Those are all in /System/Library/, and very difficult to reach without specific admin permission. Do you have any haxies running, like Application Enhancer (APE)? Do you remember what you installed or did since the last time it worked? Anything that required your Admin password is a good possibility.

If there isn't a hack running, then it's archive-reinstall time.
     
bowwowman  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: If I tellz ya, then I gotsta killz ya !
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 27, 2006, 05:30 PM
 
well I do use Transparent Dock and SpotLess, but nothing else. I looked at permissions on the dock.app, and it is read only, since it is in core services. I unlocked it, but that did not make any difference......

off to archive & re-install now
Personally I find it hilarious that you have the hots for my gramma. Especially seeins how she is 3x your age, and makes your Brittney-Spears-wannabe 30-something wife look like a rag doll who went thru WWIII with a burning stick of dynamite up her a** :)
     
bowwowman  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: If I tellz ya, then I gotsta killz ya !
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 27, 2006, 06:49 PM
 
re-install fixed everything thank goodness!
Personally I find it hilarious that you have the hots for my gramma. Especially seeins how she is 3x your age, and makes your Brittney-Spears-wannabe 30-something wife look like a rag doll who went thru WWIII with a burning stick of dynamite up her a** :)
     
GSixZero
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Seattle, WA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 27, 2006, 07:32 PM
 
Glad it's working, in cases like this I also like to use the broad brush approach...

sudo chown -R <username>:staff /users/<username>

Sometimes permissions are set correctly but for the wrong user. This won't hurt anything and might help.

ImpulseResponse
     
bowwowman  (op)
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: If I tellz ya, then I gotsta killz ya !
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Oct 28, 2006, 02:14 PM
 
yea I started to do that too, but didnt wanna take a chance on screwing up an otherwise perfectly functioning system

But will keep it in mind in case anything like this happens in the future (fingers crossed)

I appreciate everyone's suggestions !
Personally I find it hilarious that you have the hots for my gramma. Especially seeins how she is 3x your age, and makes your Brittney-Spears-wannabe 30-something wife look like a rag doll who went thru WWIII with a burning stick of dynamite up her a** :)
     
   
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:41 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,