Launching cDock causes removal of desktop image, macOS dock, and gray coloring of macOS menu bar.

[DigiDogRob]

Bug Description

After launching cDock 4.5.0 on macOS Monterey:

• Selected desktop picture is not displayed, and the desktop appears solid black.
• The MacOS Dock disappears from the desktop and cannot be restored by toggling between Light and Dark modes.
• The MacOS menu bar background color changes to a solid light grey with white text.

Steps to Reproduce Bug

1. Disable Library Validation.
2. Disable System Integrity Protection.
3. Install cDock 4.5.0 on macOS Monterey (12.6.2).
4. Launch cDock.
5. Once cDock launches, the aforementioned GUI issues present themselves.

Expected Behavior

When launching the cDock app via the Finder:

• Desktop picture is not removed from the desktop.
• MacOS dock is not removed from the desktop.
• MacOS menu bar background color is not changed.

Screenshots

Normal desktop view

Desktop after launching cDock

Desktop

• OS: macOS Monterey (12.6.2)
• App: cDock 4.5.0
• See attached file 20230207-MacBook-Pro-16-System-Report.xml.txt for full system report.

Additional Context

• Upon complete removal of the following cDock files, GUI issues resolve:
  • /Applications/cDock.app
  • /Users/Rob/Library/Application Support/cDock/
  • /Users/Rob/Library/Application Support/com.macenhance.cDock-GUI/
  • /Users/Rob/Library/Caches/com.macenhance.cDock-GUI/
  • /Users/Rob/Library/Preferences/com.macenhance.cDock-GUI.plist
  • /Users/Rob/Library/Preferences/com.macenhance.cDock.plist (if present)
  • /Users/Rob/Library/Preferences/com.macenhance.cDockHelper.plist (if present)

[r3volution11]

I'm not the developer or anything but perhaps you could try v5.0.2? https://github.com/MacEnhance/appcast/tree/master/Beta/cDock

[pinarek122]

r3volution11
Thanks for pointing out cDock beta 5.0.2 but it's the same appearing with the 4.61 inoff version in Ventura 13.2.1 and 13.3 Beta2. After starting cDock black background original dock is gone.

So it doesn't work either, what alternative is there that can do the same thing as cDock?

Thanks for hints
Greeting Pinarek122

[shredthaGNAR]

did uninstalling help return your desktop/wallpaper/dock back to normal, pre install cdock? Or did you find another way to get back to the preinstal state? I uninstalled cdock and am still without dock and wallpaper etc!

[juanmaguerrero]

This is happening to me as well on Monterey 12.6.7 (21G651)

[jakedel]

Happening for me in 5.3.3beta with Ventura 13.6.6 on my M1 Air, only sometimes though.

Whenever the app needs to restart the Dock (or when launching the app), there's a 50-50 chance that it either actually succeeds, or semi-permanently crashes the Dock leaving me with the black background and gray menu bar described here. Restarting the Dock via Terminal won't bring it back.

To "fix this", at least for me — probably due to mobile file integrity — rebooting the Mac (either with Apple»Restart or force reboot) will return the Dock to whatever the last customized state it was in before the crash. I haven't tested cDock on Intel though, so possibly things could be left in a more permanently broken state there.

This means whenever I launch the app when I need to change cDock settings, most of the time I get a black screen and have to annoyingly reboot a few times until I get lucky and it opens properly (it does eventually work).

As a workaround for some of the simpler settings like changing the theme colors or icon alignment, hide the settings window with Cmd+H instead of closing it. (You can also hide cDock's Dock icon with cDock itself too!) This way, the app is always open in the background and I can go back to adjust settings whenever.

However, modifying any of the advanced settings that require a full Dock restart (and most importantly, needing to restart in order to get windows to maximize properly after changing the Dock tile size) still has the same risk of a semi-permanently crash no matter what. Overall makes it very tedious to adjust settings.

Currently evaluating the trial, would 100% buy if this is fixed but currently a pretty big dealbreaker.

Otherwise I am a huge fan of the app, mainly because it lets me finally disable the huge drop shadow around the Dock and take screenshots of windows without messing up colors near the edge (but without needing to hide the Dock as I prefer keeping it onscreen...)