No matter what I do the dashboard is devoid of widgets. There is no (+) button for the widget bar. It doesn't matter if I use the dashboard icon in the dock, the actice screen corner, or the keyboard shortcut. I can log into the mac as another user and the dashboard works fine. I am new to mac and I am afraid of trying to reinstall anything for fear of wiping all the settings and files already on the machine. This is a macbook pro, mac OS X v10.4.11 , 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo, 2GM SDRAM. The account I am using has administrative rights as well. I am at a loss. I tried looking on mac's web site but could only find help for adding and removing widgets. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
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Dashboard is completely blank!
- Thread starter tbaxter
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No matter what I do the dashboard is devoid of widgets. There is no (+) button for the widget bar. It doesn't matter if I use the dashboard icon in the dock, the actice screen corner, or the keyboard shortcut. I can log into the mac as another user and the dashboard works fine. I am new to mac and I am afraid of trying to reinstall anything for fear of wiping all the settings and files already on the machine. This is a macbook pro, mac OS X v10.4.11 , 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo, 2GM SDRAM. The account I am using has administrative rights as well. I am at a loss. I tried looking on mac's web site but could only find help for adding and removing widgets. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Have you tried removing Dashboard's preference list? That'd be a good place to start. Go to your user folder, then Library, Preferences, and look for something like com.apple.Dashboard.plist and delete it. You might need to log off and log on as well.
Still no dice
I tried restarting => nope
I tried searching for dashboard => few files but not the previously mentioned com. file
I tried installing a widget => I now have a "widgets" folder, with that widget listed, in the library folder under my username. But, the dashboard is still blank. When I open the dashboard the desktop grays out like normal but nothing appears. Also, it only stays that way for a few seconds then it just goes away and my desktop returns to normal.
I tried restarting => nope
I tried searching for dashboard => few files but not the previously mentioned com. file
I tried installing a widget => I now have a "widgets" folder, with that widget listed, in the library folder under my username. But, the dashboard is still blank. When I open the dashboard the desktop grays out like normal but nothing appears. Also, it only stays that way for a few seconds then it just goes away and my desktop returns to normal.
Better than nothing
I kind of got a workaround. I logged on as a user with a working dashboard. I copied those "com.apple.dashboard" files to another location accessible from my logon. I then logged back on as myself. Moved the copied files to my preferences folder and PRESTO! I have a dashboard with widgets and a widget bar. There is a caveat to this fix. None of the widgets packaged with OSX work. I can't get them to show up on the dashboard. I can add and remove any downloaded widgets with out issue. My next test is to copy the standard widgets from the main widget folder to my local widget folder and see if they are useable. I will post my results.
Trie id and it didn't work. Anyone with some ideas on getting the standard widgets working speak up
I kind of got a workaround. I logged on as a user with a working dashboard. I copied those "com.apple.dashboard" files to another location accessible from my logon. I then logged back on as myself. Moved the copied files to my preferences folder and PRESTO! I have a dashboard with widgets and a widget bar. There is a caveat to this fix. None of the widgets packaged with OSX work. I can't get them to show up on the dashboard. I can add and remove any downloaded widgets with out issue. My next test is to copy the standard widgets from the main widget folder to my local widget folder and see if they are useable. I will post my results.
Trie id and it didn't work. Anyone with some ideas on getting the standard widgets working speak up