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Is Your Menu Bar Translucent (Poll) - Trying to Find a Trend

dr_lha said:
We know that it can do the "translucency" effect (transparancy + blur) because it does it in the menus!

But I agree that seems to be the trend.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Also, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with Core Image.

I did some messing around with Quartz Debug and have found that the blurring is done by Quartz Extreme and not Core Image. Everything being said in this thread leads me to believe there may be a driver bug with the Nvidia 5200 series for OS X because it's clearly capable of these effects.

Picture Left: QE disabled
Picture Right: QE enabled
 

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PPC G5 (PM PCIe) | 2.3 GHz | 5.5 GB RAM | Radeon X1900 256 MB | TRANSPARENT
PPC G4 (PB) | 1.67 GHz | 1.5 GB RAM | Radeon Mobility 9700 128 MB | TRANSPARENT
PPC G4 (MM) | 1.42 GHz | 1.0 GB RAM | Radeon 9200 32 MB | NO TRANSPARENCY

The Radeon 9200 has software Core Image and I used Erase and Install on all but the PB (upgrade).
 
PowerBook G4 - no translucent menu bar

I did an "erase and intall" of Leopard on my PPC PowerBook G4 15" (Model Identifier: "PowerBook5,6"), 1.5GHz, 1GB RAM, 64MB VRAM

I have NO transparent/translucent menu bar. It is an opaque grey-white.

I wondered what all the fuss was about!

Why don't I get the transparent menu? :confused:
 
20" iMac G5, 1.8 GHz, GeForce FX 5200 (64 MB vRAM): No Transparency

I called Apple Support yesterday regarding the lack of transparency in my menu bar. The support rep acted like she initially hadn't heard of the issue, but admitted the menu bar should be transparent in my computer. She then put me on hold, presumably to find out more.

When she returned, she told me the following: A bug is responsible for the lack of transparency in my menu bar, and that Apple's engineers are already aware of the issue and working on a fix. She claims that this will be among the issues addressed in 10.5.1, which she said to look for "in two to four weeks."

I hope this helps others with a GeForce FX 5200 who might have felt that they've been left in the lurch.
 
Sbrocket said:
If you're using dark backgrounds, then the menu bar will appear opaque. Its not really completely opaque, its just the dark background. For example, if you made a completely black background with the bright yellow strip down the center, the whole menu bar would appear opaque except around the yellow part.
Click to expand...
Not really. One of my darker pictures worked well with the Menu Bar (the image was actually visible underneath it) but another lighter picture didn't work at all. Like I said, for me, it's been rather hit or miss.

shlauncha said:
Urmm.. mine changes depending on the background.
Click to expand...
:rolleyes: Question is, is it consistant and opaque as it should be?
 
Maniamac said:
20" iMac G5, 1.8 GHz, GeForce FX 5200 (64 MB vRAM): No Transparency

I called Apple Support yesterday regarding the lack of transparency in my menu bar. The support rep acted like she initially hadn't heard of the issue, but admitted the menu bar should be transparent in my computer. She then put me on hold, presumably to find out more.

When she returned, she told me the following: A bug is responsible for the lack of transparency in my menu bar, and that Apple's engineers are already aware of the issue and working on a fix. She claims that this will be among the issues addressed in 10.5.1, which she said to look for "in two to four weeks."

I hope this helps others with a GeForce FX 5200 who might have felt that they've been left in the lurch.
Click to expand...
Excellent. Now let's hope she wasn't misunderstanding something and that they really are working to fix the bug.
 
Maniamac said:
When she returned, she told me the following: A bug is responsible for the lack of transparency in my menu bar, and that Apple's engineers are already aware of the issue and working on a fix. She claims that this will be among the issues addressed in 10.5.1, which she said to look for "in two to four weeks."
Click to expand...
Called it!

Thanks for the info BTW.

QuarterSwede said:
Exactly. Also, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with Core Image.

I did some messing around with Quartz Debug and have found that the blurring is done by Quartz Extreme and not Core Image.
Click to expand...
That isn't quite true. I believe disabling Quartz Extreme will also disable Hardware Accelerated Core Image, because one of the clear markers of a Hardware Accelerated Core Image capable computer is the Dashboard "Ripple". Trying what you did the ripple went away on my MBP (presumably because turning of Quartz Extreme means CoreImage reverts to Software emulation, which turns of "hard" stuff like the ripple).

Note that turning off Quartz Extreme also had the effect of turning off menubar translucency.
 
PPC G4 (IB) 12"| 1.2 GHz | 512 MB RAM | Radeon Mobility 9200 32 MB | NON-TRANSPARENT
 
Powerbook G4 17"| 1.33 GHz | 2GB RAM | Radeon Mobility 9600 64 MB | TRANSPARENT
 
Mac Pro| 3 GHz | 8GB RAM | ATI Radeon X1900 XT | TRANSPARENCY
PPC G5| 1.8 GHz | 1.5GB RAM | GEFORCE FX 5200 64MB | NO TRANSPARENCY
 
Intel Core 2 Duo (MacBookPro) | 2.4 GHz | 4GB RAM | GeForce 8600M GT
| TRANSPARENT

and my partners

PPC PowerBook G4 | 1.5 GHz | 512 RAM | ??? | TRANSPARENT


(??? Ill try to update this when I get home... just got new RAM in the mail for the PB today)

Im guessing its a driver because my partners PowerBook seems like one of the few that has a transparent menu bar.
 
12" Powerbook | PPC G4| 1.5 GHz | 768MB RAM | GEFORCE FX 5200 64MB | Not transparent
 
PPC iMac G5 | 1.8 GHz | 1GB | NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 w/ 64 MB VRAM | NO TRANSPARENCY
 
Someone on Apple's discussion boards has pointed out that there is now an Apple Support Doc regarding the (non)translucent menu bar at:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306894

It states: "Your Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard menu bar may appear solid in color, instead of translucent. The translucent Leopard menu bar appears on computers that are equipped with a graphics card which is compatible with Core Image."

Looks like there should be an asterisk after that with a "'Cept for you ol' GeForce FX 5200 users" disclaimer until 10.5.1 rolls out! :p

Anyway I suppose this is important inasmuch as it's a written, though sort of roundabout, confirmation of a bug.
 
I have two Macs to report on...

PPC G4 | 1.2 GHz | 1.25 GB | ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 w/ 32 MB VRAM | NO TRANSPARENCY

Intel Core Duo | 1.83 GHz | 2.0 GB | Intel GMA 950 w/ 64 MB VRAM (shared) | TRANSPARENCY
 
Just thought I'd add my $.02 to the pot.

iBook G4 12" | 1.33GHz | 1.5GB RAM | ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 (32MB) | Transparent

Mac Mini | 1.83GHz C2D | 1GB RAM | Intel GMA 950 | Transparent
 
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