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There is an extremely annoying bug in OS X with a non-Apple mouse where every time I reboot I have to go into ~/Library/Preferences and delete com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist, logout, then reset my buttons for Expose and Spaces.

This bug has been around for years now, and Apple refuses to fix it so I'm trying to figure out a way to make starting up a less painful experience. I think it would be bearable if I could just scrap symbolichotkeys and refresh without having to logout. Is there a command or AppleScript that could accomplish this?

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I'd be interested in knowing more about what bug and what non-Apple mouse you have where this occurs. Turns out that I've been using OS X since the early betas 95% of the time using non-Apple mice (different ones) and never ever had to delete that plist and/or restart or reset my buttons. And trust me when I tell you that I've used a lot of different mice. My only time with an Apple mouse was when I got a Magic Mouse with this Mac Pro, which I used for probably a couple of weeks before I threw it in the trash (not literally, my brother was happy about it). – Martín Marconcini May 30 '11 at 8:28
After you do the desired changes to .plist open the Terminal and run killall Finder. With that you can avoid restarting your . As @Martin said, I have also been using MS mice for a while and never had such a problem with my . – karmatic May 30 '11 at 8:52
@karmatic Yeah, the restart seems like too much trouble anyway, but I'd like to know what the problem is, because I've actually never had to deal with that .plist in my entire OSX's career. In fact, right now I have a Razer Naga with 17 buttons… ;) – Martín Marconcini May 30 '11 at 9:59
The bug shows itself when I'm using either my Logitech M500 or Razer Death Adder. – Garrett Jun 17 '11 at 21:11
Does the problem also occur when you boot your Mac without any services etc. enabled? USB mice should work out of the box, you don't need any drivers etc. – patrix♦ Sep 27 '11 at 6:05

1 Answer

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You can restart the SystemUIServer by killing the process in Activity Monitor. It will auto restart. I think that should give you the desired effect without a reboot/logout.

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This handles the menu bar at the top of the screen. I'm curious why you think that will fix the mouse. – Nathan Greenstein♦ May 30 '11 at 14:01
Cause its the same thing you have to kill to get keyboard shortcuts working, all kinda the same? – Lyken May 30 '11 at 23:43
keyboard shortcuts are more menu-centric than mouse movement, but I suppose this is still worth a shot. – Nathan Greenstein♦ May 31 '11 at 2:30
No luck with this solution. It sounded so right too, darn. Thanks for the suggestion. – Garrett Jun 17 '11 at 21:12
I tried this, and it didn't work for me either, even though I was only trying to get keyboard shortcuts working. – Paul Wagland Aug 11 '11 at 20:39

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