I am running Mac OS X 10.7.5 and the Dock/Mission Control/Desktop functionality is totally broken. My dock is not present after startup so I have to start all applications from Spotlight. I can't even alt-tab between them as the process that controls that function is also down. My desktop is working but the background is permanently stuck on Gray no matter what I change it to.
killall Dock reports that there are no matching processes that belong to me. I have removed the plist and db files for Dock and Desktop (com.apple.{whatever}.plist) in the Preferences folder and rebooted multiple times (both Safe Mode and regular) and nothing will change. Does anyone know what might be wrong? Looking for a solution short of a full reinstall.
Best Answer
I had a similar issue, and running
killall -KILL Dockin terminal worked for me.