Strange transparency issue dock folders 10.10.5

[H-P.]

Hi there,

I am a long-time reader of this forum, but I decided to make an account to discuss the following:

I recently clean installed Yosemite 10.10.5 on a new HDD (spinning) in my late 2011 Macbook Pro. For years I had Snow Leopard installed and it was great, but due to compatibility issues and slow browsing I made the step to Yosemite.

I must say it's all working great, but I notice strange color differences when navigating through my dock "stack" folders (applications, documents and downloads) when they pop open after being clicked/tapped on. When the cursor is moving to a file with a long name it creates a white label. Depending on the background this label leaves an even bigger white "area" or border behind resulting in white blocks on a grey-ish transparent background.

When the transparency is reduced in system preferences it's a non-issue, but then the dock is too bright for my liking. So I would very much like to know if other people are experiencing the same and whether it's something that can be fixed.

Ooh before I forget: I experienced this issue on multiple installments of 10.10.5 (on the same device). So it seems re-installing doesn't do the trick.

Thanks in advance!

PS: added a picture for evidence.

Update: someone told me to do a PRAM-reset, so I did. For a moment I thought there was improvement, but unfortunately not.

Update 2: When I move the dock to the left-side of de screen the problem doesn't seem to occur. So the problem is mostly visible on the right-side of the screen, on both macbook pro and external monitor.

Perhaps hardware related? Or a strange bug in Yosemite?

I hope there's a fix for this, because it looks kind of awful once you know it's there. I hope my machine is alright.

 

[H-P.]

Anyone?

I did hardware tests to be sure and it turns out a memory module went wrong. Could this be the problem? I want to make sure before I get some new RAM.

Thanks

 

[CoastalOR]

Anyone?

I did hardware tests to be sure and it turns out a memory module went wrong. Could this be the problem? I want to make sure before I get some new RAM.
Thanks

Since AHT identified that RAM had a problem then I would replace it and retest.

Some video distortion problems have been attributed to dGPU problems with 2011 MBPs. I do not know if your MBP has Radeon discrete GPU, but if it does and it becomes a problem then the logic board would have to be replaced. Apple has an extended Warranty replacement program for that failure. See MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues.

 

[H-P.]

@CoastalOR
Thanks, I will. The memory is probably replaced in warranty as it has "lifetime warranty".
At the same time I will ask about the issue to make sure. I had the motherboard already replaced last year because of GPU problems so I hope I don't need another.

 

[VanNess]

Your machine is fine. It's a Yosemite bug. I get the same thing on my 2010 iMac. Issue has been present since 10.10.4 and maybe earlier

 

[CoastalOR]

Your machine is fine. It's a Yosemite bug. I get the same thing on my 2010 iMac. Issue has been present since 10.10.4 and maybe earlier

VanNess: Are you saying that a memory problem detected by a (Apple?) hardware test (post #2) is a bug in Yosemite or just the color differences (post #1) or both?

 

[H-P.]

@VanNess Thanks for your response! That's a relief. On the other hand I think it's rather surprising that a bug like that (still) presents itself in such a late version of Yosemite. And on the right-side of the screen only.
By the way, would a reinstall of Yosemite solve the issue?

@CoastalOR I am sure I still need to replace my RAM

 

[VanNess]

VanNess: Are you saying that a memory problem detected by a (Apple?) hardware test (post #2) is a bug in Yosemite or just the color differences (post #1) or both?

Post number 1

 

[VanNess]

@VanNess Thanks for your response! That's a relief. On the other hand I think it's rather surprising that a bug like that (still) presents itself in such a late version of Yosemite. And on the right-side of the screen only.
By the way, would a reinstall of Yosemite solve the issue?

@CoastalOR I am sure I still need to replace my RAM

Reinstalling is generally a big waste of time. I keep the dock bottom center and see the issue with file names generally for files displayed on the right portion of the grid.

 

[VanNess]

A little update to the issue regarding stacks and hovering the cursor over the file to see the long file name - apparently if you enable dark mode there is no issue with a "border" around the file name so if you can handle dark mode it's a fix for that.

 

[H-P.]

Thanks for your suggestion VanNess! I have tried dark mode, but in my case it makes the issue only less visible due to the black background. So it's still there unfortunately. Reducing transparency does make it go away completely for me. But, I decided not to let it bother me anymore (although a complete fix would be nice ).

 

[Ashton1]

Thanks for your suggestion VanNess! I have tried dark mode, but in my case it makes the issue only less visible due to the black background. So it's still there unfortunately. Reducing transparency does make it go away completely for me. But, I decided not to let it bother me anymore (although a complete fix would be nice ).

Well, this is an old thread, but I've been having this same issue with a MacBook Pro (Late 2011) running OS High Sierra (10.13.5) and I fixed it based on a suggestion to recalibrate the display System Pref/ Display / Color and then recalibrate choosing "Native White Point" (which ended up being really close to D65 anyway on my machine).
Might be worth a try.