Lion: Dock settings revert after logging out or restarting

I'm having problem with my user account in Lion. I want to remove some of the icons in the dock. Every time I sign out the dock will be "restored". Not to factory settings but always to the same appearance. I'm not really sure if this behaviour started when I upgraded Snow Leopard or before. Upgrading to Lion did not solve the problem. The behaviour even applies to some general settings and some Application. Adjustments just wont survive reboot.

To me, it feels like some permission glitch?

• New user accounts works fine
• Using the disk utility, repair permission didn't solve the problem
• Clearing the Libary/Chache didn't do anything

Solution 1:

Yes this sounds like a permissions problem - probably the permissions on the Dock's settings files are wrong.

The easiest way to fix it is to delete these files. You'll find the config file at

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist

Make a change to the dock and it will then regenerate them with the correct permissions. Do note that you shouldn't lose your Dock settings this way, but it is a possibility. In any case, the Dock is easy to configure back the way you want it.

If that doesn't work, try deleting:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.db

as well.

Hint: A clue that the permissions on them are wrong is if OS X prompts for a password when you try to delete these files - it shouldn't.

Solution 2:

I really think it has to do with this issue https://discussions.apple.com/message/15844450#15844450 (Problem deleting files - Lion prompts for password)

After I changed the permissions for my home dir (follow the link) things looks and works ok. Time will tell if there is more to it, hopefully not.

Thanks for your time.