MacBook Pro External Monitor Black Out Problem

same here, but on a Macbook (late '08).

Yeah, I should have mentioned...mine is a MacBook too - just bought it...my first Mac. Not as "problem free" as I've been lead to believe.

It appears the problem has gone away by switching to the more powerful video card in the MacBook Pro. The default setting is for the less powerful/less energy consuming card. But, I'm not running intense graphics stuff. This is office software and the browser. I would have expected either card to handle the load.

In the end though, my issue at least has a fix.

This is a common issue, usually with Mini-DisplayPort to DVI adapter plugged into an "unsupported" DVI monitor. Unfortunately "unsupported" seems to includes like half the monitors out there. Various manifestations include periodic blanking, UHF-like snow/flickers, etc. Various workarounds such as sleeping/waking display, unplugging/replugging cable, and switching to 9600M graphics work differently for different people.

There are a number of threads on the Apple boards about this, including here:
http://discussions.apple.com/message....

Call Apple Support immediately and let them know what's happening. The more people who complain about it, the more likely they'll do something about it! Hopefully it's just a driver issue that can be software updated.

Hi !.
Similar problem here.
MacBook, Leopard 10.5.6.
External display lost configuration, and no way to re-detect display type.
I tought this problem gone when upgrading to 10.5.6, but not.
It's very frustrating, I lost hours trying to get it work.
Some times, with luck, it come back "magically", but not always.
I tried everything I read on forums, but nothing is the exact solution.
Tried to talk support people here in Argentina, but they have no solution.
Even more they told me "it's a 'logic card' problem.
No way.
Very frustrating, as Ock62 said, this device is no "problem free".

If it's the Dual-Link DVI adaptor, I've heard much about it's malfunctioning.

Try hooking up the USB plug to a powered USB hub or USB charger/wall wart.

Hi Zack,

In my case, this is not that adapter.
I am using miniDVI to VGA adapter.
(http://store.apple.com/us/product/M93...)

Last time I lost external display (2 days ago, when writing my last comment) I couldn fix it.
But, suddenly after about 2 hours, it fixed up alone.

If I reboot, close or suspend the Macbook I will loose it again.
This is a fact.

This behavior began after some upgrade I could not identify.
So, I am convinced this is a OS X issue.

May be apple do some something sometime ....

Let me put this issue to rest:

IF YOU HAVE A BRAND NEW MBP, and you are using a dvi adapter. YOU MUST switch over your Engery Saver System preference to: "Graphics: Higher Performance". Otherwise the flicker, jagged, scratchy screen issues will persist. This is a by-product of the new-fangled "dual video card" scenario, and again ONLY PERTAINS TO THE NEW MBP's.

Hi, thanks for your comment.

I hope really put this issue to rest, it took me very much time of work ...
My problem is with a MB, not a MBP, less than a year old.

Will Apple even just acknowledge there is a problem. There's thousands of us out there waiting for a fix with all manner of macbooks but they keep quiet :(

I lost any hope apple get it seriously.
I accepted it, so I decided setup external display as better as possible.
Max resolution for this Viewsonic VA1703wb is 1440x990.
I set it up 1280x768 and started to work.

This is funny:
Two days ago, I let this MB alone, I went to other place for a while.
When coming back, wow !, surprise: Display was in 1440x990 !!!.
But, it was for little time.
After a reboot all became "normal": not working.

More "funny" history arround this issue:
Today my MB was in "undetected/lost display mode".

I needed to go out of office.
I disconected cables, then get MB to sleep.
Wen out.
I opend MB on 2 WiFi places. All OK.

Returned to office, plugin all cables, then got MB awake.
And, sorprise again, the external display was "detected as might be".

This machine has a terrible temperament.
It only do what it wants.

As we can see, every thing arround this (apple-unkown) issue is completely random.

still have this problem. screen went to black even as I typed this note. ugh! may return MacBook for refund and wait this one out.

I have a later 2008 Aluminium MacBook connected to an HP 24" via Mini DisplayPort to VGA.

I get blackouts as described before. My other problem is I have a light bleed running across the screen as if the light from a finder window is so intense it ghosts across the desktop!

I know it's not the monitor as I had it connected to a Win laptop with no issues at all.

I'm going to add this to the Apple support forums now.

this sucks!
I have been a mac user since the 90's....but this is crazy.
I'm also suspicious. I have a late 2007 macbook pro 2.4 and I have had it hooked up to an external 30 inch Dell monitor for almost 2 years with no problems...was perfect!

until I did software update 2 weeks ago.

now my Dell turns black in the middle of intricate work, without warning....and now, it won't even show anything....black permanently.

yet Mac software and Windows both recognize it with options for resolution etc.
when unplugged fom the computer the monitor does it's test colors so all fine there.
I'm losing work over this.
Mac ....you better do something or you'll here from me.

Hi guys. I'm sorry to hear I'm not the only one with this problem, and even more sorry that I can't seem to find a fix for it.

I have a mid 2008's MacBook Pro with OS X 10.5.6 installed.

These are the things I tried to fix it, to no avail:

* Bought a new DVI cable. Didn't help.
* Plugged in monitor during startup, after startup, after sleep, during sleep. Nothing works.
* Bought a DVI -> HDMI cable with a HDMI -> DVI adapter (crazy, I know, but I'm pretty desparate here). Doesn't work on either side.

I'm now going out to buy a VGA -> DVI adapter. I'll let you know if it works...

Update:
Ok. now I am completely frustrated. I tried hooking up my MBP with the VGA -> DVI adapter, but it still doesn't work... :(:(:(

For me the issue goes away when using my MacBook w/ DVI attached to a Samsung 22" LCD.

Note that stock DVI->VGA Adapters (at least the ones I've seen) don't fit with the pin configuration on the miniDP->DVI cable. Make sure you take a good look at the pins.

I was fuming before but was able to fix mine ...on my own.

4 days ago the problem went from monitor blacking out to full non-recovery black-out....then the macbook itself went black...couldn't even see screen when I booted from install disc..... was on phone to support and they recommended bringing it in.

what worked for me.....clearing p-ram cache...rebooting 4 times with P, R, option and command pressed.
I had image on MacBook back.....then went to disc utility and verified all permissions....and wow, it found a lot of minor permissions that needed resetting.

I turned on the Dell 30 inch and presto!....it's like there was never a problem.
also had to go back into windows using bootcamp and reset nvidea settings for Dell

hope that works for someone else too...( though my connection is DVI and the Dell 30 is dual link DVI )

Aaargh, I got the VGA -> DVI thing working, but now I can't get the right resolution to display. It only displays up to 1280x1024, but I have a Viewsonix VX2025wm that has a native resolution of 1680x1050.

I think my head may explode tonight...

For the last time, before I stop following this thread: On the newer MBP's (Glass Screen / Latest Form-Factor).

MAKE SURE YOU'VE MODIFIED THESE SETTINGS:

System Preferences > Energy Saver > Graphics > Higher Performance

If your new MBP is set to "Better Battery Life", the new "latest & greatest" video card that's in these laptops will shit the bed when you attach an external video display. This has everything to do with the new onboard PLUS separate video cards. The new MBP has 1 of each. Better Battery Option forces the use of the onboard video, thereby overworking the card if you have an external display attached.

The fix I posted above was for a late 2007 - early 2008 model

forgot to mention

werm42, there are plenty of people (myself included) that have this problem whith the graphics set to 'better performance.' Settle down lest people assume you're a troll.

You guys (and gals)! I have found a solution for my problem. I'm not sure if it is the solution, but it has worked for me. My god, the last 24 hours have been hell for me, what a relief this is.

I'll explain my exact problem and the steps I took to solve it.

Problem
I have a Viewsonic VX2025wm hooked up to my MacBook Pro (mid 2008 version), in 'clam shell' mode. Yesterday, my girlfriend opened opened the laptop, pressed the power button, put it to sleep and closed the lid.

When pressed spacebar on my external keyboard to awake the OS, my display remained black. The laptop made an 'error' noise and went back to sleep. I tried restarting it, tried hooking up several cables (VGA cable with VGA -> DVI converter, HDMI to DVI with HDMI -> DVI converter), but that didn't work. The VGA cable gave a signal, but I couldn't get OS X to detect the native resolution (1680 x 1050) and instead displayed a horrible 1280x1024 at max.

Solution
Today I took my MBP and display to work. I took my work monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 203B) and hooked it up to my closed, powered-off MBP with a single-link DVI connector. I opened the lid, pressed the power button and immediately closed the lid again (like I always do when working in clam shell mode).

Eureka!

OS X started up while displaying everything on the external display. It recognized the display as a Samsung (or SyncMaster, I can't remember) and displayed everything in native resolution.

I turned off the laptop, unplugged the DVI connector from the display, connected my ViewSonic and started up the MBP in the same manner (open lid, press power button, close lid).

Eureka again!

I'm at home now, typing away while looking at my ViewSonic in native resolution. I'm a happy man again, though I'm quite unsatisfied about the way Apple not seeming to handle this huge problem.

So, if your external display suddenly stopped working, try hooking it up to a friend's / roommate's / family member's display to 'reset' the external output of your Mac.

Let me know if someone else could solve their problem this way!

I had this problem too: new MBP hooked up to Samsung Syncmaster with a miniDP to VGA adapter. Monitor kept going black every few minutes--very frustrating. Then I found the solution here: http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/i...
All you have to do is to install SwitchResX (http://www.madrau.com/) and set both computer screen and external monitor to run only at 60 Hz. Works like a charm. No more blackouts!!!! Plus SwitchResX gives you a lot more options for view settings. Well worth the $14.

So I don't feel that we should be required to switch to the "high performance" just for an external monitor... Besides this is VERY annoying - as you have to logout + close all applications first - I don't want to do this daily (especially when i have parallels running = I have to wait for it to power down then log off)

My old macbook, and my macbook pro gen 2 didn't have any problems w/this screen - so it is the new macbook pro

Problem on my MacBook persists, external display in this case does not get black, but get configuration lost.
Some times I spend very much time, rebooting, redetecting, sleeping-awaking, etc, and nothing.
Then, all of the sudden, this macbook "decides" bring external display config back, at it's will.

Every time I need to go out with the macbook, I suffer thinking on what I will find

I am absolutely convinced this is a problem on Lepoard. When using Tiger, I never had this problem.

Kevin,

Thanks so much for this solution! I have a MBP 2.4Ghz, and have struggled with this problem with my Acer 22" for months. By doing the Energy Saver Preferences trick, it got fixed on the spot; thanks!

There's an 'official' solution since May 6! Just download the firmware update for the MiniDisplayPort-to-VGA and voila. I did it few weeks ago and everything is perfect++

You can download the firmware update here: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx...

I bought a refurbished MBP from Apple in late 2008. It does not have a MiniDVI port, just a regular one. I have been having the flicker problem with monitors hooked up to the the DVI adapter. I tried downloading the above firmware update, but it doesn't help. Also, with regard to an earlier post, when I go to:

System Preferences > Energy Saver

I don't see a 'Graphics' option. Any ideas on what to do? The problem is getting worse.

Same problem here. And I don't have the Display option in my Energy Saver preferences. So what do I do??

Hi Kevin,

Are you using the Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter? If yes, try this update:
http://support.apple.com/downloads/Mi...

If your answer is no, when your external display flicker, have noticed if your main display also flickers?

Regards

I had this issue for a while with a late 2008 MBP and a 24" LED Cinema Display but only the secondary display would go black. I tried all sorts of resets and eventually tried a fresh install of the OS as well. Apple replaced the display but it wasn't until they replaced the laptop that the problem went away.

IMO, I think it's a problem with the video card. Mine only happened when I had been on the computer for a while and been working in Ps CS4 or Aperture for an extended period of time. When the graphic card was stressed, the problem would pop up and then gradually get worse. The display eventually started shutting off completely and I couldn't get it to come back on unless I let the computer cool for a while.

I know NVIDIA had issues with the solder they used. This would also explain the erratic behavior but similar symptoms between all of these computers using the newer NVIDIA cards. Whether they're the integrated only or the 9600 & 9400 combined.

I've just purchased replaced my 2.53 Ghz machine with the newer 2.8 Ghz version. Still the same 512MB 9600GT card. Tonight, I got the same flicker the late 2008 machine started experiencing.

I have bought my MacBook Pro with Snow Leapord OS just last month and its not even a month that I had 2 issues.
1. Within 2 weeks found a grey slanting line somewhere between Help and the Airport icons on the display. The authorised service provider had no idea what the problem was..they got the Display changed.
2. The day I got the defect rectified my Laptop started to Black out while I was working and makes a processor sound and comes back to the active screen.
Its very frustrating and was not expected from a Apple product.
Lets see what the Service provider suggests tomorrow.

Same problem here. New 2.8Ghz machine bought summer 09. Actually bought two. Both computers do the same thing. (17" MBP) I've tried using the more powerful card (and yes I know you have to at least log out to get the card to switch) I've even tried powering down. This did NOT fix the problem. That is not an acceptable fix anyway. Dual monitors on a laptop isn't new. My older laptops work fine with this 24" Acer at 1920x1080.

I have tried both mini-DV to DVI and to VGA. Both exhibit the same symptoms. I also see more blanking when the card works harder. (at least it seems that way)

I resolved this with the DVI-to-VGA adapter upgrade but the problem appeared again with the upgrade to Snow Leopard (MacBook 2.4Ghz '09).

What I do -and works every single time- is to open Preferences->Displays and check "Mirror Displays". At this point the monitor 'awakes' again and I proceed to uncheck the mirror option to have the extended mode again, everything normal -the only downside: It's no that easy when I have the dock in the secondary display.. sometimes the "gather windows" option doesn't work-.

Hope this works for others. It's a simple solution but it's really a shame to do this every day. Apple should work in another update soon.

grundum - Thank, I tried it, but no joy. I decided to call Apple. They had me reset the SMC and the PRAM. That didn't work either. They sent me up to a higher level tech. He said it is a known problem with Snow Leopard and the problem is considered hi priority by apple to fix. So until then he said to check for any Nvidia driver updates. Interesting is that when I dual boot into windows I never see the problem on the windows side. I even played a 3d graphics game (COD4) for several hours to really tax the hardware. Never blanked once on the second monitor. So I'd say it is definitely a driver problem in OSx.