lebungleski

Q: Apple Cinema Display 23" - Blank Screen, "short-long-short" LED code

Hello everyone.
This sounds like something of an epidemic... My Apple Cinema 23" HD Display (bought Dec. 2007) hasn't been turning on after a power outage hit our area last week.

The Computer and Display were OFF when the outage occurred. Everything was plugged into a surge suppressor. Everything ELSE plugged in to the suppressor is fine (including my Mac CPU)... but not the monitor.
It’s not dead-dead…. It’s a blank screen but there IS a morse-code flash on the LED (short-long-short). According to Apple Support’s LED Translation, it SHOULD be something to do with the power adaptor. The adaptor IS correct… a 90 watt… but just in case I bought ANOTHER 90w adaptor brick. I plugged the monitor to the new brick. THE RESULT WAS THE SAME.

I’ve tried power cycling, I’ve tried plugging it into different outlets, I’ve tried connecting to other computers. The same LED result remains.

And, yes, of course, I’ve got no Apple Support, and from what I read in similar posts, outside-the-warranty repairs could hit around $400. I REFUSE!

For now I have a Samsung monitor from Costco. It’s not bad, but it’s not the Apple monitor with its awesome color-fidelity.

I've read some other posts with the same problem (LED blink code and all) elsewhere but haven't got a solid answer.
I wonder… has anyone else incurring this same problem (with the same LED flashing deal) tried to use a 150-WATT adaptor brick? I would try this myself, but I’m currently financially unable (and personally unwilling) to throw more cash at this problem unless I know it’ll fix it.

Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on Jul 18, 2009 7:03 PM

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Q: Apple Cinema Display 23" - Blank Screen, "short-long-short" LED code

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  • by ChippewaFalls,

    ChippewaFalls ChippewaFalls Apr 9, 2011 7:32 PM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apr 9, 2011 7:32 PM in response to lebungleski
    Just wanted to add my display to the list. Hope Apple get's it that this is more then just a couple of monitors.

    I tried to work with the Service end of Apple and since I was 3 months out of coverage the will not do anything about it. Went to a service center located in my area that does Apple repair work. They taped the center pin and got my monitor working. But the inverter card is damaged and in all these cases it could be a short lived fix.
  • by First 50 Mac Owners,

    First 50 Mac Owners First 50 Mac Owners Apr 11, 2011 2:27 AM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Apr 11, 2011 2:27 AM in response to lebungleski
    So if we know that inverter has turned off to protect itself, and the blocking of the pins will bypass the grounding circuit, question is HOW do we reset the inverter, so that it will allow normal operations.?
  • by thomaskymn,

    thomaskymn thomaskymn Apr 12, 2011 9:25 PM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 12, 2011 9:25 PM in response to lebungleski
    Can doing the 'paper trick' on the grounding pin cause issues to the user such as an electric shock from the actual monitor since there is no proper grounding? I dont' think anyone's answered that question yet. Also then, what's giving off the faulty voltage info to the inverter board for it to shut off? Is it the cable issue then? Anyone have any ideas? Thanks.
  • by chijim70,

    chijim70 chijim70 Apr 26, 2011 10:59 AM in response to jakobeon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 26, 2011 10:59 AM in response to jakobeon

    Stone cold brilliant. With hamburger hands and sausage fingers I used some small scissors to make a little very thin not very long strip into the smallest W and managed to get the thing back together and BAM it works! You sir are a life saver! You can't see it either. Cheers to you Jakobeon!

  • by LGC7777,

    LGC7777 LGC7777 Apr 26, 2011 7:53 PM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 26, 2011 7:53 PM in response to lebungleski

    I took my 23 inch display to an Apple store. Genius informed me it would be a flat rate of $399.00...of course I declined.

     

    Jakobeon, thank you so much. Your trick fixed my display.

     

    FYI - I used electrical tape.

  • by LeJaguar,

    LeJaguar LeJaguar May 9, 2011 8:27 AM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 9, 2011 8:27 AM in response to lebungleski

    If anyone finds this thread and has skipped to the end, of course, we all know Jakobeon was correct.  As for the execution of the covering that pin, I found an easy way, just need a pair of scissors and a credit card (or similar card).  It's as easy as cutting a tiny strand of thread, bending it into a u-shape, and covering up the middle prong.

     

    If any one wants details, or photos, I'll be happy to create it - it worked, and took me only seconds.  cpworange(at)me.com

  • by Trisolo,

    Trisolo Trisolo May 23, 2011 1:25 AM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (65 points)
    May 23, 2011 1:25 AM in response to lebungleski

    I've got a 3.5 year old 20" and got the short-long-short after uplugging during a lightening storm. Blocked the middle contact with a sliver of masking tape and voila!.. back in operation.

     

    This thread is nearly 2 years old and there are only a couple of reports of possible over heating, but they have not been definitely linked to covering the centre pin. So I'm assuming this is a stable solution. But I'm considering getting a 150w brick anyway... just in case. I would like to keep this monitor a few more years and am a bit concerned about disrupting its normal operation.

     

    It would be great if anyone who has had problems since blocking the pin would report here.

     

    And a big Thank You Jakobeon! I can't help wonder how you thought to try this?

  • by aphilldo,

    aphilldo aphilldo May 25, 2011 2:51 PM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 25, 2011 2:51 PM in response to lebungleski

    Thanks for the fix. I too would like to know if anybody has longterm issues with this fix.

  • by chijim70,

    chijim70 chijim70 May 25, 2011 7:09 PM in response to aphilldo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 25, 2011 7:09 PM in response to aphilldo

    I've been using it fixed like that for over a month and not a problem since. It's a pin for a sensor that obviously commonly goes bad. Why Apple hasn't recalled it is beyond me. Must just not care...

  • by Trisolo,

    Trisolo Trisolo May 25, 2011 11:30 PM in response to chijim70
    Level 1 (65 points)
    May 25, 2011 11:30 PM in response to chijim70

    After 3 days, all is well. Only differences are that on waking, restart, etc. the image now drops down from the top of the screen- takes about a second and the led is not operating normally. It no longer fades in and out during sleep, it stays full on... and is out during operation. And I had to recalibrate, it was way off after applying the "fix".

  • by James Kayten,

    James Kayten James Kayten Jun 11, 2011 2:21 PM in response to Trisolo
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 11, 2011 2:21 PM in response to Trisolo

    I just recovered my 23" cinema display with a 1"x1/8" strip of paper.  That instead of the the 399 fix by apple or throwing the thing away.   There's something wrong with this.   With over two years of reports of the short-long-short flashing light/black screen, apple should have offered some kind of fix for the converter cable.   I pay the good money so I don't have such 3rd rate problems.

  • by jeroplex,

    jeroplex jeroplex Jun 17, 2011 7:21 PM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2011 7:21 PM in response to lebungleski

    Has anyone tried to power on with the casing open? I had a samsung monitor that would not display but with the casing open it would power on and work fine but whe ni closed the case it would not display. I found out the inverter was shorting out on some metal/foil inside. So once i isolated the inverter with electric tape the monitor worked with the case closed. So i wonder if the cinema display would work fine with the casing off, maybe shorting on something?

  • by AccidentalMacITguy,

    AccidentalMacITguy AccidentalMacITguy Jun 17, 2011 9:48 PM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 17, 2011 9:48 PM in response to lebungleski

    One more case: PowerMac G5 with Cinema HD 23 display here. Momentary power loss at home shut everything down; restarted, and display was dead with short-long-short code. Luckily had a cheap Dell backup screen to immediately swap and continue working. Too busy to drag the Apple display two hours into Manhattan to Tekeserve or Apple... It's about 4 years old, out of warranty. Came across this thread researching the blinking code, tried the "fix," and lo-and-behold, it came right up. While happy on one hand, it's all very disappointing, and I now join the leagues of others wondering if the display still isn't on a death spiral: it's worked flawlessly up until this power outage, and it's performance is superior to anything I have at my job—I actually do all of my color-critical work at home, so I've always felt the $900 investment, while pricey, was well spent. But having it die at the drop of the hat, with no acknowledgement by Apple to an obviously widespread problem, is extremely dissappointing. I'm still not clear how this "fix" was accidentally discovered—it's a pretty obscure thing for someone to have randomly tried—and in any case it certainly raises doubts as to whether it will lead to further damage and whether investing in the 150 watt power adapted isn't a better longterm solution; I would so much mind but clearly the problem appears to be withing the monitor. I've owned Apples since my first Apple II Plus in 1979 ( holy cow!), and know I've paid a big premium on equipment for years, but always felt the user experience was worth it; I've never experienced a technical/quality issue like this before, though. Steve Jobs takes his work extremely seriously, so frankly I'll be writing him an old-fashioned letter on the subject when I have some spare time—just because—and might just print out this entire thread to include too!

  • by Martin Boswell,

    Martin Boswell Martin Boswell Jun 22, 2011 10:18 AM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 22, 2011 10:18 AM in response to lebungleski

    Jakobeon (from page 2 of this thread) also saved me a substantial amount of money as his "taping-over-the-ground-pin" solution is working perfectly for me.

     

    I would like to note for others that it is not the ground pin on the wall cord that has to be covered.  This wasn't entirely clear to me at first since I couldn't see the brick-to-monitor connector very well and had to use a magnifier to see its individual contacts (and then tape over the middle one).

     

    I was able to borrow a 150W power brick, and it also did the trick, but purchasing one would have obviously cost more than a small piece of tape (and I was having trouble getting one through CDW).

     

    Thanks again to Jakobeon.  You've done many of us a great service.

  • by carolyn_21617,

    carolyn_21617 carolyn_21617 Jun 24, 2011 3:21 PM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 24, 2011 3:21 PM in response to lebungleski

    Add me to the list.

     

    Mine went belly-up after I turned off the ups it was plugged into, one month out of warranty.

     

    Fixed it with a piece of paper blocking the pin. Lasted for 2 months.

     

    The power cord got knocked out of the UPS and when I plugged it back in, same problem. Paper fix was still in the adapter.

     

    Called Apple and got nowhere, they acted like they've never heard of this issue. Directed me to an Apple store.

     

    Highly disappointed in this product.

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