Q: Second display problem with 10.9.4

I have two 30" apple CD wired to my Mac Pro 2012, and the graphic card is a flushed geforce gtx 680 4GB.

My displays have been working fine until the 10.9.3 upgrade. It all started then. Only one display worked after updating.

It seemed like many had the same problem, and I found a fix that has been working ever since - until 10.9.5.

I have been installing geforce and nvda kext from 10.9.2 after the 10.9.3 update and I had to do it also after the 10.9.4 update.

It solved the problem, and both displays started working again.

I installed the 10.9.5 update in good faith, and really believed that apple had fixed my problem in this update, but it happened once more.

The problem is, that this time, the mac can not boot after installing the 10.9.2 kext. After the apple logo and the spinning wheel beneath the apple logo stops and it is supposed to change to the login window, the machine restarts. Both displays are now working, but it does not help me, since I can not boot. When booting in to safe modus with the 10.9.2 kexts, both displays works, but I have to go back to the 10.9.5 kexts again, to get the machine to boot properly again.

This is a big problem! I am a video editor and colour grader, and I do not want to wait to the next upgrade or 10.10. I do also not want to use a day or two to reinstall everything again to try to get back to 10.9.2.

Are there any solutions? Someone who has had and managed to fix the problem?

Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), Mac Pro 2012

Have you tried this work around:

<Re: Second display problem with 10.9.4>

<https://discussions.apple.com/message/26542996?tstart=0#26542996>

Also it would help if you reported this problem via

BugReporter

<http://bugreporter.apple.com>

Free ADC (Apple Developer Connection) account needed for BugReporter.

Anyone can get a free account at:

<http://developer.apple.com/programs/register/>

The more reports the more likely Apple is going to give a greater weight to selecting this problem for a fix and that the fill will solve the problem for the most people.

Have tried that work around as well, and already reported the problem.

Really strange that there is not already a fix when it is quite normal to work with multiple displays these days.

I have waited for the 10.9.4, luckily it could be fixed then, and now I thinking had to be fixed in the 10.9.5, but no.

homiebrotha, thanks for writing about your experience; it parallels mine. I'm using a 2008 MacPro.

The kext fix was working for me as well on 10.9.3 and 10.9.4, but left me unable to boot on 10.9.5. I didn't try safe mode – glad to know that works – and had to boot from a second system drive, update that one to 10.9.5, get the new kexts, reinstall them improperly in the original boot drive (by simply dragging) and then fix the permissions using DiskWarrior. Whew.

That got the original drive booting again, but of course, I still had just one screen working, so I was back where I started. Very frustrating.

That other fix (deleting window server pref file) did nothing for me, either. I've looked high and low, and I'm not seeing anyone with working fixes for this 10.9.5 problem. Doom, defeat, despair.

I've been using the kext solution since 10.9.3 and just like the last couple posts it's stopped working on 10.9.5 upgrade... I've reverted back to using only one screen, but this is an incredibly frustrating bug to be around for as long as it has. Bug report submitted but I'm not holding my breath.

Was going to upgrade to the new mac pro soon but with this kind of support I'm starting to reconsider...

It is kind of crazy that Apple is "neglecting" this, considering all the reports and all the people actually having great use of multiple displays. Even crazier considering that I am using only apple products - the old mac pro and old cinema displays. How can that even happen?

Yeah, I feel the pain. It seams like we're stuck waiting until Yosemite as 10.9.5 is likely the last upgrade on Mavericks. I read somewhere earlier on this thread that Yosemite solves the issue, but that may just be wishful thinking

Yeah, we will just have to wait and hope for an yosemite solution.

I have clean installation of Mavericks for last two days, second display is connected to my MBP with DVI to DP cable. Since installation of a system up to fully working design workstation (all needed software inc. Adobe CC) the second display is working well. The clean installation began with 10.9.4, I had to resolve some minor issues with a few files' rights, then combo update to 10.9.5. No such issue with second display.

MBP early 2011, 2.2 GHz 16 GB RAM,

2nd display: ForMac Extreem Raven 2010 1600x1200, DVI, ~10 years old.

I began experiencing problems with my DP-connected display after upgrading to 10.9.5.   Thankfully, the altoronto fix worked for me, too.

However, in addition, I also had to open System Preferences --> Displays, then hold down the Option key and press Detect Displays before the second monitor would display at the proper resolution.

MBP late 2011, 17", 2.4GHz i7, 16 GB RAM, Radeon HD 6770M 10.9.5

2nd display: Samsung SyncMaster SA850 (2560x1440) connected via Apple's mDP to dual-link DVI adapter

10.9.5 does NOT work for me

...but in a very different way.
This is a 2012 iMac 27" (A1419) with GeForce GTX 680 MX and Dell 2709W as secondary display, using an Apple-certified Thunderbolt -> DVI adapter.

The behaviour is that the secondary display, when I plug it in (again), works without problems. But only until the iMac goes to sleep.
After waking from sleep, the secondary display wakes, too, but I can ONLY see the mouse on the secondary display, no screen content (remains black).
I have to unplug and plug in again to see the screen content. This is different from before, as the display is now recognised at least, but it doesn't show anything.

I have tried the 10.9.2 kernel extensions, which worked for me for 10.9.3 and 10.9.4 without problems. DO NOT TRY THIS!

After installing the kernel extensions in the usual manner

(i.e.

- copy to /System/Library/Externsions

- sudo chmod -R 755 <myExtension>.kext/bundle/plugin

- sudo chown -R root:wheel -R 755 <myExtension>.kext/bundle/plugin

- clear caches

- restart )

the iMac will go into a reboot loop ("Your computer restarted because of a problem..." grey screen).

I had to manually re-install the 10.9.5 extensions (in the same way) to make it boot again using the installation USB stick to boot from (single user mode, i.e. holding 'shift' while booting didn't work either on that occasion).

If anybody knows a fix for this, I would be grateful.

I'm feeling increasingly disappointed about Apple I must say. That's been over a year that the iMac bug hasn't been fixed, the iPhone 6 bends like Beckham, my 2008 MacBook Pro crashes when I turn the WiFi off , iOS 8 was released with a bug, the fix of which (iOS 8.0.1) breaks connecting to the network.

There's been no design update to the MacBook Pro since 2009 (isn't the Lenovo Yoga 2 design so much more appealing), and the HTC One M8 frankly seems the best phone on the market right now.

Apple, what is going on with your Quality Control?!?

I wish the altoronto solution worked for me, but now instead of it periodically sending a signal out the displayPort / thunderbolt, it no longer does ever.

I got a reply on my Apple bug saying 'we think this is fixed in the Yosemite Developer Preview, could you please try that.', which underscores how incredibly out of touch Apple QA is with its user base; to presume that i could simply take the machine i rely on for work and install less than beta software on it, is totally cuckoo banana.

(... and the implication that they won't bother fixing this for Mavericks but instead rely on the notion that users will suffer through the regular crappy quality of Apple's dot-dot-0 and dot-dot-1 releases of new OS for a fix is somewhat infuriating.)

Hi Quarkdoll and all others

I fully agree with you. What kind of crap response is that, "just try Yosemite Developer Preview, because we THINK this is fixed !!!"

Are these guys serious !?

I am running 10.9.5 on a Macbook Pro Retina 15 inch and it is all f... up after the Maverick upgrade

I have done all of the suggestions and do not get a second display to work after upgrading to 10.9.x

Tested it on multiple monitors, projectors,  etc...

All the same behavior...

Screen turns black when I attached the monitor via VGA Minidisplay port adapter, comes back again once every 1 -2 minutes

Mouse start to act weird and moving slowly across the screen. No image on the second display or projector

And this behavior continues until I unplug the display adapter and everything returns normal.

Applied the Altoronto solution and all other suggestions in this thread, no luck !

Also playing around with SwitchResX, did not work for me..

Today, i will buy a HDMI->VGA adapter to see if this will fix my issues.

Keep you guys posted...

quarkdoll wrote:

 

I wish the altoronto solution worked for me, but now instead of it periodically sending a signal out the displayPort / thunderbolt, it no longer does ever.

 

I got a reply on my Apple bug saying 'we think this is fixed in the Yosemite Developer Preview, could you please try that.',

Got some substantiation available for that, or are we just taking your word for it?

Substantiation that the fix doesn't work or that "Engineering" says YDP might fix my issue?

(In either case, what substantiation do you envision?)