gadget_aussie_man

Q: Thunderbolt Display turns off randomly

I have a new Mac Mini 2011 i7 Quad CPU version.  I have a Thunderbolt 27 inch display.  I have found that the display randomly turns off and won't turn on when I use the keyboard or mouse.  This occurs when I am doing stuff on the machine, it is not a display sleep issue.  The first couple of times I had to use Remote Desktop to reboot the Mac Mini to fix the issue.  The last time it happened I removed the Thunderbolt plug from the Mac Mini and reinstalled it and this fixed the issue.  I have the latest software updates on the Mac Mini and the Thunderbolt Firmware update on the Display.

 

I am running Lion 10.7.1

Posted on Sep 21, 2011 9:35 PM

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Q: Thunderbolt Display turns off randomly

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  • by elemans,

    elemans elemans Dec 13, 2014 2:27 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man
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    Dec 13, 2014 2:27 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man

    I used my Thunderbolt Display from day one with the external 2 meter cable, connected to a Mac Mini. Some weeks ago, my display began suffering from the exact same problems described in this thread. These problems (blinking and black screen) disappeared by connecting with the built-in cable. Two weeks ago, I bought a new 2 meter Thunderbolt cable from Apple, this time a black one, to make sure it contains the newest firmware. Since then all problems I had with my Thunderbolt Display disappeared, including other ones like awaking from sleep modus.

     

    Long story short: always try a new Thunderbolt cable before taking the conclusion that your display needs to be repaired!

  • by Dennis L Jacob,

    Dennis L Jacob Dennis L Jacob Dec 13, 2014 12:43 PM in response to elemans
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 13, 2014 12:43 PM in response to elemans

    My two TBDisplays are still doing the non wakeeee.........wakeee routine. I've spent hours on the phone or online doing tweaks and reboots of software, hardware, settings, re-installation of Mavericks to no avail. The last correspondence I had with my senior tech was to return both of my TBDs for a full refund. I haven't heard from him since and he doesn't respond to my emails anymore. This is really starting to **** me off. I spent two grand on these displays and they won't do what they were supposed to do. That includes being a thunderbolt hub and usb port hub. Whenever the particular TBD decides to not work, it ejects whatever I have connected to the usb hub and the Thunderbolt port. Why do I have to live with this? Apple tell me why please!

  • by Dennis L Jacob,

    Dennis L Jacob Dennis L Jacob Dec 13, 2014 1:23 PM in response to Dennis L Jacob
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 13, 2014 1:23 PM in response to Dennis L Jacob

    Here's a screen shot of my thunderbolt port info with display info. Does anyone who has done the firmware update have different version numbers than mine?

     

     

    Thunderbolt Display:

     

     

      Vendor Name: Apple Inc.

      Device Name: Thunderbolt Display

      Vendor ID: 0x1

      Device ID: 0x8002

      Device Revision: 0x1

      UID: 0x00010001009AA5C0

      Route String: 3

      Firmware Version: 26.2

      Port (Upstream):

      Status: Device connected

      Link Status: 0x2

      Port Micro Firmware Version: 2.0.7

      Cable Firmware Version: 0.1.18

      Cable Serial Number: C4M332400GEDNWFAF

      Port:

      Status: Device connected

      Link Status: 0x2

      Port Micro Firmware Version: 2.0.7

      Cable Firmware Version: 0.1.18

      Cable Serial Number: C4M3437001UDNWFA5

     

     

    Thunderbolt Display:

     

     

      Vendor Name: Apple Inc.

      Device Name: Thunderbolt Display

      Vendor ID: 0x1

      Device ID: 0x8002

      Device Revision: 0x1

      UID: 0x000100010079DA80

      Route String: 303

      Firmware Version: 26.2

      Port (Upstream):

      Status: Device connected

      Link Status: 0x2

      Port Micro Firmware Version: 2.0.7

      Cable Firmware Version: 0.1.18

      Cable Serial Number: C4M3437001UDNWFA5

      Port:

      Status: No device connected

      Link Status: 0x7

      Port Micro Firmware Version: 2.0.7

  • by elemans,

    elemans elemans Dec 13, 2014 1:33 PM in response to Dennis L Jacob
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 13, 2014 1:33 PM in response to Dennis L Jacob

    I'm running the latest updates and have similar firmware versions except for the cable:

    Cable Firmware Version: 1.0.16

     

    Did you try a new Thunderbolt cable? I did have the same kind of hardware and issues and buying a new (black) Thunderbolt cable did solve the issues.

  • by Dennis L Jacob,

    Dennis L Jacob Dennis L Jacob Dec 13, 2014 7:47 PM in response to elemans
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 13, 2014 7:47 PM in response to elemans

    The issue remains that I bought two of these displays that have a built in thunderbolt hub. If I use a separate TB cable, it defeats the TB hub. TB hubs are rather far and few between and not cheap. On the other hand this display is $1,000. There are many 27" monitors out there without TB hubs for hundreds of dollars not one thousand dollars. What if your mac only worked half the time? Would you be happy? If you could get it to work all the time, but crippled without say a usb connector, would you be happy? I'm not.

  • by ajvanho,

    ajvanho ajvanho Jan 29, 2015 1:13 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 29, 2015 1:13 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man

    Bought new tb cable, 2m black, blackout issue fixed.

    ----

    After more then 6 month, from that patch written by chimps. i'm happy.

  • by SmogHead,

    SmogHead SmogHead Jan 29, 2015 7:36 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 29, 2015 7:36 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man

    Hi

     

    I have been reading all the posts regarding these similar issues as I had been encountering. My specific issues have been:

    • Slight flickering and then going blank/black. USB & Thunderbolt devices connected all worked fine after blanking screen
    • Turning on from stand by, blank screen
    • Just going blank when it felt like it

    The use of the screen/thunderbolt was my first thought. Tried many things i.e. not using it but having it on, watching videos, general light use etc - all circumstances resulted in inconsistent results (sometimes would go blank, sometimes not)

     

    So, what have I tried to resolve the issue:

    • Different cables, new cables, not using the built in cable - Blank screen in all attempts - Again all random with various time periods before it went blank
    • Different Mac - I mainly use it with a Mid 2011 iMac 27" - Tried my MacBook Pro - happened in just the same way
    • Tried all various of the above Mac/cable, not having devices connected, different power strips (I even stood on one foot for a while but it still went blank)

    I finally bit the bullet, and booked into to the 'Genius' bar. As soon as I did (appointment was set for 4 days time) the screen stopped going blank. It was just worked, day in. It got to the day of the appointment and I thought, sod it, not going. 1 hour past the appointment (which I missed) the bloody screen goes blank.

     

    The screen had been going blank on and off for 2-3 months (I had a dev release of Yosemite). When it went blank, I could always get it back with unplugging it and leaving it for 5mins. After I missed the appointment with Apple, the screen started taking longer and longer to come back to a working state e.g. 3 or 4 hours.

     

    Bare with me, you'll love the ending!!

     

    So, after 8 hours of it not working even after reboots, pram & smc resets etc I resorted to mading another booking with Apple. I carefully packed it up and took it along with my MBP. Low and behold - It was bloody working and didn't go blank at all (Obviously it didn't want to look bad in the store!!). Anyway, they took it in for testing and further investigation.

     

    2 days later I had a call, saying they had got it to blow, and that they thought it might be the logic board or the LCD panel. They proceeded to replace both these components 2-3 days later after ordering then in. I then had a phone call saying the items that they had put in were not working (Something about the pins not aligned under the microscope). They had to order a new logic board and LCD panel. After a long wait and numerous conversations, they completed the repair.

     

    I have just picked up the screen for Apple - All working!!

     

    How old was my display? Oct 2011 - I think, so just under 3 1/2 years old. Now comes the fun part.

     

    Due to EU consumer law, A product of this nature should last up to 6 years. Therefore I have a nearly new thunderbolt display that, touch wood, will not go blank..... And it cost me nada!

     

    Contact me if you want anymore info.

     

    Steve

  • by bearheart,

    bearheart bearheart Jan 29, 2015 11:20 AM in response to ajvanho
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jan 29, 2015 11:20 AM in response to ajvanho

    New black cable did not solve the problem for me. I have two T-Bolt displays and they worked fine for years, one on an iMac and the other on a Mac Mini. They're both acting up on my new Mac Pro.

  • by Blackwidow1128,

    Blackwidow1128 Blackwidow1128 Feb 10, 2015 4:43 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 10, 2015 4:43 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man

    I followed someone's recommendation to use the original laptop charger instead of the one from the TB.

    I had to unplug the TB power cable and wait a few seconds, plug it back in, then connect the original laptop charger to the laptop, then TB woke up.

    It has been about 15 minutes, and it has not flickered or died yet. It would normally die within a minute. I hope it permanently fixes the issue. I will be back to let you guys know if it worked!

  • by dtelena,

    dtelena dtelena Feb 10, 2015 2:00 PM in response to gadget_aussie_man
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Feb 10, 2015 2:00 PM in response to gadget_aussie_man

    I have exactly the same problem with my Apple Thunderbolt Display (27 inches), the problem started appearing right after I did apply the firmware update V1.2 to the monitor which was made available by Apple last November (my monitor was working flawlessly before applying this firmware update so I am pretty sure there is something wrong with this firmware version and this is the cause of the problem). Does anyone here did apply this firmware as well?

  • by Blackwidow1128,

    Blackwidow1128 Blackwidow1128 Feb 11, 2015 3:02 AM in response to Blackwidow1128
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 11, 2015 3:02 AM in response to Blackwidow1128

    Well, it has been a day and it has not died! Looks like using the original charger instead of the one the monitor came with works better!

    Try it out guys and let me know if it fixes your problem.

  • by dlterm,

    dlterm dlterm Mar 22, 2015 9:08 PM in response to bearheart
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 22, 2015 9:08 PM in response to bearheart

    Bearheart, that is a drag. I was hoping that the new TBolt cable would do the trick. I just bought a brand new MBP and my 2 year old thunderbolt display has been doing exactly as all have described. It did it on my old MBP also. I bought a 2Meter black TBolt cable yesterday, and so far so good. Problem solved for me? Lord, I hope so.

  • by dlterm,

    dlterm dlterm Mar 24, 2015 6:42 AM in response to dlterm
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 24, 2015 6:42 AM in response to dlterm

    Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday morning... still good. The new thunderbolt cable and not using the power from the Thunderbolt display to my laptop has, until now, seemed to solve the problem. There has not been one flicker or black screen, and I would have experienced it 100 times in the past 3 days if I was still connected to the integrated Thunderbolt cable.

  • by johnfromoxon,

    johnfromoxon johnfromoxon Mar 24, 2015 7:22 AM in response to SmogHead
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mar 24, 2015 7:22 AM in response to SmogHead

    The EU consumer law section is interesting. We had 2 new displays which had this problem - one went in for repair with a replacement all in one cable - unfortunately the new all in one cable is no good. The other unit is already in for repair, so when that is returned we'll send the first faulty one back again.

     

    I believe the failure rate for less than 30 Thunderbolt displays is around 20%. And they are still coming out with dodgy cables.

     

    I am now putting my foot down, and refusing to buy any more displays.

  • by Jsonharle,

    Jsonharle Jsonharle Mar 28, 2015 7:03 AM in response to dlterm
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 28, 2015 7:03 AM in response to dlterm

    what model is your TBD? is it the 2011 one? coz I have 2 TBDs one is a 2012 model and the other is 2011 model the 2011 model is the one that gives me the most frustration... and if anyone on this thread has the same setup will it work if I connect the standalone  "New" thunderbolt cable to the TBD I/O ports for both my displays?

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