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 AstAngA,

    AstAngA AstAngA May 27, 2015 12:18 AM in response to bethannart
    Level 1 (5 points)
    May 27, 2015 12:18 AM in response to bethannart

    Apple really should answer the mail on this. One of the worlds most profitable companies appearing to not give two hoots when a top of the range product is unusable in less than half of it's useful life.

  • by hColl,

    hColl hColl Jun 2, 2015 8:39 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 2, 2015 8:39 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man

    Well, I have given up almost a year ago. For some reason I've tried to use TB display a couple of days ago, but no luck there.

    I'm from Croatia, and we don't have an apple store here at all.

     

    I'm just curious, can logic board replacement help? I can manage to do that on my own without any problems, and I see that there are a lot of logic boards on ebay. How can I know for sure what logic board will fit in my TD? Are they all the same, or ?

     

    I'm gonna try to save it if I can. If not, I will compile a nice video of destroying the display, explaining why I am doing so, and then putting it out on youtube. I hope to get some attention, coz that's the only thing that can make apple react to this case. If this were an apple watch, they would be all over it. As it stands, not only am I moving from apple displays, I'm considering to move on Linux as well.

     

    No point in paying premium when all I get is to be treated like trash.

  • by Steve Hyland1,

    Steve Hyland1 Steve Hyland1 Jun 3, 2015 2:27 AM in response to hColl
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 3, 2015 2:27 AM in response to hColl

    Although I am sorry to hear of other people with my circumstances, it does show that it's a flawed product (or batch).

     

    I have identical circumstances and am equally hugely disillusioned. Who wouldn't be? The display costs $1,000, and was useful for only FOUR years!

     

    My Mac Mini (2011) has an HDMI socket. Does anyone know if I can just pick up an affordable, and reliable flat screen and simply hook it up to the Mac Mini via HDMI for sound and video?

     

    For practical reasons I can't just chuck my toys out of the pram, but in the next few years, I am terminating my decade long relationship with anything Apple. When you live where I do, they only take calls on the sales line.

  • by pink-fish,

    pink-fish pink-fish Jun 20, 2015 5:06 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 20, 2015 5:06 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man

    Got exactly the same problem - anyone know the solution ?

  • by pink-fish,

    pink-fish pink-fish Jun 20, 2015 5:07 AM in response to Steve Hyland1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 20, 2015 5:07 AM in response to Steve Hyland1

    Agreed they should fix this - display can't just die after 3/4 years

  • by AstAngA,

    AstAngA AstAngA Jun 20, 2015 6:03 AM in response to pink-fish
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 20, 2015 6:03 AM in response to pink-fish

    Mine finally blacked out permanently, after 3 months of irregularly blacking out. I'm more disappointed than ever because I held Apple with very high regard. I don't even have anywhere to store the **** thing. This episode is a real game changer for me.

  • by AstAngA,

    AstAngA AstAngA Jun 20, 2015 6:09 AM in response to AstAngA
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 20, 2015 6:09 AM in response to AstAngA

    A company that cared one iota at all could so easily respond here, or contact affected users directly, but nada, nothing.

  • by kenshack88,

    kenshack88 kenshack88 Jun 20, 2015 7:02 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 20, 2015 7:02 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man

    I WISH I had gotten 3 to 4 years of use, mine has now permanently blacked out after just a year and a half. I've already chucked iOS for Android and am in the probably 3 + year process of moving towards all cross platform software so that I can make the complete jump away from Apple.  (iCloud to Amazon Cloud Drive, iTunes to Amazon music, Apple pro stuff to Adobe, etc.  SO disappointing.

     

    HAS ANYONE TRIED USING A THUNDERBOLT HUB with a new Thunderbolt 2 cable?  They are crazy expensive ($200 plus) but if it gets my display working again it might be worth the investment (plus having HDMI out and USB 3 wouldn't hurt either).

  • by pink-fish,

    pink-fish pink-fish Jun 20, 2015 2:00 PM in response to gadget_aussie_man
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 20, 2015 2:00 PM in response to gadget_aussie_man

    Looks like this problem is showing on a huge number ofd monitors - Apple need to wake up to this - and fix the issue - cause it is annoying a lot of people

  • by AstAngA,

    AstAngA AstAngA Jun 21, 2015 8:44 AM in response to kenshack88
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 21, 2015 8:44 AM in response to kenshack88

    Don't know of anyone affected who's coughed up for a hub, but I certainly wouldn't entertain spending $200 if the thing isn't even going to start up, and be detected by any mac. I've tried my display on my own Mac Mini, and two Mac powerbooks at the current spec. Dead as a doornail.

     

    Have located an Apple outlet here in Thailand, who can investigate the fault, and offer a repair price (which may not be economical) or a discounted replacement display on an exchange basis. As yet, I'm not sure how significant the discount is. Should find out next Saturday.

  • by smallzworld.com,

    smallzworld.com smallzworld.com Jun 24, 2015 1:54 PM in response to gadget_aussie_man
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 24, 2015 1:54 PM in response to gadget_aussie_man

    I have found a very reasonable solution to this issue.

     

    I get the black out for a moment and then the display returns after a second or two. I have a macbook pro mid 2012 13" i5 with 16GB

    intel hd400 graphics card - 1024 mb

     

    I noticed if I go to the settings for display and choose "Scaled" option and choose 2048x1152, the blackouts are gone completely.

     

    Then I figured... hey, why don't I lower the display resolution on my macbook pro, since I am not even using that display. I did that and then returned the resolution for my 27" thunderbolt to 2560x1440. No blackouts.

     

    Having a lower resolution on my macbook pro, is far more acceptable to me than having blackouts and/or not being able to use the highest resolution mode for my very expensive monitor!

     

    Hope this helps all of you out, and hopefully apple takes note of this information and makes it known - if it works for others as well.

  • by Steve Hyland1,

    Steve Hyland1 Steve Hyland1 Jun 26, 2015 9:16 AM in response to pink-fish
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 26, 2015 9:16 AM in response to pink-fish

    Are you connecting to your Thunderbolt display with a Thunderbolt cable, or Firewire?

     

    The reason I'm asking is because I had blackouts for many months, which were totally intermittent and could only be resolved by force-quitting my Mac Mini and a  re-start. I did a lot of forum-searching and it appears that the power loss is to the USB/Firewire hub inside the display (or so I believe). I then remembered that, back in 2011, when I bought the system and set it all up, I hooked up my display by Firewire, not Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt was brand new back then, and I simply wanted to stick with what I knew, and already had a Firewire 800 cable (so saved a little cash).

     

    I bought and hooked up via Thunderbolt cable and my display is now working as new. Truth be told, I'm pretty embarrassed by it as I've ranted and raved about an unsatisfactory purchase and lack of support for a while now.

     

    Hope this helps someone somewhere, and for the time being, I'm a happy Apple-user again.

  • by kenshack88,

    kenshack88 kenshack88 Jun 26, 2015 9:27 AM in response to Steve Hyland1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 26, 2015 9:27 AM in response to Steve Hyland1

    Hey Steve, I'm not quite sure I am understanding what you have done.  It sounds like you did NOT use the built in Thunderbolt cable for your Thunderbolt display?  ...then you say you bought a new Thunderbolt cable and are using it instead of your built in thunderbolt?  I'm traveling and have not had a chance to try out smallzworld.com but I have tried stuff similar to no effect so I'm not getting my hope up.

  • by Steve Hyland1,

    Steve Hyland1 Steve Hyland1 Jun 26, 2015 10:46 AM in response to kenshack88
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 26, 2015 10:46 AM in response to kenshack88

    Ken,

     

    A new, standalone, Thunderbolt cable connecting from my Mac Mini to the Thunderbolt display inputs (down by the Firewire and USB sockets), has got everything working for me, and it's been good as gold for almost 5 days now. 

     

    The Thunderbolt displays built in cable, which splits into what looks like a laptop power connector and a Thunderbolt connector, is now not being used at all.

     

    When you get back off travel, buy or borrow a Thunderbolt cable, and give it a go. When I saw the big grey screen burst into life on that first try, I could've done cartwheels. Good luck!

  • by dj_heath,

    dj_heath dj_heath Jun 26, 2015 11:12 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 26, 2015 11:12 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man

    I just wanted to share my Thunderbolt story.

     

    Here is a brief timeline as I'm loosing the will to live at this point.:

     

    Purchased monitor then after a year (just outside warranty) the monitor decided to not wake up.

    Took it to Apple store where they replaced the Magsafe/Thunderbolt cable. ($350)

    A few months after that it started doing the same thing again.

    Took it back to the Apple store where they replaced the main controller...didn't fix the issue.

    Was informed it would need the main panel replacing at an eye watering ($1200 plus tax)

    Instructed by Apple to take it to another store for a 2nd opinion.

    Same result, was instructed by the store to call Apple Care as they agreed it was 'a bit of a lemon'.

    Apple Care essentially said they could offer a discount on the repair but it would still be just under a $1000.

     

    So after at least 6 (out of the way) visits to two different stores and countless phone calls, I'm left with investing over $2500 into a monitor which, I'm not willing to do.

     

    Cost of monitor + repair + repair = $TOO MUCH

     

    The reason I paid out the money for an expensive monitor was that I wanted something reliable and durable. Neither of these things was achieved and to 'rub salt into the wound' I was politely told by Apple it was just tough luck.

     

    I have invested heavily in the Apple ecosystem and feel very let down. I'm contemplating shifting my money elsewhere.

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