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 Steve Garfield,

    Steve Garfield Steve Garfield Nov 14, 2015 4:40 AM in response to Steve Hyland1
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 14, 2015 4:40 AM in response to Steve Hyland1

    This helped me:


    Leave the display's integral Thunderbolt cable unconnected, and connect to your display using a Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt cable (accessory).

     

    I am also on the most recent update to El Capitan, version 10.11.1

     

    Added note: In System Settings, I Set Computer sleep to NEVER.

     

    PS. I used to have the problem a long time ago, then it went away, and then it reappeared with the new El Capitan OS. I wish it was easier to diagnose.

  • by scubajwd,

    scubajwd scubajwd Nov 19, 2015 10:41 AM in response to Steve Garfield
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Nov 19, 2015 10:41 AM in response to Steve Garfield

    Yup..Steve..I just got the disease on my TB display; bought it in the fall of 2011 and for the most part

    the monitor has behaved beautifully and given me full value; after this latest update of El Capitan OS X

    it has started to randomly go black and will not arouse from sleep like it once did; I've ordered a TB cable to

    try the remedy talked about in this thread but hold not alot of hope that it will be a long term solution; I'll keep

    everyone posted here on my results as my monitor is yet another data point to look at; BTW, I have a Dell

    vintage 2008 wfp that is still going strong..almost twice the age of my Apple TB display but admittantly less

    used than the TB display these last 4 years..

  • by immm,

    immm immm Dec 6, 2015 5:17 AM in response to Steve Garfield
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Desktops
    Dec 6, 2015 5:17 AM in response to Steve Garfield

    SAME ISSUE - not fixed since every years ago .. it come son and off .... now i becoming more frequent

    for no reason whatsoever thunderbolt cinema display turns off or it does not go on waking from sleep ..

    have 3 displays - 2 old DVI cinema displays and 1 new cinema on mac pro -- the old displays work perfectly...

     

    sometimes it even blocks the mac from starting ... after disconnecting the display from mac and restarting it goes back to working ok for a while

     

    aaaaaannnnnnnnooooooooyyyyiiiiiiiinngggggggggggggbg as **** !!!

  • by scubajwd,

    scubajwd scubajwd Dec 6, 2015 7:59 AM in response to immm
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Dec 6, 2015 7:59 AM in response to immm

    immm, I feel your pain as do others here in this thread..I can tell you that since i started using a separate TB to TB

    cable my problems have been eliminated (per Steve G and others above); I've also turned my brightness level

    down a couple of notches per some posters as a help..maybe I've just been lucky but for 4 years this TB monitor

    of mine has been a real champ (until recently)

  • by dasams,

    dasams dasams Dec 9, 2015 9:17 AM in response to scubajwd
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Dec 9, 2015 9:17 AM in response to scubajwd

    Same problem here.  Mid 2012 MB Pro Retina 15" attached to TBD with the all in one cable causes the monitor to go black.  To fix it, instead of using a separate TB cable, I'm using the TB portion of the all in one cable to drive the monitor and ports and am charging my MB Pro with it's travel charger.  So far, so good

  • by ZX48,

    ZX48 ZX48 Apr 13, 2016 4:58 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 13, 2016 4:58 AM in response to gadget_aussie_man

    I am just now experiencing this issue. Mac mini 2011 quad core 2.0Ghz i7, which I have a custom version of OSX 10.6.8 running stably for the past 3-4 years with no problem. 8GB RAM (2x4GB 1333 from Crucial). No problems.

     

    This week I installed 16GB (2x8GB) of Crucial DDR3L-1600 1.35V CL11, and while all is stable under no load (basic browser/Word use etc), as soon as I load up a multicore process and push the processor hard, the external Thunderbolt output display intermittently cuts out. This dispay is a Dell 2711 running directly off the Thunderbolt port. I also have a 24 inch display running at the same time off the HDMI port. This display runs fine and does not cut out.

     

    I can solve the display glitch in 3 ways:

    1. Unplug the HDMI display, so only the Thunderbolt is being driven.

    2. Unplug the Thunderbolt display so only the HDMI is being driven.

    3. Revert back to 12 GB RAM (1x4GB, and 1x8GB new RAM), no glitch on either display even though both are being driven.

     

    Given that I am seeing this behaviour on a non-Apple Thunderbolt display, and that it is highly reproducibly caused by the addition of 16Gb RAM and high processor load, I suspect that there may be an unrelated issue afflicting some Apple Thunderbolt displays,but that the route cause is something to do with the shared VRAM on the i7 Chip when two displays are active and a potential incompatibility with either 16GB RAM, or more likely 16Gb of CL11 RAM.

     

    I hope this information is at least useful to anyone still afflicted by the problem.

  • by Gnarlodious,

    Gnarlodious Gnarlodious Apr 22, 2016 10:10 AM in response to ZX48
    Level 4 (3,239 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 22, 2016 10:10 AM in response to ZX48

    My Thunderbolt display bought at the Apple Store October 2015 goes black periodically. If I open the MacBook lid it will come back on. This has happened 4 times in the last day of usage. Oddly, when it goes black the keyboard also stops working, if I continue typing while the display is black no words are in the document starting from the time the display went black. I dont know what is ging on but its pretty aggravating behavior for a $1,000 display.

     

  • by Gnarlodious,

    Gnarlodious Gnarlodious Apr 22, 2016 10:24 AM in response to Gnarlodious
    Level 4 (3,239 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 22, 2016 10:24 AM in response to Gnarlodious

    Just let me complain more about this display. When waking up, it flashes on and off several times as I wait… and wait… for it to stay on. I don’t think this $1000 display and $2000 MacBook Pro are well integrated. Seriously Apple, for this much money you’d think the hardware could figure out what the other one was doing.

  • by Gnarlodious,

    Gnarlodious Gnarlodious Apr 22, 2016 12:09 PM in response to Gnarlodious
    Level 4 (3,239 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 22, 2016 12:09 PM in response to Gnarlodious

    I guess it was happening because the display overheated. This is the first warm day of the year, the display is against a steel wall with the morning sun hitting it. I put a thermometer back there and it read 117ºF. I set up a fan since apparently the Thunderbolt Display has no built-in cooling mechanism. Good going, Apple.

     

    Anyway, its been running a few hours without blacking out. I read the specs and it said 90º max ambient temperature. I’ll set up a fan on a digital thermostat to keep the air moving. Maybe I’ll drill a bunch of big ventilation holes in the back case. I suppose that would void my warrantee.

  • by friguyb,

    friguyb friguyb Apr 22, 2016 1:03 PM in response to Gnarlodious
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 22, 2016 1:03 PM in response to Gnarlodious

    I HAD the same issue with my Macbook Pro and Thunderbolt Display bought together in May 2014.

     

    The turn off randomly start 15 days after the purchase.

    During summer 2014 I bring my screen to the Apple store and the found nothing.

     

    It began with the turn off randomly, then I got problem when the machine waked up from sleep mode ( I turned sleep mode to never), then I lost my Eth connection, then one day I lost the camera and all the USB and TB connections from the integrated hub. Only the display was ok but blinking some times

     

    Finally ,end of 2015, I opened a call but I learned the Apple Care for the screen which I got at the same time I bought the computer did not include the on site pick up (this should be clearly notified). I had to go to the store again which I refuse because I consider they are only good to sell , not to fix nor analyze any issue. I finally went to an Apple official repair shop near Paris (FR). The guy told me ... "I see, I think it is the cable"

     

    They changed the Thunderbolt cable on the display and I have now recovered everything !!

     

    The Machine is booting really fast , no long wait for the screen detection, everything is smooth, what a pleasure to use this hardware without problem.

    I think Apple should activate a recall program for this problem which is very common.

     

    I hope that will help.

    Regards

    Guy

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