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

Ditto here!
I took my ACD HD 23" to the Genius Bar last week and was told that they have zero knowledge of this problem and that the forums are full of inaccurate posts!!! I supplied them with a copy of this post and still received the same response. My monitor worked perfectly fine one day and stopped working the next. A surge protector was attached. Power could of gone out but I am not 100% certain since I do not use it as my primary monitor and therefore cannot pin point the exact time that it stopped functioning but I am 100% certain that it was not touched or harmed in any manner. I DO NOT have any blinking lights though. Does anyone else have the blank screen with no power lights? The 90W brick is working normally. Genius bar did not hook it up to the 150W brick and I was to upset to remember to ask. Also, if you do not wish to fork over the $400, does anyone know of any reputable repair service providers in San Diego, CA? Shipping is not an option. I once shipped a 30" ACD in the same packing material it came in via Fed EX and ended up with a cracked screen. Also, relied on my assistant to ship and she accidentally left off the insurance. I wish APPLE would step up and take notice. I own multiple mac computers and monitors and for them to blatantly ignore this obvious product defect is shameful!!
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Following up... blocking the middle pin worked for a few months UNTIL I had another power outage. Same thing, black screen (although on startup I saw the gray apple screen before the whole thing went black). I tried again to block the middle pin into the power supply. No luck this time. I kept re-reading all the posts and decided to try the 150w power supply. I found a refurbed one online and ordered it.

I plugged it in and... still black. I unplugged everything from the back of my mac pro that was connected to the power supply and unplugged the power supply cable from the power strip it was attached to. As I fretted about whether I needed a new video card I rebooted the mac. To my delight, the screen popped to life! I'm back up and running. Just posting what I experienced in case anyone else runs into the same problems.

THIS 100% worked - sweet - took me a few tries and found the right paper. Looking to maybe replace it with the plastic straw piece instead. Cheapest fix I have ever seen for an $800 monitor!
Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!

Latest problem in this saga...

I bought an APC Backups (1500va model) to avoid any further troubles when power outages occur. However, When I plug my Mac Pro and 23" Cinema Display into the backup unit the display remains black.

I know I'm nowhere CLOSE to the max load (my load hardly registers on the unit) but the display stays black.

I took the Mac Pro and display power cables from the backup and just plugged them into an old power strip and booted the Mac. This time the display worked fine.

Does anyone have any insight? I just plunked down $200 for the backup to try to solve any future problems but it's not helping me at all. It's preventing me from doing any work.

BTW I bought a new 150w power supply for the display after trouble with the original 90w following 2 outages. Could this be causing any problems?

I just wanted to add to this thread so that Apple sees there is a defect with their cinema displays. I run a lab where we have around 25 of the 20" cinema displays. In the last month and a half three of them died after power hits.

I'm calling Apple Care as soon as it hits 9 EST. I'll let you know what I find out.

I've had the same experience as all of you. The ground work-around solved my monitor problem for months. However, now I notice that the power plug leading from the monitor is showing signs of overheating and the plastic shield shows signs of melting.

Has anyone experienced this? It appears that I have just postponed the inevitable, a trip to the Genius Bar.

I'm discouraged. I thought I had this beat. Apple had replaced the power block twice and now it's out of warranty. I have two of these displays and both have gone south despite being on an APC. Only the "V" solution has kept both of them operating.

Now, the plug that leads from the power block to the monitor show signs of overheating and melting. The plastic surrounding the plug has also turned brown. I can only assume that this is a result of using the "V" paper solution.

I may be an isolated case, but I'm sure it will be a costly one. I'd like to hear if anyone else has seen signs of this.

Blocking the middle pin with a sliver of paper as suggested absolutely works. I did it in one shot and my monitor is working again. I too was thinking that $450 for repairs was simply not going to happen and had gone to both the Apple store and Tekserve in NY which is an Apple specialist. I pretty much had counted my monitor as future landfill but this solved the issue and everything is working as intended.

My 23" Cinema Display arrived from Ebay today, supposedly in working order. I saw the short-long-short, and then found this thread. Thanks a million for the middle pin trick. I now have a great addition to my MacBookPro for < $300.

"Holy freaking #%&^kebob!"

That's what my husband said when his monitor started up again. Thank you thank you thank you Jakobeon, you're brilliant. We just fixed a $1000 monitor with a sliver of paper. I can't believe it.

Husband was freaking out and had Genius bar appoint for three days hence. I think he should keep it just to chew them out and say "Why did you want me to drag the whole freaking monitor down here when a strip off a Safeway receipt will fix it for FREE???"

I have two 20-inch ACD showed the same problem after accidently removed the power connector while the machines were on.

Covering the middle pin works on one unit, but the other one has a bad 65W power adapter. I tried it with a 90W from a 23-inch ACD and it worked.

Thanks for this valuable thread tho.

To Other Subscribers/Followers of This Topic -
.
This same basic issue has been noted & discussed in the Apple Discussion Forums
(as well as on several other sites) under a variety Topic Headings or Subject Descriptors:
- Screen Does Not Turn On
- 23" Cinema Display Went Off
- Is My 23" Aluminum ACD Dead ?
- 23" Cinema Display - Black Screen
- 30" Apple Cinema Display: short-long-short power light
- Apple Cinema Display 23" : BLANK Screen, "short-long-short" LED code
.
--SUMMARY --
The problem has been reported from as early as _at least_ 2008.
The problem has been noted to occur across _several models_.
Problem was often noted following unplugging–then reconnecting the display ... but not always
There are some minor variations in symptoms: e.g.- with blinking LED --vs-- without blinking LED
With a few exceptions, MOST of the postings & reports essentially relate to the *_same basic problem_*.
However, the precise cause of the problem has as yet not been identified... much less a reliable solution.
.
Is the problem with .... the plug ? .... the Power Adapter ? ..... or on the Display's video board ?
Nobody seems to have identified where the failure occurs yet.
.
.
I hate to just gripe and complain AND since it appears Apple is not likely to clarify the situation.
I am curious what ( +if anything+ ) we may learn from the collective experience of the many affected ACD users.
I'm not quite sure the best way to compile or tally this information, but ....
.
Of users who:
- bought new/replacement *90W adaptors* HOW MANY: Resolved problem? Problem reoccurred?
- bought new/replacement *150W adaptors* HOW MANY: Resolved problem? Problem reoccurred?
- wrapped plug's ground-wire: How many resolved problem? How many reoccurred?
Are there ANY other "fixes or repairs" attempted that had reasonable success ?
.
.
For me, ACD 23" M9178LL/A - A1082 - had blinking LED earlier, now nothing
- replacement 90W brick - no solution
- replacement 150W brick - not attempted
- insulating plug ground-wire - no solution
.

Hi all,

Epidemic indeed. A power outage in the area killed our Cinema HD in a similar way. The white led blinks short-long-short. Following the advice in the thread, I think I have to replace my 90W power adapter with a 150W one. Problem is that they don't seem to be sold via the Apple Store - any alternatives? More complicated: I bought the monitor in the US 3 years ago. I now live in the UK. Any suggestions (retailers, alternative power adapters, etc.)

Thanks,
Peter

So I came here after my 23 in ACD was D.E.A.D. upon returning home and trying to plug in my MacBook..... read all this stuff, but also just followed my wife's advice (she is a programmer/analyst who also has to mess with hardware because of the nature of her applications support work). She said "just unplug everything for awhile, then plug it back in." It worked. The key is "for awhile" because when I originally tried that, I would just unplug and replug. This time I let it sit for about 30 or 45 minutes while I worked off the laptop and read this thread.

Now I am up and running again ....

Yup same here:
ACD 23 inches of 2,5 years old, had the short-long-short error a while back after moving it an office away and fixed it with a strip of paper like everyone else.
But then a power outage occured (screen was on) and when i powered up my mac the screen was black, and *no led warnings* like before at all..

Tried unplugging it, replacing the strip of paper etc etc, but no result.
Right now i unplugged everything and am gonna let it rest for a while, then plug it back in with a new piece of paper/plastic and PRAY it works.

This is just outrageous!