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

Yes! For me jakobeon's paper trick works. I used a little piece of a sturdy garbage bag btw.
Only thing is, it doesn't 'flush' the inverter or anything -- when I remove the piece the screen goes back to 'short-long-short'. So it does mean I may be taking a risk here... I bet the ground pin has other intended functions than to annoy people 😉

all as already documented... but just to add more fuel to the fire...

after several and sequential weather related "rolling blackouts" (power up and down over ~ 5 hrs) in Dallas, one (of two) 23" cinemas "died" (giving short-long-short error)... i'll note both monitors were behind the same TWO UPS/surge protectors... running s/n on apple.com shows the "dead" cinema manufactured in "early 2007".

swapping video card position and power supply (also 90W) with 2nd (working) cinema made NO difference. took "bad" cinema to local Apple Genius Bar... techs (?) clueless - but after i suggested trying the 150W 30" power supply (knowledge gleamed from forums) we found the monitor worked fine... techs noted that cinema power supplies are NO longer available for "retail" sales... although they (apple store) can still order replacements for "repair" - but IF and only if they have a correct s/n to use on order (i.e., a 23" s/n for a 23" power supply, or a 30" s/n for a 23" power supply)... so even they they found the cinema 23" would work with a cinema 30" power supply they could not (would not) order one. they did offer to "repair" the monitor (at some $400 +)...

certainly aggravating that Apple - WITH CLEAR DOCUMENTED KNOWLEDGE OF AN INHERENT DESIGN ISSUE - is not only unwilling to repair (or help with repair) or replace the power supply, but is unwilling to even sell the part (i.e., power supply) that will "fix" the issue. with the $$$ of these monitors, it would seem reasonable to - at least - make replacement power supplies available - if not at a free or reduced price - at least at the original "retail" price

I just wanted to add that the paper trick worked for me. I took a thicker piece of paper from the tear off edge from a check envelope. Cut with scissors to about 1/16" wide, 1.5" long. Folded it in half and pushed the "v" shaped paper in and covered the center pin socket. Then I made sure it was stiff enough as it sat in there and clipped off the extra length, minus a short stub that I folded back over the top and bottom of the connector to form a "w".

Brilliant, utterly brilliant fix!

Just to add to this already large list, same thing happened to me, my 23" Cinema Display wouldn't start one morning - blinking short-long-short. Tried a replacement power adapter - no luck. Tried the 'broken' power adapter with another monitor and it worked fine.

Sticking paper in the middle pin fixed it.

Getting a bit tired of this though, latest in a LONG line of faulty equipment from Apple....

Thank you!!, apple cinema display short long short, paper trick worked first time. One extra bit of info to the original post is that the power supply plug is symmetrical so that it can go in either way round.

Therefore as the pins on either side of the middle pin are repeated you can cut a wider piece of paper covering 3 pins and leaving either two adjacent end pins exposed. This is a lot less fiddly - just fold the paper in half and make sure it is already seated in the plug and up against one end before plugging into the adapter.

Maybe my case is different - I tried the paper/plastic fix several times without success. I believe that I succeeded in getting that right technically but without any change in behaviour. I do not have access to the 150 W adapter for trying.

My 23" ACD stopped working today, the system was on and the display had been showing screen saver photos or had went to sleep. When my daughter tried to wake it up, nothing happened.

I checked that Mini was working ok by connecting another display to it, also I checked that ACD didn't work either with another Mac.

When all the cables are connected, there is no light or image on the screen, also the powerLED is black. Touching the power 'button' does not cause anything noticeable. When only DVI cable is connected, the powerLED's bright light blinks once (for 2-3 seconds) if power button is touched (blinking repeats if I keep my finger on the button for longer time. If either USB- or FireWire-cable (or both) are connected, no light in powerLED. The behaviour is same even when Mac is off or on.

[I could not find a better thread, please point me to one if that exists.]

Wow, brilliant, it works!
Three months ago I received a new (refurbished) screen from Apple and this morning, out of nowhere, after using it yesterday, I got the short-long-short blink. I always disconnect all power overnight. Anyway, I cut a small piece of plastic out of a heavy-duty zip-lock bag and it worked after the first try. A million thanks!

Now here's something interesting.

I just cancelled my appointment with the Genius Bar. Since my display was only three months old (well, Apple refurbished, but shouldn't that be "as new"?), I figured that I'd bring it to the attention of the Genius bar. So I removed the plastic strip that I carefully inserted yesterday from the connector, fired it up to make sure it didn't work and… wallaaa, the display works fine! Now I am really puzzled. Did the inverter reset itself?

The Inverter will not reset itself.
The main-logic board will reset when the power is unplugged and plugged back in.

For those that the insulating the center pin does not work.
Problem with blank display and a blinking power light when DVI is plugged is is probably on the main-logic board.
I just repaired one of these boards

RE: center pin insulating -- You are eliminating the ground to the monitors logic board. I am guessing that the center pins wiring is shorting out against another wire in the harness between the ac adapter and the monitor and this is why this blocking it off works.
One way to check if it is grounded out against another wire is to check it with a resistance or ohm meter.
I would recommend trying this test before installing a different or larger adapter !!

A note for those who take these apart:
If the power button side plastic panel is taken off or put back on while the power is hooked up, It may not work. If it does not, unplug the power supply and then plug it back in. This usually resets the power button functions.

Thanks. This worked for me. I had only disconnected the display to clean my computer table and when I reconnected everything I had the short-long-short led flashing. I tried plastic but it was too stiff. I tried paper and it tore. Then I cut a thin strip of card from the Apple display User's Guide and that tore too. There was still a bit of card stuck in the plug and I couldn't get it out. In sheer frustration I jammed the plug in as hard as I could, and amazingly the display came back to life!

Paper fix worked for me. 23" cinema "died" tonight after power outage and was blinking the "short-long-short" signal on the LED light. After a call to Apple which proved helpful but unproductive, searching the Internet brought me here. THANKFULLY the paper w fix worked like a charm.

I may end up trying to track down a 150w power adaptor anyway as the paper in the plug trick makes me a little nervous...

Paper fix worked for me -- I could not believe it could be so simple and I'd be back in business so fast!

I really appreciate the paper fix explanation, the youtube video and the flickr photo I found on this thread.

HUGE help!!

Happy that this is working for so many people. I still would like to know if, after "fixing" the issue with the piece of paper, does your monitor continue to power on without issue once you restart your computer?
I have a 23" and a 20" Apple CD hooked up to a Mac Pro. When restarting the machine, the 23" rarely comes back to life. I have to unplug and replug the connector on the back of the computer a few times, or do the whole paper trick over again in order to get the monitor to start working again. The result of this is that I often just put it to sleep and hate having to restart as I know it's going to be a "please work again" moment when I do this.

So paper fix, permanent when restarting or has to be done every now and again to keep your Cinema Display?

Thx!

After returning from vacation last week I got the black screen and attendant short-long-short error code when I tried to hook my 23" ACD to my macbook pro. I had unplugged the monitor along with everything else prior to leaving.
Blocking the middle prong brought the monitor back but I began to wonder about the effects of interrupting what appears to be the ground circuit. I talked on the phone with my dad the retired electrician and gave him the rundown on what had happened and some of the info I'd gathered from the thread. Here's what he had to say:

(disclaimer: I'm no electrician, don't pretend to be, blahbbity frakkin' blah)

If blocking the ground lead brought the monitor back AND other's experience with new 90W adapters not working was the case, then the problem would have to be a short to ground somewhere in the monitor. Any appliance will run without a ground lead, the risk here is further damage to the monitor in the event of a power surge. By blocking the ground lead we're tricking the monitor into thinking there's no ground fault issue and it won't shut down to protect itself.
He wasn't sure why a 150W converter would work in place of a 90W but said there should not be any long term issues. The appliance will only draw the current it requires.

Einar: After blocking the middle pin I had no problem when restarting my computer and reconnecting the monitor. In fact, I kept the monitor unplugged when not in use with no ill effects.

I ordered a new 150W Adapter from http://www.macpartsonline.com and so far the monitor is working.

Just wanted to add my display to the list. Hope Apple get's it that this is more then just a couple of monitors.

I tried to work with the Service end of Apple and since I was 3 months out of coverage the will not do anything about it. Went to a service center located in my area that does Apple repair work. They taped the center pin and got my monitor working. But the inverter card is damaged and in all these cases it could be a short lived fix.