lebungleski

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

Hello everyone.
This sounds like something of an epidemic... My Apple Cinema 23" HD Display (bought Dec. 2007) hasn't been turning on after a power outage hit our area last week.

The Computer and Display were OFF when the outage occurred. Everything was plugged into a surge suppressor. Everything ELSE plugged in to the suppressor is fine (including my Mac CPU)... but not the monitor.
It’s not dead-dead…. It’s a blank screen but there IS a morse-code flash on the LED (short-long-short). According to Apple Support’s LED Translation, it SHOULD be something to do with the power adaptor. The adaptor IS correct… a 90 watt… but just in case I bought ANOTHER 90w adaptor brick. I plugged the monitor to the new brick. THE RESULT WAS THE SAME.

I’ve tried power cycling, I’ve tried plugging it into different outlets, I’ve tried connecting to other computers. The same LED result remains.

And, yes, of course, I’ve got no Apple Support, and from what I read in similar posts, outside-the-warranty repairs could hit around $400. I REFUSE!

For now I have a Samsung monitor from Costco. It’s not bad, but it’s not the Apple monitor with its awesome color-fidelity.

I've read some other posts with the same problem (LED blink code and all) elsewhere but haven't got a solid answer.
I wonder… has anyone else incurring this same problem (with the same LED flashing deal) tried to use a 150-WATT adaptor brick? I would try this myself, but I’m currently financially unable (and personally unwilling) to throw more cash at this problem unless I know it’ll fix it.

Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on Jul 18, 2009 7:03 PM

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

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  • by asoz,

    asoz asoz Feb 2, 2012 8:24 PM in response to Drew Reece (Re:co)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 2, 2012 8:24 PM in response to Drew Reece (Re:co)

    The paper trick worked for me...however noticed a problem: whenever I insert the USB cable from moitor to Macbook/PC, the monitor goes off. Anybody having such issue or am I the only one?

  • by MattLTH,

    MattLTH MattLTH Mar 28, 2012 1:29 PM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 28, 2012 1:29 PM in response to lebungleski

    I came to the studio today to find my 23 inch Apple Cinema display doing the short-long-short blinking LED. After reading the instructions here on blocking the center pin of the power connector, my monitor came back to life. I just used a thin piece of business card, folded it in half, and inserted it into the power connector, and voilà! That beats the **** out of a new power supply, monitor repair, or new monitor. Thanks to everyone who posted these fixes.

  • by Northcroft,

    Northcroft Northcroft Apr 20, 2012 3:29 AM in response to MattLTH
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 20, 2012 3:29 AM in response to MattLTH

    Just fixed a 23 inch monitor with the blocking center pin trick.

     

    I wonder  -

     

    1.  How long the fix will last - since the trick was discovered some time ago - has anyone had a monitor fail since applying the center pin trick?  How long did it last?

     

    2.  Why it was necessary - does anyone really understand what has happened in the monitor?

  • by Northcroft,

    Northcroft Northcroft Apr 20, 2012 3:47 AM in response to Drew Reece (Re:co)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 20, 2012 3:47 AM in response to Drew Reece (Re:co)

    Drew Reece wrote "I wish Apple could fix every failed product, but it seems like a lot of people expect fixes beyond 3 years even when they have not purchased Apple Care, see my deadmac raw data for an idea. I do wish they would release more technical info to allow people to fix their own equipment, but asking Apple to do so for free many years after purchase seems unfair, unless a product recall was issued."

     

    Apple have the technical information on day 1 of the monitor being on sale.  It is on their computer servers.  It would cost nothing to make it public.  But they are a secretive company - the entire business is based on obsessive secrecy.  Sure it has helped make them the biggest company on the planet - but I would prefer to see humans progress in an open, shared information, sort of way.  Secrecy disgusts me, I am afraid.  It makes sure that every bad decision made in this way is repeated endlessly.  And it makes sure that an endless array of problems take forever to get fixed.

     

    Thank God Apple allowed this forum to exist.  And let us poor end users share our problems and fixes in an open way. 

     

    It would still be helpful if Apple would publish the technical stuff - it could probably be done by a single employee who had access to the technical data. 

  • by Drew Reece (Re:co),

    Drew Reece (Re:co) Drew Reece (Re:co) Apr 20, 2012 6:53 AM in response to Northcroft
    Level 2 (310 points)
    Apr 20, 2012 6:53 AM in response to Northcroft

    Northcroft wrote:

     

    I wonder  -

     

    1.  How long the fix will last - since the trick was discovered some time ago - has anyone had a monitor fail since applying the center pin trick?  How long did it last?

     

    2.  Why it was necessary - does anyone really understand what has happened in the monitor?

     

    1. No idea, I decided to solder a new LDO onto the logic board since the old one had failed. Covering pins is a lousy long term idea IMO, there is no way to tell if the plastic has moved and may cause other pins to be blocked too. The supply is outputting enough current to damage the other parts of the connector if one side is overheating (by carrying all the load designed to be split across both sides of the connector). Opening the monitor & cutting the centre wire from the power connector would be a moderately better solution IMO.

     

    2. I think a few people have grasped that the centre pin is for detecting the type (power rating) of supply attached. The 'detection line' is there to protect you from using an 'under rated' supply. Electrical items get hot when overloaded & may even catch fire so you should really think before you use the monitor with any other supply. It seems to be tied in with some low voltage circuits on the main board - the LDO fix.

     

    I blogged about my resolution, it still is working for my friend.

    http://pixelchimp.net/blog/pixel-chimp/apple-23-cinema-display-possible-fix-shor t-long-short-error

     

    PS Apple employees who leak Apple tech manuals don't stay employees for long, they are all out there if you look hard.

  • by hexdiy,

    hexdiy hexdiy Apr 20, 2012 11:07 AM in response to Drew Reece (Re:co)
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Apr 20, 2012 11:07 AM in response to Drew Reece (Re:co)

    Anybody who reads this thread should read your excellent and concise review of it in your blog. Many thanks, Drew!

    As for tech manuals used by Apple techs: I have it on the authority of a correspondent of mine who has worked for a European AASP (and who has not breeched any confidentiality agreement in telling me this, I believe):  they seem to be of little or no use for people trying to attempt component level repair. Component level repair is simply not done by them: they just swap parts and circuit boards. E.g.: 1 broken hinge on a Macbook Air gets replaced by an entire screen array!

    Actual schematics must exist somewhere. But they necessarily- and understandably so, alas- carry an even higher level of confidentiality. Probably R&D only.

    Relevance for this thread? A lot of people including myself have been trying in vain to identify Q1 on the mainboard of the A1081(20") and A1082 (23") ACD models. It seems to be a transistor, carrying an infamous SMD code, and is probably related to the 'detection line' or in any case to the secondary power supply circuit which is located on the mainboard. Failure of this transistor is probably the 3rd common cause of these monitors dying on us (and possibly related to the short-long-short error code), after "wrong powerbrick detected" (cause #1, error code short-long-short), and a defective/malfunctioning 3.3V LDO (LM1117, cause #2, may be even originating the error code in question here).

    So: can anyone of you define either of the following SMD markings for a transistor: HEZH4; H6FU9; HEVQ9 or HFXS5? These, I gather, have all been found in the same aforementioned "Q1" position.

    Thank you!

  • by Tom Thistle,

    Tom Thistle Tom Thistle May 15, 2012 8:56 AM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 15, 2012 8:56 AM in response to lebungleski

    Much respect to Jakobeon. This worked for me, although did take a few tries and didn't work with paper. I came very close to buying a new monitor today...

  • by anniefarkle,

    anniefarkle anniefarkle May 26, 2012 8:40 AM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2012 8:40 AM in response to lebungleski

    I have had my 23 " apple cinema display go bad after installing Lion. There was a power outage issue last week as well but I have a surge protector and thought that protected my Mac? 'Went on line and got a support guy to call back as a "one time exception" since I recently intalled Lion. Together we tried to restore the display going through his suggested steps. He mentioned that there was an update for Lion and cinema displays but I had everything up to date. ... 'No luck getting the display to work and tech told me to get it serviced. I live 2+ hours from Apple stores. Is it as simple as getting a larger 150 W compatible power adapter instead of my current 90 Watt one?

     

    annie

  • by Drew Reece (Re:co),

    Drew Reece (Re:co) Drew Reece (Re:co) May 26, 2012 8:50 AM in response to anniefarkle
    Level 2 (310 points)
    May 26, 2012 8:50 AM in response to anniefarkle

    You have failed to mention what symptoms it has. What does go bad mean, black or dim screen, no power light, distorted display…?

     

    This issue is about Apple Cinema display's that show the short-long-short flashing error on the power light.

    If yours shows this error then the issue may apply, the fix seems to vary, some will use the 'cover center pin hack' and others will open the display & replace components that appear to be dead. Others find that a 150W PSU will work.

     

    It's impossible to answer your question without an idea of the symptoms.

  • by anniefarkle,

    anniefarkle anniefarkle May 26, 2012 8:58 AM in response to Drew Reece (Re:co)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2012 8:58 AM in response to Drew Reece (Re:co)

    The display is black and does not "open" so I cannot read the screen. It's not flashing.

  • by MattLTH,

    MattLTH MattLTH May 26, 2012 9:11 AM in response to anniefarkle
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2012 9:11 AM in response to anniefarkle

    Does your power LED (the little blue one in the lower right-hand corner of the displays aluminum frame) blink in a short-long-short pattern?

  • by anniefarkle,

    anniefarkle anniefarkle May 26, 2012 9:44 AM in response to MattLTH
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2012 9:44 AM in response to MattLTH

    no ... does not blink

  • by MattLTH,

    MattLTH MattLTH May 26, 2012 10:13 AM in response to anniefarkle
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2012 10:13 AM in response to anniefarkle

    Since this thread pertains mainly to the symptom of the power LED flashing a short-long-short pattern, my supposition is that the issue with your monitor (since the LED not blinking) would not be cured by the solutions contained within. You could certainly try a 150W power supply, or a 90W that you know for a fact is working properly. You could even try blocking the center pin (see previous posts) to see if that helps. But my guess is that if none of those solutions work, your monitor is in need of repair or replacement.

     

    MattLTH

  • by anniefarkle,

    anniefarkle anniefarkle May 26, 2012 10:34 PM in response to MattLTH
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2012 10:34 PM in response to MattLTH

    Thanks a million, Matt! Will try your suggestions! Have a super weekend!

     

    Anniebikealot

  • by dportis47,

    dportis47 dportis47 Jun 4, 2012 4:51 PM in response to lebungleski
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 4, 2012 4:51 PM in response to lebungleski

    OMG this worked I love you!

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