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Mini display port to HDMI problem

I have my aluminum Macbook perfectly wired up to my 32 inch RCA HDTV. Nothing will come up on the screen, I've tried detect display, I've tried restarting the computer, unplugging and plugging back in then detect display, turned the tv of and on, but nothing is working. I am currently running Snow Leopard, but when I was on Leopard this process of attaching the TV to the computer just took about 10 minutes of doing desultory processes that I've already described. Any suggestions on how to make it work the first time?

Early 2009 Aluminum Macbook, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Sep 28, 2009 1:36 PM

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1,012 replies

Jan 21, 2011 1:33 PM in response to Ponponhead

I have a 13" MBP that I purchased in mid 2009. I recently bought the Moshi Mini DP to HDMI and the video worked as soon as I plugged it into my 32" Sony Bravia. The audio, however, was a different story. Unfortunately, upon reading this thread, I see that my MBP will not support the audio out with this adapter. I wish this was stated clearly when I purchased it!!!!!!!!

Jan 22, 2011 5:59 AM in response to coshea1

I swear I am so over this. I had a scheduled tech call with Apple on Thursday and the guy even found our posts! He said, "Are you christianransopher, is that your post?" I said YES - so they do eventually get to them I guess. But nothing I'm trying and none of the ideas he had are working. I literally bought this 37" LG LCD (which is way too big for my office) just so I could us it as a monitor and now it's just a huge dust bunny collector. I am learning to loath this little mini display port! I'm headed to my Apple store today and they had better fix our problem! Will keep you updated...

CR

Jan 22, 2011 10:18 AM in response to Pinzman

Hi all,

Well, my commiserations are with you all in your many and varied MDP -> HDMI LCDTV blow-outs. As for me and mine, I think I've discovered it was my LCDTV HDMI port that was the problem all along.

I nicked the 22" LCDTV from the Boardroom at work, swapped it for my 26" at home and viola! I have a connection.

After trying EVERYTHING suggested on this list including buying new adapters it seemed not to be the Macbook Pro's problem after all. At least not in my case, this time, now that I have OSX 10.6.6. Wish I had tried the swap-out much earlier.

All the best with your respective troubles.

I'm movin' on - possibly to go buy me a whopping new full HD 50" (if I can convince the missus!)

Jan 22, 2011 11:52 AM in response to Pinzman

Looks like I'm at the end of the line here...
My situation is that the TV shows 'No Signal' when connected via HDMI, yet the computer's Display Prefs shows it as available when its connected. This is better than for most here, I think, but nothing ever appears on the tv. I spent hours trying every available resolution etc etc etc. The TV accepts HDMI input from DVD player etc, so it works.
I borrowed a friend's cheapo tv and when I hitched it up everything just worked. So I made an appointment at the Genius Bar, and lugged my tv into the Apple Store. Really helpful guy, told me they'd been provided with 3 lcd tv's out back, for testing graphics repairs - and they had exactly the same problem as me. Couldn't fix the problem, they'd given up - those tv's were just sitting out back gathering dust. "Hey, I'll go get one..." Hitched my computer up to his tv with my leads and adapter - and it just worked. He was as baffled and frustrated as me. Well, nearly.
It seems there is nothing wrong with my mini display port. There's nothing wrong with my adapter or lead. There's nothing wrong with my TV's HDMI input. But they won't all play nice together, and no-one knows why.
I'm done - life's too short.

Jan 23, 2011 2:24 PM in response to Ponponhead

Hopefully Apple are now aware of this Graphical issue that has been going on for over 12 months. The update for 10.6.7 is currently being tested

I have a strong feeling this is what we have been looking for.


+"Apple today seeded the first the version of Mac OS X 10.6.7, termed Build 10J842, to developers. Coming just two weeks after the public release of Mac OS X 10.6.6 to support the Mac App Store, Mac OS X 10.6.7 will be yet another free maintenance release for Snow Leopard users.+

+We've yet to hear word of changes included in 10.6.7, but we will update this post as more information comes in.+

+Update: We've now heard that Apple lists no known issues in the documentation, and asks developers to focus their testing on AirPort, Bonjour, SMB, and Graphics Drivers."+
http://www.macrumors.com/2011/01/20/apple-seeds-mac-os-x-10-6-7-build-10j842-to- developers/

Jan 26, 2011 1:54 AM in response to Ponponhead

I figured I would just tell you all about my story. I do not have any solutions, the problem is still ongoing. But first I'd like to clear some confusion.

There seem to be a couple of people in this thread who thinks that when you experience this problem and you plug the HDTV with your MacBook through HDMI, you get a connection with the HDTV and can change the settings. This is not true. What happens is that the MacBook will flash its screen like it does when it detects a TV being connected, but then it will go back to normal. No connection established. Of course, there's people in this thread with different kinds of problems but with similarities. However, the main problem in this thread is quite clear and it's the same one that I have.

So with that out of the way, here's what happens for me and most people in this thread:

I've been using a Mini Display Port to HDMI adapter for quite a while and it has been working great. But lately I've been experiencing issues with it. There is nothing wrong with the adapter nor the cable, and certainly not the TV.

When I connect the adapter to the computer, the screen on the MacBook will flash blue, like it should, but it will not connect to the TV. What does this mean? It means that it detects the TV but is unable to establish a connection with it. Probably because it sends the wrong signals.

Now that's all pretty logical, but here comes the weird stuff. If I continue to try and re-establish a connection, either by plugging in and out the cable or changing HDMI-ports with the TV-remote (the MacBook re-detects when I switch from HDMI1 to HDMI2 and back), it will eventually establish a connection with the TV and work fine. Though, this can take minutes. Plenty of minutes. Last night I tried re-detecting for about 15 minutes and it didn't work. However, this morning it worked quite quickly.

So the problem is quite obviously with the MacBook/the OS and not with the adapter, cable or the TV. It's just ridiculous, and frankly quite annoying, to read posts where people claim you should get a new adapter. Why? Because there's so many people out there with different adapters, and people who have switched adapters and so on and so forth, that experience the exact problem I just describe. So either there's a problem with the MacBook/OS or there's a lot of TVs and adapters out there that are faulty. It's just illogical.

Once again I would like to remind you all that there's no connection, what so ever, between the TV and the MacBook when it doesn't establish one. And by establish I mean that you can actually see the screen on the TV. So bringing up the display settings won't do anything, search for devices on the TV or in the MacBook won't do anything. There just is not a TV there for the MacBook.

I have tried everything posted in this thread and the only thing that works for me is trying over, and over, and over, and over again until it just randomly works.

Jan 30, 2011 10:36 AM in response to tpmccomas

Wow. I looked online for a problem and actually found a post that wasn't 3 years or older.

Yea I got excited that there was an adapter for the minidisplay port to hdmi. Got the adapter. Hooked it up. It was completely uneventful. No recognition on either side that a connection had been made. Doesn't show up in display settings. Complete fail. Hope this gets resolved. $30 bucks on an adapter for nothing.

Jan 31, 2011 12:53 PM in response to sr20fd3st

So does anyone have a solution to this? It is so annoying!

Same story as others - my mini display port to hdmi was working perfectly and I was using it pretty much everyday. Then a few days ago, the tv wouldn't recognise the macbook pro , or the other way around. I fiddled about with the connections, taking them out and putting them in again and eventually got the tv to work once more as a second display. Since then though, every time I try, my macbook pro will blink blue for about a second and the tv will not register anything at all.

If this is definitely a software issue, what exactly are Apple doing about this? My hardware setup has not changed at all. Just one day last week, I tried bringing up the tv display and then nada.

I would say the main use of my macbook has been for playing dvds etc on the big screen so this issue is affecting me big time.

Has anyone taken their macbook back to apple and had it replaced under warranty? This will be my next step as it is currently not fit for purpose.

Cheers,

Lee

Message was edited by: leeleema

Feb 2, 2011 7:14 PM in response to Ponponhead

Yesterday, hooked up my macbook air to my monitor via mini-dvi to HDMI. Worked flawlessly without having to touch anything. Worked for 4-5 hours without any problem, unplugged and tried again today. Though this time, monitor is either dark without any image or flashes signs of TV like static. Thought my monitor was busted so plugged it into my HDTV, extended desktop appears but heavy static. OSX detects the monitor and settings, played around with them but no luck. Then I used a HDMI to DVI cable to attach to the monitor, same issues with HDMI . Tried a newer HDMI cable, nothing either. Nothing has changed on my macbook except I turned it off instead of putting it to sleep when I put it away. Solutions?

Feb 4, 2011 3:46 AM in response to Ponponhead

Similar problem on OSX 6.6 and a brand new displayport to HDMI cable I bought from the Apple store.

MY LG LCD TV responds to the cable by showing the default nebulous image for the Mac, but no further. The screen and macbook recognize each other by dimming to blue then back again, but that's it.
The only time I seem to be able to get what is on screen on my macbook onto the TV is when I open the Display options window, but I have tried every combination of "detecting settings" and "gathering windows" but nothing seems to happen.

Most frustratingly, when I open VLC and put to full screen, the TV acknowledges this action by dimming from the nebulous background to black.

Feb 4, 2011 5:28 AM in response to sanktcolon

Sanktcolon,

I think that you just about summed it up for everyone. My problem is exactly the same as yours: working perfectly for months then only intermittently or not at all.

I did notice that by wiggling the adaptor cable, it's official Apple by the way, it would flicker on and off, on the TV. I wonder, could it be a problem with the mini socket on the Mac? Maybe its just not sturdy enough to withstand plugging in and out, on a daily basis. If so it's definitly an Apple problem and they should repair it under warranty.

What are anybody else's thoughts?

Mini display port to HDMI problem

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