Black screen for no reason

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Black screen for no reason

My iMac (2009) screen suddenly goes black and the Mac still seems to be operational. I have to reboot all to begin again. How to stop the screen ‘dropping out’ and rectify all?

iMac 21.5", OS X 10.11

Posted on Dec 9, 2019 4:22 AM

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Answer 1

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amalgamsab Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 12, 2019 2:53 PM in response to chris_g1

Chris, Many thanks for that. I will do it if the prob arises again, as my frustrating remedy (hopefully I don't jinx it just talking about it) worked for now.

What I did was : In the Energy Saver in Preferences, I unchecked the 'Put hard disks to sleep when possible' and 'Wake for network access'. Plus I set the 'Computer sleep' to 'Never'.

So far so good. (Hopefully I haven't jinxed this).

But if this black screen affair appears again I will use your 'System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac' solution.

Many thanks for the advice

Steve aka amalgamsab :D

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Answer 2

chris_g1

Community Specialist

Dec 11, 2019 6:18 PM in response to amalgamsab

Hello amalgamsab,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities! I understand that the screen on your iMac goes black unexpectedly, however it's resolved with restarting the Mac.

Let's start by trying the suggestions in the following resource:

If your Mac screen goes black

If you're still experiencing the issue, I'd like to have you reset the SMC, then restart the Mac in safe mode next:

Keep us posted on the results.

Cheers!

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Answer 3

raina_b22

Community Specialist

Dec 13, 2019 10:34 AM in response to amalgamsab

Hi amalgamsab,

Glad to hear things seem to be working OK right now. Thanks for letting us know the solution as well! Please reach out if you do encounter the behavior again and it's not resolved with the previous steps.

Take care.

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Answer 4

amalgamsab Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 17, 2019 2:40 PM in response to amalgamsab

The black screen problem has returned. Now, even worse.

I've done the SMC remedy repeatedly but black screen is returning now more than ever … even when I'm half way of putting in my password.

Someone suggested it could be a virus but Apples don't get viruses. I've run CleanMyMac a few times and the problem is still there.

Please help.

Steve aka amalgamsab :(

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Answer 5

amalgamsab Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 23, 2019 12:45 PM in response to amalgamsab

amalgamsab again

My iMac prob has been solved a better way. Because the thing was 10 years old, I’ve purchased a new iMac ... now w better configuration. Then it’ll be a hope that all old software works w Catalina.

Many thanks to all advice re the black screen affair. 👍😸

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Black screen for no reason

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