Login screen appears on wrong monitor

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Level 1

8 points

Login screen appears on wrong monitor

Hi everyone,

I hope anyone has a solution for the following problem. I already found the very old thread, regarding the same problem, but the solution doesn't work.

So I recently got my Mac Studio and my Studio Display. I have several Monitors connected to the Mac Studio: The Studio Display via Thunderbolt and configured as the main display, and a second one at my digital piano a few meters away via the built in HDMI on the Mac Studio.

As already mentioned, the Studio Display is set as the main display and the second Monitor as an extension. Everything is fine during normal work. But if I boot or restart the Mac Studio the Studio Display keeps black and the login screen appears on the second monitor. After the login the Studio Display is the main monitor again.

So it looks like that the built in HDMI is prioritized as long as a monitor is connected to it. I already tried to disconnect the 2nd monitor from power but that's not enough. I have to pull out the HDMI cable from the monitor to see the login screen on the Studio Display.

Is there any way to tell macOS that the Studio Display is the "Master" where the login screen has to be displayed?! It's really annoying.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Forgot: The system is running with macOS Monterey 12.4

Mac Studio

Posted on May 25, 2022 9:01 AM

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Answer 1

Mac-Trek Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 5, 2022 7:22 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Hu Luis, also sorry to you for my late response. Yes, the mentioned box is checked. I noticed something, too: It seems that the problem is not just related to macOS, because if I boot the Mac Studio in recovery mode the recovery screen appears on the HDMI-monitor, too instead of the Studio Display.

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Answer 2

Mac-Trek Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 3, 2022 11:53 AM in response to Mac-Trek

Discovered something new today. I have a third monitor via an USB-C to HDMI Adapter connected to the Mac Studio. Most of the time the power is off until I need the monitor. Today I switched the monitor on before I hit the power button on the Mac Studio and guess what: Now the login screen appeared on that monitor instead on the Studio Display. This behavior is driving me nuts! Isn't there any solution to tell macOS AND the Boot menu to use the Studio Display as the main Display?!

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Answer 3

Mac-Trek Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 4, 2022 2:07 AM in response to Mac-Trek

A user in an another forum gave me the final hint to this Login-Riddle (thanks again Maniacintosh). Like him I am using two accounts on my Mac Studio. An Adminaccount for maintenance and a Standarduser which I work the most time with. So I confiugred my monitors just with the Standardaccount.

The solution was actually very simple: I had to login to my Adminaccount to configure the monitors the same way as in the Standardaccount and that's it. After a fresh boot or a reboot the login screen finally appears on my configured main monitor.

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Answer 4

May 26, 2022 9:37 AM in response to Mac-Trek

Hello Mac-Trek,

Thanks for participating in the Apple Support Communities.

Let's check to make sure your Apple Studio Display is up-to-date with the latest firmware to see if that could be related to what you're experiencing. For assistance with this, check out the steps below and additional information can be found here: What’s new in firmware updates for Apple Studio Display - Apple Support

Update your display

To update your Studio Display, you need a Mac with macOS 12.3 or later.

1. From the Apple menu  in the corner of your screen, choose System Preferences.

2. In the System Preferences window, click Software Update.

3. If a firmware update is available for your display, click Update Now to begin downloading the update.

4. When the update is ready to be installed, click Restart in the notification that appears in the upper-right corner of your display.

5. Don't unplug your display while the update is in progress. While it's updating, you might see an ellipsis icon , a message asking you not to unplug the display, or a blank screen.

If you're up-to-date with the latest firmware, check that the Thunderbolt cable that came with the display is plugged into the port closest to the stand. If this is the case, Contact Apple Support to look into this with you in more detail.

Have a great day!

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Answer 5

BobHarris

Level 9

53,531 points

Jul 4, 2022 4:09 AM in response to Mac-Trek

I have always used

system preferences-> Displays -> Arrange

then click and drag the white menu bar in the Displays Arrange preferences to the screen that I want to be my primary monitor and the one That displays the login prompt.

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Answer 6

Mac-Trek Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 4, 2022 8:14 AM in response to BobHarris

@BobHarris: Your solution works only if you're working with an Adminaccount only. I am only working with a Standarduser and after the login everything was arranged as it should be. Bur for a fresh Boot or Restart it seems that the system uses the configuration of an Adminaccount for the Loginscreen. So I had to configure all the monitors with the Adminaccount as well to have the login on the right monitor.

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Answer 7

BobHarris

Level 9

53,531 points

Jul 4, 2022 11:23 AM in response to Mac-Trek

When I login to a "Standard" account, I am still able to grab the menu bar representation in the Display System Preferences and move it to the screen I want as the primary.

Also in Monterey, I can also select the option to use as the "Main Display" or as and "Extended Display" which effectively does the same thing.

Again, I did this logged in as a Standard user, on Monterey 12.4

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Answer 8

Mac-Trek Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 5, 2022 4:49 AM in response to BobHarris

Sorry Bob, you didn't get the point. I had only problems with the login screen after a boot/reboot, not with the main display configuration after a login. And the only solution was as postet on 4th July (marked as solved).

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Answer 9

May 26, 2022 10:11 AM in response to Mac-Trek

This may or may not be related, but the black screen made me think:

is this box checked in System Preferences->Mission Control? It should.

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Answer 10

Mac-Trek Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 5, 2022 7:19 AM in response to Brandon_J_321

Hi Brandon, sorry for the late response. I didn't get any mail notification about an answer. My Studio Display is up to date. Version 15.5 is installed.

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