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my macbook pro does not detect external display anymore

i bought a new plasma panasonic tv one month ago and i have the adapter and everything.... i've also watched already over 30 movies by connecting my laptop with the tv through the adapter and hdmi cable... yesterday i was at a friends place and i connected my adapter to his hdmi cable and my mac detected his tv straight away but it didn't work . after this my friend told that he faced a problem with the hdmi cable(brand=hama) and he could not connect his laptop . after finding his tv and finally not working today i connect it to my own tv and the screen turns blue for a couple of seconds like trying to connect but does not detect my tv ... anybody has any idea what happened. my mini dvi port seems to work because the moment i connect the cable it turns blue( as when i was watching movies no problem)... now what happened ??

Message was edited by: giannisg

macbook pro 13,3 late 2010, Mac OS X (10.6.6), intel core 2 duo 2,4GHz , memory->4GB 1067 DDR3

Posted on Jan 23, 2011 9:01 PM

Reply
378 replies

May 20, 2013 11:48 AM in response to giannisg

Heres my little 'fix'


Not had a macbook long so it really never worked with a monitor tv or anything I tried since I got it. Just to be specific my problem was that the macbook detects the monitor, but the monitor stays in a sort of standby mode.


Tried all the other fixes in this thread with no luck but stumbled across something that works for me.




- Once the display is plugged in go to the display options in preferences (before I had everything setup i had to open it first and 'grab' it so that I could drag it across from the dead screen, as the new monitor would be detected as the main display)


- Gather windows to show the dead monitors option pane


- Now i just toggle between 'Best for display' 'Scaled 1080p 50 Hz' 'Scaled 1080p 60Hz'


- After 4 or 5 goes the monitor comes to life



I have tried different orders but couldnt find any set routine that works, seems to be random. My monitor works fine with all 3 settings so which ever one clicks doesnt matter for me.


Hope this helps!

May 20, 2013 2:24 PM in response to giannisg

I had this issue with a Samsung monitor and my MBP - BUT I haven't had a single problem since I changed my apple minidisplayport adaptor (then connected to a DVI>HDMI cable) to a generic cable from Amazon that is direct minidisplay port connector to HDMI. I think the Apple minidisplayport>DVI adaptor is perhaps overly fussy in its negotiations with the monitor.

May 30, 2013 6:50 PM in response to giannisg

Heya guys I see this started a long time ago I had all the same issues

Tried every thing even talked to an apple tec that went through reboots

And heaps of trouble shooting steeps for two hrs to no avail

Thanks for trying brad in au . I bit the bullett and took my Mbp into

Harvey Norman in New Zealand got one of there guys to put in a

Mini display to hdmi brand moshi connect and Wamo it worked ASAP.

$60 bucks ouch but saving on the disprin aspirin panadol Wea Eva ur from

From the hrs spent messing around with it . Lesson learned don't buy cheep .

My Mbp is mid 2012 thunderbolt port the cable at the hdmi end is a bulk looking

Box I'm guessing that apple put a software patch on mini display as it doesn't just

Look like a plain cable any more . Hope this helps

Jun 7, 2013 3:36 PM in response to giannisg

I have a new MacBook Pro, new Dell monitor and new Apple mini dvi display adapter. Suddenly my Dell monitor was never detected again. I tried each suggestion posted here but to no avail. However, this worked for me:


With mbp running; disconnect mini display adapter

Detect monitors (option + command + F2)

Reconnect mini display adapter

(now both monitors work)


I only needed to do this once, so I cannot be too certain if it will work again.

Jun 13, 2013 10:24 PM in response to giannisg

Same issue started today. 24" ViewSonic has been working flawlessly for a year. I always use it with my 2011 MBP 13" lid closed. So I wake up the computer with the wireless trackpad or keyboard. NEVER once had an issue. Then this morning the ViewSonic would not respond.


I opened the MBP, checked the displays and it showed that it recognized the ViewSonic even though the ViewSonic screen was black. I did all sorts of different reboots and disconnect/reconnects with both the MBP and ViewSonic but the best I could muster was a mirror image on the ViewSonic only when the MBP lid was open. But the Viewsonic image was distorted (resolution was screwed up). Considering I use the Apple Mini-port HDMI adaptor, the ViewSonic picture was always crystal clear before today.


No matter how many times I opened and closed the lid and then tried tapping on the wireless trackpad, it never woke the computer. Until I did this, and it's been working all day and night since doing so:


1. Make sure the monitor and MBP are connected, and the computer is running and lid is OPEN

2. Disconnect the Apple Mini-port adaptor from the MBP

3. Unplug the power source to the ViewSonic (or whatever external monitor you're using). Wait for the standby light on the external monitor to go off before taking the next step

4. Reconnect the Apple Mini-port adaptor to the MBP (HDMI or DVI cable should already be connected the Apple adaptor - I'm assuming this throughout these steps)

5. Reconnect the power source to the external monitor


Give it a few seconds and the display should now show up on external monitor. It will likely be distorted which we will fix in the next series of steps. Make sure you have checked mirror displays in the display preferences.


Now, to get the MBP to recognize the external monitor when the lid is closed, do the following:


1. Make sure the the MBP lid is open and the computer is on.

2. The display on the external monitor should still be mirroring what you see on the MBP screen (although the display will be distorted). Now close the MBP lid (do not put it in sleep mode, just close the computer while it's running.

3. Now unplug the Apple Mini-port from the MBP.

4. Unplug the power source to the external monitor. Wait for the stand-by light to go off before going to the next step

5. Connect the Apple Mini-port back into the MBP

6. Reconnect the power source to the external monitor. Immediately start repeatedly clicking the wireless trackpad or mouse until the display stays on. It will blue screen for a sec while it resolves the resolution. It should then come back on and look as it should. External monitor should now be ready to use with the MBP closed

Jun 18, 2013 4:01 AM in response to aentara

ML = Mountain Lion (Apple OS X) I think.


Have just received my MBP back from the Apple Shop after suffering this problem a couple of weeks ago. Apple had to replace the entire logic board - thankfully it was under the Applecare warranty or I'd have been shelling out around £400.


I have a feeling the miniDV link was the problem - probably the connector blew and took out some components with it though the rest of the Mac (apart from throwing a signal to the external screen) worked fine. Now it's all working fine - phew!

my macbook pro does not detect external display anymore

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