Q: 24" LED Display with 2011 15" MPB

Thank you El Presidente (What does level 2 mean?)

I consider that as a good message...
A kernel panic = system crash?
Only when connected over USB?

WiFi or BT is fine?
I use my MBP live on stage...

But my ACD display is stable again after restart.

I think the community ranks you based on how many Helpful or Solved answers you're given.

Kernel Panic is indeed a system crash and usually due to bad device drivers if i recall correctly, although there can be other reasons for it. As for USB only i'm not sure but i think BT is also a culprit.

The current workaround is to boot your mac into 32-bit mode apparently.

In fact it's a known issue with Personal Hotspot using USB, with any Mac booting on 64bits kernel.

If you boot in 32bits mode (by pressing 32 at computer startup), then this issue don't occur. It's a know issue of the 64bits version of AppleUSBEthernetHost.kext.

Bluetooth and WiFi Personal Hotspot works fine, even with 64bits kernel. You can disable the USB Personal Hotspot by disabling the "iPhone" network interface in System Preferences -> Network panel (at the bottom, beside the add / remove buttons, click the preferences button (the little toothed wheel) then select 'make service inactive'.

This will avoid you to get kernel panics when the iPhone is connected, so you can use WiFi or Bluetooth Personal Hotspot while keeping the iPhone connected on USB to keep it charged.

...Gonna bring us back on topic here with some updates of my own.

As many of you already know, I've had the "typical" experience with my 2011 15" MBP + 24" ACD, by which I mean an absolutely unacceptable, highly irritating, nerve-wracking experience with graphical glitches, blackouts, and jitters.

I have since discontinued using the 24" ACD and bought the 27" ACD, having heard that they are problem-free when it comes to 2011 MBP compatbility. I'd like to report on my experience with the 27" in the hopes of learning some more about this issue.

Some facts:

• I've had my new 27" connected for 12 hours now, not a single blackout, jitter, or other such glitch. (The 24" would exhibit these glitches within 30-45 minutes, and sometimes as soon as 1-2 minutes, so it's safe to say I'm in the clear with this new monitor now.)
• I repeat: It's been operating totally flawlessly.
• I have all 3 cables plugged in: MagSafe power, Mini Display Port, and USB.
• This is a "heavy configuration" with all 3 USB ports on the back hub of the ACD in use, connected to another hub with more peripherals, and then on to the MBP itself.
• The MBP and the ACD are both on, so the AMD GPU is driving both a 2560x1440 display and a 1680x1050 one.
• I have taxed the system with 1080p movies, iPhoto and iMovie editing, and even an XBench test : still flawless!

Some observations/things to consider:

• The 24" ACD carried audio through the USB port only. With the 27", audio is piped through both the USB port and the Mini Display Port.
  • Clearly then, the 27" ACD has a more capable Mini Display Port connector that may "have what it takes" to work with the new Thunderbolt jack on the MBP.
  • Not sure what this means, but this is a clear difference between the 24 and 27. There may be something related to this functionality. Can't say with any certainty, but it's a place to look for clues.
• The 27" boasts a few enhancements, like ambient light sensor, etc... so there's differnet hardware in the display itself to accomodate such features.
  • This updated hardware may contain whatever "plays well" with the 2011 MBP's that's not found in the 24".
• Most importantly, this display is bigger and higher-res than the 24", so if anything, it's taxing my MBP harder than the 24": so it's probably safe to conclude this is NOT a GPU/CPU "stressed-out" issue.

Goodluck everybody with getting this problem solved.

Turns out that my problems with 27" may have been my 2009 MPB. The hard drive gave up the ghost the day after I posted - New hard drive, ran all the software updates, 27" ACD now seems to be working fine.

About frequency, I noted the occurrence of events during an hour:

power on: 10h30

blackouts: 10h47, 11h14

jitters/glichs: 10h54, 10h59, 11h03, 11h06, 11h10 (x2), 11h12, 11h14, 11h19, 11h22, (x2 bigger), 11h39

MPB 13" i7 2011 + ACD 24"

As you can see, it is impossible to stay focused at work

Would any of you return and upgrade to the 27" like I did? Apple customer relations would hear any of your cases and grant that return (since this is, frankly, unacceptable).

If you can stand paying about $300 more, this might be a good time to find yourself in the 27s. They're really nice. It's full edge-to-edge bonded glass and has nearly the same pixel density as the new MBP hi-res screens so things don't "blow up in your face" when you have them on the 24" as opposed to the laptop screen.

The way I see it, if y'all could afford a new 2011 MBP 15"+ and a 24" ACD, then you could probably afford to upgrade to the 27" and be done with this.

Should you be forced to by an incomprehnsible intercompany product incompability / graphics glitch? Certainly not. But it may be a blessing in disguise...

How do you contact customer relations?

How can we contact customer relations?
What about if you 24" is already about 18 months old... :-(
27" ACD would be a nice upgrade BUT... they are subject to be upgraded as well pretty soon.
(Thunderbolt loop through, USB over Thunderbolt, audio over Thunderbolt etc. Eg. in short, get rid of the USB cable.)

To speak to Customer Relations:

Call up Apple Support (for the number, see: http://www.apple.com/support/contact/ )

Then ask to speak to Customer Relations. They won't just transfer you without heaing about your case first. Explain to them that you have a unique situation where the 24" ACD does not "cooperate" with the 15" MBP and that you are NOT looking for technical support, as that's already an exhausted option.

They might want to talk you through a couple tests, like leaving the monitor connected without the MagSafe, etc... If you've been following this thread, you know by now that none of those things work. Somehow, Apple Support is a somewhat fragmented world and not everyone's on the same page (at least about this vexing issue). So just tell them that's not necessary and you've already installed a Software Update that basically did nothing.

So after explaining what's going on, tell them you need to speak to Customer Relations to just be made happy, because the update didn't work, etc. etc...

At this point, they should transfer you.

---

REMEMBER: Always be polite!! These people did NOT cause your problem. They're just here to help you. If you're polite, good things will happen. But be persistent. And keep talking about how you invested in the Apple universe of products because you like the company and you trust them, etc. etc. But this is just unacceptable, can't be like this, I gotta be made happy, extremely frustrated, can't use my monitor for work, etc. etc.

Goodluck!

OK, spotted yesterday that there were a couple of software updates which apparantly addressed issues with thunderbolt, graphics and external screens, and given I'm experiencing this problem, applied them with glee.

Annoyingly, though, I got another black screen this morning

Anyone else seen these and applied them? What are people's experiences?

Thanks

Chris

I've ready applied all the updates on my 17 inch 2011 Macbook Pro and still experience the flickering and black screens on my 24 inch ACD. I guess Apple needs to release another fix soon...

Hi

Just wantedto share with you all that I had the same experience with a 2010 15” MBP and the 24" LED Cinema Display when used at maximum resolution. No Thunderbolthere but it’s the same story. The screen went black intermittently at random intervals. When I bought the 24" LED Cinema Display, the new 27” display was not yet available so I returned it.

AfterwardsI connected an old  Samsung 20” LCD panel and started experiencing the same blackouts when used at its maximum resolution.This time I experimented with dedicated programs that allowed me to personalize the resolution and refresh rate of the secondary display. I lowered the refreshrate just a little and the screen worked flawlessly since then. I needed a larger screen and I was uncertain if this issue would continue on the newer 27” Led Cinema so I bought the Dell U2711. It came with a thick cable and had no problems during the first five months. However, one day I experienced the sameblackouts until I rebooted and thankfully it didn’t happen again. If it were tohappen again, I would start lowering the refresh rate slightly as I did with theSamsung.

Based on myexperience with different display brands and different cables, the only thing in common is the MBP, so I believe (and I'm no expert by the way) the problem is not in the display, but inthe MBPs since 2010.

Regards

Barneshall

So i contacted customer relations and just got a call back. I think the engineering department is somewhat aware the updates haven't solved the issue. By that token, i was offered another possible solution; a MDP extension cable. Yup...you read that right

They're gonna send this out to me to see if it sorts out the issue and then take it from there.

I'm skeptical but hey, it doesn't hurt to try. Plust i'd rather be able to keep my 24" ACD than have to upgrade to the 27" because i don't have disposable money to do so right now and my desk is actually quite small so i'm not sure i'd have enough room

Anyway MDP extension cable is on it's way...will update on how it goes.

I called customer relations today.  They told me that because I bought my display in September of 2009, they cannot give a refund on a monitor that is nearly two years old.  The only option for me is to send it back to a genius bar for diagnosis.  They said that they will make sure the case is heard by Apple engineering and try their best to figure out what the problem is.  This is the third time I'm taking it in for repair in the last month.  Absolute nightmare.  If they can't fix this problem, I'm just going to sell the monitor.