Thunderbolt Does Not Detect Display

Sounds a bit like my problem here:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=13159848&#13159848

Could you try switch to a very low resolution (600x800) so we can see if we are experiencing the same issue.

And people here http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2731536&tstart=0 are experiencing this problem too, but only since 10.6.6 so let's hope 10.6.7 fixes the issue!

Welcome to the bleeding edge.

Indeed, incompatibilities can surface when you're one of the first to buy into a new technology. You hope they won't, but sometimes they do.

On the other hand, it's possible that you just need a little voodoo. Disconnect the monitor from everything including its wall outlet for a few minutes, then plug the AC back in but don't connect it to your computer. Turn the monitor on, give it a minute or two to warm up and go through whatever attempts it makes to find a connected input source, and when it's clear that nothing further is happening with it, turn it off again. Then connect it to the MBP while the MBP is asleep or shut down, and test again.

If the monitor has any PRAM in it, the procedure above should reset it. If you still have no joy when it's reconnected to the computer, reset the PRAM in the computer:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

I'm having the exact same problem timtimtimtim. Got my new macbook pro in yesterday with a new Thunderbolt to DVI adapter. Plugged it in to 2 different monitors...nothing. Doesn't even show up under Display option. I took it to the mac store today, they opened my case as said it had a bad port...which means mother board replacement. My fried used his older mac on my monitor/adapter and it worked fine. Im going to try a new monitor I have at home, Ill let you know how it goes. Hopefully I wont have to send it off to be repaired.

I'm having a similar problem (posting here in case it helps someone and also in hopes the apple engineers get wind of this issue eventually).

I'm able to get my external monitor to work on my new macbookPro 13" (early 2011) but the functionality is funky. It does not work like it did just yesterday with my old macbook.

What happens to me has something to do with the ThunderBolt port itself. I can get the monitor on after some fiddling (using the normal macbook external monitor "tricks"), but it doesn't work smoothly. Once i've got the external on i can use it without a problem, but as soon as i sleep the laptop, the external monitor stays on (it used to go into sleep mode). If i try to manually turn the external monitor off it simply will not turn off if i leave the mini display cable attached. I have to unplug the monitor's power cable to get it to turn off. If i remove the mini display cable i can then turn the external monitor off manually using the displays "off" button.

If i sleep the MBP and just leave the monitor on and then wake the laptop, i get no response from the external monitor (in mirrored mode or extended). If i then unplug/plug the external monitor's power cable, once it starts back up i can see the login just fine.

I have no idea what exactly is going on here but it's clearly something strange with the thunderbolt port itself (some sort of power issue).

BTW- i've tested both HDMI & DVI to mini display cables and get the exact same results. Hopefully a fix for this comes sometime soon.

Message was edited by: entropic23

I teach in a classroom where a dangling VGA cable connects first to a switch, then a desktop monitor, then finally a ceiling mounted projector for presentation that mirrors the desktop monitor. I have no idea how all this is wired, but on my old MacBook Pro (late 2006), I just connected via a DVI -> VGA adapter, hit "detect displays" and it all worked.

On my new MacBookPro 2011, connecting via Thunderbolt port -> VGA, my first attempt to detect display froze Displays preference (I had to force quit System Preferences), whereafter further attempts detected nothing at all. I didn't get a chance to check System Profiler to see if anything was visible there... (I was flustered in front of a restless classroom -- yes, i shoulda done a dry run in advance.)

Back in the office, trying Thunderbolt to DVI to an Asus desktop monitor works like a charm. I hope there is a way to get some king of generic DVA out to the projector set-up, whose arrangement is ultimately outside of my control. I'll try Thunderbolt -> DVI -> VGA next time and see what happens...

@somedudesteve
When you were in the office connected to the Asus, did your MBP display sleep or did the MBP itself sleep? If so what happened to the external display?

I have an issue similar to yours & would love your input mainly to determine if i need to return my MBP. I've got a call in to Apple support & will post back here if anything interesting comes of that discussion. Take a look at my post to see what i'm talking about:

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=13180670#13180670

I'm having the same problem:

Brand new stock MacBook Pro i5 13" early 2011 (MC700LL). Viewsonic VX2323wm monitor, DVI cable. Mac OS X (10.6.6).

When using this monitor with apple adapter to connect to two different MacBooks 13" (2008/2009 models) using DVI, it works just fine.

When using the same monitor and DVI cable with a mini DisplayPort->DVI adapter, the MBP does not detect the display. Tried every suggestion on the support site, spent 1 hr on the phone with apple tech support. They suggested to bring it in tomorrow: possibly a faulty adapter.

Tonight, I tried two different mini Displayport-> DVI adapters that are known to work (one Kanex iAdapt, and an Apple DVI adapter), and neither of these work with the MBP.

However, using an Apple VGA adapter and VGA cable, the display is properly detected and works fine.

So the combination of new MBP + DVI + monitor does not work, and I'd say the Thunderbolt port is suspect. Following up with Apple tomorrow.

@evandepol:

See my post here:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=13180670

Having the very same problem with Thunderbolt and external displays. Got my new MBP and an Apple Displayport to VGA adapter (need VGA...) yesterday. Tried three different (Samsung) displays. Not a single one was detected. Tried the adapter on a 2010 MBP, worked perfectly fine. German Apple Support does not know that issue, wants to exchange the MBP. So sad...

Yeah I agree that it's annoying, but it's new tech and there are always probs with stuff like this. While I can't say for sure until I hear back from the engineers today or Monday, my guess is that it's not faulty hardware so returning the MBP won't do any good. I have a feeling that one of two things will happen:

1) If it is hardware it's probably a systemic issue which would mean you would have to wait until the next "round" of MBPs comes off the line that have the issue fixed. I highly doubt this is the case.

2) More likely there will be some sort of software/firmware update to address the issue. This is obviously just my opinion. I will update my post with the info I get from the apple engineers though.

It's also a somewhat sporadic issue. DVI doesn't work with many monitors. One two of my monitors I have limited use of DVI & on my TV I have a bit more usability, but other problems occur. So it seems to have different effects on different monitors.

For me the current workaround is to use a mini display -> HDMI adapter and an HDMI cable. With that setup every works fine.

HDMI is one, but sure not the solution (might work for now though...). I ordered a direct MDP to HDMI adapter today, but most beamers around here dont have HDMI by now...no matter what, I am quite sure this can only be a software matter as you say...lets hope they find a solution fast, as even my old 2003 WinXP Notebook is getting a second 1920x1080p chance right now (and really doing good (not to say better...)at it...)

I talked to Apple Tech Support about this issue, and when the support gentleman learned that it works with a VGA connector (of course DVI is still broken, that was the reason to call to begin with), he considered it "solved". Unbelievable!

Looks like I'm not the only one.

Brand new 15" MBP. Tried to connect it to my 23" Apple Cinema Display via mini Diplayport to DVI and got nothing. Wouldnt detect it at all. On my second Apple brand mini Displayport to DVI adapter now and still not working. I'm beginning to think either my port is bad or there is a total compatability issue with Thunderbolt ports in general and display adapters.

Apple needs to figure this out, I hate to see a perfectly good display sitting on my desk go unused.