Macmini VGA Display Issues

My Mac mini has worked happily for a year or so, but on downloading some recent applications, it has stopped working with my vga screen. I had it tested by an Apple engineer on his bench and it worked okay, but presumably he was using a different connector? Anyway, it did not work for me although I bought an HDMI connector. Following this, I had an ex-submarine computer friend look at it and we found that it worked with a TV screen and I bought one as well, but the result was not satisfactory until I tried it on my large LG smart tv screen!! Not wanting to use it as such, I am now looking for alternatives... Any ideas? ps I have every kind of connector known to man...

antron wrote:

I Have a 2011 Macmini Server Edition connected to a Dell E197FP. During startup phase when the monitor switches from low to high resolution the monitor goes black and loses signal (i.e. goes to sleep) i can only wake the monitor again by unplugging the mini dvi-vga adapter, waiting a few seconds, then plugging in back in again. This issue has also occurred when switching resolution during normal operation. This is a periodic problem, it does not happen continuously. Does anyone have a solution?

This appears to be a widespread problem with VGA monitors on the new Mac mini. Are you running Mac OS X 10.7 aka. Lion?

At the moment the best workaround is as you found to disconnect and reconnect the VGA adapter. I can see that your Dell E197FP only supports a VGA connection but the other option would be to use a different monitor which supports DVI, or HDMI, or Displayport.

If you are using Lion then you could wait and see if 10.7.2 fixes it when released. Judging from the number of people reporting this issue I am sure Apple will be working on a solution.

I'm having a similar problem with two brand new 2011 Minis. I'm using the standard HDMI to DVI adapter and the computer will periodically stop sending a signal to the display. It originally happened when the computer would go to sleep. So, I set the computers to not sleep in any way, shape or form, however, the display will suddenly stop working from time to time. This happens over both the HDMI and the Thunderbolt (on both units) and it doesn't seem to matter if I'm attached to the monitor via VGA or HDMI. I've tested it with three different monitors (a Dell, HP, and an Acer), and the results are the same.

Apple have the day before yesterday issued a firmware update for the new Mac mini 2011 model. It does not specifically talk about this issue but is worth trying.

See http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1449

Same problem happens under 10.6.8 as does 10.7.1. I don't think a 10.7.2 update is going to solve aything. This looks to be a lower level issue than jsut the OS.

John Lockwood wrote:

Apple have the day before yesterday issued a firmware update for the new Mac mini 2011 model. It does not specifically talk about this issue but is worth trying.

See http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1449

Installing it right now, actually.

WarhavenLA wrote:

John Lockwood wrote:

Apple have the day before yesterday issued a firmware update for the new Mac mini 2011 model. It does not specifically talk about this issue but is worth trying.

See http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1449

Installing it right now, actually.

Aaaand... nope. Display was working, computer rebooted after firmware update, and now it's not. *sigh*

Im having the same issues, its not even sending signal.

Also, i just bought it and i havent been able to even configure it or even log in 😟

My setup is VGA to MiniDP in Thunderbolt on the Mac Mini ( Mid 2011 )

Any news on this?

I can confirm that the 2011 Mac Mini server works fine over Mini Display Port to DVI with several monitors in testing. If your monitor supports it, I would recommend switching away from VGA.

I've found the same issue with MDP-VGA on the latest Minis with Lion....

if the VGA-MDP is plugged in at boot up, I get no video...if I unplug & replug, I MIGHT get video, but usually not

my workaround for the past 2 weeks has been to boot the machines with the MDP-VGA adapter UNPLUGGED from the Mini, allow it to FULLY boot, and THEN plug in the MDP-VGA, and then everything works ok....

of course I can get away with this because my 5 new Lion Minis are installed in a rack with the backs towards me, and get shut down when not in use

this is a real issue and I hope Apple do something to address it

Using Mac minis as servers does make this VGA issue a bit more prominent since in a rack a lot of people use VGA screens and KVMs. I suspect Apple initially were treating VGA as a legacy connection on the new minis.

I am hopefully Apple will eventually fix it, but for a server situation you could stick to remote control options (even though my servers have a working KVM setup I do most of my work via remote control). It is also possible to get DVI KVM devices although it seems very few are designed with racks in mind.

They're not working as servers per se I use them to drive monitors on film sets, so I still absolutely, positively, gotta have the VGA output....I'm just weird in the sense that I walk around with 5 minis racked & networked in a skb case ready to drop & feed a bunch of monitors....

I already use ARD to control them, that's how I know when they're fully booted....

Thanks

Great tip.

Works for me and saved me getting another monitor. Hope Apple fixes - till then use this method.

I had similar issues with a brand new Mac Mini Server with Lion. Ithought I could save some money and use an existing monitor (Samsung Syncmaster) that was on the rack.While the computer was in use the wireless keyboard, wireless mouse and monitoroperated OK.

However, as soon as the monitor went to sleep there was noway to reactivate the computer. I went through each device and scenario,without success, I even connected a wired keyboard and there was no response.

I reviewed the responses and discussions over the web, andtook a chance and changed my HDMI/VGA connection to a HDMI/DVI connection to anewer monitor that supports HDMI and DVI.

Problem solved. Although Apple sells the connector HDMI/VGA,you must be warned the results are undesirable.

Hope this is helpful.