Thunderbolt Display turns off randomly

Since the downgrade to 8GB RAM on my Mac mini server 2011, the blackouts were completely gone, although problems with flickering on low brightness settings arose, which is, I guess, a different issue.

However, now that I got myself a new Mini (Quad 2,6Ghz) with 16GB RAM (officially supported now) the blackouts are back: intermittent flashes, the screen goes black and sometimes stays that way until

replugging.

***sigh***

This isn't a computer issue - this is just faulty displays. Plugging and unplugging seems to have a correlation to RAM as it's something many people modify, and after they have reconnected everything sometimes the system behaves better for a while.

My screen was replaced by Apple in-store and has not had a single problem since. Stop torturing yourselves and just take your screens back to Apple.

My original Thunderbolt worked for months with 16GB RAM, then went like yours. Since replacement it was perfect on 16GB RAM, and has been perfect now I'm on 20GB RAM. All in my 2011 iMac.

I believe that in this case, blaming RAM for the reason your external display power board (or whatever is wrong) is misbehaving, is like blaming the colour of your trousers...

Well, I didn't say the issue is definitely caused by this. It is merely an observation that the blackouts seem to coincide with the amount of RAM installed. It's not just me, a lot of people seem to have similiar issues with similiar configurations.

Earlier this year I had my Thunderbolt Display checked out at the local service point: they didn't find anything wrong with it! But with the problems on the new mini, I will push for replacement.

No I know, you didn't, but I was referring to the general (what I perceive to be) misapprehension. I think it is explained by the high incidence of RAM upgrades being the reason people unplug and power down everything so completely. But, given the amount of evidence which also suggests this isn't RAM related, I think we need to stop focusing on that. Do please report back if you get a replacement and it works, to further this discussion.

Just hook my Dual TBD with new Macmini 2012 (2.6Ghz - Intel HD Graphics 4000) and got random blackouts on both screens 😟.

I've been using these TBDs with Macmini 2011 (AMD GPU) for a year without a single issue. Should this be the Intel Graphic Card fault?

I reported the issue in detail to Apple today. The tech guy seemed to be very eager to find the cause of these blackouts (enterprise level support rocks!). He said he will contact engineering and will get back to me as soon as he knows something.

At least, the blackouts I'm experiencing now aren't as annoying as those I had before (in some cases 20 flickers in a row in a one second intervall).

My 2nd day with dual TB displays and MacMini 2012 (2.6Ghz-i7) was such a nightmare. Boths TB displays randomly blackouts. When I work on the primary display, the daisy chained display will flick every 5 minute or so. When I work on the daisy chained display, the primary display will sleep and would not response.

Before I upgraded to Mini2012, I was using the Mini2011 (AMD) with Transcend 16G-1600Mhz along with usb, firwire, LAN pluged into TB displays and never have a single problem. I believe that there are nothing wrong with TB display, but there might be some conflicts between TB display and Intel Graphic Card.

So frustrating &$&(^#O^& .... Actually, I only need the USB3 on Mini2012.

I know, some of you might not agree, but I'll ask anyway.

What's the amount of memory installed in your new Mini?

It's just a shot in the dark, but since a memory upgrade also increases the shared vram on the onboard graphics, there might be a correlation. I noticed, as I stated earlier in this thread, the flickers increase exponentially with the stress on the graphics card...

Btw, I disconnected the second display (ACD via HDMI port) and I haven't had a single black out since.

Supplemental:

I just found this: http://communities.intel.com/message/171244

Seems to be a BIOS/ EFI issue... nothing a firmware update wouldn't solve...

Just replaced the Mini2012 ram with the original 4G. I do agree that the memory upgrade might cause this blackout. Will report later.

Does this mean we can only use apple ram?

ha ha ha 🙂

Do not laugh. Apple support specifically asked me whether I'm using their RAM or some other manufacturer, although I don't think it matters.

OK, my Mini2012 is running as it should!

After switch back to the original 4G Ram, both TB displays didn't blackout or flickering anymore. I can put the display to sleep and wake up normally. So, the shared Vram on Intel Graphic Card is toying with us!

Whether memory issue or not, apple is to blame of everything that is being discussed here. If memory shouldn´t be exchanged by final users, the manufacturer must not give them this possibility.

IMHO, I belive we are being guinea pigs for this beta version of thunderbolt port (which I honestly think is a pretty good idea) that is still quite problematic and unstable.