Thunderbolt Display turns off randomly

I will try these suggestions as well.

However, today I connected up the MBA to the screen including Ethernet - just for fun - and so far it is working without having done anything at all! Obviously the problem is still there somewhere but today it isn't happening.

This is a real pest as I don't want to spend a day at the apple dealer when the display is working, but I know that tomorrow it won't be working again AAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

day 3 no blackout and upgraded to Mavericks

I just started getting these Random Screen Blanks on my Thunderbolt 21 inch display connected to MacAir. What is this? Disable - Energey Saver - Auto GPU switch I don't see this in the System Preferences - energy saver.

Wow - I've just found this thread after months of thinking I was the only one! I have a Mac Mini attached to a 27" thunderbolt and it worked well for a while. Then it started to not come on when I booted my mimi, and now it has advanced to happening while I'm using it. I have an LG panel attached now so that I can switch to it whenever this happens.

There seem to be a lot of theories over many posts. Do I start with a new power cable or are there options in Mavericks (yes it happens there as well) that I can try?

Thanks in advance

Chris

It would seem that there is no one cause. Some people have upgraded memory in their mac mini's and some types of RAM seem to cause problems. I have the problem with a new macbook air and new display. Sometimes disconnecting the ethernet cable from the TBD (if you are using ethernet) appears to help - but not always. I would suggest you return your display for repair. That is what I did in the end (I am waiting for it to be returned - who knows whether it will be fixed or not).

Thanks Steve. Can I ask if the problem became permanent when you took it back for repair or if it was still intermittent? What worries me is that I will return the dispaly, it will appear to work to them and they will send it back unrepaired. Is there a known fault reference that can quote?

Ironically the screen has just gone off while typing this reply.....

Chris

Hi Chris,

I took a video of the display with my iPad as it was flashing on and off so that I could prove that it was happening - I gave them a cop of the video at the appl edealers when I took the display back. They switched the display on in the shop connected to a macbook pro and of course it worked fine. I also wonder whether they will see the problem.

Well my twerks made it last about a week. Then it went black again! SMH

It's very frustrating. Today I'm using/testing a Retina 15" 2012 model, all stock - with an Apple 30" Cinema and 27" iMac slaved via Thunderbolt - the 30" has blacked out once - unplug/plug to resolve... the 27" 'iMac Display' has blacked out and come back about once every 60-90 minutes.

Have nothing connected to the displays (not using their USB/FW hubs) - USB powered hub for KB/Mouse/Ethernet

while workable, it is frustrating.

I think I can say with reasonable certainty that it will get worse and become unworkable

- bear in mind that I have watched about 20 episodes of "the walking dead" over the last few says, so I may be feeling a little defeatist :-)

I am a photographer. I use a late 2011 13" MBP w/OWC 8gb RAM with the then new TBD: USB 2.0. I was able to use and did not have a single problem with my TBD and MBP for the last year and half. One day, while working in Aperture and Mac OS 10.8, the display shut off and has not come back on. I was given no warning like screen flickers and such.

I have been following this post since my incident. I have tried everything here including resetting the NVRAM, changing the memory back, purchasing a new TB cable, etc...Strange it is only the video that does not work. I get sound and can bring up the TBD properties. All the USB and firewire ports work. I just upgraded to Mavericks. The display still does not work.

Has anyone found a hardware or software fix?

That sounds like the Thunderbolt display failed or something else with the video output on the laptop itself... But - the cable on that display is embedded, not something you can swap out - so not clear on the cable swap note.

need to test display on another Mac and isolate the issue to the display or the Macbook Pro 13" as the culprit and dig from there.

The issues with the flicker, etc in this thread do not sound related to this kind of total failure.

Obviously there are different experiences, probably different problems, and it seems some faulty manufacturing. But for those coming to this issue for the first time, it is worth trying a quick SMC reset, just in case. That did the trick for me, thankfully. (All of a sudden, the screen itself had was dead, sometimes passing through power over USB or data over Thunderbolt daisy chained drive, but mostly nothing. USB keyboard never worked in that time.)

(Running a 27" Thunderbolt display off of a mid-2012 MacBook Air with Mavericks)

Hope it stays fixed, although from the sound/quantity of above, probably not...

OWC Larry: I used a cable I purchased at the Apple Store. Bypassing the TBD built-in cable, I simply plugged it in to both the MBP and TBD. It worked at the store (MBA and TBD) last week. Guess I need to talk with the Apple Store and get something set up.

Thank you for your response.

Ron

Sounds like you already did resets on the computer side... and that's good to know should the integrated TB cable fail on a TBD - learn something new everyday. Bummers though.