Disable the display in Snow Leopard (no clamshell)

Question

Disable the display in Snow Leopard (no clamshell)

I have an original MacBook (1,1) that I use without the lid (the display was destroyed, and replacement was too dear, so I took the top off altogether). It's actually a pretty handy desktop. One problem is that sometimes windows go astray because the "Displays" setting is set for two screens (mirroring does'nt work because it reduces the resolution to 800x600). I am wondering if there is anyway to trick the macbook into thinking the lid is closed, and/or disabling the internal display altogether (basically so that only the external monitor is recognized).

2 GZ Intel MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8), MacBook 1,1

Posted on Feb 27, 2012 11:11 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 27, 2012 11:41 PM in response to The Disclaimer

I remember reading in here once about someone who was in the same position as you, and one user suggested that they put a magnet right underneath the trackpad where the lid would sit when closed and this did trick the mac into thniking it was in clamshell mode.

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Answer 2

Feb 28, 2012 7:28 AM in response to shldr2thewheel

Hey, Thanks for your response. I saw something like that too (claiming that the sweet spot was underneath the left-hand speaker). I tried the magnets from the lid in these places, but neither seems to work. Part of the problem is that I am actually using the keyboard and trackpad on the MacBook, rather than external input devices--so it's probably not possible to trick it into thinking it's in clamshell (just thought of that!)

I also read about a terminal command that Lion users can use to disable the display (because Lion doesn't have clamshell mode for some flawed reason). I tried it, but it didn't work for me (I'm using Snow Leopard.)

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