Ashadur

Q: 27' iMac (2011) Screen turns off

This has been going on for me for the past few months on and off, it just randomly switches the screen off but everything else works perfectly, for example if im watching a video on hulu i can still hear the sound, if im doing work on word the documents are still there, iv finally gotten video footage of it.

 

Screen turning off:

http://youtu.be/l6DfD7o_fXs

 

Screenshot of my settings

http://i.imgur.com/pPvUH.jpg

 

To turn it back on i press "ctrl + shift + eject" and then move the mouse.

 

Any help will do, i have contacted Apple support on the phone they did say bring it in, just need to make an appointment. If anyone else has this problem and knows a better solution than having to keep pressing buttons to turn the screen back on please share.

 

Thank you in advance

- Ashadur

iPhone 4S, iOS 5

Posted on Jun 27, 2012 3:39 PM

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Q: 27' iMac (2011) Screen turns off

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  • by DavidNY63,

    DavidNY63 DavidNY63 Nov 10, 2012 4:26 PM in response to Ashadur
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 10, 2012 4:26 PM in response to Ashadur

    Hey All, I think I have found the problem,

     

    I took the comptuer to teh geneius bar and he asked me if I had the encryption setting turned on.  He said that this causes the problem.  I have jsut spent 8 hours reinstalling the oeprating system becaue it got o bad I was not able to get back in.  Will see if I get the problem, but curious to knwo if others have tunred on the encrytion.

     

    David

  • by mebyard,

    mebyard mebyard Nov 10, 2012 5:26 PM in response to DavidNY63
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 10, 2012 5:26 PM in response to DavidNY63

    Thanks for keeping the discussion alive David.  My video blackout issue continues and I've never, ever used Filevault encryption.

     

    After living and coping and adapting to the issue for months now, I'm confident my video blackouts are correlated with heat.  The warmer our ambient weather the worse the issue seems to become.  The brighter the display the quicker the video blackout.  We had a big cool down here in OK for the last couple of weeks and the issue became stable running the screen at 6 clicks above minimum brightness.  But then it warmed back up a few days ago and high temps outside were in high 80's.  Problem cropped up again.  We do not heat/cool our home when the temps are not extreme so the inside temps raised and lowered with the ambient.  I've taken to using a fan to blow across the heat vent of the machine hoping that this would help a bit.  I believe it does.  If it truly IS heat correlated then that could indicate a component failure or board-trace failure (due to expansion & contraction).

     

    Thanks again, but encryption isn't the issue with mine.

     

    Mark

  • by DavidNY63,

    DavidNY63 DavidNY63 Nov 11, 2012 8:18 AM in response to mebyard
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 11, 2012 8:18 AM in response to mebyard

    Hey Mark,

     

    Sorry to hear your problem contineus, its winter up here now, so who knows.....if it happens aain, ill repost, and let you knwo if I get a solution.   As with all things techical, its worth calling in again to see if you get somebody different who might knwo about it.   Good luck

     

    David

  • by mebyard,

    mebyard mebyard Dec 3, 2012 3:26 PM in response to Ashadur
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 3, 2012 3:26 PM in response to Ashadur

    Hello to all who are having the video blackout problems with 27" iMacs.  My problem continues and with much emperical experience now I am confident to report that the issue is heat-correlated/heat-related/heat-exacerbated. As long as my office stays cold I can run the brightness about 5 or 6 clicks above minimum and never experience the blackouts.  But let the ambient temp creep up into the 60s and 70s (as it has this week in N. Oklahoma) and the problem becomes limiting.  At normal room temps I must run a fan across the top of the iMac to help dissapate heat and even then video blackouts will occur.  I've had to darken the room and run the video about 4 clicks above minimum to keep the screen "alive".

     

    However, I have found one work around from reading other's posts that will at least bring the video back ON without having to perform a hard reset!  When the video goes out, perform the following keystroke combination:

     

    Cmd+Opt+MediaEject

     

    According to Apple's own keystroke combo support page this combination will evoke SLEEP in late model Macbooks and iMacs.  After the machine is asleep, wait about 10 seconds or more and perform the SAME keystroke combination again.  This wakes UP the machine and the video will come back on!  This usually gives me time to turn the brightness down a bit.  Sometimes the video will almost immediately blackout again and I have to perform this trick several times to keep the video long enough to invoke normal sleep and let the thing cool off a bit.

     

    In response to David and some others, I've never used file encryption and so I really don't think that has anything to do with it.  The problem started with me after the machine was a bit over 1 year old and I upgraded to Mt. Lion.  I ran the machine with Lion for many months with no issues.

     

    I will continue to appreciate comments and data from users who are impacted by this issue.

     

    Here is the keystroke combo support page from Apple

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

     

    If you scroll down to the second table (SLeep and Shut Down shortcuts) you'll see the Cmb-Opt-MediaEject command.

     

     

    Mark Byard

    Ponca City, OK

    mebyard@mac.com

  • by levitatingbin,

    levitatingbin levitatingbin Dec 3, 2012 10:44 PM in response to mebyard
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 3, 2012 10:44 PM in response to mebyard

    I've been having the same problems over the last 3 days. I also believe that it is a heat related issue. It's been getting close to 40 degrees Celsius outside(not too much cooler inside), and I've been using Autodesk Maya, which really puts the processor through it's paces.

     

    Some additional information; I think it might be a hardware issue. When I access my iMac using Logmein from my iPad, the computer is still fully functioning, and it displays the screen. I'll wait to see if the problem stops, if not, I'll call Apple and ask about this problem.

  • by mebyard,

    mebyard mebyard Dec 4, 2012 4:50 AM in response to levitatingbin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 4, 2012 4:50 AM in response to levitatingbin

    Hello levitatingbin.  Yes, I believe the problem is an engineering issue.  Some owners had the issue start when upgrading to Lion.  My issue started after my upgrade to Mt. Lion.  It could be an outright engineering weakness (bad trace on a circuit board, sensitive component on a board, weak component on a board, poor electrical design) or it could be a combination of a weak component and new software stressing it even further.

     

    Regardless, a fan does help my situation.  I keep a fan blowing across the top of the machine from side to side to help remove heat from the vent slot.  Also, I can recover the video (at least temporarily) by invoking the Cmd-Opt-MediaEject keystroke combo... twice.  Once to put the machine to sleep... waiting 10 seconds or so.... and then invoking the keystroke again.  This wakes the machine and, in my case, the video always comes back.  It gives me time to turn screen brightness down even more and if needed, to reboot.

     

    Bottomline, I find that when the issue gets really bad, I have to just let the machine cool down.  My issue is also made worse by intensive processor usage (more heat generated).  When I use Photoshop or Aperture it seems to happen more frequently.

     

    Thank you for your post and regards,

     

    Mark Byard

    Ponca City, OK

     

    <Email Edited By Host>

  • by DavidNY63,

    DavidNY63 DavidNY63 Dec 5, 2012 7:28 AM in response to mebyard
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 5, 2012 7:28 AM in response to mebyard

    Hi Mark,

     

    I have had no issues since reinstalling lion 5 times over teh course of the weekend about 1 month ago.  Thanks for your post.  Ill let you know if I get it again.

     

    David

  • by petardjacic,

    petardjacic petardjacic Dec 7, 2012 12:00 PM in response to Ashadur
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 7, 2012 12:00 PM in response to Ashadur

    I bought a 27 inch imac from mid 2011 as well. I am now having this issue of the screen going black whenever it feels like it.

     

    there is no heating issues, as my office is at room temeperature all the time, i am re installing lion as we speak..

     

    should i get mountain lion? will it be any different than a re install of lion?

     

    i dont have warranty anymore obviously, and do not have applecare.. so i dont know what my next steps are..

  • by mebyard,

    mebyard mebyard Dec 8, 2012 5:47 AM in response to petardjacic
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 8, 2012 5:47 AM in response to petardjacic

    Hello petardjacic:

     

    Sorry to hear you have become a member of our "club".  There is obviously an engineering issue with many of this model of 27" iMac.  I'm not sure how to make Apple aware of it other than camping at a Genius bar at the closest Apple Store.

     

    Let me clarify the "heating issue".  My problem is exacerbated by heating.  I'm not sure it is a "heating issue", i.e., an issue that is CAUSED by heat.  I can reduce the frequency of blackouts by using a fan and taking advantage of our winter weather (my office isn't heated directly, so I don't have as much problem when it's cool/cold outside).  Having said that, I suspect that YOUR issue is also exacerbated by normal machine heating.  I would be willing to bet that if you ran a fan across the top vent and reduced the temperature in your office significantly, and kept careful notes, that you, like me, would notice less "blackouts".

     

    But that aside, I know that my problem did not start until AFTER I installed Mt. Lion.  It ran for a year on Snow Leopard and then Lion with no issues.  One might wonder then, if video drivers in the new OS might exacerbate the problem?  Or, if the engineering weakness just took that long to finally reveal itself in a failure.  So, to answer your question I don't know if going back to Lion will help in the long run.  Mr. "DavidNY63" has reinstalled Lion and has run for a month with no blackouts.  That would tend to say that the issue is exacerbated by Mt. Lion.  But that is only one data point.

     

    If anyone having this problem is close enough to an Apple Store to frequently complain, and keep the issue on the front burner, so to speak, it may be the only way to get Apple's attention.  I am 100 miles from my nearest Apple store, so I can't spend the time/money/miles to accomplish that.

     

    Any ideas from the affected community?

     

    Best regards,

     

    Mark Byard

    Ponca City, OK

    mebyard@mac.com

  • by lewaseven,

    lewaseven lewaseven Dec 8, 2012 2:57 PM in response to mebyard
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 8, 2012 2:57 PM in response to mebyard

    It may be that this issue is made worse with heat, and may not happen as frequnetly with a fan blowing on it, i am not sure. What I do know is that my house is kept at 17 degrees celcius (that is about 64 ferinheit) and the screen was going black almost immediately when I first turn the computer on after a week or more off.

     

    I don't think that this issue is at all related to Lion or Mountain Lion either. It was happening before I upgraded, continued hoappening after the upgrade to Lion, and continues still. It turns out that it is an engineering issue - a problem with the video card or something in the screen. I have a good friend who is amazing with computers and he used to work at a computer store that sells (and fixes) apple products and he told me this is the issue, and it will cost about $800-$900 to fix. When I called in to apple to see what I need to do they said they would charge me $400 to look at the computer to see if that really is the issue, then I would be given a price quote on fixing it. If my friend is right, that means it would cost about $1200-$1300 to get this issue resolved.

     

    I have called into apple SEVERAL times as the nearest apple store to me is over 2.5 hours drive one way, and I did make a special trip twice to try to resolve the issue. Neither attempts were successful. I rekon if enough people bugged apple consistently they would recognize that there is a problem, and might possibly do something about it. I told them that there are heaps of people having the same issue - just look at all of the discussion streams where people are talking about this same issue. Their response was that they don't monitor these sites so they don't know what is happening out there. I suggested that maybe they should. In any case, I still think that if they received enough calls (or visits) about this issue something might get done.??

  • by Audrey289,

    Audrey289 Audrey289 Dec 9, 2012 5:21 PM in response to lewaseven
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 9, 2012 5:21 PM in response to lewaseven

    Hey all, I've just spent the last hour reading all these posts. I've had the 27 inch iMac for about 1 year 6 months. I have not done the software update to Lion, still rocking snow leopard. I remember some friends having issues with Lion so I never went there. My screen has been wonky for a few days now, it's cool as a cucumber in my office. I think I first started thinking something was up a few months ago when I was having time to time flashes on the screen. Now I just get the random blackouts. I'm trying to decide what to do. I do not have AppleCare either. Can u not purchase AppleCare after the first year is up? This is my first apple purchase, and I have yet to be wowed . People always talk about apple being infallible... Obviously not the case. While I love the look of it, sleek as ****, um for 2100 dollars, it should work. I'm a full time photographer, if I can't see, well that's no good. It does seem when I'm running only one program at a time it's much better. When I'm online, in Lightroom , emailing and have my calendar open its happening more. Again trying to make a move, wishing apple would acknowledge this issue .

  • by RRFS,

    RRFS RRFS Dec 9, 2012 6:06 PM in response to Ashadur
    Level 5 (4,490 points)
    Dec 9, 2012 6:06 PM in response to Ashadur

    I think the majority of you posting here are having heat related issues. The 27" iMacs are notorious for "outgassing" which causes a fogginess on the LCD panel but that is also a heat related issue. The dust problem can be mitigated this way:

    As old as your iMac is, have you cleaned out the dust? Dust buildup can lead to over heating issues. Remove any and all things plugged into it including the power cord, Remove the RAM access grille. Vacuum all openings starting with the RAM access area (air intake). Vacuum all ports and plugs, DVD slot and the opening across the top of the rear of the body. Blow compressed air through all your openings and vacuum again to remove any dust you loosend. Reinstall the RAM grille. Plug in the keyboard and mouse if not blue tooth. Insert power cord...

     

    You are now in a perfect position to do a

     

    SMC RESET

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

     

    • Shut down the computer.
    • Unplug the computer's power cord and ALL peripherals.
    • Wait 15 seconds.
    • Attach the computers power cable.
    • Wait another 5 seconds and press the power button to turn on the computer.

     

    • It is the 5 second timing that initiates the reset.

     

    Here is a link to a Widget to monitor your temps and other operations:

     

    http://islayer.com/apps/istatpro/

     

    http://www.intelmactemp.com/list

    As far as getting additional cooling into the system try SMC fan control and bump up your fan speeds about 500 RPM from the factory defaults. ie. if at 80˚C your fans show 2500RPM set them to 3000RPM

  • by mebyard,

    mebyard mebyard Dec 10, 2012 4:30 AM in response to Audrey289
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 10, 2012 4:30 AM in response to Audrey289

    Hi Audrey289,

     

    This video blackout problem is obviously an engineering issue and I too would like to find a way for Apple to acknowledge it.  But short of LOTS of people showing up at Apple Stores with the problem, it probably won't happen.  Apple does make good products, but anythinkg made by man can and eventually WILL go "south".  I'm a charter Mac user (Feb 1984) and I've only had 3 real issues in all of those years.  But without the extended Applecare warranty we don't have much leverage with the company.  After the orignal warranty expires you cannot purchase the extended warranty.  Sorry.

     

    As for the "heat" factor that I seem to have made popular, I want to emphasize that heat exacerbates the issue but is not an excuse for the issue.  The issue is engineering.  My PERSONAL workaround has been to manage the heat the best I can because for my particular case I found that removing heat more efficiently gives me less "blackouts", and with no warranty and no money to do anything about it, it's called "doing what I can at the moment".

     

    Does anyone in our "blackout" group have expertise/experiece on how to broach these kinds of issues to a corporation, short of a class action lawsuit? ha ha  How can we get our collective voices heard?  This is the only way we are going to get the problem addressed?

     

    Thanks to all for keeping the thread alive and posting.

     

    Regards,

     

    Mark Byard

    Ponca City, OK

  • by mebyard,

    mebyard mebyard Dec 10, 2012 5:21 AM in response to RRFS
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 10, 2012 5:21 AM in response to RRFS

    Thanks RFFS:  I am familiar with the SMC reset.  But I am not familiar with "bumping up fan speeds".  This might help some of us a bit.  To be honest, I was not aware that users could control cooling fan speed or that iMacs even HAD a fan!  How does the end user access cooling fan speed?

     

    And BTW, the iStatPro link given will not resolve for me.  I had to go to...

     

    http://istat-pro.en.softonic.com/mac

     

    Thank you,

     

    Mark

  • by dsuhngpa,

    dsuhngpa dsuhngpa Dec 10, 2012 1:59 PM in response to Ashadur
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 10, 2012 1:59 PM in response to Ashadur

    hello, i also do have this kind of problem and yes, 1 year and a few month old mac, and RRFS said to check those links and it do not help too, sorry, RRPF, and I think it is not heating problem as the computer is cold like an ice and i am in New York winter, but may be dust, so how do i clean it out, and while i was typing, it goes black and when i press command+option+ eject, it turns back and 1 second later, it goes back black too, after 5 or 6 times like this, i redeced the brightness to the lowest and now it is working again, although i don't know when it will turn black again. I think it started 2 or 3 months ago, i am not sure it is related to update to Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G56) as it is the same time i was having the problem. so, please, please do something about this and it is more likely to be the software problem... believe me, when i was in my country using the windows, the room temperature is like 39 to 40 degree celcius and it was dusty like in a desert, and no heating problem.. I am not saying window is better, i like apple better in all ways, design, software, hardware, everything and looking forward to changing my lifestyle into all i-things... so, please don't make this tiny little problem to the people that don't want to look back apple again... the track pack thing? I love it ... please fix the problem..

    I am sorry, if i were rude, i am not picking on you, RRPF, just presenting the problem.. if it does the dust problem, i want you to tell me exactly what to do without bringing it to the apple service ( if not necessary), taking this 30 lbs big product in the subway is not a very good idea... lol.

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