HDMI display issues after 10.8.2

PERFECT kenv54!!!

Thanks for letting us know!

Many thanks!

pai

Hi KenV54,

tried every possible alternative procedure this feed as... and came out empty... just manage to make it work again on 720p.

I have a Macbook Air 11' late 2012... and after updating to Mac OSx 10.8.2, after 1 week my external display throught mini Hdmi/thunderbolt port stop working on 1080p.... I have a HP w2207h external monitor.

as you can see in the picture, this was the last time i had my macbook air working perfectly with my external display... like a big iPad.

nowadays i dream to make it work again on 1080p...

does anyone have any other idea?

- tried clean install of mac OS 10.8.1

- tried clean all the com.apple.windowserver.plist and PRAM rebot,

- tried SwithchResX program

anyway you remember, just trough at me... and i'll try. Just wish to make my external display work 1080p again.

thanks for all the previous attemps of solving my case... hope i can count with your help.

cheers, nunorasheed

Nunorasheed,

Unfortunately, I come up empty as well on this one, especially since you have a MacBook Air, not a Retina MacBook Pro. I'm not sure it's exactly the same problem we've all had with the rMBP, although they could be related. Bottom line is that I don't know what else to suggest.

One thought--have you tried disabling or uninstalling SwitchResX, gone into Preferences, and tried setting Displays to default or something like that? I don't know what the options are on a MB Air. SwitchResX can solve display problems, but it can also leave you with settings that aren't what you want, in my experience.

On the other hand, if your MacBook Air is Late 2012, then it is still under warranty and I think you can get AppleCare support for free for a while, even if you didn't purchase it. And you can always take your system into an Apple Store if you're near one.

Ken

Thank you Ken. I had posted on this problem elsewhere in the discussions but never found what would work until I ran across this thread. Your instructions worked perfectly!

-John

KenV54,

first of all i want to thank you for all your support and attention towards my issue. Thanks!

i had a conference call with AppleCare las Saturday and they could only offer me solution that i'd found here before and tried unsucessfully to solve my issue.... so guys, you're going great concerning the mac system hidden solutions!... well, but anyway, they couldn't offer me any solution.

but to my GREAT JOY, today apple just launched a system update for mac launched in june 2012 (the case of my september 2012 macbook air) with fixes for the external display issue.... and voila, it worked for me!

so, i just wanna to thank you all for exchanging these experiences on these foruns... and give a special thanks to KenV54!

and, of course, my many thanks fo apple... for listening to its costumers and solving their problems... thanks apple!

love to be a mac!

cheers for you all.

Well, after a couple of weeks has now gone by I can update all on my attempts to get a MBP 15" retina to drive any monitors through its HDMI port. Bottom line -- mine still doesn't despite Apple Genius's replacing the motherboard. So, I've removed the .plist files from preferences and am running 10.8.2, but no luck whatsoever. Furthermore, the genius's are anything but regarding this issue. So, I'm at wits end on this one. I'm really curious why Ken54's fix seems to work for most all of you, but not me..

Please let me know if anyone else has this problem and, even better, has a fix.

Skeeter

Nunorasheed,

Glad to hear it all worked out for you. Obviously, it was a different problem from what people are having with their Retina MacBook Pros.

Ken

Skeeter,

Your case remains a mystery. And it's true that not all Apple geniuses are created equal.

My guess is that you will have to do a completely clean install of the OS if you haven't done so already. If you have a Time Machine complete backup it should be so bad to do a clean install. Alternatively, you can clone your present HD (I use Carbon Copy Cloner) to an external drive, then wipe your Mac HD, reinstall 10.8.2 and all the OS updates, and see if the HDMI works. Then do a migration from the cloned external HD via USB 3.0 or firewire, as if the external drive were your old computer (which it is, in fact). It shouldn't put back any corrupted OS files that may be causing this HDMI problem, although you may have to remove the windowserver plists again.

Good luck.

Ken

Thanks, KenV54, I will try a clean install, then report back on whether or not it worked.

Skeeter.

i still have no luck fixing my HDMI issue till now.... mine was reformat using full 10.8.2 and already applied all patches and followed instructions deleting com.apple.windowserver.plist :<

Same here. Same problem since 10.8.,2 upgrade was made. It seems that Apple can not solve older MBP (Mac Book Pro 17-inch, mid 2010) HDMI problems. I use my Mac in business and I have to have this problem solved. Otherwise I have to go back to Win computers. Shame on Mac.

Juhaz,

Apparently the problem is hardware related, and different in the non-Retina MBPro's.

But since the HDMI on the non-Retina machines was working (wasn't it?) before 10.8.2, there has to be a software solution or workaround.

I've found in working with Apple over the years on various issues that you have to push hard for an "escalation" to get to their engineering people, that is, beyond the first or second level Applecare support. It can be extremely frustrating and time consuming, and you have to be very persistent wth multiple calls.

You'll know they're looking into it when they ask you to submit various event logs using the data collection software they'll download to your computer. Until then, they're just looking up stuff on their KBs.

Ken

Ampdeck,

Are you using a Retina MBP or an older MBP?

See my reply to Juhaz above.

Ken

Hi Ken.

I disagree. HDMI worked well before 10.8.2 upgrade. After the upgradr (software) HDMI stopped to work. Your fix is grat for retina Mac. But it do not work older MBP. I haven't seen this kind of lazy work like Apole before. This is really shame. Mac is my workvtool and solution is not for example to buy new Mac. I rather go back to win world.

I am not pleased how Apple guys work today.

Hope all well to you

Juhaz,

We actually agree. This is what I said: "But since the HDMI on the non-Retina machines was working (wasn't it?) before 10.8.2, there has to be a software solution or workaround."

No, "my fix," which, of course, wasn't my fix, at all, but rather was Apple's fix only for the Retina MBP, doesn't seem to work for non-Retina, that is, older MBPs.

But clearly there is something in 10.8.2 which has caused the problem in the older MBPs, since the HDMI was working before 10.8.2. And since software doesn't change or damage hardware (although it can change firmware), there is still something that can be done in terms of either the firmware or the OS with the older MBPs. The problem is that no one seems to know what to do at this point.

I'm not pleased, either, with Apple, but they are the only people we have to work with. That's why I've strongly suggested that you and others contact AppleCare and try to force them to find and fix the problem. They will have to gather data and logs from your computer, as they did with mine, and send this information to their engineers. Until they see what's happening on /your/ MBP with HDMI, they can't come up with a fix.

To use AppleCare after you are out of warranty may cost you $50 or so per incident, although that might be waived once they figure out the problem is their fault. If you use your MacBook Pro for business, as many of us do, it's worth it to pay the $50 to AppleCare, and much cheaper (and easier) than switching to Windows.

Ken