HDMI display issues after 10.8.2

Closing the lid definately solved my problem. Resetting the PRAM did not.

So I suspect the real problem with HDMI here is display mirroring.

Howdy KenV54,

Well, you're going to have something to discuss with Apple on Tuesday. When I closed the rMBP lid, the external display worked for me as well. It's not terribly usable, but I see something on the HDMI connected TV. When I open the lid, internal and external displays go black with enlarged pointer again. That was a remarkable example of lateral thinking Brpearce.

Thanks, Mark

I think the problem doesn't only affect a minority of users, quite the contrary. If I had to venture a guess, I would say it's a massive bug. But a lot of users probably do not use the HDMI Out directly and might not have noticed it.

Talking with an Apple rep later today in France.

It is not confined only to the rMBP or to HDMI, or to the firmware update. My mid-2010 MBP started doing this immediately after installing 10.8.2, no firmware update, using the mini-displayport-to-VGA adapter. It is clearly related to the OS update.

Just to add another data point - I am having this issue with my Retina MacBook Pro after the 10.8.2 and firmware update. Today I plugged in a projector and got the black screen with the huge cursor on both my MacBook display and the projector display.

It made giving my normal weekly software developer meeting extremely difficult!

Edit: This is with a thunderbolt to VGA adapter.

Hi, I have the new Macbook Pro Retina having the same issue, after just updating 10.8.2 , I have my hdmi cabel to my Samsung Smart Tv, The Screen gets all messed up with graphical issues on the mbrr screen also black screen with a pointer and I cant connect my comp to the ext tv....

I didnt do any firmware update either and I had no issues at all, I also had an wireless issue on the wireless connection after 10.8.2 that issue in speed regarding mbit/s from my router, bubed up after 10.8.2 update but this screen problems seems to have affected everyone...

I have the same prob …ext monitor is an Acer and i recently upgraded to 10.8.2 and now my MBPro wont see the monitor… tried all the usual stuff …nothing seems to work. Acer cant help, Apple said its not the port? but i dont believe them anymore after reading all these posts! — bummer!

Apple advised me to try a new mini dvi to HDMI cable which they sold me for nearly 50 — that is a fail to them also. So i have to fix this issue within 2weeks so i can get a refund on the cable if i dont need it!

Looks like Apple support personnel are not all aware of this new bug. The new cable isn't going to fix anything. Try closing the lid on your macbook to see if the video output works when it isn't trying to mirror the output. That worked for me.

PROBLEM SOLVED!!! (In my case, at least)

My Apple tech support guy came back a day earlier than expected, said to remove a couple of plist files, and it now works perfectly with HDMI, my projector, my external monitor, etc.

I had already removed one of the plist files a few days ago (which in itself hadn't worked), but when I removed the other, it did. I would suggest removing both.

Go to Finder.

In the root directory (MacBookPro or whatever your HD is called), go to Library, go to Preferences, find com.apple.windowserver.plist and put it into Trash

In your own user directory, go to Library (in Finder, click Go menu and hold Option key down to get to Library), go to Preferences, go to ByHost directory, find com.apple.windowserver.OE35739etc,etcxxxxxxxxxxx.plist, and put it into Trash.

You do not have to empty Trash.

Reboot computer.

The HDMI should be working now, and permanently so.

If it isn't, post it here and I'll let the Apple tech guy know.

Good luck.

Woohoo! That also fixed it for me!

Thanks!

Howdy KenV54,

Worked like a charm. I thank you for your time and effort. It is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Mark

WOW!! Thank you KenV54!! This also fixed my problem. My Samsung Display now works with my rMBP using the Thunderbolt to DVI adapter. Such a simple solution. I wish Apple would make information like this more readily available. I feel bad for anyone suffering with this problem who has not seen this thread.

One note for anyone else who is going to try this though, I had 3 files of com.apple.windowserver and all of them had different numbers on the end than the ones you posted. I was not sure if I should delete them all, so I just took a chance and did it. I left them in my trash and did not empty the trash just in case there was a problem. Then I rebooted and YAY...my external monitor now works!! Thank you again!

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. It's gratifying to hear that the fix seems to work universally.

(Incidentally, I don't think there is ever a danger in removing any plist file or files. They are just preference files which are created or recreated when a process is used, and are not necessary to run the process the first time.)

I wrote back to my Apple Support Tech, who was great, by the way, and said the following:

"Maybe Apple can find a way to distribute this knowledge in a public sort of way, or incorporate it in an OS update, and quickly. For me it was just a minor inconvenience, and for entertainment purposes only. Some users who don't know they have this problem are in for a rude awakening when they go to give their first presentation to an outside audience and find they can't get some new, on-site projector, to work."

We'll see what Apple does. I don't know if OS upgrades can remove plist files, although I suspect they can.

So--it wasn't the firmware at all, or maybe the plist files created under previous firmware or OS 10.8.1 were incompatible with it. We'll probably never know.

YES!

Brilliant, worked for me too. The files had to be found manually though as the search engine wasn't working for some reason.

Thanks for sharing this brilliant tip!

JB