Trouble shooting 30"

Hi Malcom, and Thank you.

This afternoon I went out to the Apple Store with the monitor. I wanted to veify that it was functioning properly, or not.

At first try, nothing happened. The tech went away for a while. and then we changed power blocks. Still nothing. I asked him what video signal was going into the monitor. We then hooked up a macbook pro and used a dvi adapter. Suddenly the screen popped to life and looked great.

We looked over the settings and it was easy to see that it was fine.

So the problem is not the monitor itself.

Now my question to the group is- is it time for a new video card?

Tim

Hello anyone who is following the ongiong saga of :

Fun & Games with Apple 30" Cinema Displays-

So in this edition of our story, I have since:

driven from Kansas City to Montana and back. Picked up my old (but little used) 2nd Apple 30" Cinema Display and hooked everything upto

A) the old but farily steady G5 via the dual port DVI slots in rear panel

B) tried the new MacPro with both (also) and one at a time.

Here are the results.

The 1st monitor (A) which I have functioning, had functioning with the G5 for a very lnog time without any issues is hooked up to the G5 now and looks fine. Dual displays are enabled and all is well. The 2nd monitor (B & the one retrieved from MT) is also hooked up as the main monitor on the G5 and looks great.

I next switched first the "new" monitor (B) to the MacPro.

It worked immediately. I had hoped (actually) that it would NOT work, because then I felt it would have shown the video card in the MacPro was disfunctional. But that proved to not be the case.

The little white light in the lower right corner seems to be directly linked to the potential to function but it does not seem to be directly tied to a specific power source -such as Firewire or USB- and instead seems to be more closely associated with the main DVI plug.

So does the main DVI plug deliver the main power as well as the main video signal?

Again, right now I have two monitors, both independently functioning on different machines. So everything is fine. But (?) for how long? and if one or both go down again, I'll take notes and try to post about it up here again. If there is more than one variable going on then I'll try to isolate and solve.

Any advice is welcome.

Thanks- Tim

Posted this detailed stuff that I recalled to the other guy who is also having some issues with his 30"..

I am experiencing a return to full usage, but uncertain as to why.

I retrieved my second monitor as well. It is hooked up to the G5 and seems to be functioning perfectly. At first, both monitors seemed to not want to work- immediately. I hooked up the power supplies and all was well. Then the main DVI video cable- without the USB or the Firewire . For the Mac Pro- the small light would not come on at first. I tried hooking up the USB and Firewire cables and still nothing. I unhooked everything and shut down completely. After rebooting I hooked up just the DVI cable again. Eureka. The small light in the lower right came on and the monitor came to life. I went into display panel in preferences and chaged the power button to the first choice in Snow Leopard - powers the monitor on and off.

Then I turned to the G5 and did just about the same thing. The monitor is now up and running and functioning well.

In both cases, the displays seem to just decide to cooperate... Go figure.

I am advised by a technician friend that the Apple 30" displays can be repairied and or restored to full functioning for far less than the new 27" monitors cost. The massive screen work great for Final Cut Pro 7 and I adore them. So glad I tinkered and loved them... I have no idea if an internal board needed an extra bump or what.

Best Wishes - and eat some Turkey !

~ Tim