Mac monitor gets stuck in zoom mode after screen saver starts

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Mac monitor gets stuck in zoom mode after screen saver starts

Today I upgraded my mid-2010 Mac Mini from 4GB to 8GB of RAM. The installation went well, however, I've noticed that whenever the screen saver engages, my monitor is automagically kicked into a "Zoom In" mode from which I can't recover unless I zap the PRAM!

This has already happened 3 times today.

Whenever the Mac falls into screen saver mode, the OS seems to be increasing the zoom factor by a click or two but also making that zoom setting the new default resolution for the display. This means that I can continue to zoom in, but never out to the (correct) resolution.

The only way to fix this is to reboot the Mac and then hold down Option+Command+P+R while rebooting. After the 2nd beep, the monitor will be reset.

I'm running the latest Mountain Lion build along with a bluetooth Apple keyboard and Magic Trackpad. The monitor is an HP Pavilion 22bw connected via the HDMI port.

And as noted, I've upgraded the memory to 8GB using Crucial RAM. It does seem like the RAM is what has caused the Mac to manifest this bizarre behavior, but it is also the only RAM that seems to work with my mid-2010 Mac Mini. I recently bought some Kensington RAM that caused the Mac to lock up.

For now, I've turned off the screen saver, but this is a workaround at best.

Any ideas what the heck is going on and whether there is a more permanent fix (short of swapping out the memory or disabling the screen saver)?

Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)

Posted on Apr 15, 2013 11:30 PM

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Answer 1

CyBerlin Author

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Apr 15, 2013 11:55 PM in response to CyBerlin

I just posed a similar question on the Crucial Apple RAM forum:

http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Apple-Mac-Memory/After-8GB-upgrade-Mac-Mini-auto-zoo ms-display-after-screen-saver/td-p/125534

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Answer 2

CyBerlin Author

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Apr 16, 2013 6:55 AM in response to CyBerlin

UPDATE: Last night I turned off the screen saver. This morning, when I turned the monitor back on, the display had auto-zoomed.

So, this problem is NOT related to the screen saver.

I'm guessing that the zoom level is about 15% or so.

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Answer 3

Apr 16, 2013 7:34 AM in response to CyBerlin

You could try trashing the screen saver plist.

With Finder active, hold the Option key down and click on the Go menu.

Select Library, then open preferences. The file you want to trash is com.apple.screensaver.plist

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Answer 4

CyBerlin Author

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Apr 16, 2013 8:07 AM in response to Eustace Mendis

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

However, it's beginning to look like the problem may be related to a new Amazon.com HDMI video cable I installed at the same time as the new memory upgrade.

I had been using an Apple HDMI => DVI cable between the Mac Mini and my HP Pavilion 22bw monitor. I recently purchased several Amazon.com branded HDMI cables, and yesterday I installed a 3-foot cable, replacing the Apple HDMI => DVI cable.

This morning, I swapped back to the Apple cable, and since then I haven't experienced the auto-zooming feature. I'll keep an eye on things and report back later with more info.

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Answer 5

Apr 16, 2013 8:07 AM in response to CyBerlin

Try disabling the zoom feature in the Accessibility system preferences. To do this, go to these preferences and in the Zoom section uncheck both the options to "Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom" and "Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom."

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Answer 6

CyBerlin Author

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Apr 16, 2013 10:30 AM in response to Topher Kessler

I already tried that, but it didn't help.

I'm actually beginning to think that the problem is related to the Amazon.com branded HDMI cable I recently purchased:

AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (3 Feet/0.9 Meter) - Supports Ethernet, 3D, and Audio Return [Newest Standard]

Seems like my current set up doesn't like this cable. When I reverted to my older Apple HDMI => DVI Adapter => DVI Cable => Monitor, then the problem *seemed* to go away (at least I wasn't able to repro this morning).

If it's not the cable itself, then it may be a stale hardware setting in the Mac Mini itself.

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Answer 7

Apr 16, 2013 2:25 PM in response to CyBerlin

Often you can work around these details by changing your screen's resolution (and then perhaps changing it back). This can spur odd video outputs to behave properly. I'm not sure why the screensaver would be doing this, but you also might try changing it to a different one to see if its the screensaver engine or perhaps just the current one's settings.

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Answer 8

CyBerlin Author

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Apr 16, 2013 6:11 PM in response to Topher Kessler

I'm no longer convinced that the screen saver is the culprit. I chatted w/ some co-workers, and we're speculating that it's an issue with the monitor and the way it communicates w/ the Mac Mini over an HDMI cable.

The problems were showing up when either the screen saver would engage *or* the monitor would enter sleep mode. Our thinking is that when this happens, perhaps the Mac Mini is losing communication with the monitor and when it wakes up, the display is somehow getting zoomed.

I'll test tonight with both my Amazon.com HDMI cable plus a non-Amazon.com HDMI cable.

Right now I'm blaming either the cable, the monitor or the Mac itself...but NOTthe memory! 🙂

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