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Target display mode blinking black

I am having a very annoying issue using target display mode with my iMac connected to my mbp. I have the 2meter thunderbolt cable connecting the two machines. They enter TDM correctly but continually the iMac screen will go black for a second and then reappear. This is very annoying and unacceptable to be honest. I have searched and read many blogs and threads about similar issues, none of which have any answers.


iMac

  • 27-inch, Mid 2011
  • 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7
  • 32 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
  • AMD Radeon HD 6970M 1024 MB


MacBook Pro

  • Retina, 15-Inch, Early 2013
  • 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7
  • 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1024 MB


Sometimes it seems I will see a message in the system.log around the time this happens:


Aug 8 18:28:35 iMac.local WindowServer[109]: MPAccessSurfaceForDisplayDevice: Set up page flip mode on display 0x042801c0 device: 0x10e074a10 isBackBuffered: 1 numComp: 3 numDisp: 3


If anyone has some ideas on what may fix this issue I would love to hear them.

OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Aug 9, 2013 12:40 AM

Reply
91 replies

Jul 23, 2014 11:47 AM in response to TpmG

You are onto something with the console message! Hopefully someone can decipher it.


I have heard of the Thunderbolt displays flickering too but it is much less common of an issue compared to the iMacs. My Applecare is expiring soon so I will take both of my machines down and show them the flicker. I will keep an eye out for the console message too and see if I get the same thing.

Jul 24, 2014 5:03 AM in response to Philtones

Thank you for the update !


On my side, I bring back the Thunderbolt cable and got a new one (juste in case). Issue is still there with the new cable.


Then, I discovered that my Mid 2011 27" iMac was (still) under AppleCare, so I chatted with the Apple Support today. They tried the following things:

reset the PRAM: unsuccessful. Asked to see if my Late 2013 27" iMac was also flickering when in TDM. Answer was no (well, not during the 10 min test at least), then Safe boot both iMacs. It took nearly 30 min to have the first blink, but it did happen. And it blinked again something around 2 min after the first blink.


So, since the AppleCare is about to expire, they urged me to bring the blinking iMac (the one which is Mid 2011) to the Apple Store, with mention of the case ID, of course.


The iMac is now there, I should have some news in one or two days.

Jul 24, 2014 11:58 AM in response to TpmG

We have the same machine. Mine is also a Mid 2011 27" iMac. I did test my 2013 MBP on my brother's late 2013 iMac and there was no flickering in an hour hooked up to it. I did also try resetting the PRAM, a new cable and I did clean installs of Mavericks on both machines.


It seems that the problem is quite common on our machine among others including some thunderbolt displays. Thanks for the update and good luck.

Aug 8, 2014 9:20 AM in response to TpmG

Quick update: I had a phone contact with the technician in charge: they hooked up my Mid 2011 27" iMac with a Mac Book Pro, put my iMac in TDM and had it filmed by another Mac for few hours. They claim they didn't reproduce the blinking. My concern is, on a after thougth: I think they obviously watched the video in fast forward... would they capture an half second black blink that way ? Pity I didn't ask.

However, since my issue is happening with an 27" iMac (late 2013) and not a MBP, he agreed to retest with an available 27" iMac at the lab.

If again successful, then I will bring my own late 2013 iMac to be tested with the mid 2011 iMac, because then the faulty iMac would be the Late 2013 iMac, and not the mid 2011 iMac used in TDM, even thought it's the one blinking and having the error message on its console reported on a previous post.

Aug 8, 2014 11:11 AM in response to TpmG

I thanks for the update. I have noticed that I continue to have the same issue and it's especially worse when I am running a virtual machine on the other screen but it still happens if I am not but with less frequency. The other issue is that the brightness adjustments on the screens (two 2013 iMacs) are not synced with the thunderbolt connection. This setup cost a lot of money and of apple spent a bit more time with the engineers perfecting this they would make a lot more money because I was willing to pay up for the second Mac because it wast that much more expensive vs the standalone Thunderbolt Display. Apple please invest in making this work properly. I do own every product they produce and I would have to say that this feature is the least perfected / seamless of all their products we own.

Aug 18, 2014 11:48 AM in response to jarrod78

Also continuing to having the same problem. Seems worse since I've installed the 10.10 beta. It used to only blink out 2 or 3 times a day, now it's 5-6 times an hour. It is incredibly frustrating.


I've tried removing all usb devices thinking that maybe some hardware problem is triggering the display to stutter, but nothing I've done seems to make any difference.

Aug 18, 2014 1:25 PM in response to Ephdisc

Update from my side:


As agreed, my Mid 2011 27" iMac has been tested again as TDM with another 27" iMac. I received an update today. The technician claims everything perfectly OK. Next step is then to bring my Late 2013 27" iMac in the shop as well so they can test it with my mid 2011 iMac. Will do tomorrow. I hope it will blink in front of the technician !


Has someone been successful to get rid of the blink at some point ? I would love to hear from him/her !

Oct 19, 2014 2:49 PM in response to jarrod78

Im having the same problem but apple gives a ****.

I pass my complete warranty trying to solve the problem and nothing happens, i waste my time trying to contact people on the customer service, phone, stores and using the live chat but no one was able to give a dam answer.

Is apple reading all this notes ?

Is anyone with a solution diferent than throwing your imac to the face of the first apple representative ?.

Oct 27, 2014 2:05 PM in response to Fjsantel

I installed Yosemite on the target iMac, and it made it WAY worse.

Today after installing it, there has been a constant barrage of these little black screen episodes. Seems like probably at least a few times every minute.

I haven't installed Yosemite on my MBP yet, because i have apps that i don't think are ready for it, but I sure wish that i had NOT updated the iMac. This is TERRIBLE. Unusable.

Target display mode blinking black

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